It was a pretty simple question.
Is hosting Tennessee this weekend a special way for Florida to open its Southeastern Conference schedule?
Why, of course it is.
This is, after all, the same Tennessee that has kicked off the Gators' SEC slate all but once in the last 13 seasons. It's the same Tennessee that holds a prominent place on the "Beat" board in the UF locker room, which features bulletin-board material and a countdown to kickoff.
And it's the same Tennessee that features new coach Lane Kiffin, who breathed new life into the rivalry this offseason after replacing Phillip Fulmer, whose pictures used to serve as targets for medicine-ball workouts during practice.
But when Jeffery Demps got that question after Saturday's win against Troy, he saw it differently, and he gave an even simpler answer.
"Nah. No comment on that."
Really?
I don't mean to make fun of Demps here, he's just doing what his coach asked of him.
And he wasn't the only one. Just about every player who hears the T-word in a question puts up a wall.
This is what rivalry weeks are reduced to. Another gag order. More denials and fifth-taking that won't make a yard of a difference in The Swamp this weekend.
There's only one thing these rivalry restrictions do, and that's suck the fun out of college football.
It's fun when Brandon Spikes says the Volunteers gave up during the 59-20 whooping in 2007, repeats it before the 2008 contest, backs up his talk on the field and then says they quit again.
I understand coach Urban Meyer's desire to avoid giving UT motivation, but do the Vols really need it? They shouldn't, and neither should the Gators.
So why let them talk? Because it's natural.
It's fun, and it's a part of sports and the players' mindsets.
On Sunday, offensive lineman James Wilson had the guts to tell the simple truth-that the players are aware of Kiffin's offseason comments and using them as motivation-so he was cutoff after a brief, three-minute interview.
I can't understand why Meyer and the media relations staff are so paranoid about this stuff. It's not like the Vols are going to come upset Florida, and when asked about what motivated them to pull off the win, say, "Oh, it was that James Wilson saying he was excited for this game and he was upset that our coach called his coach a cheater."
This is childish.
I respected Meyer's comments on Monday that he will never let a rivalry be about him or any other coach. He wants to keep it about the players on the field, not the guys with the headsets.
Except that's not what's going on.
There are signs all over the locker room with Kiffin's remarks on them, the same signs that were there this summer, photographed and posted online.
So it is about Kiffin, and that's how it should be. There's a line when it comes to smack talk, and he crossed it. He will most likely have to pay for that on Saturday, but you know what? Even if he never said any of that stuff, Florida would still win easily this week, it'd just be less interesting.
And even if every UF player came out and said they'd like a piece of Layla Kiffin, it wouldn't change the outcome of the game.
Football games are decided on the football field, not in press conferences, and limiting what athletes can say serves no purpose other than to strip away one of the best parts of sports.
