Who Is The Gators' Most Lunatic Rival?
by mlmintampa on Mar 30, 2010 2:29 AM EDT
in Florida Football
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PrintClay Travis linked to an unscientific poll last night that called Kentucky Basketball the "most lunatic" fan base. This got Travis to thinking about what creates a lunatic fan base. Among his reasons for lunacy were, "isolation/no other winning team in area, historic success, low college degree % in state/region." Travis applied this and got the three national lunatic fan bases, Kentucky Basketball, Alabama Football, Notre Dame Football. (He also said UF fans are usually the most good natured, which I am sort of surprised by.)
This got us to thinking, who is Florida's football rival with the most lunatic fan base? Not who Gator fans hate the most, but the fans that make you think, "Goddamn, these bastards are crazy." We consider the traditional rivals; Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Miami. We don't include Alabama because those bastards are crazy but we don't play them every year. (They would win this poll easily too.) We did include Miami because while we don't play them every year, we have to live near them every day. "Pro Lunatic" and "Non Lunatic" arguments are presented for each team. You vote below and leave your comments.
Florida State-
Pro Lunatic: Delusions of grandeur despite losing to USF and chasing out the only successful coach in school history. FSU alumni and students also have a deep inferiority complex, as they are constantly reminded by UF alumni and students which school has the better academic reputation. (The Florida Legislature may pass a law this year that declares UF as Florida's "elite" school.) For this reason, UF fans feel no kinship with FSU fans, which is the ultimate sign of disrespect.
Non Lunatic: You can't have a lunatic fan base when 10,000 USF fans can get in your erector set stadium. Or when I can yell during the 2008 UF-FSU game, "I'M IN YOUR STUDENT SECTION FSU! I'M! IN! YOUR! STUDENT SECTION!" after every touchdown.
Georgia-
Pro Lunatic: Red pants, black helmets, thinking Herschel Walker still plays for them, getting to Jacksonville on Wednesday and leaving during the third quarter, "pure" bulldogs, D-A-W-G-S and not D-O-G-S, preaching about how holy they are behind Mark Richt then thinking the entire team getting an excessive celebration is acceptable, counting a win in 1904 against 11 dudes from Florida when Gator Football did not begin until 1906.
Non Lunatic: Loyal in filling Jacksonville every year despite lean seasons and a six hour ride, also thought the black helmets were lame, dog people, will compliment you on your terrible mustache even though you are a Gator, the best dressed women of any age. Also, they did schedule two games of the Florida-Georgia series in Savannah.
LSU-
Pro Lunatic: They have a live tiger for a mascot, always seem drunk, you would not want to fight any of them because that bottle and deep fryer double as weapons. Scariest road game experience.
Non Lunatic: Mike the Tiger is awesome, fans are always hilarious, would buy you a drink and feed you. Best road game experience. It Never Rains In Tiger Stadium by former LSU lineman John Ed Bradley is one of the best sports books of the last 20 years.
Miami-
Pro Lunatic: An astonishing number of Miami fans never attended UM, and probably never attended any college. They have pride in their five National Championships, but think that makes up for half filling a soul less NFL stadium on game day. UM fans also tout the high morals of coach Randy Shannon, who was outed in ESPN's "The U" for paying players as an assistant.
Non Lunatic: Miami is a very good school and Coral Gables is a nice place. If you just counted alumni and students, UM would look tame in this argument.
Tennessee-
Pro Lunatic- They rioted on campus when their coach left for another job. Not their coach of 17 years. Their coach of one year. Not their coach that won a National Championship and coached their best player. A coach that was too crazy for Al Davis. When Tennessee comes to Gainesville, you can't find Vols fans in the hotels because they drive to the tailgate spot and sleep there. Then they go out Friday and Saturday night, thinking a few swipes of Mitchum will freshen them up. 90% of the men have facial hair and half of those guys have the Dale Earnhardt mustache. (The Earnhardt mustache does not look cool as you drive your Chevy Cavalier to your job as manager of a Sunoco.) Accused UF fans of throwing cups of urine during the 1991 game, which was reportedly in response to UT fans allegedly chanting, "We don't kill our students," during the 1990 game in reference to the Gainesville student murders that August.
Non Lunatic: Between the campus body farm, Oak Ridge pollution and a coal ash spill, it is amazing that Tennessee fans are not more crazy. Also, Clay Travis' Dixieland Delight is a great book.
Make your pick and type in your comments.
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LSU also has the phone company connections
"HULU: An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy"
Driver of the "Cut Reggie Nelson" Bandwagon.
Winner of the 2010 Chad Pennington Award
I would say Tennessee fits Clays profile of a lunatic school the most
isolation/no other winning team in area – check(pretty much own the state)
historic success – check(somewhat)
low college degree % in state/region – check
To be fair to the Volunteers
They weren’t rioting in favor of Lane Kiffen leaving: they were rioting in favor of lynching Lane Kiffen for being a lying two-faced (expletive deleted). If you had a guy come in, talk like an overly arrogant smack-talking know-it-all universe-revolves-around-ME who’s gonna win y’all some titles, then have that guy get publicly embarrassed on a weekly basis, fail to win even the no-brainer games, then flee at the first chance of another school willing to unjustifiably waste millions more on him… c’mon admit it, you’d riot for a lynchin’ too.
The good thing about Spurrier compared to Kiffen? Spurrier WON. And Ole Ball Coach stayed long enough to win some SEC titles and even play for a national title or two before leaving on amicable terms for an ill-advised NFL job.
I’m surprised you don’t have Alabama or Auburn fans on this list. I know their lunacy is reserved mostly for each other, but they ain’t got much love for UF either.
If there are any lunatic fans, I’d have to go with Kentucky football fans. They seem to think their team might actually win sooner or later.
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Tennessee
Couldnt possibly choose another school after that arument for them. I was at the Ronald Mcdonald All Star basketball game for my area last weekend and there was a Tennessee fan there, he was completely decked out in Vols gear and sported a very nice looking mustache to boot. If i had to pick a runner up it would definately be Georgia, have you guys ever seen that video on youtube of the skinny georgia fan painted white? awesome look it up the kid is out of his mind. Plus one of my friends cousins goes there and he said if you wear orange and blue on campus you get punched in the face, they hate us more than anything there.
by gatorempire127 on Mar 30, 2010 11:15 AM EDT reply actions
Great piece and a tough choice, for me at least....
I went back and forth between UT and LSU but eventually settled on the Vols. I think their clothing is what put me over the top. Seeing folks dressed head to toe in that nasty creamsicle orange on game day is unparalled. They also have a ridiculous number of fans who are neither alumni of UT nor of any other college (or probably high school for that matter), but they somehow manage to scratch together enough dough to keep their UT tickets every year. Non-lunatic points should also go to UT because of the Vol Navy, as that is one of the coolest traditions in the SEC.
Additional lunatic points should go to LSU for having 95k in the stadium on gameday, plus another 50k OUTSIDE the stadium eating, drinking and just “wanting to be near the stadium” during big games. THAT, my friends, is the definition of a lunatic.
I am surprised at the Auburn omission as well. I guess since we no longer play them annually, it loses some luster. But those guys are wack. The last time I was there (our sole 2008 loss) we spotted a random grocery cart in the amphitheater tailgating area with a dry-erase board on the front that read “Gator girls got the clap.”
I love the idea of off-season rankings of our opponents to pass the time though….we need to have “Best Road Trip” “Best Tailgating” and “Best Nightlife” lists. I’ve now been to games at 9 of the 12 SEC schools and will be visiting Vandy this fall, leaving only Starkville and Fayetteville. I know, saving the best for last. Blah.
I had to pick the vols
While I have had many up close and personal wack moments with fans of almost every rival team, I live in close proximity to some of the most rabid UT fans alive. We have been going at it for thirty years and the battle rages on. I congratulate them annually on getting a mudhole stomped in their asses by the best damn team in the country. Somehow they find the courage each fall to talk more shit than a Chinese radio about how things are going to be different this year. Die hard rocky flop losers….
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