Saturday Night: Junior T.O. vs. Little Randy

If you thought this weekend's Alabama vs. Georgia game was just another SEC battle you would be partially correct.

It is going to be a knock down, drag out affair, but it's also going to showcase two of the best freshman wide receivers in the country. One, Julio Jones from 'Bama, has been called "Junior T.O.", the other, A.J. Green from Georgia, is known to some as "Little Randy".

And since YouTube videos are worth substantially more than 1,000 words I present you with some highlights of each player(prep). Just sit back, and let their amazing moves soothe your college football soul.





Can't wait for Saturday night now can you? Be patient my friends, you'll be seeing some amazing SEC catches in no time.

It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere: Blowout Edition

Since it's Friday, and the end of the workweek for most people, we think that you should be provided with a post that takes the edge off so to speak. Because it's going to be random and hopefully humorous, that means that it won't always be sports related. It will also pop up at any time on Friday.

Sorry, this post is totally unrelated to Johnathan and his salon, and I know that some of you hair afficiandos are devastated(*cough*Jimmy Clausen*cough*). However, it has everything to do with Florida beating Tennessee 59-20 last year. So sit back and enjoy the asswhooping.



Happy Friday!

Bringin' The Wood: UF vs UT

Every year when Florida faces Tennessee I dig up two images from the past that perfectly represent what I want to see the Gators do on the field.

Exhibit A



Exhibit B



Yes, the appropriate response to both is "oooooooh....(silence)...that's gotta fuckin' hurt".

Hopefully Saturday there will be lots of big hits being placed on the Vols. In fact, Tennessee's o-line might want to take extra special care of Johnathan Crompton because who knows how many hits that gimpy ankle will be able to take. With any luck, Jermaine Cunningham will make some appearances in the UT backfield, and if we're lucky he'll pick some sacks and maybe a loose helmet or two.

What To Watch For Wednesday: UF vs UT

Here's a little segment that may or may not show up every Wednesday during the college football season. To start, it's going to focus on some things to watch for during the UF vs UT game.

Who will replace C.I.? This game is probably going to be the first one where Florida could struggle with the loss of Cornelius Ingram. Sure, they have a ton of playmakers, but in last year's contest C.I. tallied 3 receptions for 56 yards and caught one of Tebow's two passing touchdowns. I have no doubt that Hernandez and Casey can put up similar stats, and hopefully they'll answer the call should Tebow need them for some crucial plays.

Is this when Emmanuel Moody breaks out? Seriously, is he still on the team? He's gotten two carries so far this season, eventhough Coach Meyer was seemingly touting him as the feature back during the spring. However, even with those paltry stats a part of me can't help but feel that Meyer is waiting for just the right moment to unleash him. It just seems like it's a big secret that only the team knows about, and after he runs for a good amount of yards and some scores they'll be telling all the reporters about how they had to keep it on the DL. Though, after last year's shenanigans it might not be unveiled until the Georgia game.

Will Florida's rushing Medusa outgain the Vols' tandem? Foster and Hardesty are strong runners, and we all know how important the rushing stats are in this series. But will they be able to put up more yards than a group that's made up of Tebow, Harvin, Demps, Rainey, James, Moore and possibly Moody? That's a lot of bodies to throw at a team in the rush game, and a lot of different looks that can be used to trick the defense. Even more than the amount that the Gators had last year when they won 59-20.

Can Florida's secondary remain scorch free? Last season, Florida's secondary should have been playing in Nomex jerseys because they got burnt constantly. If there's one bright spot it's that when Jonathan Crompton came in last year against the Gators he went 2-for-5 with an INT. UT's receiving corps isn't quite as strong as past seasons, though, the opposition's talent hasn't always had to be high in order for Florida to give up big passing numbers. This year the unit does seem much more cohesive, and there's no doubt that they can ballhawk sideline to sideline.

All in all, it should be another exciting SEC opener for both teams. Florida seemingly is the more talented team, and should pull out a win. Hopefully even better than the 39 point drubbing they dropped on the Vols last year.

Let The Hate Begin: UF vs Tennessee

So, we're officially on the second day of UF vs Tennessee week, and I thought that it would be a good time to get it going here.

After all, Percy Harvin seems to be ready for the game, so we all should be ready for the game. In fact, Mr. Harvin may be more ready for this game than any of them between 10th grade and now:

After missing the spring and most of the preseason recovering from heel surgery, Harvin said he’s 100 percent now and feeling better than he ever has in his Florida career. Better than he has in a long time.

When asked when was the last time he’s felt this good, Harvin said, “My 10th grade in high school. (The heel) has been nagging me since high school. I did the long jump and played basketball and ran track. All those years it was tearing the bone in my heel. We’ve got it all figured out now. I feel 100 times better.”

Yeah, so all of those plays where he made some moves and outran the defense? He wasn't at 100%. Including last year's Tennessee game where he had 75 yards rushing(20 of which came on the play below...down in front!) and 120 yards receiving.




Honestly, at this point the scariest thing about the Vols is Eric Berry. But he isn't going to be putting points on the scoreboard(hopefully), so he's not as threatening as a gamebreaking receiver or running back. Though, Foster and Hardesty are a good tandem.

If all goes well, the Gators will be tallying up another win against Tennessee. The fourth straight for Coach Meyer since he beat them 16-7 back in 2005.

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Tebow Adds To Trophy Case

The Heisman is still the big one, but being named the SEC Male Athlete of The Year is pretty damn cool too. Today, Tim Tebow added that award to the trophy case.

Florida Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow was named the Southeastern Conference's Roy F. Kramer Male Athlete of the Year in a vote of the league's athletic directors, the league announced Wednesday.

He was joined in the honor by Tennessee basketball player Candace Parker, voted as the league's Female Athlete of the Year.

"The SEC is very proud to honor Tim and Candace, as they are outstanding examples of what a student-athlete can accomplish, both on and off the field of competition," SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said. "Their hard work and dedication to excellence have made them fine representatives of their universities and this conference. We congratulate them and wish them the best in their future endeavors."

Tebow, the only sophomore to win the Heisman, already owns Gator quarterback records for rushing yards (1,364) and touchdowns (37). In two seasons, he has thrown for 3,644 yards and rushed for another 31 scores. He also was the first quarterback in college football history to pass for 20 touchdowns and run for 20 scores.

It's another achievement that Tebow gets to add to the long list that he's compiled in a relatively short amount of time. Eventhough Tebow can obviously do a lot of things, I would like to know if he can dunk like Candace Parker.

An SEC Network? Yes please!

College football spring meetings aren't always the most exciting events, though they can help bridge the void between spring practice and summer workouts. This year's SEC meetings, however have provided fans of the conference with something to think about regarding television coverage. That's right, they might be able to enjoy their very own TV network.

The league's contracts with its network partners expire in the next year, prompting SEC leadership to start preliminary negotiations as to whether to extend those deals or create a new plan for SEC sports on television.

"All that stuff is very much on the table right now," UF Athletic Director Jeremy Foley said. "Where it stands, how viable it is, time will tell."

League officials continue to study the feasibility of an SEC Network, which could launch as soon as the fall of 2009. The channel could be modeled upon similar endeavors by the NFL, the Big Ten and the Mountain West Conference.

Raycom Sports executive producer Jimmy Rayburn said Tuesday he expects the league to decide on a channel by the end of this calendar year. Regardless of that decision, Rayburn said he expects the SEC to maintain working deals with major national networks, likely CBS and ESPN. If an SEC Network becomes reality, Raycom could help produce and distribute games, as it does now for the league.

Obviously, making the decision on having the channel at all is a big first step, but that would surely be followed with lengthy discussions on how it's going to be carried. So far, the Big 10 Network hasn't had the easiest time with respect to carriage rights. Though, the SEC is probably a more widely popular conference, and would likely have an easier time being priced reasonably on a variety of broadcast companies' tiers. Or maybe the Big 10 has had a problem because their commissioner, Jim Delaney, is a jerk. Whatever the case may be, having a network fully devoted to SEC sports would be an awesome thing. Though, the cost of replacing TV's because of the channel's awesomeness destroying them could get up there.


SEC Network set to launch in 3...2...1...

SEC Football, A Great Icebreaker

I would like to think that there are a number of topics that I could conversate on fairly well. However, being that I'm a sportsfan anything related to sports is obviously much more in my comfort zone. And seeing as how I'm a college football fan, especially SEC football, anything falling within that realm is pretty easy for me to talk about. Which is a good thing when you meet someone(read: someone whose opinion of you is important) for the first time who is also an SEC football fan.

Going into the situation I knew that the other person was an Auburn graduate, and figured that they were probably a fan of Auburn Tigers football. So, I decided that the best thing to do was to let them know that I was a graduate of the University of Florida. Of course, the first thing I got in response was a reminder that the Tigers had defeated the Gators the past two seasons. Though, it was obviously good-natured. Just two SEC football fans interacting the way we do.

From there, the conversation lead to Tebow, Tray Blackmon, spread offenses, Al Borges' departure and Auburn's quarterback situation. Topics that, to other people, probably seem mundane, but are of the utmost importance to the two fans of those respective teams. Eventually, the conversation moved along to other topics, but that shared enthusiasm for SEC football definitely got it off to a good start.

You see, finding someone to discuss any aspect of college football with during the offseason is a very welcome thing, but when it's with someone whose opinion you value it's great to have that as a lead-in to other, more important(yes SEC football fans, there are more important things...gasp), topics.

Someone At CBS Hates The Gators

Being that it's nearing the end of the college football season, everyone is putting together their "lists". You know, the ones that detail who they felt the best players were, what the best moments were, all that good stuff. Well, on Saturday, during the SEC title game, Verne Lundquist and Gary Danielson(and to a lesser extent, Tracy Wolfson) went through their awards. They called them the "Lund-Sons", and everything seemed fine until they reached one screen in particular.
Ok, Lundquist and Danielson, I see what you did there. You tried to sneak it past me, but I caught you. You're top three moments of the season all involved Florida losses?

Come on guys, I know that you covered so many great moments this season that you weren't forced to pick three where the Gators lost. Arkansas beating LSU in triple OT perhaps? Or maybe LSU beating Auburn on a last second touchdown pass? Or LSU beating former LSU head coach Nick Saban and his Alabama team by scoring two touchdowns in the final three minutes? Those are just three that I came up with after checking out what games they covered(thanks to Awful Announcing for the schedule). Neither of those involve a last second field goal, but they have to be every bit as impressive as their "Best Moment" and "Best Move" selections(Demetrious Byrd calling for the ball in the Auburn game won it for them).

Oh well, guess I'll just have to live with Lunquist's and Danielson's Gator hatred. At least it's better than watching them do the "Soulja Boy" on a loop.

It's A Hard Knock Life For Kickers

It really is tough being a kicker. Sure, when you make the game winning field goal everyone lifts you up and celebrates. Until the next morning, when they're still amped about the win, but don't remember the kick so much. As the week progresses to the next game the memory of that game winner fades even more until all that's left is a great win and nothing more. But if you miss the potential game winner people will remember for weeks, months, years, maybe even lifetimes.

Then you also have backups that attempt to injure you so they can take over the starting position(ok, that's mostly punters, but they still kick the ball). And on kickoffs you always get setup as the last guy to try and tackle someone running full speed that's usually a little more athletic, and then they show the highlight of you getting your ankles broken while attempting some pussified form of a tackle over and over again.

Such is the life of a kicker, and Georgia's Brandon Coutu can attest to that.

On Saturday night, Brandon Coutu kicked a 37-yard field goal to seal the win against Vanderbilt. The win kept Georgia in the hunt for the SEC East title, and Coutu's teammates rallied around him as the game ended. Coutu's excitement was cut short, however when he found out that his home had been burglarized as he was heading back from the Vandy game.

One of the best nights in Brandon Coutu's life quickly turned into one of the worst on Saturday.

The Georgia kicker walked into his Athens home after kicking a game-winning field goal at Vanderbilt and found that burglars had ransacked the place and stolen almost everything of value and some of sentimental value, such as SEC championship and bowl gifts.

"They took a lot of stuff, a lot of things that were important to him," said Ron Coutu, Brandon's father. "They took a TV with an SEC logo on it, an Xbox, iPods, computer, a bunch of electronic-type stuff."

Coutu learned of the break-in on his way back from the Vanderbilt game. A friend had gone to the house and was to meet Coutu there for a celebration. After finding the back door kicked in, he went in, discovered the burglary and called Coutu.

"It was not fun having to tell him," Ron Coutu said. "Obviously it was a big night for him and he walked in there frustrated. But the main thing is nobody got hurt and almost everything can be replaced."

So, instead of basking in the win Coutu got to think about trying to replace the schoolwork(kickers have to go to class, star qb's and running backs not so much) that had been taken with the theft of his laptop. The news of the theft has also partially overshadowed the importance of his kick.

At first, the Coutus thought about not talking to the media about the break-in, but Brandon said he wanted to do everything possible to try to find the perpetrator or perpetrators. If the word got out, he thought, maybe someone would be able to point police in the right direction.

"He has gotten more media attention from this than he did from the game-winning kick," Ron Coutu said.

Just another sad example of the week to week struggles that kickers endure as they practice and perform their limited shots at glory. Hopefully the next time a kicker puts through the winning field goal some asshat doesn't bust into their place and jack their stuff. We all know kickers' psyches are fragile enough as it is.

Joe Scarborough Educates Us On SEC Football

Most of you probably know Joe Scarborough as the host of "Scarborough Country" on MSNBC. He's also taken over the fomer Don Imus morning timeslot with his new show "Morning Joe", and this morning he gave us all a little schooling on SEC football(if someone has the video please send me the link).

Apparently, an irate viewer had sent in an angry e-mail regarding something that had been said on the show about Germans "getting over the war". I'm not exactly sure what his point of contention was, but it's important to note that Scarborough believed that, for the most part, Germans had "gotten over the war". Then he said something to the effect of:

Do you know what the difference between Germans and Southerners is? Germans have gotten over their war. There's still a large percentage of Southerners that haven't gotten over the outcome of the Civil War, and that's why SEC football is so powerful. We(Southerners) pour everything into SEC football. Those Yankees aren't as passionate as we are. Bring Syracuse down into The Swamp and we'll whip them every time. You'll see it again this year, especially now that my man(Nick Saban) is back. Ah, I can't wait for SEC football to start back up, we should have a countdown clock for the beginning of the SEC season.

Wow. Obviously that's paraphrasing a bit, but you get the idea. Scarborough does have a pretty good idea of SEC football, as he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Alabama and his law degree from the University of Florida. However, I would like to think that it's because of the athletes, facilities, training methods and coaching. Not because we wish that the outcome of the Civil War would have been different so that we could show up on Saturdays waving our Confederate flags. Ole Miss even had to go as far as to enact a Confederate flag ban, and the last title they won was an SEC one in 1963. Though, with any luck the Orgeron will return them to prominence, so that we can see him and Scarborough discuss SEC football. Now that would be powerful.

As If Kentucky Needed Anymore Reason To Hate Florida

Florida versus Kentucky has become a pretty good rivalry on the hardwood in recent years with the resurgence of UF's men's basketball program. With their two wins this past season, Florida became the first SEC team to ever beat Kentucky six consecutive times. They also continued their recent win streak against Kentucky in the offseason.

The first occasion came in the head-to-head matchup for Florida's coach Billy Donovan. Donovan had recently brought the second straight men's basketball national championship to Florida, and with Tubby Smith's departure to Minnesota there was much speculation that "Billy The Kid" would become the new head coach of the Wildcats. Rumors even surfaced that Donovan was going to sign a 7-year contract worth $3.5 million per year with Kentucky after the tournament. We all know how that turned out for Kentucky.

The second "victory" this offseason came when prized basketball recruit, Jai Lucas, chose Florida over Kentucky(and Oklahoma State) yesterday. Lucas, a McDonald's All-American, is talented enough to immediately fill the void created by Taurean Green's departure. Lucas had been one of the top two recruits pursued by Kentucky, and his decision to head to Gainesville could influence his friend Patrick Patterson, another highly touted recruit pursued by Kentucky, to play for the Gators as well. If that happens, and Patterson is expected to announce his decision on Wednesday, then it's just more fuel on the fire that is the rivalry between Florida and Kentucky.

These offseason events will make the two Florida vs Kentucky games in '07-'08, especially the one in Lexington on or about March 2, that much more intense. I suggest you start making plans now to watch them if you enjoy college basketball even just a little bit.

[Photo by Tracy Wilcox, The Gainesville Sun]