March 25, 2006

I have very distinct memories of the last two times the Gators advanced to the Elite Eight. OK, make that the only previous Gator teams to make the Elite Eight considering this is only the third time.

1994
I went down to Gainesville that Friday night to watch the biggest game in UF's history with my friend Britt Scott. It looked like we were going to lose, but UConn's Donyell Marshall inexplicably missed two free throws at the end of the game. Either one of them would have won it for UConn. The Gators went on to win in OT. The town was nuts. We headed to the Purple Porpoise for an insane post-game party. Saturday afternoon, I convinced Britt and my friend Jennifer Crockett that we were waking up at 5 am the next morning to drive down to Miami to see the Regional Final. There was much griping and moaning. Needless to say, after watching the Gators take care of Boston College to advance to their first Final Four, everyone agreed it was a good idea. Watching guys like Dan Cross, Craig Brown, Andrew DeClerq, and Dametri "Da Meat Hook" Hill cut down the nets was an amazing experience.

UF lost to Duke in the Final Four semifinals. Grrrrr, that @#$! Christian Laettner.

2000
We beat #1 seed Duke to make the Elite Eight. It was Saturday morning and I was at the dining room table, drinking coffee, reading the newspaper and extremely happy. Then the cell phone rings. I assumed it was my friend AC calling to chat about the game. Instead, it was the CIO of one of our clients.

A project wasn't going well, and he was calling to tell me that we had better do something about it because in his words "(The project sponsor) isn't going to fall on the sword for this project." Man, talk about a mood swing. The project was failing because the client had a set of requirements that were in constant flux. However, because of the importance of the client to our company and too many cooks in the kitchen, we were never able to make them sign off on a set of requirements and hold their feet to the fire. That project gives me a headache every time I think about it. There was even a second version of the project where the client assumed they knew what they wanted, we were able to get them to sign off on requirements, and they still weren't happy. Not sure who hated that application more, our company or the people who had to use the application.

Back to the tournament.

Being the incessant homer, I had picked the Gators to win the tournament. I was in prime position to win the pool. Vicki and Michael Kilmer-Rinker hosted a party to watch the championship. Vicki would win if Michigan State won. Of course, UF ran out of gas and MSU won, but what a run!

2006
Anybody see a pattern here? In 1994 we make it to the Final Four. Six years later in 2000 we make it one game farther to the championship game.

Six years later in 2006 we ...