Memories of Starkville circa 2004

Now the question is this...how shaky is my resolve that Florida will win tomorrow's game? I was last here for the Ron Zook debacle. You remember, when our Gators lost to the same team that had that same year been beaten by the Division II Maine Black Bears? Not Grizzlies, not Polar Bears but Black Bears? During the morning, while driving to the game, I had been informed of the result of my ill fated candidacy for the National Presidency of our Union, I lost by thirty seven votes. The young man that called me with the election results started our conversation by saying, "Larry, great news! you carried the Southern Region by a 7 to 1 margin and had a landslide win in the Alaskan Region." I said, knowing full well I was not talking to the sharpest knife in the drawer, "So I won?" He said "No, She did by 37 votes." Alas, my hopes for doing far less work, with even more time off and for more money were dashed. What, you thought I was altruistic?

Arriving in Starkville that year we found the fan base of Mississippi State resigned for the coming beat down. A common refrain from the wearers of the Maroon was " Hey, please take it easy on us, save something for Georgia." And while we were magnanimous in our verbal responses, inwardly we were confident that Custer had came out better at Little Big Horn than their team would with the Mighty Gators. Didn't quite work out like that, I left that Stadium as depressed and angry as I can remember. However, after the game our coach, the aforementioned Mr. Zook, on his post-game radio show took my anger up a notch or two when he said "I am proud of our team they did everything I asked them to do." I was livid, almost screaming at the radio, "Did you ask them to lose? huh Ron, did you ask them to lose?" But then I remembered a bit of poetry..."Be still my heart and cease repining, behind yon cloud, the sun is still shining. Some days must be cold and dark and dreary." The sun was indeed about to Shine, on Monday Zook was fired, later Coach Meyer accepted the Florida job over an offer from Notre Dame and all was soon to be well in Gator Nation.