Jerry:
You are obviously a nicer person than I am (that isn't hard, I can hear my wife
say).
I agree with you on Bowden losing his mental capabilities since back in the
'90s. I think that is indisputable.
Regarding his character, we have witnessed so many low, dirty actions ourselves
over many years. My initial opinion of Bowden was that he had been an honest
coach until a six-year losing streak to us (1981 - 1986) drove him to the dark
side.
However, back in the early '90s I met a man who had been a sportswriter and
editor before making a career change. When we first started talking about
college football, without any prompting from me, he explained that he had
covered West Virginia football back when Bowden was their coach, and launched
into a scathing attack on Bowden, telling me that the guy had taken players
from the local prison, and would do anything, no matter how underhanded, to win.
I was shocked to hear this about Bowden, since at the time I also thought he
was a good guy and a good coach. But since then, we've seen all the behavior
this former sports writer told me he had witnessed at West Virginia.
Anyway, I do believe Bowden was a win-at-all-costs guy, and if he didn't
explicitly endorse some of the tactics of his program, he at least turned a
blind eye to them.
Go Gators!!!!
Ken B. (NYC Gator)
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Belloit <bell...@clarion.edu>
Date: Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:01:14
To: <gatortalk@googlegroups.com>
Subject: RE: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a
good guy?
Ken,
I am a little more charitable in his case. I actually believe that for at
least the last 10 years, Bobby Bowden has been suffering from mental
degradation. Even when SOS was coach, he could not seem to remember his
players' names. He had been smart enough to surround himself with some
pretty smart coaches with Andrews and Richt. I think for many years he has
been a titular head coach with others making most all of the administrative
decisions. I think that he is basically an honest man but not a deep
thinker. For example, I remember his famous, "hitting on the echo" comment.
I think he thought it was a joke and I really don't think he thought too
much about what example that was setting. I do have some reservations about
some of his assistant coaches and even though it pains me to talk bad about
a former Gator, Mickey Andrews was probably one of the worst to push the
envelope of sportsmanlike play.
Jerry
From: ken...@earthlink.net [mailto:ken...@earthlink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 7:57 PM
To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a
good guy?
Bowden was and remains a sleazeball. He always knew how to work the media,
so he rarely suffered bad press, and they certainly won't start now. It
would seem as if they are beating up on a helpless old man. If they
continued to kiss his butt after the "Tainted Title" scandal, we shouldn't
expect anything truthful and objective about him now.
Bowden has been spewing his BS for so long, at this point, he may actually
believe it himself.
Regardless of what he thinks or wants to think, he was a guy who was
obsessed with his image and PR. Remember how upset he was when SOS called
him out on his team's dirty play? He didn't address the charges directly,
just moaned that he wished Steve hadn't said what he said.
Yes, he built a program back in the '70s and '80s by traveling to Lincoln
and other places and taking on the big football powers. One can respect
that. However, he also ran one of the dirtiest programs in the country.
I believe one should judge a person by his actions more than his words. I
think the balance of Bowden's actions over the course of his adult life were
dishonest. Just because few ever called him on it doesn't make it any less
true.
Go Gators!!!!
Ken B. (NYC Gator)
Sent from my BlackBerryR smartphone with SprintSpeed
_____
From: <ke...@baldwinnc.com>
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:22:15 -0700
To: gatortalk googlegroups<Gatortalk@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good
guy?
I threw up on my beautiful high def TV today during ESPN's College Football
Live show.
Bowden was on there saying that he wants to be remembered for all the great
things he did for his players and for making them into such outstanding
members of the community (or something like that).
My opinion of Bobby Bowden is that he is the dirty-est, lying-est, back
stabbing-est, cheating-est, but best coverer upper, in the business.
All these other people are going on and on about what a great person Bowden
is - and I think he is the biggest snake in the grass in the business.
So am I biased or is Bowden a saint?
--
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
--
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
--
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
--
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
