If Lane Kiffin ever decides to wake up and realize what damage he’s done to his reputation because of his rogue behavior, maybe he’ll take a look at himself in the mirror and see what a fool he’s made of himself. If and when he does that, though, who knows.

In my last blog article “Burning Bridges”, in closing I made the following comment: “It probably won’t be very much longer before we hear the next Kiffin gaffe.” It was only a matter of weeks until that actually happened, albeit not the spoken word that got Lane in trouble this time around, but instead an unscrupulous and tactless move on his part. Kiffin went and poached Tennessee Titans’ running back coach Kennedy Pola from Jeff Fisher’s staff to fill the vacancy left by Todd McNair, and named him the new offensive coordinator at USC without having followed the normal protocol of asking permission from the Titans to approach him about interviewing for the position beforehand – thus angering Fisher and causing the Titans to initiate a lawsuit against Kiffin and USC for “maliciously interfering” with Pola’s contract, as well as against Pola himself for breach of contract. It will be interesting, without a doubt, to see what transpires in this case.

Whether or not the Pac-10 Commissioner and/or new USC Athletic Director Pat Haden will issue any reprimands or penalties against Kiffin as a result of this latest transgression remains to be seen, but if Haden wants to do the right thing he should consider issuing a “zero-tolerance” policy against adverse behavior on him just as the late Myles Brand did against Bobby Knight back at Indiana University after his frequent episodes of misconduct. Eventually Knight was dismissed by then-President Brand, as many of us remember – but who knows what will ultimately happen to Kiffin.

Perhaps it may take something of this magnitude to force Kiffin to start doing things the right way if he wants to try and salvage what may be left of his coaching career, but I have my doubts as to whether or not he’ll govern himself accordingly should this lawsuit proceed in the courts and be ruled in favor of the plaintiff. Ever since he has assumed a head-coaching position, be it at the NFL level or in college football, Kiffin has done nothing more or less than demonstrate an obvious disregard for standard operating procedure and use of proper etiquette. It was tacitly implied by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive at last week’s SEC Media Days that he’s relieved to not be burdened by Kiffin or his antics anymore in his warm welcome of Derek Dooley (new Vols head coach) to the conference. Urban Meyer held his peace when asked about Kiffin during his turn at the podium, but if anybody pulled him off to the side and asked him how he felt off the record, I’m sure he would have expressed his relief in not having to deal with Lane’s nonsense anymore.

Kiffin may walk where angels fear to tread, but right now he’s treading on thin ice – and the more he continues to burn his bridges behind him, the ice is melting right underneath his feet.

All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore”

Those lyrics from the theme song of one of the all-time classic movies, “Kelly’s Heroes”, describe Lane Kiffin perfectly.

Judging by the latest happenings at USC, it looks as though the scourge of Lane Kiffin won’t be disappearing anytime soon from the world of college football – and the burning bridges are still falling behind him.

It’s obvious that no matter where Kiffin seems to go, trouble follows; although when he took the reins of the Trojan football program over from Pete Carroll after he returned to the NFL he walked back into a mess that was already under investigation by the NCAA (in case anybody doesn’t know, Kiffin was part of Carroll’s staff when the incidents involving Reggie Bush took place). Even though his tenure at Tennessee lasted all of one year, it wouldn’t surprise me to see any possible wrongdoings on his part that could be uncovered by the NCAA during the 2009 season eventually disclosed to the public.

To my readers from Gator Nation, pardon me if I’m preaching to the choir a little bit when I say that Kiffin had an agenda practically from day one when he took the Vols job over from Phil Fulmer last year, as evident by that “singing Rocky Top all night long after we beat Florida” crack in his opening speech that would eventually backfire on him, as well as that gaffe he spewed wrongly accusing Urban Meyer of cheating while contacting a recruit during authorized time. Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban and Mark Richt weren’t immune from his baiting, either. As irritating as it was to see Kiffin send the SEC into an uproar last season, I’m glad he was made to look ridiculous when he was defeated by Florida and Alabama; as the cliche goes, what goes around comes around. Twice he was publicly reprimanded by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive for conduct unbecoming of his position as a head coach. Even more immature and unsportsmanlike was Kiffin’s refusal to graciously concede defeat to Frank Beamer and Virginia Tech following Tennessee’s loss in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl this past winter.

As much as the USC athletic department may deny it, I’m in agreement with Gator Country’s Buddy Martin in that this latest episode involving incoming Trojan freshman Dillon Baxter reeks of Lane Kiffin shenanigans, as per a recent article he wrote. Given the schools allegedly accused of illegally contacting Baxter, in dissecting the matter and the list of schools cited Buddy’s right – I’ve already mentioned Kiffin’s beef with Meyer and Saban in the previous paragraph, I also detect a hint of jealousy towards Oregon in their having gone to the Rose Bowl last January, an attempt to start stirring the pot with now-Washington head coach and former USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, and a grudge against his alma mater Fresno State for a lack of success on the football field while he was playing there. Reading between the lines, it’s as plain as the nose on one’s face that Lane Kiffin instigated the trouble and used Baxter as a pawn – and don’t try and convince me otherwise. Though USC’s athletic director Mike Garrett was obliged to write letters of contrition to each of the athletic directors of the wrongly accused schools, in my honest opinion it’s a lame gesture on his part – KIFFIN should be the one personally apologizing to Urban Meyer et al, along with providing an explanation for why he chose to once again behave as inappropriately as he did.

Already the backlash from the Reggie Bush scandal and the subsequent probation with sanctions handed down by the NCAA is taking its toll on USC; recently top-ranked recruit Seantrel Henderson was released from his letter of intent and has now committed to the Miami Hurricanes, also, other players currently on the roster have transferred or are considering transferring out in light of the penalties levied against the program, with the NCAA waiving the one-year waiting period for eligibility in the cases of juniors and seniors who do. If it seems that the fickle finger of fate is being pointed at Lane Kiffin right now so be it, but it’ll take a lot more for him to cease the immaturity and buffoonery that has already ruined his reputation. Once he realizes that he has made a total fool out of himself with all the gaffes and silly stunts, and that he has burned way too many bridges behind him, it’ll be too late. It probably won’t be very much longer before we hear the next Kiffin gaffe.

Too bad Lane, even your daddy Monte won’t be able to bail you out.
Indeed, burning bridges lost forevermore.

Since that day in December 2004 when his hiring was made official to replace the fired Ron Zook, I felt that Coach Meyer’s coming to Gainesville was the best choice for Florida football – and I’m glad Jeremy Foley won him over from the competition coming from that school up north on the southern coast of Lake Michigan in northern Indiana with the infamous golden dome. My first thought was “We’re gonna win championships”, and I wasn’t disappointed. I still like to think that it was kismet – fate – that brought Urban to the Gators. He had somewhat of a daunting task in taking over a program that lost its swagger, had no sense of strong leadership or direction, and basically had no order – and managed to restore what was lost by breaking the team he had inherited down and building them back up again during his first season back in 2005. Not only that, Urban has raised the bar at Florida: he rose to the challenge of getting the program headed back in the right direction, brought back the prestige from days of yore that had been missing under three years of the Zooker, and has taken our football program a step further. He’s carving out his own niche in the college football world, and what better place for him to do so than in Gainesville.

The National Championship win in 2006 indicated the shape of things to come. We had talent on our roster that was untapped, not developed to its fullest potential during the Zook years and a bit “soft”, as Urban alluded to former punter Eric Wilbur during a pre-season practice back in 2005 – but Coach Meyer and his staff elevated them to a higher level once they coaxed our players out of their “comfort zone”, made “4 to 6 seconds of relentless effort” a new mantra, and brought about a more competitive attitude in the locker room. Losing was no longer acceptable at the University of Florida, as he made clear to his team. The resistance to Meyer’s way of doing things during that first season pretty much ended that day in November 2005 on an airport tarmac following a loss to South Carolina when he read his players the riot act. Although we had a bit of a falling-off in 2007 due to the large exodus of players to graduation and early entry into the NFL, Tim Tebow won the Heisman that year having been the first sophomore to do so – then we reloaded and won another crystal football in 2008. As heartbreaking as the loss to Alabama in the 2009 SEC title game was after going undefeated during the regular season, we capped it off with a BCS bowl win and a consensus #3 national ranking – and brought in yet another #1-ranked recruiting class just as we did following the 2005 season. Four out of the five years of his past tenure, Meyer’s Gators have won a “triple crown” in defeating archrivals Tennessee, Georgia and that school out west during a single season. As I see it, that’s a hell of a lot to have accomplished in a short span of five years’ time.

Part of the reason why Urban Meyer’s so successful is the fact that he’s innovative; he’s developed his own style after having served under and being mentored by some of the best in the business, and he also adapts his particular scheme around the talent level of the players on his rosters which showcases their strengths; case in point was with Chris Leak during the 2005 and 2006 seasons in forming a more “hybrid” version of his spread offense that he could successfully operate. In spite of the pundits stating that the spread offense wouldn’t work in the SEC and that faction of Gator Nation persistent on wanting to see a “pro-style” offense, Meyer has found a way to make the spread and its variations an effective weapon on offense – as well as a way to win under difficult conditions – by effectively planning for gameday, preparing his players for 60 solid minutes of football and using his ingenuity to remain a step ahead of the competition. Another reason for his success is his ability to recruit not just the best players out there, but the right players for the Gator football program. Statistically, his all-time winning percentage ranking is in the top 10 among active college coaches. Academically, we’ve taken a huge step forward from the Zook years in seeing an increase of the overall team GPA and graduation rate. In spite of the number of episodes of player misconduct and ridiculous media distractions, he’s always managed to made the best of a bad situation. In a nutshell, what Urban’s doing for Florida football is right, and is in the best overall interest of our program.

As heartbreaking as it was to have heard of his sudden resignation around the Christmas holiday, it was a relief to hear of his decision to retract that resignation following some thought the next day and after watching a very spirited practice before the Sugar Bowl this past winter. As far as I’m concerned, Coach Meyer made the right decision in retracting that resignation; for him to have seen everything he’s accomplished during his tenure as Florida’s head coach start to unravel and deteriorate in the wrong hands would have been emotionally upsetting to him. Just that retraction alone told me that Urban’s totally and genuinely dedicated to the Gator football program and its continued success. Still, his health scare following the SEC Championship loss to Alabama was a wake-up call telling him that he can’t afford to forsake his health or take anything for granted – and he took steps to rectify things by addressing his health issues and taking quality time off to spend with his family. There have been some concerns raised as to whether or not he will be able to maintain the same intensity as he has done in the past now that he’s delegated some of the responsibilities to his assistants, but I honestly don’t see that happening; based on what I’ve seen him do since he’s been with the Gators he will find a way to balance faith, family and football with no adverse consequences to our program.

Once Urban officially signs his contract extension through 2014, the icing will be on the cake. Before he decides to call it a career, I’d love to see another National Championship or two come Florida’s way as well as other honors to further cement his legacy. Based on the results of this past National Signing Day and a successful spring practice, the future still looks promising as Urban enters his sixth season with the Gators. You know, “Urban Meyer Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium” has a nice ring to it – well, at least to me it does.

Happy Birthday, Coach Meyer – and many more!

What inspired this latest TOTT offering was some random lurking around; usually before I begin a topic I have some handwritten notes taken down but after reading Pat Dooley’s latest Gainesville Sun article today I was also moved to write this entry.

Now that all this banter about college football conference realignment has simmered down for the time being, we can all relax a bit. That, and as Mr. Dooley also noted, we aren’t being forced to deal with all that insipid Meyer-to-Notre Dame nonsense anymore from the rumor-mongers (funny thing, I’ve noticed that the Birmingham Blowhard, a/k/a Paul Finebaum, has been unusually quiet lately – perhaps that huge piece of humble pie he was forced to eat after Brian Kelly was hired at the Golden Dome to replace Charlie Weis was a little too overwhelming?) and, aside from Frankie Hammond’s recent act of stupidity things have been rather quiet around Gator football for once during this off-season. Aside from that one distraction, some more quiet time off can only do Coach Meyer good before the start of fall practice – that, and still finding quality time to spend with his family.

Speaking of Coach Meyer, I’m with the consensus that he raised the bar at Utah and helped pave the way for the Utes to hit the big-time in college football in making that giant step to a major conference (Pac-10). They’ve proved that they can win against some of the heavy-hitters, have two BCS bowl wins to their credit, and now with the move to a BCS conference their recruiting should vastly improve. Not to mention that Urban Meyer’s coaching tree has a success story to-date with Kyle Whittingham having done a good job so far in taking over the Utes’ program after Urban left to come to Gainesville.

So how am I spending the time during this “intermission”? Well, for one thing there’s Wimbledon going on right now – and once again history was made with one of the longest matches on record having had to stretch to a second day to complete; congrats to John Isner of the USA for having finally won that one over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut. I still remember watching last year’s men’s final with Roger Federer and Andy Roddick that stretched out in the final set for a tie-breaker, with Federer having won and breaking a record for Grand Slam wins. Will be interesting to see how this year’s tournament winds up, but since I got burned on guessing who would win the French Open I’m not making any predictions on this one. I’m not an aficionado of soccer, but I am following Team USA’s progress in the World Cup; we were hosed out of what should have been a winning goal against Slovenia but came through against Algeria to stay alive in the tournament. Next up for the Americans is a match against Ghana.

Glad to see Tim Tebow is still progressing well with the Denver Broncos and is getting some positive reviews so far; seems that his new teammates think highly of him and are impressed with his eagerness to learn as well as his strong work ethic. I couldn’t be happier for Timmy; the more he can prove naysayers like ESPN’s Todd McShay and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wrong the better for him.

Anyway, enjoy this latest installment of “Talk of the Town”. July arrives next week, but September 4’s coming!

For those pining for some Gator news in the offseason, there was no shortage of such this past weekend. First off, HUGE congrats to one of my favorite current Gators, Jeff Demps, for his 100-meter men’s outdoor track title as well as for his being part of the winning men’s 4×100 relay team (kudos to Chris Rainey as well for being a part of that same quartet). Kudos to Mariam Kevkhishvili for winning the women’s shot put title at the NCAA outdoor meet, and congrats to the entire Florida men’s track team for their second-place finish at the NCAA meet!

It’s great to see our Gator baseball team back at the College World Series after a five-year absence by taking the Super Regional series against the Hurricanes on our home field in Gainesville. A combination of a complete-game win by Alex “Johnny Pants” Panteliodis in Game 1, great defense out in the field, effective hitting and seven errors by Miami in Game 2 got us back to Omaha this coming weekend to face UCLA in the first round. Best of luck guys, and represent Gator Nation well!

A bit of unsettling news offset all of the above when redshirt sophomore WR Frankie Hammond was arrested early Sunday morning on charges of DUI and open bottle. Nothing short of an act of total stupidity on his part, but it also meant that Coach Meyer is, beginning this season, enforcing a stronger zero-tolerance policy toward player misconduct. As much as I don’t fancy the idea of the innocent suffering on account of the guilty the emphasis on team unity, adherence to team rules and teammates being asked to watch out for each other is being made clear; given the number of player arrests in the past few years being at an unacceptable level, this new policy is being implemented with the entire team sharing in the guilt of the transgressor as a deterrent to any further violation of the law or team policy. Sure, drinking adult beverages is a part of college life and won’t go away anytime soon on our campuses, but then again there’s no excuse for students who are legally considered adults under the law to not conduct themselves in a rational manner where the consumption of alcohol is concerned. Though some of our fanbase is already playing the “judge-jury-executioner” role in suggesting he be removed from the team, I honestly don’t see Hammond’s punishment being that drastic – but then again I don’t anticipate Urban being as lenient as he was with Carlos Dunlap, who was guilty of the same thing last season prior to the SECCG and wound up being suspended from that one game. I expect Coach Meyer to see how Hammond’s case will be adjudicated in the courts and review any mitigating circumstances that may exist before he makes a final decision on Hammond’s penalty.

For all the media hype and rumor-mongering taking place in the past few months about conference expansion, the number of teams changing alliances hasn’t been as drastic as was anticipated. Looks as though the Big 12 will remain intact for the time being, albeit minus two of their members (Colorado to the Pac-10; Nebraska to the Big Ten). Personally I think all this is a bit ridiculous, but the bottom line is that the Almighty Dollar is the driving force behind all these moves as opposed to trying to maintain the integrity of college football. Whether or not these moves will result in the Big Ten and Pac-10 implementing conference championship games, respectively, and eventually facilitating a playoff to replace the current BCS system remains to be seen, but if this re-alignment will ultimately compel a post-season playoff, then there’s one thing constructive to all this.

Counting down the days until the start of the season on September 4……….

First off, HUGE congrats go out to our Gator baseball team for winning the regular season SEC title; here’s hoping they can make it back to Omaha for the CWS. Congrats to Jeff Demps on his stellar track season; can’t wait to see him back in action on the football field this fall! Also have high hopes for our women’s softball team as well (and oh BTW, congrats to Francesca Enea on her recent engagement!) and looking for a repeat trip for them to the women’s big show.

I am far from being an aficionado of “reality TV”, but based on what I’ve been seeing on Twitter it looks as though Gator alum and ESPN sports reporter Erin Andrews is still a contender on “Dancing with the Stars”. I wish her well; the more positive things she can do after going through that ordeal with the stalker are just what she needs. Should she wind up winning it’ll be the second time a Gator alum won; it was back a few years ago when Emmitt Smith happened to win the “title’.

Great to hear that Urban Meyer’s enjoying his off-season; taking much-needed time off to be with his family and to travel a bit outside of football shows he’s serious about improving his all-around health and well-being. Based on what I recently read in a Pat Dooley article (the link to which is also posted in our Gator Football forum) he’s currently in Italy scheduled to meet with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican. Sounds like he’s feeling and looking great as well; I can’t wait to see him back on the sidelines this coming fall.

Prayers also going out to Ellen Tressel, wife of Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel, as she recovers from her recent heart surgery. Hope she gets well soon!

Besides keeping up with our new Gator rookies in the NFL and baseball/softball teams, another sport I keep up with while waiting for football season to start is pro tennis – and it so happens that the French Open gets underway this weekend. Seeing that Rafael Nadal’s back and recently defeated Roger Federer in a tourney, their rivalry could heat up again on the clay courts in Paris. Anyway, I’m hoping that either Federer or one of our rising American stars (I like Andy Roddick also) can take the men’s title and that Serena Williams, who’s the women’s top seed, takes the women’s title.

Well, time for a refill on my coffee. Enjoy the upcoming summer, fellow Gators!

Based in part on how their respective teams fared in 2009, as well as basing my opinion in part on the list compiled by the website http://www.coacheshotseat.com, I’ve come up with my own Fickle Four for the 2010 season and I’ll tell you why.

At the head of my list of the Fickle Four is none other than……..

(1) RON ZOOK, Illinois. Based on the fact that he’s had back-to-back mediocre seasons, failed to coach the Illini to bowl-eligibility the past couple of years, struggled at the beginning of his tenure up in Champaign-Urbana and failed to learn from the mistakes he made at Florida that ultimately cost him his job with the Gators puts him atop my 2010 list. Why he wasn’t let go after last season, I’ll never figure out.
To be successful at the college level, a head coach needs to be multi-dimensional. I like to illustrate this point using an equilateral triangle with each of the three sides labeled Recruiting, Talent Development and Gameday Strategy. Each side must be equal in length and meet at the ends of each side for the formula to work. Coaches like Urban Meyer, Bobby Stoops, Mack Brown, Jim Tressel and Nick Saban have “it”; the Zooker doesn’t.
Let’s face it, the Zooker isn’t cut out to be head coaching material for a BCS-level Division 1 school. Even during his days as a defensive assistant at Florida during the Spurrier era, he was demoted for not meeting expectations and the lackluster productivity of his charges. He cannot develop the talent he brings into his programs, nor can he effectively serve as a gameday strategist based on his poor problem-solving, decision-making and clock management skills. The fact that he fared poorly in the 2009 recruiting wars should be a portent of things to come. As things have turned out, Florida fans who tried to give the Illini faithful a heads-up about Zook were right all along – and judging by the fact that there are websites such as “Fire Ron Zook – Illinois Edition”, “GiveZookTheHook.com”, and a Fire Ron Zook Facebook page currently up and running in cyberspace tells me that some of them are already calling for Zook’s head. If the Illini fail to make it to a bowl following the upcoming season, it would be foolish on the Illinois AD’s part to keep the Zooker around.

Rounding out the rest of my Fickle Four are the following:
(2) Dan Hawkins, Colorado. Apparently success at Boise State didn’t translate to the same thing in a BCS automatic-qualifier conference like the Big 12 for Hawkins.The last time the Buffs had any inkling of success, it was from the years that Kordell “Slash” Stewart was part of this team. One would have thought that Hawkins, having come from Boise State, would have jumpstarted this team but they haven’t come through and, like Baylor, bring up the bottom of the Big 12.

(3) Rich Rodriguez, Michigan. Already under heat for allegations of breaking the rules regarding length of player practice times, RichRod is heading into a make-or-break year. Don’t you dare mention his name amongst the West Virginia faithful, unless you’re a glutton for punishment. So what if they beat Notre Dame – they haven’t been able to beat archrival Ohio State or get into the post-season in the first two years since he arrived, and that’s unacceptable to the denizens of the Big House in Ann Arbor.

(4) Dennis Erickson, Arizona State. One would think that his coming from a head-coaching job in the NFL would translate to success at the college level, but unfortunately he’s fallen into the same trap of mediocrity that Al Groh and Chan Gailey have (Gailey has since returned to the NFL as head coach of the Buffalo Bills) as coaches who’ve done the exact same thing. He won in his first year in Tempe but has been sub-par ever since. Sun Devil fans won’t stand for very much more of that.

Anyway, that’s my list….yeah, hindsight is 20-20, and I shouldn’t have given Charlie Weis a pass last year. He lost his job at Notre Dame, but in my honest opinion they made the right hire in Brian Kelly as his replacement. Weis headed back to the NFL as an OC with Kansas City, and likely he’s found his niche. I correctly picked Steve Kragthorpe to be let go at Louisville last year, but let’s see how 2010 pans out.

I was VERY impressed with the NFL draft this year, especially where the Gators were concerned. Much to the contrary of what Todd McShay and Mel Kiper were spouting off, Tim Tebow was drafted in the first round by the Denver Broncos. Compared to his predecessors, I look for Timmy to break out of that “product of the system” stereotype and adapt to the professional league with very little difficulty. The fact that we had nine players drafted speaks huge volumes for Urban Meyer’s recruiting prowess since he recruited these kids, and also the level to where he’s brought Florida football to. As far as future recruiting efforts, I see only positives and UF becoming a more attractive decision for future talent to come into the program. So much for those imbeciles in the media accusing Urban of not preparing his players for the next level…..

It never ceases to amaze me how jealous others are of Urban Meyer’s success to-date. The great guys at Gators and More up there in Jax share the same thoughts I do about the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones shooting off his mouth about Aaron Hernandez’s alleged failed drug tests while still a Gator and the way Urban is running the Gator football program – apparently Jones never followed Gator football back in 2006 when Meyer dismissed Marcus Thomas for being a repeat offender of the drug policy, as well as a player on his Utah Utes team back a while ago. Wouldn’t you know that notorious fishwrap known as the Orlando Sentinel would stick their two cents’ in as well, but then again I’m not surprised as they are always looking to extol the negative aspects of Gator Football. If any of these people think they can do a better job than Meyer and his staff have done, let them prove it – put up or shut up, guys.

That being said though, I still believe that Gator Nation needs to count their blessings and realize how lucky we are in having somebody like Coach Meyer guiding our program. What he has done with the Gator football program has been phenomenal, and he’s far from done yet. As critical as I’ve seen others around cyberspace of some of the things he’s done, I myself see nothing but upside. After three difficult years of Ron Zook, I’ve always been grateful for what Urban has done in getting the players he inherited to slowly buy into what he’s calling the Florida Way, and setting a higher standard for future players to strive for. Luckily he’s still at a point where he’s not being forced to rebuild and “start from scratch” as others have said, but he merely needs to reload and boost his depth chart year after year. If any of you still think the Zooker is a “master recruiter”, think again – since he’s been at Illinois, Zook can’t hold a candle to Meyer where recruiting, and especially coaching acumen, is concerned. Two National Championships, a BCS bowl win, and coaching a Heisman Trophy winner in a matter of a five season span is one hell of an accomplishment. Myself, I ‘m looking forward to much more in years to come!

I had a prior commitment this year and wasn’t able to attend the Orlando Gator Gathering, but I hope to get to some of the other events later this year – and I also hope Coach Meyer is taking some much needed time for himself and his family prior to the start of the fall preseason. That, and also hoping our guys heeded Meyer’s speech during spring practice and stay out of trouble.

Saw one of my other favorite Gator bloggers, “Swampie”, is headed into retirement – I’ll really miss you.

Now that the off-season has arrived, I’ll still keep my eyes and ears peeled for Gator news wherever it may be – I’m anxious to hear how our new Gator rookies in the NFL will make the transition from college to the pros during the OTA’s and minicamps coming up later this spring.

That, and planning my gameday menus for the upcoming season. Trust me, it’ll be here sooner than we think.

Glad to see Coach Meyer’s enjoying himself and having fun coaching the Gators; based on a speech he made this week to the team reiterating the core values he set and warning his troops about the consequences of adverse behavior, he’s taking nothing for granted anymore – after the numerous player arrests, albeit most of them for doing something really juvenile, and Carlos Dunlap’s act of stupidity right before the SEC Championship game it was necessary on his part to remind these kids to start living right or get lost. That being said though, I’d like to see more of an attitude of “I am my brother’s keeper” amongst the guys; the veterans need to play more of a mentoring role to the younger ones and need to look out for each other. Sure they’re college students and are still growing up, but then again they’re young adults who should conduct themselves with some semblance of responsibility. Still, it’s nice to see Urban back in charge and taking the initiative to make positive changes for himself AND for his team.

I’ve been reading tidbits about our offense possibly going to a 2-quarterback system similar to what we used back in 2006; one advantage of this is that it adds not only an extra “wrinkle”, it also adds an air of unpredictability. If Johnny Brantley and Trey Burton can be as effective as Chris Leak and Tim Tebow were if we do use this rotation in the fall, it’s to our advantage. There’s also been talk of some wildcat plays with Jordan Reed taking snaps, which would only add yet another dimension. That’s another quality I really admire about Urban Meyer – when faced with a challenge, he uses his ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the competition and maintain the edge. THAT’s one of the many reasons why he has enjoyed much of his success to-date.
Speaking of Burton, I remain very impressed with this kid. He’s still making the transition from the pace of high-school football to that of the college game, but he’s determined to make it and hasn’t lost any of that enthusiasm he had since last year. Ben Volin wrote a very nice article about Burton in his “Gator Bytes” blog today at the Palm Beach Post website, and I’ve got to give that kid some props for helping to hold the Class of 2010 during all the uncertainty surrounding Coach Meyer around Christmastime last year. His upbeat attitude is infectious, and if anything I expect him to do his part in keeping morale at a high level in the locker room.

In light of what took place a couple of weeks ago when Coach confronted Jeremy Fowler from the Orlando Sentinel over his spinning Deonte Thompson’s quotes from a post-practice interview his own way, I must take issue with something quoted in a recent article at the “Alligator”’s site; it was a quote from the Sentinel’s topics manager, Tim Stephens, in response to the incident:
“Sentinel Sports Topics Manager Tim Stephens said in a statement, “Jeremy Fowler’s story was accurate and presented in context. Urban Meyer’s outburst, directed at Jeremy, was unwarranted and will not deter our efforts to report on University of Florida sports.”
In response to Mr. Stephens I say: That’s a crock. Naturally, he’d be on the defensive to protect Fowler in spite of the stir he caused. Coach Meyer had every right to defend Thompson and prevent any further distraction, and wasn’t out of bounds in confronting Fowler over what he reported. Had Fowler indeed been “accurate and in context” as Stephens alleges, the confrontation that took place never would have happened – but as much as the Sentinel denies it, his blog post had taken Thompson’s words out of context. If the Sentinel learned any lesson from all this, it would have been to start doing their due diligence in verifying facts and statements, avoiding controversy, disruptiveness and sensationalism that they’ve been notorious for, and sticking to just reporting the news – nothing more, nothing less. I find it interesting that they’ve seemed to be on their best behavior lately – but how long this will last, who knows.

Now to face the true off-season once the O&B game ends – as much as I’ll be anxiously awaiting the start of the 2010 season and more of a sense of civility in the SEC now that we’re a Kiffin-free conference, I also hope to hear less and less of the following annoying cliches which were made popular on the various message boards last season:
“This will help___________ more than anyone will know”.
“Will this be a trap game?”
“This was a moral victory.”
If there was one thing that made me breathe a sigh of relief last season, it was when Brian Kelly was hired at Notre Dame to replace Charlie Weis which finally brought an end to all those cockamamie rumors about Coach Meyer that the media and rival fans kept incessantly throwing at us.

If anything, I want the rest of 2010 to be enjoyable, successful – and free of all the past nonsense.

AND to see the future of Gator football start coming to fruition with a new attitude, new faces and a refreshed, recharged Urban Meyer back in charge.

I only wish I could be in Gainesville tomorrow, spending a Saturday in The Swamp…….

That being said though, I still have a bone to pick with the Sentinel – and I intend to exercise my right to do just that. Despite the shape of the current world we live in tainted by political correctness and lack of accountability for one’s actions, protocol demands an apology in such circumstances, but in my book one cannot retract the written or spoken word – had Fowler refrained from spinning the story to his own satisfaction all this would never have taken place – but with the Sentinel’s penchant for inciting controversy with a purpose it came as no surprise to me. Even more ridiculous was Mike Bianchi’s juvenile tirade where he labeled Meyer as being “cuckoo for cocoa puffs” in having called Fowler out.

Befor anybody starts waving a copy of the Constitution in front of my face and gets up on their soapbox about freedom of speech and the press, let me reiterate once more that those same freedoms don’t encompass misrepresentation of facts OR slanderous behavior. If the media is guilty of such, by no means should any one of them be considered exculpable. In the real world, we hold other professions such as medicine and law at a high level of trust, and because of that physicians and attorneys purchase professional liability coverage in the event a wrongful act is committed. Those in the insurance industry must purchase errors and omissions coverage for those same reasons. I guarantee you, if journalists were required to do the same they’d likely conduct themselves in a more prudent manner. If you’ve come to the conclusion that I show no mercy towards the media, you guessed correctly.

Florida football’s issues with the Sentinel are nothing new; back in the dubious 1979 season of 0-10-1, there was one incident involving former reporter Larry Guest, who has long since retired. That same year first-year coach Charley Pell met with members of the media, Guest among them, to discuss a pre-season injury to starting quarterback Tim Groves. Pell had disclosed the scope of Groves’ injuries to those assembled on condition that those details were to remain confidential and off-the-record. With the exception of one reporter, Pell’s request was honored – and wouldn’t you know the stinker would turn out to be Guest, who printed a story in the Sentinel the following day in wanton disregard of Pell’s request, only to be met with scorn from his media colleagues and the ire of Pell, who felt betrayed. To this day the Sentinel has acted like an antagonist towards the Florida program, only now the leading players are the crass Bianchi, the smug Fowler, and the obnoxious, instigating Andrea Adelson, who also has trouble understanding what the word confidential means based on her article published last week.

Late this past winter, ESPN obtained a recording of the 911 call Shelley Meyer made in dispatching paramedics to their home to rush Urban to Shands Hospital in an emergency following the SEC Championship game last December – and wouldn’t you know, none other than the Sentinel acted as the “source.”

Perhaps it’s time to educate the Sentinel editorial staff about the pitfalls of questionable journalistic practices – if any of them remember their history, there was once a Hollywood gossip magazine called, oddly enough, “Confidential” back in the 1950’s that was finally brought down in a case involving falsification of facts that nearly injured somebody’s reputation, and in the 1980’s the tabloid National Enquirer was the defendant in several litigation cases from celebrities they libeled; I can still recall the late Johnny Carson referring to those who had fabricated stories about him in the Enquirer as “creeps” following the monologue on one of his shows back then. If the Sentinel thinks they’re immune from such prosecution should they step way over the line, they’re sadly mistaken. Media credentials don’t offer such immunity to ANY journalist.

It’s my opinion that it’s time for somebody from the UAA staff, either the SID or somebody entrusted with media relations, to arrange a meeting with the Sentinel sports editor and discuss these issues. Our football program deserves to be as free as possible from all these sundry distractions, especially those arising from the media that can be detrimental with potentially adverse results. If things get to the point that our team’s performance and morale suffer as a result, then it ceases to be amusing anymore. These kids and Coach Meyer have put all their heart into this program, and they don’t deserve to be constantly forced to deal with all this media nonsense. It needs to come to a screeching halt right now.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.