ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive opened exactly three years ago today during one of the most news-packed months in the history of the Florida Gators.
October 2009 featured widespread panic about Tim Tebow’s concussion and preparedness for LSU, the debut of the lacrosse program, the arrest of Erin Andrews’s stalker, concern about the commitment status of Matt Elam and devastating season-ending injuries to a pair of Florida football players.
After 36 months of long hours, stressful days and plenty of late nights, it is my pleasure to say that OGGOA remains alive and kicking entering its fourth year.
As I stated last year, I truly never thought that a phrase I jotted down on a piece of paper a few summers ago would not only materialize into this website but become something that has encompassed my life in so many ways.
OGGOA was always meant to be a website even when it started simply as a Twitter account that quickly gained a strong following and provided this publication with an unexpected but certainly appreciated built-in audience of Gators news-craving readers.
Now three years later I’m proud to say that OnlyGators.com has amassed more than 6.1 million visits since Oct. 1, 2009. This officially marks the 3,502nd post on the website, and the next comment submitted will be the 19,306th since inception. The @OnlyGators Twitter handle has added nearly 5,000 more followers in the last 12 months (18,367 total as of press time) and approximately 52,600 tweets have been sent out with the news, information and opinions that you crave.
Many of you reading this right now have been with us from the very beginning. You may remember the website crashing when we broke the information about the team’s Nike Pro Combat uniforms. (Luckily the servers have been significantly beefed up since then.) Perhaps you were a frequent reader when OGGOA’s very first in-depth interview (with Al Horford) was posted in early 2010. You might be someone that joined us along the way or maybe you’re even a brand new reader who stumbled onto the site a few months ago.
No matter the longevity or frequency of your patronage, please know that I very much appreciate you for clicking on your OGGOA bookmark, tapping the iPhone home screen icon, reading my tweets or even visiting the site through my work with Yahoo! Sports and Rivals. Without you, the reader, this website does not exist. Period.
As always, plenty of love and thanks goes out to OGGOA’s contributors, the more than 30 Gators athletes who have sat down for extensive interviews with me, those in the industry who have supported and endorsed the website, the great folks at Acceleration.net for keeping us up and running, and obviously all of my friends and family who are equally instrumental in keeping the passion going on a daily basis.
Albert Einstein once said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Hard work does pay off; this site is a testament.
Here’s to another year!
Adam Silverstein
Owner, editor
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