"Talk of the Town": A Call To Arms

[O-town Gator]

Fellow Gators, I'm joining Buddy Martin, author of "Urban's Way" in offering my rebuttal to a slanderous, hatchet-job piece of trashy journalism published with way too much fanfare by none other than Paul Finebaum, notorious for having stirred the pot not that long ago with a loose-cannon Steve Spurrier over none other than that dead-horse Urban to Notre Dame nonsense.

Buddy Martin, for one, ought to know Urban Meyer better than most Gator fans do and the majority of the rest of the media think they do. I mean, how many more times does Buddy need to say that Coach Meyer won't be leaving Gainesville any time soon - and what part of Coach Meyer stating, in response to Spurrier's childishness, "I am not going to Notre Dame" do others fail to understand?

Finebaum, knowing that his main motive is to (1) antagonize the Gator fanbase, (2) possibly encourage some negative recruiting and (3) use the tactics he did just to attract readers to his "blog", has the audacity to call Meyer a liar. You know, it's so easy for rivals in all factions (I'm throwing Kiffykins into that genre for what it's worth, too) to accuse Meyer of this, that, and the other thing - but where's the SUBSTANCE?

Read Buddy's article over at Gator Country. For crying out loud, he has Meyer's statement on tape and was physically present in the same room with him doing an interview - it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that that statement came straight from Meyer's mouth and not from some idiotic "source". (OK I'm being a little bit of a wisenheimer, but how else can I make my point?)

Anyway, here goes:

Urban Meyer is probably leaving Florida after the season to go to Notre Dame. Meyer says he's not going. He insists he loves it in Gainesville and has no intention of taking a position he once described as "my dream job."

"Probably"? Not a definite. At least that's what I learned that it meant in school - I don't know about you.

So how do I know Meyer is not telling the truth? Easy. Meyer's lips moved when he denied the story.

As Buddy asked, were you there when he spoke? Or are you just saying that because you're peeved that you don't have open access to the Florida football program?

Perhaps there was a time when Meyer was about what's right in college football. They say he was just a normal guy out in Utah. Maybe he was even a decent cat for about 24 hours in Gainesville. Since then, Meyer has become obsessed with success and power (see the blatant strong arming of quarterback turned talk show host Shane Matthews). The lure of being "the man" at South Bend might be too intoxicating for him to turn down.

Knock it off, you runt. I was at the Orlando Gator Gathering, and not ONCE did Meyer allude to Shane Matthews by name when he made the remark about those who bad-mouth the program not being welcome into the Florida Football inner sanctum - that was a line of crap stirred up by one of your kindred instigators, Andrea Adelson of the "Slantinel", for the same reason you wrote all this drivel.

Besides, Meyer knows better than anyone that Superman (Tim Tebow) is gone after the season

Well, DUH! Did you just crawl out from underneath a rock?

Don't think Meyer isn't just a tad concerned about Nick Saban stockpiling warehouses loaded with blue-chip talent in Tuscaloosa. Meyer knows he dodged a bullet in the fourth quarter of the SEC title game last year. However, that wasn't enough for the self-absorbed coach. Beating Saban once wasn't enough. He needed to beat him a second time.

Load of crap. He's more concerned with Kiffykins' sleazy recruiting tactics, especially after the Nu'Keese Richardson incident. And you're crying in your cornflakes just because UF beat Bama twice? Grow up, little boy. We won those games in 2006 and 2008 fair and square - if that hurts your piddle-widdle ego, tough.

Instead of a Senate hearing this week on (Utah senator) Orrin Hatch's spurious attack on the BCS, wouldn't it be interesting to ask Whittingham and Meyer to show up with phone records intact?

Stop it, troublemaker. Coaches consult with each other all the time, and they're not violating NCAA rules in doing so. YOU need to get your facts straight before you shoot your mouth off.

Apparently, that doesn't seem to bother school President Bernie Machen, who just brazenly promoted the idea of Meyer getting a raise. Meyer has four years left on a contract that pays him well north of $3 million a year. He works at a school that recently cut $40 million from its general budget.

For your information, the UAA works independently from the rest of UF, and in fact provides a considerable amount of revenue to the school. Meyer deserves a nice birthday present (BTW, his birthday is this Friday, July 10) in the form of a raise and contract extension - if I were Dr. Machen, I'd offer Meyer a lifetime contract. Meyer worked his ass off to bring Florida football back from the nadir of Zookdom - and if that bothers you, Finebaum - then up yours. Meyer deserves every accolade and every bit of compensation he receives.

You can call Meyer lot of things. He's arrogant. He's cold blooded. He recruits like a serial killer. But he's not stupid.

Unlike you, Finebaum - the adjective "stupid" applies to you perfectly.

Meyer doesn't have to study history to understand that staying in Gainesville would be the wrong move. All he has to do is walk across the street from his office and ask Billy Donovan.

Billy Who? Following an exhaustive search, I discovered he's still the head basketball coach at Florida. Remember, he's the one who won back-to-back national titles, accepted and rejected a job with the Orlando Magic (who just lost in the NBA Finals), and hasn't been seen since.

What you just said here contradicts itself, Finebaum. Geez, you're blowing so much smack out of both sides of your bottom that you can't even think before you publish the written word. Billy thought better of making the jump to Orlando, realized the grass wasn't greener on the other side of the fence, put his family first and stayed in Gainesville. Meyer's decision to stay in Gainesville for all the same reasons is the right thing to do - and oh, BTW - I too was in a room with Meyer last May in Daytona Beach when he said that he and Shelley are AT HOME in Hoggetowne - and I'm not hard of hearing, either.

OK Gator fans - now it's YOUR turn. As the title states, this is a CALL TO ARMS. Go forward, give Finebaum a dose of his own medicine - and don't hold anything back!!!!! (Do it NOW: http://blog.al.com/press-register-sports/2009/07/his_lips_moved_meyer_probably.html)

And Finebaum - like a good little boy, you better be ready to fall over mommy's lap, drop your drawers, assume the position and take it. You should have been told over and over again that spreading lies is naughty.

 

[FanSmack]

I just got done posting my responses on my site as well.

 

[MahxFahn]

hmmmm I wonder why their site has slowed down so much.
Their hit count must be through the roof. (franklin, take note.)

It might be more fun to do the following:

Email him.......HERE
[email protected]


Since we know his name and his email address, filling out this suggestion form for the rag he writes for, could prove to be fun. Be forewarned though they will probably get your IP so no death threats.
Suggestion form.
http://www.al.com/interactivity/


Here you can comment to the fish wrapper he writes for and best of all it might be submitted to the print version.
They ask for address and phone numbers and zip codes. All I know is that there are a lot of those out there.
Birmingham area code is 205 and one of the exchanges is 327.
Some of the streets, 17th Street North, Jefferson Avenue Southwest,
Some zip codes 35203, 35211
http://www.al.com/contactus/

 

[J-ville Gator]

I understand thehatred towards Bianchi-lite, but wouldn't that be giving him the exact response he is looking for? Slimebaugh is obviously into shock "journalism".

He is only trying to generate a response from the fan base of the defending national champs.

 

[O-town Gator]

I understand thehatred towards Bianchi-lite, but wouldn't that be giving him the exact response he is looking for? Slimebaugh is obviously into shock "journalism".

He is only trying to generate a response from the fan base of the defending national champs.

With enough of an uproar from a huge portion of the Gator fanbase, hacks like this sleazeball can either be censured or put out of a job. The editors of those news publications in Alabama need to hear it from us - and believe it or not, there are quite a few Bama and Auburn fans who think Finebaum's a jerk, too.

(Notice I said EDITOR - he/she would be the one to hear complaints and take action.)

EDSBS takes a more satirical poke at this Ewok: http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2009/07/07/july-columns-are-the-most-fiskalicious/

Gator Nation needs to start showing zero-tolerance for ALL forms of yellow journalism that hostily attack our players, coaches and athletic program as a whole. Constructive criticism is one thing, but delivering falsehood and slander to their readers is TOTALLY unacceptable. These so-called "journalists" may think they're just doing their job by publishing al lthis crap, but they're making themselves look more disreputable to those who refuse to fall for their line - and I'd like to see more retort from Gator fans instead of allowing them to run roughshod over us.

Like the UnderArmour pitch said "We must protect this house"! Let's start sticking up for Coach Meyer and Gator Football with more fervor than ever!

GO GATORS!!!!!!! :gator::gator::gator:

 

[O-town Gator]

And FWIW, here's that famous PDOriginal retort to that piece of toilet paper the Ewok wrote (in parts due to bandwidth size, and I've bolded PD's responses to Finebaum's BS):

Wow, this is really shocking....I mean the level of vitriol and hatred in this piece. I wonder what Urban ever did to you Paul to make you implode like a balsa doll house in a black hole? As for substance, this has to be the most meaningless column I have ever read.

"Urban Meyer is probably leaving Florida after the season to go to Notre Dame."

Speculation based on your not believing (a) Urban Meyer's own words, (b) Urban Meyer's own actions, and (c) all logic and sanity. So what is new here?

"So how do I know Meyer is not telling the truth? Easy. Meyer's lips moved when he denied the story."

Paul, I read on to see where you supported this accusation of being a liar with any, uh, whatchyamacallit....facts. Like a single incidence where he was found to have lied. Still reading, still waiting....

"Meyer has become obsessed with success and power (see the blatant strong arming of quarterback turned talk show host Shane Matthews)."

Nothing new here; just lazy rehash. The media latched on to a vague 10 second blurb otherwise buried in a long talk to a Gator Gathering crowd - that never mentioned Shane Matthews once - and blew it into a nuclear storm all by themselves. Interesting backwards logic used here, though - if Meyer did in fact single Shane out for criticism, it was out of fierce loyalty to his program and especially his players of whom Shane was being harshly critical....and that loyalty is the rationale you use to infer that Meyer wants to leave?

Nutty.

"Besides, Meyer knows better than anyone that Superman (Tim Tebow) is gone after the season and Florida's reign of terror in the SEC will be over."

We have heard this one before, haven't we? As soon as all that great Galen Hall defensive talent leaves, the Gators' reign is over....as soon as Matthews leaves, UF is through...as soon as Errict Rhett leaves, the Gators are done....as soon as Danny Wuerffel leaves, the Gators are toast again....as soon as Rex Grossman leaves, the Gators will never be heard from again....as soon as Spurrier leaves, the Gators will never win another title....we keep turning over players and coaches and you guys just keep getting it wrong. Also heard a lot of the same nonsense about Spurrier being gone as soon as his boy Shane graduates...then as soon as his boy Danny graduates...then as soon as Doug Johnson graduates....then as soon as his boy Rex leaves, or even his boy Brock. And Spurrier's departure in Jan 2002 (and his Jerri-foiled departure attempt in Jan 1996) had nothing to do with any of them. Just as Meyer will not base any decision to leave or retire on whether Tim Tebow still has eligibility left.

"Don't think Meyer isn't just a tad concerned about Nick Saban stockpiling warehouses loaded with blue-chip talent in Tuscaloosa."

Lemme get the straight - Meyer goes from Utah to Florida, INSTEAD OF Notre Dame, who also offered him at the same time, because he knows that UF is the "top of the mountain" as he put it - and that's where he wants to compete at the very highest level (you don't go to the SEC because you think it will be easy). And after winning 2 SEC titles and 2 national titles in 3 years, including beating scary ol' Nick Saban for the SEC title last year, and despite the fact that while Saban is piling up talent in Tuscaloosa, Florida has been and continues to be piling up more and better talent in Gainesville, and Bama is not even in the Gators' division....Paul, you think that Urban is scared of Nick?

Can you possibly be serious? So far, in Urban's book, Mike Shula is scarier than Saban. He clobbered the Gators his first time facing Meyer....Nick hasn't even notched win #1 yet.

"Meyer knows he dodged a bullet in the fourth quarter of the SEC title game last year. "

If by "dodged a bullet" you mean, "out-coached and defeated Nick Saban," then yes, he did.

 

[O-town Gator]

Part 2

"Beating Saban once wasn't enough. He needed to beat him a second time. Why else do you think that leading up to the Sugar Bowl Meyer was burning up the Salt Lake City telephone towers to his one-time assistant Kyle Whittingham, helping construct the game plan that beat the Tide 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl?"

Really? And your proof of this is what? This is pretty shoddy logic again, Paul. If Urban had the great Florida talent on the field but just managed to "dodge a bullet" against Alabama in Atlanta, then why would anyone think that using the same game plan with far lesser athletes would magically be the answer to beating Bama in the bowl game?

Weak, Paul....friggin' weak....

"Instead of a Senate hearing this week on (Utah senator) Orrin Hatch's spurious attack on the BCS, wouldn't it be interesting to ask Whittingham and Meyer to show up with phone records intact?"

Funny, in this country, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, Paul, and you have satisfied no burden whatsoever. No proof, just, uh, your lips moving.

"Here's a guess that Meyer enjoyed the beating of his rival Saban as much as his own second national title."

Really? He's faced Saban once. Ever. Their paths have almost never crossed before or since, other than pursuing a small handful of the same recruits. THAT'S Urban's RIVAL that he'd rather see lose to someone else than win a NC himself? That's just a cry for medication, Paul.

"Had Meyer spent even a fraction of that time employing some sort of discipline program on his own campus, Florida wouldn't be teetering on being completely out of control right now....24th arrest since Meyer's arrival."

Oh boy, that old chestnut. Already debunked. Paul, you follow classic unethical reporting by printing a half-truth and omitting the balance of the information that mitigates that arrest count firmly in Meyer's favor. Ironically, Urban's program is the most buttoned down and in-control in the SEC and maybe in the country, outside the service academies. It's a running gag, in fact, that he tucks each player in at curfew and peeks in their window every hour to make sure they're sleeping. I mean, you guys can't have it both ways - you media guys mock him for being an over-the-top control freak, then say his program is completely out of control...pick one. And since when is having a program running out of control the recipe for 2-in-3 national titles (and going for 3-in-4)? The UF program was out of control under Ron Zook, and that's where you find the evidentiary 15 losses in 3 years. And not surprisingly, most of those 24 arrests were Zook recruits, and as we know the arrest totals the last two years, now that the team is mostly all Meyer recruits, is paltry.

You don't have the kind of success Urban's had at UF (and everywhere else) with the program running out of control. But then, you know that very well don't you, Paul?

"Apparently, that doesn't seem to bother school President Bernie Machen, who just brazenly promoted the idea of Meyer getting a raise."

Man, you must have some amorous affair going with Nick. You're even irate that Meyer is going to get paid more than Nick, despite Meyer merely winning 2 SEC & national titles at UF the last 3 years while Nick has won an entire West division trophy.

"Meyer has four years left on a contract that pays him well north of $3 million a year. He works at a school that recently cut $40 million from its general budget."

Another false non-story ripped from someone else's back page - the UF Athletics Associatino is an independent company that does not take money from the University, and it in facts gives money to the University in the millions. Giving Meyer a raise has ZERO effect on the University's budget.

Wow, you're just thatching together every lame, contrived sling the sports media has attempted to hurl at Meyer since January, tossing it in the water and hoping that it floats.

That thud you heard was your credibility hitting the bottom of the S-E-Sea.

"However, the megalomaniacal Machen...."

Hoah! Wait a minute, there's a new target on the board. Everyone watch out, Paul just traded his rifle for an Alabama scattergun.

"...just in case Florida wins another national title, three in four years, making Meyer a legend in all parts of the universe and perhaps opening the door for him to finally take his "dream job" that he supposedly doesn't want. "

Hmmm...now let me get this straight....winning 3 national titles in 4 years will open the door for Meyer to get the ND job...even though they ALREADY offered it to him not once, but twice, including before he ever took the Florida job, that is, before he had even a single WIN at a BCS conference school, let alone 3 NCs in 4 years. But now he needs the 3 titles for the clout to squeeze through the Golden Door? They wanted him when he had no titles, but now 2 titles in 3 years aren't good enough? Better check your math there, Paul.

Oh, and when you say he "supposedly" doesn't want the ND job, what do you think is stopping him from taking it, if he really does want it? He's already been offered it twice. Is he proving something to himself first?

"What's the old line from "Hamlet" about protesting too much?"

Yeah....oh, you're referring to yourself, right Paul?

"You can call Meyer lot of things. He's arrogant. He's cold blooded. He recruits like a serial killer."

Wow, that's some horrifically nasty language there. Likening a football coach not just to a cold-blooded murderer (because what else has that adjective ever been used to describe?), but to a SERIAL KILLER? Really?! Because he doesn't give you unlimited personal interview access and he beat your little favorite teamie for the championship? Really, Paul? That's where your moral compass is pointing? All I can say is, "WOW!"

"Meyer doesn't have to study history to understand that staying in Gainesville would be the wrong move. All he has to do is walk across the street from his office and ask Billy Donovan."

Really? So if he stays at UF, he will automatically have 80% of his starting team leave for the NFL early and the other 20% graduate and have two straight recruiting classes ravaged by unpredictable attrition, and he'll have to settle for not winning the NC for a few years as he recovers from it? Really? I mean, I've been following Florida football for a long time and I've never seen a coach lose 100% of his starting team (as well as the top 20% of his backups) all in the same year. But you;re saying that will happen to him if he stays at Florida...Huh....and that's Gainesville's fault, is it? Huh...

 

[O-town Gator]

Part 3

"Billy Who? Following an exhaustive search, I discovered he's still the head basketball coach at Florida. Remember, he's the one who won back-to-back national titles, accepted and rejected a job with the Orlando Magic (who just lost in the NBA Finals), and hasn't been seen since."

Funny, I've seen him a lot since then. He just hasn't been in the bright national spotlight for two years. So it's the University of Florida's fault that the national media doesn't have 24/7 coverage of every move a coach makes when he goes to the NIT? It's UF's fault that the media spotlight for going to the NIT is not as bright as when you win 2-straight national titles? Really, Paul? I had no idea.

"It is unlikely Meyer has to worry about falling as far as Donovan (who is no longer even considered the best coach in his division)."

Really? Who responded to that straw poll? Billy D has 3 national title games and 2-straight national crowns on his resume, and it's all recent - no ancient history - all while running a squeaky-clean program. Calipari has been a head coach since 1988, nearly 20 years of that in college, and has only been to 2 Final Fours and 1 title game - lost it, natch - all while running away from the NCAA investigators at every stop and every step of the way. Nobody "considers" him the best coach in the division or the conference, Paul. Maybe you hate Billy, too, because the year that Calipari was #1 seed in the tourney, they didn't even sniff the Final Four, and Florida dominated the bracket like few teams have in history on the way to #1 of 2-straight.

Now Meyer is beating Bama in the SEC title game and winning all those national titles that Alabama used to win back when you were a boy and indoor plumbing was a novel technology. And the mighty Gators - apparently always one coach or player loss away from total collapse - has now been to 4 national title games and won 3 national crowns since the last time Bama got a piece of one. And the Gators have won 7 SEC titles to Bama's 1 since that time, too (oh, and turns out they were cheating en masse during that whole regime). Maybe that's what has filled you with such blind hatred, Paul, because you sure haven't provided any evidence that Urban Meyer has done anything to deserve such personal ire and ugly character assassination. I know losing sucks Paul, but losing and then stomping your feet about it and hurling hideous unfounded insults at the guy who keeps beating you is a very ugly display of poor, POOR character.

"However, for all of the beatings Meyer has put on and will likely continue to put on schools this fall, he will become the hunted next year. His arrogance (see Ole Miss debacle last year) won't be able to handle that."

The Gators have been the most hunted team in the conference for a long time, even before the Spurrier era, so what else is new? And what exactly did the Ole Miss loss have to do with coaching arrogance? Was it coaching arrogance that caused 3 uncharacteristic fumbles by UF, or a missed assignment that allowed a PAT to get blocked? Or was it Meyer's arrogance that made the Ole Miss D-line pull off the Herculean task of stiffing the best short-yardage runner in the country on 4th down?

And since it was the Ole Miss loss that galvanized the program and drove them internally the rest of the year to refuse to lose, even when two straight championship games were on the line and often looked ready to slip away, then losing the Ole Miss game was actually the most important factor in the Gators' winning the SEC and national championships.

Every team in the country wishes they could have that kind of debacle. Alabama wishes it could have that kind of debacle.

"In one of the most anticipated battles of the upcoming season, USA Today's sports analyst Danny Sheridan says Florida could be favored by as many as "25 to 27 points" for the Sept. 19 game between Lane Kiffin and Meyer at the Swamp. Florida could win by 50, that is if Meyer can get all of his starters out on parole by then."

Wow, your lips moved again, Paul. You know very well that Florida has exactly zero current roster players in jail, and that no player who has ever served a jail sentence has ever been reinstated and played a down for Urban's Gators. And you know full well that can not be said about a lot of his "rival" coaches, don't you? And you also know full well that the reason Florida may try to run up 50 on UT is that Kiffin has been the most unethical, arrogantly obnoxious and dishonest coach to hit the SEC...probably ever...and he hasn't even coached a game yet. But specifically he called Urban Meyer a cheater, even though he knew it was a lie and he was just doing it to hurt Meyer and draw attention to himself.

Hmmm...that sounds awfully familiar. Good thing you don't coach in the SEC, Paul. All you do is sit behind a keyboard and make cowardly insults and accusations, knowing they are lies just to hurt Meyer and draw attention to yourself. Lucky for you he can't hang 50 on your diseased blog post, huh Paul?

And I'm still waiting to read any proof, citation, third-hand rumor, or even speculative theory as to why Urban "is probably leaving Florida after the season to go to Notre Dame." And I'm still waiting to read a single solitary shred of evidence that he is any of the vile things you say he is Paul. I know you took classes in this stuff, Paul...I know you understand how the whole statement-source-proof thing works...or heck, just the basic premise-logic-conclusion thing. I guess you just choose to ignore it and lie. How do I know you're lying? Oh I think you know.

(Damn, this guy did one helluva job ripping that little bastage a new anal sphincter! He does hit the nail on the head, though, and pretty much leaves Finebaum with egg on his face.)

 

[O-town Gator]

James Brown at Gators First offers up his retort here: http://gatorsfirst.com/index.php/florida-gators-sports-news/gatorsfirst/urban-meyer-is-not-going-to-notre-dame.html

Joseph Goodman at the Miami Herald responds here: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gator_clause/2009/07/something-new-a-columnist-hating-on-meyer.html

 

[O-town Gator]

Swampie at Gator Country received an email from a friend with another nice retort; here's a link to his blog post: http://gatorcountry.com/pagetwo/swampie/2009/07/09/in-the-mail-swiss/