Noah.Dreams
08-29-2005, 04:35 PM
31. HERSCHEL
I thought Herschel Walker was going to be great and I felt he would help us as a freshman, but I also didn't know he was going to be that good, that fast. But after the opening game against Tennessee (two TD runs) and the next game against Texas A&M, when he had a long touchdown run, we all knew he was something special. The thing I'll always remember about Herschel is that after his freshman year, teams changed their defenses to prevent the long runs. They kept more people arouand did more gang-tackling. He took a lot more shots his sophomore and junior seasons. But the tougher the game was, the better Herschel liked it. And when the game got into the fourth quarter and the defense was tired, Herschel just got stronger and stronger. I always called him "Ol' Man River" because he just kept rolling along. If you're lucky, you get to coach one like him in a lifetime.
--- Vince Dooley coached 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker at Georgia.
32. JIM BOB COOTER
Some say Southern football is all about the one-name legends, Bo and Herschel and Bear; Archie, Peyton and Eli. But when we talk Southern, one first name just won't do. Jim Bob Cooter might be a backup quarterback at Tennessee, but he starts on our all-name team. Former Miami star Stanley Shakespeare couldn't have written it any better. Jim Bob's got the most Southern of football monikers since Pork Chop Womack, who earned his bacon on Mississippi State's offensive line.
--- Mike Knobler
33. CROWDED HOUSES
The SEC's record-high average attendance of 74,282 last fall was more than 4,000 fans better than any other conference. Southern conferences also led Division I-AA (the Southwestern Athletic Conference) and Division II (the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). A look at where Southern schools rank among the nation's 2004 attendance leaders:
School / Avg. attendance / Rank
Tennessee / 106,644 / 2
Georgia / 92,746 / 5
LSU / 91,209 / 6
Florida / 88,409 / 7
Auburn / 83,085 / 11
Florida State / 82,841 / 12
Alabama / 81,870 / 14
South Carolina / 80,637 / 16
Clemson / 79,667 / 17
34. THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH
His new offense may not be able to hang up half a hundred just yet, but Steve Spurrier's return to the league he once dominated has folks from Tuscaloosa to Tennessee on high alert.
In his last trip around the SEC, Spurrier took as many shots off the field as he did down it, from his famous quote about the dorm fire at Auburn that destroyed 20 books ("The real tragd as that hafo hem hadn't been colored yet") to his response when asked if Georgia had a chance of beating Florida in 1995 ("Is Ray Goff still coaching there?").
So how should conference coaches and fans deal with the jabs that are sure to come their way in the coming weeks?
"Your question seems to assume the problem is psychological," says Dr. Timothy Cavell, director of clinical training at the University of Arkansas. "It might actually be a spiritual issue.
"Many consider Spurrier to be evil personified and perhaps even the devil himself. As such, exorcism may be the order of the day."
--- Jeff D'Alessio
35. SKY BOX NOT THE TICKET FOR UNIVERSITY PREZ
When I became president of Florida State, it was a dream come true. I'd worked my way up through a chain of higher education and political positions --- trying to do the best job possible but always trying to get good tickets. As president, the best seat in the stadium was mine.
The FSU presidency comes with a special parking space, an air-conditioned president's box (holds up to 500 people), instant replays, eight TVs with a remote that allows me to flip between college football games, and a choice of menus with delicious food, including my favorite cookies and ice cream. I was enthusiastically anticipating watching games from the best location in the 85,000-seat stadium.
But I soon learned that as a university president, the primary purpose of football games is not to watch them. It's socializing, entertaining and chatting. Anyone who has been acculturated to football enthusiasm knows you don't want to watch a game from the sidelines or, as I found out, the president's box. True football at FSU is a Seminole T-shirt, the "tomahawk chop" and the constant cheer for the team --- not social conversation. But in this job, I have to wear a suit. "Scalp the Gators" T-shirts are not appropriate attire.
Heck, I can't even watch the game on my big screen in the box because oftentimes a guest had switched the channel to glf
--- T.K.Weheel, a former Seminoles football player, has been Florida State's president since January 2003.
36. WEARING THE NO. 38 AT OLE MISS
A year after the film "Mississippi Burning" depicted a time and a place ablaze in racial hatred, something happened that evoked love and compassion in Mississippians of all backgrounds.
Chucky Mullins got hurt.
Few knew anything about Mullins before the fall afternoon in 1989 when he broke his neck in Ole Miss' homecoming game. He wasn't a star. He wasn't even a starter. All that counted to Mississippians was that he was one of them and needed any help that they could give. Mullins was black. Most of the fans were white. It didn't matter.
More than $1 million in support came from all corners of the state to help Mullins tackle the challenges and bills of life as a quadriplegic. Even rival Mississippi State passed the bucket at one of its games. Everybody learned the story of the kid from Alabama who grew up poor and motherless, moved in with foster parents and earned a football scholarship through sheer force of will. Everybody marveled at the way he stayed upbeat and positive after his injury.
Mullins died in 1991 of complications arising from his paralysis. Every spring, Ole Miss coaches award his No. 38 to the winner of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award.
"It means you have a big responsibility," said this year's recipient, senior linebacker Kelvin Robinson. "You have to be one of the team captains and show leadership on and off the field."
--- Mike Knobler
37. HOWARD'S ROCK
I vividly remember the first time I touched Howard's Rock and ran down the hill as a Clemson Tiger.
A lot of the upperclassmen had told me what it was going be like. They talked about the tradition and how crazy the fans were going to get. They talked about how excited you would feel in the moments just before you ran down the hill. But they also added one important thing:
"Whatever you do, don't fall down."
So the first timeI tuchd Howard's Rck nd an own the hill at Death Valley, that's exactly what I was thinking about: "Please, Jeff, just don't fall down."
I wish I could explain what that tradition means to the Clemson football players. It is simply one of the great emotional rushes an athlete could possibly have. Our dressing room was at the west end of the stadium, so about 10 minutes before kickoff we would board a bus that would take us to the east side of the stadium. And once the Clemson fans saw the bus, they started getting excited.
There is one trip down the hill I will never forget. In 1980, we were 5-5 going into our last game with South Carolina. The Gamecocks had a pretty good team (8-2, ranked No. 14) and the Heisman Trophy winner (George Rogers). They were supposed to kill us.
When we went out to warm up, we were wearing our traditional white pants. But right before kickoff we changed to orange pants and came running down the hill wearing all orange. The crowd went nuts. Then there was nothing left for us to do but take care of business (Clemson won 27-6).
I'm an old man now with six kids of my own. But every time I see the Clemson players touch Howard's Rock and run down the hill, I still get a lump in my throat. As a Clemson football player, it's the moment you live for.
--- Jeff Davis was an All-America linebacker and captain of Clemson's 1981 national title team.
I thought Herschel Walker was going to be great and I felt he would help us as a freshman, but I also didn't know he was going to be that good, that fast. But after the opening game against Tennessee (two TD runs) and the next game against Texas A&M, when he had a long touchdown run, we all knew he was something special. The thing I'll always remember about Herschel is that after his freshman year, teams changed their defenses to prevent the long runs. They kept more people arouand did more gang-tackling. He took a lot more shots his sophomore and junior seasons. But the tougher the game was, the better Herschel liked it. And when the game got into the fourth quarter and the defense was tired, Herschel just got stronger and stronger. I always called him "Ol' Man River" because he just kept rolling along. If you're lucky, you get to coach one like him in a lifetime.
--- Vince Dooley coached 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker at Georgia.
32. JIM BOB COOTER
Some say Southern football is all about the one-name legends, Bo and Herschel and Bear; Archie, Peyton and Eli. But when we talk Southern, one first name just won't do. Jim Bob Cooter might be a backup quarterback at Tennessee, but he starts on our all-name team. Former Miami star Stanley Shakespeare couldn't have written it any better. Jim Bob's got the most Southern of football monikers since Pork Chop Womack, who earned his bacon on Mississippi State's offensive line.
--- Mike Knobler
33. CROWDED HOUSES
The SEC's record-high average attendance of 74,282 last fall was more than 4,000 fans better than any other conference. Southern conferences also led Division I-AA (the Southwestern Athletic Conference) and Division II (the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). A look at where Southern schools rank among the nation's 2004 attendance leaders:
School / Avg. attendance / Rank
Tennessee / 106,644 / 2
Georgia / 92,746 / 5
LSU / 91,209 / 6
Florida / 88,409 / 7
Auburn / 83,085 / 11
Florida State / 82,841 / 12
Alabama / 81,870 / 14
South Carolina / 80,637 / 16
Clemson / 79,667 / 17
34. THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH
His new offense may not be able to hang up half a hundred just yet, but Steve Spurrier's return to the league he once dominated has folks from Tuscaloosa to Tennessee on high alert.
In his last trip around the SEC, Spurrier took as many shots off the field as he did down it, from his famous quote about the dorm fire at Auburn that destroyed 20 books ("The real tragd as that hafo hem hadn't been colored yet") to his response when asked if Georgia had a chance of beating Florida in 1995 ("Is Ray Goff still coaching there?").
So how should conference coaches and fans deal with the jabs that are sure to come their way in the coming weeks?
"Your question seems to assume the problem is psychological," says Dr. Timothy Cavell, director of clinical training at the University of Arkansas. "It might actually be a spiritual issue.
"Many consider Spurrier to be evil personified and perhaps even the devil himself. As such, exorcism may be the order of the day."
--- Jeff D'Alessio
35. SKY BOX NOT THE TICKET FOR UNIVERSITY PREZ
When I became president of Florida State, it was a dream come true. I'd worked my way up through a chain of higher education and political positions --- trying to do the best job possible but always trying to get good tickets. As president, the best seat in the stadium was mine.
The FSU presidency comes with a special parking space, an air-conditioned president's box (holds up to 500 people), instant replays, eight TVs with a remote that allows me to flip between college football games, and a choice of menus with delicious food, including my favorite cookies and ice cream. I was enthusiastically anticipating watching games from the best location in the 85,000-seat stadium.
But I soon learned that as a university president, the primary purpose of football games is not to watch them. It's socializing, entertaining and chatting. Anyone who has been acculturated to football enthusiasm knows you don't want to watch a game from the sidelines or, as I found out, the president's box. True football at FSU is a Seminole T-shirt, the "tomahawk chop" and the constant cheer for the team --- not social conversation. But in this job, I have to wear a suit. "Scalp the Gators" T-shirts are not appropriate attire.
Heck, I can't even watch the game on my big screen in the box because oftentimes a guest had switched the channel to glf
--- T.K.Weheel, a former Seminoles football player, has been Florida State's president since January 2003.
36. WEARING THE NO. 38 AT OLE MISS
A year after the film "Mississippi Burning" depicted a time and a place ablaze in racial hatred, something happened that evoked love and compassion in Mississippians of all backgrounds.
Chucky Mullins got hurt.
Few knew anything about Mullins before the fall afternoon in 1989 when he broke his neck in Ole Miss' homecoming game. He wasn't a star. He wasn't even a starter. All that counted to Mississippians was that he was one of them and needed any help that they could give. Mullins was black. Most of the fans were white. It didn't matter.
More than $1 million in support came from all corners of the state to help Mullins tackle the challenges and bills of life as a quadriplegic. Even rival Mississippi State passed the bucket at one of its games. Everybody learned the story of the kid from Alabama who grew up poor and motherless, moved in with foster parents and earned a football scholarship through sheer force of will. Everybody marveled at the way he stayed upbeat and positive after his injury.
Mullins died in 1991 of complications arising from his paralysis. Every spring, Ole Miss coaches award his No. 38 to the winner of the Chucky Mullins Courage Award.
"It means you have a big responsibility," said this year's recipient, senior linebacker Kelvin Robinson. "You have to be one of the team captains and show leadership on and off the field."
--- Mike Knobler
37. HOWARD'S ROCK
I vividly remember the first time I touched Howard's Rock and ran down the hill as a Clemson Tiger.
A lot of the upperclassmen had told me what it was going be like. They talked about the tradition and how crazy the fans were going to get. They talked about how excited you would feel in the moments just before you ran down the hill. But they also added one important thing:
"Whatever you do, don't fall down."
So the first timeI tuchd Howard's Rck nd an own the hill at Death Valley, that's exactly what I was thinking about: "Please, Jeff, just don't fall down."
I wish I could explain what that tradition means to the Clemson football players. It is simply one of the great emotional rushes an athlete could possibly have. Our dressing room was at the west end of the stadium, so about 10 minutes before kickoff we would board a bus that would take us to the east side of the stadium. And once the Clemson fans saw the bus, they started getting excited.
There is one trip down the hill I will never forget. In 1980, we were 5-5 going into our last game with South Carolina. The Gamecocks had a pretty good team (8-2, ranked No. 14) and the Heisman Trophy winner (George Rogers). They were supposed to kill us.
When we went out to warm up, we were wearing our traditional white pants. But right before kickoff we changed to orange pants and came running down the hill wearing all orange. The crowd went nuts. Then there was nothing left for us to do but take care of business (Clemson won 27-6).
I'm an old man now with six kids of my own. But every time I see the Clemson players touch Howard's Rock and run down the hill, I still get a lump in my throat. As a Clemson football player, it's the moment you live for.
--- Jeff Davis was an All-America linebacker and captain of Clemson's 1981 national title team.