Dale J. Rodriguez
Gator Fan
Gator Bites - FLA vs Jacksonville State
(laughing) That your idea of "FUN", E-?!! Haven't had enough of that sort of thing after last week? Gee, and so relaxing a way to pass a Saturday, too...Let's have fun with this one. Let the Jacksonville Gamecocks get on top of the Florida Gators 27-0 at the half, then watch Jacoby Brissett engineer a 30-27 come-from-behind victory. In quadruple overtime.
Special? Yeah. I would use that word to describe this year's Gators. In a good way, of course. Except that ****ing Georgia game.
Let's have fun with this one. Let the Jacksonville Gamecocks get on top of the Florida Gators 27-0 at the half, then watch Jacoby Brissett engineer a 30-27 come-from-behind victory. In quadruple overtime.
Yeah, I saw that line ("...worst greatest team in America!" was how it read where I saw it)...had to give it a "teeth-clenched grin", in spite of myself...The front page of the the paper yesterday here had headline of "gators eke out win against raging cajin. Gators are the worst, best team in America" lol
Here's what has both driven us NUTS this year and given us (underneath it all) great hope for the future: The simple realization/certainty that with anything approaching a "decent Gator "O", the kind of offense we can expect in the next couple of years, ONE way or the other, to match the defense we have already established (and all signs already say we will continue to hold and elaborate on over the same period ahead, and beyond, with Muschamp as our Head Coach, Quinn as the DC, and the players we already have and those on-the-way), our Gators WILL be a MOST formidably balanced power in seasons ahead--maybe THE most formidable team, ultimately, not JUST in the SEC, either. Hell, with just 1/2 the offense most of us thought we had on hand here already, we could have ROLLED through this season, as it turns out. We'll be better next year and beyond--but so will a lot of OTHER teams in the SEC.I rather them stomp on them and not let up. At least don't JSU come close.
Yeah, I saw that line ("...worst greatest team in America!" was how it read where I saw it)...had to give it a "teeth-clenched grin", in spite of myself...
I know you're being sarcastic, E- (which means I don't have to be, for a moment), but I'm actually going to be serious about this here, even if it means "re-stating the obvious": We have access to talent (to go with the "talent" we already have that injury, under-achievement and lack of continuity--specifically along the O-line and generally at OC--have rendered null and void THIS season) that should, can and (I still believe) soon WILL give us the kind of offense that we need and expect--and NOT just some "moderate gains" to, say 50th or something, which I grant you, all sarcasm aside, WOULD have made a difference THIS season, at least. Pretty sad when a Florida Gator team cannot even manage a mediocre offense--especially when, in retrospect, that may well have been all that was needed to have garnered us a very real shot at a National Championship, as may well have been the case in THIS very strange year. It would certainly have made our chances in our traditional "last game of the regular season" look better...At the same time, of course, that likewise makes the possibility of our pulling things together THAT much on offense seem doable, even in these last couple of weeks, and therefore gives us some remaining hope that we could still somehow just pull this off.Hope and change. Yeah. Brent Pease: get this offense ranked above #100! Heck, get it ranked higher than Charlie Weis at #92!
You may NOT have, IA...I have since seen it re-reported in other headlines in various ways, including yours: Great, all we needed--a cute little short-hand way for the national media to dismiss the very real and amazing things this WAY underrated Gator squad ("WAY underrated" by THEM, btw) has managed to accomplish this season, in spite of even more obstacles, weaknesses, and bad luck than the most pessimistic of its fans could anticipate. (Have to admit it, though: It DOES sort of seem to sum up our strange tale of stumbling success in this VERY WEIRD YEAR of college football.)That sounds right, I knew I had it off a little...
I know you're being sarcastic, E- (which means I don't have to be, for a moment), but I'm actually going to be serious about this here, even if it means "re-stating the obvious": We have access to talent (to go with the "talent" we already have that injury, under-achievement and lack of continuity--specifically along the O-line and generally at OC--have rendered null and void THIS season) that should, can and (I still believe) soon WILL give us the kind of offense that we need and expect--and NOT just some "moderate gains" to, say 50th or something, which I grant you, all sarcasm aside, WOULD have made a difference THIS season, at least. Pretty sad when a Florida Gator team cannot even manage a mediocre offense--especially when, in retrospect, that may well have been all that was needed to have garnered us a very real shot at a National Championship, as may well have been the case in THIS very strange year. It would certainly have made our chances in our traditional "last game of the regular season" look better...At the same time, of course, that likewise makes the possibility of our pulling things together THAT much on offense seem doable, even in these last couple of weeks, and therefore gives us some remaining hope that we could still somehow just pull this off.
For now, we aren't asking our offense to blow ANYONE off the field--just hold its own, not lose the ball OR the game, and maybe just manage to put a whole-game effort together, even if it isn't a particularly dazzling one. We have defense, special teams and a habit of STEPPING UP SOMEWHERE to manage the rest.
THAT was the loss, THE "one loss", that triggered the Tebow "Promise..." Speech--and everything changed for that team from that point on...I remember just TURNING MY BACK on the media--especially Bianchi (and even Pat Dooley, too, homer that he usually is)--a LOT of us just HURT, but TT had said it all FOR us, and we just all elected to FOLLOW HIS LEAD, rally together and follow HIM, after that...it really felt like there was just no stopping us, everyone, everything and every obstacle fell before us after that, and we all just took it in stride. Now THAT was "magic".Ya the article I saw was written by Mike Bianchi, he's an idiot. I hated that guy in 08. We lost to olé miss in a nail biter and he jumped band Wagon with seasons over articles/over rated and what not... Ughhh that pissed me off so much. Then when we won the bcs champ he wrote things like 'we knew they had it in them' lol...