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Gators' Celebration To Continue Sunday At Swamp

News Channel 8 photo by DAVID KRAUT

The celebrations are nowhere near over for Gator fans, who will rally Sunday in Gainesville.

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The Associated Press

Published: January 9, 2009

Updated: 01/09/2009 01:18 pm

The University of Florida will celebrate its latest national football championship on Sunday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville.

The event will be from 1 to 2 p.m., and gates will open at 11:30 a.m., the school said.

The morning after students celebrated UF's second football title in three years, they braved cold temperatures, rolled out of bed with little sleep and headed to class, but still savored the victory.

"It is great to be a Florida Gator everyday, especially today," 23-year-old political science student Tamin Jabbour said Friday.

Jabbour avoided the street party that erupts after every Gator national championship game, opting to watch the game at home and make class Friday morning.

"I've got to focus. It's the first week of school," the Boynton Beach native said.

Matt Dose, 21, an anthropology major from Jacksonville, was out in the streets and was suffering from lack of sleep, but still had a smile on his face from Florida's 24-14 win over the Oklahoma Sooners.

"Waking up was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time," said Dose, who had a 9:30 a.m. class. When he arrived, it had been canceled by the professor.

Sterling Davenport, a 19-year-old history major from Jacksonville, left the party about 1:30 a.m. because he had an early class.

"I wanted to clean up a little and sleep a little and get back to being a student," Davenport said.
Davenport said he felt police were better prepared and handled the crowd situation well.

Police estimate about 28,000 students poured onto University Boulevard, which is lined with a row of bars, across the street from the UF campus.

Screaming students and honking horns punctuated the night until about 3 a.m. as students savored the win.

"We proved who was the best team in the country," said Kyle Easterling, 24, a social studies major from St. Augustine.

Students were pleased with the win and the second national championship under Coach Urban Meyer.
"We want to squeeze in another championship before we graduate," said Devin Kleinfield, a 19-year-old student from Princeton, N.J.

The party - at the school ranked the nation's No. 1 party school by the Princeton Review in 2008 - did not seem as boisterous as years past.

Gainesville Police Capt. Paul Osey said police had a few minor problems with some people who climbed light poles and scuffled with officers, but there were no serious injuries.

Gainesville police made five arrests and the University of Florida police also arrested five students, mostly for drinking violations.

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