Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
Typing away at the laptop.......
Hard to believe we're only two days away from the start of fall practice; in spite of the wait there hasn't been a shortage of news about Gator football this past offseason. Our team will be missing some familiar faces with the departures of Tim Tebow, Joe Haden et al, but thanks to the awesome recruiting of Urban Meyer and his staff we've reloaded our roster with talent to take us into the future. Johnny Brantley has some big shoes to fill, but just as Coach Meyer and the rest of our staff think I also feel that he will pick up where Timmy left off and do just fine.
It was announced that this year's practices are closed to the general public and the media; apparently that decision has ruffled a few feathers amongst some of our fanbase, but as I see it the decision was necessary and the right thing to do in order to avoid uncalled for distractions that could cause disruption of the team's routine or friction amongst the players. Based on what has transpired in the past, what happened during spring practices earlier this year with the <em>Orlando Sentinel's</em> Jeremy Fowler causing a stir over misconstruing what Deonte Thompson had said, as well as a couple of other instances that I question the timing of news being broken by the media (the minor "Facebook" recruiting violation uncovered by the Sentinel close to the annual Friday Night Lights event for potential recruits after their having invoked "public records", as well as all the scuttlebutt concerning Maurkice Pouncey's contact with an associate of an agent prior to the Sugar Bowl that was revealed by the media just before the start of SEC Media Days) the decision to close this fall's practices is justified. The last thing we need to have happen is another unnecessary uproar caused by the media or other attempts to sabotage our efforts this year, and in my honest opinion the decision was made in the best interests of our football program.
For those who fail to see my logic, let me ask you a rhetorical question: Would you rather see practices closed to the public and media with our team going on to enjoy a winning season, or see the practices open, distractions take place that disrupt the harmony of the team as a whole, and a less-than-desirable finish at the end? You're entitled to express your own opinion, but I definitely prefer the former.
With regards to the Maurkice Pouncey situation, again he has denied the allegations that he had accepted $100,000 from an agent's so-called "runner", and isn't one bit amused about somebody's attempt to smear his reputation, based on the letter that had been mailed from Canada. Unless I hear something to the contrary I still believe that Maurkice is innocent until otherwise proven guilty, and I also believe he's being forthright and honest in his denials.
On a more positive note I'm glad our new Gator draftees are all signed and in their respective training camps thus avoiding any lengthy holdouts. Tim Tebow is naturally endearing himself to the Bronco faithful and seems to be progressing nicely; although Riley Cooper was involved in a minor skirmish with an Eagles teammate he hasn't lost any of that fighting spirit. Major Wright suffered a minor muscle pull early in the Bears' camp, but Carlos Dunlap has suffered a concussion during one of the Bengals' practices. According to a recent <em>OGGOA</em> post, undrafted free agent David Nelson is showing that he has what it takes to make an NFL roster up in Buffalo, and I'd love to see Brandon James make just as strong of an effort to do the same thing at Indianapolis.
One of the blogs listed in our blogroll, <em>The Bull Gator</em>, recently conducted an awesome interview with former Gator safety Dorian Munroe, who's also aspiring to play in the NFL. Nice to see that he's working towards a master's degree at UF and is entertaining the possibility of becoming a coach someday; he also completed an internship with the NFL this summer. In spite of the adverse notoriety that all the player run-ins with the law bring upon the program, it's refreshing to hear success stories like these. Not that long ago, I had also read that former wide receiver Jemalle Cornelius has become a high school coach. Thinking of both of them, I still recall Urban Meyer's speech during the 2005 Orlando Gator Gathering when he made the comment "Chris Leak and Mike Degory can come to my house anytime - they live their lives right." I hope Urban will ask Dorian to inspire this current Gator team as well as some of our other football alumni who have found success after their playing days in The Swamp; in my opinion he should also reiterate this same thing to the guys - live your lives right, and the right things will happen to you.
As I'm completing this recent installment of "TOTT", I'm watching the rerun of the 1996 Florida-Tennessee game on CBS College Sports; this brings back some fond memories. Nice to see Bobby Stoops in his Gator gear once again; also great to see "Danny Wonderful" working his magic out there.
And how is YOUR week going so far?
Hard to believe we're only two days away from the start of fall practice; in spite of the wait there hasn't been a shortage of news about Gator football this past offseason. Our team will be missing some familiar faces with the departures of Tim Tebow, Joe Haden et al, but thanks to the awesome recruiting of Urban Meyer and his staff we've reloaded our roster with talent to take us into the future. Johnny Brantley has some big shoes to fill, but just as Coach Meyer and the rest of our staff think I also feel that he will pick up where Timmy left off and do just fine.
It was announced that this year's practices are closed to the general public and the media; apparently that decision has ruffled a few feathers amongst some of our fanbase, but as I see it the decision was necessary and the right thing to do in order to avoid uncalled for distractions that could cause disruption of the team's routine or friction amongst the players. Based on what has transpired in the past, what happened during spring practices earlier this year with the <em>Orlando Sentinel's</em> Jeremy Fowler causing a stir over misconstruing what Deonte Thompson had said, as well as a couple of other instances that I question the timing of news being broken by the media (the minor "Facebook" recruiting violation uncovered by the Sentinel close to the annual Friday Night Lights event for potential recruits after their having invoked "public records", as well as all the scuttlebutt concerning Maurkice Pouncey's contact with an associate of an agent prior to the Sugar Bowl that was revealed by the media just before the start of SEC Media Days) the decision to close this fall's practices is justified. The last thing we need to have happen is another unnecessary uproar caused by the media or other attempts to sabotage our efforts this year, and in my honest opinion the decision was made in the best interests of our football program.
For those who fail to see my logic, let me ask you a rhetorical question: Would you rather see practices closed to the public and media with our team going on to enjoy a winning season, or see the practices open, distractions take place that disrupt the harmony of the team as a whole, and a less-than-desirable finish at the end? You're entitled to express your own opinion, but I definitely prefer the former.
With regards to the Maurkice Pouncey situation, again he has denied the allegations that he had accepted $100,000 from an agent's so-called "runner", and isn't one bit amused about somebody's attempt to smear his reputation, based on the letter that had been mailed from Canada. Unless I hear something to the contrary I still believe that Maurkice is innocent until otherwise proven guilty, and I also believe he's being forthright and honest in his denials.
On a more positive note I'm glad our new Gator draftees are all signed and in their respective training camps thus avoiding any lengthy holdouts. Tim Tebow is naturally endearing himself to the Bronco faithful and seems to be progressing nicely; although Riley Cooper was involved in a minor skirmish with an Eagles teammate he hasn't lost any of that fighting spirit. Major Wright suffered a minor muscle pull early in the Bears' camp, but Carlos Dunlap has suffered a concussion during one of the Bengals' practices. According to a recent <em>OGGOA</em> post, undrafted free agent David Nelson is showing that he has what it takes to make an NFL roster up in Buffalo, and I'd love to see Brandon James make just as strong of an effort to do the same thing at Indianapolis.
One of the blogs listed in our blogroll, <em>The Bull Gator</em>, recently conducted an awesome interview with former Gator safety Dorian Munroe, who's also aspiring to play in the NFL. Nice to see that he's working towards a master's degree at UF and is entertaining the possibility of becoming a coach someday; he also completed an internship with the NFL this summer. In spite of the adverse notoriety that all the player run-ins with the law bring upon the program, it's refreshing to hear success stories like these. Not that long ago, I had also read that former wide receiver Jemalle Cornelius has become a high school coach. Thinking of both of them, I still recall Urban Meyer's speech during the 2005 Orlando Gator Gathering when he made the comment "Chris Leak and Mike Degory can come to my house anytime - they live their lives right." I hope Urban will ask Dorian to inspire this current Gator team as well as some of our other football alumni who have found success after their playing days in The Swamp; in my opinion he should also reiterate this same thing to the guys - live your lives right, and the right things will happen to you.
As I'm completing this recent installment of "TOTT", I'm watching the rerun of the 1996 Florida-Tennessee game on CBS College Sports; this brings back some fond memories. Nice to see Bobby Stoops in his Gator gear once again; also great to see "Danny Wonderful" working his magic out there.
And how is YOUR week going so far?
