(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The other reason they perceive us as worthy of hate is that old argument about not belonging to a conference. But you must remember, when it gets down to the bottom line the reason they hate Notre Dame is all about winning. They wouldn't care about all these other issues if we didn't win so much.
Did you ever hear anyone say "it's not fair, Navy should join a conference?"
JK: Can I get you another coffee?
DR: Only if I can pay for it.
JK: Sure!
DR: You know, since you brought up "hate," I believe that because we've been on somewhat of a slide over the last decade or so, there are some other teams that have a chance of actually passing us and taking over the title of "college football's most hated."
What about Florida? Don't you think they are racing to the front of the hate list? They became highly successful in 1990 when Steve Spurrier, who was a brilliant coach, took over and won six SEC Championships and a National Championship.
JK: Do you think he is still a brilliant football coach?
DR: Yes, I do. But getting back to Florida; Urban Meyer comes along in 2005, after the Ron Zook experiment, and now he's already won two National Championships.
And this Tim Tebow guy, he's won one Heisman Trophy, and has a good chance for another this year. A lot of people probably hate these guys!
JK: But Doc, they don't have their own television network, and they belong to the SEC. What do the Gator haters blame their success on?
DR: Good question! There are a lot of things these, as you say Gator haters, complain about.
They don't like the fact that Florida never leaves the state for non-conference games. You know how we travel all over the place—they don't.
A lot of people still remember Spurrier throwing that visor on the ground every time his quarterback made a bad decision.
I've heard stories about all the player arrests, and I was reading an article on the Internet that was written by a reporter for the Atlanta Constitution-Journal about how Florida football lowers the SAT score requirement more than any other BCS school.
I'll tell you something else that I don't like about them. Last year they kicked a late field goal against the Hurricanes, and it bothered a lot of people down here. That was a bad decision by the coach.
The coach has done some pretty questionable things in his short stay. Remember after a loss to LSU in 2005 when he cried at the press conference? Can you imagine Ara or Lou crying, ever?
Meyer also campaigned to play in the National Championship game in 2006 when Michigan had just as much right to be there. Lloyd Carr—and you know what school he coached at, we don't like to say their name—was a real gentleman about the whole thing, and he won my respect.
You know, I've heard the rumors. If Charlie can't get the job done this year, they might replace him with Urban Meyer. I don't know about that. I don't know if he can coach players who all go to class and graduate!
JK: Good point Doc, I'm glad you could say it.
DR: Florida's not the only school that is becoming hated more each year. Oklahoma is right behind them.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Notre Dame Football articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
6 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete