Griffin Stadium

Griffin Stadium may refer to:

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Benjamin Hill

Benjamin Hill or Ben Hill or Benny Hill may refer to:

People

Places

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Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field, popularly known as "The Swamp", is the football stadium for the University of Florida and the home field of the university's Florida Gators football team. It is located on the university's Gainesville, Florida campus. The stadium was originally built in 1930, and has been regularly expanded, renovated and improved since then. Although it is the 12th largest college football stadium as measured by its official seating capacity of 88,548, attendance for the Gators' home football games regularly exceeds 90,000 people.

Location

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is located on the northern edge of the University of Florida campus near the center of Gainesville, Florida. The stadium and its approach are bordered by West University Avenue on the north side, Gale Lemerand Drive (previously North-South Drive) on the west, and Stadium Road on the south. Just east of the stadium is the University of Florida Campus Historic District, which is the oldest portion of the campus and includes the Murphree Area student residence complex, the Florida Gymnasium, and Ustler Hall. Just west of the stadium across Gale Lemerand Drive is the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, which is the home arena for the Florida Gators men's basketball, women's basketball, gymnastics, volleyball, and swimming and diving teams. Just beyond the O'Connell Center are the football team's practice facilities and Alfred A. McKethan Stadium, home field of the Florida Gators baseball team. Prior to the 2015 Season a new indoor practice facility was added just north of the baseball field and east of the grass practice fields.

Ben Hill Griffin, Jr.

Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. (October 20, 1910 – March 1, 1990) was a prominent American businessman, citrus grower, politician and philanthropist who was a native and resident of Florida. Griffin was an alumnus of the University of Florida, a former state legislator, a one-time candidate for governor and a patron of college sports and higher education in Florida. Several of Griffin's grandchildren remain active in Florida politics.

Early life and education

Griffin was born during a hurricane in the former town of Tiger Bay, near Fort Meade, Florida. He attended Frostproof High School in Frostproof, Florida, where he was responsible for starting the high school football program in 1929. After graduating from high school, Griffin studied economics, marketing and agriculture at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a member of Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity (Alpha Epsilon chapter).

Citrus and agri-business

In 1933, Griffin left the University of Florida after three years without earning a degree to find a job during the Great Depression. He unsuccessfully sought work in New York City, then returned home to Frostproof, Florida and began his business with a 10-acre (40,000 m²) orange grove, a wedding gift from his father, and built it into a citrus business empire.

Florida Gators

The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni, and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as the "Gator Nation." The Gators compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and are consistently ranked among the top college sports programs in the United States.

Overview

The Florida Gators athletic program has been recognized as the best overall in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) over the past two decades, and consistently as one of the best in the nation. During the 2013–14 school year, the Gators men's and women's teams combined to win the Southeastern Conference All-Sports Trophy for the twenty-fourth time in the past twenty-seven years. Every year since 1983, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) has recognized the Gators athletic program as one of the ten best overall Division I athletic programs in the country in its annual NACDA Directors' Cup standings. The men's athletic program was also the winner of the 2010–11 and 2011–12 Capital One Cup; the women's athletic program won the Capital One Cup in 2013–14.