Of all the characters I've met on the internet over the years, the message board character known as "Coolidge" was definitely one of the most interesting, intelligent, and entertaining.
He was a HUGE Tiger fan, but also a huge fan of Bonanza, and he had a glib sense of humor that swam against the tide of cheap laughs that often pass for comedy these days. He was an absolute joy to talk to, and while I never met him or knew him at all outside of message board interaction, you could just tell that he was a character offline as well as on. This was confirmed by the wide variety of people who called him their "real life" friend.
For most of the time I knew Coolidge, he was very sick, though he was very circumspect about what was wrong with him. He passed away late last week. He was 47 years old. His obituary mentioned "Tiger Fans" among those friends who survived him. He was never married, had little remaining family, and lost track of many of his friends when became a Katrina refugee. I know that many members of TigerDroppings attended his wake and/or funeral, including many who'd never met him.
I wanted to get back on TigerDroppings so I could pay my respects to him along with everyone else, but my emails to the administration have gone unanswered. I don't know why, but I don't ascribe it to any kind of personal problem with me. Certainly my online transgressions over at TigerDroppings are much less severe than others' who managed to get back in management's good graces. For whatever reason, my own entreaties have been overlooked.
I almost forgot about this situation until I saw this thread over at TigerDroppings, wondering if Coolidge was watching the game from his current perch. The reminder damn near brought a tear to my eye.
He once said he was looking forward to the opportunity to meet me, but that opportunity never came. I regret that very much. I'm thinking about you, Coolidge, and I know you would have loved to witness last night's game. I regret you left just a little too soon for it.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Florida Post-Game, Continued
It's morning now, and that game seems more unreal by the light of day and after a decent night's sleep than it did at 11:00pm last night. Matt Zemeck at College Football news said it better than I can:
The kids from LSU will remember this night more fondly than the Gators--especially since the national title is now in the Tigers' hands--but this was the kind of college football experience that transcends the scoreboard result and the emotions that currently dominate the winning and losing teams. Decades from now, these Tigers and Gators, in their 50s and 60s, will tell their children and grandchildren about October 6, 2007, a night when everything right about college football spilled out in full flower before an enraptured crowd in the sport's best nighttime setting.It's a beautiful sentiment about a beautiful game for which there is no shame in Florida's having lost it.
But let's get one thing straight right now. We outplayed Florida. We were the better team over the course of the 60 minute game. Florida outplayed us in the first quarter, but we outplayed them the rest of the game. Florida almost won anyway, in part because we missed field goals and in part because of penalties. But let's be clear about that. We outplayed them. How do I know?
- We outgained them 391 yards to 314.
- We won the turnover battle 2-1.
- We won the time of possession 35:52 to 24:03
Here in Alabama, there is the legend of Van Tiffin, a former Bama kicker back in the 80s. If the name Van Tiffin is mentioned, everyone immediately associates it with a last-second 52 yard field goal in the 1985 Iron Bowl to beat Auburn by 2. Every football fan here in Alabama knows the name, and associates it with "The Kick". LSU now has a modern equivalent (to go along with the Billy Cannon run) in Jacob Hester. He won't be remembered for one play, but for three. He converted two fourth downs and scored the game winning touchdown on LSU's final drive. Jacob Hester will forever be an LSU hero for that game.
To me, the quintessential moment of that game was Hester, having just scored the final touchdown, lying injured on the turf, with half his body in the end zone and half of it out.
Lest we allow Jacob Hester's phenomenal game overshadow the other players, let's also credit the defense, but let's make it a backhanded compliment. They really got up off the mat and played well in crunch time, after struggling so much early.
How much did they struggle? Not counting the final possession of the first half, where Florida simply kneeled the ball and went to the half, the defense gave up scores on 4 of Florida's first 5 possessions, including three touchdowns.
How much did they bounce back? Florida got 44 yards of offense and committed a turnover in the decisive 4th quarter. Going back to the closing minutes of the 3rd quarter, Florida's last 4 possessions gave them 74 yards and 2 turnovers.
They had our number early. They really had our defense figured out and moved the ball seemingly at will. I haven't watched the replay yet to figure out why they were able to do it, but it was impressive.
I don't want to lose track of all the different storylines of this game.
Matt Flynn gutted out a good performance. His first pass was way off the mark, but he played very well after that, and would have had really nice numbers if not for a couple drops.
If you didn't know before, Tim Tebow is a monster football player. I don't think college football has ever seen a player quite like him. He's a power running back with the arm and decision-making ability of a quality quarterback. And he's got the competitive spirit of a Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, Pete Rose, or Mark Messier. I don't know if he has a future in pro football with his particular skill set, but he could go down as the best college football player of the modern age.
There could well be a rematch in Atlanta. Florida does not control its destiny, but they only need to win out and hope Tennessee takes another loss. Until yesterday, Tennessee didn't look very good at all, so I think it's a fairly safe bet that if Florida wins out against Kentucky (after a week off), Georgia, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina before ending the season with out-of-conference games against Florida Atlantic and Florida State, they will end up in the championship game.
Now, after Les Miles' signature win on the LSU sidelines, he has a new challenge. He has to take a team coming off of that kind of game; a physical, brutal, and highly emotional game; and get them to channel their energy to the next opponent in time to get on the plane to Lexington next week. We got a big win, but if we don't continue the season, it won't mean much. The season continues, and it doesn't exactly get easy.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Florida Post-Game: JACOB HESTER!
LSU has a new football hero, and his name is Jacob Hester. How huge is that man?
I'll have a lot more to say about this tomorrow. For tonight, I'm just going to experience the elation and live vicariously through Jacob Hester's achievements.
I'll have a lot more to say about this tomorrow. For tonight, I'm just going to experience the elation and live vicariously through Jacob Hester's achievements.
Game Day: Florida
There's a very big game today, but there's a lot between here and there. This really is the start of the most important run of the season. We play all four of our four best remaining teams on the schedule in the next 5 weeks. Florida, then Kentucky, then Auburn, then a week off, then Bama. If we can get through this, the schedule opens up a little bit, giving us teams that appear to be a notch below those guys: La Tech, Ole Miss, and Arkansas.
Anyway, here's the plan, subject to change because we have a house guest today.
Now - 9:00am: Whatever comes up.
9:00am - 11:00am: ESPN GameDay, broadcasting from LSU. While I normally avoid this show like the plague, I will watch it when it's at Baton Rouge.
11:00am - 11:30am: I'll watch the first few minutes of Wisconsin at Illinois on ESPN. I have soft spot for Ron Zook, who I think got jobbed at Florida and doesn't get enough credit for building the senior-heavy team that won the national championship last year.
11:30am - 2:30pm: Vandy at Auburn, Lincoln-Financial. Auburn looks to avoid the let down against Vandy. All the classic elements of a let down are there. They're coming off a big win. They're playing at home at 11:30 in the morning, when the crowd won't be buzzing. They're playing a decent team that you'd be tempted to think is not very good. And finally, they don't really have that great of a team themselves. I don't make predictions about games I expect to be competitive, so I won't here. I'm just saying that the prospects of a let down and upset are better than you often see.
2:30pm - 6:00pm: Georgia at Tennessee, CBS. All games in the East are big because the teams are so even. Here, almost halfway through the season, there are five teams with a legitimate shot at winning the East. These are two of them, each with one conference loss. This game may be an elimination game in the East. The loser will have lost two games to other Eastern Division teams, and so will need the other teams to lose 3 conference games in order to pass them in the standings. Neither team controls its destiny, but the winner needs only a little help to win the division. (Georgia would need South Carolina to lose a game, and Tennessee would need Florida to lose a game).
6:00pm - 7:00pm: Yoga. Meditation. OK, that's not true, but I'll probably try to rest up a bit before the LSU game.
7:00pm - 11:00pm: What do you think? Florida at LSU, CBS. There's really no more to say that hasn't been said about it. We know what we're up against. We know what bullets we have in the gun. It's time to play the game.
The landscape of the SEC will be drawn in much more detail today, but it won't be finished for a while.
Anyway, here's the plan, subject to change because we have a house guest today.
Now - 9:00am: Whatever comes up.
9:00am - 11:00am: ESPN GameDay, broadcasting from LSU. While I normally avoid this show like the plague, I will watch it when it's at Baton Rouge.
11:00am - 11:30am: I'll watch the first few minutes of Wisconsin at Illinois on ESPN. I have soft spot for Ron Zook, who I think got jobbed at Florida and doesn't get enough credit for building the senior-heavy team that won the national championship last year.
11:30am - 2:30pm: Vandy at Auburn, Lincoln-Financial. Auburn looks to avoid the let down against Vandy. All the classic elements of a let down are there. They're coming off a big win. They're playing at home at 11:30 in the morning, when the crowd won't be buzzing. They're playing a decent team that you'd be tempted to think is not very good. And finally, they don't really have that great of a team themselves. I don't make predictions about games I expect to be competitive, so I won't here. I'm just saying that the prospects of a let down and upset are better than you often see.
2:30pm - 6:00pm: Georgia at Tennessee, CBS. All games in the East are big because the teams are so even. Here, almost halfway through the season, there are five teams with a legitimate shot at winning the East. These are two of them, each with one conference loss. This game may be an elimination game in the East. The loser will have lost two games to other Eastern Division teams, and so will need the other teams to lose 3 conference games in order to pass them in the standings. Neither team controls its destiny, but the winner needs only a little help to win the division. (Georgia would need South Carolina to lose a game, and Tennessee would need Florida to lose a game).
6:00pm - 7:00pm: Yoga. Meditation. OK, that's not true, but I'll probably try to rest up a bit before the LSU game.
7:00pm - 11:00pm: What do you think? Florida at LSU, CBS. There's really no more to say that hasn't been said about it. We know what we're up against. We know what bullets we have in the gun. It's time to play the game.
The landscape of the SEC will be drawn in much more detail today, but it won't be finished for a while.
Friday, October 5, 2007
I wake up one day and the Cubs and Rockies are in the playoffs
Here are some basic, bullet-pointed observations about the LSU/Florida game tomorrow:
- With Doucet out, Flynn hobbling, and Perrilloux not throwing the ball, I have very little faith in our pass game.
- I have a lot of faith in our running game, particularly the between-the-tackles running of Hester, Scott, and Williams. I think that we're going to ride the running game as far as it will take us.
- Florida has a quick but undersized defensive line. The way you go after a line like that is to run straight at it. See the point above.
- I don't believe the rumors that Tebow's hurt, nor do I believe Meyer will hold Tony Joiner out.
- We may ride the running game, but we are going to have to be able to throw the ball effectively at least a little bit. Otherwise, Florida will just stack the box and sell out against the run on first and second down. That means our young and inexperienced receivers as well as our sometimes-struggling offensive linemen (at least, they sometimes struggle in pass protection) are going to have to come of age and play well.
- I've been thinking about how to blitz Tim Tebow. Given: Tim Tebow likes to run the ball up the middle rather than to the outside. Query: do you blitz up the middle? Or do you blitz tot he outside and leave your linebackers and safeties up the middle to tackle him if he gets through the defensive line? Probably a combination to keep him off guard.
- Everyone keeps saying that Andre Woodson is a Heisman candidate (though maybe not after last night). Is anyone seeing what Tebow is doing? They're claiming Auburn stopped him, but he still managed 275 yards of total offense. And that was a bad game.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Week 6 SEC Preview
This is an exciting week in the SEC. Heck, it's an exciting week nationwide, but you won't get much flavor for that here. I pretty much just cover the SEC. It sets up really nicely in the SEC with 4 quality in-conference matchups, all televised. This week, instead of putting two of the best games against one another, they moved one of the best ones to Thursday, so we can all watch it.Anyway, here we go:
Kentucky at South Carolina: 6:30pm ESPN, Thursday. If LSU beats Florida, then this game decides who's in the driver's seat in the SEC East. It's one of the biggest matchups of the year in the East, and it's between two of the traditional bottom-feeders in the Eastern Division. It remains to be seen how the loss of Jasper Brinkley will affect USC. Kentucky will bring a dynamic offense to this game. They're a big play team. South Carolina will bring a grind-it-out offense and solid defensive play to the game. This should be an exciting game to watch.
Vandy at Auburn, 11:30am, Lincoln-Financial. Tommy Tuberville went from the hot seat to the I-might-get-a-better-job-offer seat in one game. If I was him, I'd want to leave Auburn for Texas A&M. The man has given Auburn its best sustained run of success in its history, and people are talking about firing him because he was .500 four weeks into the season. Yes, I think some criticism was justified, but the calls for firing were insane.
After this week, the calls may come again, because Vandy is anything but a pushover, and Auburn may be still on its high from beating Florida. Plus, this game is in the morning, so the Jordan-Hare stadium crowd may not be into it.
If you're Vandy, and if you want to go to a bowl game, this is another one of those difficult but winnable games on the schedule. You don't have to win this one, but you have to figure out how to win one or two of the games against the pretty good teams. It's too bad for Vandy that their best team in years coincides with South Carolina's best team in decades and Kentucky's best team in decades.
Louisiana Tech at Ole Miss, 1:00pm, no television: This is actually a pretty interesting matchup. Both of these teams are attempting to become the go-to for Louisiana recruits that LSU does not want. Ole Miss has their sights set a little higher than that, but for right now, that's what they are. Louisiana Tech is trying to take that from them under former Tiger assistant coach Derrick Dooley. These schools will probably be competing against one another for recruits in the coming years. A good result on the field for La Tech would be huge.
UAB at Mississippi State: 1:30pm, no television. MSU tries for its 4th win. They better get it, because this might well be their last win of the season. It gets much tougher from here for MSU. I think 5 wins probably saves Sly Croom's job, but they absolutely need this one to have a realistic shot. I don't think they'll be able to best two of Tennessee, W. Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, and Ole Miss. Well, maybe they can. Like I've been saying, they're not a bad team. They'll stay in most games. They'll just have hard times winning them because they do not have a dynamic offense in any way shape or form.
Houston at Bama: 2:00pm, no television. I don't know why they want their homecoming game in the afternoon, but they do. Houston's not really SEC calibre, but they're no pushover either. They're probably about as good as Ole Miss, and a little worse than Vandy. They're a half-decent C-USA team. Bama should be able to handle them, but if Bama is off or down or otherwise not playing well, this could be trouble. If Bama shows up ready to play, they should win by 2 or 3 touchdowns at least.
Georgia at Tennessee: 2:30pm CBS. This is a nice matchup and a key game for both teams. Both have designs on winning the SEC East, but both teams have a conference loss. This is likely then an elimination game. Both teams have already lost to an SEC East opponent, and I don't think you can win this division with two losses to Eastern Division teams. Georgia's the better overall team, but it's always tough to go on the road.
Chattanooga at Arkansas: 6:00pm, no television. Has anyone noticed that Arkansas has an extremely weak OOC schedule? Troy, North Texas, Chattanooga, and Florida International.
Then of course there is Florida at LSU: 7:00pm CBS. This is the second game of a CBS double-header. I don't know if there are more than one of those or not. This is also the second CBS game LSU will play, and we're scheduled for at least 2 others later in the season (Kentucky and Arkansas). Also, the CBS Morning Show and ESPN GameDay will be on campus later this week. Do you think this is a big game? A win by LSU gives Florida a very tough road to win the East and paves the way for us to pursue an undefeated season (which would still be tough, but this may be the biggest obstacle along the way). A win by Florida puts them right back in the East race and potentially back in the national championship race.
Nationally, there are five other games between ranked teams, plus a game between Wisconsin and Illinois. If Illinois wins, they WILL be ranked.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Tulane: The Replay
I ended up watching a replay of the Tulane game, intent on trying to figure out what went wrong. To that end, I made a few observations.
With right at 5:00 to go in the first quarter, on LSU's third possession (we had a touchdown and a missed field goal on the first two), the Tiger offense faced second and long on our side of the field. Demetrius Byrd broke open deep on the Tulane secondary. He had a step on his man, and Flynn heaved it out to him. A completion would have gone for a touchdown or put us inside the 10 yard line. The ball was overthrown and fell harmlessly to the ground. On the next play, Carnell Stewart's man stunted inside and beat him, getting a sack on Flynn.
We punted away, and Tulane got some yards on its ensuing possession, ultimately punting the ball back to us, but pinning us deep in our own territory. We wouldn't get out of that bad field position until Tulane took the lead.
Think about that. It's two plays. One play, really. If Flynn gives Byrd a catchable ball, it's probably 14-0 with time remaining in the first quarter. Instead, Flynn missed the receiver, and then the blocking collapsed. If we hit those plays, we have great confidence, Tulane is demoralized, and we probably pour on the points. Instead, we missed those plays, gave Tulane the ball and a surge of confidence, and we struggled for most of the rest of the half.
It's also a microcosm of what went wrong in that game. The whole game, the passing game was simply out of sync. There was no one reason for it.
Sometimes the blocking broke down. Sometimes Flynn held onto the ball too long and/or the receivers failed to get open. Sometimes Flynn missed receivers. Sometimes the receivers failed to catch a well-thrown ball.
I've seen a lot of blame thrown around on this game, and a lot of has fallen on the designated offensive lineman whipping boy, Carnell Stewart. I think it's undeserved to focus criticism on him. Given, he did not play very well, but he played at least as well as Lyle Hitt played, and probably better than Herman Johnson played. Stewart beat his man most of the time. He gave up a couple sacks, but at least one of those was on a play where he gave Flynn plenty of time and he never got rid of the ball. The safety occurred when a man beat a Stewart/Hitt double-team. He went inside on Stewart, and Hitt whiffed on his attempt to block him. Hitt then grabbed him and pulled him down in the end zone.
Most of the pressure on Flynn seemed to come from the interior line rather than from the outside. Stewart gave up a couple sacks, but most of the hits and hurries came other spots on the line. Most of it seemed to come from Herman Johnson's spot. Johnson also picked up a couple penalties. I'm not saying Stewart was great, or even that he was particularly good, but people seem to be putting an awful lot of the blame for the offensive woes on him.
The offensive line failed as a group (except for Ciron Black, who was definitely the best of the group), with no one person taking the blame for most of it.
On defense, let me just say that Kirston Pittman was GREAT. What a tremendous surprise he has been this season. His career was DEAD before the fall, and now he's one of our most dangerous defensive players. He was getting pressure on the QB, running down ball carriers from behind, and basically doing everything. I hope he comes back for a 6th season, but I have a feeling he'll get love from the NFL and move on.
With right at 5:00 to go in the first quarter, on LSU's third possession (we had a touchdown and a missed field goal on the first two), the Tiger offense faced second and long on our side of the field. Demetrius Byrd broke open deep on the Tulane secondary. He had a step on his man, and Flynn heaved it out to him. A completion would have gone for a touchdown or put us inside the 10 yard line. The ball was overthrown and fell harmlessly to the ground. On the next play, Carnell Stewart's man stunted inside and beat him, getting a sack on Flynn.
We punted away, and Tulane got some yards on its ensuing possession, ultimately punting the ball back to us, but pinning us deep in our own territory. We wouldn't get out of that bad field position until Tulane took the lead.
Think about that. It's two plays. One play, really. If Flynn gives Byrd a catchable ball, it's probably 14-0 with time remaining in the first quarter. Instead, Flynn missed the receiver, and then the blocking collapsed. If we hit those plays, we have great confidence, Tulane is demoralized, and we probably pour on the points. Instead, we missed those plays, gave Tulane the ball and a surge of confidence, and we struggled for most of the rest of the half.
It's also a microcosm of what went wrong in that game. The whole game, the passing game was simply out of sync. There was no one reason for it.
Sometimes the blocking broke down. Sometimes Flynn held onto the ball too long and/or the receivers failed to get open. Sometimes Flynn missed receivers. Sometimes the receivers failed to catch a well-thrown ball.
I've seen a lot of blame thrown around on this game, and a lot of has fallen on the designated offensive lineman whipping boy, Carnell Stewart. I think it's undeserved to focus criticism on him. Given, he did not play very well, but he played at least as well as Lyle Hitt played, and probably better than Herman Johnson played. Stewart beat his man most of the time. He gave up a couple sacks, but at least one of those was on a play where he gave Flynn plenty of time and he never got rid of the ball. The safety occurred when a man beat a Stewart/Hitt double-team. He went inside on Stewart, and Hitt whiffed on his attempt to block him. Hitt then grabbed him and pulled him down in the end zone.
Most of the pressure on Flynn seemed to come from the interior line rather than from the outside. Stewart gave up a couple sacks, but most of the hits and hurries came other spots on the line. Most of it seemed to come from Herman Johnson's spot. Johnson also picked up a couple penalties. I'm not saying Stewart was great, or even that he was particularly good, but people seem to be putting an awful lot of the blame for the offensive woes on him.
The offensive line failed as a group (except for Ciron Black, who was definitely the best of the group), with no one person taking the blame for most of it.
On defense, let me just say that Kirston Pittman was GREAT. What a tremendous surprise he has been this season. His career was DEAD before the fall, and now he's one of our most dangerous defensive players. He was getting pressure on the QB, running down ball carriers from behind, and basically doing everything. I hope he comes back for a 6th season, but I have a feeling he'll get love from the NFL and move on.
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