A compendium of my own greatest misses
Because I’m a jolly good fellow and a great sport, I’ve changed the Buzz format a bit. Today I’m going to start by linking to myself — and all the times I was wrong about Georgia and/or Florida. If you’re a Gator backer, this will make for entertaining reading. If you’re a Georgia supporter, you won’t care one way or another because you’re still hiding under the mattress. Either way, here goes:
In May I predicted Georgia would win the national championship. In July I gave 10 reasons it would win the same national championship. A few days later I offered an 11th reason. (Getting to be a stuck record, wasn’t I?)
In September I rated Georgia the SEC’s best team. Earlier that month I’d said Georgia would be 5-0 and beyond worrying about style points. (Reality check: Alabama stacked 41 real points on the Bulldogs to drop them to 4-1.) After the LSU game I got really excited and again averred that Georgia was the class of the SEC and would beat Florida.
You’re aware that Georgia fell a mere 40 points shy of beating Florida over the weekend, and if you’re asking me was I surprised — well, what do you think? I wouldn’t have spent the previous six months proclaiming the Bulldogs’ worth if I believed they were going to lose the biggest game of the year 49-10.
Nor would I have called Matthew Stafford a better quarterback than Tim Tebow had I known Stafford was going to throw the ball to the Gators nearly as often as Tebow did. But I still would have tweaked Urban Meyer, who’s a fine coach but something of a pill.
And I won’t recant my belief that Florida fans are the SEC’s most obnoxious. The past 48 hours clinched that title in perpetuity. (Not that I’m bitter or anything.)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
11/3/08
