This kills me, in that it's like when your kids fight, you don't want to take sides and you want them both to stop fighting. As much as I love and respect Meyer and the coaches, I have high respect for Shane, too. I can see both sides of the issue, but I think Urban went a tad too far in his public message. As hard as he worked to get former players with issues to come back, now it almost sounds like they're only welcome back if they're ready to kiss some behinds. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]on Behalf Of John Vega Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 11:33 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [gatortalk] Re: [gatornews] [OrlSentinelBlog] Is UF coach Urban Meyer trying to blackball Gator legend Shane Matthews? Importance: Low
I recommend that everyone click through to the interview. I don't have a problem with Shane's arguments. They seem well thought out and, for the most part, accurate. Where I think that Shane is mistaken is that he seems to have a bit of Volshiemers about the Spurrier era. The Gators didn't step on every team - just like last year, we always seemed to let a team hang around (or beat us) that objectively should not have done so. Mississippi State on Thursday night, anyone? I also think that the hiring of Loeffler is a tacit admission that some of Shane's points are correct. Stange that the criticism of Shane should come right after a Spring season where the impact of Loeffler on our QBs has been one of the noteworthy developments (see Andreu's article). As good we are and will be, there is always room for improvement. UMIII knows that. So, why does it rankle him to hear it from someone else? -Zeb On Apr 27, 2009, at 10:37 AM, [email protected] wrote: Is UF coach Urban Meyer trying to blackball Gator legend Shane Matthews? posted by Mike Bianchi on Apr 27, 2009 8:05:33 AM Discuss This: Comments (5) | TrackBack (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it Although he never mentions former University of Florida quarterback Shane Matthews by name, it sure sounds like UF football coach Urban Meyer is trying to blackball the ex-Gator great from the program. The message boards lit up Saturday when Meyer had this to say at the a booster gathering at the Central Florida Gator Club: "There’s going to be a time when you don’t win every game you play. There’s going to be a time when someone makes a mistake. If you’re a person who’s going to criticize, we don ’t need you around. "I’m also going to talk about loyalty with our former athletes. Some are welcome, some aren’t. …We want former Gators to come back, but loyalty’s a two-way street. If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you’re not welcome back in the football office. You’re either a Gator or you’re not a Gator. It’s real simple. For those who are not Gators keep buying tickets, critique, but if you’re a real Gator, get to know our players. Let’s enjoy the greatest era not just football of Gator athletics." Those inside the program know Meyer has been irked by Matthews, a sports radio host in Gainesville who has been publicly critical of UF's offense in the past. It boiled over last year in the weeks preceding and after UF's only loss of the season to Ole Miss. Here's an interview we did with Shane last year amid the controversy. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
