My Beloved 59 Bloggees (Welcome Fred, Garrett, Harry, Marshall, Andrew, former Gator footballer Robbie, Rich, Suzy, 2 Charlies and 1 Charles):
On Saturday night at 7:00 Central, the Gators host the best of the west, SEC West that is. The Ole Miss Rebels bring their 12-3 record to Gainesville without a bunch of signature wins. However, look at the opposing big-time name head coaches that Andy Kennedy has bested this season:
Arkansas State - John Brady
Southern Miss - Larry Eustachy
East Tennessee State - Murry Bartow (ok that is a stretch, but good guy)
Saint Louis - Rick Majerus
Alcorn State - Larry Smith (great NBA rebounder...still needs to prove himself as a coach)
SMU - Matt Doherty (national coach of the year in 2000-2001 while at North Carolina)
The Florida - Ole Miss game is broadcast on regional cable network, Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) http://www.csssports.com/pages/about_us . I have DISH network wish does not offer CSS. The game is on ESPN's Full Court (which I understand is free this weekend on DirecTV). I will either go to a sports bar or find a buddy who has cable, but most likely his TV will be tuned to NFL playoffs. PLAYOFFS? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7fjDS0jKiE Thank you, Jim Mora. NEXT
Speaking of NFL Playoffs, let's play Jeopardy. The answer is Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints. The correct question is which two teams among the eight participating in the NFL Playoffs this weekend, have Gators on their roster? That's right the Eagles have DE Bobby McCray (# 73) and WR Riley Cooper (# 14) while the Saints have DE Alex Brown (# 96) and signed this week, RB DeShawn Wynn (# 35). NEXT
Three years ago, I saw ESPN's analyst, Jimmy Dykes, speak to our Birmingham Tipoff Club. He is an amazing speaker. I remember one point he made that I will never forget.
He said when he goes to practices of both teams before a game, he can tell who is going to win over 99 % of the time by the following:
When the head coach blows a whistle and tells everyone to come up....if the players, assistant coaches, trainers, student managers, all stop what they are doing, come to the coach and there is complete silence, that team will win because of their respect toward their leader. He says it is mind-boggling how true it is. Joe Dean Jr. was in attendance and shook his head yes in total agreement. NEXT
If you are a Birmingham bloggee, joining the Birmingham Tipoff Club is a must. Starting this Monday (snow weather permitting) we meet weekly at the Harbert Center for lunch served at 11:30 with the program featuring a popular hoops speaker beginning at noon. This year Gene Keady and ESPN' s and Duke's Jay Williams highlight the schedule. Not only are weekly highlights shown, but some weeks we have Skype video interviews with a basketball coach, player or broadcaster. Last year former Alabama center and SEC Player of the Year, Erwin Dudley, was featured from Turkey. During our recent December special meeting, we Skyped Ronald Nored, the Butler star from Birmingham. For more info go to http://www.birminghamtipoffclub.com/ Membership is mandatory for all Birmingham college basketball junkies. NEXT
In the "Battle of Chili" on Thursday night, the outcome didn't help the Gators resume. Xavier, a UF victim last week, was schooled 66 - 46 by their cross-city rival, Cincinnati http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101060116 . The Bearcats are now 15 - 0 with a relatively easy schedule so far. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/cbc/schedule It will be interesting to see how they do when the meat of the Big East schedule arrives. I have always been a fan of their head coach, Mick Cronin. He dominated the Ohio Valley Conference when he was the head coach of Murray State the three years before he took the Cincinnati job in 2006. NEXT
I don't mean to insult my Mizzou bloggee and I love Coach Mike Anderson, especially his exciting fast-paced style of play, but North Alabama? What are they doing on Missouri's January hoops schedule? They are Division II. You play them in exhibition games before the season starts, not now. Next thing you know, they will play Nancy Drew State or Ann Landers U. How about scheduling Anderson's former school, UAB? I am sure ESPN would televise it in a second. Oh yeah, Missouri squeaked by the Florence, Alabama school on Wednesday night 98 - 58. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101050367
Trivia question....it will be more challenging for those bloggees who live outside of Alabama. Who is the head football coach at North Alabama? He once went undefeated at a BCS school. No googling. Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer. NEXT
Below is the link to an interesting short interview with Joakim Noah that was in the USA Today on Tuesday, especially how he was involved in football recruiting . Some additional questions are in this online version than what was in the newspaper.
Big Hoops Weekend.....Beat Mississippi for my fellow Gator fans and Beat Elon for my fellow Samford fans,
Barry
Terry Bowden
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