Editor's Note 10-19-2003

Since fireronzook.com has been taken down I thought it would be appropriate to post as much material from that site here as possible. The posts are dated by original publication date.

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I didn't get to go to the Arkansas game yesterday. Instead, I was watching at some po-dunk bar in the middle of nowhere that didn't even have satellite. And it just so happened that the game was nationally televised on CBS, because the Hogs are a ranked team. It took me a few moments to digest that. The Hogs were ranked. The Gators were not. Anyway, we'll come back to that later.

Did anyone else see the little 2 minute explanation of those rubber band handcuffs on our players' wrists? Vern Lundquist was explaining that it was to show the bonding of the team and how they had come together in the face of a defeated season. Well, our crack staff here at FRZ did a little digging because we don't buy that pansy-ass explanation for players of Gator caliber. Handcuffs are for Noles and my girlfriend.

It just so happens that we snuck inside the players only meeting that occurred a few weeks ago. Here's what we overheard:

Ratliff: "Man, this is some bulllllllllsh*t!"

Leak: "You're tellin' me. I've had high school coaches that ran a better program than this!"

Ratliff: "Hey man, you know the media caught wind of this meeting...they're gonna be askin' what we talked about. What should we say?"

Leak: "I've got an idea. When I was in pee-wee football, our coach had us put rubber bands on our wrists to demonstrate the bond that we should feel as a team. We could wear those during our games, and the media will see that even through adversity, we're still holding strong!"

Ratliff: "We can tell the media that if you want to, but I think if we wear rubber bands it'll be because we need Foley to SNAP THE F*CK OUT OF IT!"

Leak: "Sounds good to me. You guys wanna go get a chicken bowl?"

Ratliff: "Hell yeah. Me so hungry. Chicken Bowl!"

So don't believe any of that hype you heard on Saturday. That's what really happened. I'm just glad to hear that our boys are eating healthy at Maui Teriyaki.

Finally, about that ranking business...did anyone notice that on Saturday, not once did the announcers use the word 'upset'? I was just as excited as the next Gator fan to see us up 33-7 in the beginning of the fourth quarter (I'll save our endless attempts to let teams come back on us for another story), and then I realized, nobody thinks of Florida beating Arkansas as 'an upset', even if the Hogs ARE ranked. At least not until Zook anyway.

Here's my point: I'm sure this week FRZ will take plenty of criticism because we've beaten 2 ranked teams on the road. You wanna know my response? Whoopty friggin' doo. The only reason 2 road wins these days is a big deal is this: People no longer expect the Gators to win. If we had a real head coach who could use the God given talent these guys have, wins against LSU and Arkansas on the road wouldn't have been upsets, they would have been bumps in the road on the way to the SEC championship.

Now I'm mad again. Bartender...

FRZ