Dooley’s Back Nine: A Way To Still Make This Florida Season a Good One
The Back Nine comes at you after a decadent weekend of football, family, chicken wings and a Ryder Cup that turned out to be unwatchable. Until it magically was again. The best thing was that Florida did not lose a football game Saturday … that we know of.
10. Then again, if Florida football has taught me anything over the last decade-and-a-half is that you can’t let the Gators ruin the other things you love. That was the case again on Saturday when I vegged out for 12 hours watching college football games that turned out to be spectacular. The golf? Didn’t watch a second after the Saturday morning session. There really was no point. But it did not hamper my four-TV-set-up that even drew my wife into the Dooley Dome to watch the late games. What was supposed to be one of the greatest weekends in sports was hamstrung by the Ryder Cup until I got an alert on my phone that it was still in doubt and then I was hooked on golf again. Unscripted, man, unscripted. Because sports.
11. You know, watching all of these games with teams that are ranked didn’t make me think Florida is a mess in terms of talent. The rest, eh, well we saw it a lot. The dropped pass by Georgia that might have won the game, the offensive struggles of Kentucky against South Carolina, 10 men on the field on a punt return by Alabama, 800 penalties called in the LSU-Ole Miss game (I kid because there were only 21 accepted). SEC officials can ruin a good game as we know and I still can’t figure out if this conference has refs who are looking for penalties or if we just play harder and try to get away with more.
Loading ...12. It was kind of sad to watch Sam Pittman’s presser after his Hogs were humiliated at home by Notre Dame. He sounded like a coach who knows what is coming and then it came a day later. Like Billy Napier, Pittman was two games below .500 at his school and everybody seems to like him, but this is the SEC where we eat our cash. Pittman’s buyout is miniscule compared to Napier’s – $9.3 million. It would have dropped $5.7 million if he was under .500 and he still had five-ranked teams left on the Razorback schedule. So, they saw the writing on the wall (nice cliché, Dools). You would think $9.3 million is tip money for the Wal-Mart and Tyson guys, who light their cigars with old contracts. But Arky AD Hunter Yurachek has been complaining about how Arkansas is struggling to compete financially. I’m a little confused. Boy, was I wrong about no Power 4 coaches getting fired this year, because of all of the money schools had to come up with because of the House settlement. Bad Dr. Football. Bad boy.
13. Among the things I was wrong about were these four teams that I didn’t take seriously before the season – Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Indiana and Georgia Tech. They are all unbeaten. I need to start thinking outside the box a little, because we live in a different world now.
14. Last week on The Tailgate, I mentioned several times that there is a way to still make this Florida season a good one – win out. Seriously, is there one game left that you don’t think Florida can win? OK, you all raised your hands, but it is possible. If Florida wins out, the Gators are in Atlanta, right? And likely in the playoffs, right? Hey, I’m trying to pump some sunshine into the darkened souls of Gator fans. Let’s go! Texas? Dead. Texas A&M? Dead. Georgia? Dead. Neidermeyer? Dead. Who’s with me? Aaaaayyyyy!! No? Nobody? Never mind.
15. Another so-so week for The Picks as Dr. Football went 3-3. That’s makes the overall record 14-15. Let’s see, I already took my buyout from the old newspaper five years ago, so I might want to do better. It’s a novel idea. On to this week (all spreads brought to you by MyBookie.ag and be sure to use the promo code DOOLEY):
- Texas is going to roll into Gainesville as a seven-point favorite over the mighty Gators. I am going to try something different, and I hope the football staff will as well. I’m taking the Gators to cover and crossing my fingers that nobody throws a shoe or spits on someone.
- Vanderbilt is traveling to Alabama this week and there is no way the Tide can let down after the big win against Georgia BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN REMINDED 1,000 TIMES THEY LOST TO THE ‘DORES LAST YEAR! Sorry, that was just me imagining what the Alabama players are saying. Vandy is a 10.5-point underdog (and the spread has dropped a ton), which seems like a lot so I will take them and watch through my fingers.
- Miami is a 5.5-point favorite over FSU in Tallahassee and the Semis may have been looking ahead to this game. But that’s a lame excuse. I’ll take the Hurry-canes to cover.
- Mississippi State certainly showed what it can do against Tennessee, but fell short in another great game Saturday. Now, the Bulldogs get to go to College Station as 14-point underdogs. I don’t think the Aggies are looking ahead to next week when they host their third straight home conference game against Florida (well done, SEC) and I think they will cover.
- I didn’t have Virginia at Louisville on my bingo card of important games this season, but this is one. Louisville’s giving 6.5 and I think they cover.
16. I agree with Rory McIlroy that there is no place in golf for rude behavior by fans, but we can hardly be surprised that some hammered New Yorkers were rude and vulgar during the Ryder Cup. I also agree with Keegan Bradley that a player who has to miss singles with an injury should not count as a draw. Mostly, I agree the Euros had a better team and the Americans let adversity beat them down the first two days. And that golf is over until The Masters next year.
17. I’m trying really hard not to celebrate the Mets choking away a shot at the playoffs Sunday by losing to the Marlins and scoring as many runs in the most important game of the season as you and I did. They had the best record in baseball at one point and went 38-55 the rest of the way. Hey, they still finished in front of my Braves, but we’re both watching the playoffs on TV.
18. Hey, more pumping coming. Get ready for this game, because we don’t want all of those Texas fans thinking we don’t know how to tailgate or be loud or boo bad play calls. Oh, that we know how to do. This week’s playlist:
- “A New England” by The Dollyrots.
- “say something” by Royel Otis. Love this group.
- And for an old one, the Wilson Pickett version of “Hey Jude” which is probably the best Beatles cover ever (especially with Duane Allman on guitar).
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.
Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Gators Football, Pat Dooley
