This game scares the hell out of me and not for all of the right reasons. Sure, a decimated secondary going against a Cock N Fire offense which at times is taking shape is scary. Going up against one of the most spiteful men in the history of modern society who was clearly pissed that Florida’s giant-toothed athletic director was going to make him interview for his former job is scary as well. But what scares me most is that in the event that the Gator defense can’t recover from all the bruises of the past two weeks and South Carolina wins, what happens if I’m not as devastated as I usually am after a Gator defeat? Would feeling glad for the Head Ball Coach require me to turn in my Orange and Blue gear and make me a traitor? Hopefully I won’t have to answer these profound questions and the Gators will take care of business. Please leave any tailgating tips in the comments section below and I look forward to a great college football experience.

This still doesn’t look right, does it?

Following a loss to swole-up Mark Mangino and Kansas–the first loss to KU in 36 games between the two– Callahan has his AD firmly behind him, ready to pump him up with the rock-hard confidence only an AD can muster for his embattled coach. Petersen may be pitching, but is the Husker nation willing to catch another year of Callahandamonium?

We finish up our three-part series on memories of our own beloved Football Lucifer, former Florida HC and current South Carolina HC Steve Spurrier. (Parts one and two are here and here, respectively.)

1. The crack-up. When Spurrier quit to go to Washington, the shock seemed universal–and that included the OBC, who conducted his final presser as Florida coach with the nonchalance of someone reading commodity prices off a stock sheet.

But emotion was, and is still clearly part of the Spurrier gestalt. The visor-throwing is infamous, as are the ear-scorching tirades and putdowns his quarterbacks endured whenever they made a throw that Heisman Stevie never would have made. (Terry Dean just shuddered somewhere, hunched over a spreadsheet somewhere in a cubicle.) Whether it’s for his ego or not, the guy fucking cares, which is what made the stoic admiral act Zook pulled on the sidelines so agonizing to watch. (Keep in mind, that’s what Zook wanted to project. It came off more like the Tick, captured just seconds before crashing to earth from a great height.)

Zook’s leadership model.

The best example of this comes from an apocryphal story from the 1990 season. Following their second loss of the season, a shaken and worn-looking Spurrier came to the podium for his post-game press conference. (more…)

The t-shirt of the decade is here. Place it in a vault with your “Punt, Bama, Punt!” tee, your “Fear The Turtle!” Maryland gear, and the extensive collection of ancient commemorative Coca-cola bottles featuring your team’s bowl game and score on the side. We drank our uncle’s “Bluebonnet Bowl 1979″ when we were a kid, which wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t waited until 1988 to do it. The taste was undoubtedly as bitter as the Vols 27-22 loss to Purdue that year.

Catch the fever now.

We continue our musical theme this week in Solon’s latest installment of his picks column, this time turning to the top ten best songs about gambling. He makes only one bad pick in our book, and it’s one of omission: how could you forget Motorhead’s tribute to the dark god of fate, “Ace of Spades. A sample of the genius of Lemmy Kilmeister:

Enjoy!

Like Solon, the only god Lemmy needs is the ace of spades.

Although I relish my role as the EDSBS.com resident degenerate punter, the truth is that gambling has a rich history in the fabric of American culture. As a result, several musical artists have created songs pertaining, in some form or fashion, to gambling. After careful consideration, I’ve compiled a list of ten songs that I believe rank among the best. Feel free to put your favorites in the comments.

(Please note: the ‘heyday’ of the gambling song, insofar as one exists, is in the first half of the 20th century. Specifically, there are several blues songs about gambling from the 1920’s and 1930’s, and country songs from the 1940’s and 1950’s, very few of which I am familiar. My apologies to fans of these genres for their non-inclusion on this list.)

HONORABLE MENTION: ARTIST
Despite living in the Bay Area, I am not a fan of the Grateful Dead. That said, when it comes to gambling songs, they have just about the most of any established band. So, full credit to them, even though they are not represented here.

HONORABLE MENTION: SONG
USE ME–Bill Withers
Most would contend that this song refers to a woman. I would argue that it could just as easily refer to Las Vegas, a town that will chew you up and spit you out. I once had a compulsive gambler as one of my best mates, and, believe me, I sat him down and told him that the town was no good for him. But he just kept wanting to get used up by her; she obliged, and eventually he ended up broke, and just a flat-out damn broke-down drunk. If he had listened to legitimate music he would have appreciated this song.

10) VIVA LAS VEGAS–Elvis Presley
This should be the song everyone listens to when they go to Vegas for the first time. (more…)

We’ve tried all season long to capture the right metaphor to describe the vertigo-inducing ups and downs of Urban Meyer’s first year. Ultimately, words fail us, but fortunately Japanese television steps up in the interim to fill the void.This just about nails it as an allegory of Gator Football Fandom 2005.