It's the only way you can adequately describe the legislative session of 2004.
It crashed and burned late Friday as House and Senate leaders were unable to agree on most of the major issues waiting to be resolved.
Throughout the Capitol, lobbyists and legislators - almost everyone participating in the process - uniformly condemned House Speaker Johnnie Byrd as the worst speaker ever.
Some of the worst criticism came from Republicans who worked hard to build a GOP majority in Florida. All of them were critical of Byrd for punishing fellow Republican members who didn't vote with him on bills that were obviously designed to help his U.S. Senate race.
Tom Slade, a former senator who is now a lobbyist, worked for years as chairman of the Florida Republican Party and helped the GOP gain control of Florida government. He was among those critical of Byrd and the way he ran the House.
"We are down to the last day and have several hundred bills stacked up that won't have an opportunity to be heard," Slade noted. "If I had any idea it would turn out like this, I might not have worked so hard."
Van Poole, another lobbyist who once served in the House and Senate and headed the state GOP, was critical of the way Byrd treated his own members.
"It was a total surprise to me," Poole said. "We never saw this coming."
Curt Kiser, a lobbyist who also served in the House and Senate when Republicans were a minority, said the level of vindictiveness in the House "is probably the worst I've ever seen."
During a mid afternoon visit, Gov. Jeb Bush noted the air of resignation that permeated the fourth floor between the House and Senate.
"We shouldn't measure things by the number of bills that are passing," Bush said.
Sheep began to appear around the Capitol by midday, reminders of the day Byrd described his members as sheep waiting to be told what to do. A stuffed sheep appeared first, wearing a sign indicating he was a sheep who had lost his flock. Buttons pictured Byrd on a motorcycle with a large sheep and the words "go johnnie go." Hundreds of sheep masks appeared as well.
Grim lobbyists carrying lists of bills that might never pass waited anxiously outside the House.
Friday started with a bit of levity, one of the few signs of humor in the final day of the session day.
When reporters arrived they encountered a blizzard of toilet paper in the Senate press gallery. During the night, the Senate decorated the gallery with rolls and rolls of toilet paper strung from the windows, chairs and desks.
"For years we've been waking up to see what you've done. It's your turn," noted a sign posted on one wall. "Thanks for the memories gang."
It was the kind of outrageously funny action that had to come from King, a Senate president who had the misfortune to serve at a time when the man in the speaker's chair lacked any sign of a sense of humor, let alone a sense of respect for the institution he served.
Many of the lobbyists and former legislators trace the problems to term limits and the inexperience of many House members. And almost everyone sees Byrd's candidacy for the U.S. Senate and his incessant fundraising as a major part of the problem.
For some lobbyists the day brought memories of old times. Pink coats and pink carnations were everywhere as lobbyists remembered Marvin Arrington, a lobbyist who died suddenly during the final week of session two years ago.
Arrington always wore a pink coat on the last day of session.
He might have switched to black this year, had he lived to see what happened here on Friday.
