(30 penalty yards? Acceptable risk. Exit Visitor Sideline. At my command.)
Several days later as talking heads and message board pundits scold and blovate on a touchdown celebration and the Decline of Western Civilization, I kept hearing a distinct voice rattling in the back of my head. Have heard it since Saturday afternoon around four o’clock. Only while watching the game’s replay on Florida’s Sun Sport Network did I realize the voice in my head was the ex-Soviet sub commander (with an Irish brogue) Captain Marko Ramius.
Ramius once sandwiched between two super powers wanting his scalp, consoled himself with history and the fact that when Cortez reached the new world, “…he burned his ships. As a result his men were well motivated.” Ramius, who hopefully caught the game while relaxing in a fishing cabin in Montana or Maine, was surely smiling on Saturday.
As I watched Trinton Sturdivant wiggle and wag his head and Joe Cox beat his chest, I thought back to those Spanish soldiers from so long ago as walls of flames licked the night sky, turning to ash their only way home. It’s not hard to think of what those Spanish soldiers said. I imagine it was similar to what I and so many of Georgia people were saying Saturday as our team came sashaying onto the field—“Oh sh*t. This sh*t is on.” Except the soldiers said it in Spanish, which, of course, probably sounds a lot better.
Watching the Gator replay, I was able to finally make out that voice in the back of my head when color commentator, former Florida defensive back Barry Ackerman, reacted to the celebration. Ackermann, who played on Spurrier’s first team at Florida, immediately said how Spurrier preached how the Gators had to believe they could beat Georgia. Ackermann got nostalgic about how beating Georgia was Psychological. He suggested Richt was doing something similar. The comparison—an unintentional slip—was telling.
Spurrier would go on to spend the next decade doing this whole ship burning thing, conducting blunt and brutal Psy-Ops against college football and targeting UGA with particular menace. Each year after the WLOCP, Georgia fans were disgusted. We were outraged. We were surprised. We complained. And while we spoke of class, Florida spoke of victory.
At the end of the broadcast when it was clear a Florida defeat was imminent, Ackerman changed his tune. He offered the requisite Broadcast-Speak of congratulating Georgia, but then he went on to recall the “celebration” from the fist touchdown. He said he felt both “disgusted” and “surprised.”
Both of those emotions are accurate. Only one of them is relevant.
See Also
-- Gator Fans of the Week - DeepSouthSports
-- A Beautiful Sight - Dawgsonline
JeromeFromDecatur
