Meanwhile, on the other side of Gainesville….

Posted Jan 8, 2007 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 9, 2007 at 11:04 AM

GAINESVILLE, 4:30 p.m.—The pre-game hysteria is not limited to the campus area and University Avenue. At bars and restaurants across Gainesville, folks are lining up early to get a good spot in front of a big-screen TV. Over at the Ale House on the west side of town, manager Mike Winter is closing the doors at 5:30 to clear the restaurant, then he’s going to re-open the doors at 6 p.m. and start letting Gator fans in. He has some system devised to allot one chair per customer so that those unscrupulous types won’t come in and start hogging seats. “They’re smart—they’ll run you all sorts of ways if you’re not careful,” Winter said. Outside the Ale House, 80-year-old Leigh Standing and his grand-daughter, Laura Chadwick, are waiting to get a seat. They drove all the way from New Smyrna Beach to watch the game because Laura will enroll at UF this fall. If she’s this dedicated to Florida now, can you imagine what she’ll be like when she enrolls?