Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
Gang, it's been a LONG week and I've been jonesing for this day to come. Wish I could be heading to Hoggetowne for the O&B game tomorrow, but due to circumstances beyond my control I'm home-bound this year. Still I'm planning to follow the game online (wish ESPN was televising it); one of the most popular Gator sites is carrying live updates from what I've heard.
Glad to see Coach Meyer's enjoying himself and having fun coaching the Gators; based on a speech he made this week to the team reiterating the core values he set and warning his troops about the consequences of adverse behavior, he's taking nothing for granted anymore - after the numerous player arrests, albeit most of them for doing something really juvenile, and Carlos Dunlap's act of stupidity right before the SEC Championship game it was necessary on his part to remind these kids to start living right or get lost. That being said though, I'd like to see more of an attitude of "I am my brother's keeper" amongst the guys; the veterans need to play more of a mentoring role to the younger ones and need to look out for each other. Sure they're college students and are still growing up, but then again they're young adults who should conduct themselves with some semblance of responsibility. Still, it's nice to see Urban back in charge and taking the initiative to make positive changes for himself AND for his team.
I've been reading tidbits about our offense possibly going to a 2-quarterback system similar to what we used back in 2006; one advantage of this is that it adds not only an extra "wrinkle", it also adds an air of unpredictability. If Johnny Brantley and Trey Burton can be as effective as Chris Leak and Tim Tebow were if we do use this rotation in the fall, it's to our advantage. There's also been talk of some wildcat plays with Jordan Reed taking snaps, which would only add yet another dimension. That's another quality I really admire about Urban Meyer - when faced with a challenge, he uses his ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the competition and maintain the edge. THAT's one of the many reasons why he has enjoyed much of his success to-date.
Speaking of Burton, I remain very impressed with this kid. He's still making the transition from the pace of high-school football to that of the college game, but he's determined to make it and hasn't lost any of that enthusiasm he had since last year. Ben Volin wrote a very nice article about Burton in his "Gator Bytes" blog today at the Palm Beach Post website, and I've got to give that kid some props for helping to hold the Class of 2010 during all the uncertainty surrounding Coach Meyer around Christmastime last year. His upbeat attitude is infectious, and if anything I expect him to do his part in keeping morale at a high level in the locker room.
In light of what took place a couple of weeks ago when Coach confronted Jeremy Fowler from the Orlando Sentinel over his spinning Deonte Thompson's quotes from a post-practice interview his own way, I must take issue with something quoted in a recent article at the "Alligator"'s site; it was a quote from the Sentinel's topics manager, Tim Stephens, in response to the incident:
<em>"Sentinel Sports Topics Manager Tim Stephens said in a statement, “Jeremy Fowler’s story was accurate and presented in context. Urban Meyer’s outburst, directed at Jeremy, was unwarranted and will not deter our efforts to report on University of Florida sports.”
</em>In response to Mr. Stephens I say: <strong>That's a crock.</strong> Naturally, he'd be on the defensive to protect Fowler in spite of the stir he caused. Coach Meyer had every right to defend Thompson and prevent any further distraction, and wasn't out of bounds in confronting Fowler over what he reported. Had Fowler indeed been "accurate and in context" as Stephens alleges, the confrontation that took place never would have happened - but as much as the Sentinel denies it, his blog post had taken Thompson's words out of context. If the Sentinel learned any lesson from all this, it would have been to start doing their due diligence in verifying facts and statements, avoiding controversy, disruptiveness and sensationalism that they've been notorious for, and sticking to just reporting the news - nothing more, nothing less. I find it interesting that they've seemed to be on their best behavior lately - but how long this will last, who knows.
Now to face the true off-season once the O&B game ends - as much as I'll be anxiously awaiting the start of the 2010 season and more of a sense of civility in the SEC now that we're a Kiffin-free conference, I also hope to hear less and less of the following annoying cliches which were made popular on the various message boards last season:
"This will help___________ more than anyone will know".
"Will this be a trap game?"
"This was a moral victory."
If there was one thing that made me breathe a sigh of relief last season, it was when Brian Kelly was hired at Notre Dame to replace Charlie Weis which finally brought an end to all those cockamamie rumors about Coach Meyer that the media and rival fans kept incessantly throwing at us.
If anything, I want the rest of 2010 to be enjoyable, successful - and free of all the past nonsense.
AND to see the future of Gator football start coming to fruition with a new attitude, new faces and a refreshed, recharged Urban Meyer back in charge.
I only wish I could be in Gainesville tomorrow, spending a Saturday in The Swamp.......
Glad to see Coach Meyer's enjoying himself and having fun coaching the Gators; based on a speech he made this week to the team reiterating the core values he set and warning his troops about the consequences of adverse behavior, he's taking nothing for granted anymore - after the numerous player arrests, albeit most of them for doing something really juvenile, and Carlos Dunlap's act of stupidity right before the SEC Championship game it was necessary on his part to remind these kids to start living right or get lost. That being said though, I'd like to see more of an attitude of "I am my brother's keeper" amongst the guys; the veterans need to play more of a mentoring role to the younger ones and need to look out for each other. Sure they're college students and are still growing up, but then again they're young adults who should conduct themselves with some semblance of responsibility. Still, it's nice to see Urban back in charge and taking the initiative to make positive changes for himself AND for his team.
I've been reading tidbits about our offense possibly going to a 2-quarterback system similar to what we used back in 2006; one advantage of this is that it adds not only an extra "wrinkle", it also adds an air of unpredictability. If Johnny Brantley and Trey Burton can be as effective as Chris Leak and Tim Tebow were if we do use this rotation in the fall, it's to our advantage. There's also been talk of some wildcat plays with Jordan Reed taking snaps, which would only add yet another dimension. That's another quality I really admire about Urban Meyer - when faced with a challenge, he uses his ingenuity to stay one step ahead of the competition and maintain the edge. THAT's one of the many reasons why he has enjoyed much of his success to-date.
Speaking of Burton, I remain very impressed with this kid. He's still making the transition from the pace of high-school football to that of the college game, but he's determined to make it and hasn't lost any of that enthusiasm he had since last year. Ben Volin wrote a very nice article about Burton in his "Gator Bytes" blog today at the Palm Beach Post website, and I've got to give that kid some props for helping to hold the Class of 2010 during all the uncertainty surrounding Coach Meyer around Christmastime last year. His upbeat attitude is infectious, and if anything I expect him to do his part in keeping morale at a high level in the locker room.
In light of what took place a couple of weeks ago when Coach confronted Jeremy Fowler from the Orlando Sentinel over his spinning Deonte Thompson's quotes from a post-practice interview his own way, I must take issue with something quoted in a recent article at the "Alligator"'s site; it was a quote from the Sentinel's topics manager, Tim Stephens, in response to the incident:
<em>"Sentinel Sports Topics Manager Tim Stephens said in a statement, “Jeremy Fowler’s story was accurate and presented in context. Urban Meyer’s outburst, directed at Jeremy, was unwarranted and will not deter our efforts to report on University of Florida sports.”
</em>In response to Mr. Stephens I say: <strong>That's a crock.</strong> Naturally, he'd be on the defensive to protect Fowler in spite of the stir he caused. Coach Meyer had every right to defend Thompson and prevent any further distraction, and wasn't out of bounds in confronting Fowler over what he reported. Had Fowler indeed been "accurate and in context" as Stephens alleges, the confrontation that took place never would have happened - but as much as the Sentinel denies it, his blog post had taken Thompson's words out of context. If the Sentinel learned any lesson from all this, it would have been to start doing their due diligence in verifying facts and statements, avoiding controversy, disruptiveness and sensationalism that they've been notorious for, and sticking to just reporting the news - nothing more, nothing less. I find it interesting that they've seemed to be on their best behavior lately - but how long this will last, who knows.
Now to face the true off-season once the O&B game ends - as much as I'll be anxiously awaiting the start of the 2010 season and more of a sense of civility in the SEC now that we're a Kiffin-free conference, I also hope to hear less and less of the following annoying cliches which were made popular on the various message boards last season:
"This will help___________ more than anyone will know".
"Will this be a trap game?"
"This was a moral victory."
If there was one thing that made me breathe a sigh of relief last season, it was when Brian Kelly was hired at Notre Dame to replace Charlie Weis which finally brought an end to all those cockamamie rumors about Coach Meyer that the media and rival fans kept incessantly throwing at us.
If anything, I want the rest of 2010 to be enjoyable, successful - and free of all the past nonsense.
AND to see the future of Gator football start coming to fruition with a new attitude, new faces and a refreshed, recharged Urban Meyer back in charge.
I only wish I could be in Gainesville tomorrow, spending a Saturday in The Swamp.......
