Request Access To The Florida Board

I've never liked carbonated drinks, so as a kid the only thing I would drink was Gatorade. I've heard about the jort stereotype from Seminole fans I know (out in force now, unfortunately). I don't own any jorts. More of a straight-up Daisy Dukes man.

I realize the join date may be a red flag. I was previously a member of a different Bama forum, but I didn't really care for it, so I came over here. But I have been posting on the Rant and on the Alabama board a good deal since joining.

If you're more comfortable just answering my question here, that's fine too. While playing EA Sports' NCAA Football last night I noticed that Florida is listed as one of Alabama's rivals, along with Tennessee, LSU, Auburn, and Miss State. I've also seen the UF logo included on some of the Alabama "I hate orange" shirts, alongside Auburn and Tennessee. Wikipedia lists Florida as rivals with Alabama on Florida's page, but not on Alabama's. It's also worth noting that there is no entry entitled "Alabama-Florida football Rivalry," as there is for most rivalries.

I have been an Alabama fan since 2002, when family members began attending the university. But before that, as a little boy, I actually claimed Florida as my favorite team, because I was growing up in Tennessee, my dad hated UT, and the Gators had a penchant for beating the Vols throughout the 90s. I've seen every Bama game since the start of the 2002 season, including 6 games with Florida ('05,'06,'08,'09,'10, and '11). All of these games have been exciting and most have been competitive. I know that Bama and UF have met in the majority of SECCGs and that UF cost Bama a shot at the NC in '94 (year I was born) and '08, and Bama returned the favor in '09. I've always liked and respected Florida, I root for them generally when they aren't playing Alabama, and I've gotten along very well with all of their fans that I've come into contact with. By contrast, every Criminoles fan I've ever met has hated Bama, for reasons I still don't entirely understand.

I had a good friend who was a long-time Bama fan (dating back to the Pre-Bryant era), who told me that UF and Alabama had always gotten along well due to shared rivalries with UT, LSU, and (until the SEC split into divisions) Auburn. I once had a Vol fan friend of mine tell me that Bama and UF had an "Axis of Evil." My question is: Do Florida fans consider Alabama a rival? If so, would you consider this a hate-based rivalry or one where both teams respect one another and are rivals solely because they've had memorable, important games and generally compete at a high level?

dmb, id like access to the UF board since I'm considering moving to tampa

thanks bro