For all our regulars,
@Escambia94, in particular:
As a confirmed pessimist, a "half-empty sorta guy", I of course in turn HATE being RIGHT--especially in any pregame, in this case predictably dark concerns about our Gators I had going INTO this one.
So it is with a certain amount of sad regret that I now commend your attention to my VERY FIRST POST here on this very thread --the one that begins with my quoting Harry Truman regarding "...statistics":
It isn't simply whether I was particularly right or accurate, but rather the specificity of focus and in turn how inevitably clear and accurate my warnings turned out to be.
Not only do I in this case "HATE being right", as I say, but that deep down all of us, each in our own way knew and saw it all themselves coming INTO this game--It was all simple and clear to every one of us, making the whole trajectory of our "reality about to be" one long seemingly UNAVOIDABLE one. Which, it then seems in retrospect, in fact in truth made it all EMIMENTLY AVOIDABLE:
Deep down we ALL "saw it coming coming from a mile away", how and why--and yet apparently none, not even our Coach could do anything to stop it; NO ONE could do a THING to change the outcome. All we could do was hope "good fortune", "the bounces" etc would somehow go our way...
And that won't DO. I just don't know what, if ANY, recourse any of us have now, and am trying to work that through:
I must similarly conclude that our fine Head Coach, the inestimable Mr Mullen saw it too--put the best face he COULD on the restorable aspects of the "black hole of entropy" it appeared our program's then-"current" fate was spinning INTO, then proceed to in effect IGNORE ALL THAT--do his best to manage its inevitable "negative momentum" and, along with the REST OF GATOR NATION simply "RIDE IT THRU AND OUT"--that last, the "out" part, his (and OUR) one real sliver of HOPE: That in this very postgame insight/moment-of-misery directly after lies our one true chance at change, at salvation, in a new moment of insight and opportunity our chance to bite-the-bullet--choose CHANGE over the temporary, the second-rate ideas of also-ran, "ribbon-for-participating", politically correct "congratulations for just playing along" and settling for mediocrity in a world where there really CAN be only one "BEST", one "CHAMPION". NICK SABAN doesn't, WON'T play along--and though he is mocked, even castigated, the world does not collapse...and OUR Head Coach sees, understands--aims for his own self-defined version of "success", and at least the CHANCE at TRYING for "perfection"...So here is the coming crossroads he is steering us inexorably towards: Do we "knuckle under", play it safe, play for APPROVAL by the status quo? Or do we take the BIGGER GAMBLE? Go for it ALL: Follow our visionary Coach as he leads, basically exhorts us by action and example to "DO IT OUR WAY"? Chance some short term setbacks on the way to TRYING for that envisioned "perfection" that by definition probably can never quite be reached, that place and/or thing "somewhere in the clouds"?
I would like to think that WE are just different, JUST BRAVE enough to do so--support and follow him now, and somehow in this way transmit that support in the underlying message of inherent confidence that makes clear we're WITH him now: "GO for it, Coach! Do what you must: You've come this far, this fast: Take us the rest of the way...At least TRY."
Whatever that entails. We're not there yet--but we can ALMOST SEE IT from here. We're no more interested in settling for less than YOU are.
I'm serious about this: I wish we could just publish the above statement in a private "advert" on the back of The Alligator, simple and clean in black'n'white.
But then again, I'm not sure anyone would have any idea what we were talking about. Would I once have been just another student who thought it was just some "weird craziness"? Heck, I'm not so sure they'd be wrong now. LOL.
But there it is, nonetheless:
In the strange "down but not OUT" frame of mind I find myself in at 2 in the morning on the following night/day, I find myself awake--and this is what I'm thinking, this is where the recent portion of the roller coaster ride that is this season has deposited me, philosphically/emotionally. A little nuts? Probably. But is that so bad, so "inappropriate" here? Is it WRONG?
I suppose I am REALLY asking, "What do we WANT?" "What are we willing to risk to get it?" I say NOT the dark compromises of an Urban Meyer, not again...that bill ALWAYS comes due, and way too high. Nor the endless frustration of "close but no cigar", the attention and spotlight of constant PARTIAL, part TIME success we've seen intermittently these last nearly 10 years--acceptable to some (mainly the myriad chronic "have nots" out there--Like watching the joy at OSU after they beat Texas yesterday aft: "Oh boy, oh JOY! THEY say Texas is BACK, and we just BEAT them! Our season is saved, a success after all! Our lives COMPLETE for now!"). No. It's not enough. Far from it, I'd MUCH rather be the ones they celebrate at beating once in a while--even if it does mean losing ones we should win now and then.
And that's my point here: We have GOT to go FOR IT ALL. I am now fully convinced we went out and got the one Gator Head Coach who understands and wants the very same. OUR job, if you will, is to support him thoroughly in that endeavor, to trust and support him as he takes whatever chances he must in order to ultimately move forward in bettering our team and its potential in the FUTURE. That doesn't mean we can't discuss, analyze and even question his efforts and decisions in this regard. Unlike Saban, I get the impression he not only has no problem with that, he is balanced and self-confident enough to welcome it all. Coach is every BIT the "perfectionist" when it comes to this team and program--he's just more flexible and relaxed in his approach, more self-aware and accepting of the inevitability of imperfection...and all that has its OWN advantages, long term--believe me. Above all, he has a better sense of humor than his Tide counterpart...and in addition to making him less brittle and a whole lot more fun to be around, will serve him well in the long run (one more reason you won't see Dan Mullen holding his head on the sidelines throughout games, eyes-wide shock and terror frozen on his face). It's also why personally I like and admire him--for all the huge difference THAT makes in the big picture of everything!
