I want to apologize. There's been something eating away at me, and I have to get it off my chest.
Gators football fans, I'm sorry. I've committed what I believe to be a sin against our football traditions we hold so dear. Whoa, this is going to be hard to get out.
I listed my UF-Florida State University football ticket in the Facebook Marketplace and tried to sell it for more than ,70.
I received various offers with prices ranging from ,50 to ,65, but I denied them. I told interested, desperate buyers someone already offered me ,70, and my ticket required more than a measly ,50.
I didn't actually use the word measly, but you get the point. I acted like a price-gouging jerk. Just not jerky enough to use the word measly.
I kept this charade up for about a week until I came to my true football-fan senses. Initially, I decided not to sell my ticket to any friends because I wanted money. I wanted Big Money.
One of my friends contacted me in need of a ticket, and at first I hesitated. I mean, I can't buy food or clothes with this so-called friendship or fan devotion.
But then my sister called me with disturbing news that changed my outlook. Apparently, my dog, who had been my loyal, loving pet for years, was sick with pneumonia and needed emergency veterinary care.
Unfortunately, my parents were on an airplane and therefore could not be reached to pay the ,700 deposit in hospital fees required to admit my sick and possibly dying dog.
The vet refused to admit my dog, whom she said was in imminent danger, unless my sister and I found a way to pay the fee. Dr. Cruella de Vil, as I will refer to the vet, forced my sister and me to call our every relative to scrape together the money. She didn't want to save my dog. She just wanted to pay for her new fur coat.
I realize finding a connection between my pneumonia-stricken dog and our football team may be a stretch, but after this experience, I saw the orange-and-blue light.
And what about those destitute Hannah Montana fans? Those kids just want to see their favorite Disney pop star/Billy Ray Cyrus' daughter bop around to annoyingly infectious, faux-meaningful bubblegum songs. Disney concerts are supposed to bring happiness to children, not inspire lawsuits on behalf of heartbroken kids. It will cost you about ,500 to bring your kids to a non-cracked-out pop star's concert.
I started to see ticketless fans as a bunch of poor, wide-eyed, hopeful kids just trying to help their team, which is down on its luck - a team that recently lost its chances to play in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
Our job as fans is to support our team, not try and rip off our fellow fans. We're supposed to be loyal because the Gators have done nothing but fight for us, despite all the hardships the team has endured.
Though some of us may be looking to score some big bucks on our tickets for this monumental game, we, the lucky ones who won a spot in the lottery, should think of why we bought the tickets in the first place.
Now that I think of it, some of us probably bought tickets to scalp them. So scalpers and price-gougers, I beg you, give students a break. I sold my ticket for face value to my devoted Gators-fan friend. I know it's what Tim Tebow would have wanted.
Stephanie Rosenberg is a junior majoring in journalism. Her column usually appears on Thursdays.
