Ruthless Aggression, Column Two
by Andy Barch
SCREW YOU YOOOOOU'RE FIIIIIIIIIIRED!!
The above-mentioned title is a direct quote from the LEGENDARY Vince
McMahon. These were also the words indirectly spoken by Florida
Athletic Director Jeremy Foley when he informed Ron Zook that his
services would no longer be needed at season's end as Head Football
Coach of the Florida Gators.
This obviously shook things up in the Gator locker room being as
though Zook is a player's coach and has so much respect from his
troops. According to Florida Safety Jarvis Herring, the players ripped
Jeremy Foley apart when he addressed the team. USA Today quoted him as
saying "The questions only lasted 10 minutes. If it would've lasted
any longer, there's no telling what might've happened."
The timing was certainly not right. Why fire the coach with 4 games
remaining on the schedule? I'm amazed that Zook is staying on as head
coach for the final 4 games knowing that he will not be back at
season's end, but this just goes to show how respectful he is of his
players.
A lot of the current Gators who were on board when Spurrier left
Gainesville are not at all impressed with the rumors circulating
around the return of the ol' Ball Coach. Gee, I'm shocked, how could
you get excited about someone who left you without saying good-bye?
That's asking a 21 year old kid what he thinks about his dead beat
father who left him at age 5 when he needed him the most because he
figured he wasnt ready to be a father. Would you expect that
kid to jump for joy at the thought that his father left him? Would you
expect him to welcome his father back with open arms? His father would
be lucky if he greeted him with just an open fist.
We were all dealt the wrong hand in this World Series. A good poker
player is only as good as the cards he's dealt. We were not given the
right Cards in this series. Not to take anything away from the Boston
Red Sox. They are your World Series Champions and by God they deserve
it. However, when a team commits 8 errors in the first 2 games in
series of this magnitude, you've got to take advantage of them.
The Cards were sound defensively, but their mediocre starting pitchers
were exposed by this superb Boston offense. Lets not forget that
Cardinal offense fell asleep and never really woke up. To state the
obvious, Pedro, Schilling, Lowe and company were absolutely
outstanding in the World Series, making this abolishment of the curse
about as climactic as the Seinfeld series finale.
Speaking of obvious, did anyone read the Wednesday October 27th
version of the USA Today? The cover story in the sports section titled
"Losers Giveth, winners taketh away" stating that those who turn the
ball over less, and create more turnovers win more games.
Really? Are you kidding me? I always thought that you increased your
chances of winning by turning the ball over deep inside your own
territory to set up a score for the opposition. Better yet, I was
under the impression that by taking a drive deep into your opponents
territory, and then turning the ball over, killing any momentum that
you may have had while eliminating your chances of scoring really
increased your chances of coming away with a win.
What are they going to tell me next? Will they mention that the '72 Men's
Olympic Basketball Team was screwed by the Russians? Will they
persuade us to believe that the BCS system is garbage and needs to be
replaced? Or will they title next week's cover story "Baseball's Capitalistic Structure Eliminates Competitive Balance".
I love USA Today, its a great newspaper. Matter of fact it entertains me in the AM when my morning coffee and last night's pizza take effect, but this is an article I just didnt think was worthy of front page status. It didnt tell us anything that we didnt already know.
Have a great week, and enjoy Michael Irvin's tremendous analysis.