Touchy Tim & the Gators

The University of Florida Gators are traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee to play their rivals the University of Tennessee Volunteers in football this Saturday. Last year, some folks in Knoxville (and elsewhere) accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of needlessly running up the score late in the game. Earlier on, it had been a tight game with Florida leading 28-20. But then, in the fourth quarter, the Gators kept pushing Tennessee with their starters, throwing long passes and padding up the score until it was a 59-20 blowout (on paper). The Saturday before last, Miami Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon accused Meyer of padding the score with a last-minute field goal (and beating the point spread in the process). Upon hearing of the criticism, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow who, in the eyes of many here in Gainesville and beyond, can do no wrong, criticized the Miami coach for criticizing Meyer. Which reinforces the point I made back on September 8: you can’t criticize Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, or the Gators in general around this town anymore. There’s no more of the light give-and-take banter we used to traditionally enjoy throwing around. Even during the incredible run of several Southeastern Conference championships and one National Championship under Steve Spurrier, it was commonplace and acceptable to toss around criticism, directed both at Spurrier and star Gator players. Now you’re either totally with the Gator “icons” or you’re the enemy. And I don’t think that’s a very sportsmanlike attitude to project.

The last time I sensed this type of an insulated, over-protective environment with UF football was in the early 1980s under the late coach Charlie Pell. And his win-at-any-cost philosophy eventually resulted in a major scandal in the Gators football program and them being place on probation, as well as having their 1984 SEC Championship stripped away. I doubt that the current edition of Florida football will come down to that, but it does detract greatly from the fun of following college football in this town when so many regard it as a kind of war instead of an interesting diversion. Sure, you want to display your loyalty to whichever team you want to follow. But those on the Florida team, be they players or coaches, deliberately chose to be in the public eye in this very competitive sport. As such, they are bound to submit to criticism, agree or disagree with it. And the whiny, touchy reaction to criticism of Urban Meyer that Tim Tebow displayed is in itself worthy of criticism (and ridicule), as far as I’m concerned.