Semi-holed

There is a palpable sadness that afflicts me, and I believe I can say why.  This is an unfamiliar feeling, to be sure.  And, BTW, we suck.

Those Seminoles...you can't say enough good things about them.  No, seriously...there aren't enough good things to say.  Sadly, they were on a scoring binge Saturday and the Gators continued to stink up the field on offense.  This time it was the turnovers that killed us.  And whatever the offense has, it looks like the defense caught it too.  Of course, giving the Semi-holes the ball on our side of the field several times didn't help the D do its job.  What happened to their turnovers?  We didn't get none.

I am not as devastated as I thought I might be on those few occasions that I had entertained the thought of this tragedy occurring.... Tragedy? Say what?  I will quote from the tough but fair commentator/blogger out of Tampa known only to my EVO as Alligator Army (website) who poignantly said:

"...Florida had won six consecutive games in a series that had not had that level of domination in 20 years. Things happen.  Teams lose games.  In addition, it is not very flattering to be a fan and blow this game out of proportion.  There are a lot of tragedies in life and losing to Florida State is not one of them.  A tragedy would be attending Florida State, not losing a football game."

He also warns about FSU fans gloating (even though 1 out of 7 is not really that big a deal):

"Finally, brace yourselves for FSU fans taunting you for their 31-7 win when they fill your McDonald's order. (Ouch!) Kindly remind them that the numbers that matter are 30 and 51. Those are the differences between UF's (17, 53) and FSU's (47, 104) ranks in the US News & World Report rankings for public universities and national universities."


God bless you, whoever you are.

War Eagle!!!

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

If it is broke, you better get busy fixin'.

App State--We All Need Some-one We Can Lean On

With no apologies at all to the Rolling Stones--the copyright has to have expired by now.

If only every game could be like this.  The Mountaineers were outmanned pretty much the whole game, and scored a TD only at the end with the scrubs in the game.  Ooops, I meant the underclassmen....

It was an offensive workout, of sorts, getting ready for FSU, but there was an air of ... of ... insubstantialness to it.  When the Ol' Ball Coach had a game like this--and Meyer early on--the score was more like 66-3 or 72-10.  Admittedly, Appalachian State is nobody's pushover, as Michigan found out a few years ago.  Hopefully they will win the Div 2 national title again this year.  But like the "old fashioned" girl at the end of year dance, we just couldn't have our way with them as we would have liked.  I hope that doesn't bode ill for the next game with the 'Holes.

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

If you are tempted to fight fire with fire, remember the Fire Department prefers water.

the Future will be here soon

I went to a Dreadnaughts game last night for the first time.  Aside from the many ways high school football has changed, I was astounded by the size of the players.  What have we been putting in our food the last 40 years?  One of the largest ones, and the fellow I had come to see, was the quarterback of the opposing Hagerty Hounds, who has committed to play for the Gators next year.  This man (in every sense of the word) is touted as the Second Coming of St. Tim.  And he was all that...and more.  Remember his name, because you may be hearing it for years to come--Jeff Driskel.

Certainly Jeff has the potential to be the greatest Gator QB ever, but then, Tim's high school highlight reel was just as jaw-dropping as what I saw last night.  The biggest difference I saw was in speed--Jeff is faster than Tebow (though Tim Terrific was deceptively fast, he relied more on bull-em-over) and has slicker moves.  Jeff singlehandedly kept his team in the game, and accounted for a total (running, passing, and receiving) of almost 500 yards! On two of his TD runs, he broke through and outran the entire LHS secondary, in one case putting on a burst of speed to get by a player who had taken an excellent angle on him. Unbelievable!  We will have to see if he develops all that promise at the next level, but he is scary good.
I ended up taking some video with my Droid, but missed the best plays.  This is the only one that came out, and is also the first video I have ever uploaded to YouTube. Ya-hoo!... or whatever.

The noise is pretty harsh, but none of that is me yelling; Jeff shows how hard it is to sack him.

Timmy Saves the Weekend (as usual)

Tim Tebow gets 2 TDs against the Chiefs, including his first passing TD!!

Tebow threw his first NFL pass, a 3-yard TD toss to fullback Spencer Larsen en route to a 49-29 win.

“I think we caught them off-guard,” Tebow said.

As Carl Weathers gets paid to say, "Here we go."

Cold Cocked

With apologies to the local paper for stealing that headline, it is once again time to bemoan the state of the Gator offense--it's beyond cold, it's frozen.  It's terrible. It's become Addazio'd. (Ah, a new adjective, used to mean incompetent, or in way over one's head.) What is the point in creating a 3 headed monster if you only show one head at a time?  Why not have them shift around before the snap, like the Georgia game? Stupid.  Beyond stupid, it's criminal.  Here is an opinion snippet from the Gainesville Sun:

"It was the UF offense we saw in back-to-back losses to LSU and Mississippi State. What happened to the hurry-up offense? What happened to Burton and Reed seeing significant snaps in the shotgun? It was almost as if the Gators forgot what got their offense cranked up coming out of the open date three weeks ago."

But, in fairness, we must also congratulate the University of South Carolina Gamecocks for a great game.  Obviously the two teams that played Alabama both showed up. Well done, Steve and gang. Props to Marcus Lattimore--he killed it.  And the post-game celebration and comments were very tasteful and reserved, under the circumstances.  Just because you broke our collective Gator hearts, don't let that bother you on the trip back to Columbia....

No, this is, as you said Steve-o, South Carolina's time in the spotlight.  About time.  What wasn't said, however, is that you get to go to Atlanta and have the same thing done to you in the Championship game. 

You've seen this guy before, and you should find him even more awesome by December.  He should be plenty pissed by then.

War Eagle!! 

The Gators must regroup now and practice beating up on App State, so they can whip our in-state rival FSU.  A win there would ease the pain a bit, and possibly keep us out of Shreveport for the holidays.  Gator Bowl?  We can only hope.  Maybe play someone easy, like Penn State.  Maybe even Utah...wouldn't that be a storyline?

No, no pictures, please.  OK, if you insist, just this one: Dubose returning the opening kickoff for a TD.

Our bright spot for the evening, lasting exactly 14 seconds.

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

(another one for Addazio)

Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others, whenever they go.

Oh Vandy, ....

This game reminds me of a play I read long ago:
"Oh Vandy, Poor Vandy, Gators Hung One on You and I'm Feeling so Randy"...no, wait that's not good....maybe "so Sandy"... hmm, "It Tastes like Candy"? Yeah, you see if you can think of a good rhyme for Vandy (although the Sad in the play's original title is probably closer--wow, if any more Vandy players had gotten hurt, the coach would have had to go up in the stands for replacements).
Appropriately, that play is from the Theatre of the Absurd, which is what the special teams were yesterday. Chris Rainey! 2 punt blocks! Where has he been all season? Oh, wait... never mind. But he's back now.
On the second blocked kick, I saw at the edge of the replay that Rainey wiped out some Vandy player as he gave [futile] chase; that makes for 2 blocks on the same play--the punt and then the player. Love to see Chris get a second chance--he is a good kid, just a bit quirky. He seems to be in better touch with reality now that Urban is sitting on him--gives him a chance to get his life back together. I respect Urban for that, because he knew he was going to take some shots for it. Outlaw program, stupid stuff like that. Rainey's football skills aside, he is well liked, even by the people he threatens. (Did you see the sick moves he put on the defense on his first few runs? It was almost comical. Reminded me of the insane move he made on the Oklahoma defender in the NC game. You remember ... the one he injured himself on and had to leave the game.)

And Jordan Reed... what a beast. And what an arm! That's what you get when you move your tight end to quarterback I guess. Not. This can't be the way Johnny Brantley had it scripted at the beginning of the season. Ah, well, if it works, don't knock it.

We might be able to solve the energy crisis--just put a harness on Terron Sanders and toss a football on the ground. Talk about force and momentum. Wow. Did anyone notice any of the Vandy players seriously trying to get close to him, much less try to tackle that moving mountain? I'll bet they could feel the earth move on the sidelines....

You have to feel bad for Coach Caldwell. The fact that his team was overmatched wasn't a big surprise, but he can't have foreseen the triage unit that his team became. Seemed someone was coming out for Vandy about every other play. Glad to see most survived the game. Good luck to the Commodores the rest of the season--it's almost over! (Basketball has already started.)

On to the most exciting week in a long time. A win next week sends us to Atlanta! Again. But even last year's lead up to play Bama in the title game wasn't so intense. Maybe we expected it last year and had given up on it this year after the MS loss. It is quite obvious that the Best of the East will have its hands more than full with the West Champion. How's this suit you: Two of the SEC western division teams are in the BCS top 5; and five of them are in the top 20. The first Eastern Division team to appear is the Gators at #22. (But then, the only ACC team in the top 25 is VaTech at #20, who lost to James Madison!) Oh, and the usual plethora of Florida ranked teams has dwindled to two--UF and (wait for it....) UCF. Seminoles and Hurricanes? Sorry, not this time. Ouch.
Spurrier had a great line a few weeks ago when asked about his team's chances to win the Eastern Division and play in the SEC title game. He remarked that certainly some team from the East will win it, because "they won't let two teams from the West play." Which, this year, is probably a better idea. (Just FYI, so far in games between ED teams and WD teams, the East is a whopping 2-14! And by the end of next Saturday, it's likely to be 2-16. I guess the ED abbreviation is more appropriate this year then ever.) Hey, how about UF playing the Newton-led Auburn Tigers for the championship? A scary thought, but it will happen if each team wins next Saturday....

Bumper Sticker of the Week:
(in memory of the Vanderbilt running game)

The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.

Halloween Again

What a strange time this is, every year. Last night was All Hallows Eve, when folks far and wide dress up in odd garb to ward off evil spirits, and people give gifts to strangers to do the same. I am amazed that, in a predominanly Christian nation such as ours, these pagan rituals are allowed to continue, indeed to flourish. Maybe this outpouring of simulated evil has its purpose as a purgative for the other side of human nature. And there's profit in the candy.

RIP: Lest we forget, Grossi died 5 years ago today, on All Saints' Day, the ultimate irony of her life.

Pics of the little Stockton progeny all dressed up:







Laura, please send me one of you, if you dressed for your party.

Brant? Shell?

Only 53 shopping days until Christmas....