Am I correct in assuming that he is the last Bowden in coaching? What happened to Tommy when Clemson canned him? Randy From: Arthur Polhill [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 7:49 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good guy? Bowden's toast! A. Leon Polhill, Gator "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know." - Mark Twain _____
From: Gatornet Admin <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 7:39:39 PM Subject: RE: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good guy? WOOHOO!!! He's on a roll! Hey, Leon! Tell us how you REALLY feel! J Randy From: Arthur Polhill [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 11:22 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good guy? We beat the $hit out of the greatest is the story I'm sticking with. He was a d...@mn genius of college football and we beat his a$$. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. He preached in Baptist churches and had God in his quiver and we beat his sorry a$$. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. He was a wonderful grandfather, and all his grandkids will remember him for is that he was fired/"resigned" after being beaten nearly to death by the Gators like a child's Christmas drum. That too is my story, and you know the rest. And, his wife will know...even she will know...that after all of that...his last game as a coach on earth will be in the GATOR BOWL WITH ALLTEL PHONES! That is my story and I'm sticking to it. A. Leon Polhill, Gator "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know." - Mark Twain _____ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: Gator Talk <[email protected]> Sent: Wed, December 2, 2009 9:31:05 AM Subject: Re: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good guy? You're correct, I think, in saying Bowden is a win at all costs guy. No one has mentioned the "Polish rules" he used to keep his kicker around. But, he really is a good person too. He has done a lot of good things over the course of his career, none of which presently come to mind. I'm afraid we tend to watch him through Orange and Blue glasses and thus distort his good side. He'll be remembered as one of the greatest and that's not all bad. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry _____ From: [email protected] Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 14:08:41 +0000 To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [gatortalk] Am I completely and total biased - or is Bowden a good guy? 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 BlackBerryR smartphone with SprintSpeed _____ From: Jerry Belloit <[email protected]> Date: Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:01:14 -0500 To: <[email protected]> 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: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 7:57 PM To: [email protected] 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: <[email protected]> Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 14:22:15 -0700 To: gatortalk googlegroups<[email protected]> 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 -- 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 -- 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
