The Long Snapper (5/13/10)
Mike Hill – Florida’s associate athletic director of external affairs – has some good news for those Gator fans with taste: the futuristic Nike uniforms are out. During the 2010 season, Florida is expected to stick to the norm and go with the uniforms they’ve worn for several years now. No odd designs and no helmet changes. I’ve been a big fan of white helmets for some time and was especially fond of the throwbacks the Gators wore during their 2006 matchup with Alabama. But the helmets worn in 2009 against FSU and the Crimson Tide? No, no, no. Most Gator fans (at least most of the fans I know) HATE the Florida font. Not the script on the side of the standard helmets. That “edgy” font mostly utilized by the basketball team. Use the white helmets that were used in 2006 from time to time and I might get on board. But replace the traditional, simple F with one that belongs in a made-for-TV sci-fi movie and a change has been made for the worse. Stick with the standard Florida.
Write this one down. Remember it for the future. Impress your friends with your vast knowledge of the USF football program. Who was the first Bull to transfer under Skip Holtz’s tenure? Charlton Sinclair. The safety will have three years of eligibility left wherever he ends up. It sounds like he’s leaning toward a FCS school at the moment. Sinclair didn’t play last season and probably wants to get on a football field as quick as he can. He wasn’t expected to do more than provide depth on special teams for the Bulls in 2010.
Read this article and you’ll be smacked about the face with a point both Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron make about the difference between their plan at USC and their plan at Tennessee. The reason they were so…so…so…what’s the word I’m looking for?…asinine when they ran the Vols was because they had to be. They had to get the attention of the nation. They had to put Tennessee back on the map in any way they could. Their words people. Not mine. At USC, they have seemed quieter and they state it’s because they don’t have to do that with the Trojans. Everyone is aware of USC’s recent success so they can spend more time coaching and less time on a national stage in ape costumes. But the question that begs to be asked is how did it all work out at Tennessee? Kiffin didn’t get a large enough sample to work with. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and say you can’t judge only one season, but it sure seems like their plan failed. Miserably. Sure the recruiting class ranked as one of the best in the nation, but one year later, the Vols ended up 7-6 with a program that off the field was the laughingstock of the nation. Now Tennessee is left to undo what Kiffin and company did. A program coming off a winning record (although just barely) is essentially rebuilding.
Logan Gray will remain a Bulldog. After realizing his future probably isn’t at quarterback (okay, so he’s not realizing it as much as I’m saying it), Gray will stay at Georgia and take a stab at wide receiver. He’ll still be a QB, but also a WR. For you USF fans, it sounds a lot like the Evan Landi role. Gray stays has to be good for the Dawgs though because it gives them a backup with at least a little experience. They were Aaron Murray or bust for a minute there. Now they have Murray and a guy who’d be best suited at another position. BRILLIANT! And here I was concerned about Florida’s quarterback depth.
The List: Thursday is Canadian for random.
1. Mike Cammalleri
2. Florida baseball and softball
3. Zak Boggs
4. Getting pulled in a game seven
5. Brian Cushing
The Sixth Man: Don’t get me wrong, I’m not supporting the use of drugs in any way, but I wasn’t aware that there were laws against being in a room where drugs may be. Florida basketball signee Cody Larson faces a misdemeanor charge for exactly that. Apparently Florida was aware of the situation before they allowed the forward to sign with the Gators. It’s hard to have an opinion on this one because no one really knows what Larson did. He may have simply been somewhere where someone wasn’t doing something they shouldn’t have. We’ve all been there before. For now, I’ll stand behind the new Gator. (H/T: One Eyed Willy)