Blog # 10 with some Football

My beloved Bloggees,

 

 

I will take the win, but last night was not a super  performance against a smaller, less talented team, the Kent State Golden Flashes. I mentioned in the last blog that I saw Kent State play UAB live on Sunday and they were not impressive, especially their 6' 11 center, Justin Manns, who was taken out of the starting lineup last night. He came off the bench and played just 13 minutes with zero points and as many rebounds as turnovers. Is he related to Eloy Vargas?

 

By the way, Eloy played nine minutes Wednesday night for Kentucky in their win against Notre Dame and did get one rebound and one steal, but the remainder of his linescore was blank http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012080292 . Oh look who is playing for Notre Dame, former Miss. State hoopster and Tyler Hansborough's bro, Ben, who scored 21 points including 5 for 9 from threeland.  NEXT....

 

 

 

There was an interesting battle of head coaches this week when Bobby Cremins's College of Charleston defeated Murry Bartow's East Tennessee State squad 79 - 59.  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012070107 . Cremins, who might be the only head coach who has a gym floor named after him at another University, has a team that could be there in March, led by their stud guard and a player to remember, Andrew Goudelock. Of their three losses, two of them have been at NC and MD by a combined six points.

 

A few years ago I did a day trip to MD with a free SW airlines ticket to see the Gators upset the defending champs. On the way back, I sat next to Murry who was scouting for the Grizzlies while in-between college coaching gigs. What a prince of a guy...didn't want the flight to end. He has found his niche at ETSU (after a disaster Joey Meyer-type situation at UAB, following his dad), taking them to the Big Dance the last two years from the one-bid Atlantic Sun Conference. NEXT.....

 

 

 

Gator transfer Jonathan Mitchell had a performance that was both admirable and pitiful in Rutgers 64 - 48  Tuesday win over Marist (who did not have Rik Smits) http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012070492 . The 6 ' 7  forward shot 6 for 11 from the field and was 3 for 4 from three-point land. The Gators could use that type of performance. However, in 27 minutes, Mitchell had ZERO defensive rebounds, and just one on the offensive end. No thank you, Adam Allen-clone. You remember the 6 ' 8 sharpshooting forward who averaged 10 minutes a game and .8 (that is point eight) rebounds for the Gators in 2007 - 2008 before injuries have since sat him down. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=36379  NEXT....

 

 

 

There is a new team in Division One with a new head coach who went by the name, The Big Nasty, in his playing days. Central Arkansas, more known for its most famous basketball alumnus, Scottie Pippen, is coached by Corliss Williamson http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=teamreports-2010-ncaab-cdm . We remember him from his days as an Arkansas Razorback who won the Big Dance in 1994 when the Gators made their first Final Four appearance.

 

I was there in Charlotte and my Gator entourage was gleeful at half with a seven-point lead over the Dukies.  Then Grant Hill turned up the notch a bit on his way to 25 points and a 5-point victory over the Gators in the semi-finals. http://espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?replayId=1693  NEXT.....

 

 

 

I hear Assistant Coach Lanier will be in Birmingham this weekend to visit a prospect. My guess it is 6' 6 senior Kevin McDaniels (at least it should be)  http://rivals.yahoo.com/alabama/basketball/recruiting/player-Kevin-McDaniels-112365 but that has not been confirmed. Kevin attends the basketball factory in Birmingham, Central Park Christian, that has produced Alabama's Tony Mitchell and the recent Auburn signees from the Ivory Coast,  Willy Kouassi and Bernard Morena (who were bypassed by Florida because they didn't want the required package deal). Last night Kevin had 36 points. http://highschoolsports.al.com/game/score/players/861042/ NEXT....

 

 

 

 

And for a little football, David Nelson on the Buffalo Bills scored his first NFL touchdown last Sunday.  http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2010120500/2010/REG13/bills@vikings/watch  Here is an interesting article about Nelson. http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article277654.ece  Note how impressed the Bills were with Nelson's "superb route-running". Maybe former WR coach, Billy Gonzalez, should get some credit here, reminding us that the Gators miss him being on the staff. (I wrote the above piece about Nelson, at the beginning of the week...something tells me Gonzalez not on the football staff may have less impact and pertinence at the end of this week, if you know what I mean)  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Ok, thanks for reading this far down the blog. The Gators are off until they play a week from Saturday in Sunrise, Florida against the team from the Little Apple....Manhattan, Kansas's # 5 AP ranked Kansas State Wildcats and their coach with the Pat Summitt scary eyes, Frank Martin. Any of you South Florida blogees attending?  Thanks for the feedback and spread the word.

 

 

 

Enjoy and Go Gators!

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 9 with some Football

My beloved 17  Bloggees:

If you watched the Gators win over American....I am sure you will take the road win but you may be complaining how to get back those two hours (or less if DVR'ed) of your life. If the Gators were like ACT scores....we would be ok.....taking the best score of each section among all the times we took the test and adding them up. For example, I would love Boynton's 27-point scoring from last year's NCAA tourney game against BYU, Parsons' double-digit rebounding from the Morehead State game and Macklin's 91% field goal shooting from the UCF game, but unfortunately that is not how it works. Somehow, we need to put it all together in one game. We know the potential is there, just like the first half against Ohio State.

Joakim Noah is certainly a character. Here is a short funny bit when the star-struck Noah describes being  in a steam room with John Elway over Thanksgiving.  http://denver.sbnation.com/denver-broncos/2010/11/30/1847778/bulls-joakim-noah-meets-broncos-john-elway-steam-room . The link includes a two minute video of Noah...he starts talking about Elway about one minute into it, so be patient.

We have another UF transfer laying an egg. Check out Kentucky's Eloy Vargas's performance against North Carolina on Saturday. He was 0 for 2 from the field, 2 rebounds and he fouled out in 9 minutes....that was not a typo, 9 minutes. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012040413

Interesting score on Saturday......Michigan 65 - Harvard 62.  Former Michigan Coach (and Duke star) Tommy Amaker almost beat the Wolverines after leading at the half. Look for Amaker to lead Harvard to the Big Dance. Will be interesting how the Crimson do at UConn on December 22. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/had/schedule 

Maybe they are not that bad. After our lackluster 13-point win against Florida Atlantic, Gator Nation was griping, especially with the perceived quality of the opponent. However, Mike Jarvis's Owls last two games have resulted in wins against BCS schools....Mississsippi State and South Florida. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fav/schedule

You think the Gators have fallen a bit from our Final Four runs with the 04s? If you remember, we played UCLA in both of those Final Fours. Yesterday the Bruins lost at Pauley Pavillion to (4-3) Montana 66 - 57 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012050606 . What would John Wooden have said after witnessing that loss?  He might have forced them to take down their banners.

I scouted the Gators next opponent last night, when Kent State played UAB here at Bartow Arena and lost 75 - 59. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/kae/schedule . Kent State is a  pedestrian MAC team, with a bit of athleticism but should not give the Gators trouble at all.  They start a 6 ' 11" center, who besides an opening dunk, was the most worthless 83 inches I have seen on a basketball court this year since watching my buddy's twin 4-year olds shoot on his driveway court. The Golden Flashes had no answer for UAB's   6 ' 10  " Cameron Moore (who is a Alex Tyus/Chandler Parsons skills combo) and his 28 points and 15 rebounds....mostly around the paint.

With regard to football, the Redskins waived Kestahn Moore off their practice squad after an eight day stay. http://www.nfl.com/teams/washingtonredskins/transactions?team=WAS  On the other hand, the San Francisco 49ers added DeShawn Wynn to their active roster from their practice squad. Maybe 49er teammate Ray McDonald can help DeShawn focus...we know DeShawn has the talent but does he have a big enough valentine? We are pulling for you, DW.

In a previous blog, I indicated that current UCF athletic director, Keith Tribble, was a former Gator tight end. What was I thinking? Of course, he was a "big ugly" on the offensive line. Thanks for the catch, Blogee Howard.

 

Go Gators and beat Kent State on ESPN2 on Thursday before the nine-day exam break,

Barry