Thoughts of the Day: June 30, 2021

A few thoughts to jump start your Wednesday morning:

A WANDERING MIND GATHERS NO MOSS, PART DEUX Depending on who you believe … : There are three stories out there regarding University of Florida athletic director Bill Arnsparger and the hiring of Steve Spurrier as the football coach in 1990. Story No. 1, which some choose to believe, is that Arnsparger did an extensive search for a new head coach but zeroed in on Spurrier, who had led Duke to an improbable Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1989. Story No. 2 is that Arnsparger wanted to take over as Florida’s head coach when he fired Galen Hall midseason in 1989 but wasn’t allowed to hire himself. Story No. 3 is that Arnsparger wanted to hire Mike Archer, the LSU head coach who succeeded him when he left LSU to become the Florida athletic director but only agreed to hiring Spurrier after a meeting with megabooster Ben Hill Griffin. At the meeting, Arnsparger supposedly told BHG he was opposed to hiring Spurrier to which BHG responded, “Bill, Steve Spurrier is going to be the head coach here next year. You don’t have to be the athletic director.”

No matter which story you choose to believe, do understand this: Spurrier was the overwhelming choice of Florida boosters and fans to come bring sanity, stability and almost as important, a measure of unpredictability to an unimaginative offense. In 1988, offensive coordinator Lynn Amedee told the late, great Jack Hairston that Willie McClendon was a far better running back than Emmitt Smith and that the Gators were just too dumb to pick up his sophisticated offense. Perhaps that explains Whitey Jordan in 1989. His idea of sophistication in the offense was Emmitt left, Emmitt right and Emmitt up the middle.

I’ve heard all three scenarios and I’m of the opinion, based on the word of people who knew BHG, that all or part of story No. 3 is true. What further convinces me is that Arnsparger resigned as Florida’s athletic director following the 1991 football season to take the job of the defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers. From AD in charge of one of the nation’s top athletic departments to defensive coordinator? Something about that just doesn’t compute.

One thing I do know for sure: Florida fans would have been ready to tar and feather Arnsparger if he had hired anyone but Steve Spurrier. After the NCAA probation of 1984, the firing of Hall and the firing of basketball coach Norm Sloan just prior to the start of the 1989 season, Florida fans needed something positive and Spurrier was exactly what the doctor ordered. From the moment he was announced as the head coach, there was a sense of anticipation that had been missing for years and in the subsequent 12 years, Spurrier didn’t disappoint, going 122-27-1 with six SEC titles, one national championship and 12 years in which the Gators won at least nine games.

Justice was not served 37 years ago: There is no debating that Florida committed recruiting and other violations that led to NCAA probation in 1984. We can debate whether or not Florida deserved some of the harshest sanctions ever handed out by the NCAA, particularly when some of the heinous crimes committed on Charley Pell’s watch were Dwight “Hoss” Adams buying Dale Dorminey a Sprite and a pack of Juicy Fruit at the Gainesville airport while waiting on a delayed flight and Mike Shanahan lending his car to Roger Sibbald to drive to Dunnellon to deal with a family emergency. Sibbald returned the same day so it’s not as if there was any sort of advantage gained. Obviously, there were worse violations and Florida got caught.

The injustice from 37 years ago is how the Southeastern Conference has chosen to deal with Florida. The Gators won the SEC championship on the field in 1984 with what amounted to an NFL team recruited by Pell. Florida went 9-1-1 and by season’s end, there wasn’t a team in the country that could have beaten the Gators who the NCAA declared ineligible to go to a bowl game. The New York Times gave the Gators a national championship trophy. Florida doesn’t claim the 1984 national championship although it’s more legitimate than some of the ones claimed by Georgia (1942 by something called the Williamson System and the Billingsley Report), LSU (1962), Tennessee (1938, 1940, 1951, 1967), Ole Miss (1959, 1962) and Alabama (1930, 1934, 1941).

When the Gators beat Kentucky to win the SEC title in 1984, it set off a celebration like no one had ever seen in Gainesville. Thousands awaited the UF plane returning from Lexington and thousands more lined University Avenue to greet the conquering heroes. The party was still raging into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Well after the season concluded, the Southeastern Conference voted to strip Florida of the championship. Georgia and Tennessee are known to have voted to take the title away from the Gators (they did it again in 1990 for the violations that cost Galen Hall his job). LSU, Auburn and Alabama supposedly were supportive of UF.

If stripping the Gators of the title is justice, then why didn’t the SEC strip Alabama of the 1999 SEC championship when the NCAA took away 21 scholarships? Why didn’t the SEC strip Auburn of the 2010 SEC title when it was clear that Cecil Newton (Cam’s father) had for all practical purposes auctioned his son off to the highest bidder?

And, since we’re on the subject of injustice, why hasn’t the University of Florida athletic department made that 1984 team feel welcome. That’s just wrong.

The constant in Florida’s 2006-07 NCAA basketball championships was Taurean Green: In addition to winning the Most Outstanding Player Award for leading the Gators to the 2006 NCAA basketball title, Joakim Noah was known to suck all the air out of the room by the sheer force of his dynamic personality. Whether it was talking about his grandfather back in Cameroon offering sacrifices on behalf of the Gators or dancing for the whole world to see after the 2007 SEC Tournament title, Jo was always a story in the making. Al Horford was quiet and reserved. He played his best basketball when the stakes were the highest. Interview him and he always had an intelligent, well thought out answer. Corey Brewer was an athletic freak who could win games with his defense or his shooting. He always wore a gigantic grin. Lee Humphrey broke games open with his lethal 3-point shooting and underrated play on the defensive end. Not bad for a guy who heading into his junior year had people asking if he even belonged in the SEC.

And then there was Taurean Green, who wasn’t even Billy Donovan’s first choice as a point guard when he was recruited. The first choice was Jordan Farmar (went to UCLA) and the second choice was Darius Washington (went to Memphis). Taurean wound up with two championship rings. Farmar and Washington went oh-fer their careers.

During Florida’s two national championship seasons, the one starter who never missed a game because of injury or illness was Taurean Green. That’s important because Florida didn’t have a real backup point guard. Taurean was the ball handler, the Gators best foul shooter, a clutch 3-point shooter and rock solid defensively. Ask Farmar (2006 national championship game) and Darren Collison (2007 semifinals), both of whom played a lot of years in the NBA, just how much of a lockdown defender Taurean was.

Now, in those championship games, the Gators couldn’t have won them without any one of the four starters, but over the course of two seasons, Taurean Green was the one indispensable Gator. Florida never gets to the Final Four twice much less wins back-to-back national championships without him.

Maybe I’m just old, but I still think Jack Nicklaus is the greatest golfer of all time: I’m not trying to take anything away from Tiger Woods, who did some absolutely amazing things when he was healthy and had his head together (pre-divorce), but for my money Jack was, is and will always be the best of all time. Even before his pro career that delivered 18 major championships, Jack won the 1956 Ohio Open against pros when he was 16, qualified for the US Open at 17, finished 12th in his first non-major PGA tournament when he was 18, won the US Amateur at 19, tied for 13th at the Masters at 20 in 1960, tied for second at the US Open that same year, tied for seventh at the 1961 Masters, won the NCAA title and US Open in 1961, and tied for fourth at the US Open in 1961.

Not many in Jack’s era could match him off the tee when he hit 275-yard drives and an occasional monster that went 300. That was with persimmon head drivers that aren’t nearly as forgiving as the drivers used these days. Nobody hit the ball 330-350 yards which you see with regularity on today’s PGA Tour. Maybe a bigger challenge was winning golf with balls that sliced and lost their round shape easily. The golf balls of today are probably a bigger advantage than the drivers and forgiving irons.

In an interview he did for Golf magazine back in 2020, Jack said, “I think the equipment we played was far more challenging and rewarded us more for hard work than the equipment of today. I may get a little static about that because the average golfer actually likes the equipment for today, and I understand that.”

A FEW NOTES FROM THE SEC

Kyle Pitts signed his first NFL contract. The Atlanta Falcons are paying him $32.9 million over the next four years with all the money guaranteed. That’s nice work if you can get it.

The College World Series is tied at 1-1 after Mississippi State bounced back to take game two from Vanderbilt, 13-2, Tuesday night. For Wednesday’s championship game, Vandy will be starting Kumar Rocker on four days rest and Mississippi State will start Will Bednar on three.

Darius Days (6-8, 240, SR) has withdrawn from the NBA Draft and will return to LSU for his senior season. Josh LeBlanc (6-7, 230, SR) is transferring from LSU to UAB.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Chayil Garnett is transferring from Auburn to Tennessee State. Garnett put his name in the transfer portal as soon as TJ Finley transferred from LSU.

Kentucky football chief of staff Dave Berezowitz was arrested on misdemeanor 4th-degree assault charges over the weekend.

Tennessee defensive lineman Greg Emerson, a 4-star recruit in 2018, is the latest Volunteer to transfer out.

Missouri linebacker Gerald Nathan, a former 3-star recruit in 2018, is transferring. He has been in on two tackles in his Mizzou career.

ONE FINAL PITHY THOUGHT: The NCAA Division I Board of Directors is expected to vote today to allow athletes to earn money off their name, image and likeness. This comes one day before NIL laws going into effect in several states. The NCAA calls this an interim measure to hold over until there is federal legislation introduced or else the NCAA comes up with a brand new set of rules. The NCAA tried to kick the NIL can down the road in hopes that Congress would come up with a plan but that hasn’t happened. It’s opened the door for a worst case scenario that some are calling Armageddon for the NCAA and an almost as bad scenario that others are calling a Pandora’s box. It is really hard to imagine this turning out well, either for the NCAA or for college sports. Like it or not, college sports as we know them are about to change. I’m not sure we’ll recognize college sports in 10 years.