Salt City Sooner
10/13/2010, 12:53 PM
Pulled punches? Not this time:
Florida coach Urban Meyer, who let talented touchdown-maker Chris Rainey return to practice this week -- one month after Rainey threatened his girlfriend's life -- talks about players like family. They're his children. His sons. In real life, of course, Urban Meyer has a son of his own, and he has two daughters. And so, for a change, I want him to think about this:
Don't think of Chris Rainey as his son.
Think of Chris Rainey's girlfriend as his daughter.
Rainey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking after sending the following text message to his girlfriend: "Time to Die B-tch."
Is Chris Rainey back at practice this week if he'd sent that to Meyer's daughter?
We'll never know, and good for that. I don't wish ill will on Meyer or his family, but I do wish the single most visible man at Florida -- my alma mater, if you didn't know -- would stop embarrassing UF grads like me who wonder why he's considered such a strong leader when in reality he's weak. Soft. Pathetic.
Meyer cares only about winning games, and if he'd stand there and tell the world, "I care only about winning games," then I could live with it. I'd still be embarrassed that a dangerous cretin like Chris Rainey was allowed to represent my school so soon after telling a woman that it was time to die, b-tch -- but I could live with Meyer being true to who Meyer is, which is a cutthroat coach concerned not with his players or his university, but with his career winning percentage and the $24 million contract that comes with it.
Instead of being honest, though, Meyer resorts to empty talk about "core values" and meaningless blather that Rainey continues to "pay a price" and must "follow guidelines," but in the meantime Meyer is "disappointed" that one of the fastest players in his program told a b-tch that it was time to die.
What if that b-tch was your daughter, Urban? What then?
Don't tell me this is an irrelevant hypothetical, because it's not. Urban Meyer himself admitted to engaging in such parental role play a few months ago when he confronted an Orlando Sentinel reporter who had quoted receiver Deonte Thompson about the differences between Tim Tebow and John Brantley. Meyer told the Sentinel's Jeremy Fowler, "If that was my son, we'd be going at it right now."
If that was my son ...
Meyer then told Fowler, who was guilty of quoting the 21-year-old Thompson accurately, "You're a bad guy, man. You're a bad guy."
Sickening. Meyer talks about the Florida football family, but the only father he reminds me of is the one who can't control his kids. Rainey was the 25th Florida player arrested under Meyer's watch, or maybe he was the 27th, or maybe he was the 30th.
All three figures have been reported because the truth is, so many Gators have been arrested that it's hard to keep up. Let's give Meyer the benefit of the doubt and go with 25 -- which is 24 more than have been arrested in four years under coach Randy Shannon at Miami.
See, this stuff can be stopped. It's not impossible, and it would require tough love -- kicking players off the team after being charged with a crime, no questions asked, after the 10th or 15th or 20th arrest. After Rainey's arrest on Sept. 14, Meyer said he was "real upset" and then vowed, "enough's enough."
Then the Gators lost two consecutive games. Florida gained 281 yards against Alabama on Oct. 2, and its offense was even worse in the loss to LSU, totaling just 243.
That was Saturday.
Chris Rainey was back with the team Sunday.
Transparent. And dishonest. Off the field, Meyer considers the "core values" of his program to be three no-nos -- no stealing, no drugs, no weapons -- and two affirmatives. Honesty is one. Respect for women is the other.
On the field, Meyer has other core values. I'm not playing with words, either. This is what Meyer said Monday, bemoaning his team's offensive struggles:
"The lack of explosive plays," he said, which "were something we set a trademark for around here. We're void of those right now. We're not having those home-run shots. [That] and, obviously, taking care of the football ... those are the core values of our program on how to win a game."
What we have here is a collision of core values. Last month Chris Rainey told a woman it was "time to die" -- but Rainey also has four career runs of at least 60 yards, and three others of 33 yards or longer.
Respect for women vs. explosive plays.
You see which core value matters more at Florida.
Urban Meyer is a bad guy, man. He's a bad guy.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14124413/meyer-shows-true-core-values-by-reinstating-rainey
Florida coach Urban Meyer, who let talented touchdown-maker Chris Rainey return to practice this week -- one month after Rainey threatened his girlfriend's life -- talks about players like family. They're his children. His sons. In real life, of course, Urban Meyer has a son of his own, and he has two daughters. And so, for a change, I want him to think about this:
Don't think of Chris Rainey as his son.
Think of Chris Rainey's girlfriend as his daughter.
Rainey pleaded guilty to misdemeanor stalking after sending the following text message to his girlfriend: "Time to Die B-tch."
Is Chris Rainey back at practice this week if he'd sent that to Meyer's daughter?
We'll never know, and good for that. I don't wish ill will on Meyer or his family, but I do wish the single most visible man at Florida -- my alma mater, if you didn't know -- would stop embarrassing UF grads like me who wonder why he's considered such a strong leader when in reality he's weak. Soft. Pathetic.
Meyer cares only about winning games, and if he'd stand there and tell the world, "I care only about winning games," then I could live with it. I'd still be embarrassed that a dangerous cretin like Chris Rainey was allowed to represent my school so soon after telling a woman that it was time to die, b-tch -- but I could live with Meyer being true to who Meyer is, which is a cutthroat coach concerned not with his players or his university, but with his career winning percentage and the $24 million contract that comes with it.
Instead of being honest, though, Meyer resorts to empty talk about "core values" and meaningless blather that Rainey continues to "pay a price" and must "follow guidelines," but in the meantime Meyer is "disappointed" that one of the fastest players in his program told a b-tch that it was time to die.
What if that b-tch was your daughter, Urban? What then?
Don't tell me this is an irrelevant hypothetical, because it's not. Urban Meyer himself admitted to engaging in such parental role play a few months ago when he confronted an Orlando Sentinel reporter who had quoted receiver Deonte Thompson about the differences between Tim Tebow and John Brantley. Meyer told the Sentinel's Jeremy Fowler, "If that was my son, we'd be going at it right now."
If that was my son ...
Meyer then told Fowler, who was guilty of quoting the 21-year-old Thompson accurately, "You're a bad guy, man. You're a bad guy."
Sickening. Meyer talks about the Florida football family, but the only father he reminds me of is the one who can't control his kids. Rainey was the 25th Florida player arrested under Meyer's watch, or maybe he was the 27th, or maybe he was the 30th.
All three figures have been reported because the truth is, so many Gators have been arrested that it's hard to keep up. Let's give Meyer the benefit of the doubt and go with 25 -- which is 24 more than have been arrested in four years under coach Randy Shannon at Miami.
See, this stuff can be stopped. It's not impossible, and it would require tough love -- kicking players off the team after being charged with a crime, no questions asked, after the 10th or 15th or 20th arrest. After Rainey's arrest on Sept. 14, Meyer said he was "real upset" and then vowed, "enough's enough."
Then the Gators lost two consecutive games. Florida gained 281 yards against Alabama on Oct. 2, and its offense was even worse in the loss to LSU, totaling just 243.
That was Saturday.
Chris Rainey was back with the team Sunday.
Transparent. And dishonest. Off the field, Meyer considers the "core values" of his program to be three no-nos -- no stealing, no drugs, no weapons -- and two affirmatives. Honesty is one. Respect for women is the other.
On the field, Meyer has other core values. I'm not playing with words, either. This is what Meyer said Monday, bemoaning his team's offensive struggles:
"The lack of explosive plays," he said, which "were something we set a trademark for around here. We're void of those right now. We're not having those home-run shots. [That] and, obviously, taking care of the football ... those are the core values of our program on how to win a game."
What we have here is a collision of core values. Last month Chris Rainey told a woman it was "time to die" -- but Rainey also has four career runs of at least 60 yards, and three others of 33 yards or longer.
Respect for women vs. explosive plays.
You see which core value matters more at Florida.
Urban Meyer is a bad guy, man. He's a bad guy.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/14124413/meyer-shows-true-core-values-by-reinstating-rainey