Ball or Nuthin' » Gators

Note to Meyer: Don’t Try To Hide Your Ailment

T Lamont — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:30:07 +0000

As a family man, I can attest to the level of security that fathers and husbands attempt to provide to their loved ones.

As men, we are conditioned to not fully express our emotions. Society dictates the sentiment that it’s not always OK for us to cry. We have to also be tolerant of pain, and even to the extent of covering up the true magnitude of it.

Such seemed to be the case with Urban Meyer’s situation. The University of Florida head football coach recently admitted that he tried to hide his chest pains (which was actually attributed to a heart muscle defect).

“I have three children that mean more to me than anything. I have a football team that means more to me than anything. I didn’t want it to get out at all. We were very careful. I didn’t want anyone alarmed.

“And I think at some point, whether you’re a football coach, whether you’re a lawyer or whatever, you think at some point there would be a lot of respect for families involved and children and 11-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls and 19-year-old girls.

“Do what you have to do to protect them. If that means not coming clean with full details about something very personal, if you can’t understand that, then first of all, I think you’ve got to recheck yourself. And then second of all, I think at some point you certainly will understand that.”

What’s wrong with letting your family have the full play-by-play on what’s going on with you? I would think that’s the least that you could for them. After all, you are someone’s husband, father, son, brother…why keep them in the dark any longer than they have to be?

From a supporting standpoint, give your friends and family the opportunity to make a difference. I’m sure that Meyer has done many wonderful things for his loved ones. Sometimes it’s necessary to give others the chance to repay the generosity that you may have displayed to them at some point in your life. In this case, it may not even be about what Urban needs, but what a friend of family members needs to do to feel good about themselves.

When asked about the state of his health on Thursday, Meyer responded:

“I think there will be an appropriate time to address some of those situations. Today would not be the day. This is about a celebration of a great football game with two really good teams, one undefeated team and one team that was undefeated until the SEC championship game.”

I couldn’t disagree more. It’s only about football is you refuse to address the more important issues – and they have nothing to do with any type of game that is played on the gridiron.

Alabama and Texas Set For National Title Game

T Lamont — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:58:50 +0000

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Alabama destroyed a highly ranked opponent and Texas had an unexpected struggle, but they both inches closer toward the completion of their dream seasons.

Alabama smacked Florida on Saturday, 32-13 – leaving Tim Tebow in tears. ’Bama running back Mark Ingram rushed for over 100 yards and 3 touchdowns, and quarterback Greg McElroy passed for 239 yards and a touchdown. The Tide kept the ball moving against the Florida defense, gaining 490 yards and 26 first downs. The Gators allowed their opponents to control the ball, as Alabama had the ball in their possession for 39:37 – compared to Florida’s 20:23.

The loss will leave Florida and Tim Tebow short of a national title – and aptly allows the media to focus on someone other than Tebow within the landscape of NCAA football.

Poor clock management almost costed McCoy and the Longhorns a shot at the national title.

Texas – edged Nebraska, 13-12 – to win the Big 12 championship. The starting quarterbacks in this game were horrible. They combined to throw six interceptions – three apiece for Colt McCoy and Zac Lee. Neither team could muster any momentum offensively and the squads combined for slightly more than 300 yards of net offense.

In the end, it was Texas kicker Hunter Lawrence’s 46-yard field goal with time expiring that pushed Texas to the victory.

The Tide and the Longhorns both finish their seasons at 13-0 heading into the BCS Bowl Series games. Both teams bring effective offenses and defenses into their projected matchup for the national championship.

Tim Tebow Gets Knocked Out

T Lamont — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 05:37:26 +0000

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With 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter and Florida leading Kentucky 31-7, how important is it to score more points?

That has to be the question that Urban Meyer must be asking himself after Tim Tebow was carted off the field on Saturday. Tebow was blasted by Kentucky defensive end Taylor Wyndham. From the momentum of the hit, Tebow’s head hit a teammate’s leg. Following this, Tebow was motionless for several minutes. He was transported to the hospital where he’s expected to stay overnight.

Let's hope Tebow can bounce back from Saturday's setback.

Now, of course, we all knew that Florida’s lead was not in jeopardy. In fact, after Tebow’s departure, the Gators outscored the Wildcats 10-0 for the remainder of the game – giving the contest a final score of 41-7.

I’d like to believe that someone with Tebow’s character would certainly understand that there’s a time when he should be in the game…and a time when he should not. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to come out of the game with his head held high.

Also, there’s this concept of respect for your opponent. But with NCAA football being the subjective beast that it is, any such respect has been tossed from the gameplan of coaches who habitually find themselves in the top bowl games.

Can we blame these types of decisions on the BCS computerized ranking system? How much better would a couple more touchdowns have made Florida look in the computer’s eyes?

Who knows. But I can tell you one thing…

It won’t really matter if Tebow’s not on the field…will it?