Out In the Wasteland...

[DRU2012]

(Well, somehow LOST the near-completed first version of this--and just too frustrated to even bother trying to reconstitute, so here goes the "quick and dirty" one...)
Thought of calling this "Just Can't STAND It..."
I mean, we've fallen so far, so fast, almost "breathtaking"--NOT the good way, obviously.
Started to get into the (seemingly inevitable sometimes) blame-game, NOT my intention here, so will only note that hot-headed, totally-committed, "I'm FROM Gainesville" True Gator Will Muschamp chose a quick jump over to another SEC program as their "Genius D-Coordinator", and has seemingly adjusted quite smoothly and easily into that role: and Auburn (recently perrennial OFFENSIVE powerhouse--hmmm, ever since they high-bidded for the services of OUR then-formerly-disgraced loser of a "next Gator Heisman QB-candidate", now that I think about it) and its up-til-now woeful defense is suddenly thought to make them, under Muschamp, the class of the SEC. They're picked by many to emerge from the inevitable internecine feeding frenzy that is a normal SEC schedule to be our Conference's representative in the coming season's eventual Final Four. Good on ya, Coach Wil...not bitter at all out here in the (one gets the impression) "crumbling
ruins" of a program that was just a year past college football domination when ya got here. I'm sure J Foley has no 2nd thoughts regarding honor, loyalty, and/or private promises etc.,
OK. No one's looking, the "circus" has moved on to other towns, we're on our own--and it's the back roads, the hard dirt roads back to The Promised Land...but maybe Coach Mac knows a "short cut". All he's gotta DO is, find a way to WIN...
Alright. Won't be easy, no secret or "shortcut" really after all. But it WILL come--and if it were to happen sooner than anyone expects, well, how sweet would THAT be?​

 

[miltongator]

I love your looking at the clouds and seeing rainbows. If we could somehow manage a winning record this year, I'd be thrilled. I hear Will G is starting to separate himself and could be named the starter soon. Receivers still need some "stickum" though.

 

[DRU2012]

I love your looking at the clouds and seeing rainbows. If we could somehow manage a winning record this year, I'd be thrilled. I hear Will G is starting to separate himself and could be named the starter soon. Receivers still need some "stickum" though.

Really? I sound optimistic? I guess that IS what passes for optimism in our "Gator World" these days. "All he's gotta DO is win..." Is a two-edged blade, tho, let's be real.
Anyway, I'm with you, mg, all your points: Best we dare hope for, let alone "expect", is more wins than losses this year. Of course, when you bother to watch a college football preview show, or pick up any Aug issue of that plethora of monthly sports mags and annual team-by-team/conf-by-conf rags, well, talk about "rubbin' our faces in it"!
Bad enough that aside from noting ours being the only SEC program with a new Head coach this season, we get little attention at all (yeah, we get it: we are nuthin' now, far as the media's concerned; nobodies who are going nowhere...), the kicker is seeing our FORMER Coaches' faces and (somewhat revised, you notice?) back-stories are splashed on covers and leading off stories in all those same places. Is it supposed to be just a coincidence that of our last two, one is the supposed "reigning genius of college football coaching who has lead his home state team back to the top", and his successor here has somehow been near instantly transformed from stubborn, one-tracked-mind purveyor of all-D/"we don't need no stinkin'" offense to "Savior of the Auburn Tigers" as the DC for a team that scores points in bunches but up til now couldn't stop a slug from crossing the highway? I don't know, just thought maybe a journalist or two might wanna at least reflect on, even look INTO that...
But I'm a Gator. Without a saint behind center and a string of wins goin' back a season or two behind us, we're stoned, partying hicks from some backwater southern town. We don't cheat or rape, we don't have models and stars and flamboyant criminals and murderers, not lately anyway--not even topless beaches. We gotta drive 70 miles to a decent beach--"Are they even in FLORIDA, really?"
So yeah, the ONLY cure is winning. Sooner the better--and the sweeter.

 

[miltongator]

Just watched Coach Mac's latest presser. He's starting to win me over (not that that means a wit). There just seems to be "something" about him. Just hope it translates into W's and the home crowd gives him a fair shot. Gotta understand that this isn't going to be an overnight fix.

 

[DRU2012]

Yes. That's the bottom line, really, as I (eventually) came to as well: the ol' Al Davis/re Raiders-line, of course (don't even need to actually SAY it anymore, right? "____ ___, baby,")...only there's a bit more tied to it for us the last few years: Gotta see some, in fact a whole lot MORE go-for-it fun on the O-side, too. Little patience left for it not being executed though either, btw: For eg., how many more guys will earn the nick-name "Stonehands" THIS season?
But I DO want 'em to keep trying to do the things that make all that and more a very public possibility in the first place. That's part of why we GOT Coach Mac in here, right? Not to oversimplify, but he DOES seem a likeable, charismatic "follow-him-into-hell" leader-type guy...I LIKE him too--and after Muschamp, who likewise "won me over" quickly on that intuitive, "gut-level", I'm determined to at least TRY and separate practical evaluation and actual results from all that "other stuff" this time.
So yeah, like you I'm glad that's definitely there, will make (is clearly already MAKING) a difference in all the ways large and small that count nowadays (who we get, what they give, where it all goes and can add up to etc etc etc)--but right now, well, as fans we walk that razor's edge between hope and excitement with the start of a new season, and our knowledge, patience and understanding of everything that is entailed in "getting back to winning as a HABIT" again. But as a basic guideline, where we may have to be "realistic" about that "road back" and it having its ups'n'downs between here and there, personally I'm trying to see the fun and thrills on the O-side re-added to our identity, our repetoire, so to speak, at least as far as the way I look at and evaluate it all. That's been mainly missing last few seasons, lets face it. I LIKED Will Muschamp, too--We cut him all kinds of slack and rationale for our failures in that regard. Not so much that we were wrong, but hey, last I'll say about all that is, I just don't think we have TIME for much more of that kind of "patience" now..."It's on YOU, Coach: You know why you're here, what our no-doubt-about-it over-heated hopes and expectations are here, and why you in particular were offered and chose to take on the challenge. Make it FUN again--and hopefully the wins will come."

 

[miltongator]

A little of that "go for it" mentality of the "Old Ball Coach" is what we're yearning for. Let's have some fun!

 

[Escambia94]

As bad as our special teams have been since defensive "genius" Will Muschump took over, I am hoping the Gators get back to playing offense, and improving special teams. Perhaps the coaches can borrow ideas from this guy: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...e-brain-of-high-school-coach-who-never-punts/. High school coach Kevin Kelley has enjoyed a few state championships and lots of wins because he studies statistics and has determined that a) offense wins games (really?) b) punting for field position is not normally a good idea and c) American football should embrace some concepts from rugby.

In short, the Gators should go for it from time to time, especially this year when they are expected to win 7 games at most. If the Gators lack deep threat receivers, then consider rugby-like plays from time to time.

 

[miltongator]

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