I couldn’t have said it any better myself.

No chance.  The Gators would have their hands full with a healthy Tim Tebow starting at QB. 

LSU is legit and getting better each week.  They haven’t been winning pretty but winning nonetheless.  The media and critics have been quick to write off LSU and give Florida the win … even if Tebow sits.  Since when does the media know what they are talking about?

Yes, I realize all the statistics point to a Florida victory.  Florida has scored 182 points while only allowing 29 points.  Florida is averaging a whopping 307 rushing yards per game!  LSU, on the other hand, is averaging only 321 TOTAL yards per game.  All I can say is good thing the games are played on the field and not on paper…

Very impressive numbers for the Gators but unfortunately those numbers are against scrubs.  The Gators haven’t played a team near the caliber of LSU.  Sorry Charleston Southern.  For all the critics who think the Florida running backs are going to run up and down the field against the LSU defense … think again … especially with the inexperienced Brantley at QB.  Can you say 8 men in the box?  LSU will dare Brantley, who will no doubt have some first start jitters, to beat them in the air.  I don’t see him having much success.  Not against that defense and definitely not in that hostile environment. 

On the flip side, Jordan Jefferson is going to have to be efficient and make plays.  He has to get rid of the ball on time and avoid the unnecessary sacks.  Charles Scott is going to have to be a BEAST. Period.  He finished the game well against Georgia last week and will have to continue to build off of that momentum.  The forecast is calling for a 60% chance of thunderstormsand I believe this is to LSU’s advantage.  Rain is a good equalizer for the speedy Gator running backs.

Did you know the LSU has won 32 consecutive Saturday night games when playing in the friendly confines of Baton Rouge?  Impressive.  Revenge will also play a factor for LSU as Florida embarrassed them 51-21 in Gainesville last season.  I’m sure Les Miles has been reminding his guys of this score all week…

With a healthy Tim Tebow under center, I would have to go with the Gators.  It would be closer than most expect but the Gators are the better team and would eventually pull it out.  HOWEVER, if John Brantley gets the nod, I have to go with LSU.  No way this kid will make his first collegiate start in Baton Rouge and in Primetime and win.  NO WAY.

Take LSU.

Well we can finally let Richard Nixon off the hook and forget about the whole Watergate fiasco.  We have a new scandal brewing in the city of San Francisco with non other than Michael Jordan in the middle of it.

You see, His Airness has been invited to be an honorary assistant captain at this year’s President’s Cup which is being played at the Harding Park course in San Francisco.  And while playing a practice round on Tuesday, someone snapped a picture which MJ puffing on a cigar.  No big deal right?? … We see MJ doing this all the time on the golf course.  Wrong!  Little did he (or anyone else with common sense) know, the city of San Francisco has a ban on smoking at public golf courses.  WHAT?? 

First of all, what a dumb ass rule!   I understand not being able to smoke at maybe restaurants or the movie theatre but SF is banning smoking on golf courses … It’s OUTSIDE!  Where is the logic?  Are they trying to prevent squirrels from inhaling secondhand smoke? 

Second, this is Michael Jordan!   Arguably the greatest athlete of all time!!  Plus, he’s generating the golf course as well as the PGA tour a ton of revenue just with his presence alone.  Let the man puff a stogie!  

Unbelievable.

I don’t understand this move at all.  Joe Girardi, what the hell are you doing?  Are you really starting Jose Molina with his 1 hr and .217 batting average over Jorge Posada and his 22 hrs, .285 batting average, clutch hitting, years of playoff experience .. etc ?? 

I know diva pitcher AJ Burnett went 3-1 with a 2.92 ERA in his final six starts with Molina behind the plate.  And I also know that Burnett’s numbers were worse when Posada was catching.  However, those numbers are irrelevant and here’s why. 

First, if Burnett is on and has good stuff than it doesn’t matter who is behind the plate.  He will pitch great.  If his stuff isn’t good on a given night than he will get shelled.  Simple as that.  Posada nor Molina can make his fastball faster or make the bottom fall out of his breaking ball.  That’s on Burnett.  I also don’t care if Burnett is more comfortable with Molina catching.  AJ  Burnett is a PROFESSIONAL and needs to act accordingly.  He gets overpaid millions of dollars to do a job and he should be able to do it whether Molina or Posada is the catcher.  C’mon.

Secondly, this is the PLAYOFFS!!  Throw all of the regular season numbers out the damn window!!  Regular season numbers do not translate into the postseason.  Don’t believe me?? Ask AROID.. I mean AFRAUD… I mean AROD.  The playoffs are a totally different animal. 

Once again, do the Yankees really want Jose Molina and his .217 batting average at the plate?… in the playoff nonetheless??  Even if it’s only two at-bats … that’s two too many!

Posada is pissed and I don’t blame him.  This is not a wise call by Girardi and I have a feeling it won’t last for more than one Burnett start.

When the #1 ranked Florida Gators travel to Baton Rouge this weekend to play the #4 ranked LSU Tigers, John Brantley NOT Tim Tebow should be the starting quarterback. 

As we already know, Tebow was TKO’d against Kentucky 11 days ago and suffered a concussion.  Even if the doctor’s clear him (and they will), Tebow needs to sit this one out for a couple of reasons:  1. His physical and mental health and 2. the LSU Defense.

Tebow’s health and well being is obviously the main reason why he shouldn’t play.  He has to still be feeling some reminants of  that concussion.  A concussion is not an injury that goes away with two Aspirin and a good night’s sleep.  If he comes back too early, he has a greater risk of suffering another one.  Ask Steve Young or Dan Morgan.  Actually, I heard Dan Morgan speak on the topic  earlier this week and he said Tebow should not play this week by any means.  Coming from a man who suffered multiple concussions which eventually ended his career, I would definitely take what he says to heart.

The LSU defense is the second reason why Tebow should be in street clothes this weekend.  Could there be any worse of a matchup for Tebow to play against while recovering from a head injury?  The LSU defense … well … is the LSU defense!  One of the best defenses in the country year in and year out.  Period.  The athletes on that defense are a bunch of freaks.  And they would like nothing more than to have Tebow seeing stars… again.  Add in the fact that the LSU crowd will be going bananas (crowd noise also a major concern for the recovering Tebow) and all signs point to Urban Meyer sitting his star QB.   

If Tebow does sit, the Gators will probably lose.  However, a one loss Florida squad will probably still end up playing in the BCS Title game … especially given the way they would have lost (No Tebow). 

Final Thoughts

Give Tebow another week to recover and bring him back against Arkansas… the #97 ranked defense in the country.

Who cares about Johnny Knox!! …. Check out the ball boy!  Don’t let Al Davis see him ….. or he may be starting along side Heyward-Bey next week. 

FSU trustee Jim Smith thinks it’s time for Bobby Bowden to put down the clipboard and retire from coaching at the end of this season.  First of all, what the hell is a trustee?  Second of all, who the hell are you Jim Smith?  How dare you speak this way about the legendary Bobby Bowden.  Without Bobby Bowden, there is no Florida State football program.

Smith makes claims of division between the coaching staff and that offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher is being blamed for a lot of things that aren’t his fault.  Both of those statements are false.  First of all, the coaches have vehemently denied any friction between one another.  We all know Bobby is just a figure on the sideline at this point in his coaching career..  Secondly and most importantly, Jimbo Fisher deserves all of the blame he’s been receiving … if not more. 

There is no excuse for the FSU offense not to be consistently good every week with their talent level.  When the offense scores 54 against BYU one week  and the next week struggles to score 7 against South Florida, then something is wrong.  And not to mention how they STRUGGLED to score 19 against Jacksonville State.  The offense is too inconsistent and Jimbo Fisher is directly responsible for this as the offensive coordinator.  I won’t even get into the questionable play calling either….

Another coach who should be receiving some serious blame for this fiasco known as Florida State football is the defensive coordinator, Mickey Andrews.  The FSU defense can’t stop anybody…period.  Andrews man-to-man philosophy was great when they had Peter Boulware and Andre Wadsworth rushing the passer and Samari Rolle out there in coverage.  However, FSU doesn’t have those types of players at this time and Andrews continues to play this type of defense.  The result is one of the worst passing defenses in the nation. 

Jim Smith … if you would’ve done your homework, you would have realized Bobby Bowden isn’t the problem at Florida State right now.  After everything Bowden has done for the university, the man should be able to go out on his own terms.   Jim Smith, whoever you are, Bobby Bowden is a Football ICON and should be treated like one.

1.  Florida Gators – Bye.  Obviously, the big news is the health of Tim Tebow and whether he will be cleared to play this week against LSU.  Florida can’t go to Baton Rouge and beat LSU without Tim Tebow …. it will be a struggle with him. 

2.  Alabama Crimson Tide - Def Kentucky 38-20.  Solid in all phase of the game right now.  Big game this week against #20 Ole Miss.

3.  Texas Longhorns - Bye.  Don’t want to get caught looking ahead to OU in 2 weeks.  Colorado is dreadful though so it shouldn’t matter.

4.  LSU Tigers - Def Georgia 20-13.  It’s not pretty but LSU is getting the job done.  Huge game with Florida coming to town this week.  If Charles Scott runs the ball like he did against Georgia and Jordan Jefferson can make a few big plays, then LSU has a very good chance at the upset.  And that’s with or without Tim Tebow in the lineup. 

5.  USC Trojans - Def  California 30-3.  Destroyed Cal in what I thought would be a competitive game.  Defense is stout and offense is improving every week with Matt Barkley under center.  The Trojans can flat out run the football.  USC travels to South Bend in two weeks …. Giving Pete Carroll two weeks to prepare his team will likely spell disaster for Notre Dame.

6.  Boise State - Def UC Davis 34-16.  Still cruisng along.  Looking like a BCS lock.

7.  Virginia Tech Hokies - Def Duke 34-26.  Avoided upset bid by Duke.  Predictable after big win over Miami last week.  VT must stay focused with Boston College this week and then a showdown with #22 Georgia Tech in two weeks.

8.  Miami Hurricanes - Def Oklahoma 21-20.  Bounced back nicely from loss at Virginia Tech.  Very impressive 3-1 record after brutal first four games.  Finally two cupcakes in Florida A&M and Central Florida the next two weeks. 

9. Ohio State Buckeyes - Def Indiana 33-14.  In the midst of their cream puff  Big 10 schedule.  Once again, last three weeks of season will determine fate with games at Penn State, home against Iowa and at Michigan.

10.  Oregon Ducks - Def Wash St 52-6.  Don’t look now but Oregon is finally playing how everyone thought they would.  With two wins over top 20 teams and their lone loss coming to a very good Boise State team, the Ducks are for real.  UCLA should be a decent test this week.

This Michael Crabtree contract saga is getting more and more ridiculous with each day that passes.  Honestly, I can’t believe this guy hasn’t signed his contract.  What is he waiting on?

Does he not realize he is the 10th pick in the 2009 NFL draft and will get paid accordingly.  BJ Raji was drafted at #9 and received 5 years, 28.5M (18.5M guaranteed).  Aaron Maybin was drafted at #11 and received 5 years, 25M (15M guaranteed).  Do the math Mr. Crabtree.  You are were slotted to receive 5 years, 26.75M (16.75M guaranteed) or something close to it.  I don’t care if you are or think you are better than Derrius Heyward-Bey.  He got drafted #7 and was paid like the #7 pick should be paid…(whether he deserved it or not).  However, once again, you were drafted #10…not #7. 

And now the news comes out today that Crabtree hasn’t spoken to the 49ers in two weeks?  Is he really willing to sit out the entire year?  That’s unbelievable! Doesn’t he know that he is part of an exclusive group who are blessed to be professional football players?   He can’t possibly LOVE the game!!   Also, doesn’t  he not know if he re-enters the draft next year he’ll probably get drafted lower and make even less than his current offer?  Bottom line, his agent/advisor should be fired…ASAP.  Where are the parents?  Someone …. anyone … talk some sense into this young man!!   

Crabtree was already labeled a prima donna coming out of college.  And by continuing to hold out, he’s not doing anything to change that perception.