View from the Stands: July 21, 2009

• Cyber Cat Fight!!! Getcha popcorn ready! For this to be the off-season, there has sure been a lot of talk about the Florida Gators. Not only what they do on the field, but what their coach may do off of it. It all started two weeks ago when Paul Finebaum started his month long "let's upset the rest of the SEC" tour. First stop, Gainesville (He has since stopped in Oxford and today dropped by Athens). In the first article, Finebaum claimed off of a lip quiver that Meyer is headed to play like a champion in 2010, complete with a beatdown of Army in Yankee Stadium. Said column led to hysteria amongst Gator followers who were outraged that someone would write such a thing. One of those purveyors of jorts would be Gregg Doyel. Never heard of him? Probably a good reason. He writes for cbssports.com, easily third on the totem poll behind SI.com and ESPN.com. Doyel took two weeks to get his panties in a wad and respond to Finebaum's column with the best form of hypocritical spew I have ever seen. Doyel himself is one of those people, like Finebaum, who add fuel to fire for the sake of readership. Doyel goes on to say that Finebaum had no source to write his column. Apparently Doyel doesn't realize what his blogging is as well. It's called an OPINION column, Gregg. Apparently the shine on your head deadened some brain cells the last time you looked in the mirror. Doyel also goes on to call Finebaum and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier "idiots"through his envy of Finebaum being utterly more successful and Spurrier for still having a job. Finally, Doyel complains about all the blogs and newspapers supporting Finebaum's claims, but in the same blog writes about the column and even provides the link. Who exactly is the idiot here? Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see if the Mouth of the South meets up with the man who believes MMA should become the single most popular sport in America (and we wonder what's wrong with our country [I'm elaborating on that as well in a bit]) come tomorrow in Hoover.
• When Stimulus Packages fail, turn to fixing sports-the motto of the US Government. Once Congress decided that an economic downturn in not a good reason to convene, but the mess that is the BCS was, we should have known that some old crocks were running out of real ideas. So, once the BCS was put on the stand like a bulked-up baseball player, it was only a matter of time before more sports were on the way. Don't worry about curing cancer or pollution in the air or the fact that we are involved in some kind of war, let's now waste mroe tax payer money and take on the age limit question in the NBA. Sure, I am not a fan of the one-and-done policy in the NBA. I think it tarnishes the college game and has a negative effect on the level of competition. The NBA is the only league besides the NFL that has a restriction on high school kids and the only league that does not require at least two years of college before they can turn pro once they enter school. What this creates is a bad situation for all, as kids are forced into school for a year and teams are never allowed to create a chemistry. This problem was sure to take care of itself when the new collective bargaining agreement was up in two years, but Congress wants to tackle it now. I ask you in all seriousness, what has ever come from a Congressional hearing concerning sports? Perjury, lying, misremembering, and an all out failure to pass or complete anything is all I can remember. So, here is to you, Representative Steve Cohen, and your desire to waste more time and money on something that affects about 5,000 teens a year. I just hope you complement them for not drinking or smoking before they get discovered for a DUI in college.
• Coach Grant wants defense. Lots and lots of defense. New Alabama basketball coach Anthony Grant was in Huntsville this past weekend and went into his coaching philosophy a little bit. Grant talked about playing defense, a thought that has been lost on Alabama nine of the past ten seasons, in the same way that Duke does in the half-court. Grant, however, wants to stretch it full court. He wants to have a press that will force other teams to play 94 feet. For those who don't remember, the last time Alabama played defense, they won the SEC. I am not saying that will happen this year, but the SEC is not exactly a league defined by offense (ACC) or defense (Big Ten), so the Crimson Tide will be able to run with the teams that ran circles around them the past few years and run on the teams who still play in the half-court. In other words, Grant is the perfect compromise for those people who wanted Mike Anderson and those who wanted a Nick Saban-type hire for the basketball program.