OklahomaTuba
1/7/2009, 09:47 AM
From a Florida sports writer...
I've seen this look before.
Eyes filled with disdain. Words bitten off through gritted teeth. Anger exposed in flared nostrils.
I've seen it before.
I saw it two years ago. From the Florida Gators. Just before they beat -- and, yes, it was a beating -- Ohio State for the national championship.
Now I'm seeing it again.
From the Oklahoma Sooners.
I'm not surprised.
All this past month, people asked me who I thought would win the BCS National Championship Game. Mostly it was Gator fans asking, expecting to hear validations for what their orange-and-blue hearts were telling them.
"Oklahoma," I'd say.
Oklahoma? Why?
"Because Oklahoma is going to be angry," I'd say. "Real angry. And at the college level, you can't buy that kind of motivation."
The Sooners heard a lot of things during the break. Mostly negative. They heard they have a junior college defense, playing in a conference full of inferior defenses. They heard that while their quarterback, Sam Bradford, won the Heisman Trophy, it is really Florida's Tim Tebow who is college football's most valuable and most outstanding player. They heard that their head coach, Bob Stoops, is no longer "Big Game Bob." And they heard that while they're ranked number one, oddsmakers say the Gators will win.
Yeah, they heard a lot.
And they're angry.
It makes a difference. Just ask Florida head coach Urban Meyer. I know, because I did.
"It's much easier to coach an angry team," Meyer told me. "I'm sure they're very motivated. I'm sure their coaches are playing that lack-of-respect card. I know I did two years ago."
Oh, did he ever.
In Arizona two years ago, Meyer had a mobile bulletin board built. Some reports have it at 25 feet. He had it strategically placed where his team would see it daily, often several times a day. It was filled with newspaper and magazine headlines, clippings, various and sundry stories extolling the Buckeyes and maligning the Gators.
Some weren't even true.
"Half of it was real and half of it was made up," Meyer says in his authorized biography, Urban's Way. "And the half that was made up I signed 'Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN.' "
Two years ago, Meyer also got a copy of Lindy's magazine previewing the BCS Championship Game. The magazine had page after page after page of nothing but Ohio State photos and text. In the entire magazine, only two pages were devoted to the Gators.
Meyer carried the magazine almost everywhere with him, even during practices, sparing no opportunity to note to his players the abject lack of respect they were getting.
It worked.
All of it worked.
By the time the game arrived, Meyer didn't even need to deliver his team a pregame pep talk. He describes the scene leaving the locker room before playing Ohio State as if he were letting loose caged animals.
"It's easier to coach an angry team," Meyer said again. "It's harder to coach a team that's satisfied. You want to coach a team that feels like it has something to prove."
The fact that Meyer understands this, and understands the edge Oklahoma's coaching staff is no doubt tapping into, bodes well for the Gators. Meyer is no dummy. He knows he has to reach deeper into his bag of motivational tricks to counteract a team he understands has more justification for anger.
A team that has something to prove.
"It helps," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said, when I asked him if it's been easy to motivate his team, what with so many people discrediting them. "You see it in their focus, their practice, their preparation."
Is he playing the lack-of-respect card?
Stoops eyes twinkled. He showed a hint of a smile.
"Oh, you know," he said, "maybe."
Riiiight.
You just need to listen to Oklahoma's players to know that not only is the lack-of-respect card being played, it just might prove to be this game's trump card.
You can hear it in the players' voices. Like Nic Harris' voice. Oklahoma's defensive back was asked all the same questions.about the Sooners' suspect defense, about their quarterback who won a prestigious award many people feel UF's quarterback was more deserving to get, about Oklahoma's recent spate of bowl losses, about oddsmakers not buying into their number one ranking.
Harris gritted his teeth, flared his nostrils, bit off his words in short, choppy replies. His message? Watch. Just watch.
"We can settle everything we need to settle Thursday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m.," Harris said. "People can talk all they want. We'll see."
Motivated?
"We'll take care of what we need to take care of between the hashes," Harris added.
From other Oklahoma players, it's been the same reaction.
It is why you're hearing Oklahoma players describe Tim Tebow as nothing more than the fourth best quarterback if he played in their conference, the Big 12. They're fed up with hearing about Tebow. They're fed up with hearing about Florida. They're fed up with hearing that what they accomplished this season was built on inferior football.
They're fed up.
"There's nothing like an angry team," Meyer said.
Nothing.
Contact Kerasotis at [email protected]
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090107/COLUMNISTS0306/901070315/1065/SPORTS
I've seen this look before.
Eyes filled with disdain. Words bitten off through gritted teeth. Anger exposed in flared nostrils.
I've seen it before.
I saw it two years ago. From the Florida Gators. Just before they beat -- and, yes, it was a beating -- Ohio State for the national championship.
Now I'm seeing it again.
From the Oklahoma Sooners.
I'm not surprised.
All this past month, people asked me who I thought would win the BCS National Championship Game. Mostly it was Gator fans asking, expecting to hear validations for what their orange-and-blue hearts were telling them.
"Oklahoma," I'd say.
Oklahoma? Why?
"Because Oklahoma is going to be angry," I'd say. "Real angry. And at the college level, you can't buy that kind of motivation."
The Sooners heard a lot of things during the break. Mostly negative. They heard they have a junior college defense, playing in a conference full of inferior defenses. They heard that while their quarterback, Sam Bradford, won the Heisman Trophy, it is really Florida's Tim Tebow who is college football's most valuable and most outstanding player. They heard that their head coach, Bob Stoops, is no longer "Big Game Bob." And they heard that while they're ranked number one, oddsmakers say the Gators will win.
Yeah, they heard a lot.
And they're angry.
It makes a difference. Just ask Florida head coach Urban Meyer. I know, because I did.
"It's much easier to coach an angry team," Meyer told me. "I'm sure they're very motivated. I'm sure their coaches are playing that lack-of-respect card. I know I did two years ago."
Oh, did he ever.
In Arizona two years ago, Meyer had a mobile bulletin board built. Some reports have it at 25 feet. He had it strategically placed where his team would see it daily, often several times a day. It was filled with newspaper and magazine headlines, clippings, various and sundry stories extolling the Buckeyes and maligning the Gators.
Some weren't even true.
"Half of it was real and half of it was made up," Meyer says in his authorized biography, Urban's Way. "And the half that was made up I signed 'Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN.' "
Two years ago, Meyer also got a copy of Lindy's magazine previewing the BCS Championship Game. The magazine had page after page after page of nothing but Ohio State photos and text. In the entire magazine, only two pages were devoted to the Gators.
Meyer carried the magazine almost everywhere with him, even during practices, sparing no opportunity to note to his players the abject lack of respect they were getting.
It worked.
All of it worked.
By the time the game arrived, Meyer didn't even need to deliver his team a pregame pep talk. He describes the scene leaving the locker room before playing Ohio State as if he were letting loose caged animals.
"It's easier to coach an angry team," Meyer said again. "It's harder to coach a team that's satisfied. You want to coach a team that feels like it has something to prove."
The fact that Meyer understands this, and understands the edge Oklahoma's coaching staff is no doubt tapping into, bodes well for the Gators. Meyer is no dummy. He knows he has to reach deeper into his bag of motivational tricks to counteract a team he understands has more justification for anger.
A team that has something to prove.
"It helps," Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said, when I asked him if it's been easy to motivate his team, what with so many people discrediting them. "You see it in their focus, their practice, their preparation."
Is he playing the lack-of-respect card?
Stoops eyes twinkled. He showed a hint of a smile.
"Oh, you know," he said, "maybe."
Riiiight.
You just need to listen to Oklahoma's players to know that not only is the lack-of-respect card being played, it just might prove to be this game's trump card.
You can hear it in the players' voices. Like Nic Harris' voice. Oklahoma's defensive back was asked all the same questions.about the Sooners' suspect defense, about their quarterback who won a prestigious award many people feel UF's quarterback was more deserving to get, about Oklahoma's recent spate of bowl losses, about oddsmakers not buying into their number one ranking.
Harris gritted his teeth, flared his nostrils, bit off his words in short, choppy replies. His message? Watch. Just watch.
"We can settle everything we need to settle Thursday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m.," Harris said. "People can talk all they want. We'll see."
Motivated?
"We'll take care of what we need to take care of between the hashes," Harris added.
From other Oklahoma players, it's been the same reaction.
It is why you're hearing Oklahoma players describe Tim Tebow as nothing more than the fourth best quarterback if he played in their conference, the Big 12. They're fed up with hearing about Tebow. They're fed up with hearing about Florida. They're fed up with hearing that what they accomplished this season was built on inferior football.
They're fed up.
"There's nothing like an angry team," Meyer said.
Nothing.
Contact Kerasotis at [email protected]
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090107/COLUMNISTS0306/901070315/1065/SPORTS