Thursday, January 8th was the greatest day of my life. I’ve been alive for 8,832 days, but that lovely winter day was undeniably the best of the bunch. That day, you see, was the day that I watched the Florida Gators win their second football national championship in three years. So why then would 1/8/09 be any better than 1/8/07, when I watched the gators win their first national championship in ten years - and as a student no less? Well, for that second championship I watched the game in person, at the stadium. That alone would probably be enough, but that’s only the half of it. See, I didn’t have a ticket to the game. I snuck in. Yes, I snuck into Dolphin Stadium to watch my beloved gators do what they do best. Spent a grand total of zero dollars and zero cents and wound up celebrating in club seats arm-in-arm with my best friends. A gator national championship always makes for a great day. Doing it the way I did, well that just shoots it right to the top of the list.
In mid-December, I got an offer directly from an Orange Bowl Committee employee to purchase a club-level ticket for $680. I live about 25 minutes from the stadium, and it just so happened that I was going to be home on game day as my holiday break from grad school wound out its final days. While those conditions seemed almost heaven-sent for a hardcore Gator fan, I unfortunately had to remind myself that I’m an unemployed grad student living in southern California for 95% of the year. I just couldn’t part with that kind of money, though nine of my best (and employed) friends jumped on the offer like it came with a blowjob from Carrie Underwood or something. I was content to tailgate with them and then watch it on TV in the Dolphin Stadium parking lot with a couple other broke-as-a-joke friends.
No, I did not plan on seeing this game in person. I showed up to the stadium with a 24-pack of Busch Light, a Publix sub, and $43 in my wallet. Though I consider that a pretty solid barter offer, scalpers thought otherwise....
Read the rest of the story at http://www.gatortailgating.com/content/why-january-8th-was-greatest-day-my-life-0.