Fun - And the Gators

I had a great time this morning, first walking Rosie out in the cool, grey light before the sun rose, and then walking Cooper and Lola, and watching Cooper go into the "hunt" mode...  Tipsy and Pounce were very loving this morning, and all of us had a blast watering the plants, with the dogs playing duck and run from the water - and the cats trying to catch the dogs as they ran by...  It was a total circus, and i had to remember not to laugh too loudly - because it wasn't 7:30 yet, and I didn't want to disgruntle the neighbors on a Saturday morning.  We're supposed to be much cooler today, but with a higher than usual humidity - so I'm not really looking forward to the afternoon hours.
  I'm trying to remember how long ago, and who the Athletic Director and Head Coach was, when it was decided that the University of Florida Gators needed to play a non-SEC, much weaker team to begin their football season.  I suppose that when I was a child and teenager, the Gators played fewer games per season, but I know that we played the University of Miami, Florida State and Florida A & M - they were considered in-state rivals.  Since I was a student at UF, it seems that the Gators start off the season playing a much smaller, less-competitive school just to have an easy first game win.  To me, that is not sporting. That is like having me (age 57, with COPD, a bad back, bad hips and knees, bad ankles and feet) race against Usain Bolt - unless he drops dead in the middle of the race (which I do NOT wish upon him), there's no way I would win.  I easily remember playing LSU, Auburn and Alabama for Homecoming...  But then, college football wan't the big business then that it is now, either.  Oh, well.   I'm not yet 60, and I miss "the old days" in sports.  That's kinda sad.
  Speaking of which, the Gators will kick off the season in about an hour - and who are they facing?  The University of Toledo Rockets - the school was begun in 1871 in Ohio, and - this is amazing in this day and age - the UT regents have not raised tuition costs in two years.  That's almost enough to get me to root for them, in and of itself.  Of course I want the Gators to win, but I wish we were playing another SEC team, or a team that can be a contender in this game, today.
 -   Oh, and, just as an aside, former Gator Timmy Tebow was not caught in yesterday's first cut from the New England Patriots.  Right now, it's just "wait and see"...