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DEL.ICIO.USFlorida cast as the villain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Indianapolis — At 6:07 p.m. Saturday, the hated Gators will be hated as never before. They’ll be hated in a way that even Ray Goff could never muster for Steve Spurrier, and this time it isn’t Florida’s fault. It just happens to be the team playing the most huggable underdog in Final Four history.
“We’re definitely going to be the villains,” Joakim Noah said. “But that doesn’t matter… . It doesn’t matter what stories are being said about who. Like [teammate] Adrian Moss says, ‘There’s 10 players and two buckets and one ball — that’s what it’s all about.’ “
Usually it is. This is a bit different. Florida is facing not just George Mason but a nation of casual observers who have decided George Mason is their favorite team ever. Said Jim Larranaga, the Patriots’ coach: “We’ve been embraced by the whole country… . We all feel it would be great to be the underdog and to overachieve. I think we all can identify with that attitude.”
The Gators can. They weren’t picked to finish first in the SEC East and weren’t a No. 1 (or even a No. 2) seed when the Big Dance began. But suddenly they’re the massive favorite to squash George Mason and take the title to boot.
“We still feel we’re the underdog,” Gators point guard Taurean Green said. “With all the hype surrounding George Mason, we still feel we have something to prove.”
And then, in the next breath, a somber Green said: “We’re here to handle business. We’re not here to have fun.”
The cuddly Patriots, by way of conspicuous contrast, were living the dream Friday. They were wide-eyed when they took the floor at the RCA Dome for their public practice, and during Larranaga’s media briefing, guard Lamar Butler could be seen poking his head through a curtain and smiling at the immensity of it all.
Said Butler: “I was looking at how big this [interview] room is. Never seen so many people here just to write a story.”
Four teams have gathered here, but there’s only one real story. Can George Mason win again? Is George Mason about to unseat the 1954 Milan High School Indians — the real-life inspiration for the movie “Hoosiers” — as the most improbable champion crowned in this city?
The most famous scene in “Hoosiers” has coach Gene Hackman gathering his Hickory squad on the floor of Hinkle Fieldhouse and measuring the rim to prove it’s the same 10 feet as the ones back home. How eerie is it that Hinkle, which stands 7 miles from the RCA Dome, is part of Butler University and that George Mason’s most effusive player is named Butler?
And what are we to make of Lamar Butler’s first cast at the 10-foot rim in the Dome?
“I shot an airball,” he said. “I’ve never in my life been inside a dome. All I could think of was Peyton Manning throwing all those touchdowns.”
The Patriots were loose and effusive. The Gators were something else. Noah and Green met the media and were alternately confrontational and sullen. Noah sparred with questioners and, just for the heck of it, answered a French correspondent in French.
Given that Noah is the son of a tennis champion and a Miss Sweden and that Green’s dad played in the NBA, they came across as too worldly to be truly excited. Their next opponent knows little of the world but seems delighted that many of its denizens have just discovered George Mason.
Guard Tony Skinn: “Even though we’re far from home, I think we have just about everybody cheering for us… . Whenever we score, we’re going to hear the crowd roar.”
But the crowd doesn’t actually get to play, and Florida has played better than any other team in this tournament. The happy George Mason story figures to end Saturday. Unless it doesn’t. Unless all that hating undoes the Gators, same as it did UConn.
“I hope [people] come out tomorrow and cheer us on,” Butler said. “For us to get into the Final Four, people have something to cheer for. We’re the Dallas Cowboys [meaning America’s Team] of the 2006 era.”
And the Gators? In the court of public opinion, they might as well be from France.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Mark Bradley, Tech / ACC, UGA / SEC
Comments
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By DonovanRules
March 31, 2006 08:08 PM | Link to this
Ridiculous article. Comparing the gators to France in terms of the hatred ?Bradley once again is showing his own hatred for UF athletics. Guess what Mark? Enjoy watching the gators tommorrow along with the rest of the country. Maybe next year UGA can make the NIT. Then there is always Tereshinski to look forward to for football. GO GATORS
By DonovanRules
March 31, 2006 08:10 PM | Link to this
Ridiculous article. Comparing the gators to France in terms of the hatred ?Bradley once again is showing his own hatred for UF athletics. Guess what Mark? Enjoy watching the gators tommorrow along with the rest of the country. Maybe next year UGA can make the NIT. Then there is always Tereshinski to look forward to for football. GO GATORS
By Uri A. Terd
March 31, 2006 08:10 PM | Link to this
What a waste of a column. Did you graduate from college? Oh yes, I forgot you work for the ajc…
By Gatorbait
March 31, 2006 08:11 PM | Link to this
I remember Bradley predicting the Gators would flop during the regular season. I wonder if he is a Dave Bliss fan.
By PeachtreeG8R
March 31, 2006 10:41 PM | Link to this
DonovanRules, what’s the problem with Bradley’s column? I’m a Gator myself, and I agree with him 100% that nobody in the country wants to see us win (other than you, me and the rest of Gator Nation). George Mason is the big story here, and I’m perfectly ok with that. The Gators elicit a very visceral reaction from most sports fans to one extreme or the other (especially in this city), and it all goes back to the days of Spurrier. He essentially made it “Gators vs. The World” with his outspoken comments and lopsided wins, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, I love that it’s carried over to our basketball program. To the rest of you who can’t stomach the thought of a Gator national championship: We don’t care if you love us or hate us, but if you’re not a Gator, you’re Gator Bait!
By UGA 72
April 1, 2006 03:32 AM | Link to this
UGA in the NIT, are they going to field a Basketball Team next year? I thought it was eliminated for women’s Track, which would attract more fans!
I’m neither a Gator Fan nor a Gator hater. I thought MB column was dead on, he didn’t take a single shot at Florida, just reported the truth. As a fan of the SEC, I hope we see an all SEC final and both teams play their best game, and whomever is the better team Monday Night is the winner.
As a sports fan I can’t understand Gator Fans whining and crying about a column mostly about the Gators being good. Would you rather Mark says Florida Sucks? How about Florida Fans suck? If you were honestly offended by Mark’s column then you didn’t attend UF, nor any other college, you can’t be smart enough to get admitted.
By Craig
April 1, 2006 07:10 AM | Link to this
Gators by 18…I am a Dawg fan…let the Patriot dream become a nightmare.
By Jim O
April 1, 2006 08:22 AM | Link to this
Mason rules - not donovan. What’s wrong with the article, nit picking on france or the gators?
Mason has played to win, while the top seeds have played not to lose. The key for GMU is experience and maturity, a fourth or fifth year senior may not be as talented as a fab frosh/soph, but these guys have been playing together for a long time.
Go GMU (and GT next year!)
By GatorGrad99
April 1, 2006 08:44 AM | Link to this
Everybody likes a Cinderella story and these days we sure good use a happy ending. Florida would be Cinderella with 4 sophs in the starting line up were it not for George Mason. I love my Gators so I hope they crush GM like a bug. If not, the Patriots deserve to go all the WAY!
By BadgerDawg
April 1, 2006 09:30 AM | Link to this
As usual, I disgree with the Bradley article. What an insult to France!
By Dawgbeater
April 1, 2006 10:25 AM | Link to this
As a Gator grad, I have no problems with the article, even with the stretch of comparing UF to France(Univ. of France?)
We relish the role, epecially here in Jawja, of being the hated Gators-it is what motivates us to win, in the “court” of public opinion (which ain’t worth Dawg spit)…. and on THE COURT, as well!
Gooooo Gators!
By Darrin C. Niblack
April 1, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this
Being a Gator fan, I’m loving this! If everyone wants to hate, cool with me. Being a native Floridian raised in Atl, Ga- I’m used to it(this being Bulldog country). It makes it all the more sweeter if we win it all. Comparing the Gators to France was a little harsh, but so what I like french fries! GO GATORS!!!
By northwestDAWG
April 1, 2006 01:37 PM | Link to this
UGA72, I agree.In no way did Bradley slam the Gators. Noah answering a question? Hell his family, father, are French. What’s the big deal. I’ll bet the majority of SEC fans, who may not like the Reptiles at all, are pulling for them today. I know I am as well as LSU. After our SEC brothers, So. Carolina , winning the NIT there couldn’t a better way to end the season than the SEC being the “Dance” champion for ‘06.
By Dwayne
April 1, 2006 02:02 PM | Link to this
As an LSU graduate and supporter, I always cheer for the SEC when we play against any other conference and I think all SEC fans should feel the same way. While I admit that I don’t usually pull for the Gators, I am rooting for them to beat George Mason and make it an all SEC playoff game.
GO SEC and Geaux Tigers!
By AltamahaDawg
April 1, 2006 04:57 PM | Link to this
I’m just glad to see some intelligent UF fans in here today. I knew there had to be a few that were actually gator fans and college educated. The only ones I ever see are the idiots in the other blogs who have little more than UGA bashing.
By BadgerDawg
April 1, 2006 05:11 PM | Link to this
Very disappointed at all of these pro-Gator comments from Dawgs. Conference loyalty only goes so far. There is a line and UT and UF are on the other side, although Pearl is softening me on the Vawls. Besides the fact that they’re UF, you’ve got the greatest story in bball history with two more wins from GM. Geaux Tigers, but go Patriots too!
By Craig
April 1, 2006 08:40 PM | Link to this
Told you so.