What started out as a passion project has turned into something that continues to amaze and humble me day-in and day-out. Never did I think that an idea that popped into my head and a name I wrote on a piece of paper back in 2009 would not only materialize but become an endeavor that is continuously taxing and rewarding at the same time.

Many of you started following us through Twitter as @OnlyGators began months before OnlyGators.com ever existed. As our following slowly grew, I hoped only that the website would satisfy the 2,000-or-so people who chose to read my tweets and trust me for information about the Florida Gators.

Just a few months after the website began, Twitter readers were only a portion of our daily audience. I was surprised how quickly the site took off but considering it started days after Tim Tebow suffered his concussion and just months before Urban Meyer resigned for the first time, perhaps it should not have been much of a shock.

If you’ll allow me to humble-brag for a minute, I feel it is worth noting that OnlyGators.com has amassed more than 4.2 million visits since Oct. 1, 2009. This is our 2,500th post and sometime today the site will register its 15,000th reader comment. Our Twitter account has amassed more than 35,200 tweets and ballooned to over 13,500 followers. (Every number mentioned has more than doubled since 10/1/10).

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Being hired as a columnist for a major publication is something that I desired since I first created ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive on Oct. 1, 2009. The editor there reached out to me a year ago, but a combination of issues prevented him from bringing me on earlier.

The BEST news for all for you, the OGGOA readers, is that absolutely nothing will change in regards to this website. OGGOA will continue to be independently owned and operated. As we have for the last 18 months, OGGOA will exist as its own entity and continue to publish the same quality and amount of material on a day-to-day basis.

Because ITG is a subscription-based website, only a small portion of the columns I write (like this one) there will be available to read for free. That being said, I have every intention of attempting to work out some discount or added benefit should you choose to spend your hard-earned money to read the rest of my work. Hold tight and stay tuned for that possibility as I explore it in the near future.

Above all else, I cannot express enough my gratitude for the support and dedication that you have shown to both myself and OGGOA since our inception. We surpassed three million pageviews in March 2011, now have more than 9,200 Twitter followers (@OnlyGators), have sent more than 27,000 tweets through that account and have seen more than 12,000 user comments on this site.

In addition to your endless passion for the Florida Gators, your enthusiasm for what we are doing here keeps us going day-in and day-out. Please continue “Liking” and sharing our posts (options below each article), commenting on those you find interesting and letting us know what features and coverage we can add in order to help you enjoy your OGGOA experience even more.

With a new season and era ahead for Florida football and plenty of interesting things going on all summer long, this is as exciting of a time as ever here at OGGOA. Stay tuned for more and always remember… ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive!

Adam Silverstein
Owner, editor

While owning and operating ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive for the last 12 months has certainly been fun, it has also resulted in long hours, late nights and more hard work then I could have possibly imagined.

Exactly one year ago, OGGOA was created to be THE stomping ground for die-hard Florida Gators fans on the World Wide Web – an online home base to serve as your all-inclusive, one-stop portal for everything you wanted or needed to know about your favorite team. Looking back on our accomplishments over the last 365 days, I am confident that goal is in the process of being reached and hope to continue providing content that you, the reader, will enjoy.

In normal anniversary fashion, allow me to recount what has been accomplished over the past year while simultaneously paying tribute certain individuals and organizations.

BRAGGING

As of press time, OnlyGators.com has registered 1.75 million total hits. We are also approaching 6,000 followers on Twitter and have just under 2,000 Facebook friends. OGGOA has published 1,424 posts on the website, tweeted 17,096 times (since August 2009), received almost 7,000 comments on the website and have been sent (and responded to) more than 2,000 reader e-mails.

FRIENDS and INTERVIEWS

Since last October, OGGOA has interviewed 13 Gators, 12 of which have been published on OnlyGators.com. We sat down for half-hour sessions with former dazzler now ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, New Orleans Saints defensive end Alex Brown, Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Danny Wuerffel and free agent tight end Cornelius Ingram; we were even granted extensive time with QB Tim Tebow.

OGGOA also interviewed Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin, Atlanta Hawks All Star Al Horford, New England Patriots linebacker Jermaine Cunningham, Chicago Bears safety Major Wright, Montreal Alouettes LB Earl Everett, free agent C Chris Richard, current Florida DE Lynden Trail and NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Luckily breaking a number of news stories over the last year, OGGOA has been referenced, covered or linked to by a variety of major media outlets. We appreciate ESPN (four times), Sports Illustrated (two times), USA Today, The Huffington Post, SPORTSbyBROOKS, NBC Sports, AOL FanHouse, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel (five times), the Palm Beach Post (two times), the Sun-Sentinel, The Press-Enterprise and WWSR radio for providing us with additional opportunities to reach the masses.

APPRECIATION

As mentioned previously, a lot of hard work has gone into making OGGOA a success. Without the following people and organizations (listed in no particular order) we may not have progressed as far as we have in such a short period of time.

- Acceleration.net (web hosting, site design, technical backing)
- Southeastern Conference
- Palm Beach Autographs and Steve Dodson
- Erin Andrews, Danny Wuerffel, Dan Shanoff, Jeremy Fowler, Brady Ackerman
- All of my friends who have supported and promoted this website

APPRECIATION PART DEUX

While everyone listed above has certainly influenced and assisted OGGOA in one way or another, no one has had more of an impact on us than you, our readers. In addition to your endless passion for the Gators, your enthusiasm for what we are doing here keeps us going day-in and day-out. In fact, between the commenters on OnlyGators.com and our biggest fans on Twitter, OGGOA has grown into a bit of an extended family.

Please continue “Liking” and sharing our posts [below each thread], commenting on articles you find interesting and letting us know what features and coverage we can add in order to help you enjoy your OGGOA experience even more.

I appreciate all of your continued support and dedication. It astounds me each day how many new visitors come to this site and how you have made OGGOA the fastest growing Gators website on the Internet. I am truly grateful.

Here’s to another year!

Adam Silverstein
Owner, editor

1 » Opening the University of Florida’s 2010-11 athletic season on Friday, No. 11 Florida Gators soccer (1-0) defeated the Miami Hurricanes (0-1) 2-1 in a double-overtime match at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Scoreless in the first half, redshirt sophomore midfielder McKenzie Barney kicked the ball across the goal to the far post at 49’ to put Florida ahead. In the blink of an eye, Miami’s Blake Stockton hit an equalizer at 53’. Almost an hour of game time later, now in the match’s second overtime, freshman forward Taylor Travis put the Gators ahead for good with a seven-yard golden goal into the far post at 107’. Florida will need to regroup quickly as the ladies will travel to Orlando, FL, for an away game against the Central Florida Knights on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. The match will air live on FOX Sports Florida.

2 » The defending National Champion Alabama Crimson Tide earned the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll released Saturday with the Gators coming in three slots behind at No. 4. In between the two are the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 3 Boise State Broncos; Alabama was awarded 54 of 60 possible first-place votes. Other Southeastern Conference teams ranked by the AP this preseason include Arkansas (No. 17), LSU (No. 21), Auburn (No. 22) and Georgia (No. 23). Florida finished last season listed No. 3 in the USA Today and Associated Press polls, also earning the No. 3 spot in the USA Today preseason poll released on Aug. 6.

Photo Credit: University of Florida/GatorZone.com

1 » Denver Broncos veteran Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey has been heaping the praise on rookie quarterback Tim Tebow and that trend continued Wednesday in an NFL.com report. Talking about Tebow’s star quality and magnetism, the former Georgia Bulldogs star placed the Florida Gators legend above even the most famous Florida State Seminole. “I’ve been on a team with some [high-profile] players, such as Deion [Sanders] and guys like that, but I’ve never seen nothing like this,” Bailey said. “It’s amazing. […] I’m kind of proud of him for the way he handles himself. He wants to be one of the guys. People are going to put him on that pedestal, but he handles both sides very well.”

Defensive end Justin Bannan is also impressed. “I’m kind of blown away,” Bannan said. “I’ve just never seen anything like it. It’s like a phenomenon. This city’s just become obsessed with Tebow. The guy has earned that right to get that kind of attention, because he’s probably going to go down as one of the greatest — if not the greatest — college player to play the game.”

2 » It should be no question that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie center/guard Maurkice Pouncey, the University of Florida and the NCAA all want the allegations surrounding the player to be settled – one way or another – as soon as possible. Nevertheless, according to the University Police Department, determining whether or not Pouncey accepted a $100,000 payment from the runner for a sports agent may take up to two more months to settle. “It’s still an ongoing investigation,” Capt. Jeff Holcomb told The Gainesville Sun. “It could be another month or two before it’s finally closed out. It’s a slow-going process.” The process has been underway since June.

Photo Credit: Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post

Just take their advertising campaign for the video game as an example. Though we initially had a tough time locating a copy of the television commercial being aired across the country, we have finally found it thanks to the help of one of our Twitter followers. (The first few seconds of the video are what counts here.)

This online ad also showcases the theme that the company has created.

Our point? We don’t have one really. It is just cool to see OGGOA (even as a phrase) being used to promote a big-time product…just as it was last year throughout the “Finish the Mission” campaign for Nike Pro Combat apparel. Now if EA Sports would only see the value in advertising here like some of our other sponsors.

If the title of this Web site seemed familiar to you at first, that is because it should be. It is hanging over the tunnel to Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, seen by the entire football team every time it storms the field. The phrase stands as a reminder to the players that The Swamp is land worth fighting for, defending and dominating opponents on. Thanks to our Gainesville, FL-based hosting company, Acceleration, OGGOA‘s new design reflects the famous sign and meaning behind it better than ever.

Like The Swamp itself, OGGOA strives to be the stopping ground for die-hard Gators fans – an online home base to serve as your all-inclusive, one-stop portal for everything you want or need to know about your favorite college team. Timely, informative and updated around the clock, OGGOA features breaking news, commentary, discussion, interviews and so much more.

Your support made us an instant success, and your continued loyalty to OGGOA and passion for the Gators has kept us up and running for over 160 days. We hope to continue being your home for full coverage of University of Florida athletics and look forward to providing you with as much insight and content as possible at every turn.

Design – A special “thank you” to Jesse and the guys over at Acceleration (see right column) for updating and streamlining the design elements of this Web site. OGGOA looks better than ever, and it is because of Acceleration’s passion for their work.

Mobile site – OGGOA is compatible with the Apple iPhone and other mobile devices including the Motorola Droid and RIM Blackberry. This optimization allows mobile users to load the site quickly, without the clutter of images, while also letting them read full articles and participate in discussions by commenting. If you are on a mobile device and wish to view the regular site, simply scroll to the bottom of the mobile page and click “OFF.”

Share button – The “Share” button at the bottom of every post allows OGGOA readers to easily distribute the latest Florida Gators news to friends and fans via Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, digg, del.icio.us, etc. Utilizing this feature does wonders in promoting OGGOA, so please do so when you have the opportunity and find a post interesting.

With that being said, Web sites undergo many changes throughout their lifespans (SEE: Web sites We Visit: How They Looked 10 Years Ago). OGGOA is sure to continue evolving as time goes on. For now, we present you with version 2.0 as well as some wallpapers for use on both your computers and mobile devices!

Schedule desktop wallpaper (1280×1024)
Schedule desktop wallpaper (1024×768)
iPhone wallpaper
Droid wallpaper

Sincerely,

Adam Silverstein
Owner, editor

It has been a tough week for Van Pelt, especially after notorious Howard Stern prank caller Captain Janks fooled him by acting as former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook during a live on-air interview. Anyway…enjoy.

Van Pelt, of course, apologized. Because heaven forbid the FCC not hear an apology for a simple technical mistake and/or profane slip-up. “Earlier in the program, as we were heading to a break, my microphone was still open and I uttered a profanity,” he said. “And for that I apologize for anyone I might have offended.”

Now back to business. While OGGOA is committed to bring you the latest breaking news and most informative, up-to-date details about the Gators at every turn, I have run into a scheduling conflict on Saturday. Fortunately and unfortunately, I have a wedding to attend during the Florida vs. Florida State Seminoles game. Therefore, all game day coverage will be up on Friday and there will not be live coverage of the game on twitter. You can simply occupy yourself with games of poker at partypoker.com UK or, of course, by watching the game live yourself. However, I will have a full story up at some point after the game and OGGOA will stay on schedule from that point forward. As far as how I will watch the game, the best option looks like the CBS College Sports app for the iPhone, which will air the game live.

Glad that is out of the way. Over the past few days, I have come across three pieces of audio that I think you all will enjoy. First is a brand new Gators rap song from Gemini Soundz featuring B. Nyce called “GATOR.” As a hip-hop fan myself, I am always excited when a new song comes out, especially when it is as well-produced as this one. Enjoy.

Gemini Soundz feat B. Nyce – GATOR

I was also able to embed the audio from the Nike Pro Combat page, both of which happen to end with the very name of this site: ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive. Pretty cool.

Florida Gators – Nike Pro Combat Uniform

Florida Gators – Finish the Mission