SOUTHERN EXPOSURE: 1997 OFF TO GREAT START WITH GATOR WIN

Has this been a great year already or what?

Thursday night I got to watch my alma mater, the University of Florida, beat the living snot out of our cross-state rivals the Florida State Seminoles in the Sugar Bowl.

Not only did they beat the 'Noles, that would have been good enough for me, but the Gators won their first national championship to boot.

I have just one thing to say to a friend of mine from FSU who lives here in Cape Girardeau -- good game.

No, really. I actually felt kind of bad -- briefly -- after we scored to go up 52 to 20. No doubt Florida coach Steve Spurrier had his reasons for going for the touchdown late in the game, but I still couldn't help but flash back a little bit to Jan. 1996 in the Fiesta Bowl when Nebraska just kept pounding away at us. It's a miserable feeling -- I'm just glad I'm not feeling it any longer.

I know it's hard for people to understand why this is so important. I spent one semester at the University of Georgia before moving home and getting my degree from UF. UGA during football season was a madhouse. Every team, regardless of its record or threat to the Bulldogs, was a rival.

Old-timers would sit around the coffeehouses and bars and reminisce about the last time Georgia played this particular team. They would name the players and get a far-away look in their eyes as the plays would flash through their minds like a broken instant-replay machine.

Georgia alumni took it personally when their team lost.

Florida alumni have no choice. If FSU had won, I would have heard about it for months. I would have to live with seeing a satisfied grin on Lori's (my FSU friend) face every time I saw her. It is not just a game, it's saying my school is better than yours.

Now I can say that there is no school better this year (in football) than mine. I possess the national championship every bit as much as those players and coaches -- even if it isn't sitting on my mantle piece.

Just because Florida won Thursday night this year has been brighter, happier and warmer than last year. 1996 seems like a vulgar and vile 12 months compared to just these last few days.

Of course the game isn't the only reason I'm in a good mood. I played golf Friday morning. Golf in January -- a humbling experience but one I'd gladly take over scraping the ice off my windshield.

Golf, in shorts no less. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be wearing shorts outside for five hours in the middle of winter in Missouri. What a country!

The first of the year always brings its own brand of optimism. Everybody thinks the new year is going to be the year they win the lottery or get the new car. Every new year is a new chance at perfection.

Of course, it never lasts, nothing ever does, but I have the feeling 1997 is going to be an outstanding year.

David Angier is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.