T1B

Something Stinks to High Hell and It's Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer is something else.


GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Suspended defensive tackle Marcus Thomas has been reinstated and will play Saturday when No. 5 Florida hosts ninth-ranked LSU.

"I think he's a very good football player," Meyer said. "He's a good chemistry guy on the team. He's invested a lot into this program. Obviously, having him in here is going to help, but we also played pretty good without him. It's important. Is it the catchall? Absolutely not. We proved that the last couple weeks."
Florida fans said, "Why would we delay the results, and lose the anchor of our line for the critical last half of the season, with games against LSU, Auburn, and SEC East rival Georgia. If we had known the results, we'd have bitten the bullet and suspended Thomas immediately so he could be back for that critcal run of games.

Well, now you know why. Meyer suspended Thomas after the UT game, and an appeal was immediately filed on the grounds that the University of Florida doesn't understand proper testing procedure, and retested Thomas too soon after the first test. That appeal was granted today, and Thomas will be available for the LSU game Saturday, after missing games 1, 4, and 5 (against Southern Miss, Kentucky and a suspect Bama team). Never mind that it's almost impossible for a person to erroneously test positive again more than a month after a single use, which was the grounds for Thomas' appeal. Never mind that Thomas was busted again last Sunday, for driving with a suspended license. Interestingly, the line of the UF-LSU game moved sharply from favoring LSU to favoring Florida in the 24 hours prior to Thursday's decision to reinstate Thomas by the "independent committee" at UF. Of course, that may have been due to the fact that Thomas was spotted on the practice field earlier in the week, apparently in violation of Meyer's policy of not allowing suspended players to take part in any team activities. Maybe Urban just had a good feeling about the decision and decided to suspend his own rule.

Whatever the case, when a player has two positive drug tests before the season, gets busted for driving without a license during the season, and ends up with a patchwork of suspensions that craftily avoids the most critical conference games on the schedule... All I can say is "Welcome to the SEC Coach Meyer".


Win at all costs

I don't see a problem with it unless it was ND, tOSU or the Big 12

Sin,

TRIX


yeah it does stink a little...kind of like when Zook suspended some guys a couple years back and a game got moved (a big game) but he just let them miss the cupcake rather than the big game...

but nothing bad ever goes down at FLA...I hope LSU beats the EVER LOVING HELL OUT OF THEM...

Very interesting read considering we're in a similar situation. We had 3 players (2 who we could badly use right now) fail a second drug test and they won't be available until next weekend since they are suspended for half the season.

Mucho, while it may hurt in the short term, at least be proud that your coach and admin aren't win at all costs shitbags like Meyer and UF.

Honestly, I am so pissed at the guys who got suspended that I would rather not see them play at all. I would rather watch the team I have seen so far go through the season even if it means we lose a game or 2 because of the other players being so selfish. You would have figured these guys would have learned the first time that they won't get away with it.

I could make a very easy case that we could be 5-0 if we had 2 of the 3 players. One player would have been our #1 RB. We have absolutely no running game outside of our QB right now and in our 2 losses any semblence of a running game would have won us both games since we would have controlled the clock more and kept the opposing defense more honest.

The bright side is seeing the emergence of our RS Freshman QB. He is going to be some player in the next year or so.

This surprises you?

It is the crocs. They have had their whole athletic program put on probation before, Tank Black paying those WRs that won the crocs the 1996 mulligan bowl, head coaches beating up students with his players, ect.

FSU kicked RANDY MOTHER FUCKING MOSS off the team after two failed drug tests.

Yet the inbreds from the worlds largest truck stop say we are the bad guys....fucking hilarious.

I cant wait until Oscar Meyer beats up a frat boy then he will be officially the coach of the crocs.

I sure am glad the Texas players only possess substances and not use them. Otherwise we might have to go West Texas style and play 6 man.

Sorry, the new job has kept me out of the office for much of the time. Anyway, here is a little update on Saint Thomas and Pope Urban.

Bump

Thomas dismissed from Gators

By Dan Treat

Independent Florida Alligator (U. Florida)
11/06/2006


(U-WIRE) NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- With a 13-word statement passed out during the third quarter of UF's 25-19 win against Vanderbilt, Gators coach Urban Meyer confirmed rumors that had swirled through tailgating parties and Internet message boards for much of Saturday.
Defensive tackle Marcus Thomas is no longer with UF.

Thomas had already been suspended a total of three games after twice testing positive for marijuana. Now, Thomas has been dismissed after failing to meet the conditions placed on him after the second suspension.

"Marcus did not meet his responsibilities and obligations to remain on the team," the statement read.

Defensive tackle Steven Harris, one of the closest players to Thomas, would not confirm if drugs were involved in the expulsion, but he did not deny so either.

"He's my best friend in the world, but sometimes things happen," Harris said. "When you have a problem, you have to try to get help. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't."

Thomas told the Florida Times-Union that he missed a mandatory drug-education class and missed an imposed curfew.

"I violated the rules they set up for me to play football," Thomas told the paper. "I just couldn't keep on going through with it. I violated that, and they had to dismiss me."

However, Thomas does not exactly have a reputation for being honest. After failing his first drug test and missing the season opener against Southern Miss, he had this to say in terms of an explanation: "They wanted to see Clint (McMillan) and everybody do their thing for the first game. It was just something they had to do. They wanted to see the young guys play."

After the Vanderbilt game, Meyer was understandably cagey when discussing the issue. Just one week ago, the coach made Thomas a captain for the Georgia game. Six days later, he was off the team. UF players said they learned about the dismissal Friday.

When he was on the field this season, Thomas was a force, piling up 26 total tackles and four sacks. His departure creates a gaping hole in the middle of UF's defensive line that must be plugged by several players. Ray McDonald has slid inside, allowing Derrick Harvey to start, and true freshman Brandon Antwine will see increased time at defensive tackle.

"We need to get more out of our other inside guys," Gators co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "Our other inside guys -- Clint, Joe (Cohen) and Steve -- they kind of go unnoticed in there. If they're pushing the pocket, you'll see Jarvis (Moss) and Derrick making sacks."

Urban is all talk. Funny how he was reinstated in time for the stretch run of LSU, Auburn and Georgia, but kicked off when it was over. He says he is all about discipline but that is only towards his players who arent starters.