I'm still in quite a bit of pain today and am leaving to go see the Doctor here in a few minutes so I'm not going to get to a whole bunch much today.
The Master's has been discussed ad nauseum already but I want to throw my two cents in as well. Chris DiMarco showed alot of guts coming back from an awful morning on Sunday that would've really doomed many more talented players. He is as tough mentally as any golfer I've seen in quite a while. If he hits his chip on 18, nobody even remembers Tiger's chip on 16 which was probably the most amazing shot I can remember seeing at Augusta since Larry Mize's miracle chipa gainst Greg Norman. With that said, it is inexcuseable to have left the second shot of the playoff short (in almost the exact same spot). Make some adjustments will you. Di Marco definitely has to be considered in the "best player to never win a major" conversation after his Ryder Cup performance as well as his last two major finishes. I know that I'll be rooting for him to win one from here on out because, well...he's a Gator.
As for the Orange and Blue game on Saturday, not only was it attended by a record crowd (and approximately 13,000 more people than the Utah-BYU game of last year) but, more importantly it was attended by a huge number of former Gators who have been conspicuous by their absence in recent years. In one of his best (and somewhat under publiczed moves), Urban Meyer sents letters and called as many former Gators as possible (ranging from Cris Collinsworth to Alex Brown and everybody in between) encouraging them to come back to Gainesville and be a part of this renaissance of Gator Football. Meyer is restoring a swagger to the program that has been absent in recent years and he's reaching out to Gators of the past in an effort to connect the program's rich history with its exciting present and future. Alot of coaches aren't nearly confident enough in themselves to do something like this which clearly isn't the case with Meyer. There hasn't been a time like this for Gator fans since early 1990 and for me (who was 12) in '90, there has never been a time like this.
As for the game itself, it was a high scoring affair but that is in part due to Meyer putting restrictions on the defenses. His reasoning behind this was that the fans don't want to see a 3-0 Spring game and he's right. He is doing everything in his power to bring excitement back to Gator Football and thus far he has been an unabashed success.
I have yet to see the game (Tivo'd for tonight) but I have read the reports and here are a few names to remember:
Josh Portis, QB: Only 17, he enrolled early after switching his commitment from Utah. The California passer is 6'4" and runs a 4.4/4.5 with an absolute gun for an arm. He took almost all of the second team QB snaps this spring with Gavin Dickey playing baseball and Cornelius Ingram sitting the bench for Billy D. He broke a 20-30 yard run in nearly every spring practice. As the Orange team starter on saturday, he went 20-30 for 251 and one pick. If he isn't starting for Florida in two years, I'll eat my shoe.
Derrick Harvey, DE: The #1 or #2 DE recriut in the nation last year. He redshirted this past year in an effort to put on some weight. Was an absoulte pass rushing terror in the spring and followed that up with two sacks in the O&B game. Will start the year as a situational pass rusher but should be in the starting lineup by mid-season.
Reggie Lewis, CB: Converted WR who caught 13 passes in last years O&B game only to get lost in the WR shuffle last season. The brother of former FSU WR Ronald Lewis switched to CB this spring and impressed everybody with his size/speed combo. He is still learning the position but I expect him to take over the spot opposite Dee Webb from Vernell Brown by the opener versus Wyoming.
As always, there were plenty of guys who stepped up and made a case for playing time but those three were some of the more interesting storylines, from my perspective. Do I really ahve to wait until August for more football? God I hate the summer.
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6 comments:
Gators football is gonna be awesome this year. I'm pumped. I'm also glad that I became a Gator fan during the lean Zook years. I feel like I've earned my stripes with some brutal losses.
Zook was a great recruiter and a good guy, but he was a terrible coach. You just can't lose games the way they did. Urban is an awesome coach. The Gators are loaded with talent and he's going to have them playing as a cohesive unit. I think his discipline and attitude will be the biggest change, but his offensive scheme is also tremendous and will be a huge lift.
What a great hire. The Swamp is gonna be nuts this year. I really want to go to a game.
Yeah, this year is going to be so different from the previous three in both the general excitement around Gator football and the overall attitude of the program. I agree that it is more the swagger AND discipline that he is bringing to the program that will make the biggest difference, though the offense should be unbelievable to watch with all of the skill position talent that is already in place.
Zook certainly did a great job of restocking the cupboard with blue chip talent while he was at Florida, but he was extremely overmatched when it came to game day decision making.
Urban, on the other hand, is already a good game day coach who is walking into a team loaded with young talent. That is a sure fire formula for success. I can't wait for the opener vs. Wyoming, much less the Tennessee game a couple of weeks later.
I would say anybody who cut their teeth as a Gator fan during the Zook era is as much a Gator fan as anybody. Just think of some of the losses you've had to deal with over the past few years.
-'02 Ole Miss
-'03 Miami
-'03 FSU
-'04 Tenn
-'04 MSU
-'04 LSU
Ugh.
They were all bad - the 2 that hit me the hardest were '03 Miami and '04 Tennessee. I attended games when both those teams won at The Swamp, so I have a special brand of hate reserved for them.
The '03 Miami game was a carbon copy of the Giants '02 playoff collape at SF, which is one of the worst things that's ever happened to me. So it had that going for it.
The UT game was just a burtal kick in the pants unfair loss. The call on Baker was bad enough, but there is no dispute that the clock should have started running after that play. That would've sealed the game. The '03 UT game was also pretty flukey - the Banks Hail Mary at the end of the 1st half.
The Giants have had a similar stretch of quirky losses over the same time period so it's really been rough. The SF playoff, the Tenessee 15 pt 4th quarter comeback, the squib kick out of bounds vs. Dallas, the last minute punt Westbrook punt return TD.
I didn't even think about all of the awful Giant losses until you mentioned them. Just a brutal stretch for you as a football fan. I've been on NFL cruise control, so to speak, ever since the Bucs won the Super Bowl. Tough for me to get to worked up after all those awful years and then finally winning a Super Bowl. Though this is the last year that I'll display any form of patience with Gruden and Co.
You're also right about the Halftime Hail Mary Game. I remember the air just being sucked out of The Swamp when Banks came down with that pass. You knew it was over.
I don't have a deep seeded hatred for Miami (more for their fans)like I do for Tenn and FSU so I'd have to say the two worst losses for me were '03 FSU and the '04 Tenn. Two losses where Florida played a superior game and still lost due to some of the most horrible officiating that i've ever witnessed. I was inconsolable after both losses and didn't even really feel like drinking away my sorrows. Not to worry...I fought through that feeling.
Yeah, the FSU game was as tough as any of them. I'm not one to blame games on the refs, but the Gators got screwed in that one for sure.
I was just confused after the LSU game. I have no idea how they lost that game. The MSU game was really a blessing because it was the nail in Zook's coffin.
You nailed the LSU game. I went to that game with a couple of friends and the game seemed completely in control and the next thing you know, LSU is driving down for what would be the winning touchdown. Even as they were driving you knew how it was going to end, like a cheesy movie with a predictable finale.
Even after the game, Gainesville had a weird vibe to it. Almost like the loss hadn't really sunk in or something. The bars were still packed and people weren't drinking in a "drown your sorrows" kind of way, just odd to witness.
Of course, I theorized that the continual mediocrity of the Zook era had effectively numbed the Gator Nation and that, as a result, nobody took losses that hard anymore because they knew their were plently more where that came from. That is the exact point where I officially became a Ron Zook hater. I felt like we (University of Florida) were slowly becoming a modern day version of Alabama.
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