Chipper Jones and the Gators...

[gatorbait96]

So I just got back from Atlanta and was thumbing through the program I got from the game and saw where Chipper Jones answered a question I asked him about the Gators. I have always heard he was a big fan but always wanted confirmation...Anyways here is a picture of my question and his answer.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/482105_487618647931274_28353915_n.jpg

[MadduxFanII]

Pretty cool, gatorbait.

Chipper's Gator allegiances have been prominent for a while. John Smoltz, a huge Michigan State fan, enjoyed needling Chipper whenever the Spartans beat us in the NCAA tournament. I believe Smoltz once stabbed a poor stuffed Gator and hid it in Chipper's locker.

[bleedorangeblue]

Saw Chipper in 2009 as the celebrity guest during ESPN's College Gameday when they pick who's going to win each game. He was wearing Gator gear and and made it apparent how big of a Gator fan he is. I am really going to miss watching him. The Braves will never be the same for me without #10 playing third base.

[gatorbogey]

never really knew this about chipper. will heckle him less now...

[74nole]

never really knew this about chipper. will heckle him less now...

If you grew up in the SE it's pretty hard to pull against the Braves..............

[GatorInSC]

Saw Chipper in 2009 as the celebrity guest during ESPN's College Gameday when they pick who's going to win each game. He was wearing Gator gear and and made it apparent how big of a Gator fan he is. I am really going to miss watching him. The Braves will never be the same for me without #10 playing third base.

Believe Nick Swisher of the Yankees was a guest on the show also, and is a gator fan

[Angaza]

Believe Nick Swisher of the Yankees was a guest on the show also, and is a gator fanNah, he went to Ohio State. OnlyGators (http://www.onlygators.com/tag/nick-swisher/) had some story about a rumor Tim Tebow helping Swisher propose to his girlfriend, cause she's a Gator fan. Rumor wasn't true though.

[LoyalGatorFan]

I think AJ Pierzynski is a Gator fan....I would think Johnny Damon is since he was a verbal commitment at one time...and the Nature Boy himself Ric Flair is a big Gator fan....

[LoyalGatorFan]

If you grew up in the SE it's pretty hard to pull against the Braves..............

Especially if you grew up in the 90's.....glory days indeed

[GatorInSC]

I think AJ Pierzynski is a Gator fan....I would think Johnny Damon is since he was a verbal commitment at one time...and the Nature Boy himself Ric Flair is a big Gator fan....

I thought ric flair was a gamecock fan or is that a different wrestler

[Gator_84_88]

Pierzynski, Damon, Jones and Ric Flair are all big Gator fans. Think for Flair we became his adopted team early during the Spurrier years as he became close friends with James Bates.

[RepubliGator84]

One of the many reasons why Chipper is one of my favorite Braves of all time- have to include Bobby Cox too.

Go Braves and Go Gators!

[notexgator]

I believe AJ is a Bull Gator and I know for a fact that he donates items all the time to Gator Boosters for fund raising, door prises, etc. Nic is ALL ohio state. At the national champ game in Glendale, he was all decked out in osu gear and his tailgate was 2 cars from mine. I can proudly say that he was LONG GONE before I got back out to the parking lot!

[Gatormb]

Chipper is an alumni of my high school, Bolles in Jax.

[IowaGator]

Especially if you grew up in the 90's.....glory days indeed

Some of us endured the 60's through the 80's when the glory days were few and far between. Lots of great players (Aaron, Neikro, and many others) during that time as well as special moments but nothing like the 90's!!

Sent from my SCH-R930 4g using Gator Country

[G8RNTN]

Good find, I never knew that about Chipper.

[og8trz]

I met Damon at a Flordia Georgia game a few years back when he was with the Red Sox. He was wearing UF gear. He signed with UF out of HS, but never came to school because he got a nice contract to go pro.

[LoyalGatorFan]

Some of us endured the 60's through the 80's when the glory days were few and far between. Lots of great players (Aaron, Neikro, and many others) during that time as well as special moments but nothing like the 90's!!

Sent from my SCH-R930 4g using Gator Country

Yeah even though the 60s-80s was for the most part tough to watch, I wish I would have been alive to see the likes of Horner, Murphy, Carty, and Niekro play...that must have been something special watching those guys put on a uniform

[gtr2x]

Especially if you grew up in the 90's.....glory days indeed

I could be wrong, but I think the poster was referring to the fact that if you lived in the SE, the braves were the only team and with TBS broadcasting all their games it was a natural to be a fan.

As a little kid Hank Aaron was my fav player, so I ultimately became a Braves fan. However, it waned when Deon brought his chop to Atlanta. Never have understood how a Gator fan could sit thru that abomination. Once Fla finally got a couple of teams it was easy to root for the home teams instead.

Never knew Chipper was a Gator fan, good to know, never a big fan of his, but he always seemed like a class guy.

[Juggernautz]

My my how have things changed! TBS hardly ever carries Braves games any longer.

[Juggernautz]

So I just got back from Atlanta and was thumbing through the program I got from the game and saw where Chipper Jones answered a question I asked him about the Gators. I have always heard he was a big fan but always wanted confirmation...Anyways here is a picture of my question and his answer.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/482105_487618647931274_28353915_n.jpg

Thanks for posting GB96.

[gatorbait96]

No problem guys. I started watching the Braves when I was around 8 or 9 and have followed Chippers career since day one. Even wore #10 in HS because of him. Always thought that it was cool that my favorite player was rumored to love the Gators just as much as I do. To run across that in the program after we got back blew my mind. Actually got a ball each game we went to. Kimbrel and Pendleton threw me a ball and Martin Prado signed one. Prado seems like the nicest guy on the team as far as interacting with the fans. Thinking of going back in Sept.

[jaxg8r]

Wasn't he commited to the U out of HS? I think he got on the UF bandwagon in the 90's.

[Gatorbob76]

I met Damon at a Flordia Georgia game a few years back when he was with the Red Sox. He was wearing UF gear. He signed with UF out of HS, but never came to school because he got a nice contract to go pro.

Yep, he is a Gator fan. I got to talk to Johnny early in his Royals career, 1997, and the first question I asked him was "Gators or Seminoles". Without hesitation he said "Gators". Said he liked the Florida coaches and definitely would have been a Gator if he had not signed a professional contract. We had a nice chat and he signed my son's little league jersey (he was a Damon fan and had the same number as Johnny)

Much as I would have liked to have seen him at UF, he obviously made the right decision. I hated to see the Royals lose him, but am happy he was able to go win a world series.

[RayGator]

If you grew up in the SE it's pretty hard to pull against the Braves..............

Well, I grew up in Miami so I have always been a Marlins and Rays fan. Except when I was a little kid back in the '50s and we had no teams in Florida. Then I was a Cincinnati Reds fan.

[74nole]

Well, I grew up in Miami so I have always been a Marlins and Rays fan. Except when I was a little kid back in the '50s and we had no teams in Florida. Then I was a Cincinnati Reds fan.

RG-

I understand completely. I grew up in SW Ga and until the Braves moved to Atlanta we always pulled for the Cardinals as St. Louis had a minor league team in Albany during the old Class D minor league days.

[orangeblueorangeblue]

The Braves (or Cubs) were the surrogate team du juor for most of the country through their ubiquitous cable affiliates. I couldn't stand the Braves growing up because in the mid-80s (when I was a kid, hunting desperately for baseball on TV), they were such an extremely boring and unlikeable team. Most people in the SE took them on by default, but I chose another team until we got the Marlins (and later Rays). Thank God we finally got a team in this state.

[GatorJeff]

Former Atlanta Brave Fred McGriff is a big Gator fan.

[JohnC1908]

I had a strict bedtime at 9:30 in elementary school which meant most Braves games ended by the time I was asleep. So unfortunately I chose the team who was on during the day, and that decision has probably taken about 10 years off my life.

[hogtowngator]

Wasn't he commited to the U out of HS? I think he got on the UF bandwagon in the 90's.

He did, but I heard it was for bargaining purposes. Chipper was going pro out of HS and Miami was THE college baseball team at the time. It helped his position somewhat. Not that he needed it as he was the number 1 pick.

Chipper's Dad is a huge Gator fan and that is where Chipper's allegiance to UF came from.