Mocking Media Guide Muck-Ups

It's time to gear up for college football. Media days have come, August is upon us, and it is now appropos to mock your rivals (even moreso than usual). According to this tweet, FSU misprinted the name of Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle whom they featured for his academic acheivements.

This is high comedy, almost as gut-busting as the Seminoles yuge logo on their field last year that spoke of acamedics and integrity after the academic fraud scandal that rocked their athletic department the year before. This typographical error reminded me of a photographical error made by the University of Florida in the summer of 2003 when a Crocodile graced the cover of their media guide instead of their Gator namesake. I love the statement from the Florida spokesman on that: "We asked for an alligator, we paid for an alligator and unfortunately we did not get an alligator."

Minor details that have nothing to do with play on the field? Yes, but it never hurts to poke fun at the two in-state schools who still call you "thugs" because they are uninventive despite the fact they have more arrests and a poorer academic record than you recently.

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When Should Tebow Be In The Game?

There are two questions surrounding Tim Tebow's concussion. Neither involve Conan O'Brien's concussion but here's hoping he gets well also. The most important one is when he should return. Fortunately the Gators have a bye week before heading down the Baton Rouge to face the Tigers, at night. But is that enough time for Tebow's halo-encompassed cranium to proerly heal? Orson over at EDSBS does not think so (the comments section has some good info and perspectives as well). The main argument is that when someone suffers an injury like this they are more likely to suffer it again. Considering that Tebow has been rushing the ball quite often the last few games, one has to think Florida is going to curtail his rumbling.

Now Tebow being the great competitor that he is (that is said without sarcasm, the dude is a gamer) is going to most likely lobby for the status quo when it comes to playcalling. Add to the fact that the UF receivers have shown a sliver of the ability that Harvin and Murphy provided last year and it seems that Tebow will again be charging into opposing defenses. We have seen NFL quarterbacks take these shots again and again which led to their retirement. Troy Aikman, Steve Young, and most recently Trent Edwards. There is no replacing or repairing the noggin and when it gets rattled, it is serious trouble. Maybe even a more appropriate example is former Carolina linebacker Dan Morgan. Morgan suffered repeated concussion and was forced to retire before his Pro Bowl career reached its fulfillment. The way Tebow runs makes him more alike to Morgan that the others mentioned.

I am positive that Florida's medical staff is working around the clock to ensure Tebow is ready and cleared to play against LSU but the decision will ultimately be up to Tebow and I think we all know what he will choose. Although I rip Tebow for the media hype that surrounds him, it is unfortunate that he is injured and if this affects how the college season plays out. On the flip side, a worse scenario is him returning and the Gators winning it all in which he will be instantly canonized as a living deity and his concussion MRI is installed on a plaque outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

The second question to answer is more hindsight in nature and has already been bantered on at length but: WTF was Tebow doing in the game at that point? If you take away the fact that Florida was dominating the game and it was late in the 3rd quarter, Tebow was ill before the game even started. All day long TWWL's bottom line informed me that Tim was suffering from a "respiratory illness" and flew on a separate plane to Kentucky. When he was carted off it suddenly became a possible case of the flu. Bottom line, he was not fully healthy so why extend him in a game that was already secure. Put Brantley in,have him hand it off and get out of Dodge. Not everyone agrees on this point but I think the Tebow illness beforehand should have made the decision. If it is pertinent enough to be a headline, then I am sure it was a concern for Florida before the game took place.

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Gators Still Focused on Tennessee Game

One of the most anticipated games of the week and the season in college football occurred Saturday with a mild 23-13 result. It was one of my top ten games to watch the entire season. The thought was that Urban Meyer was so infused with wrath that he was going to light up the scoreboard at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium like Bastille Day. So it was a surprise to many that the Vols hung tough with the first-ranked Gators Saturday in Gainsville. For all the warnings about the incoming wrath of Pope Urban and Lord Tebow, Tennessee being out-manned, and the Gator fans screaming for blood, it was a pretty darn well contested match-up.

No one was disregarding Monte Kiffin and his defensive genius, but the popular thought was that Tennessee did not have the personnel to stop the incoming onslaught of Gator offense. However, Kiffin together with defensive line coach Ed Ogeron showed just how well they could put together a gameplan. What really helped the Vols was the play of safety Eric Berry who flew all over the field making tackles and intercepted Tebow. Berry cemented his top ten pick status on the field, but in the end it was not enough to overcome the Gators offense. The 28 and 30 point spreads though, suddenly looked ridiculous.

So it a hard fought game and it appeared after a brush-by handshake by Kiffin and Meyer that everyone could move on with their season. But no, once again the words of the two coaches have sucked everyone into the vortex once again. It was Meyer firing shots at Kiffin first, insinuating that Kiffin was just playing ball control and not trying to win the game.

"When I saw them start handing the ball off, I didn't feel like they were going after the win,"

Why would a two-time national champion even bother to say this after the game was already won? Because this is who Meyer is, bottom line. He is one of the best coaches, if not the best, in the country there is no disputing that but his insistence on embarrassing opponents on the field and thin skin when it comes to his adversaries is getting old for UF detractors.

Kiffin of course refused to hold back and came back with this salvo:

"This offseason the commissioner made a big deal of renewing vows in terms of what we say about other teams, other coaches and other players," Kiffin said. "Obviously Urban feels he doesn't need to follow that. We won't say anything else."

In regards to Meyer playing up the fact that members of his team had flu symptoms before and Saturday's game, Kiffin lofted this grenade:

"I guess we'll wait and after we're not excited about a performance, we'll tell you everybody was sick."

With the rest of the season to go for the national title, it only plays to this notion that Meyer and the Gators wanted to embarrass Tennessee for them to make such statements after the game was over and won.

My favorite quote out of these shenanigans was from Meyer alluding to the pace of the game:

"The way we lose a game there is throw an interception. Why put yourself in that position? Let's find a way to win the game. We're not trying to impress the pollsters."

So is this really how Meyer feels about Tebow's ability to throw the ball? For all the rebuking about Tebow's lack of passing ability his own head coach said he was hesitant to throw the ball in a contested game because of a possible second interception by the defense. Urban knew where Tebow's strength lies, running the read option and carrying the ball in short yardage for first downs. Tebow ended the day with 24 rushes. This appears to be the same strategy that lead to the Ole Miss loss last year for Florida, and there is no Percy Harvin to turn to this year.

So the Gators were sick and just playing down to their competition on Saturday. They are not trying to impress pollsters, they just want to win big to stick it to their opponents. Perhaps Meyer has that confidence because he knows as long as his team wins the SEC and has no more than 1 loss, the BCS title game is all but guaranteed. In this case, since Florida is scrutinized and receives as much praise as any college team in the country, they should just focus on the task at hand and leave the Volunteers in the dust and out of the papers.

Kiffin rebuffs Meyer's comments [ESPN]

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College Football Previews: The Fate of #1

We know now that Cobra Commander is a fan of Three Dog Night and if there can be a parallel drawn to college football it is that 1 can be the loneliest number of all. Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, teams have been finding it tough to go wire to wire in the AP Poll. Many feel that it will not be the case with Florida this year for if the predictors do not have Florida winning it all, they have them in the title game. In this portion of our preview we take a look at the viability of preseason polls, the history of AP number 1 teams in the BCS, and why it is difficult in college football particularly to repeat.

Premature Rankings

We have yet to officially kick-off the 2009 college football season and yet we have a full AP and USA Today poll. It is the contention of a lot of critics that there should not be a poll coming out before any games are played or at the very least one that bears so heavily on the outcome of the season. Football is unique because the polls have a decided factor in whether a team gets an opportunity to play for the title. Some say the poll should not come out for a few weeks into the season but pollsters already have a general idea of where they would place the teams beforehand anyway. Yet the crux of the problem is thus; if team A starts the season based solely on expectations ahead of team B, then team A has the decided advantage if both finished with identical records and had similar losses. It is the constant case of finding imperfections with an imperfect system in college football. Sometimes a season can swing on where a coach's assistant or some crazed AP voter places a team.

Hard to Repeat

Besides any history of polls or playing the numbers game, it is extremely difficult to repeat in college football. It is difficult in any sport, but particularly in the college game. The most evident factor is the turnover. You only have players for a short period of time. If they are junior college transfers you have two years. If a player has NFL potential he is usually gone after his junior year. So from anywhere from 1-4 years the maximum amount of time you have to shape a player and utilize his talent on the field. And unless your Michigan you only have a certain amount of time to practice and train them due to NCAA rules.

What Florida has going for them is that their quarterback is returning, he knows the offense, and he is pretty darn good. The defense returns all of its starters so in theory they should be even better than last year. There were a few losses to the offensive line and Percy Harvin is gone as well. People are quick to point out that Jeffrey Demps is just as quick as Harvin but Percy had excellent lateral movement and field vision as well.

It takes more than returning talent to go wire to wire and repeat however. There is something about a team being ranked #1 in college sports that gives an extra charge to their opponents. Most of the time that charge only lasts one quarter or half and then the #1 team's talent takes over. The point is though that when you are a top-ranked team or the defending champion you get the absolute highest energy effort from the opposing team. Any time you step on the field the other squad has delusions of rushing the field and toppling the goal post.

I suppose mentioning that Florida plays in the SEC is enough to warrant doubts as to there repeat potential but as long as they make it to the SEC championship game with only won loss, they have nothing to worry about. It is one of the effects of the BCS system that a team has the knowledge it can make one mistake and still get the title shot while other teams know it is perfection or bust.

By the Numbers

Georgia came in ranked number 1 last year mostly based on their strong 2007 season and the return of Matt Stafford and Knowshon in their backfield. I was even pretty high on them. Yet at the end of the season they were ranked 13th. The last preseason number 1 to finish with the title since the inception of the BCS was USC in 2004. The Trojans were again the preseason number 1 the next year but if not for the scampering of Vince Young would have gone back-to-back wire-to-wire. USC again was ranked number 1 before the 2007 season but had to sit and watch the title game and ended up number 3. The only other BCS wire-to-wire team was Florida State in 1999. The average finish of the preseason number 1 in the BCS era is 3.63. Some of that is due to the AP choosing good teams and the other is that it is a lot harder to fall from the top, even with bad losses. Perhaps the voters like to cover their preseason picks at year's end even if the team is not playing for the championship.

Only three teams have ever come from double digit preseason rankings to win the title with the largest run made by Oklahoma in 2000. If we ever have a beer together and this subject comes up I can give you a detailed account of why the Sooners got the break of the century in getting to play FSU in the title game that year. The very BCS system was changed after that year because of what happened but I digress. The average starting spot for the BCS national champion has been 6.36. The team ranked 6th in the AP this year is Ohio State.

You cannot really crunch these numbers. There is no sure fire formula to go by when the AP and the other polls that comprise the BCS are created from subjective votes from what are basically anonymous voters. Worse yet, there is not standard set of criteria from which to vote. If you think that strength of schedule is all that matters, that is how you vote. Margin of victory may impress you, going undefeated might be the most important, or you just may not like a player or coach as much as another. Predicting how things will fall out is never easy in sports to begin with but this system makes it a true crap-shoot. We do know that history has taught us being number 1 before the first kickoff of the season usually results in being ranked lower at the end.

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You Are Not Prepared For The SEC Onslaught

Brace yourselves. This is only the beginning. As SEC Media day kicked off yesterday, we saw a terrifying glimpse of the media coverage to come this season. Every coach who got up the podium was asked whether they were the culprit, the charlatan who did not vote Tim Tebow preseason all-conference at the quarterback position. I warned of this at the end of last season when Tebow announced he would be coming back. If the coverage is not coming from people who fawn all over the Florida deity, then it is coming from people who are covering him to talk about how ridiculous it is to fawn all over him. I fall into the latter group. It's a trap! I cannot help mentioning this though.

One by one as coaches faced the media, each one was asked if they dared to not vote Tim Tebow as lord and commander of the universe. [Update: It was Spurrier!] Now I have no problem giving Tebow the honor, I mean those dump-offs to Percy Harvin and shovel passes to tight-end Aaron Hernandez were tough, but the world of SEC football continues to grow, as evidence by their massive new television deal and by the 1,000 credentialed media in attendance. This is why the conference has gained the reputation it has, because the southern population of the United States is absolutely batshit crazy over college football.

But back to Tebow. Even he has to think this is getting out of control. He was asked if he was a virgin, which many people think went too far. The problem facing Tebow and the Gators will not be the talent they have the field or even their schedule, its going to be the insane number of attention paid to their team. If people thought last year was over the top and insufferable (/raises hand) then you have no idea what is coming. That is one reason why it is so hard to repeat in sports because once you win, you get magnified under the microscope. You thought the Farve coverage by ESPN was bad, let me just mention that they have a television deal with the SEC and already slobber over Tebow. Tim Tebow is in our lives 24/7 now if we want to follow college football this season and whether we have spent five minutes with him or not, are we better for it?

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Random Thoughts On A Friday

While things are slow(er) here at ASD, I have decided to ramble a bit on a few subjects from this week in the sporting world. My thoughts would probably be more concise had I no eaten that Cuatro Leches cake at lunch. That's right, not the traditional tres leches, one extra leche for supreme immobilization of all physical functions and complex mental processes. I feel like I have been hit with a tranquilizer dart.

Club Fed

Roger Federer is, as I punch the keys, battling in the 5th set with Juan Del Porto in the semifinals at Roland Garros [Update: He won]. If Roger holds on and makes it to the final he has his chance at the career Slam and will tie Pete Sampras for all-time Slam titles. If eventually surpasses Pete would this make Federer the best ever? Maybe by the numbers, but one thing I would agree with Sampras on, even though he said it sounding like sour grapes, was that the level of competition in men's tennis was miles ahead of where it is today back in the late 70s, 80s, and 90s. While Roger is a master of his craft, up until the recent surge of Nadal, no one has challenged him. Pete and Andre had all they could handle in challengers early and late in their career. Right now as Federer's career is tailing off is when we could be witnessing a rise of stars at the top of tennis. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal represent tremendous players who could beswtow us with great rivalries for years to come. If Roger wins the French, it will go a long way in the conversation of him versus Sampras, but pound for pound I still think Pete was the better and that is not all Roger's fault because he has not had the competition.

One story that should not be lost in the red clay of Roland Garros is the run of Robin Soderling. Even though he and Nadal had a verbal spat of words in the past, he pulled the unthinkable by beating Rafa on clay and then turned around and beat Andy Murray. If he faces Roger Federer in the finals and wins, he will have beaten the number 1,2, and 3 seeds. That would be akin to Arizona beating Kansas, Carolina, and Kentucky in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. You may notice I left one name out so far in this tennis conversation. While Andy Roddick shed the pounds, talked the game, and was winning handily, he did not even get the opportunity to face his old nemesis Federer. Instead he went out whining to Monfils in the 4th round. We should not be surprised by this performance by Andy, who has never done well at the French Open but is is nevertheless dissapointing. While Roddick wins at life, on the court his time is running out and that U.S. Open may be the only major he ever sees.

Tell Me How My Ring Tastes

Nice gesture by Shaq tweeting that he hopes Kobe wins. Would he be saying this if the Lakers were not likely to run away with this series? Who knows but the whole argument about Kobe's legacy on the line is pretty dumb. I have never liked Kobe, from the moment he pronounced he would not play for the Hornets (no I don't fucking care if you say that the trade with the Lakers was already in the works, he still initiated it with his statement. Would he have had the stones to sit out that year while Charlotte held his draft rights? Answer is no.) to his drama with Shaq, to his sneak attack on the brown in Denver, to his overall persona the guy is not someone I admire personally. But there is no doubt the dude can ball and is one of the ten best players ever in the NBA. The fade away shot he hit from almost three-point range last night made me just shake my head.

The argument over his legacy is pretty much a barroom argument that is being presented for lack of other storylines. In all sports there is a double standard that you must win a championship to vindicate your career yet players like Malone, Marino, Barkely, Bonds are given passes because of their greatness. Bryant has three rings no matter what happens in those series. Despite Shaq being the dominant player, it is doubtful the Lakers succeed time after time without Bryant. I stated earlier this week that to me this championship would be like Peyton Manning's for Kobe. Of course Kobe already had his three but it would be the total monkey off his back title. So while I cannot spurn the argument until Kobe probably puts it to rest in this series, his place in NBA lore is quite secure.

The Price To Pay

I have eluded to the subject of Florida Gators' legal troubles before so this is nothing new in my mind, but worth discussion. People have been talking about the 24 Gator players arrested in the last four years and also discussing how the major outlets (twwl leader mainly) are ignoring it. While the four-letter network has had fire side chats with Tebow and Pope Urban has been mum on the subject, Florida is now officialy a college football dynasty. It is unavoidable for a program to attain this level of talent with its players and success without some of the negative. In this light I am not bashing Florida as some renegade program, it is simply the price of multiple titles. If you are a young college man and everyone in your community is telling you how great you are and media outlets are dubbing you as righteous champions, your head is going to swell. Dave Hide of the Sun-Sentinel has the correct perspective on this in his article on the arrest situation of the big three Sunshine State schools. The Miami Hurricanes are always sensitive to issues like these and that is mainly because as Hyde states, "Once you lose your reputation, it's hard to get back." The U will never get any respectable reputation back and that adds to the edge with which its players carry themselves and a galvinizing force for all who have played for the program. The Gators have had problems with behavior since winning their 2nd title in 3 years but not "Tainted Title" or Luther Campbell problems like FSU and UM. That being said, it is not balanced coverage when one of the ratings giants' mistakes are swept under the rug while Meyer speaks out of how ever many sides of his mouth he has and Tebow is praised for his character. A football team is exactly that, a team and all members are answerable.

That's all I have for this Friday, it would have been more fluent had office interruptions not occured.

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The Twitter Thoughts of Tim Tebow

Fake Twitter accounts are becoming the norm as the networking stie continues to grow. I have found that the fake ones are usually more entertaining than whatever the impersonated athlete/celebrity can come up with. Florida quarterback and Jesu Cristo right-hand man Tim Tebow is not immune to these instances of jocularity. Some of the entries are rather amusing.

Tim Tebow's Twitter page [ESPN Page 2]

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I'm Sorry, and You Are...?

How many of the following men do you recognize, or can name?



No, it's not the ten most wanted list from Wall Street. These men are your SEC coaches not named Bruce Pearl or Billy Donovan.



We considered doing this as a YDKB, but decided that only family members and SEC commissioner Mike Slive could get more than half.

A full third of the conference's coaches are in their first year or are interim coaches. Less than a year after leading his team to three wins in just over thirty hours in the SEC tournament, Dennis Felton in out at Georgia. One of the elder statesmen of the league, Mark Gottfried resigned at Alabama just ten days after a loss to bitter rival, Auburn. The Tide had struggled the last three years against the Tigers, going 1-4.

The addition of new coaches isn't the issue, but in a sport where stability thrives, only three teams, Florida, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt have had their coaches in place for longer than five years, and half the league hasn't had their coach in place for two full seasons.

Coaching changes are a part of the business, and many times they are cyclical, but just as the SEC thrives in football from it's visibility they're struggling in basketball from a lack of it. The Big East basketball thrived in the 80s due in no small part to a contract with ESPN. SEC basketball now finds themselves stuck below both the ACC and Big East in ESPN's priority list and their weekend CBS coverage doesn't attract near the attention that their football does. Looking at Kentucky and Florida's remaining schedules they have just as many games on ESPN Full Court as the do on ESPN. The most watched games for this conference were when they were getting thrashed by the Big East in the SEC/Big East Invitational and most of the big name schools didn't participate.

In football, it's common place for teams to schedule patsies in non-conference play, preferring to allow the conference record to speak for itself. Apparently, the athletic directors in the SEC have chosen to do that for basketball too. According to the ESPN/USA Today poll, the conference as a whole only has five wins against top 25 teams, but more importantly only sixteen total matchups against ranked teams. Sixteen of their 254 played games represents just over six percent of their total games played and that number will continue to decrease as they play more unranked teams in conference. The conference's top three teams (in terms of visibility), Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee are a combined 2-5 with Florida having faced not one top 25 team and Kentucky going 0-3. Compare this with the ACC where every team in the conference has at least three matchups with ranked opponents, and the Big East where every school has faced at least four.

The lack of ranked teams in the conference hurts the SEC's numbers, but three of the teams haven't faced a single ranked team, and another five have only faced one. Consider this, Davidson, a "mid-major" has played three ranked teams this season, more than all but Kentucky and Tennessee in the SEC, and they too get no ranked games in conference, and they have a fourth ranked matchup, against Butler coming up. The SEC athletic directors are doing a poor job of scheduling, leading to decreased visibility (I hate to keep using that word), and making recruiting harder, thereby making it harder for these schools to compete at the highest level.

For the record, here's the list of the coaches at the top (left to right):
Top Row - Rick Stansbury (Miss St), Jeff Lebo (Auburn), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt), Adam Kennedy (Ole Miss), and Darrin Horn (S. Carolina)
Bottom Row - Trent Johnson (LSU), Philip Pearson (Alabama), Billy Gillispie (Kentucky), Pete Herrmann (Georgia), and John Pelphrey (Arkansas)

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Does not Believing in Tim Tebow Make You an Atheist?

Last night featured the epic matchup of the accurate, Heisman trophy winning, epitome of consistency with quiet confidence and architectural-like precision versus the Superman, Heisman trophy winning, youngest of five children, home schooled, unquestioned greatest leader in college football, who exudes passion, fire, will, power, desire, was born in the Phillipines, lived in an orphanage and a leper colony, fed hungry children, traveled to Croatia and Thailand, has numerous children named after him, unflappable conviction in his faith and makes peoples lives better after meeting them after five minutes.

I was bashed by some friends of the blog when I stated that he'd "lived in a leper colony." They rambled on about Ben-Hur and Boy from Tarzan, but here's a clip of the video tape:

I'm not fond of young Timmy, but I do realize that much of the venom comes from a sever dislike of his coach (as a person). Urban Meyer's the Bill Belicheick of college football. Tremendous coach, but not a tremendous human being. In addition, the media adoration is too much. Only one other player's personal life was mentioned by the broadcast team during the game, and that was revolving around the unfortunate passing of that young man's mother. They had a month to prepare, but it seemed as though they only prepped the Tebow hyperbole instead of focusing on others as well. Other than covering the rehab of "the most electrifying player on the field," very little was said about Percy Harvin. Part of my issue with Tebow, is the long shadow he casts, that his teammates seem unable to emerge from, even when it's due. What Tebow does in the community is wonderful, but so is having the means to do it.

Is not spending time with less fortunate American children just as important as the work he's done? Should not Bob Stoops's team be recognized for participating in a bone marrow drive in Oklahoma with designs on helping a 10-year old girl? An effort that turned out "84 players, coaches, reporters, and athletic department staff members," (ESPN) including QB Sam Bradford. What a tremendous forum the National Championship game could have been to bring to light a serious issue in America, particularly if you're a minority like the young girl, Tallie Anderson. Minorities and individuals of mixed heritage have a very difficult time finding matches and only through increased awareness in these communities will the chances increase. As of a couple weeks ago the widespread campaign in Oklahoma proved fruitful and she was in line for a transplant.

Were it not for Coach Meyer and the media incessant affection for Mr. Tebow, it may be easier to appreciate the tremendous second half he played. He turned into Old (Heisman winner) Tebow for a drive in the third quarter and made some strong runs and completed some quality passes to lead the Gators to their go-ahead score in the 4th and to ice the game. The ever increasing question of whether or not his game translates to the pro level will haunt us all until his time in college is done. Many pundits and former coaches claim that he will be able to make the transition publicly, but I wonder if privately they'd be willing to hitch their wagon to the Tebow train. My gut tells me no. Playing well against a good marginal an Oklahoma defense, he finished with a respectable 231 yards passing. 44 yards came from screens (or RBs behind the line), 29 came from shovel passes, and 44 yards were downfield yards after catch. That leaves just 114 yards of actual downfield passes and had only one throw of longer than 20 yards. He ran their option to perfection, but having two pro players on either side of you against a college defense does make those choices a little easier. There's a place for him in the NFL, but it's not under center as a starting QB.

While Tebow, Harvin, Hernandez and everyone else on the offense not at left tackle played well, but one person that didn't: Cade Holliday. Cade's a 5'11" wide receiver who has totaled the same number of catches and yards for the Gators this season as Cleet, myself, my goldfish and my black lab. But that didn't stop Cade from embarrassing his family on national TV. Following Major Wright's bone crunching hit against Manny Johnson, Holliday's the one in the clean jersey that comes bounding in jumping over top of Johnson. Congrats Cade, you're a jackass. You may be a jackass with a ring, but you're still a jackass.

Congrats to the Gators, they're the Kings of an imperfect world, but even still they get to wear the crown, and the rest of us have to kiss the ring until next year.

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Bowl Season is Put Out of its Misery

It was the ending we all deserved: a poorly played game, with horrible officiating, and the worst television production and broadcasting I have ever seen in a championship game. I knew it was going to be a bad night when I saw the officiating crew, Ron Cherry and the ACC. I watched this crew "operate" all year and the horrible officiating you saw last night was par for the course. The Florida Gators defeated the Oklahoma Sooners 24-14 in the title game last night in the BCS title game. The Gators now have 3 titles since '96 and are on their way to becoming the Miami of the 1990s and 2000s. Anyone who watched the game witnessed the full-on fellating of Tim Tebow which was unbearable. More on the game, FOX's debacle they called coverage and the results of our ASD bowl picks after the break.

A rational person cannot tell me that seeing the way the two teams played last night that Utah would not have won versus either if they played like they did in the Sugar Bowl. Also, you don't think USC could handle either of those sqauds? I must throw in at this point that Florida won the game and are champions and they were certainly deserving of being in the game. The problem is not with the Gators, it is with the system. After my brilliant idea of a quad national championship I introduce yesterday, the AP poll refused to comply. In the coaches poll, Kyle Whittingham showed he has balls in addition to the only undefeated team in the land by voting his Utah team number 1.

Oklahoma blew this game on failing to capitalize on mistakes by Florida and Tebow but Florida won the game by making the plays and getting into the endzone. I don't think anyone expected the Oklahoma offense to struggle like it did, even though no one was expecting 60 points which enforces my thought that the offense played a bad game more than the defense was so dominant. The Sooners went with the running game early, which gave them success, but down at the 1 yard line OU ran it 4 straight times and got stuffed. Isn't that a Heisman trophy winner at QB? The game seemed to be taken out of Bradford's hands, and then when Bradford had the ball in his hands at halftime he threw a pass into traffic short of the goal line when his team was out of timeouts. Oklahoma picked off Tim Tebow twice and got a roughing the kicker penalty to extend a drive but did not score on any of those opportunities, and that's your game.

Once again Percy Harvin was the difference maker for Florida. After Tebow could not rush the ball in from the 1, the ball was given to Harvin behind center and he ran it in for the Gators' second touchdown. When OU tied the game at 14 the first play from scrimmage was a hand off to Harvin who ran it 52 yards which set up the go-ahead score. Harvin finished with 171 yards but yet again will not get the accolades his quarterback will. Aaron Hernandez, the athletic UF tight end was another big difference maker as he made two big plays on shovel passes from Tebow. Tebow struggled early, and made some good plays, but this win was one by the Florida defense and the offensive weapons around him, not just one player.

Thom Brennaman cemented his legacy last night after his blowfest of Tebow last night. From now on, anyone who watched that game will associate Thom with his calling of that game. All of the FOX BCS coverage was horrid with last night topping it all. They tried to implement their fast cut-scene coverage that worked so well for baseball, but these are two different animals. Football is not as slow as baseball, cut scenes to the band and cheerleaders after every freaking play is distracting and more than a few times caused them to miss the snap. The lack of replays was inexcusable. It took Thom and Charles Davis about 3 minutes, which was about 2 minutes and 49 seconds longer than everyone in the country to realize it was 3rd down instead of 4th. The Tim Tebow worship was the worst of all though. The one thing these media people that kneel at his altar don't realize, the hate comes from you, you created this monster. If they did not give him credit for a 5 yard run like he just cured cancer, there would not be such a backlash. At this point the large portion of the sports viewing audience just want Tebow to go away. You know, Shawn Bradley went on a religous mission, and so does everyone at BYU. We get it, he is a good guy, he is pious, he does service work, he is a great player. On a final note it was nice to see lord Tim gesticulating like a donkey all over the field while the game was still going on and getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty with minutes to go. You stay classy.

Final Results of our bowl picks.

Cleet: 19-15
Catfish: 16-18

My last word on college football this year besides my reinforcement of the quad-champions of Florida, Utah, USC, and Texas is that next year, no matter the records or the situation, Ohio State and Oklahoma play each other in a bowl game.

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The Forgotten Gator

Two years ago Chris Leak led the Florida Gators to their second national championship in the school's football history. According to the way many are talking this year about Tim Tebow, you would think that it was he who led the Gators to the victory over Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. It is all part of the media onslaught of the Tim Tebow for Heisman campaign, which will no doubt culminate with his holiness accepting another bronze trophy this Saturday in New York. The CBS commentary during the SEC Championship reached new heights when he was labeled 'Bronko Nagurski Tebow'. I think you'll find a few subtle differences between the two if you look close enough and not just because I do not think Tebow has ever pointed directions to someplace by picking up a horse-led plow. Let's take a quick look back on the 2006 title the roles played by Leak and Tebow.

First off, this is not a dismissal of the talent and desire of Tim Tebow. He is an exceptional player and we all know what a saint he is off the field. It is not hard for the sports audience to grow weary of him however. The mass sports media constantly fawn over him and treat him as the second coming of some sort of college football diety. Here are a few examples:

Voters have spoken -- give Tebow the Heisman, again [CBSSportsline]

Tebow's emotional vow could go down in sports lore [CBSSportsline]

Is this really going to go down in sports lore? I guess since he does not play on the network that employs me or I do not have a man-crush on him I do not get how blubbering about how upset you are after a loss becomes on par with winning one for the Gipper.



Tebow clings to his reign [FoxSports]

Tebow seals Heisman Trophy with SEC title game performance [SportingNews]

Tim Tebow Continues to Be Haterade-Repellent [SportingNews]

These may be justified articles about a great player, but in the minds of those of the anti-Tebow crowd, they are more examples of the media's love affair with him. The post-game press conference after the Ole Miss game is what still gets me, everyone seems to think that the Florida win was a direct result of that speech, but in truth it was a switch in the offense which involved their tremendous playmakes like Percy Harvin that proved to be the Gators' winning formula. But again I digress, let's take a trip back to 2006 when the Gators won the national championship.

By the time Leak headed into his senior season in 2006, he was already operating under the third offensive scheme in his four years at Florida. This was the second year he had had under Urban Meyer's "spread option" which Meyer had tailored more towards Leak since he was more of a dropback passer. That year Tebow was a freshman and it was apparent early that Tebow was more fit to run Meyer's offense. Before and during the season though, Leak got Meyer's vote of confidence and remained the starter throughout the season though Tebow came in for certain series, especially down by the goal-line.

The Gators schedule that year was comprised completely around SEC juggernauts since the conference was especially strong that year. The team ran through a schedule that included Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and Georgia in consecutive weeks. [side note: funny how Texas does not get a lot of credit for running through their gauntlet of Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma St., and Texas Tech] They were all strong teams and the only team they fell to was Auburn 27-17. That was Leak's worst game of the year as he went 9-17 with 1 TD, 1 INT and was sacked 3 times. The game at the time seemed to knock Florida out of the national championship picture but a USC 13-9 upset at the hands of UCLA allowed the Gators to sneak into the championship game after they defeated Arkansas in the SEC Championship. In the SEC title game Leak was 16-30 for 189 yards 1 TD and 2 INT and 1 rushing TD. It was not his best effort of the year but the Gators won 38-28 and in that game Leak became the all-time leader in passing yards at UF, eclipsing Danny Wuerffel's mark.

In total, Leak finished as the all-time leader at Florida in attempts, completions, yards, 200-yard passing games, and total yards by a QB. His final stats were 11,213 yards, 88 passing TDs versus 42 INTs, 13 Rushing TDs, and a 139.83 passer rating. In the championship game against Ohio State Leak was 25-36 for 213 yards, 1 TD and he was named offensive MVP for the game.

Tim Tebow had 7 rushing TDs in 2006 and 5 passing TDs along with an INT. He only threw 33 passes all year, racking up 358 yards. In the championship game Tebow threw one pass for a 1 yard TD, and had 39 yards rushing and a TD. Those were pretty good stats to accumulate for someone who was not playing that much, but I beleive it is clear that Leak was the offensive leader of that team.

Chris Leak was not without his share of off-field goodliness either. He was a finalist for the Draddy Trophy which is also known as the Academic Heisman. Every semester he made the SEC Academic Honor Roll and was a keynote speaker at the Florida graduation ceremony.

Leak went undrafted in 2007 but was signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears. He did not get much playing time and was released after the final pre-season game. Many think it is his height which prevents him from even being able to make a NFL roster. He is listed at 5'11" which may be generous as most listings are. He tried out this year for the Chiefs but again did not make the roster. On June 9th of this year he signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL and for those of you keeping score at home, they lost the Grey Cup this year to Calgary. On the Montreal team page, there are no stats listed for Leak which I assume means he received no playing time this year.

Although Tebow will most likely win his second Heisman this weekend and in my estimation he lead the Gators to another national title, but the '06 campaign was with Leak leading the offense, a highly touted recruit who overcame the Zook era and three different offensive schemes in four years to led the rout of Ohio State in Glendale and who left Florida with a good number of passing records. I have heard numerous mentions of how Tim Tebow is trying to lead his team to the 2nd national championship under his immaculate reign leadership at UF, but how quick people forget someone who did not receive the constant fellating from the media. Tebow is great and maybe one of the best college football players we have seen in awhile as some are labeling him, but if he fails to win on January 8th, he will have two Heismans his only championship will be as a back-up freshman.

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Do You Know Who's Picking Your National Championship?

We're on the record supporting a twelve team playoff, but since college football still doesn't have one, we turn our focus to the BCS. Every college football fan understands that the BCS rankings rule the roost, but most couldn't name half of the computer polls that annually can play a tremendous role in the selection of a national championship match-up. All but one of the polls are shrouded in mystery regarding their selection process and more often than not, they produce some questionable results. With the systems being "secret" there exists no checks and balances to ensure proper results. It's with this skeptical eye that we took a look at each of the polls that comprise the BCS and quickly found many glaring flaws. More after the break...

The Harris Interactive Poll is, “[c]omprised of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former members of the media who have committed to submit rankings for the top 25 college football teams each week. These panelists were randomly selected from among more than 300 nominations submitted by the 11 Division I-A Conference offices and the independent schools. The panel has been designed to be a statistically valid representation of all 11 Division I-A Conferences and independent institutions.”

Individual Harris poll voters have found themselves routinely criticized at the the end of the season (the only time votes are made public). This week, a Harris voter, Pat Quinn, was quoted as saying, “I think Alabama and Penn State will probably play for the national championship. They're the only two undefeated teams, aren't they?” Harris Interactive attempted to apply a standard practice that could counter error or bias, but were denied by the conference commissioners (and the Notre Dame AD). The Harris Interactive poll accounts for one-third of the BCS standings. A full list of voters can be found here.

USA Today Coaches Poll – Composed of 61 D-1 coaches, the poll accounts for one-third of the BCS poll. Of the 61 head coaches, eight or 13% of the voting pool will not be coaching their team next year. Tommy Bowden, Joe Glenn, Ty Willingham, Jeff Genyk, Sylvester Croom, Phil Fulmer, Rocky Long, and most recently Hal Mumme have all been fired or resigned. Hal Mumme, no longer the coach at New Mexico State, was the coach that last season voted Hawaii number 1 heading into the bowl season. A point of intrigue with the poll, Oklahoma edged Texas by a mere one point with two first place votes to none for the Longhorns. The two votes for Oklahoma in the top spot appear to be from Mike Leach and Sooners head coach, Bob Stoops EDIT:Stoops had a vote last season, but does not have one this year (HT: CGB). Mack Brown also has a vote, but chose Alabama at the top spot. Had Mack been self-serving, the teams would've been tied in the poll. Of note, Urban Meyer does have a vote, potentially explaining the one top vote the Gators got. A list of voting coaches and a conference breakdown can be found at the end.

The final third of the BCS rankings are composed of six computer rankings, with a team's highest and lowest ranking being thrown out before computing their ranking.The six computer ranking providers are Anderson & Hester, Richard Billingsley, Colley Matrix, Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe. After issues with teams with weak schedules having an advantage, each ranking now has a strength of schedule element.

Anderson & Hester – They boast the last original and unchanged computer ranking used in the BCS. They also claim to have the most accurate strength of schedule and conference strength rankings. The strength of schedule component makes their rankings even more curious. They have Utah ranked at number 2, behind only Alabama. The top two schools have SOS rankings of 56 and 61, while number 3 Texas and 4 Oklahoma have the fifth and seventh ranked schedules. Despite having such a pronounced advantage in strength of schedule, Utah earned the nod solely for being undefeated. Looking at Texas and Oklahoma's schedule, the lone ranked team that Texas faced that Oklahoma did not was Missouri, and they played no team of note in non-conference games. Oklahoma, on the other hand played TCU and Cincinnati. Another flaw appears when looking at the conference rankings. They have the ACC being the top conference, with the Big 12 second, the SEC third, and the Big East fourth. Most glaringly the rankings place the SEC closer to the Big East and the Big Ten than either the Big 12 or the ACC. Another telling sign of the flaws is the ranking of Oklahoma State. They're 9-3, with all of their losses coming to teams that were at one point in the season ranked number one. They find themselves ranked 19 and behind the likes of Georgia Tech and Michigan State who have the same records, but without facing that level of competition. They also find themselves behind Missouri, who has the same record and who OK State defeated in Missouri.

Jeff Sagarin – The computer poll with the most name recognition currently has Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech as the top three. According to Sagarin's poll, three of the top ten teams have not defeated a top ten team this season: Boise State, and the two SEC heavy hitters Alabama and Florida. The top four SOS rankings all come from the ACC: Virginia, Duke, NC State, and Wake Forest. Texas and Oklahoma are the only two top ten teams with SOS rankings in the top 20 (12 and 17, respectively). Consensus number one in the human polls, Alabama's SOS (73) is only three spots higher than TCU's (76). The biggest gripe against Sagarin's rankings this year: FCS top team James Madison is currently ranked 24th.

Richard Billingsley – Billingsley implements a starting ranking for teams, that can impact their rankings similar to the human polls. Billingsley, a self-proclaimed Oklahoma fan, did start the season with the Sooners at a higher ranking than the Longhorns. The only computer other than Anderson & Hester with Alabama at the top spot, followed by Oklahoma and Florida. Texas comes in at four, despite a tougher schedule and their one loss coming on the road to a top team, as opposed to Florida who lost at home to an unranked team. The glaring errors appear in the 9 and 12 spots. Number 9 is Ohio State, one spot above Penn State despite the Nittany Lions win in Columbus. At 12, Billingsley currently has BYU. They're ranked above TCU, who has the same record and destroyed BYU 32-7 in October. He also has conference rankings posted with the Big 12 at number one. Curiously, though he has the SEC at 2 and the ACC all the way down at five, behind both the Big and Pac 10. What's so curious about the ACC's ranking, they have 11 teams ranked in the top 53. Conversely, half of the SEC is ranked 55 or lower. Clearly, this system is heavily biased towards conferences with an elite team. The individual SOS rankings are also cause for concern. He understandably has Baylor at 1 having faced all three of the Big 12 south teams, but 2, 3, and 4 all come from the SEC: Mississippi St, Georgia, and Florida. This is largely because Billingsley gives credit for the opponent's ranking “at the time”. This led to Florida getting credit for beating three top ten teams this season. Their wins over LSU, South Carolina, Hawaii and Georgia all appeared to be more impressive at the time. A ranking like this does not provide an accurate assessment of a team's schedule.

Colley's Matrix – The only open-source computer ranking has Texas ranked number one, followed by Oklahoma and Alabama. Texas's SOS of 4, seems high compared to Oklahoma's 13 which was discussed before. Alabama's SOS of 82 is by far the highest of any top 10 BCS conference school. Colley has the Big 12 as the top conference, followed by the ACC, who barely edged out the SEC. Interestingly, the Pac-10 is far closer to the MAC than to the Mountain West. As a fan, these rankings appear to most closely resemble my sensibilities. It would have Texas in the Big XII championship and assuming victory facing the winner of the SEC championship.

Massey Ratings – Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Texas serve as the top three, but Utah comes in at four ahead of both Alabama and Florida. Most concerning about this poll is the fluctuation. Teams regularly jump multiple places (up or down) even at this late time. Georgia Tech and Boston College jumped 7 places, Boise St and Utah 3 spots into the top 10, but Florida and Florida State both remained unmoved after their game. Georgia was number 7 until their loss to Georgia Tech. Florida sits at 6 and Georgia at 7 weeks after their game? Sigh, these are the people picking our championship game.

Dr. Peter Wolfe – The Big 12 triumvirate reigns with Oklahoma at the top. Alabama and Utah round out the top 5. With Boise State finishing ahead of Florida. Another poll that seems to have difficulty dealing with undefeated teams, regardless of quality of opponents faced. These rankings have Florida closer to BYU than Texas Tech. OF note, at 16 and 17 Georgia and Georgia Tech with the same record, and Georgia Tech having just defeated Georgia.

Most of the people behind the computer rankings will acknowledge that they're just a piece of the puzzle and not a fail safe solution, but there are far too many glaring weaknesses in the majority of these rankings. They seem to be in the ballpark, but fall well short particularly when trying to gauge undefeated teams. If we assume they're 95% accurate, that's far from acceptable. If a doctor performs surgery and it's 95% successful, it probably wasn't successful. If that seems too extreme, if you go to a drive-thru window and they get your order 95% correct is that acceptable? These computer ranking by and large have major flaws and no other billion dollar business would accept such shoddy work out of people working on the companies golden goose. Again, the only logical move is to a twelve team playoff. Annually, the BCS fails some conference and some team. This year is setting up to be no different.

For more on the computers, this recent article gives background and additional insight.

USA TODAY Coaches Poll voters:
Fired
Tommy Bowden, Clemson
Joe Glenn, Wyoming
Ty Willingham, Washington
Jeff Genyk, Eastern Michigan
Sylvester Croom, Miss. St.
Phil Fulmer, Tennessee
Rocky Long, New Mexico
Hal Mumme, New Mexico St

ACC (6)
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Bobby Bowden, FSU
Tommy Bowden, Clemson *
Butch Davis, UNC
Jim Grobe, Wake
Tom O'Brien, NC St

Big 10 (7)
Jim Tressel, Ohio State
Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
Mark Dantonio, Mich. St
Bill Lynch, Indiana
Rich Rodriguez, Michigan
Joe Tiller, Purdue
Ron Zook, Illinois

Big 12 (7)
Art Briles, Baylor
Mack Brown, Texas
Gene Chizik, Iowa St.
Dan Hawkins, Colorado
Mike Leach, Tx Tech
Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Gary Pinkel, Missouri

Big East (4)
Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Randy Edsall, Uconn
Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
Jim Leavitt, S. Florida

Conf. USA (6)
Neil Callaway, UAB
Todd Graham, Tulsa
George O'Leary, Central Florida
Mike Price, Texas-El Paso
Mark Snyder, Marshall
Bob Toledo, Tulane

MAC (6)
Jeff Genyk, Eastern Michigan*
Turner Gill, Buffalo
Butch Jones, Central Michigan
Doug Martin, Kent State
Shane Montgomery, Miami (Ohio)
Frank Solich, Ohio

Mountain West (4)
Joe Glenn, Wyoming*
Rocky Long, New Mexico*
Gary Patterson, TCU
Kyle Whittingham, Utah


Pac-10 (5)
Mike Bellotti, Oregon
Rick Neuheisel, UCLA
Mike Riley, Oregon St
Jeff Tedford, California
Tyrone Willingham, Washington*

SEC (7)
Steve Spurrier, S. Carolina
Sylvester Croom, Miss. St.*
Phil Fulmer, Tennessee*
Urban Meyer, Florida
Les Miles, LSU
Mark Richt, Georgia
Tommy Tuberville, Auburn

Sun Belt (4)
Mario Cristobal, Florida International
Todd Dodge, North Texas
Howard Schnellenberger, Florida Atlantic
Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee

WAC (4)
Pat Hill, Fresno State
Hal Mumme, New Mexico State*
Chris Petersen, Boise State
Dick Tomey, San Jose State

Independents
Charlie Weis, Notre Dame

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The Wrong Gator in the Heisman Race

Tim Tebow's seventeen touchdowns in his last four games has some people trying to put him back in the Heisman race. Despite saying his vote is currently with Colt McCoy, even Tebow has not ruled out voting for himself. Regardless of how he votes, it's too little too late. His passing stats lag far behind the big four from the Big XII, and his rushing numbers remain well below last season. The 2007 season saw him make history not only as the first sophomore to win the Heisman, but also with his 32 passing and 23 rushing touchdowns. This year, however, his numbers are artificially inflated and he's not even the best candidate for Heisman on his team. Seriously.



These days Gainesville seems a lot like West Canaan, Texas. In Varsity Blues, Jon Voight refused to give Coyotes' RB Wendell Brown the ball near the goal line. As part of the beginning of the mutiny, Brown makes Mox (James Van Der Beek) aware of their coach's bias:

"Do you now how many touchdowns I have? Three! That's only because I broke for over twenty yards each time. If we're inside the five [coach] gives the ball to Lance (the QB) or some white receiver."

The comparison is not to insenuate that Urban Meyer is in any way racist, but when the ball is inside the five, there is little disputing that they are trying to get Tebow the score. This season began with the Florida coaching staff wanting to protect Tebow by having him rushing less. That plan lasted approximately one week. In their first game, against Hawai'i, both Brandon James and Cameron Newton had one-yard TD runs. Since that game, Tebow has had eight of his eleven rushing touchdowns from three yards or less, and only one longer than eight yards. The other six who have scored rushing touchdowns for Florida have a combined six from inside the three. Of those, three came with Florida up by more than 42 points. One came after two failed Tebow attempts from the two-yard line and another came in the closing minutes of a 30-point blowout. After their first game, only two meaningful rushing touchdowns of less than five yards, were scored by anyone but Tebow and only one with Tebow not having multiple attempts to score. Last season, the Heisman-winner led the Gators in passing and rushing so it was difficult to dispute that he deserved to punch the ball in. This season, however, Tebow is fourth on the team in rushing. His three teammates ahead of him, Percy Harvin, Jeffery Demps, and Chris Rainey have scored fifteen combined rushing touchdowns, but their average runs for each score: 21.85, 45.2, and 37 yards, respectively. Demps's five scores have all come from more than 35 yards away. The result of the preferential treatment for Tebow has resulted in his rushing totals appearing gaudier than they truly are.

Last year, Tebow had nine games gaining over 50 yards on the ground, eight with over fifteen attempts, and ten rushing touchdowns over three yards. This year, he's averaging a yard less per carry, has been over 50 yards only twice, and zero games with more than fifteen attempts. In eleven of the Gators' games last season, Tebow was either the leading rusher or the second leading rusher. This year, he's been third or lower in seven of the team's ten games. The rushing touchdowns may help raise Tebow's stock in the eyes of some voters, but the majority of his scores are no more impressive than Graham Harrell's six rushing scores, all from the one-yard line.

In addition to the numbers, both of Texas Tech's Heisman candidates came up huge in their season defining moment. In Florida's, Tebow was stuffed on a 4th and 1 against Ole Miss, leading to their only loss. With big games ahead for both teams, there's a chance all candidates will have new season-defining moments, but as it stands now, the advantage in all areas point to candidates other than Tebow.

There's little doubt that Urban Meyer would love to have a two-time Heisman trophy winning quarterback on his resume. He would be the only coach with that recruiting chip and telling any high school quarterback he's got an opportunity to compete at the highest level, win national championships, and win (multiple) Heismans would be a hell of a sales pitch. Blinded by his adoration for Tebow, Coach Meyer missed a tremendous opportunity to have two Heisman trophy winners.

Percy Harvin has been one of the most electric overlooked players in the country and the offensive MVP for the Florida Gators. Harvin has caught seven touchdowns and rushed for seven more. He averages a gaudy 9.2 yards per carry as well as 15.7 yards per reception.With the incredible numbers being put up by quarterbacks in the Big XII even if Meyer chose to feature Harvin, he would be by no means a shoe-in for the trophy, but he'd make a compelling case. Some “experts” maintain that the Big XII lacks any defense and defer to the SEC as the gold standard of college football. The only other non-quarterback in the Heisman discussion, Michael Crabtree, also in the defenseless Big XII, has only 18 more total yards than Harvin. The separation lies mostly in touchdowns, where Percy trails Michael by four. If Coach Meyer had prioritized getting Harvin the ball inside the five instead of Tebow, its possible Harvin could be even (or better) with Crabtree. Just as Tebow won the Heisman by leading Florida in passing and rushing, Harvin leads the Gators in rushing and receiving. With Florida regarded as playing in a tougher conference and quickly becoming a fashionable pick for the BCS championship, there is little reason Percy Harvin shouldn't be the Gator in the 2008 Heisman discussion. Urban Meyer would love to get Tim Tebow his second Heisman, but getting two different players a Heisman would've been an equally useful recruiting tool (it seems to be working well for Pete Carroll). Unfortunately for Coach Bud Kilmer Meyer and the Gators, his devotion to his quarterback has cost his best (offensive) player a legitimate shot at the Heisman.

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Spurrier and the Gators: You Don't Know [Blank]

So everyone knows about the relationship Steve Spurrier and the Florida Gators have, but do you know the useless trivial details? If you think you do then continue on for our variable vichyssoise of visor knowledge. As always feel free to post your score and you may receive a prize, although I have a feeling it will be lost in the mail. South Carolina heads down to the Swamp this Saturday to provide the last road hump in Florida's possible march to a national title appearance. Even though I have no affinity for either of these two subjects, it is still the topic for today. Continue after the break for today's exam. See, unbiased coverage!

Everyone knows that Spurrier played the position of [First one's a gimme] for Florida back in the 1960s. He was drafted out of UF by the [Stop cheating] and played 9 seasons for them.

In 1987 Spurrier took his first college head coaching job at [Another lay-up]. A mere two seasons later he was off to his alma mater. Spurrier began amassing SEC titles quite quickly and ended his career at Florida with [It's a number]total. He became the first person to win a Heisman Trophy and to coach a winner of one when [Hint: I like waffles] won it in 1996.

That same year, the Gators won their first national championship by beating [Stop cheating] in the [Stop cheating] Bowl 52-20. Six years later he would resign from Florida and became the head coach of the Redskins. He lead the 'Skins to a [XM has a big TV] record during his time there.

It wasn't long before Steve was back in the SEC though, as he took the job at South Carolina in 2004, succeeding [Lispy McLispLisp]. Spurrier beat the Gators in his first season in Columbia 30-22 over the then #[Stop cheating] ranked Florida team. The more memorable game was the next season, when the undefeated Gators won 17-16 after [He kicks for them now] had his game-winning field goal kick blocked by [This is a tough one] to secure the win. The Gators had also blocked an extra point. Coach Urban Meyer and Chris Leak lead the Gators the rest of the way to a BCS title after they whipped Ohio State by a score of [Salt in Catfish's wounds] and also beat them for the national championship in basketball Spurrier referred to the Buckeyes as [Can't be nice to everyone].


pencils down!

Answers Below













Answers
1. QB
2. San Francisco 49ers
3. Duke
4. 6
5. Danny Wuerffel
6. Florida State
7. Sugar
8. 12-20
9. Lou Holtz
10. 12
11. Ryan Succop
12. Jarvis Moss
13. 41-14
14. Runner-up U

Scoring Scale
0-1: Gator-Hater
2-4: Big Ten supporter
5-7: Gator-Appreciater
8-10: You own a pair of jorts
11-13: You own multiple pairs of jorts
Perfect 14: Circumcised by Tebow himself

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Cocktails Anyone?

We are a mere two days away from the one of the msot anticipated college football games of the season. However instead of focusing on the actual match-up, the hype machine that is ESPN and others in the media are choosing only to focus on what transpired in the first quarter of last year's 42-30 Georgia victory. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, you can watch the video here. But there is more to this game than Florida exacting revenge and they better realize it they will lose the game and the SEC East title.

In an unsurprising, reverse phsycology move, Florida coach Urban Meyer put the kibosh on any of his players making statements regarding the unsportsmanlike penalty of a year ago. Yet, somehow, players made statements to the press about the incident weeks in advance that have been circulating to every media outlet available. It has even exhaustibly been mentioned that in his "authorized" biography Meyer was upset about what Georgia did and will exact "revenge" for it. Now far be it from me to question pope Urban, but I think this shows a slight problem he has with losing. It is a good problem to have if you are a big-time college coach like Urban is; he simply hates to lose and does not react well when he does. Case in point was Florida's one loss this year, where Meyer gave a quick handshake to Houston Nut after Ole Miss pulled off the upset (2:42 for that in the video).



This was after Miami coach Randy Shannon received heat in Gainsville for not giving Meyer a "proper" handshake following Miami's 26-3 loss in the second week of the season. It seems turnabout may not be fair play in the Gators' minds. What upset Shannon and Miami was the attempt of putting another touchdown on the board with only a minute remaining and Florida already winning 23-3. Strange how Meyer threw for the endzone and even kicked a field goal to cover the spread when kneeling on the ball would have ended the game after a convincing win. Now some would describe that as a classless move and clearly Randy Shannon thought so. Meyer, like his other national championship predecessor Steve Spurrier, enjoys tallying the scoreboard high and even throwing a few trick plays in even when the game is in hand and in this day and age of the BCS and polls ruling who makes the big bowls, one could argue there is nothing wrong with piling it on.

It is not the act of rushing the field by all the Georgia players which won them the game, it was the ability of Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford to move the ball against the young Gators' defense and the ability of the Bulldog defense to make some key stops. The story will be the same for this year's game. Both teams are coming off impressive wins; Florida pounded Kentucky 63-5 and Georgia went into Baton Rouge and beat LSU 52-38. The Florida offense has more playmaking ability with Tebow's ability to rush, the backfield running of Jeffrey Demps and Chris Rainey, and the lightning speed of Percy Harvin. Georgia's attack is much more centered around one player, but the one player in this case happens to be Moreno. Knowshon has rushed for 925 yards and 12 TDs so far this year. Tebow has been solid this year, but has not been featured as much in the offense which was the plan. Stafford has received mixed reviews but has shown at times he can make the big throws as he has completed over 61% of his passes, thrown for 1946 yards and 12 TDs. A sub-par performance will not get it done for UGA, Stafford cannot even be mediocre for the Bulldogs to triumph on Saturday. The Florida defense has been much tougher this year, giving up only just under 12 points a game. Charlie Strong and the Gator defense will no doubt have a plan in place to slow Knowshon down.

The "experts" seem to be leaning toward Florida in this one and they do have the more dynamic offense, stronger momentum, and the revenge factor if you want to call it that. I do think Georgia has to play with less errors to win than Florida in order to win and they must be successful with Knowshon and keep the Florida offense off the field. Either way it should be a great contest and the strategic battle of the coaches on the field should excel any hurt feelings off it. ESPN even went so far as to ask if there was fear in Mark Richt's voice. That seems absurd to me of a sports network trying to discern if there is fear in a coach's voice while he is simply giving a press conference. The focus has been too much on what happened last year and not on what the teams need to do on the field this year. The egde in the game goes to Florida but if they are too obsessed with getting even on the sidelines, they will lose on the field.

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Blown Call, Timid Play Calling Help Gators Cover the Spread

The result was one we all expected. In the books the victory that Florida got over Miami Saturday night will go down as a blowout, 26-3. For the first 3 quarters though, the Hurricanes held his holiness Tim Tebow and the mighty Gators to just 9 points. The new defensive coordinator Bill Taylor for Miami had a terrific game plan to slow down the high-powered offense of Florida; even more impressive was that the young defense of Miami executed it. In the end, the hot and humid conditions wore down the Canes defense and the Gators broke through in the fourth quarter thanks in part to a ridiculous call and the inability for the Miami offense to stay on the field. Bottom line the Gators are just a superior team right now.

First off, I certainly am not saying the call cost Miami the game, I believe the Gators would have won regardless, but that does not forgive the call. It occurred late in the third quarter on a third and 8 Tebow pass from Miami’s 33. The Florida receiver went up and caught the ball and it appeared he was forced out of bounds by the Miami defender. The ref closest to the play immediately ruled the play incomplete. The play then went into review and far from my understanding; it stayed in review for a few minutes. The head official then informed us that the receiver’s elbow landed in the field of play. That is all well and good but somehow he and the replay official up in the booth missed an important detail: the receiver never caught the ball. In the replay it showed that when the receiver landed the ball came loose. As soon as the receiver came down the ball flew out, probably in part due to the fact that the Gator receiver ended up hurt on the play. Nevertheless, the Gators got the ball first and goal and after a truly terrific pass interference call, Florida punched it in to take the lead 16-3 on a Percy Harvin run where there may or may not have been a block in the back and holding on the outside.

I understand that seems like bitterness on my part but my main anger is at the play calling of the Canes. Robert Marve in his first career start showed some grit by scrambling for first downs and making some nice throws. His receivers dropped some key passes which did not help, but in the second half Miami refused to cut their young quarterback loose. Patrick Nix, the Miami offensive coordinator, accomplished his goal in the first half by controlling the ball and gaining the advantage in time of possession. By the time the third and fourth quarter came around, Miami was still tip-toeing around trying not to make the big mistake, which it did not. But that led to the defense breaking down and the Gators pouring on some late touchdowns. You can only hold Tebow and the offense down for so long. Clearly the Canes missed the Labor Day game where UCLA unleashed Kevin Craft who threw four interceptions in the first half, but in the fourth quarter he led them down the field and eventually to victory.

I get the Miami game plan and I even mentioned it in my preview; play ball control, tough defense, keep it respectable. Miami did that, but at some point you have to go after the win. By staying conservative they gave the ball right back to Florida who began to overcome the tired Miami defense. Of course, I am not a football coach and do not possess the knowledge that Randy Shannon and Nix do. Perhaps they did not want to shake their confidence or maybe they did not believe their offense would make the plays after many dropped passes, but they will not win many games this year if they are that timid on offense. In the end both teams mostly go what they wanted; the Canes showed there is hope for the future and the Gators erased 23 years of bad history.

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Of Fast Athletes, Humidity, and Jean Shorts

Plenty of each of these will be on hand tomorrow night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The fact that these two have not faced each other since New Year’s Eve 2004 has increased the focus on the match-up, but the fact that there are not many more intriguing games this weekend has also fanned the flames. Naturally, everyone is looking forward to next week’s swath of college football games with the USC-Ohio State collision leading the way (Catfish is already on Beanie “Footwatch ‘08”). This game is a mere appetizer, a dainty bonus snack on the year’s buffet of great games to come. But still, it will be an interesting scene, even if a lop-sided game follows, the atmosphere should be excellent at the beginning.

As a hurricane alum I can tell you I have been dreading this game for about a year. I am one of the Miami fans that prefer to live in this place called the real world. The U is down, everybody knows this but the gleam (there’s a gleam) of hope is that Randy Shannon will bring us back to winning. That is all true UM fans want; to win like any other big program out there. If and when Miami ever does return to the national prominence, the media will be saying the retarded line of “the swagger is back”. But who cares about swagger, we just want wins. Obviously if a team is winning, it will be more confident, but based on past perceptions, the Canes will always be seen as cocky thugs and nothing more when they are winning. Again, as a Hurricane I can deal with that, it’s the poor play blowouts I cannot deal with.

Shannon has brought in a top flight recruiting class. He has penalized players for doing something as trivial (gasp) as missing class or study hall. He brought in a new defensive coordinator to get away from the old style he could use when he had defensive backs like Rolle, Reed, Taylor, and Buchanon and could gamble all the time. Most importantly, he might have some quarterbacks now. Jacory Harris was impressive, even if it was against Charleston Southern, as he lead the Hurricanes to 52 points, something Kyle Wright was only able to do once. Then there is Robert Marve, who will be making his first college start tomorrow night and his first start in a game in almost two years. The word is that Marve has the tools and could be the answer at quarterback that Miami has long sought after Ken Dorsey. I prefer to wait and see how he plays after I was told Kyle Wright was the number 1 rated QB coming out of high school years ago. Either way he will have a tough night against the Gators.

The Florida program is riding high, having just built a 28 million dollar facility, and will host some coveted recruits for the game that are deciding between the two schools. Urban Meyer has the team in contention in the SEC every year recently and it seems it will stay that way in the future. However, with that success comes the expectation every year of a national title or bust. This game is not a must-win to secure a spot in the SEC title game, and will not have much bearing on the chance for the Gators to land in the top two BCS spots when the final rankings come out, unless they lose it. I am certain the Bull Gators have been in Meyer’s ear about this game. The fact that Florida has not beaten Miami since 1985 sticks in their craw, even if they do not play annually. The last two losses to Miami have to be particularly distasteful. The improbable comeback by former Gator Brock Berlin in the Orange Bowl to win 38-33 after trailing 33-10 in the third quarter, and the 27-10 victory in the 2004 Peach Bowl in which Miami scored 14 points on a missed FG return by Devin Hester and a punt return by Roscoe Parrish. The point is the Gators and their fans want blood, they don’t care that Miami has been down and enters with a young team, they want to humiliate them and end the streak with a exclamation.

That brings us to the game itself. The two teams are seemingly playing for different goals: Florida to win and win big, Miami to be in contention throughout. Tim Tebow may not wish to be included in the Playboy All-American team, but there is no doubt he is one of the best QBs in the nation. I have no clue what Miami’s defensive gameplan will be but it better have a good one. The Florida offense is obviously loaded and will put up points, the key for Miami is to make them finish a drive for points and not give up any big plays. Defensively is where the Gators have struggled, so the Canes have to be able to move the ball. Running backs Javaris James and Greg Cooper will hold that responsibility because it cannot be laid on Marve in his first game. Miami started strong on their big road test last year against Oklahoma, but a big turnover crushed their confidence and led to a blowout. They will have to do it for all sixty minutes in an even more hostile environment.

Florida will no doubt win the game unless something extremely unexpected happens. True Cane fans have accepted this, but how we lose might set the tone for the rest of the year in a wide open ACC. Miami only has 5 seniors that get any playing time, the future is bright but they must endure the present. The Gators have been waiting a long time for payback; I just hope the game doesn’t take a long time to forget.

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