Come this weekend, when Georgia nation waltzes into Jacksonville donning its Saturday best, someone will undoubtedly utter the phrase: "Gators fans wear jean shorts."
Every week throughout the Southeastern Conference, Gators fans are given a bad rap for wearing jean shorts.
So we at the alligatorSports Brand Picks Column decided to find out how this quirky saying got its start.
Leave it to a Bulldogs fan to act as the fashion police at a football game.
Kevin Davis, now a lawyer for Scarborough, Hill and Rugh in Tampa, was a sophomore at Georgia when he attended the 1997 Florida-Georgia game in Jacksonville.
As Davis tells it, he and his friend were walking into the stadium expecting the Bulldogs to lose to the defending national champion Gators, who had defeated Georgia the previous seven straight years.
BBasically some redneck Florida fan wearing jean shorts said we were Gator bait and started doing the Gator Chomp,C Davis said. BI just yelled at him, 'Gators wear jean shorts!?C
Word spread and soon the Georgia student section started chanting the phrase, forever changing the perception of proper game-day attire.
Davis ventured that 35 percent of Gators fans attend games in jorts but clarified that it?s perfectly acceptable for females to don the denim.
BIt?s the guys that wear the jean shorts - they look like clowns,C Davis said.
So now that we have established the dos and don?ts, what?s so bad about jorts?
BWhat?s good about them?C Davis said. BI?m not a fashion guru, but I don?t think they?ve ever been in style. They?re ugly.C
Maybe Davis should tell that to some of his fellow Bulldogs fans.
If the rest of the SEC assumed UF was the only school to have fans show up in jorts, search no further than the ironclad proof available on Facebook. The group BGeorgia fans wear jean shortsC clearly depicts Bulldogs fans wearing the incriminating evidence, but Davis was quick to defend the Bulldog nation?s integrity.
BI think the true fans won?t wear jean shorts,C Davis said. BI will admit there are some rednecks in the state of Georgia. I mean, Jeff Foxworthy is from there. I doubt the Georgia fans that wear jean shorts actually attended the university.C
With UF so heavily favored to win the game Saturday, one has to wonder: If Tim Tebow and Co. showed up in jean shorts sans pads, could they still best the Bulldogs?
BThey?d probably get strawberries,C Davis said. BIt?d probably be pretty uncomfortable. I don?t think regulation will allow them to wear jean shorts.C
One could dare to dream.
Now, on to the picks!
Leading off with a 42-28 record is Brian BIt?s my life?s ambition to become Chris Rainey?s jogging buddyC Steele, who wants to be the juicy meat in a Pouncey sandwich.
Batting second with a 40-30 record is Bryan BI can?t tell, they look like smudgesC Jones, who is busy sleeping after working his butt off this week, as usual.
In third at 39-31 is Jenna BI want to go skinny dipping in a vat of ranch dressingC Marina, who, after a forgettable sexual harassment scandal, is abandoning Alligator road trips for the rest of the year.
In dead-ass last place with a piss-poor record of 37-33 is Mike BStuzin Hall is my favorite campus hangoutC McCall, who, along with every other East Carolina fan in Florida, is holding a candlelight vigil in honor of David Garrard. It?s going to be a lonely night for both of them.
Also in last is Nick BI am the most dedicated student sports writer in the countryC Zaccardi, who actually makes that claim on his résumé cover letters. But we don?t think the most dedicated student sports writer would mistake a picture of Steve Spurrier in our office for Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino.
| BJ | JM | MM | BS | NZ | KD | |
| USC-Ore | Ore | USC | Ore | USC | USC | USC |
| S. Car-Tenn | S.Car | S.Car | S.Car | Tenn | Tenn | Tenn |
| Cal-Ariz.St. | Cal | Cal | Cal | Cal | Cal | Cal |
| UCF-S.Miss | S.Miss | UCF | S.Miss | UCF | UCF | UCF |
| OSU-PSU | OSU | PSU | PSU | PSU | OSU | OSU |
| USF-UCONN | USF | USF | USF | USF | USF | USF |
| WVU-Rut | WVU | WVU | WVU | WVU | Rut | WVU |
| MSU-Iowa | MSU | MSU | MSU | Iowa | Iowa | Iowa |
| Kan-TAMU | TAMU | KAN | Kan | TAMU | TAMU | Kan |
UF-UGA BJ: UF 35-24; JM: 30-21; MM: UF 31-17; BS: UF 34-21; NZ: UF 38-23; KD: UGA 21-17
