FLORIDA FOOTBALL: FOOD FOR A MAN'S SOUL
Scuttlebutt: UNC won’t play UF
Here’s the official story:
“The Gators were desperate for a big-time game. Florida really wanted to play North Carolina but couldn’t get dates or a site (home or road) worked out. The Tar Heels usually have their schedule filled, too, which doesn’t make picking up a game late in the spring easy.”
Here’s where O&B Hue picks up the story and runs with it. Remember, we’re not a legitimate news organization in any sense of the word. So take it for what it’s worth.
Here’s what really happened:
With ESPN’s help, Florida attempted to schedule a home and away series with the University of North Carolina. (Just imagine a game between the 2005 and 2006 national champions in pre-conference play!) UNC refused. Then Florida offered a date in Raleigh in exchange for a game in Jacksonville or Tampa. UNC refused again. Finally, head coach Billy Donovan called Roy Williams and pleaded even for the opportunity to simply play UNC on their own home court. Roy Williams response was still, “No.”
O&B Hue’s take: we’re tempted to call ‘chicken’ on Williams, but the fact is we don’t really know the reason for UNC’s refusal to play Florida. Perhaps there truly were scheduling issues, but there’s something a bit hinky about turning down a chance to play the Gators with a team that’s purported to be as strong as Williams’ ‘07 squad — especially at home.
But what really sucks is: We won’t get to watch Horf and Noah match up against Tyler Hansbrough.
Going to the crystal ball: No dates with UNC this year or anytime soon thereafter unless Florida meets them in the NCAA tournament. Or Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer are all injured at the same time in a game of “6′8 and up Twister.”
Loading ...
13 Comments so far
Leave a comment
BS
By mike broder on 08.23.06 11:59 am
please.you will get your wish,in due time.you just won a tainted title,enjoy it.we are carolina,and back at full strenghth.no need to provoke,you might bite off more than you and yor slicked back greasy coach want!!!!!
By kirby frazier on 08.23.06 2:19 pm
Give me a break.
By Justin on 08.23.06 10:48 pm
This is hilarious. (No, not the article, which is accurate. I’m talking about the comments.)
I’m not in a position to say where I work, but let’s just say that by virtue of what I do I am intimately privy with scheduling issues. This article is surprisingly accurate (I’d love to know your source, though) with only a few minor tweaks.
No. 1, yes, Florida wanted the game. No. 2, yes, North Carolina refused. That is accurate. It is also accurate that after going through the normal channels a personal phone call was made from one head coach to the other. It is also true that Florida was willing to play a single game series without a return date to Gainesville. And it’s true that UNC refused all of that.
Where the article errs is the order of events. Coach Donovan called UNC’s DIS to start things off and then the official channels took over until the two head coaches spoke with each other.
It wasn’t a matter of scheduling for UNC. Florida pointed out a couple of options that UNC could have exercised to easily make the game happen. As much as I love Tarheel basketball I have to admit that for whatever reason, and none of us know what it is, but I can tell you it’s not scheduling or an open date or any of the things you’d think it might be to let our beloved Roy off the hook.
My gut feeling is that Roy simply doesn’t think this is a good matchup for his team at this time. It’s one thing to have some competitive matches early in the year, it’s another to kill your teams confidence. I think we have a shot at beating Florida anytime, but Roy doesn’t think the benefit outweighs the risk right now.
By trust in roy on 08.24.06 5:35 am
LOL…Florida has one good year, wins a NC, and now wants to play whomever, whenever, wherever…
Get in line, Gators…everybody wants to play the Heels…
By Phillip McCrack on 08.24.06 7:01 am
Horford or Noah would tear tyler hansbrough to shreds. no contest. chris richards would rip him up too
By UF Jack on 08.24.06 7:21 am
do the tar heels really think they’re better than florida? that is really funny.
By jay mcgregor on 08.24.06 7:22 am
WoW Florida suprisingly wins a NC and they now think they are the BEST team and one of the ELITE lol. What a joke
Get in line is right— everyone wants to play UNC, and UF is just another school. This aint football girls
By jay D on 08.24.06 7:53 am
jay,
no one said Carolina was better than the gators…according to the article, your coach called ours…meaning, your coach wants to play the best…tradition wise…I don’t think Roy would call billy…how many schools do you think want to play Carolina? One year and you think you are a dynasty…
That right there is funny…I don’t care who you are…
Go Heels…get in line
By Phillip McCrack on 08.24.06 8:06 am
Hansbrough’s breakfast plate weighs more than “JOKE”-im Noah. That would just be silly ugly to see Hans push him around. Quickness? Meet Brandan Wright and Reyshawn Terry. Unc was better than Florida last year, and would crush them in 07
By Patrick on 08.24.06 8:41 am
Bullshit
By dookbites on 08.24.06 8:50 am
Donovan is still trying to put himself on the map. Obviously the title wasn’t enough and he has some sort of inferiority complex he can’t get over. This is probably stemming from when Roy told on Eddie about recruiting violations while back at KU. Now Eddie feels he has a better team and is pleading with Roy to play with this once in a lifetime team he has. (returning starters from title team) We will see if in the next few years ol Billy still wants to play UNC when they can actually schedule it before the official schedule being released.
But yeah like everyone else said, get in line and wait your turn. You guys sound like the new sophmore transfer kid who expects to get the starting spot over the 3 year returning starter…..
By John on 08.24.06 10:16 am
[…] I’ll be gracious and grant you that the North Carolinas, Kansases, and UCLAs of the world have been on Kentucky’s radar screen longer than our Gators have been. And for that reason, if you Kentucky fans feel these teams are more deserving of your “full attention,” so be it. But we play elite teams too, many of the same names Kentucky faces year in year out, and would play more of them if they’d agree to a home and home series. (For some reason, no one wants any part of the Gators anymore.) In the modern era, Kentucky has not played a foe, much less an in-conference power opponent, who have more thoroughly wrecked the hopes and dreams of the Big Blue Nation. The Gators have been the rock against which Kentucky has smashed themselves, and while that balance of power can’t always favor the Gators, it’s clear that Florida, for now, is the crème de le crème of the Southeastern Conference. And if Kentucky can’t bother to work up a rivalry-like hatred based on that alone, “B.B.N.” no longer has a pulse. […]
By Orange and Blue Hue » A One-Sided Rivalry? on 05.20.07 1:50 am
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>