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The Back Nine comes at you after a weekend with a lot of disappointing results, including weather issues at Pebble Beach. That’s the way sports goes.
10. Certainly, nobody can say they expected Florida basketball to win both road games last week. But when you win one, you get greedy. And when you have a 13-point lead, you kind of think it could happen. But it didn’t and it was certainly a missed opportunity. I know these are young men, but playing in Lexington in front of that crowd, flying home at 2 a.m. and getting on a plane the next day might have worn these guys out, especially playing as few as they do now that it’s conference season. All I know is a lot of shots fell short late.
11. Clearly, Todd Golden was not happy about the officiating. I think. “Really, the biggest thing for me was that there were a total of 13 free throws taken by both teams in the first half, and then A&M took 20 in the second half to our two,” Golden said. Yep. But you have to play around the officiating, especially on the road.
12. This is where we might want to re-evaluate the NET Rankings. Texas A&M won the game at home and dropped four spots in the NET. Ex-queeze me? Please, committee members, just be using this as one of several metrics. It’s been this way all season and I know I shouldn’t pay attention, but we’re down to the last third of the season. And as we enter it, just thought I would pass on the SEC’s top team in terms of Quad 1 wins right now:
Texas A&M 4
Tennessee 4
Alabama 3
South Carolina 3
Miss. State 3
Kentucky 2
LSU 2
Ole Miss 2
13. After all of the hype about how we were going to have this great Saturday of college basketball, it left a lot to be desired. Kansas, North Carolina and especially Tennessee made it boring because they are that good. And the first two were playing at home. I wonder how the talk shows are dealing with consecutive home losses by Kentucky.
14. OK, time for my Super Bowl prediction. This is a battle between two of the best play-callers in the game, which is why I think it will come right down to the end. How does each one solve an elite defense? Maybe Jared Goff gave the Chiefs the blueprint last week. Too bad the Lions left it in the locker room at halftime. I’ll take the Chiefs and the two points.
15. You can tell what time of the year it is. Softball and baseball are getting ready to ramp up on campus with hope springing eternal while all around the country people are mad at officials. Yes, the NFL has rigged it for the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl because Taylor Swift wants to make a political statement after the game. Sure, Scott Drew was picked on and was ejected against Iowa State and the athletic director Mack Rhoades called the officiating an embarrassment to the conference. Play around it.
16. I want to make sure I congratulate the women’s tennis team for being 4-0 after a hard-fought win over FSU on Sunday. And men’s golf for being 2-for-2 this spring season.
17. The news of Bill Carr’s passing hit hard, because he has been a longtime friend. I remember going to his house many years ago after his heart surgery. I don’t know of anybody who cared more about the future of college football than the former UF All-American center. We used to have really passionate discussions and I always felt like the least intelligent person in the conversations. Rest In Peace, Willy C.
18. The countdown has begun for the 29thBob Dooley Invitational and already we are getting tremendous support to help Stop Children’s Cancer. I’m also working on a major playlist for the party. Here are the latest I put on there:
- “Sinner” by The Last Dinner Party which is a band I’m getting into lately.
- “The American Dream Is Killing Me” by Green Day.
- And for an old one, this got stuck in my head Saturday – “We’ll Sing In The Sunshine” by Gale Garnett. OK, when I was 12 years old this song was a big hit.
WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” along with Jeff Cardozo from 4-6 p.m. Monday-Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.
