College Smackdown

Aloha, from the Superdome. The intrigue created by the mystery surrounding this Hawaiian team was just too much. A New Year's road trip had to happen, so Big Al of T&A Sports and myself packed a cooler, threw some black and a little red in our bags and drove to New Orleans to ring in the New Year and watch the Dawgs play some football.

I have not been here since the football season Before Katrina (BK). The After Katrina (AK) New Orleans 21/2 years later seems to be rebounding and rebuilding steadily in the downtown areas quite well. Lots of restaurants, hotels and retail open, but as you drive out towards I-10 and the levee, there are still thousands of empty homes and lots of road construction into Mississippi, where the damage is still shocking and widespread.

With the expectations that I had for FSU in the Music City Bowl, it was as good as a win for me. I know winning is the most important thing, but for me, there are several other factors that can mean a lot. We had the weight of the world on us. A third of the team was still in Tallahassee, the referees made some horrible calls, 90 percent of the fans were Kentucky fans, and we still managed to make it an interesting game.

FSU showed some of the best character of any team I have ever witnessed. We easily could have made every excuse not to play and just go through the motions. However, we choose to make it interesting. I truly believe that how you win or lose is as important as the final score.

The Gators ended the season on a sour note for the first time in Urban Meyer's tenure as a head coach, losing to Michigan 41-35 in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando. My hat is off to Michigan for playing their hearts out for the retiring Lloyd Carr. In the process, Michigan played unquestionably their best game of the season and delivered by far their most significant win of the season.

Michigan did it by dominating both lines of scrimmage the way the Big 10 Conference teams have always done it, but also by showing some surprising speed, especially in their wide receivers. We all knew that WR Mario Manningham was the real deal, but where did Adrian Arrington come from?

This might be the most conflicted I have ever been as a Smackdown writer - so much to say, yet so little room.

Do I talk about the upcoming game with Michigan? I have to. What about the Heisman that Tebow won? I have to talk about that as well. And what about that early Christmas present that Santa left me just this morning on the front page of Yahoo.com? That's right. I am talking about the academic scandal that is rocking FSU right now. Do I talk about that too? You betcha!

I'll talk first about Michigan. We are playing a team that lost to Appalachian State to open the season, followed it with a loss to Oregon, but then got pretty good the rest of the way only losing to a couple of respectable opponents (Wisconsin and Ohio State) late in the season. Still, they are a Big 10 team so I think they'll have trouble with our team's speed. Their players will be playing their last game for Lloyd Carr who is retiring though, so they could be fired up.

After a crazy and eventful regular season, this down time between the final rivalry games and the bowling season has proven just as exciting. The excitement started with the championship games and all the crazy wins and losses.

But before I get to the part on how it came to be that the Dawgs are playing Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl, lets go over a couple of other things.

Despite the fact that I write this all-powerful syndicated article in this widely-distributed publication, I still haven't received my "Hypesman" ballots or BCS ranking ballots.

As most everyone knows, we are headed to the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn. This is kind of weird for me, because Nashville is one of the two cities I've always wanted to visit - Las Vegas is the other one - so this really is a double treat.

I know it is not a premier bowl, but at least it's in a different place and relatively close. The rough plans for now are to catch the game and then spend a few days enjoying Nashville New Year's parties.

Florida State's plans had better be more businesslike. The Kentucky Wildcats have had possibly their best season in school history, not to mention they are in the SEC, which is arguably the best conference in the nation. Throw in the fact that they also upset Louisiana State - the team that probably will win the National Championship - and you begin to see my concern.

Has anyone ever watched a boxing match where one of the guys is just getting abused? Punch after punch to the head and body and the guy just stands in there and takes it. That would probably best describe the way I feel writing these articles. I bounce around trying to make jabs, but for three years it has been pretty brutal. I do not know if it is because I am so darn stubborn or just stupid.

However, we were beat by a hack. We had no offense, no defense, and no real answer to Florida. Who really cares in a year when Kansas and Missouri are two of the top teams at the end of the season?

What a great Thanksgiving holiday — lots of turkey and fixings and four days of great football.

I haven’t mentioned another team I have been following all season but, since the Dawgs were playing in Atlanta, I’ll take this opportunity to mention my nephew, Dillon, who is playing on a 1-A team in its infancy — the Fellowship Christian School Paladins. FCS has assembled a coaching staff second to none, and it is paying dividends this year, in only their fourth year of play. The staff is made up of coaches who have all coached and/or played in Division 1 college ball and in the pros. They have definitely gotten the most out of their players this year and are hosting a third round playoff game this coming Friday. So Go Big 'D,’ we’re all proud of you.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about leftovers in my entire life. Not Thanksgiving leftovers mind you, but the leftovers from W.D.’s column from last week that I am about to spend the next 600 words or so carving up. Like you, I was absolutely floored when I read his pathetic little piece of writing last week, but knew it would only make it sweeter when he had to follow up Thanksgiving with his 4-year-old Seminole tradition of eating first turkey, then crow on the last weekend in November.

Let’s start with his comment about Meyer winning last year with Zook’s players and then not following it up with his own players this year. It is true we had a better year last year, but how could he tell the difference between Zook’s and Meyer’s players? At this point, Meyer has beaten FSU soundly with ANY players he has used. In addition, we are a top 10 team right now playing 75 percent freshmen and sophomores — kids all recruited by Meyer.

If this is not an emotional roller coaster, I do not know what is.

I may have been partly responsible for the Seminoles losing on Saturday. That morning, I actually started to believe and played “What if?” What if the Seminoles beat BC and VT, could they possibly make it to the ACC conference title game? There was an unbelievably slim chance provided there were a few upsets.

All of that was for nothing after the 'Noles took the lead in the second half, then proceeded to fall apart. And by fall apart I mean it looked like the Miami game this year times 10. The irony was that one of the upsets we needed to happen actually did. BC was beaten by Maryland who just happens to be the 'Noles next opponent.