LSU Hate Week!

[DRU2012]

I just don't think LSU is that good. They haven't impressed ME from the start--and they haven't "progressed" so much as they have "scratched and clawed to hold what they got"--which does have its own merits, and must be contended with on its own terms.
But they are coming into OUR place, where history and the "intangibles" potentially make this a "Karma Bowl": I don't know how Coach Mullens and Co. will use what to push which buttons--but I know they WILL do so as they can and see fit--and I trust this Head Coach in particular to do it right.
Not saying "we got this one"--but we sure do have a shot: It'll come down to our states-of-"body mind and spirit" entering/exiting the TUNNEL at the Swamp Saturday--and whether we can pace ourselves accordingly. I LOVE that this Coach "gets", DEPENDS on reading all that and seriously factors it into everything, from preseason to each gameday, prep to play gameWEEK.
LOOK, we aren't anything LIKE "there" yet--but a game like this can show not just where we are headed, but how FAST we may get/ may be getTING "there".
They have the overall talent advantage to smack us upside the head, get the lead early and KEEP IT (if this was the same squad under EITHER of our last 2 Coaches, I'd be readyimg myself for just that outcome; As it is, I am looking at these games, one by one, more as "classes", links in a chain of chances to "learn and grow", as our Coach presents it)...These are young kids just beginning to see themselves, this TEAM and this program differently: One bad bounce could tip it all over, get them pointing fingers and covering their own butts instead of remembering to watch their teammates' backs...So look for signs of the TOUGHNESS we saw ALL GAME this past Saturday; Keep it close, fight it out start to finish, and we can hold our heads high no matter what.
I doubt I'll feel any BETTER about a "close, tough loss" (I still think LSU isn't all that much BETTER than us RIGHT NOW), but I am TRYING to see EVERYTHING in terms of our "growth and future" now.
But then again, we OWE these guys, program to program, fans to fans too: There are scores to settle, going back to the whole "Hurricane fiasco" and their taking advantage of it when our backs were against the wall, and so on.
So though it won't be an issue on-the-field, there ARE some deeper, underlying emotional deals for the fans, at least. I may understand our long range goals and TRY to be philosophical about whatever actually ensues--but I WANT this one, for a lot of reasons, some NOT so "philosophical"!
SCREW the "experts". To HELL with the various "indicators". Go GATORS!!!

 

[DRU2012]

These Mullens early-week pressers are GREAT! They embody our utter UPGRADE at the Head Coaching position: Where we used to face an ego-driven, (in Muschamp's case) angry or (with Fat Mac) bleery-eyed/baffled defensiveness, where I swear it was difficult to tell right then whom each considered the greatest adversary: the hometown reporters, our own mistake-prone players (somehow, least according to the Coach, THEY were always "not getting it done", not doing the things they'd been repeatedly asked to do), the team we were about to play, or the one we just did...
Now, all that's CLEARLY behind us: Coach is there to lead off by answering any questions about "last week's game" (Hint hint: "Y'all are here to ask about the game you just saw--but we're already moving on...") in his open, forthright and positive manner--and then move on, look ahead, that's just what he does. His message(s) remains the same--what he is telling us, and what he's saying to his team. He doesn't blame, he doesn't obfuscate.
It's like tumbling out of a smoky backroom allnighter into a blue-skyed, clear-aired morning!
It's not only "gonna BE" alright--it already IS!
(It's kinda corny, but that old Beatles song, "Getting Better" actually FITS the mood AND message completely!)

 

[Escambia94]

 

[Escambia94]

 

[Escambia94]

 

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[Escambia94]

 

[Escambia94]

 

[DRU2012]

@Escambia94,
You've outdone yourself here, man.
LOL . Love it...

 

[DRU2012]

View attachment 376

He really does sound that way to me--with a slurry of gravel and phlegm at the back of his throat!

 

[Escambia94]

He really does sound that way to me--with a slurry of gravel and phlegm at the back of his throat!

Agreed. It is as if he is talking with a corndog in his mouth, or a similarly shaped object that I will not mention here on the forum.

 

[DRU2012]

Agreed. It is as if he is talking with a corndog in his mouth, or a similarly shaped object that I will not mention here on the forum.

Yes! I too made the "corndog connection"--almost added that myself--but didn't quite make the next (nightmarish) leap...You know, I USED to LIKE corndogs--Heck, I think I've got a 12-pack of Statefair-brand "All Beef" back of my freezer right now.
..."The. Horror...The. Horror..."

 

[Escambia94]

 

[Escambia94]

 

[DRU2012]

View attachment 383

Yikes!
Halloween still few weeks away--but THAT'S scary.

 

[Escambia94]

 

[Escambia94]

 

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[Escambia94]

 

[DRU2012]

AW, DAMNIT!
Now I've gone and done it:
After VOWING not to do so, after finally thinking I had this season, our goals and realistic expectations properly "zenned", I find I actually, REALLY CARE about this game's outcome--and truly believe we can and WILL announce ourselves here and NOW.
Maybe it is the opponent. Maybe it's the whole situation--coming home, a team (and Coach) I don't like and believe are both WAY overrrated, then overhyped AND overRANKED--AND the whole college football world watching, as a result.
Sigh...I would have RATHER'D found us in this kind of combination of circumstances a YEAR from now. But here we are...and maybe this is right and proper: We ARE further along faster than personnel, and/or even good coaching would have seemed to have likely propelled us coming INTO this season (Hell, even 2 or 3 weeks ago, if I'd been asked).
Coach has asked for the Gator crowd to "take back the Swamp"--and you KNOW they will TRY. For this season, anyway, it's an unexpected "defining moment". We must hold our own here, at LEAST.
But now, despite my best (patient and logical) intentions, I really wanna see a WIN. I never was one for "moral victories"--but I knew and understood we had a ways to go.
That's still true...I guess the "Gator inside" has gotten loose a bit early here: "The reptile brain" doesn't bother with "logic" or "reason"...we are hungry, and just want what we want. Deep down we are PREDATORS--and once we sense "prey", GAME ON!