Stand up if you don't like it!

Aside from the horrible offensive play on the field last Saturday, there was some other highly annoying action in the Swamp during the game.  It involved a cop, a fan who dared to stand, and (I think) some crotchety old folks.

We sit on the alumni side of the stadium, which is nice for several reasons, including the fact that you can occasionally sit down (absolutely not an option on the student side).  On the student side, you stand for the entire game, whether you like it or not.  On the alumni side, you stand when you want to (i.e., when the Gators are tearing it up, and you can't help but get out of your seat and cheer) or when you need to (i.e., when the folks in front of you are standing, and you can't see over them - or when you're so outraged by the officiating/coaching/play that you need to stand up and tell those goofballs how to do their jobs - you get the picture).  It's nice not to have to stand all the time, but we often end up standing for most of the game anyway.  It's fun.  We're there to see the Gators play, and we're going to watch it on tv the next day anyway - if our hootin' and hollerin' keeps us from seeing every detail, so be it.  We'll catch it from the couch tomorrow.

And frankly, we believe that the Gators need us.  That's right.  If we're not there, yelling and standing and chomping and cheering, those boys are going to be fighting an uphill battle.  If we're not there and - God forbid - they lose, it'll surely be our fault.

So we were horrified when the usually-friendly cop who hangs out at the entrance of our section came down the aisle and told a fan to sit down.  Nevermind the fact that the play was at the opposite end of the field and everyone in the section blocking our view of the play was standing.  Nevermind that Addazio clearly needed all the help he could get, and that fan was probably just giving him some helpful suggestions.  Forget all of that.  This guy was at a football game, enjoying and contributing to the atmosphere, and there is no rule against standing in the Swamp!  The fan told the cop why he was standing (I can't see if I sit down, man!) and the cop still insisted that he sit.  Then the cop backed up a few rows and bird-dogged the fan - waiting for him to do any little thing that might give him a reason to take action. 

The General was watching this go down, and he stood up in support of the fan and in dismay at the game (and maybe also because the fan's girlfriend was practically naked, and the General wanted to preserve his view of her??), and yelled "That's right!  Stand up if you don't like it!"  I agree, General - at least about supporting the fan and being annoyed with the game.  But don't get thrown in the Swamp slammer - I'm not leaving my seat to come bail you out...unless you've got my bourbon in your pockets.

I did have to leave my seat, though, so I missed whatever happened to get the fan thrown out of his seat.  But from what I hear, the fan was ejected because he was annoying the old folks sitting behind him (no, the OG wasn't there!), and they goaded the cop into taking action.  Oh, the unjustice!  I was livid for the rest of the game.  Since I am a fixer, I decided to text the stadium security folks and tell them about it.  Not sure that accomplished anything (other than to put me on some sort of stadium-cop watch list), but it made me feel better. 

Moral of the story: Stand up if you don't like it (and even if you do like it) - but hand off the liquor before you do it.  You're about to get thrown in the slammer.