The biggest problem with the off-season is that you are so in need of anything Gator related that you jump on it with no mercy. Sometimes, it’s no big de-WHAT THE HELL! JIM CAPLE SAID GAINESVILLE DID NOT HAVE ONE OF THE TEN BEST SPORTS YEARS EVER! ANGERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
Gainesville, 2006-07: No matter which way you want to count it -- the basketball/football double-shot in 2006 or the football/basketball parlay in the 2006-07 school year, Gatorade never tasted more refreshing than when Florida won college's two major championships (Ohio State fans, however, may disagree). And if you want to get technical, the Gators won three titles in 365 days: their first hoops title on April 3, 2006; the BCS title on Jan. 8, 2007; and the hoops championship again on April 2, 2007.
Oh, but you did count it Jim! Three titles in 365 days is kind of a big deal. People know us.
I know Caple is a Boston apologist (he has Boston 07-08 as number 3, ignoring the Pats being the victim of the second greatest upset in NFL history), but here’s the list of schools to hold the National Championships in Basketball and Football at the same time.
1. Florida
Wait, here it is again.
1. Florida
Ohhhhhh! Really? Only Florida? And as someone who thought 2003-04 in Tampa was huge (Bucs win Super Bowl, Lightning win Stanley Cup), none of those championships made me cry. (Not that I cried after the Gators won the BCS title. No never. I’m always in control of my emotions. Although me screaming, “I WAS AT EXPO HALL!” when I saw the Stanley Cup was a little excessive.)
Nothing personal against Caple, but I think it’s going to take several years before people realize what Florida accomplished in 2006-07. Looking back, it will be like how we study the winners of the Triple Crown (Big Brown’s jockey called them, “freaks,” after losing the Belmont), or wonder how Williams hit .406 and DiMaggio hit in 56 consecutive games. At the time, maybe it didn’t register because Ohio State could have been the team with titles in both sports.
In the future, college programs will get bigger and badder, swallowing the landscape and preventing another George Mason or Hawaii from getting to the top. It’s possible for Texas or Michigan or UCLA to do what Florida did. But we can take some pride in knowing that it was Florida that had the luck and skill to do the unthinkable. All we ask is that people recognize that. Thanks!
