Blog # 21 with some Football

My Beloved 48 Bloggees (Welcome Hank, Tysen and Alan):

 

 

I owe you one. After seeing UAB play Kent State, I had thought the Blazers  would give Duke a better game and, in fact, upset them, instead of losing, 85 - 64.  Unfortunately, I did not take into account that UAB stud 6' 10 forward, Cameron Moore,  would shoot 3 for 15 (he did have 15 rebounds, however). http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore;_ylt=ApFDoRYlb6Vq1PBDzbm4aq_evbYF?gid=201101050173  My bad. NEXT

 

 

 

There was positive news and negative news for ex-Gators in Tuesday night's Texas Longhorns destruction of the Arkansas Razorbacks  79 - 46 (tough night for the football/basketball Razorbacks). http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101040585 . Gator transfer, Jai Lucas (son of point guard John from the old Maryland days of the 70s with CBS analyst Len Elmore, former Congressman Tom McMillan and the fiery coach, Lefty Driesell) finally paid some dividends.....13 points in 23 minutes shooting 5 for 7, including 3 for 4 from way downtown plus 6 rebounds. Will he be a one-hit wonder like Zager and Evans?   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izQB2-Kmiic 

 

By the way, his brother John Lucas III, the former Oklahoma State star, got waived this week by the Chicago Bulls http://chicago.sbnation.com/chicago-bulls/2011/1/4/1914078/nba-contract-deadline-chicago-bulls-waive-john-lucas-iii .

 

 

The negative news is the continued descent of former Gator assistant coach, Arkansas's John Pelphrey. They are not very patient in Sooey Land. Only one player averages double figures, Rotnei Clark, who is a fine deep shooter, but not a consistent guy I would want leading my team in scoring.  Pelphrey's only salvation might be his # 5 ranked incoming recruiting class http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1154662 . At Florida, he was an amazing recruiter and that trend seems to have continued. NEXT

 

 

 

Did you see that Ivy League's Harvard defeated ACC's Boston College Wednesday night for the third straight year, this time 78 - 69. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101050058  Coach Tommy Amaker, the former Duke star, steps up his game when he can show his old conference that he can coach.

 

 

 

 

Now for this blog's episode of, Who is that Assistant Coach? On Tuesday night I was watching parts of the Ohio State - Iowa game when a camera shot of the Iowa bench showed an ex-Gator assistant coach from the early 90's. He just completed 17 years leading the University of Central Florida.  Who is that Assistant Coach?  Why it is Kirk Speraw who returned to his Hawkeye alma mater this year. Thanks for playing. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-04-23/sports/os-ucf-kirk-speraw-iowa-0424-20100423_1_ucf-coach-kirk-speraw-hawkeyes-iowa  NEXT

 

 

 

 

For you Birmingham bloggees, last Sunday I went to the Hilltop, to see Birmingham Southern play Oglethorpe in a Division III rivalry. It was definitely entertaining and I plan on going back. Our Panthers ended up winning and they have a sharpshooter with the sweetest J....Jasen Jonus. http://www.bscsports.net/index.aspx?path=mbball  His brother, Justin,  played at Alabama  a few years ago before transferring to Troy.

 

I would encourage all you local basketball junkies to check it out and support the program of my favorite SEC basketball analyst, Birmingham Southern athletic director, Joe Dean, Jr., who does so much for our city, including Chairman of Community Relations of this Saturday's BBVA Compass Bowl http://www.bbvacompassbowl.com/joe-dean.php . (By the way, March Madness needs to have Joe as one of its CBS broadcasters, don't you agree?) Their next game is  Saturday at 5:00 against Rhodes College. Here is their complete schedule.  http://www.bscsports.net/schedule.aspx?path=mbball  NEXT

 

 

 

 

To football.... you bloggees in Orlando have probably already read in the local "diaperwipe" the following tremendous article about Charlie Weis coming to UF.   http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/college/gators/os-bianchi-charlie-weis-florida-20110103,0,3189371.column  Thanks to our LA bloggee for this one.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

Will Muschamp was interviewed for over 7 minutes this morning by noted Miami sports talk show host and former Dolphin tight end, Joe Rose.  http://www.wqam.com/index.php?page=727  Click on the Muschamp interview in the Joe Rose Interview Box. Thanks to our South Florida bloggee for this one. NEXT

 

 

 

Tough night in the Dreayer household. I kissed my wife good night and called her, "sweet baby". I ended up on the couch the rest of the night.  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/01/jeannine-edwards-ron-franklin-called-me-sweet-baby-not-sweet-cakes/1   I need to keep the sports section away from her.  Can I get a rimshot?  Yes,  http://instantrimshot.com/

 

 

 

Enjoy...great time of the year, isn't it?...hoops galore with some post-season football,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 20

My Beloved 45 Bloggees (Welcome Paul, John, Alec, Eli, Karen and David):

 

 

The Gators looked like a March Madness team with their solid 84 - 59 win over a formidable mid-major, Rhode Island, on Monday. http://www.gatorsports.com/article/20110103/ARTICLES/110109865/1136?Title=Florida-routs-Rhode-Island-with-crisp-performance

The analyst on the broadcast, former women's coach Carolyn Peck  (between us, she makes my heart skip a beat.....but of course, nothing compared to my bride....whew!), made an excellent point indicating that the Gator's tough defense created numerous offensive opportunities. I do admire her criticism about having the slightly injured Vernon Macklin in the game during garbage time. However, seeing Macklin and chiseled freshman Patric Young in the game together for the first time that I can recall, made it worth it for me....what toughness. If we play Ohio State again, that could be a strategy.

 

Chandler Parsons' 18 point, 12 rebound (7 offensive), 5 assist performance made Gator fans act like Pavlov's dog  http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/readmore.html .  Imagine if Boynton could be more consistent shooting threes....we would be a scary team if that ingredient were added to the way we played against Rhode Island. But, Kenny, I loved your defense which was more important. NEXT

 

 

 

A new regular feature on the blog will be You Make Me Feel Old.  Watching Chandler Parsons in action makes me feel old. His dad, Gary Parsons, was a high school basketball star at Winter Park (FL) High School while I was attending its rival, Orlando Edgewater. Gary went on to play hoops at local Rollins College, earned all-conference honors and was inducted in the Rollins College Sports Hall of Fame in 1987 http://www.rollinssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19500&ATCLID=1549231 . Chandler Parsons, You Make Me Feel Old  NEXT

 

 

 

Speaking of Rollins College:

 

 

1.  One of their star players is senior 6' 8 Matt Robertson averaging nearly 16 points a game, shooting 59 % from the field. https://admin.xosn.com/fls/19500/oldsite/stats/MBB1011/teamcume.htm . Some of our bloggees are Samford University basketball supporters like myself, so we wince when we see those numbers from the Samford transfer. Those of you who live in the Orlando area should consider seeing him play (along with Rollins' women's team....see below....they play a doubleheader with the men both, at home tomorrow night and this Saturday afternoon.)

 

 

2.  The women's basketball coach is Glenn Wilkes Jr., the son of a Gator (and Southern) Hoops Bloggee. Glenn Jr. has led the lady Tars for 24 years and they are currently ranked 14th in Division II. I remember seeing him play at Stetson University for his dad. He had close to shoulder-length hair, so seeing his picture is shocking  and makes Glenn Wilkes Jr a runner-up for You Make Me Old  http://www.rollinssports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=107523&SPID=11255&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=19500&ATCLID=1550215&Q_SEASON=2010  NEXT

 

 

 

A few blogs ago, I indicated I saw a familiar-looking assistant coach on the bench of Penn State and it turned out to be former Gator assistant, Lewis Preston. Let's make Who is that Assistant Coach? another regular feature of the blog.

 

Last  night, I was watching the St. John's upset over Georgetown and saw a Red Storm assistant coach charting plays. I immediately recognized him but I thought he retired a long time ago from the Big Ten.......Who is that Assistant Coach?......Gene Keady, best known for his time as Purdue head coach. Technically he is an adviser at St. John's, but for our purposes he is an assistant coach.  Keady was a piece of work on the sidelines during his day  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVC9vtqgmXc .  NEXT

 

 

 

No way. Absolutely no way. I witnessed Auburn losing decisively to Samford at home in November, 79 - 68 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201011190028 . The War Eagles also have lost at home to Presbyterian, NC-Asheville and Campbell. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/abb/schedule  I watched talented FSU get nipped by Florida and on Christmas they defeated 15th ranked Baylor. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/fan/schedule .

 

Therefore, there is no way the Seminoles could lose to  Auburn unless it was on the gridiron. Well, they did lose on the Plains Monday night 65 - 60 in the hoops upset of the decade (ok to some folks, the decade is just a few days old). http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101030028  Auburn Coach Tony Barbee, you remind me of Anne Sullivan....you are a Miracle Worker. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056241/  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

I am trying to avoid sending the blogs on consecutive days, but I was unsuccessful today. I will do better. As always, you can always reply with "you wore me out" and I will not be insulted as I take you off the list. By the way, thanks for spreading the word about the blog to other college basketball junkies. We are adding them daily.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 19 with some Football

My Beloved 39 Bloggees (Welcome Jeff):

 

 

Great win on Friday by Florida at Xavier 71 - 67 on New Year's Eve Day, breaking the Muskateers' 30-game home winning streak http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012310682 . I believe if the game were 41 minutes instead of 40, the Gators might not have hung on after nearly squandering a 15-point lead. Erving Walker....you are my favorite 67 inches in college basketball.

 

Pre-conference wins at FSU and Xavier and a neutral site victory against Kansas State more than offset our 3 losses to Ohio State, UCF and Jax....but hey, I am a tad biased and probably not a good candidate for the NCAA selection committee.  NEXT

 

 

 

 

Remember the name, Andrew Goudelock. In Birmingham we know Goudelock after seeing him last year score 23 points including 5 for 8 from three-point land when his College of Charleston defeated Samford in a Southern Conference tilt. http://www.cofcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14800&ATCLID=204869413  Last year Goudelock also hit a ridiculous three with 2 seconds left to send the game into overtime against then 9th-ranked North Carolina in which his Cougars eventually defeated the Tar Heels 82 - 79. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/recap/_/id/300040232/boxscore?gameId=300040232

 

Well, Bruce Pearl also knows about Goudelock, especially after his Tennessee  Vols' upset loss at home on Friday by the College of Charleston 91 - 78. The talented 6 ' 2 future NBA guard, scored 31 points for Bobby Cremins' team, 10 for 15 from the field including 6 for 7 three-pointers. Oh by the way, he contributed 6 assists. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012310580  NEXT

 

 

 

 

Now that I have pumped you up about Goudelock, on Sunday he laid an egg going 3 for 11 including 1 for 6 deep for just 7 points as College of Charleston was embarrassed at Morehead State 69 - 49 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101020375 . We remember that team from Kentucky which gave the Gators a fight in mid-November led by the nation's leading rebounder, Kenneth Faried  before eventually falling to the Orange and Blue 61 - 55  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201011210210

NEXT

 

 

 

 

On Friday MIT lost at Harvard 84 - 58 http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012310245  . Even if I paid for a ticket, they probably wouldn't let me in the gym to see those teams play...just too much difference in IQ between participants and spectator.  NEXT 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, I watched a few minutes of hapless South Carolina losing at home decisively to Boston College 85 - 70. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201101010525  Darrin Horn's Gamecocks did start three freshmen and one sophomore so there will be giant growing pains in the state capital. I don't know what is more painful for fans in Columbia...their basketball team or the fact that Southwest Airlines dissed their city in favor of Charleston and Greenville last year http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/20/1387425/southwest-airlines-says-no-to.html .

 

By the way, if you live in a city that is serviced by Southwest Airlines, be sure to sign for the free Ding notification that lets you know when they have dirt-cheap fares to and from your city http://www.southwest.com/html/cs/specialoffers/signup.html?int=HOMEDINGCNS000101015  No, I don't get a kickback, just spreading their LUV!  THAT'S IT

 

 

 

Enjoy and to Gator senior defensive back Ahmad Black on his game saving interception in the Outback Bowl......thank you! Don't forget, the Gators play Rhode Island on ESPNU tonight at 8:00 Central following Penn vs. Kentucky, a game that is very important to our Quaker bloggee.

 

 

Barry

Blog # 18 with some Football

My Beloved 38 Bloggees (Welcome, John, Daniel, Dana, Carli, Rye, Kelly and our second Chip) :

 

 

I know I sent a blog yesterday, but I have too much good stuff to wait. Usually when I accumulate about 5 items, I send it. So here it is. 

 

 

 

As a basketball junkie, you will love this website http://www.usbasket.com/ncaa1/Ex-NCAA-D1-Basketball-Players.asp . By scrolling down and clicking on Florida or other school, you can see where recent players are continuing their basketball careers, including overseas. For example, you can discover that former Gator long-range shooter, Lee Humphrey, is playing in Germany this year. By clicking on his team's name, you can end up seeing that he is averaging 6.1 points per game, shooting 37.1 % from long distance. http://www.eurobasket.com/team.asp?Cntry=Germany&Team=127&Page=3 

 

I know that some of you are also fans of UAB, Alabama, Samford, Missouri, Penn, Stetson, Texas, Brown, Cincinnati, Columbus State and Vanderbilt so you'll want to go to the website to check out the whereabouts of former basketball players from those universities.  I predict each bloggee will soon spend an average of 10 minutes at this website, especially if you follow multiple teams. It is addicting. Be sure to make it one of your Favorites so you can access it easily in the future. NEXT

 

 

 

You may have noticed that Jacksonville only beat Bethune-Cookman 67 - 60 on Thursday night http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012300281 . Your reaction may be, "Florida got beat by that team which barely beat lowly Bethune-Cookman". However, note that Larry Little's alma mater (for you youngsters he was one of the greatest offensive linemen in NFL history as a Miami Dolphin...plus his brother David Little  was an amazing Gator and Steelers linebacker) was 22 out of 22 from the free throw line, while Jacksonville characteristically missed 10 free throws, thereby skewing the final score. NEXT

 

 

 

 

Moving away from the South a bit, the brother-in-law of the world's most powerful man, Craig Robinson, head coach of struggling Oregon State and Michelle Obama's brother, had a big Pac-10 conference opening win Thursday night, with a thrashing of a solid Arizona State team, 80 - 58  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012300450 .  Remember that ASU nipped one of the strong surprises of this year, UAB, last month. NEXT

 

 

 

 

I am proud that one of our bloggees is a basketball coaching living legend from Stetson University where he coached the Hatters for 36 years....one of my idols when growing up in Orlando, Dr. Glenn Wilkes. http://www.basketballsbest.com/wilkes.htm . For years, I have been receiving his newsletter mainly emphasizing coaching techniques and wisdom. At my request, I received his AOK to include the following link http://www.basketballsbest.com/  if you also want to receive his free emails (after clicking on the link, slowly scroll down a bit until you see Subscribe to Basketballs Best FREE Coaching Newsletter in the middle). NEXT

 

 

 

 

Finally a switch to football. Sound FX is one of the best sports shows on TV. Within a couple of days of a week's NFL games, this NFL Network program shows highlights with key players miked. Well, this past week their timing was perfect as Tim Tebow was the focus of one of the segments in the Broncos comeback victory after being down by 17. Do you remember when Magic Johnson won his first NBA game and his genuine "collegiate" enthusiasm was so refreshing? Click on the following and you will feel the same way about Tebow, even though it was a meaningless NFL game. Get ready to be fired up!  This will be an NFL memorable video for years to come!  http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-films-sound-efx/09000d5d81d4ddd8/Sound-FX-Take-a-Te-bow

 

 

Beat Xavier (and beat Eastern Michigan for you Samford fans) and Happy New Year once again,

 

 

 

Barry

 

Blog # 17

My Beloved 31 Bloggees:

 

 

Last night was one step forward and five steps back for the SEC (I am ignoring Arkansas's 28-point victory over former Louisville great, Jerry Eaves' North Carolina A & T hoopsters  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290019 ):

 

Vandy defeated Marquette 77 - 76 in the last 4 seconds http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290615 . Good resume-building home win for the 'Dores. However...

 

South Carolina only beat a bad 2 - 12 OVC team, Jacksonville State, 56 - 49. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290525 . They are certain to be SEC East cellar-dwellers.

 

LSU lost to an average Rice team 74 - 68 which was not that close. I tuned in and the Owls had a double figure lead most of the second half. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290486  Rice does have a guy I envy, guard Connor Frizzelle, who shoots free throws at a 92 % clip http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/rae/stats  It makes one miss Taurean Green who was money in the bank at the gift lane during crunch time of the Gator national championship teams.

 

Tennessee struggled with a horrendous 4 - 10 Tennessee-Martin team 68 - 62. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/teams/tae/schedule  Tuesday, on the Big Ten Network I saw Tennessee-Martin lose to Ohio State 100 - 40 and if I recall, they only had 29 points with a few minutes left before garbage time set in.

 

I was shocked to see Auburn win in overtime against Georgia Southern  88 - 84. http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122910aaa.html  Why? The last score I had seen was in the first half something like Auburn winning 38 - 12. I thought to myself then that Frankie Sullivan returning to the team is finally making an impact (Florida fans know all about Sullivan from last year's SEC tourney when he scored 27 against us in a losing effort http://auburn.rivals.com/bboxscore.asp?game=46661 ) However, their second leading scorer left the team over the Christmas break, Andre Malone and Auburn resorted to playing like this year's 297th ranked (out of 345 Div I schools) Auburn. Ouch.

 

Finally a depleted, dissension-filled Mississippi State squad was soundly beaten by St. Mary's,  94 - 72  http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290366  . The 11 - 2 Gaels are solid but SEC teams should not be losing by that margin to any unranked school.  NEXT

 

 

 

Do you ever watch a college hoops game on TV and you look on a team's bench and one of the assistants look familiar. That happened to me Monday night when the Big Ten Network camera spanned the Penn State bench. Then it hit me. Lewis Preston, the former Gator assistant who replaced Anthony Grant when he left for VCU, is a Nittany Lion assistant.  http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/preston_lewis00.html  My guess is that he was nudged out by Florida. Why else would you make such a lateral move especially when Billy's assistants were developing the reputation to be good hires for head coaching jobs (Pelphrey, Grant and Jones....sounds like an accounting firm or a 70's folk rock group). NEXT

 

 

 

Dear Billy Donovan.....please start recruiting this guy...... http://www.komonews.com/home/video/111892554.html  NEXT

 

 

 

Don't forget, Florida travels to Xavier and their 6th rated point guard in the country, Tu Holloway http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/viewcbse.asp , for a revenge game from last year, on Friday at 3:00 Central on ESPN 2. By the way, the following Gator game is Monday against Rhode Island who beat the mighty Big East's 10 - 3 Boston College Eagles last night 67 - 65. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012290485  Maybe it will snow in the Northeast and they won't be able to get to Gainesville, a la Fairfield last Tuesday. THAT'S IT

 

 

Enjoy and Happy New Year....I will be celebrating tomorrow afternoon at the big Samford - Eastern Michigan game in a Southern Conference - MAC clash,

 

 

Barry

 

 

P.S. If you have had enough of these Blogs, feel free to reply with "you wore me out" and I will not be insulted at all. I will certainly take you off the list. Otherwise consider spreading the word. The more, the merrier.

 

 

 

 

Blog # 16 with some Football

My Beloved 31 GHB Bloggees:

 

 

How would you like to be up by 19 with 13 minutes left or up by 12 with 5 minutes left and lose the game by 3. That happened Tuesday night to former UF assistant Shaka (Khan) Smart and his VCU Rams in a 68-65 loss in Birmingham to the UAB Blazers. http://uabsports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/122110aaa.html.

 

UAB's Mike Davis, a Bama alum, somehow manages to rebuild a competitive team each year and his 2010-2011 version may be his best. He is starting to build some depth to reduce the minutes of his fine starters, especially top-notch 5 ' 8 point guard, Aaron Johnson, sharpshooting 6' 5 guard, Jamarr Sanders and budding superstar, 6' 10 forward Cameron Moore. Speaking of Cameron, the Blazers travel to Durham to play Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 5th. The physically talented Blazers could sneak away with an upset W.  Shhhhh....our secret. NEXT

 

 

 

Where are they now? Craig Brown whose long-range threes made us giddy in the Gators' first Final Four run in 1994 was an assistant coach with UCF for the past 10 years. With the coaching change there, he now provides color commentary as a part of the Gator Basketball Network http://www.gatornetwork.com/sports/basketball-m . Oh how I wish he had some eligibilty left. NEXT

 

 

 

Mississippi State basketball is becoming a mess. Did you see the fight between two of their players, Renardo Sidney and Elgin Bailey, while they were watching a game in the stands? http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2010/12/24/2010-12-24_mississippi_state_basketball_star_renardo_sidney_caught_on_camera_exchanging_blo.html  (scroll down for the you tube video) .  

 

This may be Coach Rick Stansbury's downfall.  One bloggee reported to me that before this fight, supposedly, Sidney was suspended for 5 games after an incident in practice, the day before the tourney in Hawaii began.  BUT his suspension was somehow changed to only 1 game after a call from Sidney's mother to Stansbury......funny how those calls change things!  Who knows, she may have threatened to start "singing" if he sent her son home from Hawaii. NEXT

.

 

Only one more week of the NFL regular season remains which sadly means only one more week of the best way to watch the NFL....the Red Zone. What a great channel DISH Network and others offer!  (Click on the following link to see how you can get it in your area).  http://redzonetv.nfl.com/   Automatically switching games, especially when a team is in the red zone, is a guy's dream....without having to use the remote. Plus, there are no commercials. My wife has never been much of a football fan, but she loves Tim Tebow and loves the Red Zone.  So when Tim led the Broncos to that exciting comeback win on Sunday, she got to see it and went nuts! Oh yeah, me too. THAT'S IT

 

 

Finally a note....if you don't see a link within a paragraph, you can assume the subject being discussed is either just my opinion or info from decent unnamed sources that has not been substantiated but worth discussing.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

 

 

Barry

Blog # 15

My Beloved 31 GHB Bloggees:

 

 

After re-reading my last blog, I saw that I indicated that Jacksonville University would give the Gators fits and they did with an overtime upset last Monday. I only saw the last 7 minutes of the game on the Sun Sports replay this morning and the Dolphins played just like  they did when I saw them play Samford here in Birmingham.....pesky, disruptive and full of heart.

 

Look for Jacksonville along with their other Atlantic Sun Conference members, Belmont (who should have beaten Tennessee on Thursday), Campbell and East Tennesse State to make some noise during the college basketball season. The A-Sun might get more than one bid to the Dance this year. NEXT

 

 

The Furman Paladins scored an impressive victory for the Southern Conference defeating in-state foe South Carolina by 16 on Wednesday night http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012220220 . The Gamecock fans are getting used to success with their athletic programs after the baseball World Series win and the football SEC East title, but it looks like Darrin Horn's hoops crew has a long way to go before matching those lofty championship levels. Gator fans (and SEC fans) are loving not having to face Devan Downey this year. That guy wouldn't miss during crunch time. NEXT

 

 

On New Year's Eve Day the Gators will play at Xavier. Look out for 6 foot guard Tu Holloway. In Xavier's 10-point loss at Gonzaga on Wednesday night, he scored nearly half of the Musketeers' 54 points with his 26-point effort along with 5 steals. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/boxscore?gid=201012220233 He did have 7 turnovers, however. For the year he averages 21.8 points playing 39.7 minutes. Oh how I wish the Gators had a shutdown defender...Corey Brewer do you have any younger brothers?  NEXT

 

 

Do you think Trent Johnson regrets leaving Stanford? His LSU team lost at home by 20 to the Mean Green of North Texas State on Wednesday night. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012220319  I hope he doesn't have a 30-year mortgage on his home because those notoriously impatient Cajuns won't put up with much "meaux" of those embarrassing defeats. Don't forget his Tigers also lost to Nichols State in Novermber by 9. NEXT

 

 

Washington State is having a great year (10 - 2) so far even though they lost to Butler by 16 on Christmas night in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recap?gid=201012250632 .  In that game, 6 ' 6 guard Klay Thompson led Washington State with 31 points. For the year he averages 22.8 points. Why do I bring him up? He is the son of Miami, Florida high school legend, Mychal Thompson, who went on to the University of Minnesota and then was the overall first pick of the 1978 NBA draft by the Portland Trailblazers, finishing up with the Los Angeles Lakers 12 years later.  THAT'S IT

 

 

After their lethargic win over Radford on Wednesday, the Gators play on Tuesday at 6:00 pm Central Time against the Fairfield Stags on ESPNU. They should have no problem with Fairfield who only starts one player over 6 ' 5 (Ryan Olander, 6 ' 11).

 

 

Enjoy,

 

 

 

Barry