Reading this post at Sunday Morning Quarterback regarding Georgia’s MNC chances reminds me once again that, despite all the denials, the Celebration…
… lives on. (By the way, as one of SMQ’s links demonstrates, is there anything sadder than watching Tech fans seething gratuitously over Florida’s misfortune?)
Be prepared. It’s going to be part of that notorious ESPN narrative, particularly if Georgia and Florida get off to the kind of start we hope for.
Get The Picture 
Thank you for this. You’re right. It NEVER gets old.
Go Dawgs!
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I recall Tech fans doing the Gator chomp at Georgia fans during the ’03 game in Atlanta. That particular Tech team lost to Duke.
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I fear you are right, this will be a huge part of the buildup as we approach Jax this season. The good thing to me is UF players will be asked so many times about it, they will be forced to admit it was a “last year thing”, and it will not be near the motivation factor Gator fans think it will be. You just cannot maintain the same passion (love or hate) after so mnay repetitive analyses. I don’t see it having a big impact on this year’s game. The atmosphere will be intense enough if both of these teams play to the potential they have. The East should be decided this day, and with that goes the SEC title, and a premium bowl bid.
The only hope I have regarding the celebration discussion is announcers getting it right. While the call to celebrate was given by CMR to the offensive players on the field, in no way did he anticipate the spontaneous emptying of the bench. The only legit argument is that it could have sparked an ugly incident, but only because all the defensive players and Special Teams’ guys joined in. I don’t see how this damaged CMR’s reputation for being classy at all. It was a change in his way of managing the players, and it worked. I don’t think anyone was more surprised in how many players got involved than he was.
One potentially huge part of that celebration is completely overlooked by everyone in this discusssion, but was my biggest fear, was th replay of the TD leap by Moreno. Can you imagine what would happened to the team that day if Moreno had not been successful in getting the ball over the endline? We had already incurred the penalties and would have been penalized 30 yards back from the one yardline. I believe we would have lost the game, and been the laughingstock of the nation. As it was, only UF fans and UGA haters carry any negative thoughts about the celebration. I do hope we are past the point where we have to motivate our players in such a public way to realize their potential.
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Sam,
At the time the celebration was occurring I think everyone at the game or watching on TV was afraid Moreno didn’t break the plane. The play was even reviewed by the refs to ensure that he did. Also CMR mentioned in post interviews how damaging it would have been had that not been ruled a TD.
To me that is the best motivational tactic I’ve ever seen (of coarse I’m a little bias). As a matter of fact, to quote Urban Myer “that has never been done in the history of college football”. While it didn’t shell shock UF like I thought it would it did changed our attitude towards the WLOCP. We will no longer go into Jacksonville expecting to lose, as we have the past 15 years or so. No. We will now go into the “Gator ” bowl expecting to win.
DAMN, I can’t wait. Only 109 days left.
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Everybody talks about the turning point of the season last year…
The fact is, Knowshon breaking the goal line WAS THE TURNING POINT. Watch the replay again. The ball gets knocked out of his hand just after breaking the line. Had he not broken the plane, it’s a fumble and uf probably recovers. Goodbye, Momemtum.
Big-time players make big-time plays to win big-time games. That’s what sets Knowshon apart from all the would-be heroes from years past.
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