I am getting tired, sick and ANGRY at the popular-among-pundit seeming open season on tearing down the Gators and their current place in the polls' upper reaches--especially at #11 in the Playoff Eligibility Poll.
On Serius' College Sports coverage of the committee's opening version yesterday, the lead moderator (a chronic leader of the "SEC is overrated, SEC East SUCKS" section--and long time Gator Hater Extraordinaire, who's spittle often spattered the mike in tantrum regarding anything to do with Tim Tebow from the moment he moved up to the pros--actually laughed in derogatory disgust at Florida's placement, and has since taken repeated shots and every opportunity to raise this to "See? They got it WRONG!" status.
Now, I admit it: Check my postgame comments Saturday night and you'll see that I myself laughed upon realizing that our team, glaringly including our thus far stumbling-offense, was probably about to break into the Top Ten of the AP poll--I laughed and asked somewhat rhetorically, "Do any of YOU think we're a "Top 10" team right now?".
But given where we started the day and all who lost above us in those rankings, it sure looked a given that it was going to happen.
But it's one thing for US to see and criticize our failings in minute detail and frustration; it's quite another for these puffed up fools, bloated in their ignorance and self-importance, steeped in shallow impressions and unchallenged pre-conceptions, who've at MOST witnessed a handful of plays they barely looked up at as other media guys, similarly preoccupied, droned on in background summation of what has now congealed into the "common wisdom" they all similarly mouth.
The "joke" he shared, as he continued chuckling at its supposed obvious ridiculousness, was apparently that this was all because those undeserving Gators supposedly "controlled their own destiny".
The FACT is, we are IN that ranking position because it's the TRUTH: The Gators, if they were to win out, as a result of what their strength-of-schedule will be AND that they would be a one loss Champion of the SEC, would then CLEARLY BE IN THE FINAL FOUR, AND DESERVING OF IT!
Now, I am no more optimistic that this is exactly what will happen than any of y'all--but the simple fact remains that it is inarguably a possible sequence of events and results--meaning that at this point in the flow of cause-and-effect, the committee recognizes that the "direct path" has to be there, regardless of what anyone else does from here on in. If they win this Saturday, they move up at least a little on their own, poised to continue; if they don't, if they lose on the road at Arkansas, instead their potential long slide begins.
The games and results will take care of the rest--ideally, "That's how it's SUPPOSED to be." And those of us who watch them every week, who love our school, team and program, WE of ALL people know how much has to change on the O-side, starting way before gameday and from the top DOWN, off the field first, then in practice as they install the gameplan, and so on, days before we get to kickoff, etc. And then adapt, bring it all together and make it work ON field on gameday.
WE don't love our chances of winning more than HALF the remaining games scheduled ahead, let alone all of them, with this offense.
But we have one HELL of a D: In case these mofos haven't caught wind of it yet, it's one of the best in college football, no exaggeration: They are FAR from laughable. "Defense wins Championships" these very same "experts" always like to say, which seems to me oughta at least preclude laughing us off derisively and dismissing any validity to our ranking. At least let 'em play the next game--by your reckoning "that'll be that", so maybe SHUT UP TIL THEN???
If I were our OC, I'd play the damn sequence I heard--Hell, maybe Mac should play it for the whole team, let 'em ALL hear radio guys LAUGHING at the very IDEA that the Florida Gators would be among the "final four" if they won out, as he went on to explain after laughing at their ranking, "...I mean, look, Florida Gators are a BAD TEAM...THEY shouldn't really even BE here on this list..." and so on.
We can and DO get frustrated, hold our coaches and players to a high standard of talent, planning and performance. We're gonna be brutally honest with ourselves, each other and anyone associated with the team and program when they aren't measuring up. Not surprising then that Gators everywhere are vocal concerning the offense. But that doesn't mean anyone outside our "Nation" gets to take endless shots at us. You wanna criticise, you better stick to the straight FACTS, then move on. "Good defense, struggling on offense last few years, not as much progress as you'd hope for or expect from such a strong tradition and player-rich recruiting grounds so far" and so on--then move on, and if you can't bring yourself to familiarize with and/or at least acknowledge how really great the DEFENSE has remained, even grown and improved upon this season, well, at least shut up and move on.
Y'all know what they say: "If you ain't Gators, you's Gator-BAIT". And ALL us Gators, thousands and thousands of us, we're EVERYWHERE, we're gonna hear about it, and come lookn for ya.
Or worse still, stop listening to ANY of ya.
On Serius' College Sports coverage of the committee's opening version yesterday, the lead moderator (a chronic leader of the "SEC is overrated, SEC East SUCKS" section--and long time Gator Hater Extraordinaire, who's spittle often spattered the mike in tantrum regarding anything to do with Tim Tebow from the moment he moved up to the pros--actually laughed in derogatory disgust at Florida's placement, and has since taken repeated shots and every opportunity to raise this to "See? They got it WRONG!" status.
Now, I admit it: Check my postgame comments Saturday night and you'll see that I myself laughed upon realizing that our team, glaringly including our thus far stumbling-offense, was probably about to break into the Top Ten of the AP poll--I laughed and asked somewhat rhetorically, "Do any of YOU think we're a "Top 10" team right now?".
But given where we started the day and all who lost above us in those rankings, it sure looked a given that it was going to happen.
But it's one thing for US to see and criticize our failings in minute detail and frustration; it's quite another for these puffed up fools, bloated in their ignorance and self-importance, steeped in shallow impressions and unchallenged pre-conceptions, who've at MOST witnessed a handful of plays they barely looked up at as other media guys, similarly preoccupied, droned on in background summation of what has now congealed into the "common wisdom" they all similarly mouth.
The "joke" he shared, as he continued chuckling at its supposed obvious ridiculousness, was apparently that this was all because those undeserving Gators supposedly "controlled their own destiny".
The FACT is, we are IN that ranking position because it's the TRUTH: The Gators, if they were to win out, as a result of what their strength-of-schedule will be AND that they would be a one loss Champion of the SEC, would then CLEARLY BE IN THE FINAL FOUR, AND DESERVING OF IT!
Now, I am no more optimistic that this is exactly what will happen than any of y'all--but the simple fact remains that it is inarguably a possible sequence of events and results--meaning that at this point in the flow of cause-and-effect, the committee recognizes that the "direct path" has to be there, regardless of what anyone else does from here on in. If they win this Saturday, they move up at least a little on their own, poised to continue; if they don't, if they lose on the road at Arkansas, instead their potential long slide begins.
The games and results will take care of the rest--ideally, "That's how it's SUPPOSED to be." And those of us who watch them every week, who love our school, team and program, WE of ALL people know how much has to change on the O-side, starting way before gameday and from the top DOWN, off the field first, then in practice as they install the gameplan, and so on, days before we get to kickoff, etc. And then adapt, bring it all together and make it work ON field on gameday.
WE don't love our chances of winning more than HALF the remaining games scheduled ahead, let alone all of them, with this offense.
But we have one HELL of a D: In case these mofos haven't caught wind of it yet, it's one of the best in college football, no exaggeration: They are FAR from laughable. "Defense wins Championships" these very same "experts" always like to say, which seems to me oughta at least preclude laughing us off derisively and dismissing any validity to our ranking. At least let 'em play the next game--by your reckoning "that'll be that", so maybe SHUT UP TIL THEN???
If I were our OC, I'd play the damn sequence I heard--Hell, maybe Mac should play it for the whole team, let 'em ALL hear radio guys LAUGHING at the very IDEA that the Florida Gators would be among the "final four" if they won out, as he went on to explain after laughing at their ranking, "...I mean, look, Florida Gators are a BAD TEAM...THEY shouldn't really even BE here on this list..." and so on.
We can and DO get frustrated, hold our coaches and players to a high standard of talent, planning and performance. We're gonna be brutally honest with ourselves, each other and anyone associated with the team and program when they aren't measuring up. Not surprising then that Gators everywhere are vocal concerning the offense. But that doesn't mean anyone outside our "Nation" gets to take endless shots at us. You wanna criticise, you better stick to the straight FACTS, then move on. "Good defense, struggling on offense last few years, not as much progress as you'd hope for or expect from such a strong tradition and player-rich recruiting grounds so far" and so on--then move on, and if you can't bring yourself to familiarize with and/or at least acknowledge how really great the DEFENSE has remained, even grown and improved upon this season, well, at least shut up and move on.
Y'all know what they say: "If you ain't Gators, you's Gator-BAIT". And ALL us Gators, thousands and thousands of us, we're EVERYWHERE, we're gonna hear about it, and come lookn for ya.
Or worse still, stop listening to ANY of ya.
