If Bobby Bowden Talked: Jim Smith, Trustees, and Seminole Football Writers

If Bobby Bowden were to write an open letter, this is what he might say:

Dear Chairman of the Board, Trustees, Writers, And Others Who Wish I Would Wilt On The Vine As A Retiree,

I know you. You are the guy who goes all in on your fifth hand at poker night and ends up driving us nuts with your expert poker playing advice thereafter. Yeah, you’re the same guy I saw crying foul to the clerk at the DMV after (gasp) you had to wait for 20 minutes! We all knew you were kind of a big deal after that.

You're the same guy who spoke up because FSU lost again on Saturday and you can’t stand it anymore.

I know, I know; it’s not about you. It was a duty to others that made you speak out over the weekend.

Right, Mr. Chairman?

Saying, “I think enough is enough,” wasn’t rash or selfish in any way. It was all about the boosters and the fans.

So why did the rest of the table then have the patience not to go all in with a crappy hand in the fifth round? It seems like you were so determined to teach us the way you play poker that you forgot there was a game being played.

You said exactly what we thought a self indulgent guy would say: "It's really about other people," and "I hate having to do this." But we know you meant, "It's time for me to throw my weight around."

Mr. Sportswriter, I see you are mad too. Wait, did you just get here? Did you even buy in?

You said our record speaks for itself. You claimed that a record of two wins and three losses to start the season is unprecedented for FSU. You are right on both points in that nobody has played as tough a schedule thus far, and that our program's history of winning makes any loss unable to stand as a moral victory. But you are writing like the Noles should have crushed the other team in all three losses.

Miami the red-headed stepchild? USF the no-name teenager? Boston College who has stayed in the Seminary all these years after we left? Oh, the humanity! Will the football scholars please tell us how we will ever win again?

Since you are the seer of the endtime of winning at FSU and you are good at over-simplifying for the public the issues that you can’t fully understand yourself, I feel obligated to clarify a few things. I hope you can wrap your head around them.

1. To begin the season, we lost to three well-ranked football teams, who are all contenders in two very tough conferences.

2. We blew out a great BYU team in Provo.

3. This week, we have found our identity as a team and you will see a shift from a good team with great athletes to simply a great team.

4. The ACC race is and will remain wide open. We plan to win it.

5. There are forces that create ups and downs outside of our control in any organization—even football teams—regardless of who is boss.

6. Believe it or not, this makes an annual blowout of Florida and Miami, winning the ACC crown, and beating Florida a second time in the BCS title game a small hurdle for us.

Mr. Chairman, trustees, and sportswriters: Thanks for speaking up for the Seminoles still in the game that were waiting on your words of advice and have now folded away the season. We don't want them anyway.

I appreciate you indulging yourselves at a time and in a way that motivates those of us who aren’t quitters to keep playing the game the best we can. On behalf of the coaches, players, families, and all reasonable fans: Thanks for letting us know whose with us and whose against us.

I'm going all in on an ACC championship starting this Saturday at 8:00 pm.

All My Love,

Bobby

(This is solely the opinion of the writer of this opinion piece and not Bobby Bowden, but if it were Bobby that would be pretty sweet.)

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?