It's July, bout to hit the "Weekend of the 4th"--Which for me and the folks I have known longest here in Austin means the annual "Self-Debasement Party" for "Veterans of ANY Conflagration" out in Cedar Creek.
Which means too much of EVERYTHING: Barbeque, beer'n'shots, loud mouths, aging strippers, aging scenesters, and sloppy rock'n'roll "amplified-past-ELEVEN" (well, maybe not that last--goes with the rest, hard to define "too much", and anyway some would argue "no such THING!"...).
Once we make it past that it'll be high time we turn our attention to the season by then honest-to-goodness CLOSE AT HAND. Especially this year, with our opener against Miami (just like back in the old days when I ENTERED UF as a Frosh!): And this year it is even ONE WEEK EARLIER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE--Kicking off the whole NCAA season all by itself on Aug 24!
I honestly don't know what that game holds for us. In fact, how ready we are and how we perform, how this talented and seemingly "on-the-come" Gator program shows less than 8 weeks from now will tell us an AWFUL LOT about what we can expect from them in the course of this momentous "turning point" of a season.
Most of the "summer publications" have seemed to favor us, but the latest (and one of the most respected), from Phil Steele, while he has good things to say and has us ranked at #10 in his preseason poll, he also has Miami at #15 (higher than anyone else I've noticed--significantly so)--and I get the impression overall that he is hinting at a potential upset by them come the day.
Well, who HASN'T at least secretly fretted about that possibility from the moment they heard about that matchup, its who/when/how???
We'll just have to sweat these last few weeks out, ultimately "wait and SEE"!
All things considered (not SEC, first game of year, etc etc), it won't absolutely kill our season if we were to lose it...Plenty of time, games and opportunities to undo the damage, depending on the circumstances...But could well tell us (and everyone else) about where we're REALLY at, where we're headed and when we're gonna get "there".
Me, I just REALLY WANNA BEAT THOSE GUYS. As always, and MORE THAN EVER. It's that simple. It is time to begin to "show up", game in/game out. No matter who the opponent, the circumstances, the weather or ANYTHING ELSE.
I just don't know how else to say it.
Which means too much of EVERYTHING: Barbeque, beer'n'shots, loud mouths, aging strippers, aging scenesters, and sloppy rock'n'roll "amplified-past-ELEVEN" (well, maybe not that last--goes with the rest, hard to define "too much", and anyway some would argue "no such THING!"...).
Once we make it past that it'll be high time we turn our attention to the season by then honest-to-goodness CLOSE AT HAND. Especially this year, with our opener against Miami (just like back in the old days when I ENTERED UF as a Frosh!): And this year it is even ONE WEEK EARLIER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE--Kicking off the whole NCAA season all by itself on Aug 24!
I honestly don't know what that game holds for us. In fact, how ready we are and how we perform, how this talented and seemingly "on-the-come" Gator program shows less than 8 weeks from now will tell us an AWFUL LOT about what we can expect from them in the course of this momentous "turning point" of a season.
Most of the "summer publications" have seemed to favor us, but the latest (and one of the most respected), from Phil Steele, while he has good things to say and has us ranked at #10 in his preseason poll, he also has Miami at #15 (higher than anyone else I've noticed--significantly so)--and I get the impression overall that he is hinting at a potential upset by them come the day.
Well, who HASN'T at least secretly fretted about that possibility from the moment they heard about that matchup, its who/when/how???
We'll just have to sweat these last few weeks out, ultimately "wait and SEE"!
All things considered (not SEC, first game of year, etc etc), it won't absolutely kill our season if we were to lose it...Plenty of time, games and opportunities to undo the damage, depending on the circumstances...But could well tell us (and everyone else) about where we're REALLY at, where we're headed and when we're gonna get "there".
Me, I just REALLY WANNA BEAT THOSE GUYS. As always, and MORE THAN EVER. It's that simple. It is time to begin to "show up", game in/game out. No matter who the opponent, the circumstances, the weather or ANYTHING ELSE.
I just don't know how else to say it.
