Who Will Replace Urban Meyer?

Well, it's that time of year again. Charlie Weis is on the hot seat at Notre Dame and Urban Meyer is again the coach in waiting. What makes this year different? Weis is as done as that turkey in Christmas Vacation. So, what does that mean for Florida fans? Unfortunately, a very likely chance Urban is gone. This is no Billy to Kentucky scenario. Urban is Notre Dame football. He wanted to go there after Utah, but his wife said no. It is his dream job, as he has announced to the world. Florida fans, set yourself up for major disappointment.

So, with this devastating news and after making a few calls to some agents, ADs, sports writers and people generally in the "know", I've come up with a short list of Florida's likely replacements. Here is the order in which Jeremy Foley, Florida's AD, should make the call:

1. Ron Zook: An obvious choice. Been a head coach in the SEC and Big 10. Need I really say more? He was even Florida's head coach once and a stellar recruiter. The only thorn in his side? Coaching. But, he has obviously remedied that with Illinois. They did go to the Rose Bowl (a few years ago) by the way.

2. Lane Kiffin: Only 34 and already been an NFL and SEC coach. I'm also impressed with the coaches' first year stats. He sits at 5-5, when everyone expected him to be like...5-5. He has a big mouth, like the Ol' Ball Coach, and Florida fans love that kind of stuff. Additionally, he keeps a well disciplined team without one arrest all yea....oops, strike that.

3. Charlie Weis: I hear he may be available to take the job. It's just a hunch. Who can deny this offensive genius if some school is foolish enough to let him go? Just one problem...Defense...and weight.

4. Ted Roof: He has my last name, a major plus. He once was head coach at Duke, just like the Steve Spurrier, the Heisman and National Championship winner. Can someone say...similarities?? Also, he kind of looks like a heftier Steve Martin. There are just too many things saying this is so right. I hope Auburn can part ways.

5. Doug Peters: Former Lake Mary High School head coach and current athletic director. So innovative, he found a way out of a 0-10 record...cancellation of a game due to inclement weather. This is the kind of innovative leader we need at Florida. First the Fun N Gun, then the spread and now...GOD. Only problem is, why would he leave such a successful high school program for Florida?

Don't worry Gator fans...if Urban leaves, it's obvious we will be in good hands.

College Football Top 20 Week 8

Because we punished Florida the week before, with a near loss at home to an unranked Arkansas, the same happened to Alabama for a near loss at home to an unranked Tennessee. We also got analysis from Lee Corso on what really happened to Arkansas...they just shot their wad. Here's this week's Top 20.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Iowa

5) Cincinnati

6) Oregon

7) USC

8) LSU

9) TCU

10) Georgia Tech

11) Penn State

12) Houston

13) Oklahoma State

14) Pittsburgh

15) West Virginia

16) Virginia Tech

17) South Carolina

18) Miami, FL

19) Ohio State

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) LSU

5) Oregon

6) USC

7) TCU

8) Iowa

9) Cincinnati

10) Boise State

11) Georgia Tech

12) Penn State

13) Houston

14) Ok State

15) Virginia Tech

16) Pittsburgh

17) Miami FL

18) Ohio State1

9) South Carolina

20) Utah

Top 20 College Football Week 7

Florida players must have read my last post and decided to prove me wrong. Not only did they come in with another conservative game plan, but the players couldn't execute it very well. We also learned on Saturday that Texas looks even worse and Alabama is strong, but not as strong as some thought as their offense struggled for three quarters against South Carolina (everyone but Ingram). While the SEC is having a "down" year, so is the Big 12, Big 10 and pretty much every other conference...so does that mean it's "down"?

Some good news for Florida State and Bobby Bowden, they didn't lose last weekend...of course, they didn't win either. Bad news for Ron Zook and Illinois...Ron Zook is still the Illinois head coach and hasn't figured out how to implement his top secret take no prisoners game plan. That's because he hasn't found it, yet.

For the first time this year, Florida is no longer on the top of our polls. If they can find an offense somewhere, they will have a chance to return, although it doesn't really matter much since they will most likely play Alabama in the SEC Championship game.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Alabama

2) Florida

3) Iowa

4) Texas

5) Cincinnati

6) Miami, FL

7) Oregon

8) USC

9) LSU

10) TCU

11) Georgia Tech

12) Houston

13) Penn State

14) Oklahoma State

15) Pittsburg

16) Virginia Tech

17) Texas Tech

18) BYU

19) South Carolina

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Alabama

2) Florida

3) Iowa

4) Texas

5) Oregon

6) Miami FL

7) USC

8) Cincinnati

9) Boise State

10) TCU

11) LSU

12) Georgia Tech

13) Penn State

14) Houston

15) Oklahoma State

16) Virginia Tech

17) BYU

18) South Carolina

19) Texas Tech

20) Ohio State

TOP 20 College Football Poll

A big question developing is whether Florida deserves to be ranked No. 1? I think we, like many others, have placed them there because they are the defending champions, lost few players (although some key ones on offense) and are still undefeated playing in the SEC. However, Alabama has played more "tough" teams thus far and remain unbeaten. If we went solely on who teams have played to this date...Alabama should be ranked No. 1. If we add returning players and what we anticipate from the team...it appears to be Florida. Some people think Florida's offense has been bad this year. But, there is a difference in being a bad offense and being a conservative offense. The Florida offensive players are making the plays (unlike FSU receivers and O-line). It's the Florida game plan, whether right or wrong, since playing too conservative can be costly (See Ron Zook). If Urban doesn't open up the offense a little bit on Arkansas this week, we may have to bump Bama to the No. 1 spot.

BA Roof's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Virginia Tech

5) Iowa

6) Cincinnati

7) Miami

8) Oregon

9) USC

10) LSU

11) Ohio State

12) Nebraska

13) Penn State

14) South Carolina

15) South Florida

16) TCU

17) Georgia Tech

18) Houston

19) Oklahoma State

20) Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson's Top 20

1) Florida

2) Alabama

3) Texas

4) Virginia Tech

5) Cincinnati

6) Miami FL

7) Boise State

8) Oregon

9) Iowa

10) LSU

11) USC

12) Ohio State

13) Kansas

14) Penn State

15) Nebraska

16) South Florida

17) South Carolina

18) TCU

19) Georgia Tech

20) Houston

R and R Top 20: College Football Week 5

The leaves are beginning to change up north as we complete a third of the college football season. Some teams are still in the hunt, while others are anticipating next season (sorry FSU fans, you might as well hold out for the 2012 season). We are possibly going to get another epic match up in Baton Rouge this Saturday night as the Gators take on the Tigers. There are more questions surrounding these two teams than David Letterman's sex life. Will Tebow play, is LSU a good team or a lucky team? Today will only have my rankings, as the other R is currently on assignment in Hawaii, which reminds me that I need to finish (write) the rest of my Hawaii posts. Mr. Robinson will be reporting on the islands of Oahu and Hawai'i (Big Island). This week, my biggest challenge was where to rank the Big 12 teams (or not). There are several teams still undefeated, but have been playing JV football teams. We should find out more this week as some of them are actually playing real college teams. I still refuse to rank Boise State higher than 20, no matter how good Oregon plays. Come on, you have to play more than one real game a year.

BA Roof's Top 20

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. LSU
5. Virginia Tech
6. Iowa
7. Cincinnati
8. Auburn
9. Miami
10. USC
11. Oregon
12. Ohio State
13. Penn State
14. South Carolina
15. TCU
16. Georgia Tech
17. Wisconsin
18. Kansas
19. Michigan
20. Boise State

R and R Top 20: College Football Week 4

It was another crazy week for college football. More top 10 teams fell (Is Oregon that good or was Cal that bad?) which is making it difficult to decide how to rank the top 20 and which loss/win is more impressive and important. We also saw a nasty injury to Tim Tebow, which is sure to please Gator haters around the world. I understand why people don't like Tebow (envy), but you can't discount that he is a great college football player and an amazing human. Florida's ranking at number one in our polls definitely comes under some dark clouds from Mordor. Lucky for them, they have a bye this week to nurse some injuries before they go to LSU for a tough road game. As much as I am a Gator Fan, Bama is creeping closer to that No. 1 spot.

Here are our polls for this week:

BA Roof Top 20:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Virginia Tech

5. LSU

6. Iowa

7. Cincinnati

8. USC

9. Oklahoma

10. Auburn

11. Houston

12. TCU

13. Michigan

14. Miami

15. Ohio State

16. Oregon

17. Georgia

18. South Carolina

19. Penn State

20. Boise State

Christopher J. Robinson Top 20:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Virginia Tech

5. Oklahoma

6. Iowa

7. Cincinnati

8. LSU

9. Oregon

10. Boise State

11. Houston

12. USC

13. Michigan

14. Kansas

15. TCU

16. Miami

17. South Carolina

18. Ohio State

19. Penn State

20. OK State

R and R Top 20: College Football

We are going to do our best to rank what we see as the top 20 teams out there right now. There is sure to be plenty of debate, which is what we want (and expect) between college football fans. We tried to recognize teams that have surprised us and not put too much weight on national reputation. We also won't be afraid to make drastic moves week to week, to reflect what's really happening on the field.

Additionally, a lot has been said about the top ranked team in our poles, the Florida Gators, after their less than impressive win over Tennessee. While I agree there are some potential vulnerabilities on offense, take a second to remember that Jeff Demps and Aaron Hernandez were isolated with flu symptoms all week and Demps played with a 101 fever, receiver Deonte Thompson didn't play because of a hamstring injury and receiver Riley Cooper had a pinched nerve. Did Florida make mistakes, sure. Does this game mean they are not the number one team...only if you are an Alabama fan. I think we need to see a few more games to determine if Florida is the team we thought, or if the offensive woes will ruin their bid for a third national championship in four years.

With that, here are our Top 20 lists.

BA Roof:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. Miami

5. California

6. LSU

7. Penn State

8. Cincinnati

9. Ole Miss

10. Auburn

11. USC

12. Michigan

13. Virginia Tech

14. Oklahoma

15. Ohio State

16. North Carolina

17. Oklahoma State

18. Houston

19. Washington

20. Florida State

Christopher J. Robinson:

1. Florida

2. Alabama

3. Texas

4. California

5. Ole Miss

6. Penn State

7. Miami (FL)

8. Boise State

9. LSU

10. Cincinnati

11. Oklahoma

12. Virginia Tech

13. USC

14. Florida State

15. Ohio State

16. Oregon

17. TCU

18. Houston

19. Kansas

20. Michigan

Judgment Day Arrives: Tennessee vs. Florida

The very first ("real") post of the R and R Review detailed Lane Kiffin's arrival at the University of Tennessee. We learned quickly in the SEC that Lane has a big mouth and it appears, as of last weekend, Lannie Boy can't back it up. Judgment day is finally here. Saturday is the big matchup between the most hated team in America outside of Gator Country and the team that everyone in the SEC loves to poke fun at.

Well, one of the R and R Review's contacts located this great little nugget. It's only fitting that Lane gets pissed on by drunk Gator fans in one of the dirtiest bars (but one of the best) in Gainesville...Balls. That's right, a bar called Balls where we used to get pissed when 2 dollar double bourbon doubled in price to 4 dollars on game day weekends. Don't even ask what type of bourbon was poured into those drinks...it didn't matter. The label said bourbon, they were doubles and were only 2 DOLLARS.

Now, I'm usually a very reserved Gator Fan (as reserved as they can be) and don't go around yelling at opposing fans saying we are going to beat your ass today, your sleep with your brother, etc. I'm always concerned if I say too much, I'm going to ruin it all for our team. But, this weekend, I'm making an exception. We have beaten Tennessee the last four times and unless we have an Ole Miss collapse tomorrow, it's gonna be five. The series is currently tied at 19 games a piece and the Gators are going to take the lead. Thank you Lane for heating up the rivalry again, even if the outcome will be the same tomorrow.

Go Gators.

Sunday at the Masters

Masters week has long been my favorite week of the year. With spring finally showing its beautiful face, the sun is shinning, the windows are open, and Masters coverage is on the tele 24/7. With the rain clouds clearing out, moving back in, and clearing out again, the office is abuzz with predictions, Tiger vs. The Field arguments, and Masters pools being filled out. People start talking about how much they love Shingo Katayama’s hats and how beautiful Jeev Milkha Singh’s swing is. Um, kidding.

Thanks in part to my strong sense of entitlement and the who’s who of the Robinson family connections, I was lucky enough to attend the final round of the 2009 Masters. The friend who attended the Sunday round with me has chosen to remain anonymous and will henceforth be referred to as “Bill.”

Here are some highlights from Sunday at the Masters.

WHERE WE SAT: 10th green. It was also a short walk to the 11th, 15th, 18th, and 8th tee boxes and the 14th and 17th greens (see below). After Tiger and Phil played the 10th, Bill and I moved our chairs behind the 18th tee box. Once Tiger and Phil left the course, we walked over to 16th green just in time to see Kenny Perry’s near ace and Angel Cabrera’s slippery 15-foot birdie putt.

UNSPOKEN RULE: Once you put your chair down, it will not be touched.

SPOKEN RULE: There is no running at Augusta National!!!!

SWEETEST HAIR: Tie. Bubba Watson and Aaron Baddeley.

BIZARRE MOMENT: With Tiger and Phil on the 17th green, some lunatic ducks under the ropes, dives into a bunker and starts doing snow angels. I am not lying. He was in there for 45 seconds before anyone had any idea what to do. He was then escorted to the Richmond County jail.

CHOKER OF THE DAY: Kenny Perry. He just needed to play 17 and 18 one over par.

TIP: Make sure you sit somewhere with a view of one of the scoreboards. The only downfall of attending the Masters is that you don’t get to see all the action going on around the course, like you would from your couch. Luckily for us, there was a giant scoreboard positioned on the left side of the 10th green so that we were able to keep up with what was going on with the leaders and we knew if anyone was making a Sunday charge. Whenever Bill and I heard a distant crowd cheer from across the course, we knew something big was happening, and a few seconds later it popped up on the scoreboard in front of us. Every time a new (lower) red number was posted next to Tiger or Phil, the crowd around us shrieked and cheered in pure ecstasy. It was pretty exciting to be a part of the action.

UNEXPECTED SURPRISE (for first timers): The food at the Masters is CHEAP. Bill and I each had a sandwich, chips, a snack, and a drink (with collector’s cups) for $10.50. Import beers were $3 with a collector’s cup. You might pay $2,500 for a Sunday ticket, but you won’t have to dip into your kid’s college fund for lunch.

A FEW THOUGHTS: Sergio is shorter than I expected. Rory Sabatini is a complete douche bag. I was 2 feet from Padraig Harrington. The two main differences between pros and amateurs are consistency and trajectory. Those guys hit the ball super high. There was no rough at the Masters this year. If I am luckily enough to go back another year, I am going to put my chair near the 13th green and spend a lot of time over at Amen Corner.

SPORKS: If Tiger or Phil had comeback to win, or if Kenny Perry had played the last two holes at +1, it would have been a 5 Spork day. Alas, my Sunday at the Masters gets...

2009 Daytona 500

So, I’m not sure how many of our loyal readers (yes, all 3 of you) watch NASCAR. I can tell you with confidence that the other R wants nothing to do with the sport. Yes, the cars drive round and round and at first glance can seem boring. But, I seem to have a sweet tooth for some good ole southern racin’ and yes, Days of Thunder is one of my favorite movies. Why is this? Because, of the drama between the drivers and the governing body. It’s like combining a ten car accident on the interstate, with the fighting of hockey with the dysfunctional governing body of…maybe Olympic gymnastics?

This leads me to describe one of the worst Daytona 500s I’ve seen in a very long time. If you haven’t heard, we are in the midst of an economic meltdown. NASCAR heavily relies on sponsorship dollars to fund its race teams. Did you know it can cost as much as 20 million dollars a year to fund a team? There are 43 teams that make a race every weekend. That’s a lot of money. Also, if you don’t watch often, three of the four car brands circling the track every weekend come from Detroit. With the car industry on life support and corporations hoarding every penny found, NASCAR desperately needed a strong 500 to increase viewers and attendance. Instead, it got its typical drama combined with a shortened race due to poor contingency planning by the sport.

The biggest issue of the day, besides the rain, was my favorite, yet slightly overrated driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. I loved his daddy, so naturally I followed Junior. However, Junior doesn’t drive like his daddy and doesn’t win like his daddy, causing a lot of frustration for me and many other NASCAR fans. A good friend of mine and I often complain after a race how Junior once again screwed things up. Well, during this race he happened to spin out Brian Vickers shortly before the rain came. Many of the commentators and cry-baby drivers claimed that Junior recklessly hit Vickers, causing a major pileup. Well, first Junior had an incredible run on him and Vickers recklessly blocked his pass. As Junior was trying to come back into the race from the grass, he “rubbed” him. And as Harry Hogge said in Thunder, rubbin, son, is racin’. If the other driver’s can’t handle it…they need to go to Dancin’ with the Stars.

That leads to the question: why were they racing so hard with so many laps left? Well, rain was coming and in NASCAR you can’t race in the rain because of the slick tires used by the sport. Now, I understand that NASCAR can’t control the weather. But, they knew the bad weather was approaching hours in advance. Instead of moving up the biggest race of the year by an hour or so, and cut out their horrible pre-race celebration…they kept to the script, ensuring a rain ruined race. The BIGGEST race! The Super Bowl of NASCAR! It would be like if at the end of the third quarter of the Super Bowl, they cancelled the fourth quarter because of rain. NASCAR needs to learn a lesson from MLB. When the weather delayed Game 5 in the 6th inning of the World Series last year, did MLB place the game in the books? No, it let it resume days later. NASCAR should probably run the 500 a weekend earlier, or schedule the second race of the season somewhere on the east coast, rather than California so they could delay the race if needed. Instead, they stopped it only 3/4ths of the way through, with a lot of racing left to the imagination.

This year's Daytona 500 gets a Spork Rating of:

Pre Pre-Season NCAA Football Coach Review – Lane Kiffin

So, interesting choice for a first review, right? College football is still over six months away (shhh, stop crying SEC fans) and our boy Lane hasn’t even coached a game for UT…not even the Spring game. However, Coach Kiffin has given the eleven other SEC schools a treasure trove of great material for decades to come. How could a pre pre-season review be ignored? First, I’ve diagnosed Lane’s problem. He has a mild case of Tourette’s syndrome. I mean, the guy says every bad thought that goes through his overworked brain. Filter, Kiffin, Filter. We could start way back in the NFL for this review, but let’s just focus on the time Kiffin has been coach of UT:

1. Made fun of and belittled a talent rich high school in Florida where he just nabbed a top recruit from UF.

2. Bragged about stealing recruits from other schools on camera.

3. Called Urban Meyer a cheat on camera, which was untrue and landed him a nice reprimand from SEC Commish Mike Slive.

4. Was subsequently reported for two recruiting violations by his own school and his excuse? “Other schools do it, too” (This is the same guy that bragged he got all but one answer right on NCAA recruiting exam).

5. Said he fired a staff member when his driver was 25 minutes late picking him up at the airport (Reason: That was 25 more minutes Urban and Saban had to get recruits). Maybe he is just insane?? UT quickly said no one had been fired and that Coach Kiffin was just running a very “disciplined program”. Are two recruiting violations in his first few months disciplined?

I could give Laney boy a 5 Spork review for making something relevant come out of Tennessee football for the first time in nearly a decade. However, relevant doesn’t equate to greatness in this case. When Urban took over Florida, he immediately focused on football and the fundamentals. He won two national championships in four years. Saban has made similar progress in Babalama by nearly winning the SEC Championship and playing in a BCS bowl game in his second year. The Nutt defeated the last three National Champions and won the Cotton Bowl in his first year at Ole Miss. Even Auburn’s new lackluster coach Chizik has enough brains to just shut up and pray if he works hard enough, something good will happen (see: Ron Zook for results). Instead of focusing on the fundamentals of football, Kiffin has done a knock up job of pissing off his rivals by his accusations, cheating and dirty tricks and at the same time made a bigger joke out of his school. I mean, have you actually heard the lyrics to Rocky Top??? These are huge negatives for a team coming off one if its worst seasons in a long, long time. So for that, kiddin’ Kiffin gets: