I hesitate to even post this here since we're all still licking our wounds but I made my first trip to Gainesville this weekend and it was awesome. I've heard all sorts of horror stories all my life about visiting fan treatment at BHG, but we interacted with a lot of UF fans both before and after the game and they were all very pleasant. We talked to different UF fans on the way back to the car after the game and had nice chats with all. Everyone was very complimentary, admitted that UF was extremely lucky to win the game, etc. (There was the 10-year-old boy who did the Gator chomp in my face.
)
Florida's pregame traditions pale in comparison to ours. I was very surprised at how few people showed up for the Gator Walk. The scene around the immediate stadium was a big fat meh. I was surprised after the game to hear someone say the atmosphere felt like UF/UT games in the '90s. I wasn't feeling much of anything. The Pride of the Sunshine's pregame routine doesn't even come close to measuring up to the Pride of the Southland's.
I really liked the stadium and campus layout though. The residential scene right up to the edge of the stadium with all the tailgating under the moss-laden trees was a pretty cool scene.
Even at its loudest, BHG can't compare with Neyland in terms of noise. However, there were a lot of things I liked about the gameday experience. When other sports teams are introduced during timeouts (golf, tennis, etc.), there was actually a huge roar from the crowd, rather than polite clapping like you get at Neyland. And the scene after the game was spectacular. I still have the sound of 90,000 fans chanting "It's Great To Be A Florida Gator" as they filed out of the stadium ringing in my ears. It took probably 15 minutes to get through the concourse and onto the street, and it was one constant chant the entire time as everyone was filing out. I've never seen anything to compare in Neyland, even after a big win.
All in all, Florida was probably my favorite gameday visit in the SEC, although I haven't been to them all. (I hope to get to TAMU and still need to go to The Grove.) I'll definitely be back...hopefully in 2017.
