MIAMI - If I had to list the reasons why I love sports, athletes talking trash would certainly rank near the top. It's as much a part of athletics as muscles, sweat and egos, but the art of smack talk seems to have fallen by the wayside lately.
We're on the eve of a dynamic national title matchup between No. 1 UF and No. 2 Oklahoma. The game features two Heisman Trophy winners and will settle a huge debate between the Big 12 and Southeastern conferences for the title of best college football league.
But here's the best trash talk we get: "I'd say (UF quarterback Tim Tebow) would probably be about the fourth-best quarterback in our conference," Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks said on Sunday.
Franks added that it's easier to prepare to face Tebow than Big 12 signal callers Colt McCoy (Texas), Graham Harrell (Texas Tech) and Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) because they throw twice as many passes per game.
Those comments sent media members into a frenzy. When reporters heard about what Franks said, they scrambled to find someone who had the quote so they could blog it or get a story done.
It sickens me to see our standards for quality trash talk lowered this much. Is that really the best we can get?
First of all, what Franks said was TRUE. Tebow would be the fourth-best quarterback in the Big 12. He might be a more valuable player than that trio, but in offenses where the goal is to launch footballs all over the field to a zillion zig-zagging receivers at a fast pace, Bradford, McCoy and Harrell are better suited to succeed.
Plus, it's not exactly an insult to rank Tebow below two players who edged him in the Heisman voting and a third who finished a spot behind him.
I know there are plenty of things the players are dying to say about their opponents, but we'll never hear it.
Desperate to avoid giving teams "bulletin-board material," coaches are constantly policing their players to avoid any statements that could be considered out of line. To make matters worse, this season the Gators have been reeled in tight by UF's sports information department, making it even harder to get quality smack from players.
Here's an example of how paranoid people are. After UF topped Arkansas this season, UF linebacker Brandon Spikes told me it was because the Razorbacks weren't as tough or hardworking as the Gators.
So, the media didn't see Spikes again for quite some time, reporters were barred from interviewing players on the field for the next game against LSU, and I had a UF staffer follow me all over the field after the Florida-Georgia game to make sure I didn't talk to Spikes.
Wow.
First off, the fear over giving a foe an edge by spouting off to the media is ridiculous.
Coaches fabricate stories and trash talk all the time to motivate players, so whether it's actually said or not doesn't matter.
And do you really think Tebow is going to play harder on Thursday because of Franks' comments? Do you think there's anything that anyone could say to make any OU or UF players try any harder on Thursday?
My answer is no. Trash talk doesn't affect the outcome of games. It's just fun, and sports are a little less interesting without it.
