Conversation with Spurrier - 2019 Update ("He scores points, that's why he's a winner.")

Marine1

Semper Fidelis
Dec 20, 2015
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Did you really have to quote the whole story.........????? :bart:

Yes I thought it was critical and relevant to my response. At first I wasn’t going to...but the more I pondered the issue and consulted with family members we collectively came to the conclusion that it was important to quote the whole damn post. Well...one family member (out of state) weighed in that I should cut and paste only the best parts...but we felt Uncle Joe was probably drunk and not thinking it completely through.

So long story short:

Yes
 

CGgater

Gainesville Native
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Jul 30, 2014
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Yeah, that LSU game was really frustrating. Dougie J. shat the bed and gave that one away. The Georgia game I remember as being just a beating, with our guys looking like they didn’t come to play.

If you’ll recall, we were without our 3 starting LBs (Kearse, Peterson, I forget the third) and insult to injury was that Eli Williams was playing after just losing his dad. uga’s running game benefited from it and controlled the game.

Oh, and doug johnson is a stubborn idiot.
 

Thick&ThinG8r

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Aug 21, 2014
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I’ll quote this one and take a self-imposed exile.

Semper Fidelis
For someone always stumping for new members you sure have a knack for running the ones we have off.
We know you are harmless but to newbies you may look like a dick.
 

Swamp Donkey

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Jun 9, 2014
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It really is a dick move to quote a 10 paragraph post then see "great post".
It WILL get you banned on many forums.
 

oxrageous

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Jun 5, 2014
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For someone always stumping for new members you sure have a knack for running the ones we have off.
We know you are harmless but to newbies you may look like a dick.
I have a feeling that Marine was joking. Besides, I was actually referencing what GatorinGeorgia did, not our selfless Marine.
 

Theologator

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Aug 11, 2015
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I told him the 1997 FSU game, was both the most exciting and cathartic moment of my life. Spurrier immediately gives me a quick, maybe half second glance of disapproval and says "Weren't you there in 1996".

Great story, thanks for sharing it.

A lot of folks cite that 1997 F$U game as their most thrilling or loudest memory at Florida Field. (The 1991 F$U fake is mine.) Other than physical presence (I was there too), for me it cannot possibly supersede the NC game a few months earlier. Destroying F$U when all the marbles were on the table for our first NC sent me into my street howling for joy - and I could hear a guy a couple of blocks away doing the same thing.

But, you get to own your catharsis! Again, thanks for the story.
 

Windy City Gator

Banned
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Oct 26, 2017
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If you’ll recall, we were without our 3 starting LBs (Kearse, Peterson, I forget the third) and insult to injury was that Eli Williams was playing after just losing his dad. uga’s running game benefited from it and controlled the game.

Oh, and doug johnson is a stubborn idiot.
Wasnt one of their running backs who ate us up that day Terrell Davis?
 

ChiefGator

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Nov 9, 2015
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Great story, thanks for sharing it.

A lot of folks cite that 1997 F$U game as their most thrilling or loudest memory at Florida Field. (The 1991 F$U fake is mine.) Other than physical presence (I was there too), for me it cannot possibly supersede the NC game a few months earlier. Destroying F$U when all the marbles were on the table for our first NC sent me into my street howling for joy - and I could hear a guy a couple of blocks away doing the same thing.


But, you get to own your catharsis! Again, thanks for the story.

I was not there so it could not be one of my favorite games. I get goosebumps just thinking about it now, and get very excited when I play the DVD. I have to find it and run it again.
 

Theologator

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Aug 11, 2015
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I was not there so it could not be one of my favorite games. I get goosebumps just thinking about it now, and get very excited when I play the DVD. I have to find it and run it again.

For me, watching us win our first NC on TV was bigger than any live game I’ve been to, including 3 SECCG wins.

And it helped that Keith Jackson and crew were clearly Bowden fans. John Saunders did a pregame interview feature with SOS and his affect looked like he was interviewing Josef Mengele.

Best line of the night, “Mickey Andrews, whose defense is beleaguered right now...”

Best of all, when at the Swamp celebration SOS dedicated the win to all the old Gators who had waited so long to say “We’re number one!” and it be absolutely true. My grandfather (UF ‘31) was one of them.
 

deuce

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I’ll quote this one and take a self-imposed exile.

Semper Fidelis

Don't do it Jar Head ,,,,,,,,,, I was just messin wit yu...... Semper Fi ! (HMM765)
 

Swamp Donkey

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DUDE!!! How could I forget JR??? I should write him an apology letter!
I remember SOS saying that the AP and coaches loved JRut and the fans liked Kearse's sacks, but that Mike Petersen actually graded out the best at LB.
 

Sec14Gator

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I attended this event again last weekend. This time, to my dismay, Ron Zook was also in attendance, which, as I get to below, gave a clear window into how we ever hired the shark fornicator.

As to Spurrier, he is really struggling with his leg/hip and can't get around well at all. He looked much older just one year later. Unlike the prior year, when he was willingly in the middle of crowds and chumming it up, he noticeably tried to sit alone more often. As a result, I let him be and didn't individually seek out a conversation with him this year. At a smaller dinner though, he and a number of the other coaches stood up and spoke to the room from their tables. Spurrier spoke about coaching the AAF Apollos with a great deal of pride (wore Apollos gear the whole weekend), including that Fan Duel named them the champs to pay out bets (and keep losing bets). When he shared his daughter's comment, which has been quoted elsewhere about "god created the AAF so [Spurrier] could go out a winner," SOS started crying. It was obvious he thinks that was his last coaching job. In light of other comments he made about coaching being the one thing he did the best in his life, you could see it hurt to know he was done.

After Spurrier spoke, Sean McVay addressed the room and, like Spurrier, was clear, engaging and had a coherent message. You could see a window of what made them succeed in just 3-5 minutes of talking.

Then the Zooker. As a disclosure, I'm far from unbiased and probably hate him as much or more than most of our most recent 3 failures. I avoided his buffet line to keep self control of not spitting in his food. After seeing him speak though, I almost forgive him. It is solely Foley's fault for ever hiring this buffoon. It would be like asking my dog to cook dinner and being upset it wasn't done well.

While there are some non-speaking anecdotes about him over the weekend, the "speech" was the highlight. He attempted to tell 3-5 stories, though I'm not entirely sure how many there were. He never finished any of them, and eh eh eh eh eh, bounced between them for the longest, stammering comments of the night about absolutely nothing.

It was like he took his 3-5 distinct stories, broke them into puzzle pieces, shook them up in a box, pulled out only about 1/3 of the total pieces and just shared them with us in random orders, almost surprised himself at each new puzzle piece he was revealing. It was absolutely incoherent. And yet, the Zooker thought he was hysterical and killing it.

With Zook at the table next to me, Spurrier was right behind him in my line of view as he spoke. The look on Spurrier's face was priceless, though not unique in the room. It was a combination of befuddlement, embarrassment, shame for the Gators being associated with this idiot, and a discernible effort to not laugh at him. The only thing SOS, and others, politely did not do to show their reaction to this verbal nonsense was a facepalm.

As this scene unfolded, I kept thinking of all the posters here who for years remarked some version of "how could Foley have interviewed this idiot [McElwain] and decided he was the right man for the job?" I considered videotaping it to share with you all as exhibit 1 for how that could happen (I got my phone out and opened the camera app before choosing otherwise), but it would have been too conspicuous. In a job where clear communication and vision is crucial, Foley transitioned from having conversations with a coach who could clearly restate a play from the 70s to a guy who couldn't describe his lunch order to a waiter when ordering by number.

This is nothing new to any of us who spent the time to watch Gator football press conferences over the last 30 years. What was new was the contrast of these other coaches speaking immediately prior, then the F'in Zooker randomly opening his mouth to release mostly stammering sounds, with occasional, unrelated words mixed in.

On a different note, the next night, Spurrier took a not too veiled swipe at a lot of coaches, and I think Gator coaches in particular. He was giving McVay a hard time about his offense scoring only 3 points in the Super Bowl, before saying he was just joking and that McVay is a great coach, coach of the year as the youngest coach, and in a Super Bowl in year two because:

"He scores points, that's why he's a winner."

There it is in the simplest form as to what Florida football and "the Gator standard" should be, stated by the legend that created that standard.
 
Last edited:

GatorInGeorgia

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Since it's a slow period on the board, I thought I'd share this story and apologize in advance for the length:

Last weekend I was at an event where Spurrier was also attending. When he wasn't surrounded by the rest of the crowd, I went to talk to him for a bit and the 4-5 minute conversation was 100% pure Spurrier - almost as if Bates was doing the shtick.

I started by introducing myself and then thanking him for immeasurably improving my college experience. He asked when I was there (1994-2003 in Gainesville). Then, he smirked and said "Yeah, those were some good years to be a Gator." It took a more Spurrier-esque turn from there.

I told him the 1997 FSU game, was both the most exciting and cathartic moment of my life. Spurrier immediately gives me a quick, maybe half second glance of disapproval and says "Weren't you there in 1996". As I try to explain how great the NC was, especially beating FSU, but that while gratifying, it wasn't the same, singular excitement level.

He chimes in immediately with, "yeah, and FSU was number 1 . . . till we beat em", to which I foolishly respond, "plus, our season had been a bit more disappointing that year up to then." While he politely, yet in a wise-ass manner, disapproved of the prior choice of 1997 FSU as my favorite game over the 1996 National Championship, this comment about the season being disappointing prior to FSU got him riled up.

Spurrier was now more lively, almost bouncing on his toes back and forth and says, "welp, we did finish 4th in the Country that year and only lost two games. Ya know, that FSU game, I would have traded that for either of the LSU game or the Georgia Game. Shoot, we win one of those and we play for the SEC title. That was always my number 1 goal." [ You often hear that was his priority during interviews and reading it in type, but it's hard to tell if it is coach speak or not. In person, from a foot away, and in a 1 on 1 conversation, I can tell you he emotes this as his reality. He was passionate about it.]

I had hit a nerve and now his competitive spirit was getting riled up a bit. He continued, "That 1997 team. Ya know, we only lost 1 time in 12 years to either LSU or Georgia and that 1997 team lost em both. We win either and we win the SEC [He just takes it as given we beat Auburn for the second time that year, this time on a neutral field, which is pretty great]. But, we lost em and that FSU game, I'd trade it out."

He was taking what many of us in the favorite thread email suggested was our favorite game and putting it in the afterthought pile. It was funny as he was pissing all over my greatest Gator moment with some flare.

Then, since he's bragging about the records against LSU and UGA, he's on a roll and says:

"Ya know, those were some good years. In Gator history we've only won 9 sec titles. Urban, he got his two, but we got 7 of em [yes, he used 7 & 9 with no need to explain, which he was right about. He delivered this line with the most zing of the conversation]. We had never even won one until I got there. And LSU and Georgia, we did go 11-1 against each of them though, so that wasn't too bad. Yep, pretty good run."

Me - "Agreed Coach. Thanks for the time and the memories."

SOS - "Yep, Enjoy your weekend."

The lasting takeaway was that he is still the most competitive, confident, and cocky guy in the same way we all love. It's also easy to see why our rivals hated him. I could have spent another 15 minutes asking questions about topics from this last regime, the resume request, Free Shoes U, Darnell Dockett, Foley and more, but I let him go back to the crowd after he was so gracious in jumping right into the conversation with me.

The next day, he took a pic with my kids, but first said, "shoot, these kids don't know who I am."

When they said, "yes we do and we have a picture with your statute", he pepped up and said "Aah, you know the statute. Aiiright. Get in here for a picture." Then he later threw a souvenir football right to my youngest son, who was super excited and now has his catch from a Heisman winner displayed.

GREAT STORY! I’m glad I had the honor of giving your post like # 50.
 

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