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.