tng8r
RexVol's nemesis
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2007
- Messages
- 959
- Likes
- 39
Well said....:thumbsup:
For Shannon and Sapp, it's all about the boohoo
Sep. 11, 2008
By Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist
This time, I was going to let it go. I was going to let "The U" out of my view. Leave the Hurricanes alone. Not make fun of them.
But then Warren Sapp did what he does, which is to say, he opened his big, fat mouth and inserted his big, fat foot and brought me to the point I'm at now.
Shannon got his itty-bitty feelings hurt by those big, bad bullies from Florida when the Gators had the audacity, on fourth down and with time left to play and in short field-goal range, to kick the short field goal Saturday. And so Florida, which was leading 23-3, ended up winning 26-3.
The television cameras showed Shannon on the Miami sideline making like Fred Sanford -- pacing and preening and moving his mouth in something meant to show his fury. Any second I expected Shannon to grab his chest and stare into the sky and shout, "This is it, this is the big one!"
He would have died a complete wimp.
But I was going to let it go.
And then the next day when Shannon met the media, he was asked about his reaction to Florida's late field goal, and he whined into his microphone:
"I'll just say this one statement," Shannon said. "Sometimes when you do things, and people see what type of person you really are, you turn a lot of people off. Now, whatever you want to get out of that, I won't say it again. But it helped us. It helped us more than you'll ever know."
Shannon was talking about Florida coach Urban Meyer, who apparently showed "what type of person" he really is by kicking that field goal. Shannon also was talking about all the recruits who either attended the game or watched it or simply heard about "what type of person" Meyer was for kicking that late field goal.
"It helped us," Shannon said. "It helped us more than you'll ever know."
That's terrific, Randy. Then send Meyer a basket of roses, not a bottle of whine.
But still, I was going to let it go.
And then a day or two later Warren Sapp weighed in. The Miami Herald reported that Sapp, on a conference call for Showtime's Inside the NFL, called Meyer "a classless dirtbag" for kicking the field goal.
Warren Sapp, who once ended Green Bay offensive tackle Chad Clifton's season with a blindside block that had nothing to do with the play itself. Warren Sapp, whose signature move as a player was skipping through the other team's players as they stretched before games. Warren Sapp, who was ejected from a game because he picked up not one, not two, but three unsportsmanlike penalties during the same argument with officials. Warren Sapp called Urban Meyer "a classless dirtbag" for kicking that field goal.
So now I'm not letting it go. Not after Shannon acts hysterical on the sideline and then rants in the press and then is followed by Warren Sapp, who was surely speaking for Hurricanes everywhere when he called Meyer "a classless dirtbag."
All for kicking a field goal.
A couple of thoughts occur to me.
One, I wonder what Sapp would call a college football coach whose team is winning 45-7 late in the fourth quarter and then goes for it on fourth-and-3? Here's one thing Sapp could call that coach: Randy Shannon. Because it was the Miami coach who did that a week before the Florida loss. And Shannon did it to tiny Charleston Southern. Going for it allowed the Hurricanes to tack on a final touchdown for a 52-7 margin.
Two, when did pity become more palatable than a good old-fashioned ass kicking? What kind of player or coach would rather the opposing team give up because, well, scoring against your team is just too damn easy?
Forget the fact that Florida had sound reasons to kick that field goal. For one thing, Jonathan Phillips hadn't kicked a field goal in his entire career, and with Tennessee looming the following week, Meyer figured his senior kicker might benefit from a field goal attempt. For another, the BCS system is what it is, which means margin of victory matters. You can argue that it shouldn't, but you can't argue that it doesn't. So as long as we're all living on planet Earth, understand the reality that a 26-3 win over Miami looks better to pollsters than 23-3.
But forget all that.
If I'm a coach or a player, I don't want your stinking pity. I don't need charity. The game's 60 minutes, so play all 60. If you score, you score. If you don't, you don't. But whatever you do, don't start stumbling all over the field, calling basic plays and ignoring basic strategies like kicking short field goals on fourth down because you feel sorry for me.
Screw your sympathy.
But that's me. It's not Randy Shannon, who would prefer the next team to kick his team's butt -- and there will be a next team -- quits after about 50 or 55 minutes. Just stops trying. Because the worst thing that can happen to a team that plays Miami is to play Miami for all 60 minutes. Miami simply won't tolerate that.
If this were boxing, Shannon would be the beaten fighter who won't get off his stool in the ninth round. If this were baseball, he'd be the losing manager who asks the umpires about a mercy rule.
But it's football. So here's what Randy Shannon is:
He's the softest football coach I've ever seen.
For Shannon and Sapp, it's all about the boohoo
Sep. 11, 2008
By Gregg Doyel
CBSSports.com National Columnist
This time, I was going to let it go. I was going to let "The U" out of my view. Leave the Hurricanes alone. Not make fun of them.
But then Warren Sapp did what he does, which is to say, he opened his big, fat mouth and inserted his big, fat foot and brought me to the point I'm at now.
Shannon got his itty-bitty feelings hurt by those big, bad bullies from Florida when the Gators had the audacity, on fourth down and with time left to play and in short field-goal range, to kick the short field goal Saturday. And so Florida, which was leading 23-3, ended up winning 26-3.
The television cameras showed Shannon on the Miami sideline making like Fred Sanford -- pacing and preening and moving his mouth in something meant to show his fury. Any second I expected Shannon to grab his chest and stare into the sky and shout, "This is it, this is the big one!"
He would have died a complete wimp.
But I was going to let it go.
And then the next day when Shannon met the media, he was asked about his reaction to Florida's late field goal, and he whined into his microphone:
"I'll just say this one statement," Shannon said. "Sometimes when you do things, and people see what type of person you really are, you turn a lot of people off. Now, whatever you want to get out of that, I won't say it again. But it helped us. It helped us more than you'll ever know."
Shannon was talking about Florida coach Urban Meyer, who apparently showed "what type of person" he really is by kicking that field goal. Shannon also was talking about all the recruits who either attended the game or watched it or simply heard about "what type of person" Meyer was for kicking that late field goal.
"It helped us," Shannon said. "It helped us more than you'll ever know."
That's terrific, Randy. Then send Meyer a basket of roses, not a bottle of whine.
But still, I was going to let it go.
And then a day or two later Warren Sapp weighed in. The Miami Herald reported that Sapp, on a conference call for Showtime's Inside the NFL, called Meyer "a classless dirtbag" for kicking the field goal.
Warren Sapp, who once ended Green Bay offensive tackle Chad Clifton's season with a blindside block that had nothing to do with the play itself. Warren Sapp, whose signature move as a player was skipping through the other team's players as they stretched before games. Warren Sapp, who was ejected from a game because he picked up not one, not two, but three unsportsmanlike penalties during the same argument with officials. Warren Sapp called Urban Meyer "a classless dirtbag" for kicking that field goal.
So now I'm not letting it go. Not after Shannon acts hysterical on the sideline and then rants in the press and then is followed by Warren Sapp, who was surely speaking for Hurricanes everywhere when he called Meyer "a classless dirtbag."
All for kicking a field goal.
A couple of thoughts occur to me.
One, I wonder what Sapp would call a college football coach whose team is winning 45-7 late in the fourth quarter and then goes for it on fourth-and-3? Here's one thing Sapp could call that coach: Randy Shannon. Because it was the Miami coach who did that a week before the Florida loss. And Shannon did it to tiny Charleston Southern. Going for it allowed the Hurricanes to tack on a final touchdown for a 52-7 margin.
Two, when did pity become more palatable than a good old-fashioned ass kicking? What kind of player or coach would rather the opposing team give up because, well, scoring against your team is just too damn easy?
Forget the fact that Florida had sound reasons to kick that field goal. For one thing, Jonathan Phillips hadn't kicked a field goal in his entire career, and with Tennessee looming the following week, Meyer figured his senior kicker might benefit from a field goal attempt. For another, the BCS system is what it is, which means margin of victory matters. You can argue that it shouldn't, but you can't argue that it doesn't. So as long as we're all living on planet Earth, understand the reality that a 26-3 win over Miami looks better to pollsters than 23-3.
But forget all that.
If I'm a coach or a player, I don't want your stinking pity. I don't need charity. The game's 60 minutes, so play all 60. If you score, you score. If you don't, you don't. But whatever you do, don't start stumbling all over the field, calling basic plays and ignoring basic strategies like kicking short field goals on fourth down because you feel sorry for me.
Screw your sympathy.
But that's me. It's not Randy Shannon, who would prefer the next team to kick his team's butt -- and there will be a next team -- quits after about 50 or 55 minutes. Just stops trying. Because the worst thing that can happen to a team that plays Miami is to play Miami for all 60 minutes. Miami simply won't tolerate that.
If this were boxing, Shannon would be the beaten fighter who won't get off his stool in the ninth round. If this were baseball, he'd be the losing manager who asks the umpires about a mercy rule.
But it's football. So here's what Randy Shannon is:
He's the softest football coach I've ever seen.
