For anyone who went through it, 2020 felt like living in a parallel universe.
The year was dominated by the Covid craziness that swept through the world as well as the myriad “cancellings” that took place, and college football in particular felt the effects of both.
Games and traditions alike were severely altered or outright shut down as a result of the pandemic and its accompanying lunacy, and the Florida Gators’ football program especially felt the brunt of this.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S FIRST FULL SATURDAY IS HERE AND IT’S A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA AT ITS BEST
Sure, the Gators still played a ten game, All SEC slate, but access to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was greatly limited, as the stadium which normally seats upwards of 90,000 fans on gameday had its attendance whittled down to less than 20,000.
In the wake of all of this, a tradition known affectionately around campus and throughout the community as “Gator Bait” was given the axe.
School officials cited “racial undertones” as the reason for removing the chant, linking back to late 19th and early 20th century depictions of using African-American children as bait for alligators.
The chant, at least in the context of the Florida football team, has much more innocent origins, being popularized in the 1990s by defensive back Lawrence Wright.
THESE ONCE-ANNUAL COLLEGE RIVALRIES USED TO DEFINE COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND NEED TO MAKE A COMEBACK ASAP
No one is more familiar with “Gator Bait” than James Di Virgilio, the popular podcast host of the “Gator Nation Football Podcast.”
Di Virgilio and his co-host, Allen Williams, started the podcast back in 2014 as a break from the monotony and blind homerism that is abundant in the local sports talk radio shows around Gainesville, where the two reside.
Both are Florida graduates, and when they heard the news that “Gator Bait” was being shelved, Di Virgilio was perplexed.
“I think, like any Gator fan, it was surprising at first,” said Di Virgilio. “As far as anyone could tell, no one who had ever used the chant at Florida… had any idea there could be any connection to anything other than a gator eating our opponents, so to speak, in a humorous way.”
The GNFP host mentions other schools like LSU saying “Tiger Bait” as a rallying cry while receiving little to no backlash.
“I think it was a chant that many Gators (fans), especially those who are maybe 90s or 2000s Gators, have fond memories of chanting at opponents when you’re winning national championships, etcetera, therefore it conjured up those memories of yesteryear,” he opined.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS FINALLY BACK AFTER MONTHS OF NCAA LAWSUITS, NIL DRAMA AND CONGRESSIONAL FIGHTS
Despite the seemingly innocuous nature of the cheer, “Gator Bait” was officially banned in 2020 out of what Di Virgilio deemed “an abundance of caution” during a time of heightened scrutiny.
Meanwhile, in those years since the banning, the GNFP audience continued to grow.
Williams and Di Virgilio’s analytical lens mixed with their obvious love and passion for the team they covered endeared them to tens of thousands of Gator fans, which presented them with a unique opportunity a few seasons ago.
At first, it started with a couple of comments here and there directed towards Di Virgilio about whether he thought “Gator Bait” could ever make a comeback.
OPINION: SPORTS IS ONE OF AMERICA’S GREATEST TRADITIONS AND A POWERFUL FORCE THAT UNITES US
“For two straight seasons, I basically polled our audience, which may or may not be representative of all of Gator Nation, to say ‘does anybody really not want this?’ Write to me,” he explained.
Di Virgilio said in two full seasons of pushing for responses, he only got one message that was against bringing it back against hundreds that were in favor.
These messages, as he explained, came from a wide and diverse group of Gator fans, all of which cited very wholesome reasons for wanting the chant back in The Swamp.
“It wasn’t just young people, it wasn’t just old people. It wasn’t just people of a certain skin tone,” Di Virgilio mentioned. “It felt like it was a very pure, wholesome reason for wanting it.”
Being a numbers guy, Di Virgilio had enough data to make his next move.
The University of Florida hired Dr. Stuart Bell to be their new president in July of this year, and since the decision to reinstate “Gator Bait” was up to the head man himself, Di Virgilio saw his opportunity to act.
“I had written to Dr. Bell a couple of weeks before we had everyone write to (him),” Di Virgilio said. “Here’s my stance: I have limited information. You might have more information than I have. I would never want to do this if it was going to be divisive towards (other) Gators. I have no desire for that.”
“But if you do the research and you find that this is something a majority of Gator fans want… then on your own merits, maybe think about reinstituting it.”
With that, the die had been cast.
Countless fans of the GNFP took Di Virgilio’s call to action to heart and wrote impassioned pleas to the university president asking for their beloved chant back.
They cited memories, tradition, and just the fact that it’s a really catchy tune.
But as the emails piled up in Dr. Bell’s inbox and the season drew nearer, something must have finally swayed the new president.
On the Friday before their first game against FAU, a clip was leaked of the Fightin’ Gator Marching Band playing the familiar notes of “Gator Bait” on the practice field.
Lo and behold, the following day, 90,000 rabid Florida fans led a full-throated rendition of the once-banned cheer.
“Gator Bait” was back.
Di Virgilio wants to be very clear: he doesn’t want the credit for bringing the chant back to The Swamp.
“I may have had 0.0001% to do with it,” he explained. “Whether we were instrumental or not, someone else could have done it. I have no idea. We just felt like we wanted to push for something that brought back a lot of fond memories for us.”
Regardless, he and his podcast community can certainly say they at least had a hand in ushering back one of the best cheers in college football.
“For me this is very apolitical,” Di Virgilio said. “I think you want to do things that the majority of people want to do as long as it’s not clearly violating any kind of legal or ethical boundary.”
As he explains, Di Virgilio recognizes that not everything will be universally loved, including the “Gator Bait” chant.
Despite how popular the cheer’s return has been on social media and in the Gator football community, some of the more vocal minority have bristled at the idea of “Gator Bait” making a comeback.
“I hope that if you’re on the side of, you don’t love it, you understand that those that (do) want it, want it for very traditional Florida reasons,” said Di Virgilio. “And obviously, if you love it, you’re not lording it over someone.”
“Ultimately, we are all Gators.”
In the end, it felt like a win for free speech, as the majority voiced their opinions and were rewarded accordingly.
It’s a fact that is not lost on Di Virgilio.
“This is a really cool thing to know as podcasters, as a community of people, if you care about something you can take a second to write about it, on any side,” he states.
STAY “FEARLESS” ON THE GO! TAKE TOMI LAHREN WITH YOU. DOWNLOAD THE TLIF PODCAST NOW!
“You may or may not have an influence, but at the end of the day, ‘we the people,’ so to speak, we do have a voice to share what we want… that’s what this is really about. The beauty of articulate free speech and opinion, and also the willingness when you’re wrong to just say, ‘I was wrong.'”
THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!
Welcome back, “Gator Bait.”
