I don’t know why, but I can’t help but feel a tinge of empathy for the SOW. I think it’s because I can see what’s going to happen next. They’ll slowly push Bowden out, and the whiny bastard is going to complain every step of the way. That’ll inspire a huge national backlash against FSU for “firing” the “architect of FSU football”, and “a sweet old man as well” (I threw up a little typing that).

It’s not unlike the backlash we saw for getting rid of the cancer that was Zook. The national media said we (the fans) were impatient, we demanded too much, and we didn’t know how good we had it. Well, who was right? We were. Zook might get canned from a low level B10 school, and UF is on top of the CFB world. It’s too bad there’s no recourse we can take against all those “experts” who supposedly knew our program better than we did.

FSU football will never be relevant with Bowden at the helm, or even anywhere near the helm. They need to push him out in order to get better, but the sentimentalists at ESPN/CBS etc will crucify them for it. And for that I feel sorry.

Now I need a shower.

Or that we wish Bowden would hang around for 5-10 more years?

(Fountain of youth, anyone?)

…because you are talking about a man that had a winning record against your beloved Spurrier. But to say that FSU is being run by a guy that looks like David Letterman’s ugly older brother (http://trustees.fsu.edu/) is absurd. I should know, I went to FSU and splatted many brain cells on Tennessee Street every time we beat you.
  
There’s a perfect storm running FSU. It’s a parrticularly diabolical group of people in charge. And it’s not a cabal consisting of Ann Bowden’s knitting club, Chuck Amato’s consigliere and the Underpants Gnomes as reported by Mike Bianchi. It’s worse. Wetherall, Spetman & Bowden. TK is a boob and, while a gifted president of the Florida Senate, he was known for his ham fisted, bare knuckled approach to running things. Just what you want in a person chosen to run a university. Randy Spetman was chosen to replace Dave Hart (remember, the one who wanted to spank Spurrier and put him to bed, which may have happened later when the two met up in Key West). The only qualification Spetman has is that his arse is big enough for TK to fit his whole arm so he can operate him like a puppet. Then there’s Bowden. He reminds me of my beloved, delusional grandfather who used to wander about the back yard at 3:00 a.m. with a hammer trying to stop the squirrels from getting in the attic. He has good intentions, but he’s off his rocker. Yes, he built the family fortune and we’re all VERY grateful. But he doesn’t need to be in charge of the checkbook anymore.

I think that your point (and it did take me a minute to find one) about excellence being earned, not owed is very true. It has become more so ever since parity was introduced. Yes, you had your Zook Era, and we LOVED him. Then you replaced with Urban Meyer, who is the equivalent of a college football serial killer, very efficient but creepy to watch. He’ll stay in town until his blood lust is satisfied and then go to Notre Dame where he will feast upon those poor protestants and finally to the NFL..

To Giant Catfish – Thank you for your kind words. Now I know how bad this looks on the outside because we’re getting sympathy from a Gate! Oi vey!

Long Live The Seminole Nation!