Bless Meyer, He Tries

No commentary, here's an article from ESPN:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Former USC running back Emmanuel Moody said Monday he will transfer to defending national champion Florida.

"I followed my heart," Moody, the Trojans' second-leading rusher last season, told ESPN's Joe Schad. "It's when you get that feeling that you know something is right and you can't really describe."

Florida coach Urban Meyer accidentally confirmed Moody is transferring.

"He's not here yet," Meyer said during his weekly news conference. Meyer quickly realized his error and said, "He's not here."

Then, he paused and said, "Oops."

Gamecock Recruiting Heats Up

Some programs, such as Florida, USC-West, and Clemson, perennially have outstanding recruiting classes before the season even starts. This year is no exception. But like last year, expect South Carolina to pick up steam as the season rolls along with each passing Gamecock victory. Players only tepidly thinking about USC due to the intrigue of the Head Ball Coach will come around, just as they did last year, leaving the HBC with the best recruiting class in the country -- according to us, anyway. Other observers rated it fourth best. No small feat for the fledgling program in Columbia, South Carolina.

One such indication of the way recruiting works for USC right now is WR T.J. Lawrence. He recently narrowed his choices down from twenty to five. He says:

"South Carolina and Florida are the top two. Florida, they are the national champions and they have an awesome program. And South Carolina likes to pass the ball, and me being a receivers, that's attractive to me. There's no leader between them but South Carolina is recruiting me the hardest."

T.J. isn't the only WR in the country to get stars in his eyes thinking about playing in the HBC's WR-friendly schemes. He will be a part of the country's best receiving corps, including freshman standouts such as Mark Barnes, Chris Culliver, and fellow Polk County star Larry Freeman (L-Free!!!).

The Spur Lid

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the latest in the Fall 2007 fashion line brought to you by Steve Spurrier, Under Armour, and some enterprising persons in the state of South Carolina:

THE SPUR LID!!

Who knew that Steve Spurrier was also a fashion genius?

We had our hunches. The Spur Lid is hand-crafted by the finest artisans in the US, designed by the Head Ball Coach himself, and comes at a bargain price. Did I mention that it has all the latest sun protection technology?

Don't be left out on Saturdays this season as Greater Gator Nation fans all around the countries don this latest fad inspired by ballplays. Look at Ballplays contributors modeling:

Reflections on Coming Season

A few reflections on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, as a new class of knee-jerk Meyer lovers descend upon the UF campus:

1. Despite winning SEC & National Championships (one and the same for 1990s record-keeping purposes), Urban Meyer is still not considered one of the best coaches in the country -- and is barely considered one in his own conference. Since he is certainly the second best coach in the conference, this speaks to the strength of the SEC. But it should come as no surprise that the #1 in the 1990s is the #1 of the 2000s as well: Steve Spurrier. Do you honestly think switching Meyer and Spurrier would result in 17-16 scrapes in the Swamp? 30-22 victories for the Gamecocks in Columbia? Of course not. The bottom line is that the market does understand Meyer's game. He's a heck of a coach, but he's not brilliant. He doesn't understand the game at the instinctual level that SOS does, although I can say he is learning as SOS has taught him many things.

2. The switch by true freshman Mark Barnes to Wide Receiver is going to flummox defenses across the country. If you want my take on it, SOS always intended on having Barnes at WR and switched him officially last minute so that other teams couldn't prepare for his athleticism in time. Barnes makes Percy Harvin look like Barney Fife. SOS has a long record of turning two and one star prospects into heroes (Sidney Rice, the 1990s Gators offense). With talent like Mark Barnes running loose in the best system of football ever devised, the sky is the limit.

3. Steve Spurrier is talking a big game. He think he can win the SEC: beware the SEC teams who get in his way.

Update: SOS named top QB coach

Bruce Feldman of ESPN has named SOS as the top QB coach in football. Remember, despite the Anti-Spurrier conspiracy, every single one of SOS's starting QB's have lasted multiple years in the NFL. He truly is the best at what he does, and is an inspiration to all.

The Ballcoach named Top SEC coach...again

SOS was just named the top SEC coach again, this time by the Tennessean newspaper. Steve has been named the #1 coach in the SEC by the Sporting News, Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun, and Paul Finebaum (the dean of the SEC media). SEC rivals can't agree on much, but they are unanimous in one matter- The Ballcoach is by far the best coach the SEC has ever had.

The latest rankings:

1. Steve Spurrier.

2. Tommy Tuberville.

3. Nick Saban.

4. Urban Meyer.

5. Mark Richt.

6. Phillip Fulmer.

7. Les Miles.

8. Houston Nutt.

9. Bobby Johnson.

10. Rich Brooks.

11. Sylvester Croom.

12. Ed Orgeron.

See the full colum here

Ballplays Patron Saint Peter Kerasotis

Ballplays has a Patron Saint and his name is Peter Kerasotis, affectionately known as 'PK' to authors of this blog. An award-winning journalist, PK has done more to spread the gospel truth of Steve Spurrier's Second Coming than any other. He has not released pandering, pro-Meyer columns like faux Gator Nation fans demand. It was PK who wrote before the first clash between Meyer's Gators and Spurrier's Gamecocks that Meyer had some serious challenges to overcome: namely that the last time USC and UF met when Spurrier was coach of UF, USC had more talent and UF still walloped them 54-17.

So to be fair, if Meyer was even near SOS's league, he'd surely get close to that kind of slaughter against the woefully overmatched, rebuilding South Carolina team. Right?

WRONG. It is one of the most damning pieces of evidence against Meyer's coaching prowess. It's hard to avoid making effective half-time adjustments, but Herb does it with aplomb.

In any case, PK also asked the key question: do you think if SOS was coaching at UF and Meyer was coaching at USC that the outcome would have been different?

Exactly. Case closed, Spurrier haters.

Peter Kerasotis takes a lot of crap from a lot of really vocal sports fans, including the normally lucid and interesting Deadspin authors, who for some reason become completely deranged whenever Steve Spurrier appears. They can't even get scores right where he's involved, trying to make it seem like there was some other reason for Tennessee winning than a QB who was under the weather. Just more unwitting participants in the conspiracy. But you won't find the same criticism here. In our view, PK takes a lot of heat for being honest and unyielding in his views. A journalist's perspective will likely be off in time to time, but that's because of human perception, not because of any lack on PK's part.

His defense and advocacy of Steve Spurrier has been stirring. For that, he is our Patron Saint.

The Gator Nation

To quote Woodrow "Woody" Paige: "Why do I always have to straighten you guys out?"

In the fractured Gator Nation that we live in today, I inhabit the middle ground between the kids who didn't live through the Spurrier days and don't know that he built the Florida football program (and the university) brick by brick from his Heisman Trophy through the Orange Bowl in 2001, and the die-hard Head Ball Coach fans whose passion is so deep that it has caused them to lash out against innocent victims like Coach Urban Meyer.

I like to consider myself an independent in the great tradition of a Verne Lundquist or Gary Danielson.

You will hear a lot of talk on Ballplays about the vast anti-Spurrier, anti-SEC, anti-Gator Nation bias that exists in the college football world today. The good news is that people like the aforementioned Gary Danielson are out there fighting the good fight with us. Here is a section of the Wikipedia entry on Mr. Danielson:

Gary Danielson was an analyst for the SEC Championship game on December 2, 2006. Danielson’s remarks in the fourth quarter of Florida’s 38-28 victory over Arkansas in the SEC title game sparked some controversy. He was accused of lobbying for Florida to play in the national title game against Ohio State and against Michigan getting a shot at a rematch against Ohio State.
In a December 5th, 2006 interview on WXYT 1270AM, a Detroit based station, Danielson acknowledged he campaigned for Florida in the SEC title game. "I figure I have two more months to go to catch up with ABC and ESPN. They've been (campaigning for) the Big Ten since September."
Danielson's controversial comments turned out to be accurate, as Florida went on to win the BCS National Championship by crushing Ohio State 41-14. It was Florida's second national championship.

As I watched this game at home it was a great relief to finally see some sane analysis of the BCS situation, after hearing Bart Frankfurter (aka Brent Musburger) avoid even mentioning the Gators all year as he spoke out about the dominance of Ohio State over such great opponents as Indiana and Bowling Green.

Now, as the resident independent on Ballplays, you will find that while I will proclaim Steve Spurrier to be the best coach in college football, I will also defend Urban Meyer. Coach Meyer has spoken highly of the Head Ball Coach at every opportunity, and has been the kind of winner we thought we may never have again after Spurrier left and we were in the dark ages of 2002-2004. Fear not Gator Nation fans, supporting Urban Meyer does not make you any less of a Spurrier fan, and enjoying the accomplishments of the Meyer-era does not in any way overshadow the accomplishments of the Spurrier-era.

Stay tuned for my preseason predictions for both Gator Nation teams, and also the release of the preseason OP College Football poll.

Beginning of History (Again)

To get Ballplays off to the right start this season, I thought it might be worth remembering a classic post from the classic blog, Overzealous Prosecutors. Posted during the jubilation of the Greater Gator Nation, at the surprise slaying of two tyrants, who have risen again but are nevertheless doomed, this post reveled in the glory of the Gamecocks crushing the Gators:

Steve Spurrier sent a message-- there will be JUSTICE. There will be PEACE. There will be good in this world, free of tyranny. Now football fans are freed, more free than they have been since 2001 under Spurrier's assault. Inspired by players who courageously faced Gators 3x their speed, their size, their ability, inspired by the coach who could, the coach who lived, fans will see a new game.

Indeed, we have reached the end of history. This is a new era and I am both excited and frightened. Anything is possible. ...

Bernie Machen, Jeremy Foley... you've been served. Urban failed his exam, and so your time running the Gator Nation is almost over.

Haven't you always wanted a chance to help make history -- to CHANGE history? Thanks to Steve Spurrier, we can make a difference AGAIN.

Spurrier discriminated against!

This comes from a very reliable source.

"I have a good friend in the admissions office who said things were lightened up significantly when Zook took over to help him recruit.

they always held SOS to the highest standard."

Yes, ladies and gentlemen- the University of Florida held Stephen Orr Spurrier to a higher standard than they did Zonk, or currently hold Herb to. This double standard is just further proof of the vast anti-Spurrier conspiracy. Jack Farley is trying to manipulate whatever he can in order to make Herb look good. SOS he is not!!!

Of Admissions and Sports Beauty

Coach Spurrier, who is your coach if you have any sense of goodness or aesthetic appreciation, expressed his thinly veiled disgust with the obstructionism of USC administration today in preventing NCAA-qualifying athletes admission to the university. One might speculate that members of the vast anti-Spurrier conspiracy have infiltrated USC's ranks. I hope this is not the case. Rather, it seems that like the administration may have become misguided and too self-important like the Coaches poll personnel. SOS took the opportunity to address the injustice:

"Again, I've got to apologize to two young men that we recruited and they qualified, they signed with us in February, and they were denied admission to our school. Personally, I don't think that's the way you do business. I'm embarrassed that I, and our coaches, basically misled these young men into believing they were coming here. Now, I'm not blasting the president or the provost. The president has already told me how we're going to change how we do admissions here, but I think we need to get it out to the high school coaches and the players out there that this is not going to happen again. As a head coach, one of the big things I've always tried to follow, in a player-coach relationship, honesty has to be the centerpiece of everything you have to do with your players. And it starts when you recruit them. I don't always tell recruits what they want to hear. I try to be honest with them and all I ever guarantee is an opportunity. And when you tell a young man that if he qualifies he's coming to your school and it doesn't happen, somebody is misleading, and it's me. I'm the guy. The head coach is the face of every college football program. It's my fault. It's nobody else's fault but mine. ... As long as I'm the coach here, we're going to take guys that qualify. If not, then I'm going to have to go somewhere else because I can't tell a young man you come to school here, he qualifies, and not do that. And we did that this year."

For those of you who don't know, some of USC's most highly-touted recruits have not been allowed to enroll in classes, despite committing to Coach Spurrier earlier this year and last year to play football for the Gamecocks -- and Greater Gator Nation. This is terribly unfair to the students and to Coach Spurrier. The athletes need to meet a minimum threshold of NCAA requirements and Coach Spurrier is empowered with some flexibility in the recruits he goes for. But losses such as the talented Akeem Auguste are heavy. I suppose they will make his pending SEC Championship season all the more special, against even more odds than normal.

And for those of you who support USC's denial of athletes because they are jealous that athletes who might have test scores below the school's average, or below their own, get scholarships to attend fine universities while they had to work, let me say this: grow up. Physical discipline is an important part of making a well-rounded, adjusted individual. Many of these athletes have extraordinary physical discipline, and/or have attained it so that they might live better lives, something you can surely identify with.

Consider, too, how athletics ties in with the mission of this blog. Athletics can often be a beautiful thing. In the case of Coach Spurrier's brand of football, it approaches the sublime. Plato, not an inconsiderable thinker one might say, believed athletics could show something akin to transcendent beauty, relating to the sacrifice on the part of the athlete for the performance, in itself a sacrifice for our benefit.

Let the athletes into USC, and all of us shall be enriched by it -- give Coach Spurrier the tools he need to paint his magnum opus: a National Championship at USC.

Sublime ballplays #1
Sublime ballplays #2
Sublime ballplays #3

2008 Predictions: Admiral

Date	Opponent	Location	Result
09/01/07	Louisiana-Lafayette	HOME	W: 60-10
09/08/07	Georgia	Athens	W: 41-17
09/15/07	South Carolina State	HOME	W: 63-7
09/22/07	LSU	Baton Rouge	L: 24-21
09/29/07	Mississippi State	HOME	W: 42-15
10/04/07	Kentucky	HOME	W: 50-35
10/13/07	UNC	Chapel Hill	W: 70-10
10/20/07	Vanderbilt	HOME	W: 28-24
11/03/07	Tennessee	Knoxville	W: 24-14
11/10/07	Florida	HOME	W: 52-17
11/24/07	Clemson	HOME	W: 17-10
SEC CHAMPIONSHIP	LSU	Atlanta	W: 42-21
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP	The other USC		L: 35-34

Total Points Regular Season	471
Total Points Scored	548

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2008 SEC CHAMPIONS SOUTH CAROLINA!!!!

Year of the Gators

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the grand opening of BALLPLAYS, returning for its second year of insightful commentary on the football season. Enduring countless NL Central highlights on Sportscenter has cast a gloom across the sports land, but we are back to bring you the Light of Spurrier, and so much more.

It is only fitting to begin with the release of the Coaches poll for NCAA football, which came out today. As is well known amongst fans, Steve Spurrier casts a vote every year for Duke in the Coaches poll for the first poll. This year was no different. Even as coaches across the country denied South Carolina its obvious place in the top 25 teams in the country (although it's not hard to name one team better than UF last year, it's even less hard to name THE team that was the best in the country by the end: South Carolina), the Head Ball Coach cast a vote as usual for Duke. Most people have found it charming.

Today, the AJC reports, things suddenly changed.

It's clear that what once might have seemed quaint has begun to lose its charm," Welch said in a USA Today story that accompanied the poll. "We're hopeful that before next season the coaches association can prevail upon Coach Spurrier to find another way to salute his former team — or that Duke gets better in a hurry."

And who the hell are you, Welch? I'll tell you who you're not: Steve Spurrier. Spurrier is a Heisman Trophy winner, a National Championship winner, has coached another Heisman Trophy winner, won 7 SEC Championships, and basically is better than you at everything.

Sorry he's not kow-towing to the self-important administrators of the Coaches poll. Spurrier is loyal to a fault, without impugning the integrity of the poll in any way, and you are just another cog in the vast anti-Spurrier conspiracy that has long engulfed this country. Let's listen in to Steve's explanation:

"It's a vote for a school that has been special to me and my family," said Spurrier, who won an ACC championship at Duke in 1989. "They hired me when I didn't have job. I've been doing it for about 15 years and all of a sudden they want to make a big deal out of it."

In years past Spurrier has quit voting for the Blue Devils once they lose a game.

"I doubt if they'll get my next vote but I always feel like I owe that to Duke University," said Spurrier, whose son, Steve Jr., played at Duke.

Know this: as long as Spurrier coaches, there will be a place for honor and loyalty in this game. There will be a place for a little bit of levity. And most of all, there will be a type of football that soars -- football characterized by a brilliant, effortless grace that lifts all those who stand to gain by appreciating its beauty.