First things first. Congratulations to the Gators. They earned this victory, and they deserve full credit. Their fans, their team, their coach all worked very hard, and ultimately won fairly easily in overtime. The Gators deserve more credit than I can give them, unfortunately.
You would not believe what I just deleted. You wouldn't believe it. And you really wouldn't believe how close I came to posting it. But enough about that.
Kentucky gets all the credit in the world for guts and determination. What they don't get credit for is winning the basketball game. When we had the unfortunate team that was Pitino's first charges, we never got mad when they lost. With this team it is, and aught to be, different.
I would love to post something positive, something inspirational. But what can I say? It would be ... irresponsible of me not to face the real fact that we cannot seem to win, even when we have personnel advantages. That is something I am not used to. Unfortunately, Gillispie & Co. do not seem to be able to duplicate effort. I will give them this, though -- they do give effort, even if they are out of position 75% of the time, and give the ball away as though they don't want the damn thing. It is kind of like watching a dog trying to do a task that you are trying to teach it. They try, and try, and try with relentless determination, good homour and honest effort, only to fail over and over again. When they occasionally succeed, you feel as though they have turned the corner, that the next time they will get it right. But alas ...
Some stubborn part of me still retains hope for this team. Against all reason, I refuse (or am unable) to crush it out of existence despite the overwhelming evidence that it is a complete fabrication of my emotional investment. It's like being caught in quicksand, suddenly feeling like you have found sufficient purchase to get out of the awful mire, only to be sucked back in even deeper.
But I won't give up, even though I should. This loss was not like MSU -- we were mismatched against them. There is simply no excuse whatever for this loss from the standpoint of a Kentucky fan. A team of freshmen beat us. We even had Jasper and Meeks available, albeit at a significantly decreased efficiency. No excuses. We should be better, but Florida proved beyond any doubt that we are not better, or if this is "better," I pray to God I never see worse. Not that Florida is bad, they aren't -- but they are much younger, and no more talented, at least on paper. And frankly, Florida probably played the worst game of their season, and beat us anyway.
I have said enough. Maybe tomorrow, sleep will have revived my optimism and suppressed the darkness that fills my soul at the moment. This team should not be this bad.