Oliver Barry CRS, GRI
Begin forwarded message:
From: Shane Ford <goufgators@bellsouth.net>
Date: October 14, 2016 at 9:45:09 AM CDT
To: GatorNews <gatornews@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Foley's final act a win for UF
Reply-To: gatornews+owners@googlegroups.com
--Foley's final act a win for UF
Published: Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 14, 2016 at 12:06 a.m.
Many people consider Jeremy Foley to be the greatest athletic director in the history of the SEC. On Thursday, he was the greatest athletic director FOR the SEC.
When LSU's AD Joe Alleva drew "a line in the sand," Foley did what was best for the league and what eventually will be best for Florida. Alleva, meanwhile, was willing to sacrifice any chance at playing in Atlanta because apparently he is disillusional enough to think LSU can run the table and get into the College Football Playoff without being a conference champion.
I guess.
To be honest, I don't know what he was thinking.
"I was surprised this was so difficult," Foley said.
I'm sure that there will be people who will think Alleva won this standoff even though he was the one who turned it into a standoff. Those people are concerned only with the now and haven't thought about the brutal road schedule the next LSU coach will inherit.
"It wasn't our position to draw a line in the sand," Foley said Thursday night. "Nothing good could come of that."
That's not what negotiations in a family are supposed to be about.
And certainly, there are going to be people disappointed that Florida is traveling to Baton Rouge for this year's game and that UF lost two home games this year. If I owned a business in Gainesville, I'd be pretty ticked.
Gainesville had already lost a home game. It picks one up next year.
What Foley basically did was trade a belligerent star player with a pompous agent using the media as a weapon for two first-round draft choices.
The people who should be the most disappointed are the players on this team. They lost two home games. They have to play four of their last five games away from home.
They are sacrificing even though they had nothing to do with the decision. They are the collateral damage.
But this was the only way the game could be played as long as Alleva and LSU were going to be stubborn. And the game HAD to be played.
Foley knew that. Greg Sankey knew that. He was "adamant" that the game had to be played.
Most people got that.
Tennessee fans apparently did not.
Many of them were convinced Florida ducked LSU so the Gators could backdoor into the SEC Championship Game. To be fair, I didn't know there was a rule that you have to play eight games to qualify for Atlanta.
But I'm not an athletic director.
To Vols fans, while you may be rejoicing that Florida has to go to LSU in November, realize that if the game was canceled you'd have basically clinched the Eastern Division.
How are those conspiracy theories coming along?
The reality is that Florida went from being unfairly criticized to universally praised around the nation. The Gators stood tall and did the right thing because the other side would not.
So our long national nightmare is over. After a week of teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling, we finally know what is going to happen.
And we know it should never happen again. The commissioner put it on the table for December's meeting that he wants the power to step in when one side is being a pouting baby.
Alleva will probably vote against that. Foley, who retires in a couple of weeks, won't be there.
Too bad. Might have been fireworks. Suffice it to say the two athletic directors won't be exchanging tailgate recipes.
For Foley, this was a heckuva way to go out. In a way, his last major act (we hope) as athletic director was to save a season. I'm not saying Florida is going to win out and take the East, but it's at least a possibility now.
And more than anything, Florida ended up taking the high road. Even the most uninformed must admit that. If Florida was ducking LSU, why would Florida agree to play the game on the road?
"I think it's evident the University of Florida is not afraid to play anyone," Foley said. "I think this decision is indicative of that, as we're going to Baton Rouge."
But not next year or the year after. That sets up well for Jim McElwain. Nobody else is playing both of its West opponents at home in 2017.
So it comes down to this — in the big picture, this was a win-win. For Florida and for Foley.
— Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at pat.dooley@gvillesun.com. And follow at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley.
Sent From Shane's iPhoneGo Gators! & Skål Vikes!ALPCA #8756Europlate #1045
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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)
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