O-town Gator
Gator Fan
Some random thoughts to put into bandwidth:
If any of us were suffering from "football withdrawal" prior to this last weekend, we got a little reprieve from it, in a way.
The Florida schools didn't represent strongly in the draft this year, but as far as UF is concerned, keep in mind that once again we weren't top-heavy with seniors in 2008 which stems back from our not having brought in a full recruiting class in 2005 due, in part, to the coaching transition. Nevertheless, Percy Harvin did come off the boards in the first round so all was not lost. Seeing that the school out west only had one of their guys drafted in Round 2 and the same for the one down in Little Havana, albeit not until Round 6, we have a little something to crow about in having three of our guys picked up by NFL teams..
Now to the Gator Gathering in Orlando - wouldn't you know, after Coach Meyer spoke, the critics come out in full force and assailled him for openly speaking his mind. Seems the poor guy can't catch a break no matter what. OK, Shane Matthews is entitled to his opinion, but IMO when he said what he did back in 2008 after the Ole Miss loss he came across to me as a little too snarky. Even so, for those who are attacking Meyer for his remark about not wanting overly critical folks around the inner sanctum of Florida football - I suggest they read "Urban's Way" and read what Buddy Martin said. Disagreeing with him is fine; any good manager doesn't want to be surrounded by "yes people" - but openly criticizing and/or attacking the program won't be tolerated. I'll bet if Steve Spurrier said this, there wouldn't have been any backlash - seems to me we have a double standard amongst the fanbase: SOS "apparently" can do no wrong in the eyes of those who practically worship him, but anything Meyer says or does that is merely his being forthright and honest is construed to be a gaffe, will be something that somebody manages to find fault with or even, as I've read somebody say, a sign of insecurity (which is absurd). Hey, if I was in Coach Meyer's shoes right now with all this nonsense in the media floating around, I'd be pretty ornery as well.
Look, SOS has his own style and Meyer has his. Some fans, as well as others who are a part of Gator football or follow UF can't seem to fathom that and/or refuse to accept that fact. The bottom line is that we're back to being a successful football program, and what really matters is that we win games on the football field. As far as his being "insecure" - if he was, there's no way we'd have two National Championships under our belts since he's been in charge. Meyer has worked diligently to restore Florida football back to the level it was back in the 1990's, and has gone above and beyond that - and really, I don't blame him for not wanting people around who may possibly drag morale down or try and upset the program in any way, shape or form. Meyer has been entrusted with a lot of responsibility in his position, and naturally he wants to make sure nothing will put his job or the football program as a whole in jeopardy.
OK, enough of my rant. Pat Dooley made mention of six of our former Gator roundballers (Haslem, Roberson, Noah, Speights, Horford and Bonner) in the NBA playoffs right now; can one of them be on a championship team like our own Max Starks with the Super Bowl-champion Steelers? Our UF women's softball is still on a HUGE roll, and let's see if they can followup last year's Women's College World Series berth with another trip this summer. Keep up the good work, ladies!
Hard to believe May 1st is right around the corner - this year has gone by so fast. Football two-a-days will be here before we know it.
Anyway, enough said for one day - GO GATORS!!!!!! :gator:
(Tuesday P.S.: I was lurking on the Gator Bait "free" board and saw this great comment about Meyer's remark on Saturday that raised so many eyebrows after he spoke:
"Meyer is the CEO of a HUGE operation. Having run a business or two, here are my thoughts about insiders ...you have the right to voice your displeasure. In fact, you have the right to LOUDLY voice your displeasure about how the company can improve. I will give you enough rope to have your views heard and try to incorporate them. After the decision has been made, though, and we have decided a course of action. You had better help pull the wagon or you are going to be eating *(&^&.
Those that continually oppose the direction in which the company is going will shortly be on the outside looking in. Those on the outside can do whatever they damn well please....bitch, piss, moan...whatever you want. Just know that I will not allow your corrosive attitude to affect those that are trying to behave like a team. Shane is on the outside right now. He earned that privilege. I don't know why Meyer has an obligation to allow someone in the inner circle that has continually bad mouthed the staff and their philosophies. It is counter productive. Shane wants to be a journalist and pass around negative energy? Fine. He is a journalist and gets in line to get fed whatever Meyer wants to serve when he wants to serve it. That's a path he chose. I would not behave any differently if I were in Meyer's shoes."
I couldn't have said that better myself, and agree 100% with it.)
If any of us were suffering from "football withdrawal" prior to this last weekend, we got a little reprieve from it, in a way.
The Florida schools didn't represent strongly in the draft this year, but as far as UF is concerned, keep in mind that once again we weren't top-heavy with seniors in 2008 which stems back from our not having brought in a full recruiting class in 2005 due, in part, to the coaching transition. Nevertheless, Percy Harvin did come off the boards in the first round so all was not lost. Seeing that the school out west only had one of their guys drafted in Round 2 and the same for the one down in Little Havana, albeit not until Round 6, we have a little something to crow about in having three of our guys picked up by NFL teams..
Now to the Gator Gathering in Orlando - wouldn't you know, after Coach Meyer spoke, the critics come out in full force and assailled him for openly speaking his mind. Seems the poor guy can't catch a break no matter what. OK, Shane Matthews is entitled to his opinion, but IMO when he said what he did back in 2008 after the Ole Miss loss he came across to me as a little too snarky. Even so, for those who are attacking Meyer for his remark about not wanting overly critical folks around the inner sanctum of Florida football - I suggest they read "Urban's Way" and read what Buddy Martin said. Disagreeing with him is fine; any good manager doesn't want to be surrounded by "yes people" - but openly criticizing and/or attacking the program won't be tolerated. I'll bet if Steve Spurrier said this, there wouldn't have been any backlash - seems to me we have a double standard amongst the fanbase: SOS "apparently" can do no wrong in the eyes of those who practically worship him, but anything Meyer says or does that is merely his being forthright and honest is construed to be a gaffe, will be something that somebody manages to find fault with or even, as I've read somebody say, a sign of insecurity (which is absurd). Hey, if I was in Coach Meyer's shoes right now with all this nonsense in the media floating around, I'd be pretty ornery as well.
Look, SOS has his own style and Meyer has his. Some fans, as well as others who are a part of Gator football or follow UF can't seem to fathom that and/or refuse to accept that fact. The bottom line is that we're back to being a successful football program, and what really matters is that we win games on the football field. As far as his being "insecure" - if he was, there's no way we'd have two National Championships under our belts since he's been in charge. Meyer has worked diligently to restore Florida football back to the level it was back in the 1990's, and has gone above and beyond that - and really, I don't blame him for not wanting people around who may possibly drag morale down or try and upset the program in any way, shape or form. Meyer has been entrusted with a lot of responsibility in his position, and naturally he wants to make sure nothing will put his job or the football program as a whole in jeopardy.
OK, enough of my rant. Pat Dooley made mention of six of our former Gator roundballers (Haslem, Roberson, Noah, Speights, Horford and Bonner) in the NBA playoffs right now; can one of them be on a championship team like our own Max Starks with the Super Bowl-champion Steelers? Our UF women's softball is still on a HUGE roll, and let's see if they can followup last year's Women's College World Series berth with another trip this summer. Keep up the good work, ladies!
Hard to believe May 1st is right around the corner - this year has gone by so fast. Football two-a-days will be here before we know it.
Anyway, enough said for one day - GO GATORS!!!!!! :gator:
(Tuesday P.S.: I was lurking on the Gator Bait "free" board and saw this great comment about Meyer's remark on Saturday that raised so many eyebrows after he spoke:
"Meyer is the CEO of a HUGE operation. Having run a business or two, here are my thoughts about insiders ...you have the right to voice your displeasure. In fact, you have the right to LOUDLY voice your displeasure about how the company can improve. I will give you enough rope to have your views heard and try to incorporate them. After the decision has been made, though, and we have decided a course of action. You had better help pull the wagon or you are going to be eating *(&^&.
Those that continually oppose the direction in which the company is going will shortly be on the outside looking in. Those on the outside can do whatever they damn well please....bitch, piss, moan...whatever you want. Just know that I will not allow your corrosive attitude to affect those that are trying to behave like a team. Shane is on the outside right now. He earned that privilege. I don't know why Meyer has an obligation to allow someone in the inner circle that has continually bad mouthed the staff and their philosophies. It is counter productive. Shane wants to be a journalist and pass around negative energy? Fine. He is a journalist and gets in line to get fed whatever Meyer wants to serve when he wants to serve it. That's a path he chose. I would not behave any differently if I were in Meyer's shoes."
I couldn't have said that better myself, and agree 100% with it.)
