Favorite Sports Illustrated Covers

In no particular order, here are some of my favorite Sports Illustrated covers of all time.....




Just before the 2007 College Football season kicked off, Nick Saban graced SportsIllustrated with his presence, giving the SEC a fair warning that the Tide was turning. Complete with the straw practice hat and no smiles, Nick Saban was putting Alabama back in the media's spotlight.



Of the many SI covers that gleam with Carolina Blue and White, Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins showed that a No. 1 Ranking in the Basketball Preview was much to smile about.

One of Michael Jordan's infamous last-second shots gave no other options for an image to adorn this 1998 SportsIllustrated cover after clinching his 6th World Championship by defeating the Utah Jazz. 'The Man' - he was; 'The Shot' - he perfected.

The two of them, Florence Joyner and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, were my idols growing up. The Olympic greats, whether severely asthmatic or always sporting the longest fingernails in sports, were picture perfect in this SportsIllustrated cover. Flo-Jo and Jackie gave way for many more female covershots.

This 1981 classic headshot of Bear Bryant was one of his last. He set the record for all time wins and announced his retirement after the 1982 season. His death shortly after was a day that football lost one of it's greatest ever. Bear Bryant is one of the 'most covered' individuals in SportsIllustrated history.

The 2009 National Championship, won by the Tar Heels, was an end of an era for Tyler Hansbrough fans. The last game of the season. The last time he would wear a Tar Heel jersey before it was to be retired and hung with pride in The Dean Dome. The sub-title, "North Carolina Overpowers Michigan State" was a humble description. The Heels did not win a game by any less than 12 points during the entire, mad month of March, winning "The Big Dance" with perfect swagger.

The 2005 National Title-Winning Tar Heels, led by Sean May, celebrated #42's twenty-first birthday by clinching the title in St. Louis over the (wrongly) Top Ranked Fighting Illini. When critics said "individual talent can't beat the team chemistry of Illinois" the Tar Heels proved them wrong with a fourth national title - and a "Return to Glory" indeed, the fifth national title coming only four years later. And, if the upper-classmen and the phenomenal freshman were to have returned for another season before going to the NBA, I'm certain Sean May would have celebrated his 22nd in the same fashion as he did his 21st.

A 31-3 blowout over Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators on Oct. 1, 2005 was when the Tide turned and headed back up the ladder to a top-tier program. Led by Brody Croyle, the Tide rolled over Florida and nothing was more appropriate than a nation-wide announcement that "Bama Is Back".

Following his 1997 retirement, Dean E. Smith was named "Sportsman of the Year". A high honor for a respected coach and individual, the shades of grey and black were appropriate for mourning the end of an era and paying tribute to everything he taught the game of basketball, from "Four Corners" to letting the black kid have equal opportunity. If I had to pick, this 1997 issue is by far my favorite.

Retirement

What happened to Florida State?

Growing up, Florida State was a power-house. Rivalry week meant the University of Florida Gators were fearing their Seminoles opponent. Bobby Bowden could piss off Steve Spurrier better than anyone else. Well, maybe besides The University of Tennessee Volunteers. They owned the state, all the kids wanted to wear garnet and gold if they had the chance to continue their football careers, the faithful Gator fan was made fun of because they were second-tier behind the 'Noles and everybody knew it.

The 2009 College Football season surprised us all by Florida State maybe having their "second-coming" when we saw them beat a Top 10 Ranked Brigham-Young University. Then, a loss to an unranked and new in-state opponent USF (the Uniersity of South Florida) had us all talking again about when Bowden is finally going to throw in the hat. Does the embarassing loss to the USF Bulls, led by their second-string quarterback, mean we should place our bets that Bobby Bowden is finally going to call it quits or should we place our bet that he's not stepping down until he can redeem himself against the Big East Conference's Bulls?

We can assume Bowden's days of beating Miami and Florida are over. Is the once dominating Florida State program really bad enough to say that smaller state schools such as USF or the University of Central Florida are surpassing it?

At what point does the love of the game, the love of coaching get defeated by the embarassment, inconsistency, and realization of present-day ain't no where close to the past?

In 1997, Dean Smith retired from coaching the Tar Heel basketball team because he was tired and had given it all he had to the sport. He explained his retirement was the right decision because he made a promise to himself that once he couldn't coach the way he used to and when the day came that he realized he couldn't teach the game any better, giving it all he had, he would retire. Does someone need to sit Coach Bowden down and explain that story, slowly and surely, to possibly give him the hint? What about Joe Paterno at Penn State? He and his team were completely, undeniably blown out and whooped by the Iowa Hawkeyes in Happy Valley, where Paterno has spent his legacy of a career.

When is retirement the only option? When do you call it quits on something you've done your whole life and given your heart and soul to? No one wants to see Bobby Bowden in the stands rather than the sideline. No one wants to see Bobby Bowden coach a fierce, championship contending team that scares Urban Meyer the way his past teams scared Spurrier and Ron Zook more than I do. No one wants to see Joe-Pa return for at least another couple of years more than I do. Penn State and Alabama will battle it out on the grid-iron in Week Two of the 2010 College Football Season. What fun would it be to play a Penn State team coached by anyone other than Joe Paterno? But how far away from the top do programs and coaches must fall before retirement is inevitable?

Paul W. Bryant coached the Crimson Tide to a win against Illinois in the 1983 Liberty Bowl at the end of the 1982 season. He had announced his retirement would come at the end of the season, before the season started. At the press-conference upon his retirement he was quoted saying, "without coaching football, I'll probably croak in a week."

Bear Bryant died on January 26, 1983 - 28 days after the Tide's 21-15 win over the Fighting Illini. Maybe not a week, but he died four weeks later.

Is this what Joe-Pa and Bowden fear? Are they hanging on to career; or life? Do they fear opponents and rival coaches like Urban Meyer; or do they fear not only the end of an era, the end of their coaching career, and maybe even the end of life itself?

I guess all we can do it wait and see how it goes... it's hard to stop and let a legacy speak for itself, especially if your Bobby Bowden and watching your beloved Seminoles slip away from competition against the Gators, and now the USF Bulls.

A Decade

To some people, a decade may just be what the definition says, 'a period of ten years' or 'a group, set, or series of ten' (dictionary.com).

To others it might mean a time period sacred to the music they prefer, since music is a common way to relate to history and tells a story of the way things used to be. The rock 'n rollers promoting peace and love may think the word 'decade' and their mind adrifts to the blurry, faded memories of the 1970's. The pop-icon loving type may hear the word 'decade' and remember Michael Jackson as a black man, alive and well in the 1980's. The teeny-boppin' type may refer to "Saved By The Bell", "Johnathon Taylor Thomas", and innocent-not-yet-crazy Britney Spears of the 1990's when they think of a 'decade'.

To the sport's crazed, a 'decade' can be loved or hated. It can be ignored, when your team was far from the best. It can be clinched on to in hopes of a second-coming, when you just can't let go and face the mediocrocy of your team because of the greatness it once was. A decade can be worthy of a fan's never-ending, unconditional love and support no matter how many championships were won, how many times they choked, or how many jerseys were honored in that ten years.

Sure, some sports' teams are undeniable. John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins Men's Basketball program can not be denied ownership of the 1970's decade. Paul W. Bryant and the Alabama Crimson Tide Football progam can not be denied the 1960's and 1970's. The Southern Cal and Florida football programs have generally been the best of the milenial decade of the 2000's, with a few surprises and 'oopsies' not to be forgotten. Anson Dorrance, the coach of the North Carolina Women's Soccer program, is the king and never-threatened ruler of soccer's highest throne.

With all due respect to the programs who've exhibited greatness, highest quality, dominance, and empowerment in every genre of sports, I'm not writing to praise anyone but two of my favorite people in sports: Roy Williams and Tyler Hansbrough.

Growing up as a Tar Heel and never questioning my fanhood, the boy's in baby blue have always seemed larger than life. I was six when Eric Montross adorned the double zero jersey under Dean Smith's coaching staff. I was ten when Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison were All-Americans and Dean Smith announced his retirement. I was nine when my cousin Amy shouted out what Coach K had yelled down the sidelines at Coach Smith, the day I learned what the "F-Bomb" was. I was seventeen when I saw Sean May throw the championship ball in the air in St. Louis, celebrating the ultimate victory and a 'helluva' twenty-first birthday. Later that same year when he, along with Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, and Marvin Williams, left the town of Chapel Hill for the National Basketball Association, I did not feel my beloved Tar Heels were doomed for years of 'rebuilding' like so many post-championship programs are.

Why? Roy Williams was just getting started and Tyler Hansbrough was still a senior on the "Mules" basketball team at Poplar Bluff High School, outside of Joplin, Missouri.

I've been disappointed by a boy who stole my heart before. I'd been hurt, broken-hearted, and ashamed of putting such love and devotion into the hands of a boy. The saying always went, "A girl shouldn't trust any man other than her Daddy."

My saying, "A girl shouldn't trust any man other than her Daddy. And, Roy Williams and Tyler Hansbrough." I knew, for a fact, that they'd get it done.

In April of 2009, not wavering in my trust for the wide-eyed #50 or the grey-haired, Southern gent of a coach, I celebrated another championship with the Tar Heels. My blue blood would boil when biased Duke fans (yet, no ties to Duke) or hateful Gator fans (yet, no ties to a true basketball tradition) would say 'Psycho-T' was overrated or Roy Williams was an NCAA Tournament 'choke-artist'.

My blue blood is done boiling. My crimson blood is sizzling with excitement of college football and rankings that depict national prominence, as we inch our way back to college football's throne. What helped cool off the blue is an acknowledgement by SportingNews Magazine that is only deserving to Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Williams. Whether you're ten-years old and lived only one decade, or you're twenty-years old plus, such as myself, you can't deny or possibly find a valid argument as to why these two wouldn't be the recipients of such high honor.

The College Basketball Player of the Decade; The College Basketball Coach of the Decade.

Not year. Decade. A 'period of ten years'.

College Basketball Player of the Decade is something Kobe Bryant and LeBron James can never have. It's a perk - past the pageantry of Final Fours, past never letting Coach K beat you on the hardwood stamped with his own name, past the college degree and accomplishing the feat of being a student and an athlete. For humor's sake, it's something J.J. Reddick, nor Elton Brand, nor Shane Battier, nor Greg Paulus, nor Carlos Boozer, nor Sheldon Williams can atest to. It's Tyler Hansbrough's award. There was no other College Basketball Player better from 2000 - 2010, than 'Psycho-T' himself. Stick that where the sun don't shine, Coach K. That's for teaching me the 'F-Bomb!'

College Basketball Coach of the Decade. Roy Williams. Kansas to North Carolina. When I say there's nothing like coming home... I bet Coach Williams would agree! He was successful at Kansas; a champion at Carolina. He may drink a lot of Coca-Cola, but it beats the Gatorade Billy Donovan probably drinks. He proves himself worthy of this honor because he was taught by one of the greatest in Dean Smith. He "Twitters" but spends his time developing bonds with his players. He takes the time for a picture with a crazy fan from Alabama and wants to know why she's a Tar Heel. He understands why when she tells him; she's from Asheville. He gives back to the community and stands out in a crowd. He's stood the test of time, proving that winner's never quit. He's the best college basketball coach of the decade. This 'period of ten years' that we've all watched quickly pass in front of our eyes.

This decade is a personal testament of my unwavering beliefs, my faith, and my trust in those three men. Tyler Hansbrough didn't let me down. Roy Williams didn't let me down. My father didn't let me down.

Ten years ago, my father was diagnosed with Stage IV Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I prayed with uncertainty of what the future might hold that he would be here a decade later, not just eight years later like we were to be prepared for. The hardest worker I've ever seen, quitting wasn't a part of his fight. His feat over the cancer that threatened his body is even more appropriate as two other role models of mine are honored and praised.

A fighter, a Tar Heel, a winner. An undeniable example of strength, faith, and staying true to what you believe in is my ultimate hero.

Call it what you wish, but I was born into a basketball-loving family with a father who loved #50 from Poplar Bluff and Roy Williams, at Kansas or Carolina, just as much as I did and this decade - this 'period of ten years' is a Tar Heel Decade, indeed.

Celebrating a decade so special to my family - it wouldn't be appropriate for a J.J. Reddick and Coach K to win these awards. For my Dad, for Hansbrough, for Coach Williams - it was another alignment of the stars in perfect order.

As always, Roll Tide and GO HEELS!

-BJJ

The Hall Of Fame

One thing I can forever be grateful for, and give credit to for my enthusiasm about sports, is the great Michael Jordan. Maybe twenty years from now Michael Jordan, the name, the brand, the legacy, will only be remembered by middle-age Moms and Dads sitting in courtside bleachers of their son's youth league or high school basketball game. Their son, wearing #23 because of LeBron James, not Michael Jordan, mimics the player he grew up knowing as "the greatest to ever play the game" by throwing chalk in the air pre-game instead of chewing Gatorade flavored gum and worrying more about making sure his tongue is hanging out as he lays the ball up rather than making sure he's laying it up off the right foot. Instead of wearing two pairs of shorts (a Carolina pair under neath the game jersey pair) that son of theirs might be wearing a head band. And instead of referring to that childhood favorite by a nickname such as MJ because you feel like you know him on a personal level, that son might bow down and refer to him as 'King' James because in retrospect - LeBron was bigger than life to that kid.

I'll be that middle-aged Mom. I'll be the one wishing my son would wear the white basketball shoes, the one who hopes her son dreams of going to North Carolina and being a Tar Heel instead of getting the message that skipping college in general is okay. I'll be the sports-crazed mother who tells my children stories about Michael Jordan and offering up the fact that he was King James' idol as well, hoping that the more up to date name and legacy might catch their attention.

I'll tell my kids about Dean Smith and how I cried the day he announced his retirement. I'll teach them confidence and refer to a 1982 college freshmen hitting the game-winning shot against Georgetown. I'll teach them about family and show the iconic image of Michael Jordan clinching on to that World Championship trophy and doing it in honor of his father. I'll teach them to have no fear by telling stories of Michael Jordan as a minor-league Birmingham Barons baseball player and how you never know something until you try.

I'll teach them about hard-work, dedication and tell the infamous story of MJ being cut from the Varsity basketball team at Laney High School. I'll refer to many life lessons with the quote I remember my own mother and father telling me that Michael Jordan said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

I'll tell them how Michael Jordan, years after he was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, his mother still worked two jobs and supported herself. I'll remind them of how much work goes into greatness and tell them how Michael Jordan would stay at Carmichael Auditorium and The Smith Center in Chapel Hill until the wee hours of the morning taking shot after shot until it was a perfection.

I'll remind them that a legacy is forever, and just because the jersey hangs in the rafters, the Hall of Fame speech has been said, and the young guns of today approach basketball with different styles that may surpass some of the records in the records book, you still have to respect what was in order to appreciate what is.

I hope that Michael Jordan's induction into The Basketball Hall of Fame was as inspiring and appreciated by all the other young adults in their 20's and 30's like it was for me. We're the generation that grew up 'wanting to be like Mike.' A silly cartoon movie was a favorite because Michael Jordan was in it. Before 3-D movies, the innovative I-Max theater was the big deal and the first I-Max movie some of us ever saw was called "Mike". We're the generation that played pick-up games at the elementary school and would fight until blood was drawn over who would be 'the Michael Jordan' and you always knew the kid with the disappointed look on his face was 'the Reggie Miller' and the next best thing to being the pretend #23 was being 'the Scottie Pippen' because at least you were his side-kick.

My generation tested out the "Penny Hardaway" sneakers, but made sure to get all A's on our progress reports and report cards so that Dad would take us to Foot Locker to buy the new "Air Jordan" sneaker. We were all Chicago Bulls fans and Indiana Pacer haters. We hated John Stockton and Karl Malone because they were threats to the empire we so badly wanted to be. We didn't mind playing a year of JV ball before we made the Varsity team, that's how it was supposed to be, right? We ended decades of racial controversy in sports because the black man could fly and a white boy can't jump. Despite being forbidden by our mothers, spray painting your hair for a big sport's tournament was a trend because MJ's leading rebounder Dennis Rodman did it. Our generation deemed it unruly to EVER miss a free-throw because we rarely saw our idol do it. We bought the newest biography when the book fair came to our schools. We were jealous of the kids our age that we saw on TV sitting on the sidelines of The United Center. Whether we were Tar Heels, Blue Devils, Bruins, or Demon Deacons, we got chill bumps at the sound of "and starting at guard, 6'6, No. 23 from Noooorth Carolinaaaa, Michaeeellll Jordannnnn".

Of course there are going to be the people out there like the ones who ridiculed the 46-year old Hall of Fame Inductee because of his jokingly manner during or his "cocky comments" during the largest Hall of Fame ceremony to date. But, we've watched his life. We've heard what he has to say. Can a man not get up there and be human? He's been some surreal, larger than life hero to us all since Dean Smith introduced us to him in 1981 in Chapel Hill, NC and he's inspired athletes, coaches, fathers, sons, and little girls in soccer and cross-country uniforms like me since the day we were born.

For heaven's sake, my middle name is Jordan. Baily Jordan Jones. Jordan. Why? Because a a three-year old in 1987 was smart enough to realize that this man was iconic. He was great. People liked him. Hell, people loved him. And the best part about him was that he was from North Carolina. So she went to pre-school announcing that her baby sister was going to be named in honor of Michael Jeffrey Jordan. So before I even had a choice, I was part of the crazed Michael Jordan generation and I have yet to cease my "one-up" I have on the rest of my Generation #23'ers - I have Jordan on my birth certificate and I, like the man himself, will always be a Tar Heel.

Hopefully the miserable types, the ones that hate to admit greatness, have let the facts of this epic sports figure have its feat over the small jabs and jokes he shared with us at Symphony Hall this month. We got to see Michael Jeffrey Jordan be human, out of jersey, no blood and sweat, but yet sentimental tears, and for what it's worth: he can say whatever he damn well pleases.

So before you find reason to argue against me that his speech was out of line do these things for me, then shut up.

1. Remember Dean Smiths grin as MJ was inducted

2. Remember the laughs on each man's face that was made a jab at as the camera zoomed in on him as he was beeing 'victimized'

3. Remember everything Michael Jordan taught us

4. Be honest with yourself and admit most of us couldn't have done it without our father in the bleachers; but he did it with the whole world watching

5. Find the difference between cockiness and confidence; recall his comments; and circle the one that applies best to the legacy Michael Jordan left behind for us

6. Think of all the jabs you've mad at someone. And who are you again? I don't recall you being an Olympian, collegiate champion, 6-Time World Champion, father, minor-league baseball player, and NBA team owner. Oh yeah, and CEO of that company that doesn't even need a name - your personal silhouette is a brand in itself.

7. Remember this one: "If you talk the talk then you better be able to walk the walk" - I think Michael Jordan had this one covered by the time he got up to accept his induction into the Hall of Fame.

I realize that as sport's fans we are separated by dozens of things. What colors do we sport for our fanhood? What college fanhood were we born in to? What college fanhood did we decide to be a part of when we were 17? Do we give a damn about The Stanley Cup or do we just consider every season but basketball the "off-season"? Do we remembered legends like Vince Lombardi, Bear Bryant, and John Wooden or do we care only about the hear and now's like LeBron, Kobe, and Tiger? Do we cry over wins and losses or just losses? Do we say "we'll get them next time" or do we see the game today as "the next time"? Are we biased, unconditional, or bandwaggoning? Will we fight for our team or will we find a new one when the Championship era is over? Will we raise our kids teaching them winning and greatness is all about class and sportsmanship or will we let them think accusatory rape, DUI's, murder-suicides, and sex scandals are part of being an NFL or NBA great? We're all different - but, if we're all true basketball fans, and sport's fans in general, then what's so bad about respecting an icon and letting him say, at last, what he wants to say?

For the Wilt Chamberlain era to the Magic Johnson era to the Michael Jordan era to the Kobe Bryant and LeBron James era - each was great, each gave a little and a took a little for and from the game of basketball, and at one time or another we all wanted to be like 'the one and only' - no matter which one was your 'one'.

Hold on, I get to "one-up" you now, just for the norm's sake. Which one were you named after?

As always, Roll Tide and Go Heels!

(And Go Bulls!)

"Even when I'm old and grey, I won't be able to play it, but I'll still love the game." -Michael Jordan

"I never thought a role model should be negative." -Michael Jordan

"I've failed over and over and over and over in my life; and that is why I succeed." -Michael Jordan

"MY HEROES ARE AND WERE MY PARENTS. I COULDN'T EVER SEE HAVING ANYONE ELSE AS MY HERO." -Michael Jordan

"You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them." -Michael Jordan

"There is no "I" in team. But there is in win. Which one do you want?" -Michael Jordan

"To be successful you have to be selfish, or else you'll never achieve. And once you get to your highest level, you have to be unselfish. Stay in touch; don't isolate." -Michael Jordan

Shut up, already...

You know what really makes me laugh? Makes me love Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide even more? What makes Fat Phil Fulmer not look like such a whiner? Lane Kiffin and Urban Meyer and there attempts to battle out SEC Football in the media rather than on the grid-iron.

Because let's be serious, the Florida vs. Tennessee game wasn't much of a game - when all the hype leading up to Saturday's kick-off is considered.

Face it Urban Meyer, whether your entire first string had the H1N1 Swine Flu or not (which none did) don't you think the No. 1 team in the nation's second string could pull away by more than 10 points to an unranked Volunteer team led by a 'newbie' coach? Oh, that's right - you don't ever play your second string for them to get any real game experience. You are too wrapped up in covering spreads and playing Timmy Tebow every minute of the game in hopes that he can bring another Heisman Trophy to 'The Swamp.'

Nonetheless, I wasn't impressed with the Gator squad, and my anti-Florida attitude about football has nothing to do with my impression I gained after watching the Gators squeeze by. If Johnathon Crompton were a Heisman-level quarterback, the game could have played out entirely different - and I could only imagine what Meyer's excuses and explanations could be at that point.

Growing up in the Sunshine state, despite my high FCAT scores and honors level classes in the Florida Public School System, I must have missed out or failed to recognize at some point in my education on learning to be cocky when I have no reason to be, and the lessons on how to win without the slightest bit of class.

I guess that's just the Tarheel blue blood and the Alabama education in me - you win with class, you lose with class, and you don't talk trash. The reason Meyer's Gators only held the score 23-13 on Saturday was because they felt like 'Tennessee was not really trying to win the game' and they 'just wanted to keep the score close' along with 'six of our players are suffering from the flu and swine flu'. Just shut the hell up already Urban Meyer, you're starting to prove what a pompous ass you are.

Maybe he's read The Orlando Sentinel too much lately. Maybe he ACTUALLY BELIEVES he is the closest thing to legendary coach Bear Bryant like smart-alec Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi had the entire population of UF 'bandwaggoners' believing this past summer. But, Google it all day long and you'll never find excuses and quotes of blame, far-out reasoning, and class-less wins coming from The Bear's mouth like you do Urban Meyer. While Bryant's legacy is a strong, classy, down to the grit, 110% effort is not enough type, Meyer is building a legacy of looking like an absolute weenie. Quarterback Timmy Tebow isn't going to be there forever, and Florida - like all the other title contenders have - will slump again and have to rebuild and climb their way back to national prominence. And maybe that's my question, who wants to play for a man who can't look at the opposing coach in the eyes when he shakes his hand post-game, who shows favoritism week after week in his creepily obsession-like comments about his QB who seems to just never go away, and who can't win a game by 10-points and be pleased with his team while offering the credit Tennessee deserved for playing them so closely?

If the high school football talent in Florida wants to play for a man like that, then so be it. Except for, wait, they don't (Hello, Urban! Wake up and smell the roses!) - they want to play for Randy Shannon at Miami who, like I said happens to us all, has turned Miami from maybe it's biggest slump in three decades into a a Top 10 National Title contender. Why? I guess because some kids grew up with Daddy's like mine who taught us that winning is everything but everything about winning comes from respect, class, and sportsmanship. I'm not the least bit astonished or surprised at Miami's recent emergence from the non-rankings to the Top 10. They're deserving. And even more, they say it on the grid-iron and leave the talking to the scared, anxious, and seemingly frightened "Gator Nation" up north.

But, enough is enough! You don't hear Nick Saban bitching about every imperfection his highly ranked defense makes. You don't hear Butch Davis complaining that, despite beating UConn in Week 2, the Tar Heels fell back in the rankings instead of jumping forward. And you don't hear Pete Carroll making excuses for what could be the biggest upset any of us will see in college football for a while. I take that back, we'll see it again - because just like Ole Miss did last year - someone will come in to the Swamp or host the Gators at home and beat them. Except, don't expect the Gators to quit talking when that glorious day comes. Leave it to Tim Tebow to make an absolute grand spectacle of a loss, with teary eyes and blood-stained jersey, vowing to "never let that happen to his team ever again." Your team?

I've had it, and I'm sorry you had to sit here and listen to my hate-filled vent. At some point, Florida needs to give a little credit where credit is due. A first year coach, no matter if he ran his mouth a little too much in the pre-season, deserves some respect and credit for coming to the Swamp and contending for the win as close as he and his Volunteers did in such a dated rivalry between the two SEC eastern-division squads. Randy Shannon deserves a little credit for bringing the 'Canes back to life. Nick Saban deserves some respect for turning the Tide and giving the Gators a real western-division rivalry. Ole Miss QB Javin Snead deserves some respect for giving almighty Tebow a run for his money in the chase for the iron trophy. And, Bear Bryant deserves a little respect and apology for being compared to Urban Meyer and his pompous, conceited, class-less acts he puts on each Saturday.

We might talk slow up here. We might not have Heisman's to go along with our 12 National Titles. We might sip whiskey and wear ties and cocktail dresses to the games. We might still believe Bryant's legacy lives on in the shadows of our 93,000 person stadium. And we might keep our mouth shut instead of saying things for shock value in order to get the media's attention the second it turns interest onto another team. But I can tell you this much, we win with class; lose with class; and back it up if we talk trash.

Maybe I look like an idiot by posting this and people might say "Florida's still No. 1" and their ranking proves them to be the best and allows them to say whatever they want, but I urge you to turn on ESPN and see what Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, and Reece Davis are saying. The talk at ESPN studios as well as SportsIllustrated blogs is this: the coaches poll and the AP poll only have Florida ranked at No. 1 because they expect them to be No. 1. No one has beaten them, therefore they should remain that way. And one expert put it this way: "If you want to know who the best TEAM in the nation is, not just the team with the best quarterback now that Oklahoma's Sam Bradford has missed some of the season, then turn your attention to T-Town, Alabama where a brand new quarterback is doing his job and the best defense in the nation is giving him a little help. The best team in the nation is the Alabama Crimson Tide, us old folks have heard that before, but this is a new era and they proved it Week 1 in the Georgia Dome."

Nuff said.

Watch ESPN College Football Live. You might learn something.

Roll Tide and Go Heels!

-BJJ

"I'd like for people to remember me as being a winner. 'Cause I ain't ever been nothing but a winner." - Paul W. Bryant