The greatest rivalries in sports: Yankees vs. Redsox. Redskins vs. Cowboys. Cubs vs. Cardinals. Michigan vs. Ohio State. Army vs. Navy. Lakers vs. Celtics. Ravens vs. Steelers. Ali vs. Frazer.
The greatest rivalry, period: The University of Florida vs. Florida State University.
I was born and raised to be a Gator fan in Seminole country. No, I wasn’t born and raised in Tallahassee, but it is widely known that the west of Tallahassee is Seminole country, and everything east is Gator country. I was born into a family of avid sports fans, everything from football, baseball, basketball and even hockey. Most of the teams my family rooted for (which extends out beyond my intermediate family) we either agreed on one team or we didn’t mind the opposing team someone else preferred. But when it comes down to college sports, especially football, we don’t agree. Most of my family is made of Seminole fans with the exception of few. My father and I have always been known to be the black sheep of the family, simply because we’re the only Gator fans.
College football is treated almost like religion here in the South, and it’s fair to say my family treats it just that way, making it more than just a game. We get very emotional and almost psychotic about the games, to the point where we won’t talk to each other for a while if something doesn’t go our way or if someone says something nasty about the other team. So Thanksgiving and Christmas can be either very pleasant or very quiet because they typically are the end of the football season.
Since I was pretty much raised to be a hater of all things Florida State, going to an FSU campus to earn a degree was going to be a very testing thing for the Gator in me. After finishing my A.A. degree with Gulf Coast State College I wanted to further my education and stay close to home, so my best option was to attend classes at FSU Panama City. Needless to say my pride was taking a huge hit and I was slowly being shunned by my father. Kidding only a little.
On the day of orientation I decided to make my presence known. I sported my favorite University of Florida T-shirt that simply said, “Friends don’t let friends go to FSU,” while wearing a Gator hat and rocking out in some orange and blue sneakers. The orientation dragged on for what seemed like an eternity — my arrogant attitude probably didn’t help — but then I happened to meet a fellow Gator fan who was just as uneasy about coming to school here as me. We chatted for a little while sitting in the financial aid office, debating how we were going to do the upcoming football season and making snarky comments about Florida State. We eventually parted ways, never to see each other on campus again.
At the end of it all I wound up in a computer room filled with a bunch of other first timers like myself looking to sign up for classes. I was astonished on how well I was treated and how helpful everyone who assisted me was. Never once did anyone make an ugly comment, or any comment for that matter, on my blatantly obnoxious attire. I was treated like everyone else.
My first semester at FSUPC came and went with hardly anyone commenting on my Gators outfits, notebooks and backpack that I just had to show off. And most of the “nasty” comments were coming from friends who were just picking on me, just like I picked on them for being Seminole fans. The professors were the ones I was mostly worried about, but even some of them were Gator fans or alumni themselves, which was really cool. But even if they weren’t, I was never mistreated m and my grades didn’t hinder on the fact that I was a Florida fan.
Even after the first semester I was still bitter towards the Seminole spirit at the university and on everyone around me.
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| A lone Gator fan is shown in the banner image for FSU Panama City's Academics webpage. |
The picture is the cover of the Academics homepage to the Florida State University Panama City website. If that was a Seminole fan doing that on a Florida homepage I can almost guarantee I would want to choke them out for being that obnoxious, but nobody said anything to me. They didn’t even bother to crop me out of the picture.
Now that two years have come and gone and my time at FSUPC is starting to dwindle. I am still amazed on how much fun I’ve had studying here while gaining a lot of new friends. Never did I imagine being treated so well by a bunch of people I was supposed to despise. The time I have spent here has truly opened my eyes to bigger and more important things other than some petty differences among football fans.
I think it’s safe to say if you’re a Gators fan or Hurricanes fan or any other fan other than the Seminoles, you won’t be treated any differently than anyone else at Florida State’s Panama City campus. Panama City is my home, and though I feel like the outsider sometimes here on campus, I still feel at home. That being said, I am not eager enough to push my luck on the main campus for fear of being wedgied or thrown in a trash can if I tried wearing my Florida attire. Although I am not any closer to being a fan of the university or of any the sports teams, I do have a little more respect for them than I did a few years ago, which is saying a lot coming from me.
— Cory Morris
Four Crossed Logs intern
professional communication major
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