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