Kickoff Inside
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INSIDE ◗ How Florida football affects Gainesville’s economy, pg. 2. ◗ Seniors John Brantley and Deonte Thompson said they have no regrets as their Florida careers wind down Saturday in The Swamp against Florida State, pg. 3. KICKOFF ◗ The Gators lack leaders, and that’s a problem, pg. 3. KICKOFF Editor Tom Green . Assistant Editor Matt Watts . Cover Illustration Dana Burke and Matt Watts Alligator . Wednesday, November 23, 2011 Attendance, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Year Overall Per Game 2007-10* (28 games) 2,534,527 90,518.82 2011** (6 games) 532,631 88,771.83 The Paper Trail * Florida has ranked 8th or 9th in attendance each year. ** If substituted for any of those other four years, Florida’s national attendance ranking would not be affected. Even in down year, UF football boosts local businesses Source: Gatorzone.com In 2009, home football games support has not fallen off dramati- TYLER JETT Alligator Staff Alligator Staff Writer generated about $106 million in cally: average attendance has only for sale. A group of fi ve fans walk are twice as productive as any other itable as next week’s, general man- the economy, according to a study dropped 2 percent compared with by UF’s Institute of Food and Agri- the previous two seasons. Some by. Nobody takes the bait. day. ager Damon Bailey says. Even so, t the corner of University “Too many motherf***** seats Jacquelyn’s back is to 101 Can- the price for a slice is 50 cents more Avenue and NW 13th Street, cultural Sciences. Football doesn’t business owners say the team’s per- create nearly as much money as the formance isn’t as important as the today,” says an old white man in tina, where an outdoor tailgate with than a normal day, and sales usu- inside the Holiday Inn, on calf-high tube socks, muddy New seven bars, a stage and a sound sys- ally double. Aa lime green chair in the lobby, sits university’s healthcare services or time of the game — Florida hasn’t Balances and a trucker hat. tem has been set up — home games The sidewalk at midtown is Kim Layton, class of ’85. Kim is a day-to-day operations do, both of played a primetime home game “I still got six,” a bulky black pay the bills for the whole year, bar- crowded. Fans, scalpers and ven- former military brat, moved around which generate north of $2 billion since its Oct. 1 clash with Alabama. man in dreadlocks and sunglasses tender Tyler Fawbush says. dors are walking toward the sta- a lot as a kid, came to UF in part be- annually. But those things go on This Saturday’s game kicks off at 7 replies. Dee Dee Ricks, class of ’90 and the dium. cause no one knew her. She stayed all year. Football is for seven week- p.m. Three blocks over, at the Florida subject of a recent HBO documen- Past XS, past Gator City, past in town 13 years. ends. But regardless of the time, re- Book Store across from Keene-Flint tary, is at the entrance promoting a Dunkin Donuts and another mer- Now, she works as a paralegal The team’s 6-5 record has sus- gardless of Florida’s record, regard- Hall, DJ Eff-150 from 100.5 The Buzz cancer awareness non-profi t when a chandise tent and the St. Augus- outside Atlanta, but she owns sea- pended interest and, to a degree, less of the attendance drop and fan is roasting Furman fans from atop woman in a gray Gators sweatshirt tine’s Church, where the Catholic son tickets. She is in Gainesville to- sales, though the extent of that af- expectations and the opponent, the store’s overhang while “Can’t approaches her. The woman is talk- Gators Student Ministries are sell- day to see Florida play Furman with fect is only subjective. game days are still better than any Stop” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers ing and laughing and nodding her ing hats and T-shirts and hoodies — her husband, Skip, and another cou- Early afternoon games lead to other Saturday. plays. head all at once. She recognizes Dee “Real Champions Pray!” ple. Last night, they ate at Leonar- less money, as do opponents from . Fridays on game weekends are Dee from TV. Past a tent selling Italian sausage, do’s Pizza. They also shopped at the college football’s cellar. If Florida twice as profi table as on other week- On the other side of NW 17th polish sausage, cheesesteaks. Past UF Bookstore in the Reitz Union. is playing at noon, a lot of fans will ends, assistant store manager Taryn Street, UF Plaza looks like a mar- Lulu’s Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade Kim shopped for her brother, drive to and from Gainesville on It is a little after 10 a.m., and Emswiler says, Sundays three times ket. Gator Shop has erected a pair booth. Past the eight-story condo Scott, an alumnus and a Phi Delta Saturday rather than stay at a ho- while Kim chats in the Holiday Inn as much. Saturdays, of course, are of tents covering its merchandise: project still under construction. Past Theta. Her sister, Tamara, was a tel, which often demands customers lobby, Troop 614 Scoutmaster Jason the busiest days. sweatshirts, T-shirts, hats, license the Delta Upsilon house and Uni- Delta Delta Delta. Kim was a Phi pay for two nights, says John Prich- Chamberlain directs cars into the I n plates, lanyards. The works. versity Lutheran. Mu. She and Skip picked up car dec- er, tourism development director open t h e At the Copper Monkey tent, As the game draws closer, scalp- orations, shirts and Christmas orna- for Alachua County Visitors and lot on You gotta come down and see all the park- employees are setting up six tables ers become desperate — doesn’t ments. Every time she is in town, Convention Bureau. t h e old buildings and feel connected to ing lot while a sign advertises cheeseburg- anyone want this ticket? Kim shops. The Swamp Restaurant saw sig- other to the ers and fries and liquor and Jell-O “You’ve got to,” she says. nifi cantly less customers for last s i d e the school. We’re still connected. l e f t , shots and beer. Kim, 48, is a pale woman with Saturday’s 1 p.m. game than it o f “ B e t h In front of Relish stands a bou- glasses and short, auburn hair. She normally does, offi ce manager Is- 1 3 t h Kim Layton R o m a n o quet of 136 beer cans: Heineken, Next to the Pi Kappa Alpha house, is wearing a blue-and-white check- rael Mendez said. And of 24 hotels Street. Chamberlain and a group class of ‘85 and her Bud Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Stella facing Ben Hill Griffi n Stadium, inside ered button down with a small called, including the Holiday Inn, of volunteers in matching orange only the 36-room Reitz Union Hotel shirts are selling spots for $20 each, ”mother, Sue Artois. the white tent with fi ve Gators fl ags on Gators logo on the chest. Montgom- “It’s like a parking lot party,” top, Henry Cummings watches fans “You gotta come down and see was booked 10 days before the FSU with proceeds going to the local boy ery, sit behind three tables display- Gator Shop co-owner Joi Bass says. shop. He has been here since 8 a.m. all the old buildings and feel con- game. scouts chapter. On an average game ing homemade beaded earrings, Even with a bad team, alumni still Cummings, 59, is a tall black gentle- nected to the school. We’re still con- Still, football season is busier day, they sell 450 spots. necklaces and bracelets. shop because they can’t fi nd Florida man with a gray goatee. He ran track nected.” than any other time. Among those Going west on University Ave- On the other side of the lot, Jac- gear back home, she says. at Florida from 1971-74, and he has Those ties, pulling thousands 24 hotels, the median cost for a room nue, about 10 people pace back and quelyn Brooks sits at a register A couple doors down, about 25 been working at Jacksonville-based of alumni back to Gainesville for with two beds for Saturday’s game forth for three blocks, tickets held holding Jo Jo, her black Jack Russell people are drinking in the Salty Dog Sports Mania for fi ve years. a handful of weekends each year, against Florida State is $189 — an above their heads. Open-market Terrier-Chihuahua mix. Jacquelyn Saloon. An hour from now, the place He will keep the portable store provide a boost to local businesses, 82 percent hike from a non-football scalping laws have been in place in had never sold her dresses, skirts will be more crowded. An hour ear- open for about two hours after Satur- even when the economy is down, weekend. Florida since 2006. Standing in front and hair berets on game days before lier, the doors had just opened and day’s game. He usually does. even when the Gators are worse. And even though sellouts have of the Gator Wesley Center, two been inconsistent this year, fan men hold signs advertising tickets this season, and she says Saturdays general manager Keith Singleton Like most vendors, though, he is was confused.