As I said, I wanted to love the flick and I did love the cinematography but . . . my goodness, the script!
Cut-and-paste child's play!
Is it impossible in the imagination of Hollywood for there to be good and bad corporations? Good and bad military operations? For business to be fairly representative of people, good and bad? That they be allowed to have some range? I mean, this is really getting absurd. Truly absurd.
I also have a quibble that may be strictly related to my status as an Army man but . . . Marine units? Identified as such and operating as such? In space? Mimicking airborne soldiers and engaging in air assault activities? I mean, damn! That's flat-out bizarre. At least it is to me.
And speaking of a lack of range, will there ever be a stereotypical "yankee" or west coast dude who turns out to be the bad Soldier/Marine in one of these blockbuster flicks? Have I missed it? I'm not a movie guy, and I often flush the memories of movies I do like and enjoy them on second viewing because I've forgotten so much of the flick but . . . is there a law that says the bad Soldier can't be a Californian? New Yorker? New Englander?
Did I mention that I loved the cinematography? Yes, I also loved the way I was able to buy into Zoe's character.
However, I didn't love the music. It seemed awkward and out of place. A friend said, and I agree, they would have been much better off making the musical score truly exotic since they worked so hard to make the people of Pandora so damn exotic. And speak of the devil -- Pandora? Give me a break! What a name choice (certainly not selected by the natives!) -- so, we're consciously harkening back to Greek mythology, huh? Flush monotheism, is that it? Unless, of course, the deity is Mother Earth. Pseudo-science as religion married up with Environmentalism as religion combining to form the overarching social contract, all of which is flavored with some maudlin "white bad, colored good" nonsense. That sums up this move.
Not good.
Obviously, the patronizing portrayal of the natives didn't work for me, either.
Oh look, what's this? Strong, intuitive, smart colored chick enchanted with the singular, sympathetic, disabled white boy flush with vigor in his new colored body.
Okay, somebody is about to try and make my head explode -- right?
Yes.
And my head did explode, as it has on many occasions when force-fed color-coded instructions on how I should be feeling or thinking in response to the magic of the movies. Especially when it invariably has the the lead colored males in subservient or supporting roles.
I could go on but I won't; if you've read this far you clearly get the message. Visually, it's a great flick. It strikes me as not very difficult to have modified this script and greatly improved the end-product. The secret would have been to make it less feminine, to make the commanding officer of Earth's forces more Petraeus-like, to utilize the clans on Pandora earlier in the script by allowing the would-be leader of the Na'vi to seek their assistance for forming an alliance to fight the Sky People, and allowing the story to then be all about the genuine intersection of counter-insurgency efforts, diplomatic initiatives, ambition and good old-fashioned love. On both sides of the conflict.
That, utilizing some skilled screenwriters who don't have issues with male authority, would have made for a fantastic flick no matter how you wanted to end it and the flick would have been defensible.
I have consistently tried to remind friends who still can't believe I'm a Republican, and who especially can't understand why I'm not in love with Barack Obama as President, is that I don't like perpetrators who are cherry-picked proxies.
And that's precisely who Barack Obama is.
What if, I've consistently asked, what if he winds up being (as is increasingly likely) an awful President incapable of winning re-election? What effect will that have on African Americans? Or the way the rest of America views us? Hmmm?
Beyond the micro-focus on things black, however, the Democrats haven't simply utilized Obama as a cherry-picked proxy. It has become their modus operandi across the board. They effectively used it to win a controlling majority in both chambers of Congress. But that kind of deviousness cannot last. Consider this post from LifeoftheMind:
To some extent this resembles the opportunity the Republicans had in
1980. The Democrats scored significant gains recently by running
candidates who looked more conservative on some issues then the
Republicans did. The track record of the administration and their votes
in office give the Republicans an opportunity to reclaim those seats,
or flip some of the Blue Dogs into crossing the aisle.
This
is the true tragedy of this Administration. A narrow ideologue,
fronting for a group of foreign and white economic and political
special interests, seized upon the credulity and loyalty of a segment
of America. The gulf has never been wider and it will take decades to
heal. The only hope is that a massive reaction builds within the black
community in which Obama is seen as a product of white and foreign
ideologies that have nothing to do with the experience of their people
in America. It would help if the the first target of such a campaign
would be [Eric] Holder, who sold out his community and his hometown of
New York to advance these foreign extremists.
I couldn't agree more with the basic thrust. Although I don't know that it will take decades to heal this black-white divergence and I'm also not sure that the Democrats and the Obama administration are in full meltdown mode. But they are skeered, and the genuine, conscious hubris -- thank goodness -- is long gone. All that remains is the unconscious variety.
Unfortunately, that "massive reaction" in the black community is not likely to occur. Obama is going to be seen as a victim in ways they would never grant to George W. Bush. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so. The imagery and language of the plantation South is used against Black Republicans but, in truth, the more accurate flow goes in the other direction.
If you're interested in something of a primer on the subject via their use (the global warming hoaxsters, that is) of statistical models, etc., you would be well advised to check out this post from Iowahawk.
Given the enormous economic stakes involved, you might think the
media would have some spent a little time explaining the models
underlying the hockey stick. Ha! Silly you. Whether it was a matter of
ideological sympathy or J-school stunted math skills, press coverage
has generally stuck to the story that there's an overwhelming
scientific consensus supporting AGW. As proven by brainiac scientists
with massive supercomputers running programs much too complex for your
puny simian mind.
Au contraire! The climate reconstruction models used by
Mann, et al. are relatively simple to derive, don't take a lot of data
points, and don't require any special or expensive software. In fact,
anybody with a decent PC can build a replica at home for free. Here's
how:
Stuff you'll need
1. A computer. Which I assume you already have, because you're reading this.
2. The illustrative spreadsheet, available as an Open Office Calc document here, or as a Microsoft Excel file here. Total size is about 1mb.
3. A spreadsheet program. I highly encourage you to use Sun's Open Office suite and its included Calc spreadsheet -- it's free, very user friendly and similar to Excel, and it's what I used to create the enclosed analysis. You can download and install Open Office here. You can do all of the examples in Excel too, but you'll also need to download an additional add-on (see 4 below)
4. A spreadsheet add-in or macro for principal components analysis.
Open Office Calc has a nice one called OOo Statistics which can be
download and installed from here.
This is the macro I used for the enclosed analysis. If you're using
Excel, you'll have to find a similar Excel add-in or macro for
principal components analysis. There are several commercial and free
versions available.
Okay, ready? Now let's start reconstructing. Open the illustrative spreadsheet and follow the bouncing ball.
Mind you, I haven't gone through it (he suggests you set aside 30-to-60 minutes at a minimum) -- I hope to do so sometime this week -- but I do trust that it will be quite illuminating.
My girl, looking good and clearly comfortable in her own skin, is still telling all the haters to kiss her where the sun don't shine -- and she clearly had some fun on the Tonight Show with William Shatner:
Gator fans are being inundated with crazy speculators looking for an explanation concerning our loss to Bama in the SEC Championship Game.
This is clearly absurd. All of it; absurd speculation. Itty bitty
pieces pulled into a bogus whole and people who should know better are
now running around in circles like a dog chasing its tail.
Bama was ranked number one last year and lost the game to us. They then
followed that up with a stank performance in the Sugar Bowl amid
speculation that Urban unfairly helped their opponent, Urban's old
team. The Gators? We followed up the magnificent destruction of Bama
last year with an even more magnificent destruction of the greatest
college offense ever. In our home state. In one of our rival's home
stadium. With Superman at the helm and the offense and defense firing
on all cylinders.
We had a storybook finish; they had a nightmare. Appreciate the difference.
It wasn't just Bama's loss to us, it was the poor performance in the bowl game.
There's simply no greater motivator than that for a proud team that has
some respect for itself. You really don't need to analyze our loss
beyond that. You can, of course, but . . . why have the Steelers
suddenly lost so many games in a row? Why didn't the perfect New
England Patriots close the deal a few years ago?
For a championship team, and we definitely have a championship team, sometimes you lose a game and it isn't anyone's fault. This was one of those games.
Quit looking for all of these excuses and unfairly trashing Gator
coaches or players when you -- all of you -- don't know what the heck
you're talking about.
I don't think Bama is a nightmare matchup for us. I do think Urban has a mano-a-mano mentality (which I love, by the way!)
and sometimes it gets the better of him when we run up against a strong
D-line. The mano-a-mano thing hurt us in the SECCG this year,
especially, because he had a bunch of players he trusted. In hindsight,
we needed a gameplan offensively that not only conceded certain
strengths to the Bama front seven but, in the concession, brought in
some wild cards and challenged our players to properly execute those
wild card plays.
That's why we didn't run more, just in case some folks are still
wondering about that. We needed to do a better counter-programming job
through implementing some wild card plays (just as Bama did on Offense,
by springing many things they hadn't shown before). IMHO, that's where
our preparation went wrong on offense. But with Mullen gone (and he was
a good counter-part to Urban's defense-first mentality) and Addazio
transitioning in (probably quite similar to Urban's conservative
mentality), and Gonzalez apparently quite disappointed -- hell, maybe
we did all we could do on offense.
I'm not sure we could have prepared better on defense; Bama just had a
magnificent offensive plan and, incredibly, executed it extremely well.
They likely won't play that well again under Nick Saban. Their
performance was just that good.
We wanted another storybook ending; we're not going to get it. But what
we did get is damn sure good enough. Respect the game, respect the
opposition. We didn't lose that game, Bama won it.
Nick outcoached Urban, McElroy outplayed Tebow, and McClain outplayed
Spikes -- what were the odds of all of that happening? But it did -- case closed!
Congratulations to the Crimson Tide on a dominating victory over my Florida Gators.
32-13, Bama!
I said in the prior thread, "Bama is desperate. It is the fear of losing, the
incredible distaste of losing, that motivates best." This game proved that truism once again.
I didn't think our defense could get dominated but the Tide's offense certainly did just that. And Mark Ingram? Wow, what a performance! Even more surprising, what about Greg McElroy? Double wow! He made play after play after play and never gave up a boneheaded play to stop a drive. Instead, he and his teammates kept the chains moving.
Nick Saban just said the offensive line should get the primary credit and I agree. They were incredible and Carlos Dunlap wouldn't have made a bit of difference today.
At this point I have only one request; keep the national title jewelry in the family, my friends. Roll Tide
The Mighty Gators, flagship university and flagship college football program of the Great State of Florida, own a gaudy record in SEC Championship games. This is the 18th game and it will mark our tenth appearance. That, alone, is dominant. We have a .778 winning percentage in the game (7-2) and have appeared in the game twice as much as any team other than Bama.
Dominant!
And what of the Red Elephants?
We've beaten Bama twice as many times as they have beaten us (4-2) and one of our losses was in the first championship game ever played -- and it was essentially played on Bama's home field! The following year, we crushed them on that home field. Which means this: we've won three times as many games against them in the Georgia Dome (3-1) as they have won against us.
Meaning?
We do not fear Bama; Bama fears us.
And that fear is eating them alive (forget for the moment dear reader the fact that our only two losses in the championship game came from those damn Red Elephants -- hello, Ree!).
What am I driving at? What made me think of all this in the early morning of championship game day?
Stewart Mandelthinks Florida clearly has more pressure on it in this Championship game against Bama:
The rankings say it's No. 1 vs. No. 2. Technically, the stakes Saturday
are exactly the same for both Florida and Alabama -- an SEC
championship and a berth in the BCS National Championship Game.
But make no mistake: the pressure meter tilts heavily toward one
sideline. For Alabama, a victory will be treasured, a loss
disappointing. But for Florida, a loss Saturday will render its entire
2009 season a failure.
Wrong!
This guy doesn't understand Bama at all nor does he understand
the mindset of an elite staff or collection of elite players. Between the two teams, Bama obviously has more pressure
on it.
The players on the Orange and Blue have already won (most of them)
multiple national championships. They've already endured the gauntlet
of games once again and are poised, once again, to make the national
title game.
Bama?
Bama is desperate. It is the fear of losing, the
incredible distaste of losing, that motivates best. And we all know
what Bama has become to Florida. They know it, too. And they are
desperate to turn that thing around. But if they lose today, that
perception becomes something else. It becomes carved in granite: second, at best, in the SEC.
Second in the Tebow sweepstakes. Second in the greatest coach
sweepstakes. Second, second, second !!!
Ain't no doubt about it, the pressure is on Bama . . . just as it was last
year. Grandpappy is in charge no more. Big Daddy is. If Florida hasn't already disposed of them by the end of the
third quarter (and my ever-optimistic orange and blue glasses say we
will have done so), the Gators surely will do so in the fourth. It is
the secret to Urban Meyer's incredible success.
Psychological ownership of the fourth quarter. All accomplished through the five stages of Gator domination:
If you haven't read the piece by "Orson Swindle" [his real name is Spencer Hall and I believe he may still be working at The Sporting News] at EveryDayShouldBeSaturday on Bobby Bowden's retirement, you should. I think this Gator Grad perfectly captured the real deal with Bobby Bowden. Some Noles inevitably couldn't let the moment pass without trying to crap on the Gators in the comments but . . . what the hell. It's a great piece; check it out.
Yeah, it's a little college-like in its lyrics, but this is a pretty good little tribute to Tim Tebow. I, too, am in love with number fifteen, and not ashamed to admit it:
Regressives, folks who love to call themselves progressives and loudly proclaim their supposedly unafraid willingness to engage in intellectual discourse, take heed.
Here's a train of thought, founded upon legitimate questioning, I want to see much more of over the next few years. Glenn Greenwald, at Salon.com:
If it's the responsibility of Congress to check presidential abuses -- since, as Matt argues, no rational person would ever expect the President to voluntarily impose or even accept limits on his own power -- then the real controversy should be about why Nancy Pelosi and company didn't do more to publicize Bush/Cheney extremism and impose limits on what they were doing. Matt, however, seemed to argue the opposite in the past -- as he when he insisted that the controversy over what Pelosi knew about torture was irrelevant because she was just a "bit player" in the whole affair. If complaints about Obama's civil liberties abuses are overheated because it's unreasonable to expect him to do anything different, shouldn't the same be said of Bush and Cheney?
What about it, regressives?!?
As Greenwald properly observes, efforts by Representatives and Senators to legitimately check Presidential power exercised by the Chief Executive have been problematic on both sides of the political aisle under the administrations of both Republicans and Democrats. It is a purposely interesting fault line within American politics, created by the Founders, and one that should be discussed with much more honesty than is presently evident.
I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in years (decades?) but everyone may be talking about this video for some time and -- after giving it some time -- I did laugh bigtime at the routine. However, I'm not sure this is a sign he (Obama) has lost the Saturday Night Live crowd -- remember, he's having to be straight man for stupid America, greedy America, in this piece:
I really don't want to make too much of this but . . . this guy is really . . . really . . . hell, just look at the picture:
Good grief, man. The basics, dude, just the basics. You can't shoulder that minimum level of respect???
I suspect this was just a momentary lapse and the image, above, simply captures our President just a bit slow on the uptick and he recovered quickly. I certainly hope so. But you must pay attention to detail at moments like this. At all times, at moments like this, on such a serious occasion.
I simply couldn't pass up posting this video; my Nole friends, I hope, will understand (some of them share the sentiment!):
Ten years ago I never would have believed they would have mismanaged -- at the insistence of Bobby Bowden -- the transition away from their legend to a new coaching regime so poorly.
Last week, in the aftermath of a great Florida win over Georgia, I began a post that (I presume) my guardian angel didn't want me broadcast. I finished it in the early morning before work and just as I hit submit, my browser locked up. I had other browsers up and running, however, and spent what seemed like 30 minutes frantically trying to save or copy the material in the locked-up browser but ultimately failing.
Yes, I liked it that much.
But it might have been a disturbing post for the good Gator fans who are appalled by Brandon Spikes' conduct in the Florida-Georgia game. If that description somewhat resembles you, consider yourself warned. Today, Florida has methodically mowed down yet another SEC opponent (a 27-3 win over Vandy) and I'm of a mind to revisit the "post that wasn't" with (I hope) a bit more reserved tone.
Last week, while some folks continuing obsessing over a non-gouge and the suspension of a middle linebacker guilty of nothing more than playing intimidating football and dishing out just as well as it was getting dished to him, not me!
I was more than willing to let them bump their gums on the subject as much as they wanted, I was busy enjoying the win. Additionally, I've been thinking about my lack of blogging for weeks (months?) now. I'll get back to politics and blogging on a range of subjects soon enough (very interesting developments during the last election cycle) but I had to laugh last Thursday morning when I saw the new edition of "Whipped Puppy," the alleged magazine of the Georgia Bulldogs:
It has become something of a Gator tradition to photoshop a fake Georgia alumni magazine in the wake of every victory by our beloved Gators over the Penal Colony.
Ordinarily, I would be congratulating the legendary Mr2Cents, who originated this "Whipped Puppy" tradition. This particular great job, however, belongs to A.S. Williams of Orlando. Known as Vindibudd, he's a recent Gator Grad who has the following websites you might like to review:
A former cartoonist at The Independent Florida Alligator, Vindibudd may be our new fark God. Unfortunately, Mr2Cents has apparently "retired" from active farking. We can only hope it is a temporary retirement.
About the Situation Involving Mr. Spikes
Okay, here's a post I made online when this "eye-gouging" incident first erupted:
This is one of those incidents where the reality of intimidating football gets lost on some people. Defensive football isn't simply about stopping your opponent. You want to intimidate your opponent. I never thought Spikes was trying to gouge the man's eyes out -- he was just properly intimidating a Dawg down on the ground and probably saying something like, "All day, baby, all day -- you gets nuttin!"
When I saw it live, though, I asked myself, "Is he really trying to gouge those eyes?" Which is probably the first thing that popped into the RB's mind, too. Know what I mean?
Leave it be. Big Boy Football.
I stand by that. He obviously wasn't trying to gouge the man's eyes out, and he just as obviously wasn't attempting to gouge his eyes out. What he quite properly was doing was sending a message. An intimidating message. And trust me, Washaun received the message and (to his credit) said that Spikes should not be suspended because of that play.
Apparently, the pussification of far too many things in our world continues unabated. And yes, I've been blown away by the lynch mob pontification over this issue. Completely blown away.
The "attempted eye-gouge that wasn't" will surely go down in Florida-Georgia history. Will it also serve as something of a national marker, however? And if so, what sort of marker delineating what sort of demarcation?
The people who wish to belittle Sarah Palin are still rattling on about her "quitting" on the people of Alaska, etc., when she obviously did no such thing. She quit on the clowns who are expert at rigging a system to falsely slime an honest woman. James DeLong strikes a blow for the long, slow march we will have to endure in order to bring some sanity back into our political process. Here's part of what he has to say about Sarah:
Her resignation from the governorship, which was mostly condemned by the pundits, was dead-on shrewd. Why let herself be tied down defending perjured ethics charges from people with infinite money, whose only desire is to shut her up or bankrupt her? Her willingness to be herself and pursue her own ideas without regard to whether or not they could lead to future office is a source of great political strength. Her public pronouncements, such as the Hong Kong speech, are serious and adult, unlike most of the vapidity produced by politicians, especially Obama. And Palin is mastering the art of short, sharp statements.
None of this is winning over the political class. Indeed, Palin’s refusal to fulfill their desires that she be a clown or take a proper role in the kabuki theater of Washington is making them angrier than ever and more determined to marginalize her. But the disillusionment with government among the tea-partying middle class is so great that every attack on her builds her stature on Main Street.
Exactly.
While people who are content faking the funk and cynically manipulating fellow fakers of the funk continue to try and heap slime in her direction, this woman continues to march. That's what I liked about her from the beginning and it's what I love about her now.
She is the "Great Intimidator" and behind many of the hyena laughs are punk ass bastards freaking out at her resiliency.
Florida 41, Georgia 17. Is ev'rybody sassafied now? Huh? I don't want to hear any more moaning. None!
What can you say about this guy, Tim Tebow, that hasn't already been said. People are already contemplating Tebow for President campaigns! Seriously (I think). ;-)
Well, I forgot to have my plate of cornbread and collard greens and only thought about it just this Monday morning. That's the Power of Tebow, a derivative of the Power of Urban! They have completely obliterated the need for some type of lucky routine. I was extremely confident on Saturday afternoon because I knew how much the "Big Kid from Big Duval" (yes, I do love that title) wanted to win this particular game.
And win it, he did.
To take it right down the field and ram it down Georgia's two-weeks-in-preparation throat -- super sweet! To (semi-officially) break Herschel's record in this game with an important touchdown that provided the winning score -- heavenly!
I had a special time in Jacksonville even though I didn't arrive in town until Saturday morning and I didn't make it into the stadium. I watched the entire thing out on the lawn outside the stadium. They had set up a big jumbotron with metal stands flanking the lawn. And it was packed. In the kind of heat and humidity that reminded you of the middle of August. It was incredible how hot it was! The setting, however, was great; it gave you the feel of Florida-Georgia because Dawg fans and Gator fans were mixed in close proximity (and, yes: there was some spectacular talent on display!).
I'm not going to say much more about the game or the event. Everything seemed scripted by the Gators. Georgia is in trouble and Mark Richt is in trouble. Since he pulled that crazy stunt at Florida-Georgia 2007, the Dawgs have gone down the tube. That, too, is expecially satisfying. And now Lane Kiffin appears to be getting the Vols together rather quickly. This could mean years and years in the wilderness for the Dawgs. To my shock, they still don't seem to be properly ashamed of that outrageous stunt they pulled. When the CBS feed on the jumbotron showed the dancing in the endzone, they -- incredibly -- cheered.
Georgia will never recover until that foolishness stops.
Finally, thank goodness Tim and so many of his fellow seniors or last-year on the team players won their final Florida-Georgia game and sent the Doggies back home to the Penal Colony in style.
I'm heading over to Jacksonville today to try and wade into the mass of humanity celebrating, and anticipating, the annual Florida-Georgia game. This will be last Florida-Georgia game for the most special Gator player ever so I had to come home for the occasion. However: as a tribute to those dadgum Dawgs, at the end of this post I'm placing a nice video one of their fans put together that I've posted before. It fits the Florida-Georgia theme and the passion that both sides bring to this game.
A tradition of sorts has been established over the last few years on this blog. In celebration of one of college football's greatest series, I reflect back on the first Florida-Georgia game I actually attended. Arguably, it is the most famous game in this incredible series -- I think it certainly has that status for Georgia. That win propelled them to the number one ranking in the nation the following week and they eventually won the national championship. Quite a first game to witness. So, Go You Mighty Gators! Beat the everlovin' hell out of Georgia!
Begin Modified Post from October 2005:
To begin to understand my special passion for this game you have to first understand that I love Georgians and have many, many family members in that great State. Both of my parents are, in fact, Georgians. My mother was born and raised on the Sumter County – Macon County line in Andersonville. My father was born in Ellaville and his cluster of family was then and is now centered around the town of Roberta. These areas are quite rural, quite agricultural. On my maternal side the family owned, and still owns, a few hundred acres of land on that county line adjacent to the Andersonville National Cemetery. In fact, for years my maternal Grandfather worked his farm and worked at the cemetery to support his large family.
On my father’s side, they were sharecropping but eventually began a logging company that generated work all over South Georgia. But in 1950s Georgia an African American with a sharp mind and a sharp tongue could fairly easily find some trouble. Give that same man some disposable income and there was likely going to be a problem. My father, the oldest son in his family, no doubt qualified for that sharp mind / sharp tongue category. I’m sure he was young and dumb in many, many ways. Neither of my parents went beyond the 8th grade in school but both were quite bright. And confident. Once my father married my mother and was successfully running the logging business . . . and had two (of his eventual six) children, things got to be too hot and he was basically chased out of Georgia.
Chased away . . . to the great State of Florida. Many other family members on both sides went away to Gary, Indiana or Detroit or New York City. Most others stayed in Georgia. Some others settled in spots further down the Florida peninsula. Despite the upheavals of the ‘50s and ‘60s, my father never gave up being a proud Georgia boy. That’s just the way Georgians are. So, when I was coming of age in the 1970s as a proud Florida boy making his way through secondary school and really disappointed by the fact that Georgia seemed to be ruining my Florida Gators football seasons on a regular basis (and questioning why this was the case), everything was really simple to my father: we Floridians just didn’t eat enough cornbread and collard greens.
Well damn, I thought to myself. I loved cornbread and collard greens. To this day I wonder about people who don’t share that love. And I knew my father was really perceptive and smart, but could it really be that simple?
Anyway, when I completed a tour of duty in the Army and finally began my freshman year at U.F., the most anticipated game for me on our football schedule was the Florida-Georgia game. So when November 8, 1980 rolled around I was hyped. I mean really, really hyped. I attended the game with my younger brother who was actually ahead of me in school as a junior at U.F. – this was because he would do his tour of duty in the Army AFTER graduating from college. As an officer. Smart man.
Unfortunately, by that November date my father was already in failing health and unbeknownst to me, would only live for a few more months. The game, as all Gators and Dawgs know, turned out to be a classic:
Herschel was unbelievable, and thus didn't disappoint. On one play, I saw him get tackled, his legs cut from underneath him, but he before he hit the ground, he tucked forward, somersaulted just inches from the ground, rolled on his back, and sprang up on his legs. He was amazing.
But so were the Gators that day.
Through eight games that season, Herschel had rushed for 1,096 yards, and the Bulldogs were undefeated and ranked second in the nation.
Was he really that good? On the third play of the game, Herschel answered, motoring 72 yards for a touchdown, and it looked as if it was going to be another long day for the Gators. He finished with 238 yards on 37 carries, and you'd have thought that would be enough, but it wasn't.
On the other side of the field, a little-known Gator wide receiver named Tyrone Young was having the game of his career. Young hauled in 10 catches for 183 yards from UF quarterback Wayne Peace. Every time you looked up, Young was making a big play.
The Gators, who came in ranked No. 20 following their forgettable 0-10-1 season a year earlier, trailed just 14-10 at the half. The Dawgs used two field goals to stretch the lead to 20-10 after three quarters.
Then magic happened.
The text above and the subsequent excerpt were from a column by Peter Kerasotis in Brevard County’s Florida Today newspaper. It turns out that he began matriculating at U.F. the same quarter that I did (the last year for quarters at Florida). As he wrote, the Gators made a valiant comeback and in the fourth quarter took the lead, 26-21. Up in the endzone of my hometown Gator Bowl sat me and my brother and a bunch of Florida students. We were going crazy. My memory says we were in the endzone stands looking directly at the Gator defense as they were harassing the hell out of Georgia’s offense. This meant Georgia had their backs to us and all the action unfolded directly in front of us. The screaming was incredible. Georgia was on their goal line and we were doing our best to drown them out. First down and second down occurred. The stadium was literally rocking. Victory was at hand and the partying was going to be super good.
And then them damn cornbread and collard greens-eating Bulldawgs broke our hearts.
Larry Munson’s call of that play up in the Georgia radio booth has become quite famous. This is my interpretation of his exact, heartbreaking call. I’m not so much of a Gator that I can’t acknowledge that this is a classic call:
Florida in a stand-up five, they may or may not blitz.
Belue third down on the 8 . . . in trouble . . . he got a block behind him . . . going to throw on the run . . . complete on the 25 to the 30!
Lindsay Scott 35, 40, Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40.
Well, I can’t believe it. Ninety-two yards and Lindsay really got in a foot race.
I broke my chair. I came right through a chair. A metal steel chair with about a 5 inch cushion, I broke it. The booth came apart. The stadium . . . well, the stadium fell down . . . now they do have to renovate this place . . . they’ll have to rebuild it now.
This is incredible. You know this game has always been called the World’s Greatest [Outdoor] Cocktail Party. Do you know what’s gonna happen here tonight? And up at St. Simons and Jekyll Island, and all those places where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for 4 days?
Man is there going to be some property destroyed tonight!
26-21, Dawgs on top. We were gone. I’d gave up, you did too. We were out of it and gone.
Miracle!
It was at this game, at this moment, where every other University of Florida football game became simply a game and this became THE game on our schedule for me. Truth be told, it already was that for me but this really, really nailed it down. It was also where I learned to have a certain contempt for the defeatist element among Gator fans. All around me, the students gave up. All around me, it seemed as if the life went out of everyone and we turned the stadium over to Georgia. But there was still time left and we had a potent offense capable of coming down the field. In fact, we did make a bit of a drive (IIRC) but couldn’t quite bring it home.
Georgia won.
They had their miracle.
And I had to live with my father’s good-natured ribbing about his Georgia boys. That’s part of what makes this game so special. In some ways, I feel a little sorry for Floridians who don’t have any Georgia relatives and vice-versa. It makes a remarkable social event even more special. For instance, in honor of my father and for psychological satisfaction alone, I try to make sure that I have at least one plate of cornbread and collard greens leading up to this here game. Yes sir, buddy!
And every ass-whuppin we’re able to deliver to them these days, they damn well deserve. So yes, I’m enjoying the hell out of our recent domination.
Beat Georgia. Beat the hell out of Georgia. And then slap ‘em silly some more!
Y’all excuse me while I go get me another plate of them good ole, down home, collard greens.
Go Gators!
End Modified October 2005 post
There you have it. I'll close with the tribute to those Jah-Juh Dawgs.
Good luck to both teams. However . . . Go You Mighty Gators !!!
We are so blessed with good fortune in Gator Nation that we are suffering from the luxury of ridiculous bitching and moaning over the lack of . . . perfection.
Last year (not this year, mind you; last year, a national championship year) Gator fans were incredibly displeased with the performance of our offense for much of the season. This year, we're suffering through the same criticism It's more legitimate this year but its still ridiculous. For those who are complaining this year, I can't help but wonder what they were thinking up through the third quarter of the Arkansas game . . . LAST year. A national championship year in which we put up at least 30 points on every SEC team, including games leading up to the Fayetteville contest. But my goodness, the angst on most, if not all, Gator sports boards. The strong criticism was everywhere.
Here's my strong opinion: this game of football (the ultimate team game) is much more interesting (and fun) when fans don't insist on simultaneously navel-gazing while acting as if they have perfect 360-degree vision.
The obvious issues "we all see" out there on the field may not be the "issues" that need to be addressed at all. The probability is that they aren't, they are only the end-result and visible manifestation of the actual issues. They are (so-to-speak) so simple, even a caveman can see them. This is true even if some player is spilling his guts to some "Gator Sports Insider" who thinks he's getting the straight stuff and "verifying" everything we cavemen think we see.
It's like watching a replay from a bad angle that can't possibly tell you whether a ball was fumbled before crossing the goal line yet insisting that the ball was clearly, and indisputably, out. Absurd foolishness, and we're seeing way too much of that kind of stuff written by Gator fans and numbskull sportswriters all across America.
Here's another strong opinion: we have the greatest coach we've ever had, the greatest staff we've ever had, the greatest quarterback we've ever had, and quite likely the greatest defense we've ever had.
We don't have the greatest offense we've ever had and whaddayaknow . . . we're still working out some kinks with red zone production. Cool by me, because we have the fewest serious issues and concerns of any team in the nation -- any team -- and we can close out the year as national champions even if our red zone production doesn't improve.
Our team is just that good.
But football being football, we may wake up one Sunday and find that our offense scored like crazy but our great defense was shredded and we lost a game we probably shouldn't have lost.
Again, this is why we and many other programs have never had an undefeated season in the modern era. It is a supremely difficult thing to accomplish and you have to have a healthy dose of good fortune.
We are well into the season and I've not commented much about the Sunshine State college football squads. Now is a good time, prior to the Florida-Georgia game, so here goes nuttin and sumpin all at the same time.
[1] About my Gators: not overly impressive? Is that what I heard from Nessler last night on TV? Yes, I'm sure of it. Hmmmm. That's the kind of take that seriously lacks perspective. Florida is first in the BCS rakings for the first time EVER, and 7-0 with an offense that hasn't had sustained excellence for any one game this year. But we're still a top-ranked offense. Not overly impressive? We are 7-0 with a defense that is managing its injuries and consistently smothering opponents, even when the offense makes them endure multiple turnovers and severe game-changing situations. Not overly impressive? We are 3-0 against the West for the first time in forever, including a win in the State of Mississippi. Any fool following the Gators knows they have some kind of weird juju in Missasipp that they've been working on us for years. They threw all of it, and the kitchen sink, at us last night. Superman -- Superman! -- threw two pick-six interceptions last night. I don't think I've ever seen him do that! I can't really remember him throwing one but I'm sure he's done it a time or two. Still, we won, and we won fairly comfortably. Not overly impressive?
Not overly impressive???
The hell you say!!!
The only point I will grant is this: Tim is trying to too hard. Much too hard. We need to figure out a way where he will grant himself permission to push the re-set button and allow the game action to come to him rather than him forcing the issue. Incredibly, I suspect Superman has allowed some of the foolish NFL talk to get the better of him. To hell with those idiots, my man. Just go play ball and allow the set-pieces on the field dictate your actions.
Now . . . here come the Dawgs. Them other Dawgs. The Dawgs we hate. With a genuine passion. They are going to have something special for us this year I do believe. It would make their season to spoil our quest for another conference & national title but it would especially please them to be the team that ends our quest for a perfect season. They've done that before, you know. I just want to win that game however, whatever. Survive and advance, survive and advance.
I should arrive in Jacksonville by Wednesday to celebrate Tebow's last Florida-Georgia game. Superman will be hyped and so will all of Gator Nation.
Come on BigOrangeand Blue !!!
The kid from Big Duval, in his home county, against the hated Dawgs. I may not be able to get tickets, but I have to be in the vicinity. Win or lose, I have to be in the vicinity. I will also make sure I've had plenty of my lucky plates of cornbread and collard greens. Go Gators!
[2] About the Canes: they're back! Just not quite as far back as I presumed after that great start to the season. Jacory is the real deal but (like so many kids from the Bottom) he believes too much of that South Florida hype. I hated to see the Canes lose to Clemson but I was extremely pleased to see two kids from North Florida perform well for the Tigers and remind South Floridians -- you don't play better ball than us, my friends. You just have more people. Parker from Jacksonville and Spiller from Union County were both magnificent! Next year will be the real test for the Canes but they are clearly headed in the right direction. And it may be a sign in me that the Gator in me is responding to this resurrection but . . . that hit yesterday where the Cane knocked off the Clemson players helmet? Clearly a dirty hit where the guy lowered his head and, with the crown of his helmet, aimed only at the guys head. I was amazed the television crew seriously wondered what Dabo Swinney was upset about. Hell, look at the videotape! It was a very dangerous hit and the school or the conference should discipline him. It was one of the most dangerous hits I've seen in quite some time.
[3] About the Noles: just go ahead and fire Bobby Bowden, okay? I thought Jim Smith said exactly what needed to be said. Damn how many national idiots in the sports media state the absurd over and over and over again (Bobby Bowden deserves the right to determine when he retires -- no hell he doesn't!) No employee ever attains the right to tell his or her employer the terms of their continued employment, including the end date. It just doesn't happen and its crazy talk to assert so in the Bobby Bowden case. Bobby isn't coaching the team now and he hasn't coached them for years. It's all an absolute farce. Meanwhile, Jimbo is making a very good case for himself as the next head coach. He has done a fantastic job developing Christian Ponder into a superior quarterback and if the Noles are smart enough to get behind him -- and I think a strong faction of the Bowden acolytes will never accept him, just as so many Spurrier acolytes actively worked to undermine Ron Zook at Florida; it's a weird thing to observe but it is real -- he will bring them back to sustained prominence.
[4] About the season: two self-serving predictions; (a) Florida will have a rematch with LSU in the conference title game. People have prematurely fallen in love with Alabama and forgotten how much desire the Bengal Tigers will have to beat Nick Saban and Alabama. I just don't think Bama quite has it this year and the key for me has been their inability to do much with Julio Jones (who is a terror!). They need Julio to have any hope of beating us and to have a good chance of beating LSU. I don't think it will happen (sorry, Ree -- and I hope like hell this doesn't jinx us against Georgia or Carolina); (b) Florida and Texas appear to be headed for a collision in the Rose Bowl if they (the Horns) can get by Oklahoma State. I'm not sure they can but I am sure that Oklahoma last year worried me more than this Texas bunch. Our defense will eat Colt McCoy alive.
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