Thursday, March 3, 2011

KEEP SPRING PRACTICE CLOSED

Gator Gridiron
Roger Franklin Williams

You know it is a slow news period when a "controversy"  erupts in the Gainesville area media--as well as Gator football blogs-- over whether new Head Coach Will Muschamp is some kind of "traitor" because of the "outrageous" act of comtemplating closing spring practice to fans and media. Apparently, to a small, but passionate and very vocal band of Gators, attending Gator football practice is a sacred, fundamental "Right" on the level of freedom speech, religion and the right to keep and bear arms. Gator Gridiron admires the enthusiasm of those Gators who are fortunate enough to live close enough to campus to make attending practice a  major part of their lives, but, as a practical matter, the "factory floor" where an SEC/National Championship caliber football program is being constructed really is not the place for social gatherings for the Gator faithful or Saturday afternoon picnics. A spring where a totally new band of coaches with new and different philosophies and schemes will attempt to mold a raw stable of talented, but largely inexperienced young  players into the Championship level team that all Gators expect needs to be an environment of total focus and intensity. An even more relevant and practical consideration is the fact of todays world where every bystander with a cell phone is now a one man news crew with audio and video capacity. Coach Muschamp has not yet made an official announcment as to his policy of access to practice, spring or fall. If he chooses to close access to fans and/or media, Gator Gridiron supports that wise decision 100%.

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