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The Back Nine comes at you after a great weekend that included a lot of golf, sweat and tears. And the true start of talking season.
10. It is here, the annual Clambake that we call SEC Media Days. I mentioned in my “High Five” column that the best part is not the Days but SEC Media Nights. But that’s another story (literally). I will miss seeing my friends, but it is a long week and with 16 teams it’s just a matter of deciding who you can afford to skip. And then you decide it’s Vanderbilt and Robbie Caldwell gets up there talking about his first job as a turkey inseminator (in detail, I might add) and you have to scramble for the quote sheets. That was in 2010, and the interim coach (who replaced Bobby Johnson) received a standing ovation from the media. Those were the days.
11. That was a beauty and so was the time Phil Fulmer didn’t show up for fear of getting a subpoena (you think this league is cutthroat now?) and the minicams were interviewing a speaker phone. There are a lot of great stories that will come from this week, and I will miss them more than anything. But SEC Media Days (Starts this morning on SEC Network) is certainly serious. And the most talked about story of the week will be the future of college football more than it will be about the past.
12. The Big 12’s Brett Yormark made it clear during its Media Days that his league is in favor of the 5-11 model, five automatic qualifiers and 11 at-large teams which is what any sane person thinks is the best way to go. The question Greg Sankey will get is whether the SEC will go to nine conference games and he will refer all questions to how much money they can get out of Disney. Well, that’s what I would do.
13. There was no movement in the head coaching ranks, but the hot seat alerts are coming. Sam Pittman, Brent Venables (although Joe Castiglione retiring may buy Venables another year), Hugh Freeze and, of course, Billy Napier. Also, is Mark Stoops really going to retire after this year? Back to Napier, in Year 4 I don’t think it’s enough for the program to be “heading in the right direction.” We need to see a Florida team that is truly relevant again. The Gators didn’t get stuck with any noon games this year because they have a prime-time player in DJ Lagway. But the bottom line is that Florida has to be good from the start of the season and elite in the middle. Remember that Napier last year was bragging on how his team “looks different” and then it went out and got handled by two of its first three opponents at home. It’s time, Billy.
14. One last thing on Media Days, without looking it up on the Worldwide Interweb, can you tell me who the first two Florida invitees were? The Clambake started in 1985, to give you a hint. Correct answers will get a pat on the back and a warm smile.
15. Rory McIlroy showed up with a shaved noggin’ in the UK and fell short at the Scottish Open. I still like him this week at Royal Portrush, but my pick is Viktor Hovland. So, don’t bet on him.
16. Remember when the MLB All-Star Game was a big deal? I mean, it still is for baseball nerds, but even to a sporting public longing for something to watch, it doesn’t have the same cache as it did when the leagues didn’t play each other. In my day, they were separated into two leagues and they wouldn’t see each other except the All-Star Game and the World Series. And it was good and we liked it. But then we had to start with the flibbety-flabbety interleague play and free agency and get off my lawn.
17. Ray Criswell and Neal Anderson. They are your answers to the trivia. I think Criswell might be the only punter Florida ever took to the Holiday Inn Medical Center or anywhere else.
18. A few days at Vilano Beach were good for the soul. And my ears. The latest playlist:
- “Good Together” by Lake Street Drive.
- “An Arrow in the Wall” by Death Cab for Cutie.
- And for an old one, “All By Myself” by the great Eric Carmen.
WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.
