Gators in the Valley of the Sun

I’ve been impressed with Gator fans here in Arizona. They’re known as “Desert Gators” and they’re a pretty cool bunch.

Example A is resident Frank Thompson (pictured here). We met over coffee at the Starbucks in San Marco a couple days after Christmas during his vacation. He was born at St. Vincent’s and graduated from Orange Park High School in 1972 and UF in 1976. “I was actually raised on Fleming Island when there were no people there.”

He got me up to speed on this part of Arizona known as the Valley of the Sun. “Going from Scottsdale or Glendale to Phoenix is like going to the Beaches from Jacksonville,” he said.

I called Thompson today at 8:30 a.m. for help on a story (see the ticket prices article in today’s Times-Union). He answered the call and helped me tremendously in the middle of a Habitat for Humanity build with Gator and Buckeye fans.

Desert Gators President Gary Manton has been a huge help to Ryan and I, too, hooking us up with fans and keeping us posted on key BCS events going on this weekend. Desert Gators are big on charity here and are famous for adopting abandoned reptiles in Arizona. (They’re on the Web at www.desertgators.com.)

From what I can tell, about the only thing they can’t help with is finding cheap tickets to Monday’s BCS championship.