On Inside Higher Ed this morning:
The University of Florida has distributed several thousand T-shirts in which Roman numerals intended to indicate 2006 (MMVI) in fact indicate 26 (XXVI). After discovering the mistake, the university will have many thousands of other T-shirts redone, The Gainesville Sun reported.
But, hey, the football team is supposed to be pretty good.
And, hey, don’t forget the men’s basketball team – 2005-2006 NCAA Div I champs…or was that Div V?
Actually, those in the know will recognize this as a subversive celebration of Florida State Road 26, also known as University Ave during its course through Gainesville. SR26 is the main strip that forms the northern border of campus and is home to such academically-rich watering holes as the Purple Porpoise Oyster Pub.
Not that I went there or hold any advanced degrees from the institution…
Here’s what a Florida fan wrote on his blog:
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/?p=2500
Citing our inside sources, though, we have to come clean and unveil a little-known secret about Florida football: it was actually founded in the year 26 AD in the Eastern Han Empire, China, something only recently discovered by Florida’s archaeology department. The real error on the shirt was the “100 years,” which should have read “1,980 years of middling to good football.”