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Men's Basketball
Gators net championship
April 4, 2006 By Louis Anastasis Independent Florida Alligator Gainesville, FL (CSTV U-WIRE) -- This was an insane asylum, a pinball machine hurtling UF fans into Sidney Green, into Tito Horford, into David Lee. Sweat flew as bodies grinded together like a party held in a bathtub overflowing with molasses. You could barely breathe. And as lungs functioned at dangerously low levels, void of oxygen and cramped by screaming, you could feel that no one cared. For the first time in school history, the Gators were crowned NCAA basketball champions, 73-57, here in the RCA Dome on Monday night. "The Gator boys are hot right now -- too hot," boasted Joakim Noah amid other indiscernible screams and yammerings at center court. "We're going back to Gainesville, and we're going to drink some real wine when we get there."
At center court, they dogpiled. Like little kids wading through imaginary mud, they formed one cluster of happiness, of exuberance, of the sheer joy involved with making history. Corey Brewer and Al Horford were the outcasts -- more like the musical group than someone who is shunned. They hopped away from the mayhem, posturing, singing, gesturing. Brewer threw two arms up toward the heavens, facing the crowd with one gargantuan "the field goal is good" sign. "I don't think this is the NIT," Brewer said, screaming louder than ever heard before. "We're the best team in the nation." Soon, Noah climbed back onto shore, treaded through happy fans, his eyes focusing on his family that had brought him so far. He embraced his father, Yannick. He exchanged smiles with his mother, Cecilia Rodhe. Then, at his pinnacle of nirvana, he sought to hug his sister, Yelena. "This may sound strange, but I just think we're very, very blessed," Yannick said, wiping away a smidgen of a tear beneath his UV3 sunglasses. They muttered some words, Noah and his sophomore bunch, during their first preseason media opportunity. They were quiet phrases that became forgotten, and that now are deafening. "I feel like we're going to surprise a lot of people," prophesized Brewer in October. Noah delved further into that realm. "I'm hungry to prove to the world that we're ready to play the best," he said. That reversed a popular outlook that had UF being sucked into the vacuum left by David Lee, Anthony Roberson and Matt Walsh, who all bolted for the NBA after last season. For the media and fans, UF's words fell by the wayside. But for the players, the words were their inspiration, their confidence yearning for something almost unreachable. Now, they have crushed all barriers of logical thought. Even the former Gators joined the new inner circle. "This is absolutely incredible," Lee said. UCLA legends Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar witnessed this live, then performed an about-face, floating off into the exits and out of the stadium, onto planes and into the jet stream. "This is the best day of my life," said UF senior Larry Page, who made the trip as part of an eight-fan group. "It's better than prom. It's better than anything in high school. It's better than getting accepted into college." And at the epicenter of Gators lore is UF coach Billy Donovan. Some said he could only recruit while others called him overrated. "It's great for our kids and for our program," Donovan said. "But I'm just a small part of it." Let a father, after all this, do the talking. "I had a funny feeling all week, even when he wasn't talking, that there was a quiet confidence about the coaches," said Donovan's father, Bill. And then, after it all ended, two strands of the confetti hung from the rafters. One was orange. One was blue. One could represent football. One could signify basketball -- the story of a program that has finally arrived. (C) 2006 Independent Florida Alligator via CSTV U-WIRE
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