BHAMVOLFAN
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But, this is a very good post for all of us to digest.
We need to watch what we say here, players and parents...... ........scan/read these boards. For those that bash players, please read this from a Florida Gator:
How are these kids supposed to want to play under these conditions, why would they want to play this season? The fans? The administration? Pride?
The same fans who bash them day in and day out while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet or cursing us through hate filled mouths, the same people who love to see them in trouble and are quick to judge them merely because they play a sport. The people who talk the loudest but dont always have something nice to say. The same fans that have booed at our games, and helped run off our coach? NO; they will play for that 8 year old kid in the stands who doesnt care what is happening in the world and just wants to see the Gators and maybe catch a wrist band when its thrown to the crowd. We will play for the quiet couple in the stands who have gone to every game for years and supported their team wholeheartedly because they are Gators and we are Gators and thats what loyalty is. Its a simple black and white or orange and blue rather, thing to them. That is who we play this wonderful game for.
The administration? Not even touching that one.
We will play out this season for pride in ourselves, our coaches, and those who have bled orange and blue with us and before us and will bleed after were done and gone and no one remembers our names. We will play because we are Gators and thats how Gators are supposed to act. I have always been a Gator and always will be. I love this school and everything about being a Gator. I have been tempered in my 6 years of college ball against the inevitability of life's hard lessons. But this is an extremely cruel one and these young guys have to deal with it more than I. But they have the right to go where they feel they are appreciated and will be treated fairly, its called being an American and having the freedom of choice. If the University of Florida has turned into a totalitarian regime with no care for the student athletes then why begrudge these kids a chance at a better life? Why should they sit in misery merely because people want to see a good football team? If it were your children and they were this upset and this hurt you would be consoling them and wanting the best for them, be it here or at another venue. Dont attack them because they have opinions or goals that vary from yours. These are people; most of you are forgetting that just like the administration did. They may be young but they arent stupid, Ive noticed that younger people are sometimes more apt to see through the fog, the stink, and the BS, to the truth, just because youre older does not mean youre wise, and you are not seeing this from these guys perspective.
I will do my best to counsel against guys leaving because I dont think that would be fair to this immaculate team that has come together, I will ask guys to stay together as the team Zook built, and not let it become the team the higher ups destroyed. But if you want to attack someone for all this then attack the Administration for handling it this way not the guys who poor their hearts out for a GAME they love. And these guys will do their best to play for the coaches and before you go crazy about " why didnt we play harder for these coaches we love so much against MSU, well sometimes things dont always go the right away and sometimes parts of the team dont show up to play regardless of how hard the coaches try. But thats why we play the game to see who wins. Sometimes teams lose I apologize, we lost, but I think it hurts us a little more than you. I would rather have won too, more than anything, its my senior year, but before you pass judgment why dont you walk a mile in these guys shoes, huh? This has been a crazy year for Florida. But if 3 plays go our way then we are undefeated and everyone is happy, but the past is the past.
We will play, and play hard and play fast, and have fun because we are Gators right now. And Gators stick together (correct?) and we are a team and we will rally around the team, I was surprised at the venom and filth that is spewed on this message board towards young adults playing a game. A GAME I remember as being fun.
But please consider the things you say. Dont these players have the same right to find a better place for themselves? If you dont like them leaving then vent your anger against the administration. If you dont like them speaking than dont listen. If this happened at the end of the year there probably wouldnt be any talk of transfers. But when in the middle of the season the administration tells you to your face in a meeting it doesnt matter how you guys feel, thats not how decisions are made here, you have no control, and we have no faith in the rest of your season." People are going to be upset.
I dont expect people on the outside to understand the feeling on the team now; there is no possible way any one could. But dont you dare blame players leaving on Coach Zook, and dont you dare attack the players for having feelings for a coach they have bled, cried, and died for. The coach wasnt to close to us, that isnt why players are upset. They are upset because no one cares about us in this program other then these current coaches, they are upset because our administration controls our lives totally and uncaringly, they are upset because they can be and have the right to be. They are upset because the Gator Nation seems to be turning its back on them. So think about that when you post on here and HalleyGator or Otis80 feel free to flame me, but I'm comfortable in the knowledge that you'll never know the love and camaraderie I have seen on this team, that you will have just been on the outside looking in. That I have always supported my team and I have seen and heard things from young Gators mouths that are a tribute to the fortitude of human nature, sad that with your self important words you prattle on about whats best without taking into consideration the effect of this situation on real peoples lives, or that its a game.
My advice to all; wrap yourselves in the glory of the orange and blue, revel in the pure joy and excitement, but when its over walk away with a smile in the fact that you just watched a game, a distraction from life, a way to forget about bills and politics. Walk away happy and your heart will do better in the long wrong. If you reduce football to the elemental level of young men playing a game and dont spend hours bickering over it, you will live a long happy life as a Gator.
To all the die hard fans who take "in all kinds of weather we all stick together" to heart, I salute and applaud you and thank you for your support, and assure you we will try our best for you and ourselves, which is all anyone can ever say. To the dissenters, well youre entitled to your opinion on all this, and Im entitled to mine. But at least my team, my family, and the true fans know what it is to truly be a Gator, and I hope some day you reach an orange and blue nirvana. Have fun watching us the rest of the year I know we'll try and have fun playing, and well try and go out with the class that these coaches have shown through this ordeal.
Call me young, call me biased, call me immature, and call me any myriad of things. But I have a piece of paper that says I earned a degree from the University of Florida, proof positive that when you are done calling me what ever you want, you will also call me a Gator. And that is the thing I am most proud of; I thank my parents and Coach Ron Zook for instilling that pride in me.
By the way we are playing Georgia this week, you know the worlds largest cocktail party, decade long rivalry, that sort of thing why not talk about that? Remember when it was a game?
Once again thank you,
Casey Griffith #69
p.s. Ranting done for a long time anymore posts on here will be from my mother or father
We need to watch what we say here, players and parents...... ........scan/read these boards. For those that bash players, please read this from a Florida Gator:
How are these kids supposed to want to play under these conditions, why would they want to play this season? The fans? The administration? Pride?
The same fans who bash them day in and day out while hiding behind the anonymity of the internet or cursing us through hate filled mouths, the same people who love to see them in trouble and are quick to judge them merely because they play a sport. The people who talk the loudest but dont always have something nice to say. The same fans that have booed at our games, and helped run off our coach? NO; they will play for that 8 year old kid in the stands who doesnt care what is happening in the world and just wants to see the Gators and maybe catch a wrist band when its thrown to the crowd. We will play for the quiet couple in the stands who have gone to every game for years and supported their team wholeheartedly because they are Gators and we are Gators and thats what loyalty is. Its a simple black and white or orange and blue rather, thing to them. That is who we play this wonderful game for.
The administration? Not even touching that one.
We will play out this season for pride in ourselves, our coaches, and those who have bled orange and blue with us and before us and will bleed after were done and gone and no one remembers our names. We will play because we are Gators and thats how Gators are supposed to act. I have always been a Gator and always will be. I love this school and everything about being a Gator. I have been tempered in my 6 years of college ball against the inevitability of life's hard lessons. But this is an extremely cruel one and these young guys have to deal with it more than I. But they have the right to go where they feel they are appreciated and will be treated fairly, its called being an American and having the freedom of choice. If the University of Florida has turned into a totalitarian regime with no care for the student athletes then why begrudge these kids a chance at a better life? Why should they sit in misery merely because people want to see a good football team? If it were your children and they were this upset and this hurt you would be consoling them and wanting the best for them, be it here or at another venue. Dont attack them because they have opinions or goals that vary from yours. These are people; most of you are forgetting that just like the administration did. They may be young but they arent stupid, Ive noticed that younger people are sometimes more apt to see through the fog, the stink, and the BS, to the truth, just because youre older does not mean youre wise, and you are not seeing this from these guys perspective.
I will do my best to counsel against guys leaving because I dont think that would be fair to this immaculate team that has come together, I will ask guys to stay together as the team Zook built, and not let it become the team the higher ups destroyed. But if you want to attack someone for all this then attack the Administration for handling it this way not the guys who poor their hearts out for a GAME they love. And these guys will do their best to play for the coaches and before you go crazy about " why didnt we play harder for these coaches we love so much against MSU, well sometimes things dont always go the right away and sometimes parts of the team dont show up to play regardless of how hard the coaches try. But thats why we play the game to see who wins. Sometimes teams lose I apologize, we lost, but I think it hurts us a little more than you. I would rather have won too, more than anything, its my senior year, but before you pass judgment why dont you walk a mile in these guys shoes, huh? This has been a crazy year for Florida. But if 3 plays go our way then we are undefeated and everyone is happy, but the past is the past.
We will play, and play hard and play fast, and have fun because we are Gators right now. And Gators stick together (correct?) and we are a team and we will rally around the team, I was surprised at the venom and filth that is spewed on this message board towards young adults playing a game. A GAME I remember as being fun.
But please consider the things you say. Dont these players have the same right to find a better place for themselves? If you dont like them leaving then vent your anger against the administration. If you dont like them speaking than dont listen. If this happened at the end of the year there probably wouldnt be any talk of transfers. But when in the middle of the season the administration tells you to your face in a meeting it doesnt matter how you guys feel, thats not how decisions are made here, you have no control, and we have no faith in the rest of your season." People are going to be upset.
I dont expect people on the outside to understand the feeling on the team now; there is no possible way any one could. But dont you dare blame players leaving on Coach Zook, and dont you dare attack the players for having feelings for a coach they have bled, cried, and died for. The coach wasnt to close to us, that isnt why players are upset. They are upset because no one cares about us in this program other then these current coaches, they are upset because our administration controls our lives totally and uncaringly, they are upset because they can be and have the right to be. They are upset because the Gator Nation seems to be turning its back on them. So think about that when you post on here and HalleyGator or Otis80 feel free to flame me, but I'm comfortable in the knowledge that you'll never know the love and camaraderie I have seen on this team, that you will have just been on the outside looking in. That I have always supported my team and I have seen and heard things from young Gators mouths that are a tribute to the fortitude of human nature, sad that with your self important words you prattle on about whats best without taking into consideration the effect of this situation on real peoples lives, or that its a game.
My advice to all; wrap yourselves in the glory of the orange and blue, revel in the pure joy and excitement, but when its over walk away with a smile in the fact that you just watched a game, a distraction from life, a way to forget about bills and politics. Walk away happy and your heart will do better in the long wrong. If you reduce football to the elemental level of young men playing a game and dont spend hours bickering over it, you will live a long happy life as a Gator.
To all the die hard fans who take "in all kinds of weather we all stick together" to heart, I salute and applaud you and thank you for your support, and assure you we will try our best for you and ourselves, which is all anyone can ever say. To the dissenters, well youre entitled to your opinion on all this, and Im entitled to mine. But at least my team, my family, and the true fans know what it is to truly be a Gator, and I hope some day you reach an orange and blue nirvana. Have fun watching us the rest of the year I know we'll try and have fun playing, and well try and go out with the class that these coaches have shown through this ordeal.
Call me young, call me biased, call me immature, and call me any myriad of things. But I have a piece of paper that says I earned a degree from the University of Florida, proof positive that when you are done calling me what ever you want, you will also call me a Gator. And that is the thing I am most proud of; I thank my parents and Coach Ron Zook for instilling that pride in me.
By the way we are playing Georgia this week, you know the worlds largest cocktail party, decade long rivalry, that sort of thing why not talk about that? Remember when it was a game?
Once again thank you,
Casey Griffith #69
p.s. Ranting done for a long time anymore posts on here will be from my mother or father
