Fully Operational

November 16, 2012

By Lawrence Lyman

One of my favorite sports quotes came from Jim McKay, the legendary coach of the USC Trojans and the first coach of the Tampa Bay Bucs. In the middle of the Bucs 0-26 start, a reporter asked Mckay about his team’s execution. His response: “I’m in favor of it.”

In the wake of Texas A&M’s upset over Alabama, the old debate about the spread offense and whether or not it could work in the SEC was resurrected. It is especially amplified because the two leading contenders for the BCS Title Game: Oregon and Kansas State, run a spread offense.

I watched Johnny Football and, before him, Baby Jesus and Cam Newton have similar success against a Nick Saban defense. You know who else carved up one of his defenses

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November 9, 2012

NCAA Football: Week 11 Preview

By Lawrence Lyman

After a fun and dramatic first Saturday in November, this weekend’s slate is lacking some firepower. We are still two weeks away from Rivalry Weekend. Some of the anticipated matchups, such as Florida State going to Virginia Tech, do not look as exciting now as they did in August [Ed. note: Lawrence sent this in on Wednesday so these predictions haven’t been doctored, we just didn’t post it…our bad!].

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November 1, 2012

NCAA Football: Week 10 Preview

By Lawrence Lyman

I still hate Georgia.

I was half right about the WLOCP. Georgia is an undisciplined team. The Gators were able to move the ball on their defense, but too many turnovers along with Jarvis Jones was too much for the good guys to overcome.

College football rivalries are the best in sports because you rarely get a second chance in a season. Yankees vs. Red Sox? Please, they play 19 games a year and both teams can make it into the playoffs. Any NFL “rivalry”? Two meetings a year, plus maybe another in the playoffs. The NBA has the same problem and David Stern taking the physicality out of the sport has diminished some of the intensity.

If you lose to your rival in college football, that’s it. The loser has to sit and take it and stew on it for another 365 days. See you on November 2, 2013 Georgia.

Moving onto this week:

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October 28, 2012

Good Games: Week 8

By J. Goodman

Okay, guys, my bad. I did so well last week (not really) and now I’m resting on my laurels. In other words, there’s a hurricane coming to New York City, I woke up late, I needed to go out and make preparations and before I knew it it was past 1 pm and any self-respecting football guru knows that you can’t just phone in your picks after the games start because that’s unfair. There’s too much bias involved. If a team scores early were you going to pick them originally? If not, are you changing your mind? By what percentage?

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October 25, 2012

College Football Week 9 Preview: The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party

By Lawrence Lyman

I hate Georgia.

Florida has several rivals. For some of us, that rival is Florida State, even though academically and athletically we are the superior university. For others, it’s Tennessee, with a nod to the white hot intensity of the rivalry’s heyday in the 90’s. Maybe for a younger generation of fans that rival is LSU or even Alabama.

Not me. For me, Georgia is the most hated and bitter rival for the University of Florida.

October 24, 2012

Good Games: Week 7 Recap

By J. Goodman

I don’t keep track of my picks as the games are going on and, frankly, I forget who I’ve even picked. So when I write this recap, it’s a surprise to me. Did I do well? Did I do poorly? Who knows?! And that’s the excitement.

This recap is mostly word association. In other words, I record the outcome and say the first thing that comes to mind. For instance, right now, my brain is thinking: Ralph Macchio.

That’s my brain for you. Let’s see how it did last week.

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October 21, 2012

Good Games: Week 7

By J. Goodman

I can’t believe I’m actually writing this column. Two weeks in a row I essentially made a fool of myself. A newborn baby with at least one semi-functioning finger could’ve out-picked me the last 14 days. But then again you don’t read Fully Operational for accuracy. You read us for shot in the dark, ‘seems right to me’ type muckraking. That’s our specialty and we’re going to keep serving you this slop in style. And, remember, smiles are free!

Like Sean Penn in Mystic River, We bury our sins here, Dave. We wash them clean.

Each week is a clean slate.

I’d like to point out: no other blog is quoting Mystic River in reference to the NFL. That has to count for something.

On to the Goodness that are the games that I’m picking:

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October 18, 2012

Week 8 Tailgate: Daddy’s Home

By Lawrence Lyman

For the fourth time, Coach Steve Spurrier comes back to his alma mater.

Coach Spurrier is our Father in the Holy Trinity of Florida Football (Danny Wuerffel is the Holy Ghost and Tebow is the Son) [Ed. note: Makes sense]. When he was asked to show his resume to new UF President Bernie Machen back in 2004, Spurrier told him to check the trophy case. That was true. Coach Spurrier won a Heisman Trophy and, at that time, the only SEC and national titles for Florida. Coach Spurrier has a propensity for taking on new challenges and accomplishing new feats at different schools. His Florida career is well known but this is the coach who led Duke to an ACC title in football.

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October 13, 2012

Good Games: Week 6

By J. Goodman

Here I am, back for more. I’m determined to pick winners at a much more impressive rate this week. Last week, I was just getting my feet wet. This week, I’m taking the full plunge.

And I learned something in between. Thursday’s victory for the Titans (over the Steelers) showed me that you can’t count out the crappy teams. Especially at home. Thank you for that lesson, NFL.

Let’s do this:

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October 11, 2012

Week 7 Tailgate: It’s a Trap!

By Lawrence Lyman

What another spectacular weekend of college football. Congratulations to my Gators who took LSU’s manhood on Saturday. The game plan was simple. We pounded LSU into submission and broke their will. Gator fans clamoring for high flying offense are now getting excited by defense, running the ball, and good special teams. Sound familiar? That’s the formula Urban Meyer used to win two national titles. Sure, he had the greatest offensive player in Florida history, Percy Harvin [Ed. note: I think you mean Tim Tebow], to play with and break big plays, but Urban and Coach Muschamp aren’t that different.

Except I bet Urban never did this:

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October 9, 2012

Not So Good Games: Week 5 Recap

By J. Goodman

I take back all that I said. Prognosticating is quite hard. It turns mortals into mere morons. But at least I didn’t give up. At least I didn’t crawl into a shell and hope the world forgot about me like some people (Les). Like Chris Dudley did for the Knicks during the 1997-98 NBA season, I’m not backing down.

I did, however, pick awfully. I don’t even want to see how poorly I picked. I’m sure the Alphabet who went a whopping 4-10 last week smoked me. Fine, let’s just get on with it.

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October 8, 2012

Reason # ______ Why the Knicks are Ridiculous

By J. Goodman

The Knicks recently signed recently-retired power forward/center Rasheed Wallace. ‘Sheed to his friends. This is going to end badly.

You see, ‘Sheed is old. ‘Sheed is also a cancer in the same way Terrell Owens was a cancer and Randy Moss became a cancer. There are certain players who play for themselves, they play for the straight cash homie. They are talented so people listen to them. They are loud and opinionated so people listen to them. They are derisive and play by their own rules. That’s where the problems creep in.

October 7, 2012

Good Games: Week 5

By J. Goodman

Without Les to give us Les’ Locks, Fully Operational resorted to mediocre alternatives: a coin flip, Dre, Dre’s cousin, the Alphabet. We can’t allow this to happen. Someone, a man with vision, a man with courage, a man with integrity, namely, me, has to step up and provide some guidance to the wayward gambling flock. Forget Les’ Locks. It’s time for ‘Good’ Games. Get it. J. Goodman. ‘Good’man. ‘Good’ Games. You get it, right?

Okay. Let the Goodness rain all over your bodies.

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October 5, 2012

Week 6 Tailgate

By Lawrence Lyman

When I was young, Summer movies were a fun way to pass the time before school started. In my best Clint Eastwood voice: they used to be a lot better, too [Ed. note: your Clint Eastwood voice is pretty bad]. Now, I look forward to Fall movies. You get your Oscar contenders, smart blockbusters, and family comedies that kill time at your in-laws during the holidays.

October 4, 2012

Les’ Blocks: Week 4 Recap

By J. Goodman

Les has been blockaded from picking locks. He did this to himself (I guess). I mean, why doesn’t he want to pick football winners? What did we do to him? We’re sorry. We’re so sorry. Please.

Hold on.

I need to get a hold of myself. I’m falling to pieces here.

Why am I crying?

Anyway, how did the Alphabet do in Week 4?

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