So, we lost.
We’re devastated, of course, but the truth is that the loss doesn’t directly impact our day-to-day lives. Today, we’re thrown back into the swirl of classes, looming finals and impending graduation dates. It’s more of the same, but something is different.
Actually, it’s us.
We’re different.
We’ve remembered what it’s like to be Gators, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, to join with thousands of our friends for a common cause.
Often, the Gator Nation seems like an abstract concept only used for those “Go write the great American novel” commercials. But after these past few weeks, we finally understand.
The Gator Nation is at Mother’s, where we sprayed drinks over the crowd and screamed along to “Another One Bites the Dust” after the Dayton game. It’s on our laptops, where we watched games on mute during lecture and bit our nails as the shot clock ticked. It’s in the high-fives we gave complete strangers wearing orange and blue at gas stations off I-75.
This year’s Gators were more than distant figureheads. Perhaps more than with football, the basketball players seemed accessible. They were in our classes, riding our buses and eating at the tables next to us in Gator Corner Dining Center.
All season, they were genuinely excited about their success, and that made us excited too. We read — and retweeted — their messages after each game. We saw them at 101 Cantina, wearing cut-down nets around their necks. We posed for Instagram selfies with them.
And so we rooted for them.
Patric Young, Will Yeguete, Casey Prather, Scottie Wilbekin — we say their names like we know them because in a way, we do. They’re Gators, and so are we.
On Saturday, Young was the last to leave the court because he was hugging each UConn player. If the purpose of sports is to connect people, then this year’s Gators men’s basketball team rocked it.
We won together, and we lost together.
Athletics may not have a hand in our daily routines, but they play an important role in uniting the university. For the first time in a long time, we felt like a team — all of us, Billy Donovan, Bernie Machen and the guy eating wings next to us at the bar. Although exams loomed and work persisted, basketball reminded us what a privilege it is to be a Florida Gator.
So, men’s basketball team: Thank you for what you did.
But more importantly, thank you for what you did to us.
[A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 4/7/2014 under the headline "In all kinds of weather: Thank you, Gators"]
