It's that time of year again, folks.
The time when former Gainesville residents and UF students come home for a football game and celebrate, well, homecoming.
Except it's no more of a homecoming than any other weekend. For every single Gators game in The Swamp, thousands of former scholars and locals jam the city.
So something is a bit off with the word "homecoming" applying to just this game.
But there's something else that bothers me more about these yearly festivities: Gator Growl being billed as a pep rally.
Don't get me wrong - Gator Growl is an event where a good time can be had by all. There's singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, a professional musical act and - my favorite part - the hit-or-miss comedy videos Florida Blue Key comes up with. I've got my ticket for tonight's affair.
But a pep rally? Do the Gators really need a pep rally?
The team didn't hold a pep rally before the Miami game on Sept. 6, and the fans knew just fine to cheer and scream at the event.
No giant pep rally was held for the LSU game two weekends ago, and The Swamp was as loud as I've heard it in four years.
Fans do not need to be brought together to chant "It's great to be a Florida Gator" for three hours to know when a big game is approaching. Fans don't need an excuse to cheer for Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. Fans also don't need an excuse to boo guys like Kentucky's Mike Hartline and Corey Peters.
If the contest is a big deal, the fans won't let their butts touch metal bleachers for three straight hours.
This is one of the largest college football stadiums and fan bases in the country. The fans pay enough attention to know when to cheer and when to be quiet.
I can understand holding a pep rally for a professional sporting event, where members of the fan base are so disconnected from each other - and so much less concerned with the team - that they need to be instructed on third-down etiquette.
But the people flocking to Gainesville on a weekly basis all know each other and care tremendously about the team. A pep rally is not necessary.
Calling Gator Growl a pep rally for a game as meaningless in the grand scheme as Kentucky seems a tad silly. Maybe that's part of the problem. For all 21 UF homecoming games I've been alive for, the Gators' opponent has been ranked four times: No 9. LSU in 2006, No. 21 South Carolina in 2003, No. 12 LSU in 1996 and No. 9 Auburn in 1988. Other than those three, there is significantly less pep to rally for your average UF homecoming game.
The only rationale for calling Gator Growl a pep rally I can think of is that the players think of it that way. But they more than anyone don't need chanting and cheering to get excited about a football game. I got the impression a few weeks ago that most of the men's basketball players didn't care that Midnight Madness is being skipped again this year.
So keep Gator Growl. But let's call it what it is - one heck of a show - instead of what it isn't: a pep rally.
