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The Back Nine comes at you after a weekend of golf, rain and life, and not in that order. Sometimes, all three are just frustrating.
10. It certainly has been a weird time to be a college football fan as you find yourself waking up and running to your computer to make sure your team hasn’t changed conferences. Then, you go to the next group of stories to make sure your prize recruit hasn’t flipped for more money elsewhere. Then, you read the next thing about two players going into the portal. And you want to throw your hands up and quit. Well, don’t. Forget all of the other stiff, we’re in a football month and it’s going to be here before you know it. And then you’ll forget about it all and just enjoy the games. I’ve always felt that college football is idiot-proof, and that theory is really getting tested. But we’ll be OK.
11. For example, quit listening to all the rumors about teams joining other leagues. Remember that nobody saw Oklahoma and Texas coming, nobody saw UCLA and USC to the Big 10 and the whole Colorado thing snuck up on everybody. So, when you hear that FSU and Clemson are going to the Big 10 you have to realize that if you heard it, it must not be true. Although it could be.
12. Florida had its little media day (when compared to the old ones where we could talk to almost every player) this weekend, and nothing really came out of it except an open practice for the fans. This team has clearly put in the work during the offseason, but it’s not like Georgia and FSU and Tennessee didn’t lift weights this summer. I like the buy-in, but coaches never really know until adversity smacks a team in the face.
13. I saw where ESPN did a thing where it ranked Florida’s schedule the toughest among the Power 5 this season. Well, it’s always going to be an SEC team because SEC teams have to play other SEC teams and some ADs were ahead of the curve in scheduling difficult non-conference games in anticipation of the 12-team playoff. And, as I always say, eight SEC teams have to play Georgia and eight have to play Alabama. That makes their schedules rough. It will all even out starting next year.
14. Congrats to the great Cris Collinsworth for being elected to the National Broadcasting Hall of Fame. As a nine-time-sports Emmy winner he should be in. Maybe now he can be considered for the Ring of Honor since two Florida players are in it mostly because of what they did in the NFL. Just sayin’.
15. You see this every once in a while with a really good team in a long season, where they just feel like the postseason feels like it’s a year away and they struggle with day-to-day games to get there after producing a big league. I give you the Atlanta Braves, who needed a sweep over Milwaukee to get to 7-7 since the All-Star break. And still has a double-digit lead in the division. That three-game series starting tonight against the Angels should be a lot of fun.
16. Also, this week — the first preseason game of the year on Thursday night. It’s no real football, but I will be watching like a mope. For a quarter anyway. And then I’ll go back and watch some old games that really did count.
17. If there is no Back Nine next week, it is because I have jury duty and would have to punt a few things depending on whether or not I got selected and how long it went. After watching the TV series “Jury Duty” which featured a bunch of actors and one guy who didn’t know the trial was fake, I’ll have my antennas up.
18. Lot of golf this weekend and almost all of it was solo trying to work on a game that may not be there anymore. Sigh. Here’s the playlist that kept me going:
* “only want to dance” by almost monday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKtKkDly0Kk
* “Let The Sun Come In” new from The Pretenders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocb4KkliFXc
* And for an oldie, and it is an oldie because it came out 30 years ago, “Round Here” by the Counting Crows.
