From The Orlando Sentinel: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/gators/orl-sportsbianchi-florida-tennessee-20092009sep20,0,5234542.column


GAINESVILLE — Shame on Urban Meyer.

Shame on Tim Tebow.

Shame on the Florida Gators.

They were supposed to give Gator Nation Lane Kiffin's head.

Instead, all they got was more of Lane Kiffin's mouth.

Tennessee 13, Florida 23.

Florida gets the official victory, but Kiffin gets the win.

Florida fans cursed him. They gave him the middle finger. They even held up pictures of Al Davis.

But Little Lanie lives to blabber another day.

"The fans were non-stop," Kiffin, the kid provocateur coach, said and smiled when talking about how Gator Nation was out for blood. "There were a lot of F-words that weren't 'Florida' being yelled at me. It was beautiful."

See what I mean? This loss didn't embarrass Kiffin; it only empowered him. Oh, he said afterward there is no such thing as a moral victory, but that's what this was.

I'm just guessing, but I think Kiffy probably still went back to Knoxville Saturday and sang "Rocky Top" all night long just as he predicted he would. I can hear him now:

"Rocky Top, oh Rocky Top,

Let's all scream Amen!

Good ol' Rocky Top,

We only got beat by 10!"

Seriously, you know what Kiffin said in his news conference when I asked him if he might at least go home and hum a couple of bars of "Rocky Top" after keeping it close against the No. 1 team in the nation?

"No, we lost the game," he said, "but I will come back with [UT basketball coach] Bruce [Pearl]. He's 7-1 against Florida."

First, he takes shots at Urban Meyer. Now he's taking shots at Billy Donovan, too. This is why it was so important for Meyer to put Kiffin over his knee, give him a 50-point spanking and suck the arrogance right out of him. Because now, even though Kiffin lost, he actually wins. He gains confidence. He starts thinking it's OK to be a boorish brat.

Kiffin stood up after this — his second consecutive loss — and said UT is sending a "powerful message" to recruits around the country.