So, whats a betting Bulldawg to do when faced with choosing a team for the Championship game? Put her chips in the safe pile and win a modest profit with the majority on Ohio State? Or stick to her gut's quiet reminder that any under-appreciated team in the SEC (the best conference in the nation, mind you) stands a great chance at taking home glory?
How 'bout if that SEC team just happens to be a sworn nemesis?
At the start of the game, Id planned to put my loyalty with my money and root for the Buckeyes, hoping to see a couple beers worth of satisfaction in cash. This bowl season is the first that I'd participated in a pool and, shockingly enough, had a chance of profiting if all went as expected by the "experts." [pah]
However, that all changed within the first 30 seconds of the game and Ohio State's blink-and-you-missed-it touchdown. It suddenly wasn't about money anymore; I found myself getting quite offended at the idea of Florida getting embarassed out there. I mean, NO ONE is allowed to run over "MY SEC" like that! And there it was, out nowhere: my unexpected alliance with Florida.
I realize now that what I thought was a lifetime grudge against all things chomping and swamping related is nothing more than intense sibling rivalry. Here we are, growing up together, comparing our success and defeat to each other, poking each other across the border (a line drawn much like in the backseat of the road-tripping station wagon), and ruffing each other up in our own backyard. Ok, I'll go ahead and admit that we've been Florida's personal whipping boy -- the younger, misunderstood brother -- for the better half of the decade; I guess thats what makes my sudden alliance such a bitter pill to swallow.
Whatever. There I was on Monday night, watching in envy as our counterpart answered that first Ohio State touchdown with an all-out, all-game beatdown. From somewhere deep in me came a swell of pride. It was for them, for us, and for the SEC as a whole (ok, so yea, they're tromping all over the field happens to make us look better). We may beat each other up all season, and the best teams may take shocking losses from the worst, but by no means does that equate to a weak conference. Out here on southern football fields, there's more than just a game being played. National rankings come second-thought to the bragging rights at home, the pride over your neighbors and the people you grew up wrestling over the last bowl of Cap'n Crunch with. At a time like this, those feelings of hate, those years of fighting are all bygones. When the #1 bully is looking to manhandle, as expected, one of your own flesh and blood, you stand defensive and united behind your better-seasoned half -- no matter what dirty names they called you at last night's dinner table.
Granted, there's not much I could do to support from the booth and through the big screen at Twisted Taco, but the point is this: watching #1 and #2 go head to head made me realize how great it is to be part of the SEC. I'll still always hate the Gators and will probably forget said alliance no sooner than I finish writing this blog. BUT, take heed, I will remain proud of them for hushing the nay-sayers, the critics that thought a one-loss team couldn't stand a chance, and the rest of the country who doesn't understand our amazing conference FULL of bitter rivalries. So take notice, ESPN: we are the best conference out there and its not because our best teams go undefeated every season.
The Gators not only stood a chance -- they took that chance, smashed its odds, and handed over in return a no-mercy blood-bath to the Buckeyes. Go Gators! And Long Live SEC Football, yo.
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