Buddy Martin Blog, Ask Dr. Mullenerooski: Will Dan Be Cleared In Time For the Missouri Game?

Urban Meyer, who has had similar things happen to him and his players, thinks the reaction got out of hand as his former assistant and team became “a national punching bag.” He made it clear he had not talked to MulIen about it but “we’ve texted back and forth.”

It’s tough to find a laugh these days. Gloom and Doom seems to be our new daily weather forecast instead of Partly Cloudy and Sunny. We tend to cling to the thing and people we know and love. But before the ink is dry on that last sentence, somebody from the Red or Blue side will no doubt be in a fistfight about it. So when it comes to politics, I quit.

Please, however, I beg of you -- let’s take time for an attitude adjustment and to feel the gratitude for more football, even if just for the moment. Welcome back Big 10! Hopefully the Florida Gators and rest of the SEC can rejoin next week.

So how do we readjust our attitudes? Laughter always help.

First, I had to chuckle at the photo of Nick Saban as the fake doctor, posted on Facebook by my friend Jeff.

“This is Alabama team associate doctor Nicoli Sabanski who reports Coach Saban is Covid-free and cleared to be on the ‘Bama sidelines tonight vs. No. 3 Georgia ...”

With a response from Jim: “The Great Sabanski. Conqueror of Covid.”

Naturally sport is being made of how Saban was so quickly tested and was found to have three negatives just in time to be cleared so he could coach. LOL! This is what we do. If we don’t know, we just make it up! That also seems to be what all the politicos and some of the so-called media often do! However, let’s not go there today and instead join the fun!

Here’s a photo that was found in old mayonnaise jar under the porch of Funk and Wagnalls:

With this message:

“This is Florida associate team doctor Daniel Mullenerooski, who after the 47th testing of Coach Dan Mullen says he feels sure he’ll be ready to reopen practice Monday and will have enough players ready for the Missouri game.” And a response from Frankie Facebook: “Gee Megan Mullen, doesn’t that look a little like the guy who lives at your house, and shouldn’t you force him to shave that thing off?”

Look up word “Schadenfreude.” I always think of it as “throwing shade,” but that’s not really accurate, because “schadenfreude” is pleasure by someone from another person's misfortune. “Throwing shade,” according to the dictionary.com, is “a subtle way of disrespecting or ridiculing someone verbally or nonverbally.” In sports jargon, it’s sort of like talking trash in the heat of battle.

Anyway, I think schadenfreude is a fair way of depicting the national attitude of outsiders last week when characterizing Dan Mullen’s response to crowd he saw at Kyle Field during his team’s 41-38 loss to Texas A&M. Maybe he misspoke in the heat of battle, but he did finally walk back his statement “Pack The Swamp!”

Urban Meyer, who has had similar things happen to him and his players, thinks the reaction got out of hand as his former assistant and team became “a national punching bag.” He made it clear he had not talked to MulIen about it but “we’ve texted back and forth.”

I asked him to explain what it’s like when one coach perceives that his opponent is gaining an unfair advantage.

“Well, I’ve been there and you’ve got to catch yourself … You are just so emotional after a game and somebody sticks a microphone in front of you!” said Meyer. “I’ve seen Zeke Elliott say things. That one year (after No. 3 Ohio State’s 17-14 loss to No. 9 Michigan State after only getting 12 carries). We talked the next day and everything was fine.

“So you wish we could just press ‘pause’ and think everything through. But I can see where Dan is coming from. Everybody is supposed to have minimal people in the stands.”

Dan did finally walk it back a few days later but, unfortunately, it presented his critics with an opportunity to play their Karma card when he and a number of his players became infected by Covid. That’s what Urban meant by him becoming “a national punching bag.”

I agree somewhat that Mullen became an easy target because some members of the national media tied all the events together as if they were all directly connected. On the other hand if Mullen would have responded to local media’s questions in his Monday presser when he was pressed for a better answer it might have softened the blow a little.

Meyer went on to say that he loves what Mullen is doing with the program and how unfortunate it was for the Gators to have a hiccup because he loves the K2K passing connection of Kyle Trash and Kyle Pitts, which he said on his Fox show Big Noon Kickoff looked like “the best passing combination in the country.”

“I’m a big fan of Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators.”

Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure I saw Tim Tebow with a fake beard and mustache in a uniform bearing the name “Tebowoski” sitting in the Linebackers Room with Todd Grantham. You don’t suppose…?