The Sunshine Empire

I was in the stands yesterday in chilly Gainesville for #1 ranked Florida’s thrilling come from behind victory against the University of Arkansas. I will not attempt to argue that Florida looked at all good against unranked Arkansas but Florida suffers mainly from disappointing the media every week more so than anything else. It was the sporting press that weeks earlier assured us Florida would destroy a Tennessee squad that had the #3 ranked defense in the country at the time. When Florida won the game by only ten points, the media beat the Gators about the head with their unrealized and unreasonable expectations. But the SEC is by far the best college football conference in the country and the establishment still sees The University of Florida as the near do well that came late to the party and doesn’t belong.

Yesterday was by and large not a good day for highly ranked teams. Virginia Tech lost and Texas looked horrid in their win against a devastated Oklahoma team. Yet ESPN columnist Mark Schlabach could see nothing but his resentment toward Florida. Since his alma mater blows he in the last year has found a new love, and that is the University of Alabama. When the Florida freight train rolled into Atlanta last year for the SEC championship game against his #1 ranked schoolgirl crush Schlabach insisted that the old guard Tide would prevail. His dreams and those of Gator Haters across the south were crushed by the Tebow train and he was left to wallow in his sorrows as his beloved Tide were destroyed by Utah in the next game. Florida of course won it’s second National Title in three years as Nick Saban’s team was Utah’s bitch. Schlabach’s resentment only festered and deepened.

Now we come to this season. Florida ended LSU’s 32 game home night winning streak at Tiger Stadium after Schlabach spent the week telling us how brilliant Les Miles was. Now this week Florida faced one of the best if not the best offense in the SEC with the best defense in the country. Arkansas had scored over 40 points in most of it’s games and played the majority of the game Saturday without it’s best Linebacker. But reading Schlabach’s article written with his best pair of Crimson glasses was to have seen a totally different game. Schlabach says, “Florida isn’t as good as No. 2 Alabama, the defending SEC West champion. On Saturday night, Bama took care of No. 22 South Carolina, 20-6.” God forbid we should look critically at this statement because it’s obvious Schlabach didn’t actually watch the game. The score was 13-6 for most of the game and South Carolina moved the ball well during the game. Schlabach drifts back into reality when he rightly points out that Florida’s first half against Arkansas was about as wretched as I’ve seen in the Urban Meyer era.

Schlabach goes on with the skill of a Fox News reporter writing about the President’s health care bill to dance around the facts. He states that Florida’s defense finally showed cracks, but ignores that the defense held Ryan Mallet to 75 yards passing until midway through the 4th quarter. He says Florida struggles to run the ball unless Tim Tebow is running, but ignores the fact that Florida statistically has the best running game in the entire nation. If you want to argue with me that Florida’s offense is not nearly what it was last year you will not get any opposition from me. But to paint a picture that Florida is done and Alabama is the best team in the conference is just wishful thinking on the part of a bitter Georgia alum. Alabama was just as close with Ole Miss until a late touchdown at the end. They also were neck and neck with South Carolina threatening until a late garbage touchdown at the end of the game. Within minutes Jeff Garcia of all people had the Gamecocks knocking at Alabama’s goal line with seconds to play.

Florida is not the obvious automatic juggernaut on it’s way to the National Title game that everybody in the sports world made them out to be, but that’s no reason to now knock them for not meeting some bitter sportswriter’s inflated expectations. Florida may lose, but damn near everyone has. Everyone has played a game close against an opponent that they should flatten. But let’s wait until the games are played until you crown your schoolgirl crush the league champion mid-season.