Sports

Rays’ spending

On this, the opening day of baseball season (for the Rays anyway), talk of hope, expectation, and payroll makes the rounds. Once again, many are questioning the spending habits of Rays’ ownership – particularly in light of the revenue sharing money ($35 million?) coming in, and the Rays’ payroll ($25-26 million?). Here’s the thing (that occured to me only just now): when…
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Current EventsSports

Jorge Cantu

There was a time, not so long ago, when I thought Jorge was going to be a part of the glory Rays. Now it looks like he’s destined to play for someone else. I’m forced to face the fact that he wasn’t going to be the guy at second base for the Rays. When BJ Upton beats you out because his defense is BETTER, you know you’ve got a problem. I understand it came down to a choice…
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Current EventsSports

Football

There are a lot of reasons why I wouldn’t be a Peyton Manning fan. He played for the University of Tennessee, Florida’s biggest rival in the SEC in the 1990s. He plays for the Indianapolis Colts, arguably the Patriots’ biggest rival in the AFC over the last ten years. He doesn’t have a Hollywood, rags to riches story. You could argue that he’s never been the underdog…
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Current EventsSports

Upon further review

I’ve read a lot about OSU’s mistakes… particularly the characterization that those early personal fouls put them behind the eight ball. However, that first personal foul by the OSU kicker on UF’s Brandon James (on the kick-off return) was not a bad foul. The kicker is usually the last man to beat on a kick-off return. If the OSU kicker doesn’t bring James down by his…
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Current EventsSports

The word according to Fox

Facts that will get air play later today (if Fox can be believed): OSU: Less than 90 yards total offense for the game. Troy Smith, the Heisman Trophy winner: The lowest passer rating in BCS history (O.K. … so it’s not a very long history). Jim Tressel: Worst loss in his career as a head coach (in points differential). All year the Gators were know for their great defense… but I…
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Current EventsSports

All is forgiven

I have no choice but to admit I was a Chris Leak doubter. But this is not a night for remembering the past. Tonight, Chris Leak proved to everyone that his numbers are not a fluke. He proved to everyone that he’s got as much mental toughness as any player on the UF football team. On the first play of the game, OSU got away with a holding penalty… and got on the board first. It was a…
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Kitchen SinkSports

Yelling at the tube

For the second time this NFL season I cheered out loud in response to a Bucs performance. In a play right out of the Gators’ national championship game, Ike Hilliard broke free for a long catch-and-run touchdown to complete the Bucs improbable comeback… and the walls erected around my cynicism fell down. It lasted about thirty minutes. About ten minutes into the overtime period, the…
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Current EventsSports

A new day in Tampa Bay?

This entry isn’t terribly timely. It’s another entry I’ve been kicking around for awhile, in my spare moments. There’s a persistent rumor floating around that we have a professional sports franchise in this area that plays football. Alas, this rumor is wholly unsubstantiated. But I didn’t start this entry to talk football. I wanted to talk off-season baseball&#8230…
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Current EventsSports

No particular pity for Coach Carr

Lloyd Carr, the head coach of the men’s football team at the University of Michigan, seemed to have a gripe against Coach Urban at UF. He seems to think that some of the things Mr Meyer had to say while he was “politicing” for his team the last couple of weeks were “inappropriate.” Let’s break down what Urban Meyer has said. Here’s an excerpt from an…
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Current EventsSports

Yeah, just like I said…

The Gators are on their way to the national title game. One thing I’m confident you won’t hear many Gators’ fans saying in the next month… the Gators are lucky there’s no playoff system this year. As good as UF and the SEC are, UF is probably not a great team. I have a sneaking suspicion they’re not as good as OSU. That said, their best shot at a national title…
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