A Thanksgiving sports story that I have isn't exactly a single story that I remember way back when, but actually, is an accumulation of many years of Thanksgivings that revolve around watching a certain special football game that actually occurs only a couple days after Turkey Day. This game is, of course, the annual Florida State vs. Florida college football game. One of the biggest rivalry games in all of college football, and in the country, ranks right up there with the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn) and the heated Yankee's vs. Red Sox rivalry. Seeing as my parents are both Alumni, the watching of this game the Saturday after Thanksgiving has become a pretty steadfast tradition in our household. My parents both bleed Garnet and Gold, and over time, have influenced me heavily in my decision to go to FSU as well. I wouldn't have it any other way either. The battle of the Florida Schools is usually a very gritty game, with two sets of fan bases that hate each other passionately. It is no surprise that you will see fans going all out for this game, covering themselves in body paint and cheering on their school until their lungs cannot cheer any more. Sitting there watching those games on tv doesn't even inhibit my emotions from wanting FSU to win, to hating the refs for making countless boneheaded calls. That was the only option that I had for partaking in this game. That was, until this year.
Being a freshman at Florida State University has its ups and downs, but the positives outweigh the negatives by a long shot. One of these countless positives includes being able to attend all the home football games for free, just because I am a student here. Seeing as the Florida game was at home this year, I made sure that I was one of the first students to reserve a ticket online. I knew that attending this game would be hard, seeing as I would have to fly home from Connecticut a day early and probably miss the first quarter. This did not stop me from trying to pursue my dream of attending this awesome game, and I was able to get there in a timely fashion. To my dismay, however, I arrived to a dead Doak Campell Stadium, with the Gators leading the game 13-0. As the second half rolled around, you could feel the electricity begin to fill the stands once more. FSU scored 20 unanswered points after being shut out for the first half, and the future was looking bright for all of us fans and the players on the field. I could not believe that I was actually at this game, and that I was about to watch my own college team beat the Gators in person. As everyone already knows, however, my dreams quickly faded as my Seminoles began to falter and opened up the door for the Gators to score 24 more points in less than two quarters, while all we the fans could do was watch, horrified. As the game came to a bitter close, my emotions were filled with hate and anger at the world, and especially the population of Gainesville. This would be a Thanksgiving to remember for sure, but hopefully, next year would be one to remember for all of the right reasons.
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