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The Rest of Saturday’s Card,a word on the Gators, and an ode to Jimmy the Greek…

November 14, 2009 in ACC, ATS, BCS, E-SPIN, Gameday, Gators, Main Content, PAC 1 + 9, PAC 10, SEC | 2 comments

Phew…we at SNL have been running amok about the state of Florida this week.  Why you ask?  To bring you the very best in breaking CFB news and information?  Which you, loyal members of the flock can then parlay into a nifty nest egg to be frivolously spent on booze, rims, and Affliction gear  that matches your barbwire tattoo?  Not even close.

Still, we’ve managed to find a little time to put together a palatable slate of plays for those of you interested in this sort of thing…you know who you are, you’re called “degenerates” by people of good repute.

Florida at USC (+17.5):  We posted earlier this week on what a strange year this has been for the Gator allegiant.  Like Dickinson said many years ago…It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… 

What we expect is more of the same from our beloved Gators…good defense and so many field goals you’ll feel like your watching Australian Rules…Throw in the slugger’s chance you always have when The Visor is pacing the sidelines with his diabolical playbook and the fact the ‘Cocks are pretty stiff at home (who can resist?), and we’ll take the generous 17 plus the hook. 

Afterwards, we’ll join the rest of the Gators in listening stone-faced to Urban’s typical, taciturn post-game press conference which will include some variation of the following statement “that was Florida football out there, field position, protect the ball, and good defense,” and if we’re lucky to catch our stoic leader on a peppy day, something like “any win in the SEC is a good win.”  He’ll be right of course, but we’ll still feel like we just took a smokin’ hot girl to a $200.00 dinner at Ruth’s Chris and didn’t even get a kiss at the door. 

Florida 23-13, and don’t bother DVR’ing the game, you won’t want to watch it twice.

Utah (+20.5) at TCU:  We here at SNL love us some Utes.  No, not because they were kind of enough to give us Urban Meyer in exchange for a truckload of money.  Rather, our love is founded on irony:  As in, “it’s ironic that the Utes do not aspire to the ethnic and religious homogeneity of their sister university, BYU.”  Because of this willingness to embrace athletes who are more err….athletic- yea! That’s it…athleitc!!-than those of the Provo variety, the Utes can hang around with TCU.   Here’s to you Jimmy the Greek!

TCU 28-13…buy the hook an make sure you get the three touchdonwns, you’ll be white-knuckling until the end of this one.

The Best of the Rest:

Miss St. (+12.5) over ‘Bama

Da’U v. UNC o44

Stanford (+10.5) over the Boy-Troys

Notre Dame (+7) over Pitt…

-So sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: ACC, ATS, Bama, BCS, Degenerate Gamblers, Gators, Horned Frogs, Meyer, Spurrier, USC, Utes

In Spikes’ Defense…

November 4, 2009 in E-SPIN, SEC, UGA | No comments

EaleySpikes Sure, two wrongs don’t make a right and yada, yada, yada.  But it seems to use here at SNL that the foregoing is pictorial evidence that suggests the Ealey may have been giving a few Florida players, including Spikes’ bestest bud, Haden, the business on Saturday.  True, we’ve got no temporal sense of when this fracas occurred, but it seems reasonable to assume it occurred before Brandon “The Velociraptor” Spikes went Mike Tyson on Ealey’s orbs. 

This will please Pops, who as noted, doesn’t typically accept with aplomb foul play on the part of his beloved Gators (and quite often closes his eyes and ears and yells la, la, la, la at the top of his lungs when bad behavior on the part of the Orange and Blue is afoot).  As an added benefit, this fine photograph seems to mitigate if not exonerate poor Mr. Spikes, who has been beset by naysayers of the E-SPIN variety since this issue blew up last weekend.  We just knew that no man worthy of the Orange and Blue would stoop to such levels unprovoked.  Right?

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Ealey, Gators, Spikes, UGA

Monday Morning Quarterbacking: Flori-Bama, Spikes, UGA and other thoughts…

November 2, 2009 in ATS, BCS, E-SPIN, Layla Kiffin, Main Content | No comments

The good Doctor reports that Richt is under siege from UGA supporters hell bent on replacing Cox, whose 3 int’s arguably turned the UF-UGA tilt from the “respectable loss” realm into the “damn-UGA-got-their-***-kicked-by-UF-again” variety.  True to form, Richt will not be airing his team’s laundry to the press, which is laudable by most standards, but it does seem that explanations for UGA’s struggles will be owed as long as Richt is drawing a few million a year for his troubles. 

Speaking of which, Dawgsports‘ post-defeat write-up on the game is well articulated, so well in fact it takes those of us now living in the heightof Florida’s Renaissance back to the days of yore, when Florida’s head coach looked like a well-muscled oompa loompa and would occasionally involve himself in physical altercations with fraternity brothers.  True, Zook never even approached the success that Rich has had, but the pain of losing is universal, especially in the South where our respective football allegiance is the engine that drives our towns, economies, and often, live-which is, as my yankee brethren often point out with much sarcasm, kind of pathetic.  (No, not you Vandy, you’re not like the other boys).  Seriously, give the post a read, it’s great. 

Glass half-full or half empty?  Those Gators fans not busy defending Spikes’ eye-gouge, which is apparently going to warrant a suspension by the Commish, are lauding the UGA game as Florida’s return to form as the dominant power in CFB.  “Florida’s offense is back,” they say, “See you in Pasadena!” 

SNL has made a living mocking the ups and downs of the Gator faithful, many of whom were questioning the viability of Meyer’s offensive scheme at the mid-point of last season, so this week’s euphoria comes as no surprise.  But it’s way too soon to declare Saturday’s win over a very pedestrian UGA outfit as some sort of Waterloo.  The truth is, UGA moved the ball efficiently enough to call into doubt the conventional notion that UF’s defense is the equal of its SEC West reciprocal, Alabama.  And, the offense was spotty at times, though better, and benefitted greatly from some short field scoring opportunities which inflated the score.  True, UGA was coming off a bye and had so much at stake, which was evidenced by the jaw-boning going on on that field.  Still, is was a workmanlike win at best which, when considering the cardiac moments of the past couple of games, will do thank you very much.  Florida is still struggling to get consistent pressure from its down four and the DTs in particular aren’t getting much push.  A better effort will be called upon by the time Saban’s crew arrives in the ATL and that’s a fact.  Put another way, make sure you know well your Cancellation Policy when you book your rooms in Pasadena. 

Quickly…a thanks to the Ducks for emphatically ensuring that we won’t have to suffer from the frosted-tipped heads at E-SPIN heads telling us in unison that “USC is better than anyone in the country right now,”  throughout the month of November.    Sorry Poodle, this year’s Men of Troy are non-good and non-factors in the PAC 1 + 9 (with the “1′ being Oregon.  The inevitable downside is that Boise has another bullet, of an admittedly small caliber, to throw at the pollsters by virtue of its opening day win over Oregon.  Still a trade up.  FSU and Da’ U squeaked out winsthis weekend.  Say waht you will, Ponder continues to prove that his is good, very good, and will be playing on Sundays.  The OBC was depantsed by Laya Kiffin’s Husband, which is sad but has some upside in that UT is quickly becoming the object of Florida’s hate, and will remain so until UGA rights the ship and wins a few games in Jax. 

Finally….‘Bama has opened as a 9-point favorite over LSU, a line that seems not be reflective of LSU’s recent thumping of Auburn (who just thumped Ole Miss), and ‘Bama’s struggle v. UT.  On the other hand, ‘Bama shows up in big games under Saban, so maybe the line is about right.  We don’t have to decide until later this week. 

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Bama, Gators, Meyer, Saban, Spikes, The Poodle, USC

What they’re saying in Baton Rouge and Tebow-Gate: Will he or won’t he?

October 8, 2009 in Gators, LSU, Main Content, The Hat | No comments

tebow-meyerAfter much rumination, SNL has decided to post weekly on what the other camps blogs and sports columnists are reporting.  Assuming of course, the that “other camp” is not FIU or one of the other embarrassing D-II schools Foley insists on scheduling due to the “economics of the situation.”  In other words, if Vegas doesn’t have a spread, the game doesn’t really happen, no matter how many fervent, orange and blue clad folks you shove in The Swamp.  So, without further ado…

Tiger Bait is concerned with LSU’s pass rush, which hasn’t generated a sack since the Vandy game.  Truth be told, Vandy is more or less like SNL’s old JV team, which passed only after 2 (or 3 depending on field position) running plays failed to net a first down.  Naturally, there’s no way of knowing what goes on in the woeful Commie’s huddle, but the results can reasonably lead one to conclude that Vandy’s pass plays are drawn on the chest of the QB with his fingers, so sacks of Commie QB’s are essentially void ab initio.

And the Valley Shook, a well-reasoned LSU blog and one of SNL’s favorites, has devoted some space to deriding the now rote “LSU-crank-calling” tradition and thrown in a nice cuckolding of the chorus of expertswith no information whatsoever but who nonetheless maintain that Tebow should not play this Saturday.   SNL couldn’t agree more.  With respect to actual x’s and o’s, ATVS has remained relatively mum, but has taken an interesting position positing that the primary reason to sit Tebow is because this game “isn’t that important to either team.”  Presumably, this assertion is based on the fact that either team winning out following a loss in this game would be a de facto participant in the national title game.  SNL is not entirely certain that this logic holds sway if its Florida that loses, for two reasons:  1) Florida’s non-conference slate is abysmal, doubly so now that we can all attest to the fact that FSU is horrible by any objective measure and under siege to boot; and 2) Florida’s Western Division draw this year omits ‘Bama, Ole Miss, and Auburn, so Florida’s next opportunity to impress the pollsters will be in the SECCG.  Put another way, LSU plays 3 more ranked teams, one in the top-3, and Florida plays zero unless the OBC can catch fire.  Ergo, for Florida this game is a must win. 

Bandit’s LSU Sports Blogspt LSUga bf 0197.jpg has chosen to opine on LSU’s lack of pass rush and questions Florida’s ability to exploit it.  After some relatively banal introspection (in written form), Bandit  concludes that Florida can, in fact, exploit LSU’s lack of pressure and ends his piece prophetically but writing “[s]ometimes weakness can be exploited both at the depth of the weakness and during the attempt to fix the problem.”    Bandit, circa 2009 A.D.  So Bandit is no wizard of hyperbole, the blog is still worth a gander on game week. 

Baton Rouge’s on-line newspaper, The Advocate,  has a piece centered on LSU’s renewed “swagger” due to Scott’s 95 yard performance at UGA last week and his 33-yard scoring run with time running out.  Click if you’re bored, but this is just banal newspaper drivel.  Of course, using the term swagger is all of the rage thanks to Jay-Z and friends, but this clevueruse of contemporary nomenclature aside, there’s no need to check this piece out.  Maybe the ’swagger” will hit this site in time for the game, so check back.  The columnist at The Advocate, Randy Rosetta, has a pretty good piece about the talk around the water cooler, so he should be worth reading in days to come.  One point of interest in Rosetta’s piece, CBS’ “experts” have given their picks and 4 of 5 think the Tigers will knock off the Gators.  For Florida fans who deem this to be little more than biased puffery, SNL would remind you that LSU has faced tougher competition to date, especially on the road where they have defeated a pretty good UGA and U-dub. 

LSU’s Student Newspaper is also worth a gander,  though there’s nothing to get all geeked up about at present. 

There you have it flock-no bulletin board material whatsoever, just two great programs respectful of one another and looking forward to a spirited competition. 

SNL will try and stir things up with this next post, all this hand-holding makes me sick. 

As for St. Tebow:  Pope Urb has been predictably mum on the situation, at least to those who know that Pope Urb is the love-child of Bill Belichik and Johnny “Tight Lips” Fugazzi (a little know Eye-talian gangster that spoke little, but killed much).  This has prompted The Hat to prepare for both QB’s-allegedly-which is all part of the plan.  Seriously, it seems that no one knows Tebow’s status, including the team of world renowned physicians that UF has hired to monitor his recovery.  The more interesting anlge to this overdone story is the divergence of opinion between the national media, who believe that Urban will readily mortgage Tebow’s future health for a win at LSU by playing him no matter what the “experts” say, and the regional media, who believe that Tebow will play because he’s, well, Tim Tebow, slayer of draqgons, feared by men and loved by women.  SNL has tried to hit up some of the local talking heads for some scoop-you know, put their physical education degrees to work for the betterment of the flock-to no avail.  It seems that the taciturn Urban, already skiddish when it comes to players who were wiened under Spurrier’s “finesse” system, has buttoned up all informal channels of communication as well. 

SNL expects Brantley and a very tight game to be won by Florida’s defense.  More on this later…

-So Sayeth the Shephard

Tags: Gators, LSU, Pope Meyer, The Hat

UF v. UT, The Feud Continues

September 22, 2009 in Gators, Vols | No comments

kiffinmeyerIf UT ever beats Florida again, this Kiffin-Meyer rivalry is going to be fantastic. 

The latest comes in the wake of Ut’s recent loss to the Gators, their 4th in a row bye the bye, when was asked whether he was worried about the flu hitting Tennessee, he said: “I don’t know. I guess we’ll wait and after we’re not excited about a performance, we’ll tell you everybody was sick.”  This thinly veiled barb is Kiffin’s crack-back against Meyer for saying that UT wasn’t trying to win the game on Saturday, which they weren’t, and that Florida’s conservative play was partially spawned by UT’s evident offensive impotence, and partially due to some key players having the flu. 

Kiffin wasn’t done either, telling the same reporter that “he wished he could play Florida again,” and “[n]ext time they [Florida] will be without Tebow.” 

The more conciliatory of the Gators have attempted to mitigate Kiffin’s comments by recalling the brash OBC, who coined such memorables as “Free Shoes University” and “[y]ou can’t spell Citrus without UT.”  True, we Gators lapped it up while the rest of the league fumed.  More discerning minds, however, might point out a small difference between the OBC and Kiffin:  Florida was winning games before the OBC wnet public, a lot of them. 

Until now, SNL has staunchly defended Baby Kiffin’s right to poke at Urban on grounds that Kiffin’s comments were the only thing that spawned any interest in this game outside of Gainesville and Knoxville.  This latest round, however, has cast Kiffin in a new light, making him seem petulant rather than precocious, boastful rathern than brave, pouty rather than competitive.  There is now enough evidence to believe that Kiffin is little more than spoiled brat who has had doors opened for him by his legendary father.  Kiffin’s track record certainly bolsters this assertion, he is now 7-17 as a head coach and UT’s appearance in a bowl game in 2009 is tenuous at best.  For comparative purposes, Kiffin’s former colleague, Sarkisian, has 2-1 record with a narrow defeat to a top-10 team and an upset win over a top-5 team, but has yet to take a shot at any of the PAC-10 coaches. 

Kiffin’s Vols did some good things against UF, but they did more mediocre and bad and all but the most partisan would agree that UT was never a threat to win against the Gators.  And yet, the mouthing-off continues.  The UT faithful will continue to drink the Kiffin-punch, for awhile.  But the time will come when losing to UF and Alabama year in and year out, no motter how fine the margin, will be unacceptable.  Until then, Kiffin’s barbs will rightfully be construed by the rest of us as the tantrums of a boy playing in a conference for men. 

-So Sayeth the Shepherd

Tags: Gators, UT, Vols

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