Random Saturday Morning SEC Football Thought
by T Kyle King on May 22, 2010 8:54 AM EDT
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PrintI don't know why this thought popped into my head as I was waking up this morning, but it occurred to me that, in the last nine years, the SEC East has been represented in the conference championship game by three teams three times: the Tennessee Volunteers (2001, 2004, and 2007), the Georgia Bulldogs (2002, 2003, and 2005), and the Florida Gators (2006, 2008, and 2009). Tennessee went 0-3, Georgia went 2-1, and Florida went 2-1.
Obviously, the Sunshine State Saurians have had the upper hand in the division for three of the last four years, but the fact that the top three teams in the East have rotated the SEC championship game berth between them equally over almost the last decade shows (a) how much more level the playing field is among the elite programs in the league in the long term than it appears in the short term, and (b) how quickly the worm can turn.
Every one of those teams won some nailbiters that easily might have gone the other way and changed the course of the race: Tennessee's narrow upset win in Sanford Stadium in 2004 and the string of missed field goals against the Volunteers in 2007; Florida's series of close wins in 2006, particularly against South Carolina; Georgia's low-scoring skin-of-the-teeth wins in 2002 and over South Carolina in 2005. History easily might have told a different tale at every turn; dominance only appears to be dominance in retrospect because we know the ultimate outcome. Moreover, national championships notwithstanding, Georgia appeared very nearly as ready to claim division hegemony four years ago as Florida does today, and the Bulldogs' glory was as fleeting as the Gators' ultimately will prove to be . . . if not this year, then next.
In short, it's a new season, and everyone is 0-0. It's lonely at the top, but, among what historically have been the strongest teams in the SEC (Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana State, and Tennessee), it's rarely too lonely for too long.
Don't mistake that observation for optimism; it's just an historical fact that eventually will benefit someone. Just probably not us. Also, I was half-asleep when the thought occurred to me, and blogging while half-asleep may be like tweeting drunk.
Go 'Dawgs!
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Excellent long-term viewpoint.
Thank you, also, for not being optimistic. I was starting to get worried for a minute there. :-)
Could it be that it’s finally South Carolina’s time to enter the limelight? Could it be that this year is “next year?” Hope spring eternal, Gamecock fans!
(chuckle…)
Wow that is an inciteful fact.
Lets hope this past year was the end and a new beginning will come.
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
I Corinthians 9:24
Upper hand in the division for three of the last four years
It is so true….but for an ass kicking or twenty, we’d be dead even atop the SEC east. I know “all glory is fleeting”, I know the karmic wheel that runs over our asses when we richly deserve it. The reason for the current malaise in Jawga sports lies directly on your doorstep. Think back to 1980 and all the trash you heaped upon hapless SEC fans of other regions. Obviously all young Dawgs carry no guilt and stand totally blameless in the karmic courtroom but Kyle and the other" seasoned" Dawgs know just who is to blame. I heartily recommend that these incorrigable, old reprobates be held accountable for atrocities of the past. Paint their lawns orange and blue, buy their children (and grandchildren) Kentucky jerseys, turn live roosters loose in their yards. It’s the only way to break the sme…spell.
Tweeting drunk
I’m so tweeting drunk I can’t find my fanny with a search warrant.
Don't drink and blog, renegator.
We like having you around, really, we do, but save the inebriated trash talk for the Cocktail Party.
If you’re right that giving crap to other SEC fans produces bad karma, the Gators had better get ready for 30 years of 0-12 seasons with everything y’all have been slinging.
Go 'Dawgs!
When can I put that on my calendar?
You know, a kind of run like that might cause me to buy a ticket for the Florida/Vanderbilt game in beautiful, historic Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
by vineyarddawg on May 23, 2010 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions
It's all about fun Kyle
What else can college football be to people that have no real stake in it other than pride in one’s region or alma mater. There were no aspersions cast outside of the talk that rival fans toss back and forth in my circles but the point is taken. If the outcome of a game or of a season caused real pain or took bread from a child, it would not be fertile ground for a joke. If Florida went 0-12 for thirty years it would be embarassing in a superficial way but my basic outlook on life would not change because of it. Many apologies for any and all that I have offended.
"Offense" would be too strong a word.
My preference would be for everyone to meet partisanship with partisanship and reasonableness with reasonableness, but I can deal with an evenhanded nonjudgmental posting being met with trash talk against my team. I don’t care for it, but I’ve learned that the blogosphere bears disconcerting similarities to a David Mamet play, where generally being a nice guy doesn’t get you any slack and may invite attack.
Had it not been for the second comment, I’d have ignored the first one. If it’s naturally-occurring organic trash talk, I’ll deal with it. If it’s a bottle talking, I’d prefer it if the bottle did its talking somewhere else until the human brain resumed control. That’s all. It’s not a warning; as I say, we like having you around, and, if that’s part of the price we have to pay, so be it. It’s just a statement of personal preference, which you may do with as you will.
Go 'Dawgs!
And you are more than entitled to your personal preferences
In your analysis of sporting events you have remained remarkably even-handed. In free hand commentary you do take liberties in the assessment of character of rival coaches and players. All completely understandable given the context. My transgression here has been a somewhat bizarre sense of humor that does not translate well in the environment. I do take full responsibitity for every poorly received jab because I have not been inebriated since the age of 33 (maybe 34). Not everything people write in a light hearted moment is meant to be taken literally or to cause harm to anyone. Jokes about turning chickens loose in people’s yards hardly took the effort to carry any maliciousness. It’s simply a case of wrong joke, wrong audience. Excercises in verbal gymnastics has drawn the gavel. Mea Culpa.
Didn't you just tell me...
Georgia/Tennessee hasn’t had much in the way of championship implications?
As submitted in a previous brief, this rivalry has been much more significant than you were implying.
I must have missed something.
What in the foregoing is inconsistent with what I wrote in the comment thread to which you refer?
I’m not disagreeing with you; I don’t understand, and I’m asking for clarification. Other than 2004 and 2007, when has Georgia-Tennessee settled the East the way Florida-Tennessee did throughout the ’90s?
Go 'Dawgs!
Are we comparing it to UF/UT or Georgia/Clemson?
the 90s between our two rivals might be more similar to us and Florida this decade, but outside of 80-82, Georgia/Tennessee has had as much if not more significance, championship implications, and coaching implications, over the last 20 years as Georgia/Clemson did in the previous 20.
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