something to ponder..... http://blog.al.com/press-register-sports/2009/07/his_lips_moved_meyer_probably.html
I'm no fan of Urbies - style or actions, but this is just a slam piece. The guy obviously has an ax to grind, delights in slinging trash and doesn't have any credibility with me......seems a little self-serving. But you never know.....
How many times can this stupid story be repeated? There is no opening at Notre Dame, and while Charlie needs a good/great season to continue coaching it's just stupid for these people to keep writing stories that Urban is leaving for Notre Dame next year.
I saw this article yesterday and almost posted it but thought I would wait to see if someone else would. I wasn't disappointed! I find this quote very telling. So tell let me ask several questions about this section of this hit piece. First if in fact Meyer burned up the phone lines just how does Finebaum know that? Secondly, if Meyer did talk to the Utah coach, just what would be so surprising about that? They are friends and Meyer recommended Whittingham to succeed him at Utah. Bit deal. What reasonable person would think that Meyer, who had a game of some importance a couple of days later would take that much time to devise a game plan for Saban. And if it's that easy to devise a plan to beat Saban just how good of a coach can Saban be? The whole article just that you don't really have to be knowledgeable or accurate to write a hit piece that can be printed somewhere. Oh well I think one of the signs of being successful these days is the number of times you can be attacked by people like Finebaum. You might ask of him, how do you know he's lying? When he writes an article. I have to go check the stock market. Oh, one final comment, are you Notre Dame guys sure you would want a coach who would take valuable time away from preparing his team for a National Championship game to help another coach win his bowl game? I guess though that if Meyer can multitask that well he's a keeper.
The only difference I would have with you BT is that it's more than a little self serving. Finebaum has been a pretty respected sports writer for most of his career but that seems to have gone out the window.
What's wrong with Meyer helping out a friend, and former assistant against a rival team? It's a free country, right? Seems automatic to me...
Nothing at all. Happens all the time. There are several comments in the article that - to me - make Finebaum look downright stupid, but this one stands out: C'mon! What person of average intelligence is going to buy that bull crap? It would seem that the writer has done more harm to himself by writing that article than he ever hoped to do to Meyer. From now on, when he says or writes anything, he will be cast as a "Consider the source" person and certainly not a respected commentator/writer.
Urban Meyer....he can beat your team and another team at the same time with 1 hand tied behind his back!!
I'm with all of you. Huskerman, I think anyone pulling out the checkbook and relying on $$$$ only might find the Gator pockets as deep as anyone's! However that DVD of the Gator Bowl might seal the deal. :twisted: :twisted:
I still haven't even read the article. I do listen to Finebaum nearly ever day here in the office. I don't think he is hiding from the fact that it was an attack piece at all. According to what he has been saying over the past two days, his contempt is aimed far more at the Gatornation of fans as opposed to Meyer, although he appears to have taken many a shot at Meyer in the article. He believes they (Gatornation)have lost their grip on reality. I think it should be noted though that he has no love for Meyer. I'd say if Finebaum is one thing, he isn't a homer...In my time I've heard him accused of being a homer for Bama, TN (his alma mater) and Auburn.. none of which are true. So after typing this, I wandered over to read the article I found this quote to be right along what Finebaum is saying overall. I'm not saying he is right. He is an agitator and doesn't pretend to be anything other than that.
I don't accuse him of being a homer but in my opinion he's lost his grip on reality. No big thing though, I think the Gator Nation can survive his opinion and I am sure that a lot of people in Alabama like what he's saying and homer or not that's his major audience.
Well....where do I begin? I noticed the time line on the story was 1 am....could explain everything... Finebaum hasn't typically been a gator hater up front so maybe the 1 am thing makes more sense. I find it comical that he thinks Urbs is intimidated by Saban or anyone in spite of the fact that Saban's good.....Richt is good....Miles is good....etc. etc... The fact is Meyer has stacked up on talent like no UF coach I have ever seen except Spurrier in the mid 90s and I think right now Meyer has SOS beat on that. If Urban would leave UF because he is intimidated my God how would he sleep at night at Notre Dame? Because of all the reasons you guys have stated it is tough to stockpile that kind of talent at ND and Urban would be very hard pressed to top at ND what he has done at Florida. Ain't happenin folks......ain't happenin...... :roll:
A little response..... http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2009/07/07/july-columns-are-the-most-fiskalicious/ ....hey...it's July....this crap from Finebaum is what we get.... Last year it was the Orlando Slantinel I believe but they are fixated on Blobbah now and here in Tampa they are short on print and gaga about the Rays anyway....... Good thing I have on-line sports to read......
The beauty in the art of what Finebaum does, and make no mistake it is an art, is that he has the ability to totally rile up one side or the other into a frenzy... yet somehow they come back to him the next week as someone else is attacking him. You really should try listening to him on the web.. Don't spend a day.. take a month (the next 2 should be awesome for this) and listen to what he does.. 'You're a Barner Paul!' They scream for one week.... 'You're a Bammer homer' they scream for the next... 'You just bleed that Tennessee Orange don't ya Paul' the week after. 'You just hate Ole Miss' to wrap up the month.. Yet they keep coming back because next week it will be someone else that he's trashing and they want to hear it. The thing about Finebaum is, with the notable exception of ND, Big10, Big12 and West Coast football... he is very well connected. There's always a lot more truth in what he's saying when you look at it in hindsight. This is a guy who flat railed against Alabama for cheating for months before anyone else joined in (even the NCAA).. and then he began to change his tune as he saw the frame job going on around the region (again something ahead of its time). He was called to testify in the NCAA trials in Scottsboro, AL. Finebaum may be a lot of things, but he's not a liar. He's admitted on the show that the basis for his article was to take a huge swipe at the Florida fanbase and he did go on to add that it may not be ND he leaves for... but he feels that Urban could well go somewhere else when the well on NC runs goes dry..and because the Florida fan base (in his words) are out of touch with reality that they will turn on Urban the same way they turned on Donovan and Spurrier. He did make an interesting comment today (I think it was today, I listen at work so it was either today or yesterday).. And that comment was that a guy like Saban is alright. He's just hyper-driven to win. Spurrier was much the same way. Guys that get a bad wrap for their intensity.. But he feels, and hears from some at Florida, that they don't believe that is the case about Urban.. He believes him to be a bad person. I had never heard a word about Finebaum prior to the DuBose situation. (again, something he was way ahead of the curve on and was labeled a "Barner" or a "Vol" for his stance) Since then I've listened to him more and more. He clearly is a pot stirrer and does it to get people talking (hey, that's the entire justification for the BCS according to Roy Kramer) and if people are talking about his show or article, then it isn't a bad thing.. But I'll also say this.. he doesn't make stuff up. I'd never trust that guy with a secret because even if he doesn't out you... he'd hint at it until everyone finally put it all together. Why people talk to this guy at SEC media days and golf outings/fund raisers 'off the record' is beyond me.. Nothing is off the record with him.
"He did make an interesting comment today (I think it was today, I listen at work so it was either today or yesterday).. And that comment was that a guy like Saban is alright. He's just hyper-driven to win. Spurrier was much the same way. Guys that get a bad wrap for their intensity.. But he feels, and hears from some at Florida, that they don't believe that is the case about Urban.. He believes him to be a bad person." I have met Urban's sister....and his wife.....and his agent.....and exchanged jhellos with Urbs himself. I did not get any hint of anything sinister from any of them. I think Finebaum is way off on Urban's character assessment. People used to call Spurrier the "Evil" genious..... when he was winning.
Corey, with this article you will have trouble convincing me Finebaum is not a liar. He also has a faulty memory, Gator fans did not turn on Spurrier. However he does have a point, even though he lies about other items, about the Gator fan base at this point. Way to many Gators have come to believe it's our divine destiny to always win. And a lot of them have turned on Billy Donovan, which in my mind is absolute stupidity. However for Finebaum to write an article like this to get at the Gator fan base is ......... I can't think of the right word right now, dumb, lying whatever. I got more important things to deal with, 8 grandchildren at our house this week keeps our house lively.
I don't think Meyer is any more "evil" than any other coach. These guys are responsible for a major revenue stream for their respective schools and are paid very well to produce. I also think these athlete arrests are not necessarily the sole responsibilty of the coach either. You won't convince me that coaches recruits kids that they know for a fact have criminal intent. And they can only watch them so much. I think the tenor that the school sets is more the problem. And as far as Meyer "stealing" recruits... we just copped one of Harbaugh's recruits at Stanford and one of ND's better LBs, Brian Smith, was lifted from Iowa at the 11th hour. All's fair in love and war.
There certainly is a trend that began with the early commits that kids make these days. Texas has 2/3 of it's class by the May eval period and it's before any of the kids can take offical visits. Other schools have followed the trend. As a result I see more kids wavering and more kids who have verbaled to somebody taking trips to other schools...it's a party so why not I guess. I see that kids are more and more making a verbal but saying that while they are 100% solid with School A that they still want to take some offical visits (party, party, party) to make sure. So they really aren't committed just sort of getting a spot just in case. For coaches it really just identifies the competition, so coaches keep calling the kids and trying to get them to visit and flip them. Everybody is doing it when at one time when a kid gave his verbal that was pretty much it, coaches stopped recruiting him. I don't like it, but it's the way things are these days.