Gainesville in September is a physical experience: the heat sits on the town like a wet towel, and 90,000 people voluntarily gather in it to scream for four hours. The stadium's nickname makes no attempt to sell you otherwise — Steve Spurrier called it the Swamp because 'only Gators get out alive,' and the marketing department has never needed to improve on it.
The Mascot
Albert and Alberta, the costumed gators, handle the hugs; the real intimidation is the chomp — arms extended, palms slapping together like a gator's jaws, done by the entire stadium in unison to the Jaws theme. There are few sights in the sport like a fourth-quarter chomp rolling around Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Real alligators, it should be said, are ten minutes away in Paynes Prairie and occasionally on campus, because Florida.
The Saturday
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium drops steeply enough that the sideline seats feel stacked on top of the field, which converts heat and humidity into pure noise. 'We Are the Boys' gets sung arm-in-arm between the third and fourth quarters, a tradition over a century old, and then 'Won't Back Down' — Gainesville's own Tom Petty — plays and the whole place sings it. That one started the week Petty died in 2017 and never stopped.
What to Wear
Our vintage Gainesville line is hand-drawn gator art in orange and blue on garment-dyed tees and embroidered rope caps. Breathable blanks, because we've been to the Swamp in September. Start with the Gainesville Quarterback Tee, the golfer rope hat and all Gainesville gear.