Gatorville Officially Nuts

Posted Jan 8, 2007 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 9, 2007 at 11:04 AM

3 p.m.—University Avenue, Gainesville It’s officially nuts here. We’re on University Avenue at The Swamp, the bar and restaurant, not the stadium. A crowd started forming here about 11 a.m. to get inside this popular watering hole. Only the first 400 folks will get in and people were outside with an air mattress, lawn chairs, etc., like they were about to hand out free Playstation 3s. We met one married couple from the Tampa Bay area, Dani McVety and her husband, Chris McVety. They were second in line and got here at 11 this morning to get inside the Swamp. This spot was the epicenter of partying after Florida won the NCAA hoops title last spring. Cops closed down University Avenue and people poured out of the Swamp screaming and running into the street. If the Gators win tonight, expect more of the same. My favorite person here was 30-year-old Jeremy Latimer of Bradenton, whom I called Mr. Young Bits because of his attempt to impersonate Mr. Two Bits of UF fame. [Watch The Video] He’s going for his third BA degree here and he’s the house dad of Phi Delta Theta. He led the crowd outside the Swamp in a huge Two Bits cheer and then they went back to drinking beer. Of course, Gainesville has an open container law and the drinking was done on a strip of grass owned by the bar. Across the street, Danny Harris of Oldsmar was holding up a “We Need Tickets” sign just for the heck of it. There’s no tickets to be had, of course. And the game is in Arizona. He just liked goofing on University Avenue and making folks scratch their heads as they drove by. He will be tailgating on University near Library West with a TV and grill.