Dear 04s:

Why does the media call you that? Oh, you all graduated in 2004. Got it. Anyway, hi 04s.

The Friday night Gator celebration at the O'dome was awesome. The Dazzlers were dazzling. The floor was made for champions.

But the best part - you knew this was coming - the best part was the little Horford-Noah-Richard skit where you guys announced you were staying to be a part of the 2006-07 team. Legendary.

It has never been greater (more great?) to be a Florida Gator!

Go Gators!

Kaye

Dear Albert:

I know this has been a hard season where you have fought alongside your players tooth & nail. But, when we do the Gator chomp & say "if you aren't a Gator, then you are Gator bait" -- we don't actually mean that you should eat or gnaw on the competition.

I only say this because I see you are missing some teeth.

UF has an amazing Center for Implant Dentistry over in the College of Dentistry. Go check them out.

Go Gators!

Kaye

This letter is to the men's basketball sports information officer.

Dear Hoops SID:

You must be absolutely thrilled about how well the Gators did this year. We all saw the self-fulfilling prophecy on the media guide saying that this year our squad was "building a tradition of basketball." No joke. I'll be the first to order up one just like that for next year!

I don't want to sound like a complainer, especially amidst all this great news with the big win & all ... but this is just so PR 101 that I really have to say something.

What was up with you not making sure all the Gators were wearing Florida gear when they went to the big "welcome home" bash on Tuesday at the Gainesville Speedway? I mean, we all knew it would have 10,000 fans there - but it was a very big local/regional media event too. Sure, the media covering the event certainly don't need to be introduced to the Gator brand ... but why not use this as a way to reinforce the visual identity?

Here's the thing - on the bus ride over to the event when everyone was probably singing "We are the Boys" and they were giving Joakim a hard time about blowing kisses to the UCLA cheerleaders, someone could have said: "Yo Corey, how about sporting your team colors?"

My boy Corey "Crazy Eye" (as I like to call him) Brewer would have done it. He knows: if you aren't a Gator, you're Gator bait.

Okay, let's just say you were all caught up in the moment. Kewl. I get that.

But when you get to the event & you see the 100s of media down there, why not stand at the foot of the bus checking all the Gators before they go off to the event? At the very least you should have had a light bulb go off in your head then.

Here's my main point: these pictures are now part of history. You can only win a national championship for the first time once. We don't need to look like we haven't done it before though.

Go Gators!

Kaye

Dear Gator fans:

I know you're all celebrating - and you deserve to be. Midtown, downtown, uptown, all over town - just like Joakim said.

What a great year it has been. We were all slightly devastated about losing our top 3 players last year (Anthony Roberson, Matt Walsh & graduating David Lee) & no one really expected much from this year's rather young & unexperienced squad.

But they believed.

And they performed.

They started the season by breaking records & winning the longest streak of games. They ended the season by break other records & being the first Florida-based team to ever win an NCAA men's basketball national championship.

Anyone at those early games this season knew the team was special - and now the nation knows too. It is sooooo great to be a Florida Gator.

Enjoy the celebration & go Gators!

Kaye

PS - Mark uploaded a slew of pix to his Flickr account so go check them out.