The Mighty Florida Fighting Gators and...well...uhh...the buckeyes
Anyone who's read here for any length of time knows the youngster is a huge Gator fan. I, on the other hand, am not. I'll pull for them when they play teams from other places just cuz they're the local guys, and I will again on Monday, when the Florida Gators face the Ohio State Buckeyes for the college football national championship. It won't bother me a whole lot if they lose though. I'd do the same for Florida State, which is one thing the more rabid fans of both teams can't grasp.
This time I'll do it for another reason though. It's not quite teeny-weeny Boise State against big powerful Oklahoma, but it runs in the same vein. The Gators are supposedly pretenders, not really deserving to even be in this game. They supposedly have no chance to win, and again, it's not a matter of Ohio State winning. The only question is, by how much. Urban Meyer, the Florida coach, held a publication about the game...a thick magazine of sorts. It had about a hundred pages devoted to the Ohio State Buckeyes and two, count 'em two pages about the Gators. They're an afterthought. Ohio State already has the trophy in hand and the only reason the Gators are even in Arizona is because...well...we couldn't have a national championship game if there was nobody there for Ohio State to beat. That in itself makes me want to pull for the Gators. The Ohio State coach didn't vote in the final coaches poll, which helped determine who his opponent would be in this game. There was speculation that he didn't want to vote Michigan number 2. He didn't want to face Michigan again (because he was afraid his Buckeyes might lose) but would rather play a wimpier Florida team, yet couldn't vote for Florida and have people think he voted for the weaker team. I'm not saying that's true, but that is the national perception, outside the southeast. It's a lot like how Texas was percieved going up against big bad USC last year and had no chance of winning. When no other rooting interests come into play, I love the underdog. I love seeing the experts eat their words and the saying, "that's why they play the game."
I know the experts can't be wrong all the time. I don't expect the Gators to beat the Buckeyes, and in my world, no biggie if they don't...but what fun it'll be if they do.
The next question is, why do we have to wait until Monday night to play this game? I know there are NFL games this Saturday, but not all day. Wouldn't a weekend game get you a much larger TV audience and more attention than one played on a Monday night? I'm sure this thing could be played Saturday night and let the NFL have the afternoon, but hey...who am I to inject a little common sense into all that?
This time I'll do it for another reason though. It's not quite teeny-weeny Boise State against big powerful Oklahoma, but it runs in the same vein. The Gators are supposedly pretenders, not really deserving to even be in this game. They supposedly have no chance to win, and again, it's not a matter of Ohio State winning. The only question is, by how much. Urban Meyer, the Florida coach, held a publication about the game...a thick magazine of sorts. It had about a hundred pages devoted to the Ohio State Buckeyes and two, count 'em two pages about the Gators. They're an afterthought. Ohio State already has the trophy in hand and the only reason the Gators are even in Arizona is because...well...we couldn't have a national championship game if there was nobody there for Ohio State to beat. That in itself makes me want to pull for the Gators. The Ohio State coach didn't vote in the final coaches poll, which helped determine who his opponent would be in this game. There was speculation that he didn't want to vote Michigan number 2. He didn't want to face Michigan again (because he was afraid his Buckeyes might lose) but would rather play a wimpier Florida team, yet couldn't vote for Florida and have people think he voted for the weaker team. I'm not saying that's true, but that is the national perception, outside the southeast. It's a lot like how Texas was percieved going up against big bad USC last year and had no chance of winning. When no other rooting interests come into play, I love the underdog. I love seeing the experts eat their words and the saying, "that's why they play the game."
I know the experts can't be wrong all the time. I don't expect the Gators to beat the Buckeyes, and in my world, no biggie if they don't...but what fun it'll be if they do.
The next question is, why do we have to wait until Monday night to play this game? I know there are NFL games this Saturday, but not all day. Wouldn't a weekend game get you a much larger TV audience and more attention than one played on a Monday night? I'm sure this thing could be played Saturday night and let the NFL have the afternoon, but hey...who am I to inject a little common sense into all that?
Labels: Sports
John put this out here at 9:12 AM
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