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.

Hi, I’m Trevor Matich.  Recently I made some public comments regarding the Brandon Spikes eye gouging incident from the Florida-Georgia game that I’d like to expound upon.  On ESPN’s College Football Live show I stated that what Brandon Spikes did was far worse than the actions of LeGarrete Blount against Boise State.  And there’s a reason I made that comment.  It’s because I’m an idiot.

You see, it has been so long since the Blount incident that I guess I’d forgotten exactly what happened.  Whether that was caused by having so much work on my plate or excessive drinking . . . I can’t say.  My initial thought was that Spikes was even MORE responsible because he was retaliating for a previous incident rather than reacting in the heat of the moment like Blount did.  Since Blount was suspended for the whole season, in my convoluted mind I used that as the standard and felt Spikes should be suspended the rest of the season.  And quite frankly, that’s ridiculous.

I guess I “misremembered” what happened that night in Boise.  You see, Blount was just suspended for the season because of the punch.  While that in itself should have drawn a multiple game suspension, it was much more than that.  After watching the footage I remember that punching the Boise player was only part of what Blount did that evening.  After sucker punching Byron Hout, Blount backed away and went to the sideline where he flung his helmet in disgust.  Then everything deteriorated quickly.  The next thing you know LeGarrette was being restrained by players, coaches and police officers because he was attempting to RUN INTO THE STANDS AND ATTACK BOISE STATE FANS!!!

Holy cow!  What was Blount thinking?  I have no idea.  Not to mention this was Blount’s 5th strike with the Ducks after having TWO PREVIOUS suspensions.  For me, Trevor Matich, to somehow equate what Spikes did against Ealey to Bount’s actions that night is borderline negligent and shows just how little research I do for my opinions.  It is quite possible the most ridiculous statement I have made since I suggested that NFL defensive lines should “dive” at Tom Brady’s legs in a spike or victory formation because Tom Brady once faked spiking the football and threw a touchdown to Randy Moss.  God knows what I was drinking the day I came up with THAT beauty.

So while I do feel Spikes should be punished and suspended for his actions, no longer am I trying to equate his behavior with that of LeGarrete Blount.  And for that ignorant statement I would like to offer my apology.  Perhaps part of it is jealousy.  See I never played big time college football, I went to BYU instead.  I spent my NFL career as the “long snapper”, basically doing a job that real athletes don’t want to do.  I don’t have a third of the athletic ability of Brandon Spikes.  In fact I probably don’t have a third of the athletic ability of the backup punter at Vanderbilt.  And I’m hoping that this clarification will keep Brandon from pounding me into the ground if we ever meet up in the future.

But hey, as stupid as my comments might have been you have to admit it’s still not as bad as fellow ESPN analyst Desmond Howard.  How about when he said it was Byron Haut’s fault that Blount hit him and that Haut should be the one suspended?  Seriously, what kind of crack do you have to be smoking to make a comment like that?  At least now we all understand why Desmond spent his career as a special teams guy and was never smart enough to figure out how to run passing routes.

Sincerely,

Trevor Matich

Note: “I’m Desmond Howard and I approved this message.  But I don’t do crack.  I just say a lot of stupid things but because I can’t think of anything else to say.”

… we can start the season in earnest. Tennessee Hate Week begins.

Oh, wait, you want to talk the Fightin’ Trojans? Despite a slow first quarter, the Gators exploded in the second fifteen. Tebow notched 5 TDs, the 2s got some playing time, Deonte dropped another then started catching everything, Demps is gonna be a star this year if he can stay healthy, Phillips missed the uprights once, the Trojans only managed two field goals, and yes, 56 is a multiple of 7. Thank you, Troy, here’s your paycheck.

But that outcome was written months ago; it simply had yet to be transferred from the ink blotter to paper. There was little suspense after the first 15 minutes.

The best part of Saturday? Why, that was watching Lane Kiffin’s rooster strut transformed to nervous consternation… followed by grim resignation. The Mighty Bruins of UCLA waltzed into a raucous SEC stadium and, once again, took advantage of the Vols’ offensive ineptitude. Final: 19-15. For their prize, the victors took a chunk of Big Talker’s Hollywood-tanned hide back to his native land, the Republik of California.

UCLA, people. They had to fight against San Diego State last week (33-14) and won a total of 4 games last year. Give ‘em credit, two of their last five wins have come against the Vols… for what that’s worth. Again, I’m reiterating the fact that UCLA traveled across the country and whipped Kiffin and his ultra-high-paid staff in their new backyard.

Here’s the deal: Jonathan Crompton is a terrible quarterback. Sorry, he might be the greatest guy in the world, but he couldn’t run the scout team at Florida. Crompton should consider himself lucky that he finished his day 13/26 for 93 yards, 0 TDs and 3 INTs. In reality he threw five picks; one was dropped in the endzone, the other called back for an offsides penalty. Both were criminally bad reads. To add to the misery, his was the last hand to touch the football before it was fumbled on a bad snap and recovered by UCLA.

For Tennessee, it’s not a question of if Nick Stephens starts… it’s when.

Lane Kiffin’s mouth has earned him an unsual type, and amount, of antipathy. The Vol fans themselves are decent people, the program has a storied tradition, and they’ve certainly suffered enough these past years. There’s no reason to wish them misery, at least not directly. But “Coach” Kiffin has purposefully, and without regret, stirred the emotions of Florida fans into a frenzy. Whereas this game could simply have been interesting to watch in the Swamp, it will now be a full-on assault by 92,000+ upon one man, his staff and his players. I have sent my letters in to the UF coaching staff pointing out Kiffin’s various misdeeds and that, on the face of it, no reasonable person could blame Urban Meyer for leaving his first team in for the entire game, no matter how bloody and horrific a scene ensues.

A quick run-through of what we’re dealing with in Mssr. Kiffin:

1) Intends to sing “Rocky Top” all night long in the Swamp at the conclusion of next weekend’s game.
2) Calls the best coach in college football, and one never sanctioned for any misdoing whatsoever, a “cheater”.
3) Did so while making up NCAA rules off the top of his head, earning an NCAA reprimand.
4) Tried to get witty with Steve Spurrier (never wise).
5) Believes that, starting next year, Tennessee will “always be in the pre-season top 5″ every year.
6) Says Tennessee “operates at a championship level in all that [they] do”. Could have fooled me, this afternoon.
7) Looks like a 10-year old kid that needs a paddling.

Kiffin’s arrival has brought a cheap, plastic-like feel to Tennessee football. It’s all talk, no walk. Phil Fulmer might have extended his career at Tennessee just a few seasons too long, and he was unfortunate enough to be on the backside of his coaching powers curve just when Urban Meyer arrived at the height of his own. But he was a good and decent man, who represented Tennessee with class, and earned the respect of friends and foes alike.

It seems unlikely that Kiffin will really change the true fabric of Tennessee football. That basic essence will outlast him, even if his stay in Knoxville is longer than I and many others outside of Tennessee imagine it will probably be. Maybe a humbling loss to the Vols’ arch divisional rival will help Kiffin mature into a true leader; a man with perspective, insight, and true charisma. But that can be quite a painful process for a man who possesses an ego of such massive proportions.

Remember, Coach… there are no aethiests in foxholes. Florida 62, Tennessee 6.

We all know what’s coming next. And there’s probably nothing outside the realm of wishful thinking that will stop it.

Last season, Florida finished its regular season and SEC tournament schedule with 21 wins. End result: NIT.

In the midst of a two-game losing streak, this season’s total remains at 21.

For all practical, rational purposes, even a two-game winning streak probably won’t get UF back into the Big Dance. The Vols were the best practical shot at a marquee conference win. Mississippi State isn’t exactly the road win the tournament crowd will be seeking. Even Kentucky stands at 8-6 in the conference.

The only thing that will stop a second consecutive trip to the NIT: winning the SEC tournament and the automatic bid that comes with it.

Even then, the Gators will likely have to go through LSU to do that - not a sure thing given that the Tigers have gone 13-1 in the conference while South Carolina, the next best squad, is just 9-5.

And it could be a long offseason as well. Nick Calathes may very well decide to use his outstanding individual season as leverage to declare for the NBA. Walter Hodge, the last remnant of both national championship squads, is graduating. The impending senior leader is known for shooting a lot of bricks.

And, as scary a thought as it sounds, Billy Donovan could very well begin to feel just a tiny bit of warmth in his seat. Going to the NIT once with an entirely different squad is understandable.

Going twice in a row with ten of twelve players being sophomores or freshman is excusable.

Going three times, with a transfer center expected to contribute, with a top prospect in the backcourt headed to Gainesville, with a candidate for SEC Player of the Year who could likely return, and with a conference in a downswing, is unacceptable.

It’s going to be a long, long offseason. Luckily, spring practice for football begins on March 25.

Guys, I know you don’t always play your best game, and what I’m about to show you might be perceived as being persnickety, overtly nasty, or downright blunt.

But since you flat out blew the first half, and had to try to make it all up in the second, we must begin your retraining immediately. For our purposes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Do you know what these are, fellas? Can you provide some insight into the nature of these tempting treats?

These are turnovers. You know, like all the turnovers you had in both halves. And these aren’t just any ordinary turnovers, they are turnovers with the horrible topping of sloppy execution and all around poor ball-handling.

Take a good, long hard look at this picture. Embed it into your collective brain when you practice tomorrow.

In bakeries, turnovers are delicious. In basketball, they absolutely kill your chances to score on the offensive end. They force you to play even more defense than ever. They are deadly to winning chances.

For the next one, we’re breaking out the big guns:

This is Madison Square Garden. To most, it is the most famous basketball arena, if not the most famous all-around entertainment arena in the world.

You might remember it as the place where you played in the Final Four - the NIT Final Four.

Avoid this place like the plague. And no, I don’t mean going back to the NIT and losing before the Final Four either. You know where I’m going.

Last, but not least, you must feast your eyes upon a picture so horrible, so repulsive, and so hideous, that it is the strongest medicine that I know of to snap you out of your funk:

Alas, it is Coach Donovan, but with a sad face. You know what happens when Coach Donovan has a sad face?

He forces you to run all manner of grueling wind sprints and suicides. He brings in high-profile motivational speakers who make you sink in your seat. He makes you watch odd videos and tries to spin out pertinent lessons before each and every game. He closes your state-of-the-art practice facility and makes you do your own laundry.

Do everything in your power to turn his frown upside down. Because if you don’t, the consequences are dire.

There are many corroborating reports of FSU fans descending to new lows in the course of the Florida-Florida State rivalry game. From ESPN:

[FSU fans] cheered wildly when Harvin, the team’s leading receiver, left the game in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle. He limped off the field with the help of trainers and didn’t return.

I’m finding it very difficult to comment on this rationally. I’ve tried, but I can’t find the words to express how despicable this is — it feels like a gut punch. Not from FSU; they’re harmless. But rather that in a game which cherishes sportsmanship, a group of people — any people — could cheer injury to their fellow man.

Luckily for the Gators, there’s one man out there who doesn’t need words.

Tebow was incensed by the reaction.

“That kind of irritated me,” Tebow said. “I told the coach to give me the ball because I really wanted to hit somebody.”

Meyer obliged, and Tebow carried several defenders into the end zone from 4 yards out two plays after Harvin’s injury.

Add another chapter to the legend that is Tim Tebow. And add reason #9924 to hate FSU.

Let’s be honest: this is really bad. As Urban Meyer would say, this is a big deal. It’s hard to fathom cheering a kid getting injured on a football field. Even in the nastiest college rivalries, this is something that just isn’t done. For example, it’s hard to believe that Georgia fans would have done the same if they were in FSU’s shoes. Say what you will about Georgia and their fans — they’re far from perfect — but they wouldn’t do that. O&B Hue has received reports from Gator fans in Doak Campbell indicating that grown men cheered as the nation’s greatest playmaker was helped off the field, while their young children watched them, mystified.

Kids knew better.

Before this incident, I could have understood if flames of this rivalry began dying down. It’s hard to maintain a red-hot blood rivalry when two teams are so obviously speeding in opposite directions — FSU is years away from competing with the Gators. I could have understood if, next year, Urban Meyer was forced to dig deep into his bag of tricks to get the Gators up for yet another mediocre FSU team visiting in the Swamp. But now… ?

Now I think we aim to drop 100 on their sorry asses next November. Welcome to the Swamp, you sorry sacks of sh*t.

Look, it’s not sour grapes. Florida obviously defeated Vanderbilt by a wide margin and this blown call has no direct significance — this time — to the Gators.

But if you care about college football, you’ve got to be disturbed with the quality of officiating involved in this disaster.

1) Percy Harvin has a TD. This much is clear from the several good angles the officials had on the field, not to mention the replay angles later. The play is over before he hits the ground — or should have been.
2) If you subscribe to the notion that the ball did not clearly break the plane — it did, though — Percy Harvin was down. This is obvious to anyone, anywhere. Knees… hip… chest… ball is stripped out long afterward. It’s obvious to Bob Davie in the ESPN booth, and it’s obvious to you and me.
3) The ball, after it is “stripped” is spotted not at the 1-inch line, which is where the play ended, but at the Florida 20-yard line.
4) Stunningly, this call was reviewed, and not overturned.

How is this possible? What sort of incompetence, or crazy logic goes into this being anything other than a Florida touchdown?

Whether it’s for or against the good guys, I hate bad officiating. It cheapens the game. These refs deserve to sit out a game or three.

We interrupt Georgia Hate Week for this brief announcement: we also hate FSU.

We’re a long time removed from Spurrier’s infamous rants about late quarterback hits and Bobby Bowden’s “echo of the whistle”. We all know that FSU plays dirty on defense, they always have, and always will, at least as long as Mickey Andrews is in charge of the Tallahassee insane asylum.

For proof, look no further than FSU’s victory over Virginia Tech, in which both starting QB Tyrod Taylor and backup QB Sean Glennon left the game with ankle injuries.

The Father of Gatorpilot emails O&B Hue:

From Sunday’s Orlando Sentinel, re: SOW’s win over VT:

Afterward, Brown said the tenacity of FSU’s defense had “definitely been missing.”

It returned, at least in some form, against the Hokies.

“Getting to the quarterback and not just getting him on the ground, but putting him out — that’s what Florida State defense is all about,” Brown said.

This is Everett Brown, an FSU defensive end. Surely our coaches don’t tell our D to twist ankles or to injure other star QBs. AT least, that’s what FSU is bragging about. These weren’t hard hits, these were twisted ankles. I hope our gameplan against Georgia isn’t to twist Knowshon’s knee while in the pile. To me, that’s not right. Am I alone here or taking this the wrong way? When I read this in the paper, my first thought was “What a THUG”.

No, Dad, you’re not alone, and you’re not taking it the wrong way. Same old Criminoles. The college game has no place for this nonsense, but it has been alive and well in the Bowden administration for decades. FSU will feel the pain when the the NCAA sanctions are finally levied; it’s too bad they can’t also be penalized for teaching their players to injure their opponents. Bobby Bowden and Mickey Andrews are a disgrace to the game of college football.

Let me start by saying something.

I hate Georgia.

I hate their crappy silver pants which look like something I’d expect to see in a disco in 1977. I hate their generic black “G” which looks like it was ripped off from the Packers. I hate the way Mark Richt’s middle-parted bangs stick straight up on his balding pate. I hate their fans, especially when they start “woofing” at you as you walk by their tailgate, an act which should be humiliating to a human being, but is performed with relish by middle-aged men and women who must have no higher function. I hate their jorts obsession, an irony because there are usually far more jorts being worn by fans of the red and black than orange and blue.

I hate that they consider themselves an elite program when they have to look back nearly thirty years to their first and last national championship. I hate “Run, Lindsey, Run”. I hate black-outs. I hate their gimmicky ribbon boards in Sanford Stadium which flash and strobe whenever the opposing team has the ball. I hate Larry Munson’s gravelly self-deprecating tone. (Well, okay, Munson was all right, I guess.)

I hate — but am also amused by — their TD celebration of last year, an antic which is going to come back to haunt them for years to come.

Most of all, I hate the fact we’ve lost to these bastards 3 times in the last 18 years, and that two of those losses came in this decade. Even if we win Saturday, and then again in ‘09 and ‘10, we won’t be able to erase those tragic losses from the record books. I can barely stomach one loss per decade. Two… it’s unfathomable.

Bottom line is this: Florida is Georgia’s superior. Our football team is better. Hell, our entire athletic program is better. Our state is more scenic, and has better weather (uh, hurricanes notwithstanding). The campus in Gainesville is far more beautiful than the one in Athens. Our fans are better. Our women are prettier. Our mascot is way cooler and the Gator Chomp is far more intimidating than the “woof woof” or whatever it is that Georgia fans do.

Now with that out of the way, please tell us what you hate about Georgia to kick off Hate Week. We will have interesting commentary and analysis, all of that garbage, coming up soon. But for now, share your visceral hatred and tell everyone what you hate most about the scroungy Dawgs.