It’s been a good run, ladies and gents. A 48-7 run for these seniors, and Tebow will go down as one of the greatest in the history of college football.

Next year Gator football will reinvent itself. It may take a little time, but it won’t be long before we’re making championship runs again.

Which brings me to my next point. The is end of an era in more ways than one — this is the end of O&B Hue. I’m no less passionate about Gator athletics now than I have been since this blog started in early ‘06, but work demands have greatly curtailed my ability to blog this season, and that won’t change anytime soon. Rather than let the site lapse into a shell of its former, vibrant self, I think it’s best to sweep up one last time, turn out the lights, and salute the many readers and contributors who made O&B Hue one of the most popular UF blogs on the web.

O&B Hue has been an important part of my life. Thinking and writing about the Gators has been cathartic for me; the shining brilliance of these championship years lit the way through dark times, and I’m very fortunate to have been on the virtual sidelines for the best four years of UF athletics. Two hoops championships, and two crystal footballs? That was impossible to predict at the beginning of the ‘06 season, and frankly I would never have believed it could happen. But it did.

Thanks to you all… and as always, Go Gators.

This will be the last SEC Powerpoll for OrangeandBlueHue in more ways than one.  First I would like to thank Ryan for hosting this site and allowing me to be a part of it.  I’d also like to thank everyone involved with the Powerpoll for allowing us to participate these many years.  It’s been an honor and a priviledge and I’m amazed at the writing skills of so many of my fellow SEC Bloggers.  Not only is the SEC the BEST conference in the country but it has a collection of the best Bloggers in the nation also.

To finalize this SEC PowerPoll I wanted to do something different.  Thus I’ve decided to rank the teams and instead of writing a little blurb I decided to define each team with a famous movie quote.  The movies these come from are also in quotes.  The quotes have been altered to match each team in most cases.  Thanks to everyone and on with the show.

1) National Champion Alabama - “Mr. Saban, after careful consideration I’ve come to the conclusion that your new special teams coordinator sucks.” (Wargames)
2) Florida - “Your life is defined by its opportunities . . . even the ones you missed.”  (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
3) LSU - “We didn’t win?  INCONCEIVABLE!!! - Coach Miles you keep using this word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.” (Princess Bride)
4) Mississippi - “10-4, 8-4, 9-4, 9-4.  You see a pattern emerging here Scully?” (The X-Files)
5) Arkansas - “Why are you here Coach Petrino? - I’m here in case you succeed Mallet.” (Stargate)
6) Auburn - “This game is gonna get pretty interesting. - Define interesting. - Oh God, Oh God, we’re all going to die?” (Serenity)
7) Georgia - “I’ll speak slow so those of you who are Georgia defensive coaches in the room can understand” (Deja Vu)
8) Tennessee - “Villainy wears many masks, none of which are more dangerous than a coach who won’t shut up.” (Sleepy Hollow)
9) Kentucky - “You know how to coach this team right? - How do you think I got here? - Well, you crashed and burned in the NFL remember?” (Race to Witch Mountain)
10) South Carolina - “Your speechless . . . I see.  A fine quality in a coach.” (Aladdin)
11) Mississippi State - “How the hell do they expect us to win games with a schedule like this? - You don’t know the worst part. This bit we’re on now? - Yes? - It’s the easy part.” (A Bridge too Far)
12) Vanderbilt - “Tonight we dine and play in football HELL!!!” (The 300)

As always you can find the complete power poll at TeamSpeedKills HERE.

To the 2009 Season and to O&BHue I bid adieu.  And to keep in line with the theme of this post I’ll finish with a re-rendered version of one of the greatest quotes of all time.

The college world has turned over many times since I began blogging here at OrangeandBlueHue, and while the hopes and dreams of Gator Glory remain fresh in my memory I still remember the refrain which proclaimed most proudly that old bloggers never die; they just fade away.

And like the old blogger of that ballad, I now close my career here at O&BHue and just fade away, a Gator blogger who tried to do his best with the abilities that God gave him. Good-by.

Sincerely,

KelticGator

It’s officially ended, men. The championship season that wasn’t and the era of the hyped QB that was all came to an end. Some reflections on the Tebow/(Meyer?) Era:

*Florida is the first FBS/Division-1 school in history to post back-to-back 13 win seasons, and thus, the first to have three in four seasons. I’d say two out of three, while not ideal, certainly isn’t bad.

*Tim Tebow never missed a game in four years. Wow.

*Tebow ends with 145 total touchdowns, by far a school record, is fourth all-time in passing yardage with 9,285 (just three yards shy of beating Shane Matthews for third place), sixth all-time in rushing yardage with 2947, and tied for second (with his predecessor, Chris Leak) with 88 touchdown passes.

*Tebow had a career high in rushing yardage this season (yes, including ‘07)

*Coach, however you decide upon your future, for your sake and for our team’s, please, please, please do it as soon as reasonably possible. And I’m not just saying this because the coaching situation will hurt us in recruiting. We’ll still do fine.

He’s dehydrated. No, he’s sick. No, he’s… retiring! Holy fried Gator tail. No, he’s reconsidering. No, he’s coming back! Wait… no, he’s not coming back, he’s — well, he can’t come back because he never left, but he’s going to leave for awhile. How long? Not sure. Is he coaching the Sugar Bowl? No. Wait, yes, he is, and then he’s leaving, and the offensive coordinator will take over as head coach in the meantime, making him a head coach in waiting to be a head coach again.

Run that by me again?

It’s a fitting penultimate twist to the bottle cap of football weirdness. Yes, Florida still plays Cincinatti in the Sugar Bowl, a team whose head coach is most certainly gone in the final sense. Don’t ask me to give you a name on the Cincy coaching or player roster other than “Pike.”

In the last 24 hours, Lane Kiffin surely felt the highest of highs… only to wake up feeling the lowest of lows. No, the meanest sonofabitch in Cell Block E isn’t getting paroled, and the guards don’t give you soap on a rope in the prison showers. Nut up, Mouth.

I’m sure Mark Richt and Steve Spurrier also felt a fluttering lightness of being, but gravity being the real bitch she is, made the Flight of the Wallflowers a parabola.

In any event, if it’s not one thing this season, it’s another. Tell me that wasn’t the most joyless way to ride a 22-game win streak, hold #1 week in and week out for what seemed like an eternity, and grind out close, ugly win after close, ugly win you’ve ever endured. You can be honest, fellas. That was tense.

Flu, quarterback regression, Facemask-gate, Dunlap snoozing at the wheel, a class of juniors celebrating the NFL two games too early, chest pains, and then Meyer does his best Billy Donovan impression. Really, why do we do this at Florida? This must be rather unique — two coaches in two different high-profile sports, both with two national championship rings, depart and then cram their foot in the closing door just at the last second. Well, it’s a U of F tradition, now.

Of course, the reality is that Meyer is living a real life, not for the pundits or endless hordes of media or fans, and he did the best he could with a very difficult situation. I think Gator Nation is very understanding of the realities of what Meyer endured and this doesn’t even count as a blip on the radar in terms of our relationship with our head coach. The rest of the college football institution will probably be less forgiving, but that’s because this is all a big soap opera that plays out on TV to those folks, rather than happening to real, breathing human beings with complex thoughts, emotions and motivations. We are all imperfect, and Meyer deserves our full support and understanding.

I hope this is the right thing for the Coach and his family. His health and well-being comes first. I know it’s heresy to say it here in the south, but when you start fearing the job will kill you, it’s time for all of us to take a step back, take a deep breath and remind ourselves that this is a game played by college kids. A game.

There may be apathy in Gator Nation regarding both the venue and the opponent, but I for one think it will be fun to play a football game against a good football team with pride and a BCS bowl victory at stake. Hey, this is why we play.

And it’s worth saying: it’s great to be a Florida Gator.

Go Gators!

Now it’s looking like Meyer may take an ‘indefinite leave of absence’ as opposed to retiring. Press conference in 15 minutes.

I have just received word from Yahoo! Sports that Coach Meyer is stepping down after the Sugar Bowl for health-related concerns.

This, this is…well…um

I need the shock to wear off.

All good things must come to end. For us as Gator fans, the end came too soon.

Give Alabama credit. They came back upset after being victim to Tim Tebow’s first (and, to date, last) fourth-quarter comeback, and they had their way with us all day.

In lieu of a long-past-deadline postmortem, I can say with a high degree of confidence that this game will go down as one that forever changed the college football landscape as we know it:

* All that discussion of Tim Tebow no longer being the greatest of all time? Due to this game.

* If Mark Ingram wins the Heisman? Due to this game.

* Meyer and Saban chasing the Bear, as compared to Meyer being this generation’s Bear? Due to this game.

* If, heaven forfend, Brian Kelley doesn’t get it done and Meyer darts for Notre Dame in a few years? Due to this game.

* All those awards Tebow didn’t win last night? Due to this game.

As for Teargate, to be frank, it wasn’t unexpected given the result. Look at the Promise. Tebow is obviously holding back tears. While I can’t deny that college football is filled with emotion, at the same time, well, you don’t exactly see that kind of display from every player. I rest my case.

Now it’s on to the Sugar Bowl, a date with Cincinnati, where Oscar Robertson, Kenyon Martin, Kevin Youkilis, and, yes, Urban Meyer, once played sports. Looking at it from an X’s and O’s perspective, Joe Haden on Mardy Gilyard is key. Looking at it from intangibles, getting up and playing hard after a big loss is even bigger.

By the way, congrats to Charlie Strong. He’s more than earned his right to coach at a program like Louisville.

Although I am a little late in posting I did get my votes in on time, so that’s what counts!  This weeks ballot for the SEC Power Poll.

Florida - With a blowout of FSU, Florida appears to be peaking while Bama struggled with rival Auburn.  Unable to bear the thought of an uneven SECCG, Carlos DUMB-lap has decided to recuse himself from the contest.
Alabama - Finally a good game throwing the ball . . . against the worst defense in the SEC and 73rd ranked defense nationally.  And excuse me, 73 yards rushing agains the 10 best rushing defense in the SEC?  WTH?
LSU - There are the best teams, the worst teams and the middle of the pack. Congrats Tigers, you’re one of the best . . . of the middle of the pack.
Ole Miss -  Did the rebels get fired up at halftime or did they “fire up” instead?  Outscored 17-0 in the 3rd quarter.  “Oh hey guys, I think we were supposed to go back on the field!”
Arkansas - Hey Bobby, wanna win some more games?  I can’t believe you lose so many close games despite having the worst special teams in the league.  Do you think that’s a coincidence?
Tennessee - No way Fulmer delivers those big late season overtime wins over the Wildcats like the Kiffin crew can.  No way, no how!
Kentucky - Rich “Freakin” Brooks.  Does anyone do more with less year after year than this guy?  UK probably contends for titles in the ACC or Big 12.
Auburn - Auburn fans must be thrilled at that effort.  Nothing like never trailing in a game until the end to bring out the best in the Tiger faithful.
South Carolina - The Gamecocks can’t score more than 16 points in 5 straight SEC games before getting to play the ACC Atlantic Division Champs.  What a joke that conference is.
Georgia - I’m sorry but the best rushing team in the ACC, Coastal Champs Georgia Tech, barely break 200 yards agains the Dawgs.  Most teams get that by halftime on a Willie Martinez defense.
Mississippi State - Mississippi State went off on Ole Miss like Elin Woods on Tiger’s Escalade.  And like that situation it was either a heroic act or incredibly disturbing depending on your point of view.
Vanderbilt - Well what kind of record do you expect when the best athletes on campus play for the Debate Team???

One game left up, the SEC Championship Game for the SEC Crown and a chance to play for all the Marbles.  What more could you want?

As always you can find the complete power poll at TeamSpeedKills HERE.

The Hoops Gators knocked off #2 Michigan State, while Tebow’s Swamp Legacy concluded with yet another pasting of the worthless Seminoles of Florida State… all within 24 hours of each other.

In terms of schadenfreude, could this have been written any more sweetly? ESPN College Gameday dropped by, not because of the enormity of the game — FSU stinks, after all — but the significance of Tim Tebow’s final game in the Swamp. The parallel storyline, Bobby Bowden’s coaching legacy, was necessarily weak in the modern sense thanks to Bowden’s lack of accomplishments in the last 8 years of his career.

FSU’s ship is sinking. HMS Bowden is taking on water faster than Jimbo Fisher can bail it out. Meanwhile, the Gators are two games away from a historic accomplishment, and Tebow’s legacy as the greatest player in college football history is nearly cemented.

Good times, ladies and gentlemen. A halcyon era of Gator dominance… a masterful meld of coaching and players to produce an unprecedented string of success against Florida’s rivals.

But enough on the 6-6 Nolies, who don’t feature a single player on the roster who know the taste of victory over the Gators.

You want to talk about Gator Greats? Sure, Tebow’s one, but many of the Gator Greats of ‘09 play on defense. Brandon Spikes. Carlos Dunlap. Ryan Stamper. Joe Haden. A.J. Jones. While UF enjoyed a field day against FSU’s swiss-cheese offense, against better competition, our defense has carried the day. Thank you, boys. You may have walked through that tunnel for the last time, but you will not be forgotten.

By now everyone has probably heard about the travails of Kansas head football coach Mark Mangino.  Currently he is the target of an investigation by the athletic department for the mistreatment and abuse of his players.  This includes pushing and kicking players and throwing verbal insults that include personal information regarding family members in an attempt to motivate through embarassment.  While the nature of some of the acts described truly defies understanding, I don’t want to comment on the investigation or incidents themselves.  Rather I wanted to share some of the more poignant comments that can be found on this issue from message boards.  Comments that prove there is nothing that can’t become the butt of a good joke.

-I heard he’s getting fired because hes out running and out practicing his own players in practice. They say he’s downright demoralizing with his speed and stamina.

-Sounds like a guy that likes to throw his weight around.

-If they could sell him by the pound they could afford to hire Bill Cowher.

-I bet the KU players feel as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders.

-Would he be a step up at FSU? At least he knows personal stuff about his players. Bobby does not even know their names.

-Mangino left quite an impression at Kansas, particularly on the office furniture.

-Mangino is the REAL DEAL FOLKS!!………in buffet eating.

-This decision has to be weighing heavy on the mind of the AD.

-Very disappointing…..I always thought playing for Mangino would be tons of fun.

-Some disciplinary action is in order, clearly Mangino has gotten a little too big for his britches………..

-That’s too bad.  I was sure when Mangino took the Kansas job that he would be the next big thing.

 Personally, my favorite was the dig at Bobby Bowden.