Gator Country

Florida Gators quarterback Jeff Driskel has developed into a leader right before the eyes of coaches and fans. / Gator Country photo by Curtiss Bryant.

Some people love reality television. Others hate it. Still, more simply pay no attention to the cultural phenomenon that is The Apprentice, or Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

Football is obviously a far cry from the talent-free mess that is the Kardashian gene pool (minus Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner, who married into the family, drawing an entirely different set of eyebrow raises) but there are a few parallels.

First and foremost, football is totally and entirely unscripted, the way reality television is at least advertised to be. Secondly, those playing the sport play for the chance at victory and for the chance at national exposure. Those making fools of themselves in primetime do so for the same chance at exposure.

Millions of people watch football every weekend. Some scream with the twisted agony of a poorly-timed interception and others will watch the same game, but chest-bump their way through touchdown celebrations more intricate than a Ninja Warrior obstacle course.

Millions watch reality shows, either staying up late to enjoy a marathon of Storage Wars in a night totally immersed in guilty pleasure, DVR’ing weekly episodes or even going online and streaming the shows featuring their favorite “real” people. Some laugh at the exploits of these semi-celebs, others cry right along with them.

The point is, people watch Little People Big World or Deadliest Catch for the chance to glean a bit of insight into the lives and personalities of those whom one might never meet.

People watch sports in order to gain insight as to the personalities – not of the player on the field, generally – but of the team itself.

It is here that we arrive at the Florida Gators football program. Through four episodes of a TV show, the audience usually has a pretty good idea of the cast of characters, the main points of the plot, and has put together a halfway-decent guess as to the direction in which the show is headed.

The Gators, after the first four games of the 2012 season, have four wins. As the team’s bye week carries on, the fan base has formulated a pretty good idea as to who will be the main individuals to lead the program into the teeth of its SEC schedule, beginning with next week’s showdown against LSU.

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