boomboomsroom

Saturday was not a good day for Florida St. football.  Again.  The Seminoles were worked over by in state rival Miami 27-10.  And, Miami is no juggernaut.  So, on Sunday the AD and the boosters decided to move in another direction coaching wise.  They told Willie Taggart it was time to “face the music” which never sounds like your Spotify favorite song is about to hit your ear buds.  Hmm.  Where did the phrase “face the music” come from?

A commonly repeated assertion is that ‘face the music’ originated from the tradition of disgraced officers being ‘drummed out’ of their regiment. A second popular theory is that it was UK actors who ‘faced the music’, that is, faced the orchestra pit, when they went on stage.

Willie Taggart had a 9-12 record, and the Seminoles were 0-5 against in-state rivals Miami and Florida and ACC rival Clemson.  At Florida St. his teams performance went from not good to unacceptable.  Maybe he would have been given one more season if they looked like they were making progress this season.  But they digressed from “fair to middling” to “time to make a change.”  Hmm.  Where did the phrase “fair to middling” come from?

As to the derivation of ‘fair to middling’ we need to know what ‘middling’ referred to. The word was and is a term used by farmers to describe the quality of farm produce, especially sheep, of ordinary quality. There were several loosely defined grades of produce: ‘good’, ‘fair, ‘middling’, ‘ordinary’ and ‘poor’.

‘Middling’ is an old Scottish word and has been in use since at least the 15th century with the same meaning as now, that is, ‘of medium or moderate size, strength, and quality.’

Poor Mr. Taggart.  He’s worse than fair to middling and he had to face the music.  Well, at least he’s got about $20 million in buyout money to ease the punch to the psyche.

Where to from here for the coach?  Maybe ole Nick Saban, aka the coach rehab specialist, will ring Willie’s cell.  How about a job as an analyst?  The pay isn’t all that, but it isn’t the checkbook that’s hurting.