My Tampa bias does not allow me to like anything affiliated with Orlando; Disney, British tourists, completely insane toll highways, and the Orlando Sentinel.
So, I had some skepticism when I read Mike Bianchi's article about Urban Meyer. Calling Meyer or anyone a genius is a bit of a stretch. If anything, Meyer is an old school coach with an understanding of the present and future. Bianchi does a good job of pointing that out.
Bianchi is correct in that respect. But, this article reeks of the Sentinel trying to save themselves. Not only does Bianchi call Urban a genius, but he evokes Bear Bryant, Woody Hayes, and some guy named Spurrier. (That last comparison has become the third rail of Gator fandom.) Why would he be doing this? Oh, I don't know, maybe because the Sentinel was in bed with the Magic when they were pursuing Billy Donovan? Maybe because they knew the more rumors and innuendo they published the greater the chance Donovan would be compelled to go pro?
As much as I hated the UAA's restrictions on access when I covered the teams, I'm sure this was a case where they threw their weight around. I would love to see what they did to the Sentinel when Billy came back. Hopefully it was a giant middle finger and plenty of canned quotes. Bianchi could have written a good column about Meyer's abilities. Instead, he's on the first step of the Sentinel's "I'm sorry" campaign.