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Florida football student ticket deadline extended: UF students now have until June 22, next Friday, the end of the Summer A term, to decide whether or not they will plunk down the $111 (it's $105 plus fees) for tickets to seven home football games this fall. The deadline has now been extended twice. This has been the cause of much angst on my Twitter and Facebook feeds; one of my friends' statuses lamenting this has a comment calling it the "shame of a (Gator) nation."
I don't know what exactly to blame this on. Most simply, it's probably a combination of student fans being spoiled — remember, most students today were born between 1990 and 1994, and thus likely think Florida should compete for a national title by divine Tebowian right or something — and money being tight as Bright Futures funds and open jobs dwindle while tuition soars. But there are also certainly students who think they'll beat the system by getting cheaper tickets on Craigslist or on University before the games, or by flipping cheap tickets to make a profit, and that, along with diminished demand, creates a sense of limitless supply.
I can't really fault those kids for doing that, except to point out that the real best way to do that is to sell your own student tickets to the games you don't want to go to and defray the costs of $15 tickets that way. But I can shake my heads at them: You really aren't going to bother getting tickets that, individually, cost you about what you will spend on a good Thursday night out? Not going to try to sit with your friends legally? Not going to pay a price that is more than fair for the best experience Gainesville has to offer? I hope you don't end up complaining about how Gators fans are the worst; that'd be calling the kettle worst.
If you have the money to buy student tickets and you're a Gators fan, you should head to the Gator Ticket Office. If you're not, you should feel free to get in touch, because I'm curious about your story.
College World Series link roundup: Florida plays South Carolina at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, instant replay is in effect, and the last link is to a neat little storehouse of information. (GatorZone | Rachel George, Swamp Things / Orlando Sentinel | The Omaha World-Herald)
Florida basketball's non-conference games among nation's toughest: Four in the top-20 is a good ratio. (Jeff Goodman, CBS Sports)
Florida soccer announces 2012 schedule: It's hard. (GatorZone)
In case you wanted to read Phil Steele's thoughts on Florida in 2012: They're here in PDF form. (Phil Steele)
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