Today in Schadenfreude

I came here to gloat.

In case you missed it, and by the reactions of pretty much everyone in the Dawgosphere no one did, today wasn’t a particularly good one for our arch-rival to the south. The offseason is pretty much the worst season, and this year’s iteration has been no exception. However, when some inflammatory comments over the course of a few days come back to burn the very people who started the fire, it makes everything so much better. The fact that it’s Florida makes it art.

The Florida Gators, as a program, are desperately trying to rebuild from the mediocrity they have suffered over a 7 or 8 year run that was the norm only a generation ago. Sure, they won a few regular season games last season, but few that really mattered; won a bowl game and had a bit of recruiting success in the 2019 cycle. Suddenly, it’s “Don’t look now, but the Gators are back, baby!” throughout the Sunshine State and beyond. Statues were being designed, streets were going to be renamed, cut-off jeans would soon be all the rage once again, and the local SuperCuts were about to roll out a special on a variation of “The Mullet,” called “The Mullen.” It was a cross between a bowl-cut and a circumcision. One or two writers even ranked Dan Mullen higher than Kirby Smart, who is 2-0 in head-to-head battles including the only kind that matters - The Cocktail Party.

So convincing is the current the turnaround in Gainesville that a certain local Florida sportswriter threw some serious shade at the Nation’s oldest Land-Grant institution while at the same time proclaiming that our beloved school is the most overrated program in history, or something to that effect.

I’ve thought Georgia was overrated for the last 10 years or so because I just think Georgia and its fan base has this opinion of itself like they’re Alabama ... and they’re not. - Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel.

Is this particular media outlet so cash strapped that they can’t drug test?

Remember, Bianchi also recently pontificated that Kirby Smart had better stay in the present, to this end:

Georgia needs to enjoy the superiority they have in the SEC East right now because Dan Mullen is going to quickly turn the tables in that - Mike Bianchi

Bianchi’s statements were obviously emboldened after Florida’s coach, in an obvious jab at Kirby Smart and the Georgia program over the Justin Fields transfer:

I’d think we did a poor job recruiting if guys were coming in and then immediately walking out the door because it was something different than what they thought it would be and we lied to them during recruiting, or we sold them on a dream that wasn’t true. - Dan Mullen

This didn’t age well. It ranks right up there with:

Peace in our time - Neville Chamberlain, 1938...

And then Thursday, May 9th happened. And it was real and it was spectacular.

Florida lost their top rated recruit to the “Portal,” and after reading the reasons why this student-athlete decided to make his move I completely understand (all fandom aside). The Gators #1 rated recruit never took a snap in a game, and suddenly, self proclaimed “defensive back U” finds themselves dangerously thin. Irony, or karma?

Florida also suffered a huge de-commit form a big-time prospect. Anyway, life comes at you fast. And it’s only Thursday night.

Dan Mullen’s last week and a half has featured two transfers, two recruiting misses and a player’s arrest. - Tampa Bay Times

Couldn’t you have just let the kid get a new room assignment, Dan?

Is the “Portal” a conduit to escape criminal charges? This certainly makes me wonder.

About that “Home and Home” with Colorado... Even the natives aren’t particularly impressed with this one.

A “colossal disaster” for Florida? Another recap of sorts.

Seems legit..

Ultimately, Dan Mullen and Mike Bianchi’s hubris will only accomplish one thing: Add more pressure to the program, and after the events of the past few weeks and especially today, the pressure down there is palpable.

Oh, and by the way. Five-star super linebacker out of Washington, D.C., Mekhail Sherman committed to Georgia this evening.

The gap is widening. And there’s nothing overrated about that.

As Always, GO DAWGS!