Far From A Bust

What a crazy, stressful, entertaining, heart-wrenching, exciting, depressing, fantastic ride this college football season was as a Florida Gator fan. From January 2009 through January 2010, every week provided some sort of storyline for this band of Gators.

The season began where last season’s ended, and that was in Miami, FL where the 2009 edition had finished winning their second National Championship in three seasons. It was an amazing end to another amazing season, and only got better a week later when Tim Tebow and Brandon Spikes announced their intentions to return for their senior seasons, joining the entire two-deep on defense.

Immediately, expectations shot through the roof. Nothing less than back-to-back National Championships would make this 2010 edition meaningful.

It was Pasadena or bust.

Well, something happened along the way. The plans, the dreams, the aspirations…got busted. And you know what?

The season wasn’t a bust.

February brought another great recruiting class into Gainesville, FL that, while not ranked very high, filled every possible need that needed to be filled, and clocked in at the #3 highest star-average in the country. It’s a class that, given the size restrictions, I would not have traded for any other in the nation.

Spring went rather commotion-less, and heading into fall practice, Florida was pegged by everyone in the world with a pulse as the #1 team in the nation. The 2010 season was going to go down as the most anticipated in school history, and for points already discussed, for good reason. In my mind, only three things could derail the hopes and dreams of this season:

1. Complacency
2. Tim Tebow getting hurt
3. The flu

In that order, I felt those were the only things that could keep us out of Pasadena and playing for our third National Championship in four years.

By the third week of the year, we were decimated by the flu.

The fourth week? Kentucky knocked Tebow out of the game with a concussion that looked a LOT worse than it actually turned out to be.

As luck would have it, the week following that trip to Kentucky delivered us the best gift of the year: Our Bye week. It gave Tebow time to get the best medical help he could possibly receive, it allowed the rest of the team to completely overcome their ailments, and it also set off a tsunami of negative press that would not let up until two weeks ago.

The first issue of the year was relatively minor, and not necessarily worth mentioning, and that was our apparent struggles against Tennessee. Everyone in the country expected a monumental dismantling of the Vols (including me) and that just didn’t come to pass. Instead, Meyer took the conservative approach and played to “just win.” As the season would go on, and frustration would build within the fanbase about why we weren’t dismantling opponents week in and week out, it became clear that this approach was our mantra for the year.

“Just Win.”

And that is what this team did all year. It wasn’t always pretty, and it wasn’t always entertaining, but when the final whistle blew at the end of the regular season, these Gators finished what they set out to do, and that was go undefeated, 12-0, SEC East Champions. But it wasn’t easy.

As I alluded to, every week there was a different distraction, a different issue that the media and rival fans took up with the Florida Gators. The first was our “mistreatment” of the Tim Tebow concussion. With that bye week, that gave everyone two weeks to discuss, dissect and question the issue, and the motives of Urban Meyer. Once the team got back on the field and Florida came away with a 10pt victory at LSU, the Tigers’ first night time home game loss in 30-plus games, the noise quieted down a bit.

Then came the following week, and the controversy with the Arkansas game. Florida was aided at the end of the game with two questionable calls, and that sparked up the issue about the SEC “protecting their own” and keeping the top teams at the top. This debate raged for weeks and weeks as Alabama seemed to benefit from many questionable calls, as well. The following week was a 10pt win at Mississippi State that saw Tebow play the worst game of his career, which again fired up the debate about whether his treatment was approached correctly or not.

Then there was the Georgia game. Finally, a huge win, a blowout win, against a bitter rival. Finally, it seemed, us Florida fans could kick back and enjoy a victory.

Not so fast, my friend.

Controversy again raged on surrounding Brandon Spikes’ apparent attempt to gouge the eyes of Bulldog running back Washaun Ealey. Thanks to YouTube, the close-up of the incident became an instant internet sensation, and that only lead to the media picking up and running with it, neglecting to mention the constant dirty play and cheap shots that Georgia players were taking on our guys the entire game, and yet still refusing to drop the issue after Ealey himself came out and said he didn’t get hurt, nor felt threatened. The issue only got worse once Meyer offered up a half-game suspension, to which Spikes’ responded by suspended himself for the entire Vanderbilt game.

Sheesh, can we catch a break this year?

The following two weeks went without a hitch against Vandy and South Carolina, and it didn’t take long for the media to jump right down our throats again for scheduling Florida International (conveniently neglecting to mention the scheduling of the likes of teams such as Alabama – FIU, Chattanooga, North Texas – and Texas – Louisiana Monroe, UTEP, Wyoming) at such a late time in the season.

The following week was amazing for me personally, and as a Gator fan. Kara and I spent Thanksgiving in Florida and got to attend my only game of the year…Senior Day against florida state. Being able to be at the final game of the winningest class in SEC history with her was just incredible. It was also amazing in that Florida extended their winning streak to six games over the noles.

So here we are, 12-0. We survived week after week of distractions. We survived the flu, and we survived our rock star quarterback getting knocked out, and thus far, no complacency. The 2010 Florida Gators were well on their way to re-writing history.

Then came Atlanta. Then came Alabama.

Then came complacency.

It’s been widely reported that the team felt they had won everything. They had reached their goal, and they took Alabama lightly. They saw the Tide win gritty week after week, and felt they had already punched their ticket to Pasadena.

They got punched in the mouth.

Florida ended the regular season at 12-1 with a shocking 32-13 loss to the elephants of Tuscaloosa. It was heart-breaking, and once again, as a fan, I had to put up with rivals swarming about how we’re overrated and how Tebow is a baby by showing his emotions. These same people the following week applauded Mark Ingram for wearing his heart on his sleeve after winning the Heisman Trophy.

The entire season ended with an amazing showing in the Sugar Bowl, destroying the 3rd ranked Cincinnati Bearcats 51-24, and left us wondering what might have been.

The 2009 season WAS a crazy, stressful, entertaining, heart-wrenching, exciting, depressing, fantastic ride, and while it didn’t meet expectations, it ended on a perfect note. After a scare that Urban Meyer was jumping ship, we got the chance to once again prove all of the haters wrong by hanging onto the best coach in college football, reel in the probable #1 recruiting class and started 2010 off on a note that could not have been any better.

It’s Great to Be A Florida Gator.

Get Better, Coach

I’m in shock.

Absolutely and utterly beside myself to the point where I feel physically ill.

Urban Meyer resigned tonight out of the blue due to health issues, and to anyone who closely follows Florida Football, this is probably not a surprise. I’m not talking about the resignation, that is as surprising and out of nowhere that you can possibly get. I’m talking about Meyer’s health issues.

He is a Coach who puts every ounce of his life into being the best coach there is in college football. No other coach in the country probably takes his job as seriously as Meyer does, and it’s no surprise that the insane amounts of stress have taken such a huge toll on him that it has come to this. Meyer has brought so much good publicity to the University of Florida in such a short time, becoming the winning-est active coach in college football, and the only coach to win two BCS National Championships, but his time here will be remembered by so much more than just the wins and the championships.

But here’s my theory, get ready.

He’ll be back, and it won’t be any longer than 3 to 4 years from now.

And it will be at Florida.

Meyer is staying in Gainesville, and staying involved with the University of Florida Athletic Association. It’s already being reported that his health issue is NOT life-threatening and that he will help Athletic Director Jeremy Foley and SID Steve McLain in the search for the Gators’ next head coach. My thinking is that Meyer will emphasize the hiring (or internal promotion) of someone he is close with and trusts to take over the program for a couple of years while he gets some R&R.

And he will be the successor to Florida’s next hire. This person who Meyer is instrumental in bringing in (or promoting) to fill his vacancy will come in with the knowledge the Meyer will be back in a few years. This coach will be okay with this, knowing that being the head coach at Florida, even if only for a couple of years, will help him land a long-term head coaching position somewhere else in the country.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, but when you really think about it…It’s not that far-fetched. Or maybe I’m just being a little too optimistic.

I do know this, Urban Meyer was the perfect person to take the job five years ago. And he will be the perfect person to take over again in a couple of years. But for the time-being get better, Coach. All of us in Gator Nation wish the best for you and your family and we thank you for the time, effort, blood, sweat and tears you have put into bringing us the last five amazing years.

We’ll be here waiting with open arms for your return. And if I’m wrong, we’ll still love you.

Take Care,
-Gator Nation

A Tale of Two Weeks

It’s amazing how different two weeks can be. The last time I blogged, I was reporting on the awesomeness of our trip to Florida. The sun, friends, family, roller coasters, perfect health and a Florida victory. So what went wrong this week?

Really, that’s not the best question in the world…The question should be what HASN’T gone wrong in the last week?

It all started the night after I wrote my last entry. The day started off good as I had a friend from work over to indulge in my new XBOX360 with me, but ended bad after he left. When I returned from gathering the parking pass from his car, it didn’t take long to realize that our front door broke and I was locked outside; Kara inside.

After about two hours of being out in the cold (literally) our handy-dandy apartment mechanic had it all fixed and working better than ever. I was finally out of the cold and back in the nice, warm, loving arms of my other. The following day started off not terribly bad, but as my work day went on, I gradually felt worse and worse. I became light-headed, nauseous, hot and dizzy. I decided to tough it out and stayed for my whole shift, but as the night wore on, a nasty sore throat joined the party.

Not much sleep was had that night, and when I woke up Friday morning, I was even worse off than before, and a small rash on my hands and forearms decided to hop aboard the Nussy Sick Train. I called Kara half-freaking out, and she rushed home and rushed me to Urgent Care – which was closed. A short time later, after vomiting in front of three people for ten minutes, I was admitted to the E.R. where I donned a beautiful hospital gown and began a three hour adventure of facing some of my biggest fears.

Needles.

With a complete disregard of my protestations, the nurse hooked me up with an IV which I took like a man (tongue-cheek) that was set to constantly pump me full of hydrating fluids and benadryl. Ohhh my, benadryl.

You sneaky, sneaky drug, you.

Benadryl knocks me out cold. Usually it takes about twenty minutes, but regardless, I’m out like a rock and there’s no waking me. And now they’re pumping it into me through an IV? I knew immediately that this was going to be an adventure. I was out like a light in no less than five minutes, and for the next three hours Kara and the nurses guarded me in my coma-state.

In the middle of my benadryl coma, I was ushered out of my room for chest xrays. I don’t recall this movement one bit. Apparently they wheeled me to another room, asked if I wanted to stay in my bed and do the test there, or get on the table (I, again apparently, answered “Stay in bed”) and performed the test with me sitting up in my bed. Again, don’t recall a minute of this.

The next time I was awaken was to give a urine test in which I somehow managed to get up and walk to the bathroom and do my business with not falling over onto the toilet or floor. I conquered this like a champ, and I do remember the sheer accomplishment I felt by completing the mission.

After an unknown amount of time, the doctors came back in and diagnosed me with the flu. The didn’t, however, mention to me that it was H1N1…The elected to just let me read the paperwork’s diagnostics after we left the hospital to realize I was a Swine.

The remainder of the day was spent sleeping heavily, with Kara waking me up periodically to feed my grilled cheese and my drug cornucopia. My only wish was that I would be better enough the following day to enjoy the SEC Championship game, and that was not to be.

Saturday I woke up feeling slightly better, but this rash that was just on my hands/forearms had spread to cover about 60% of my body and it itched like mad. Another trip to the (closed) Urgent Care and a few hours later I was sent home with even more drugs to partake in (but no IV!) Now what could be worse than being diagnosed with Swine Flu, you may ask?

The 2009 SEC Championship Game, that’s what’s worse.

The game made me nervous but I had a quiet confidence about it; and honestly, there were three to four other games throughout the year that I was more worried about. If I had known the outcome, and how we came out completely unprepared and completely uninterested, I would have just stayed in the hospital with no TV. Our players were completely nonchalant, our coaches got completely out-coached, and we came away with a loss that still stings and is probably up there in my top three “Worst-Feeling Defeats” as a Florida fan. The two days before the game provided me with obvious foreshadowing that I just chose to ignore as bad luck (with my health, that is).

Since Saturday, my health has been on a constant roller coaster (heh)…One day I feel like death, the next I feel like I was never even sick. I finally do feel, however, that I am getting a lot better but now there’s a side symptom that I genuinely hope isn’t here to stay.

I’ve become a snorer. I’ve never snored bad. Occasionally, yeah probably…But not night after night.

Poor Kara, Bless her heart. She’s done everything in the world to make this Hell week better, but now she’s not feeling well and my snoring is causing her even less sleep. I hope it gets better and is just a side effect from all these drugs I’ve had to pump through my system for the last week.

Otherwise, it might be another Hell week; but for her.

Return to the Tundra

I already miss Florida.

In fact, I missed Florida the second we got to the Tallahassee airport to head back to the Frozen North. I miss the sun, I miss wearing my shorts and t-shirts and I miss no snow.

Visiting there again after being here for five months really made me appreciate everything that I grew up taking for granted. Seeing palm trees everywhere was a particularly great sight. Kara always says “I want to see palm trees!” and I always laughed at her.

“They’re just trees,” I’d say.

But no, they’re not just trees. They’re a symbol of warmth. They’re a sign that you will not have to deal with cold weather for more than a month.

They truly are beautiful and from here on forth, I vow to never take another palm tree for granted.

Kara and I landed in Florida on the busiest travel day of the year without a hitch. No delayed flights, no lost luggage; not even any problems in security or a single hold-up whatsoever. It was incredible. My only complaint are the idiots at the Memphis airport who didn’t realize they could lift their chairs up to move them instead of sliding them all over the floors making the most God-awful noise I’ve ever heard. But I digress.

My parents picked us up from the airport and man, was it good to see them. As I’ve written here before, I’ve grown closer than ever with them over the past year so it was a definite breath of fresh, sunny air to see them again. We caught up for a couple hours before Kara and I (from here-on to be known as “we”) headed out to Los Compadres, a staple of Tallahassee dining, to meet up with 15 of my closest friends for an all you can eat buffet of Mexican goodness.

We had such an amazing time gorging ourselves and catching up with these great people. If there’s two things about Tallahassee I miss, it’s my awesome friends….And food. I miss both of these things dearly, and it was great to get to spend a couple of hours enjoying both.

The following day was Thanksgiving and, as usual, was spent napping, snacking, watching football and gorging ourselves even more. Kara being the antsy person she is, got my family and I to play a heated game of Scrabble in which she ran away with the W at the end. And to be honest, we let her win because my parents and I all felt bad about her not getting to spend the holiday with her family. Dinner was terrific, and after a bit of spending more time together, we called it a fairly early night.

Black Friday was spent not at my retail job (THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!). We got up early and hit the road for Orlando. After taking care of some business, we headed to SeaWorld for a bit to see Shamu and get Kara’s Manta credit. I was really excited for her to ride Manta as it quickly became one of my top 5 favorite roller coasters and I was ecstatic to see her reaction. Unfortunately, I hyped the ride quite a bit and she was left a bit disappointed after the first time around. Luckily, though, her second ride was a lot better and I’m very happy she enjoyed it as much as she did.

After a photo op with a Shamu costume, visiting the real guys, and checking out the baby dolphins, we left my second favorite place in the world and hit the road to Gainesville. We spent the night at Chris and Amber’s house watching the Gators beat #2 Michigan State (sorry baby ), hanging out, and playing some Guitar Hero before it calling it a night.

Saturday was by far the greatest day of the trip. We woke up early and headed out to UF for a long day of College Gameday, visiting friends, tailgating and FOOTBALL! Florida came away with their sixth straight win over florida state (and I WILL be writing a huge blog about all of that) but more importantly, Florida came away with a new huge fan. The Swamp won Kara over immediately, and I’m so lucky to have someone whose so open-minded and accepting. The stadium was rocking that night, and she loved every minute of it, to the point where she remarked to me the other day: “I don’t want to wait 10 months to go back!”

Sunday was another early day as we headed back to Orlando to meet up with my grandparents and Kara’s friend Dan. We were supposed to go to Universal to ride their new coaster Hollywood Rockit, but it just didn’t work out. Instead we had a great lunch with my grandparents, and had a invigorating game of mini-golf at Congo River that came down to the final hole. Overall, this was another great day, but the drive back to Tallahassee afterward was long, tiring, and frustrating due to the traffic.

Our last day in Florida was spent relaxing, and lunch at my favorite place in the city: Po’Boys! I finally got to introduce my parents to the wonder that is this amazing Cajun dining joint. We were all stuffed to brim afterward but golly, was it worth it. A few hours later and my parents dropped us back off at TLH and it was back to the skies.

As the snow falls outside and I get to experience my first time driving in it, I look back at the last 25 years of my life and realize just how much I took palm trees for granted.

Not anymore.

And We Wait

Florida, we’re coming!! Don’t go anywhere!!

Its the busiest travel day of the year, and we’re sitting in Minneapolis-St Paul Airport waiting to board our airborne chariot to sunny (rainy?) Florida; by way of Memphis. And what makes me the happiest about our travels on this day?

We don’t have to go thru Atlanta.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Atlanta airport, but it is the absolute last place on this planet that I want to be today. Instead, we get the pleasure of traveling through Memphis, which I came to love the last time I flew. Its nice, clean, well-organized and not Atlanta on the busiest travel day of the year.

Today is also the first time Kara and I have actually flown together. Every time either of us has flown since we met, its been to visit each other; not go somewhere together. Its a strange feeling, but nice at the same time. Flying is fun, so how do you make it more fun?

Fly with your significant other!

We can’t wait to get to Florida. Sun, 70′s, friends, family, rollercoasters and food food food.

Oh, and a pretty big football game on Saturday.

See you all in the Sunshine State!

Palm Trees For Winter

I’ve never come to fully appreciate the beauty of a palm tree. Being surrounded by them my whole life, to me they were always “just a tree.” You take certain things for granted when you’re around them all the time, and for me, one of those things are palm trees.

Man, lemme tell ya…I cannot WAIT to see palm trees in two days.

Kara and I are flying to Florida on the busiest travel day of the year (Wednesday) and will be spending 6 glorious, sunny days in my home state. We’ll be spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, rollercoasting in Orlando, and seeing the Mighty Florida Gators send the florida state seminoles to the hells of six and six. Everything about this coming week has me absolutely giddy.

I can’t wait to see my parents for the first time since August, and devour hoards of turkey and cranberry and mashed taters and everything else amazing that comes with Thanksgiving.

I can’t wait to gorge on All You Can Eat with a bunch of close friends.

I can’t wait to go back to Orlando, check out the area, ride MANTA and get a new credit at Universal.

I can’t wait to finally be back in THE SWAMP for the first time this season and watch Florida demolish the Noles.

And most of all, I can’t wait do all of this with Kara at my side. This truly is going to be a week worth being thankful for; just like this entire year has been.

Palm trees, I’m coming home.

A Real Gouging

Over the course of this football season, it has become blatantly obvious that the national sports media is only interested in what pushes papers/garners air time. Florida has had a huge bullseye on it’s back from day one, and every little mis-step has been blown to astronomic proportions. Any little thing that could be nitpicked has been, and then has been regurgitated over and over to make sure the people of the world don’t miss out on how horrible the Florida players and coaches are as fans.

Right?

So does someone want to explain to me, in light of Brandon Spikes being labeled the dirtiest player in the history of college athletics, why what I’m about to point out below hasn’t been discussed at ALL? There has not been one single, solitary peep about the following incident.

This is an image from the Clemson-florida state football game this past weekend (which, I must say, I enjoyed immensely) that clearly shows Clemson defensive end Andre Branch taking it to FSU’s David Spurlock. And when I say taking it to, I mean it.

He is even using his other hand to position the helmet in a way that makes the gouging more accessible. And if even that wasn’t enough, it appears as though he’s trying to break the dude’s back, as well.

The still picture provides quite a good illustration showing the intentional gouging, but it gets even better when you see the video, which I’m posting right below. (The gouge-in-question is located to the bottom left side of the pile.)

This incident, to me, is FAR more appalling than the Brandon Spikes incident. And I guarantee that Spurlock will not come out and say he didn’t feel it was intentional, like Georgia RB Ealey did after the Spikes, as I’ll call it from now on, “fake gouge.”

All I want is fair and balanced reporting, is that too much to ask?

Enjoy the Dubbayou

Sure, Vandy was 0-5 in-conference and 2-7 overall before they stepped on the field last night in The Swamp. And sure, Georgia Tech hung over 400 yards rushing and 50+ points on the Commodores a few weeks earlier.

And yeah, the offensive play-calling was FAR from enticing (did we lose our playbook from the week before? Did UGA eat it after the game?). But you know what?

Florida’s 27-3 victory extended their school-record and nation’s longest winning streak to 19 in a row, and has the Gators sitting pretty at 9-0 in 2009. Offensively, it wasn’t pretty but guess what? It’s a win. The defense continues to look like the best in school history. Our special teams continue to be amazing. And even with the games not being 50 point shalacking’s like last year, only once this season has a game actually been in doubt (Arkansas).

And unless something brews up out of nowhere, this appears to be the first week all season where us Gator fans can sit back and just enjoy the win without having to ward off unwarranted controversy. And let’s be honest….For everything that’s going right this year, it sure feels like a losing season.

However, sitting on top of the mountain and having to deflect issue after issue is a lot better than sitting at, say, 4-5 and having real turmoil surrounding every aspect of your program. When you’re on top, everyone wants to knock you off the throne. Everyone will find the smallest thing to jab at you with. Everyone roots for the underdog.

It feels great to be the Top Dog.

My Take on Spikes – Ealey…

…As if anyone really cares.

As a forward, this has been an extremely frustrating year to be a Florida Gators fan. That is amazing to say, considering we haven’t lost in 18 games, have remained #1 all year and are looking better now than we have since January 7 vs Oklahoma for the BCS National Championship.

However, each and every week has been a distraction for the team, and the fact that they are still 8-0 speaks loud and clear about how good this coaching staff is. Obviously, the players that have been recruited to Florida the last few years are second-to-none, but for this group of coaches to stomp complacency, survive each and every team’s best effort AND have to fight off weekly mud-slinging is incredible.

All of that said, this week has been probably the most frustrating. Perhaps it’s just a culmination of all the hate the Gators have endured since the pre-season, but for us to come out, find our stride again and take it to our biggest rival by 24 points, only for the game to be overshadowed by this nonsense, has the cup runneth’d over. As a Florida fan, our boys finally played a near-complete game against Georgia, and instead of being able to sit back and finally enjoy a win this year, it’s another week of having to fight off the naysayers.

I’m sure everyone and their dog has heard about the Brandon Spikes/Washaun Ealey fiasco by now (Lord knows I’ve read about it, seen it everywhere, and had to endure ribbing from everyone I know since the moment it was blasted all over the news) and has seen the video and has formed their own opinion. My opinion is this:

It was wrong of Spikes to do, I think he should be punished for it, and I think the punishment (a half versus Vandy this Saturday) fits the crime. I feel that may even be a bit strict, to be honest. For anyone who actually paid attention, Georgia set the tone from the get-go by nearly decapitating Brandon James, taking multiple head shots at Brandon Spikes and nailing Tebow farrrrrr after he was out of a play.

Here is what Pat Forde of ESPN had to say about Spikes’ retaliation later in the game:

It was an appalling cheap shot, one of the worst things a football player can do to an opponent.

Where is the OUTRAGE over what Georgia players did to Florida players throughout the game? All of which went unflagged except for the James-Poltergeist attempt. Where is the national media’s uproar of the game’s greatest player getting practically TKO’d long after he was even involved in the play, when the defender was CLEARLY seen slowing down, watching the play develop, and THEN speeding up and taking an unannounced shot on Tebow?

I agree that what Spikes did was wrong, but if the refs had done their job and taken redemption out of the players’ hands earlier in the game, then that play may never have happened. Keep in mind, Ealey was running his mouth ALL game, was rumored to have spat in Spikes’ face, and took every opportunity to engage the Florida defense in jawing and shoving. Even aside from all of that, this is what Easley had to say today:

Ealey says he doesn’t agree with those who have said the suspension was not stiff enough.

“That really didn’t matter to me,” Ealey said of the suspension. “That’s their decision. He shouldn’t, I think, get suspended at all. We were just out there playing football.”

Ealey said he had his eyes closed when Spikes stuck his hand in his helmet and he wasn’t hurt.

“He really didn’t gouge my eyes,” Ealey said. “He really didn’t get a chance to get close to my eyes.”

Now the media should do their part, back off, and practice fair and balanced reporting. Put the following video, which has a clear, harmful intent, on repeat and start blasting Nick Williams for his play.

I don’t expect that to happen, though. No one cares when a 4-4 team plays dirty. But when it’s the #1 team in the land, any and every shot will be taken to knock them off their perch, which the media has gladly and openly been trying to do all year.

Two-Hundred and Twenty-Five Days

225 days until Lane Kiffin gets a legendary beatdown in The Swamp.

Upon being hired as Tennessee head coach, he spouted off at the mouth saying, “I can’t wait to sing Rocky Top all night long after beating Florida this year!”  Not too bad, didn’t bother me at all, really.  It’s good for a new coach to come into a program that has been struggling and try to fire them up, bring some excitement back to the fans.

But now it’s a bit out of control.  After swaying two Florida commits to the Volunteers on Signing Day yesterday, today Kiffen comes out firing.

“I’m gonna turn Florida in right here in front of you,” Kiffin said, according to WVLT-TV. “While Nu’Keese was on campus, his phone kept ringing. One of the coaches says, ‘who’s that?’ And he said, ‘Urban Meyer.’”  Kiffin told the crowd, “I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”

Let’s get a few things straight here.  For starters, calling a recruit during an open period while he is on an official visit is NOT a violation.  Secondly, is there an ounce of class in this man’s body?  Honestly?  You stole two recruits at the last minute, so goes recruiting.  Act like you’ve been there before, enjoy your victory and move on.

Ohhh wait, that’s right.  Little Lane HASN’T been there before.  His head-coaching record?

5-15.

This will not be forgotten, and I promise that there will be a GRAND show put on in The Swamp on Saturday, September 19, 2009.  Kiffin has pissed in the hornet’s nest, and he will forever regret it.

Two-hundred and twenty-five days until the beginning of the end of Hello Kiffen’s Tennessee career.

It’s All Gravy These Days

As I mentioned in my previous entry, National Signing Day is a roller coaster ride.  There are huge ups and huge downs.

Florida’s 2009 Signing Day started off with a bang as the first Letter of Intent to roll through the faxes this morning was from the #1 target for Florida Coach Urban Meyer.  Not too long after 7am, the #2 rated wide receiver, Andre Debose of Sanford (FL) Seminole High School kicked off the day with fireworks.  Debose was the highest rated and most coveted catch  of this class and he wasted no time in getting his paperwork into Florida.

Following throughout the day, the Florida class filled in mostly as expected, with a couple of surprises in 5-star outside linebacker Jelani Jenkins of Olney (MD) Our Lady of Good Counsel, the #1 rated prospect at his position, and 4-star super athlete Joshua Evans of Irvington (NJ) Irvington High School.

However, all was not kosher in Titletown with last minute defections of 4-star cornerback Marsalis Teague and 4-star wide receiver Nu’Keese Richardson, who both bolted the friendly confines of Gainesville and signed on with Tennessee and Lane Kiffin.

Speaking of Lane Kiffin, this man has got it coming to him in The Swamp next year.  As a first-year coach in the toughest conference in America, you don’t earn too many good graces by starting out your career by popping off at the mouth at 2-time National Champion Coach Urban Meyer, and 1-time National Champion Coach Steve Spurrier.  The Kiffinite called out Meyer, telling the Rocky Top Faithful that they will not endure another loss (4 and a row and counting…) to the Mighty Gators, at his opening press conference.  As an encore, he attempted back-handing dealings to steal Florida’s wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez away from the staff the week of the BCS Championship Game without authorization, and finally ended his welcoming month by laughing and lauding his staff’s ability to “steal two from the defending champs.”

This will not sit well with Meyer, who has a track record of revenge against coaches who pull stunts against him.  Urban doesn’t forget.

Getting back on topic, the Florida Gators brought in a strong, yet small, class of Baby Gators for the 2009 signing class.

Along with those already mentioned, the Gators brought in an amazing haul at the offensive line position, signing 5 great prospects and headed by 5-star offensive tackle Xavier Nixon and 4-star tackle Nick Alajajian.  The defensive line was a good coup as well, bringing in 5-star defensive tackle Gary Brown, 4-star JUCO transfer defensive tackle Edwin Herbert and 3-star defensive end Kedric Johnson.  Florida’s lines should be set for a good ways into the forseeable future now, and all recruiting classes live and die by the recruitment of both lines.

To accompany Jenkins at linebacker, Florida also reeled in 4-star LB Jon Bostic, who should fill in nicely for Brandon Spikes once he graduates after next season.  The Gators took one quarterback, 3-star Jordan Reed, and that’s all that was really needed.  At safety, Dee Finley finally makes it to campus after a year at prep school and will make an immediate impact, and he is welcomed in along with 3-star tight end Desmond Parks, as well as 4-star running back Mike Gillislee.

Going into this recruiting year, Florida had some holes to fill, but not many.  The occasional failure and defection of certain Blue Chip recruits can be attributed to this program’s own success.  For example, the Gators return their entire 2-deep on defense.  When trying to recruit talented players, a lot of guys want immediate playing time and that cannot be promised here.  The guys who have faith in themselves and thrive for competition will come, and those are generally the best of the best anyway.  That’s not to say that the staff didn’t whiff on some guys, I’ll be the first to tell you they did.  However, having the problem of too much talent is a lot better of a problem to have than not enough.

I’d sum up this class as a resounding success, even though the day was kind of hampered in decommitments, the Florida Gators are in perpetual reload mode now, and everything is just gravy.  Look out for a monster 2010 class, and best of luck to all the Baby Gators!

A New Crop

Tonight is the Eve of National Signing Day, which for any hardcore college football fan, is a National Holiday.

It’s a day of excitement, and disappointment.  The epitome of swings of emotion.  When college fans around the country will not get any work done, and employers’ lost wages will be sky high.  It’s the day that every year makes or breaks a program’s future.  It’s the day that 17 and 18 year old kids will cause euphoria and resentment for people they have never, and probably will never, meet.

National Signing Day is always the first Wedneday in February, and it’s the day when these high school stars and prima donnas fax in their Letters of Intention to attend the college of their choice.  For the past two or three years, they have been woo’ed, babied and treated like royalty by every college in the country.  For coaches, tonight will probably be a sleepless night, for they have spent coutless hours on the phone, traveling, texting and hosting these players who they feel will move their programs towards the Promised Land.

There will be surprises.  There will be disappointment, but the ultimate goal is to get those players who will make a positive impact on your team.  And if you’re lucky, a couple players will completely change the face of your team.

So everyone, enjoy this last breath of college football, because until April, this is all we’ve got.  Stay logged into your favorite recruiting website, sign up for txt alerts, and endulge in the final stage of the football year.  For tomorrow night, the process begins again.