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INTERNET54 General

Pat Yasinskas just posted some notes that I think Saints fans will find comforting as they head into the divisional round of the playoffs versus the Arizona Cardinals.

Since the merger, only one team who has scored 50 points in one game has returned to win their next round game - the proof and research, since I’m too lazy to do it, is here.

Also remember that while the Cardinals did score 51 in that game, they also gave up 45 to the Packers - an offense that I would argue isn’t on the same playing field as the Saints (provided the Saints are back on their A-game, which is in no way guaranteed - although having Shockey, Moore and Meachem all back at 100% should be a huge boost.)

I’ll have my takes on all four games for you later this afternoon.

-rb

Rob Brown General

Mark McGwire admitting that he used steroids is like me admitting that I had dinner last night. While there’s a doubt that, hey, maybe it got skipped one time, anybody who knows me knows damn well that I’m not missing a meal.

So, now we have to ask the more realistic question: how are we supposed to react?

Artificially Big Mac is trying to convince us that steroids only helped him recover from injury, and didn’t help him hit the longball. Fair enough, Big Mac.

In fact, the argument could be made. In 1987 during his rookie year, McGwire tattooed 47 rocks over the yellow stripe, earning him the most homeruns ever tagged by a rookie. So, clearly he was CAPABLE of hitting the longball before he started plugging needles into his backside.

Mark would then go on, over the next four years, to knock in 32, 33, and 39 homeruns a year for his next three years. That puts him amongst the best four year starts in MLB history. And obviously, when it was all said and done, slugging 500+ HR’s after that start wouldn’t be incredibly mystifieing.

So where do the ‘roids come in? After looking at the stats and seeing how incredibly his first four years of numbers were, it’s tough to NOT think - maybe he’s right. Maybe the ‘roids didn’t neccesarily help him hit the bombs, and simply were in place to help him heal up from injuries like he said.

Then again, I hate to see “common sense overrules the numbers,” but this:

Good thing it's from this side. From the other side all you can see is the bat.

can’t POSSIBLY hit as many homeruns as this:

What the hell is IN that milk?!!?

…..right?

BigMac has said he started the ‘roids pre-1998.

Fair enough. But if he’s telling the truth about the steroids only being used to help injuries, then it would’ve started - more than likely - in 1993. While BigMac has never played a full 162 game season, that was the first year injury really knocked him down - he stepped to bat in only 27 games that year, and only 47 the year after that.

So, if the ‘roids started there - which I’m not sure if it’s safe to assume they did or did not, but I’m going to anyway because, hey, no one can tell me not to - then the homeruns after that should be slightly higher than his first four years … if they indeed help with the longball.

Now, I’m not sure how to look at the info past where the steroids come into play. On one hand, the numbers didn’t skyrocket. In fact, the average stayed around the same for the most part. However, when did his first two seasons of 50+ homeruns take place?

Yeup. The two years after he got past his injuries.

Fair enough. Coincidence, maybe?

1997 was the year McGwire was sent from Oakland to St. Louis. He pounded out 58 home runs that year between the two squads.

So if 1997 was his first year back and he went to 58, how in the world did he add almost another TWELVE the very next year - remember 1998? That was the year he pelted SEVENTY homeruns - to an already monster season?

Must’ve been that milk he was drinking.

And it wasn’t just that year - he was only five shots off pace in 1999, when he drilled 65 and left everyone else in the dust.

Then, the scandal hit. And age hit. And it all started falling. While for most players the 32 he hit in 2000 would’ve been a huge season, for a guy who was coming off of back-to-back 65+ shot seasons, cutting them in half was drastic.

It also times up pretty well to the world getting “smarted up” about steroids in baseball.

The next year, the count dropped again: this time it was 29. It was also his last year in league.

I can already hear the argument: “but Rob, in 2000 and 2001, he was 36 and 37 years old!”

Yes, I’m aware. But he was 34 when he drilled freaking SEVENTY homeruns! Did that two years take him from king of the hardball to the Crpyt Keeper that fast?

I’m not sure what to think: what about you?

-rb

Rob Brown General

University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer resigned unexpectedly on Saturday.  His final game as the head of the Gator Nation will be January 1, 2010 against Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl.

According to reports from ESPN, Meyer released the following statement:

“I have given my heart and soul to coaching college football and mentoring young men for the last 24-plus years and I have dedicated most of my waking moments the last five years to the Gator football program.  I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to reevaluate my priorities of faith and family.

“After consulting with my family, Dr. Machen, Jeremy Foley and my doctors, I believe it is in my best interest to step aside and focus on my health and family.”

Following the SEC Championship game against the number 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, Meyer was hospitalized briefly for what was called at the time, “dehydration.”  In the light of this report, there is now speculation that the incident in Atlanta may have been more serious than previously reported.

Meyer achieved an .849 winning percentage (56-10) in his five-year run, highest in Florida school history.

UPDATE (12/28/2009): 

Meyer’s resignation was converted into a “leave of absence,” at least on paper.  Meyer said during a Sunday afternoon press conference at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans that he believes in his gut that he will be coaching the Gators in 2010.

Others are not convinced.

There has been speculation that the rapid reversal was at least in part to prevent any wholesale abandonment by Florida recruits.

With Meyer out and most of the “premium” college coaches already installed in their 2010 positions, a Meyer-less Florida program would be far less appealing to incoming recruits than what they believed they signed on for.

After a somewhat lackluster offensive performance in 2009, installing offensive coordinator Steve Addazio as interim head coach would likely have resulted in some premier recruits taking their skills elsewhere, including to SEC rivals Tennessee and Alabama.

Meyer’s Harvin-esque reversal of field on Sunday will do much to allay the concerns of recruits who might be hearing from Lane Kiffin or Nick Saban (after the recruiting dead period, of course).  The idea that Meyer will be involved in the Florida program with an eye toward returning to the sidelines will certainly give recruits some reassurance that the Florida program in which they’ll participate resembles the one they’ve watched Meyer create in five years in Gainesville.  And it will definitely give them more confidence than turning the reins of one of the nation’s premier programs were handed over to career assistant, Addazio.

All indications are that Meyer’s medical issues are real and a serious threat to his long-term health.  There is also little doubt that the first lady of the Gator Nation, Shelley Meyer, has expressed her concern to her husband.  Any married man who has felt pressure from his better half can recognize this in Meyer’s words.

The only question in my mind is not the veracity of the stated reasons for Meyer’s resignation on Saturday.  It’s the motivation for his Sunday change of course.  Was it really due to the inspiriation provided by the Gators’ players and coaches during Sunday morning’s practice, as Meyer indicated, or was it a concession to the Florida program to stem the bleeding of recruits long enough to get a name head coach in place?

Time will tell but it took a helluva bold move by Meyer to turn the attention of football fans in the state of Florida away from Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden’s final game of his illustrious career on Jan 1.

But “bold moves” are exactly what have typified Meyer’s 24-year coaching career.  And he’s got one more game left to coach.

At least.

More to come.

~Smokey Joe

Joe Mayes Florida, SEC

Florida State University head football coach Bobby Bowden announced his retirement in a statement released by the university.

Joe Mayes General

Florida State University officials have confirmed that there will be an announcement this afternoon – probably in the form of a press release — after head coach (for now) Bobby Bowden meets with the football team, scheduled for 2:15 Tallahassee time.

The school would neither confirm nor deny that the announcement will be Bowden’s retirement but three independent sources are reporting that this is the case based on discussions with “high-ranking” university officials.

All three reports are consistent in saying that yesterday’s discussion between Bowden, university president T.K. Wetherell, and Director of Athletics Randy Spetman focused on Bowden’s role with the team going forward.  The options presented were:

1.  remain as “head coach” while ceding most of the decision authority for the program to Jimbo Fisher, or

2.  step down.

All three sources report that Bowden has elected the latter option and the school will announce his retirement following the 2:15 team meeting.

Additionally, one source reports that a new contract for Jimbo Fisher, reflecting his position as head coach of the Florida State Seminoles, was completed last night as well.  No details about the contract are available at this point.

Stay tuned throughout the day for additional information on the retirement of Coach Bowden.

Will keep you posted as I get additional information.

~Smokey Joe

Joe Mayes Florida State, General

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. LSU

4. Georgia

5. Georgia Tech

6. Auburn

7. South Carolina

8. Clemson

9. Virginia Tech

10. Miami

11. Arkansas

12. Tennessee

13. UNC

14. Kentucky

15. Mississippi St.

16. Ole Miss

17. Boston College

18. FSU

19. NC State

20. Wake Forest

21. Duke

22. Vanderbilt

23. Virginia

24. Maryland

Look - is there even an argument at this point? Many of those that did not grow up in the south seem to want to lambast the “SEC love fest” heard on our morning show. I say the SEC is merely receiving it’s just due as far and away the best league in college football.

There are now four SEC teams above ANYBODY in the All Cupcakes Conference, and six, or half of the SEC, are above everyone but the Yellowjackets. As any chef will tell you, the proof is in the puddin’.

I harken back to analogies I used before the season began, and add a new one to the mix;

- The NFL is to the SEC what the SEC is to college football.

- The SEC is to college football what the NFL is to any and all other professional football leagues.

- (New) The SEC is to the ACC in football what the ACC is to the SEC in basketball.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend, and on to game week of the biggest college football game in the Emerald Coast’s history - #1 and undefeated Florida vs. #2 and undefeated Alabama in the championship for the conference that is the crown jewel of college football!

This should be fun!

marcryan General

Sources close to the Florida State University football boosters have reported that one big-money booster has weighed in on whether or not legendary head coach Bobby Bowden should return for 2010.

The question is, how much weight does $15 million carry in Tallahassee?

The unnamed booster has reportedly offered to donate $15 million toward the construction of an indoor training facility for the Seminole football program.  One condition, however, is that Jimbo Fisher, not Bowden, be the man to coach the football team in the new practice facility.

Plans have been announced for the facility but funding remains an issue.  (Design firm Ellerbe Becket has provided the school preliminary pictures here, here, here, and here.)

Director of Athletics, Randy Spetman, has confirmed that there are some donors willing to provide what he called, “seed money.”  “We do have some [money] committed for the project and a number of interested donors, but are not at a point to announce any kind of time line.”

If my sources are correct, the reason there is no time line for the donation is there has been no time line announced for Bowden’s departure.

This appears to be yet another twist in a seemingly ever more acrimonious split between Bobby Bowden and the Florida State University football program he essentially built.  After 34 years together, maybe it’s true…there is no easy way to say goodbye.

Stay tuned for more…

~Smokey Joe

Joe Mayes ACC, Florida State

When Florida State head football coach Bobby Bowden was asked what departing defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews has meant to him during their past quarter century together, Bowden pulled a reference from Southern history.  “What did [Stonewall] Jackson mean to [Robert E.] Lee?” he said, analogizing his relationship with his longtime assistant and friend to that of the two Civil War generals.  “He said it was his right arm.”

And so it has been for the past quarter-century:  Andrews as Bowden’s right arm as the two men built, from the ground up, a Nationally-prominent football program together.

You know the records.  Fourteen consecutive ten-win seasons from 1987-2000.  Fourteen consecutive top-5 finishes in the AP poll.  More than 150 players drafted by NFL teams.

And much of the Seminoles success over the years was predicated on Andrews’ defensive schemes that transformed the football landscape from coast-to-coast.  He crafted defensive game plans to attack the opponents’ offense before the offense could attack them.  He put great athletes in positions to make big plays and created an atmosphere in which these athletes pushed the envelope of what had previously been the role of the defense.

Of course, this atmosphere resulted in incidents like those involving former Florida Heisman winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel during the mid-1990’s.  Andrews charges were accused of dirty play, of trying to deliberately hurt Wuerffel and other opposing teams’ offensive stars.

Andrews role in these incidents can be debated but what is certain is that offenses in college football had to adapt and transform in response to the Noles’ attacking, focused aggression.

This influence extended beyond the college game, too.  Andrews developed 18 first-round NFL draft picks during 26 seasons at Florida State beginning with cornerback Deion Sanders in 1989.  In total, 73 former Nole defenders have been taken by NFL teams, including stars like Sanders, Peter Boulware, Derrick Brooks, Terrell Buckley, LeRoy Butler, Sam Cowart and Marvin Jones.

“Not a single day goes by when I am coaching, mentoring or teaching somebody that I don’t use things Coach Andrews taught me,” Sanders said upon hearing the announcement of Andrews retirement.

The Nov 21 game against Maryland will mark Andrews’ final game in the stadium he helped double in size, from 40,500 seats to more than 83,000.  Just once more, he’ll send his troops onto the field named for his boss for the previous 26 years.  He’ll travel to Gainesville next weekend and, if the Seminoles are able to win one of their final two games, maybe even to a bowl game to close things out on a high note.

But after that, if head coach Bobby Bowden does decide to come back for one final year in 2010, he’ll be doing it without his right arm.

Joe Mayes ACC, Florida State

OK, I don’t care who you are, this is funny.

And if you don’t find it funny, take off your Tebow jammies, put down your Gator Crunch! cereal, take a deep breath, and get some fresh air.

Link to source. 

Happy Saturday, football fans!

Joe Mayes Florida