A truly tragic Gator story.

I had not heard of this incident before.

Yesterday, I stopped at a small Chinese restaurant take out place on the way back to my office. There was a young man there, apparently with his dad. The son was wearing a Gator t-shirt. I invariably do the "Go Gators" thing when I encounter anyone wearing Gator gear and we then all started talking about the upcoming Vandy game and the Kentucky disaster. My food was late so the conversation moved to NC games and then SECCGs. The father was a genuinely nice guy, the son a bit on the quiet side. I mentioned the two SECCGs (I went to both) played in Birmingham and his mood changed.

He said he was a Bullgator and that he along with several of his Gator buddies had chartered a private jet to go to the first SECCG in Birmingham. I might be off on the capacities, but the plane they originally chartered carried 9 passengers and was not available for their trip at the last minute. The next biggest plane held 7. They literally drew straws and the gentleman I was speaking with and one other drew the short straws and remained at home.

For those of you who went to that first SECCG in Birmingham, you'll remember it was extremely cold (it rained for the entire game for the second one.)

The chartered plane crashed outside of Birmingham and everyone on board was killed. The gentleman I was talking with said "That is something I have carried with me for years."

I can only begin to imagine the gamut of emotions someone experiences in a situation like that. RIP to those fallen Gators and may God give comfort and peace to the gentleman I met yesterday by chance.