Make no mistake about it, the NFL is the king. It is the reason a lot of young men put on pads in the first place. It has cornered the market on being a year-round sport. It is the ultimate testing ground for coaches and the dominant sport in a country where sports are revered. But as we approach the start of another college football season (don’t look now but we’re inside a week until the first games), we also… Read More »
So if I told you Florida will win nine regular season game this year, which nine would you take? If I told you that you could pick one game in the schedule this year to win, which one would it be? Of course, it’s not that simple. But we do know this — Florida has a schedule this year that has a little bit of everything. The first trip west of the Mississippi for a regular-season road game in 34… Read More »
As always, it’s time for the annual rankings of the presentations by the coaches at SEC Media Days. Radio row is being dismantled, the air conditioning has been turned back to normal at the Wynfrey Hotel and the helmets and Diet Dr. Pepper have been put in storage. It wasn’t the best Media Days I’ve attended, but it was not the worst. It offered plenty of content and we got to know some of the athletes better. How did the… Read More »
The SEC announced on Wednesday which players the coaches will be bringing to SEC Media Days and each coach has his reasons for who is brought and who is left home. I know this much — I can put together an All-SEC team that’s better than one that could be created from the 42 players who are headed to Hoover. Here’s proof: Offense QB — Jalen Hurts, Alabama. RB — Kamryn Pettway, Auburn. RB — Trayveon Williams, Texas A&M. WR… Read More »
A year ago the SEC East managed all of two wins in 15 games against the West. It got better last year with five wins. Woo-hoo. The two divisions play 14 regular-season games against each other and the East has become the whipping boy for the best division in college football. But there is a path to .500. I’m not saying it’s an easy one, but if the East is going to pull even record-wise, here are the seven games… Read More »
It made sense. The 23rd Bob Dooley Invitational was scheduled for June 24 so I’d take a week of vacation to get ready for it. But Mother Nature gave me a not-so-fast. Meadowbrook Golf Course, as many of you know, does not handle torrential rain well. It certainly doesn’t handle daily torrential downpours well. Nor does it handle water being pumped from other flooded areas well. So parts of the course has been under water despite the best efforts of… Read More »
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey stirred things up a little last week when he mentioned the possibility of the SEC Media Days moving away from Hoover, Ala. You go, commish! This is a league that is very SEC West-centric. The office of the SEC is in Birmingham which is a big reason why the meetings are there. It’s simply easier for everyone in the league office. And the Wynfrey Hotel is a great spot for the event in terms of the… Read More »
During a media opportunity earlier this week, Jim McElwain was fired up about Gator basketball even while he was working his team through spring football. He predicted that Florida sophomore KeVaughn Allen would break out of his shooting slump in Madison Square Garden. It took a half of missed shots (he started 2-for-10) but Allen eventually finished 11-of-24 with a career-high 35 points in Florida’s thrilling 84-83 win over Wisconsin. Here’s McElwain’s response in a text message to the Sun:… Read More »
NEW YORK CITY — Everything is a little fuzzy this morning because I left Madison Square Garden at 2 a.m. and my man Jason at Characters Bar and Grill was pouring until 4 a.m. But it’s time to go to interviews soon. Florida vs. South Carolina for the Final Four. Yeah, we all knew that was coming. I have been asked this question a bunch since Chris Chiozza made his running, floating three to win the game — was it… Read More »
It was bizarre. It was bizarre not to see Florida doing interviews in Madison Square Garden on the eve of its Sweet 16 game against Wisconsin but to also see South Carolina. There may be a lot of chalk in the NCAA Tournament but not here, not in the mecca of college basketball where dirty snow and bags of garbage line the sidewalks. This East Regional is the NCAA Tournament at its most unpredictable. The top two seeds are gone,… Read More »