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About the Team or Event
Ask most Gator history buffs how the University of Florida athletic teams acquired the Gator nickname and they will relate the story of Phillip Miller and his Gator pennants. The story, as told by Austin Miller, first appeared in the Florida Times-Union on August 19, 1948. His father owned Miller's, a Gainesville novelties store and soda fountain popular with Florida students in the early 1900s. According to Austin Miller, alligator pennants were first sold at the store in the fall of 1908 after Austin suggested the mascot when he and his father visited the Michie Company in 1907. It was a spur of the moment decision. "I had no idea it would stick, or even be popular with the student body," Miller said.
However, 20 years before Austin Miller offered his explanation, UF's first football team captain, Roy Corbett, gave another. In a letter to The Gainesville Sun congratulating Florida's successful 1928 football squad, Corbett wrote, "Incidentally 'Gators' came from a nickname given substitute center [Neal] Bo-Gator Storter. This boy, who had his first train ride coming to Gainesville -- didn't know what a football was - finished school as captain of the varsity."
Corbett's explanation resurfaced in 1962 when Storter, Class of '12, was inducted in the Grand Guard (a club for UF alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago.) Thomas Bryant, the 1912 senior class president, delivered the induction speech and recounted Bo Gator's exploits on the gridiron. "Bo Gator was a Florida legend," Bryant said, "and not too many years later the varsity teams became known as the Gators. His is the greatest contribution to University of Florida football that has ever been made. He gave them his name."
Bo Gator's story was forgotten after 1962. Miller's story became Gator gospel. Was the right story selected? Bo Gator's story begins in the fall of 1907, at the same time that Austin and Phillip Miller were buying pennants. It ends with the victorious (5-0-1) football season of 1911.
"Gators" stick
Precisely when and how the team was named is unclear, but the December 1911 Pennant identifies the South Carolina excursion as the beginning of the Florida Gators. "It was on the South Carolina trip that the Florida team was dubbed the 'Alligators,' and the battle that took place . . .between the Clemson Tigers and the Florida Alligators is one long to be remembered!"
The earliest known printed references to the team as the Alligators occurred on Oct. 19 and 20, 1911 in both the South Carolina and Florida newspapers. "Gamecocks clash with Alligators" was the headline in The State, South Carolina's leading newspaper. In his daily sports column for the Florida Times-Union, Laurence "Kiddo" Woltz reported that the team had passed through Jacksonville during the night on its way to Columbia. "This is probably the 'biggest trip' ever taken by an 11 from any of the Florida colleges and thousands of people throughout the state will await the result of the games with the greatest of interest. May the 'Gators' win 'em both."
About the Stadium
The O'Connell Center has a reputation as an imposing basketball arena for visiting opponents with its 12,000 seats. Inside the O’Connell Center is the main arena, an indoor track and field facility, one of the fastest swimming pools in the world, a gymnastics arena, dance studio, martial arts room, basketball practice courts, and strength and conditioning facilities. The Center is also part of a centrally located athletic complex. The facilities surrounding the O'Dome include Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, McKethan Stadium at Perry Field, James G. Pressly Stadium, the Scott Linder Tennis Stadium and the University Golf Course with the Bostick Clubhouse.
