Traditions and Rivalries
"The Swoop" is a key UNF tradition, similar in principle to UF's Gator Chomp or FSU's Tomahawk Chop as the recognized gesture to show school spirit. It simulates the movement of an Osprey flying through the "swooping" of a fan's arms. "Swoop" is also an acronym that stands for Students With Outstanding Osprey Pride.
North Florida's most notable rivalry is with crosstown opponents the Jacksonville University Dolphins. The two universities contest the "River City Rumble", in which the school with the most wins over the other across all sports receives a trophy, the SunTrust Old Wooden Barrel. UNF has been on the losing end of the men's basketball rivalry; at the close of the 2010–2011 regular season, North Florida was 1–13 against Jacksonville. The series was so one-sided that North Florida coach Driscoll refused to call it a rivalry until the Ospreys had won. This changed when North Florida finally defeated the Dolphins in the 2011 A-Sun quarterfinals in one of the young program's most significant wins.
Osprey basketball and baseball games can be heard on 105.7FM in Jacksonville.
Read more about this topic: North Florida Ospreys
Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)