'Neath the Orange & Blue victorious!

Gator football kicks off on Saturday at noon. SEC football officially kicks off Thursday night with one great Gator leading his Gamecocks against Southern Miss. There's a lot of anticipation in the college football sphere this week as summer unofficially comes to an end, and our great fall pastime gets underway. Some say there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding this year's Florida team. New quarterback. New defensive coordinator. But for all the 'new', there's a lot of 'old'. Same old tunnel. Same old sideline. Same old 90,000+ crazy orange-and-blue clad fans. As the anticipation builds this week about what the upcoming season may hold, I've been reminiscing a bit about my Gator football past.

My brother took me to my first Florida game while he was in law school. It was was an early '90s homecoming game against Southern Miss. I vaguely remember sitting high up in the east stands in the freezing cold and rain. I have a slight memory of watching Danny Wuerffel, Ike Hilliard and Reidel Anthony pick apart the Kentucky defense. I remember screaming bloody murder against Peyton Manning in his final Florida-Tennessee game in 1997. 

Perhaps one of my most telling memories came a few short weeks into my freshman fall. Our country was still reeling from the horrible attacks of September 11th. There was a debate around campus of whether or not to cancel that Saturday's game against Tennessee. Should it be cancelled out of respect, or would that be letting them win for disrupting our normal behaviors. Back then, if you weren't a student season ticket holder, you had to camp out in line for tickets Thursday night for any available leftovers. While they decided to cancel the game, ticket camp out went on as planned. I remember getting back to my dorm room the next morning to an instant message on my computer from a high school classmate. He was in school at American and informed me that, while I was camping out for football tickets, he had to evacuate in the middle of the night due to a bomb threat. Talk about something that can really be a perspective-altering occurrence. 

Since my freshman year in 2001, I've followed this football team from Miami to Phoenix. I've sung 'We Are The Boys' in Knoxville, Columbia, Auburn, and Tallahassee. I've watched us roll over for the Tide. I've suffered through (and survived) Ron Zook. I've been a part of record-setting crowds at the Swamp, and known the peaceful stillness that comes from climbing up to the top of the Sunshine Seats on a crystal clear night. 

I recognize that to some, this may seem slightly obsessive - lending so much attention and credence to a football team. But that football team has provided a wonderful platform for some pretty awesome young men and role models. It's also, arguably, the most public representation of a wonderful university of which I'm proud to be a graduate. Turlington, Bryan, and Anderson Halls are filled with intelligent professors educating the next generation of teachers, lawyers, and CEOs. Doctors at Shands are healing the sick and discovering new cures. In a time of continued budget cuts and a lagging economy, excess revenue generated by the Athletic Department has provided the rest of the university with a bit of a financial-stabilizing cushion. 


So whether we go 9-4 or undefeated this season, I look forward to whatever it brings. It's one of my favorite times of year. And every Saturday, we'll be reminded that 'in all kinds of weather, we'll all stick together' - rain or shine, win or lose. Happy Football Season! Go Gators!

It's the FIRST amendment for a reason...

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..."

Well, I'm glad we cleared that up. If you've been half paying attention the last few weeks, you would think that the greatest threat to our country is at 45 Park Place, the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, and not salmonella-tainted eggs, a growing national debt, deplorable public education system, or stretched-way-too-thin national defense. The fact that this is even a subject worthy of discourse is embarrassing. I refuse to call it 'civil discourse' because it's been anything but. 

Newt Gingrich is drawing comparisons to the Holocaust. Sarah Palin is so sickened by it words don't even exist in the English language to express her disgust. Funny how, when sizing up potential SCOTUS nominees, they feel the need to call out anyone who's not a strict constructionist. But when it comes to actually honoring the letter and intent of the First Amendment, they want to apply it only to those who actually share their same religious beliefs. 

Right-wingers would argue that we shouldn't allow a mosque to be built since churches can't be built in Saudi Arabia. I kind of dig our republic (or at least the republic our founding fathers envisioned), and I'm not in any hurry to live in a theocracy. What was it that Jesus said about blessing those who persecute you? You can't hold up the Statue of Liberty, with the inscription "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free", as a symbol of freedom and then tell someone you won't respect their right to protection under the First Amendment. As Keith Olbermann so eloquently pointed out , one pretense under which we went to war in Iraq was to liberate the Iraqi people - Muslims - the very religious denomination some are protesting against.

You can question the judgement of whether Ground Zero is an appropriate venue for the community center. But what you can't question is the right that exists to build it there. It's also wrong to cast all Islamic people as terrorists. Would I want someone to cast me in the same light as a member of the KKK simply because both parties claim to be Christian. Yes, Christians were killed on September 11th. But, so were Jews, Buddhists, atheists, and even Muslims. So, instead of waging a fierce battle over something that should be a complete non-issue, shouldn't we be celebrating the fact that we live in a country that values different cultural, racial, and religious heritages - or at least I thought we did.

Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Just another manic Monday...

I keep thinking 'wow, I haven't posted anything in a while' and 'I really need to sit down and write my pilgrimage wrap up'. Unfortunately, I feel like I really haven't had a whole lot of true down time since we got back (even though it was about a month ago!) So here's a brief recap of what's been going on in the life of SKJ recently...

• The last weekend of July was Camp Alpha Nu, our annual alumnae weekend at 1152 E. Panhellenic helping get the Phi Mu Gators ready for fall recruitment. It was great to be back at the house and see all the wonderful renovations that have been done, and more importantly, see some of my sisters I don't get to see very often. Recruitment starts this week, so, good luck girls!
• Last week was our annual family week at Kanuga. I know I just spent a week and a half in Italy a month ago, but there's something about a truly relaxing vacation. Quality time with the ones I love most, waking up to the bugle for breakfast every morning, reading a book I've been wanting to read for months, temps about 10 degrees cooler than the Coastal Empire, and napping through afternoon thunder showers. Now that's a vacation!
• And last, but certainly not least, this past weekend I had the incredible honor of becoming Lila Elise's godmother! When I pledged Phi Mu, I knew I would make friends for life, but as I sat there watching our Round 3 video, it was hard to look far into the future to see what your sisters will mean to you down the road. Fast forward nine years, I was a bridesmaid in Kate's wedding, we've shared lots of laughs and tears along the way, and now I'm her daughter's godmother. I can't wait to see what a lovely young woman Lila will grow up to be, and I am so thankful for such a wonderful big sister (and big brother-in-law)!

Other than that, I want to pull my hair out on an almost daily basis at the office. I have to go to W-S next week, and while I'm not looking forward to sitting in a meeting all day, I will get to see some friends from the LDP. Oh, and just in case you're counting down, only 18 days 'til kickoff...