Mr2Bits
Gator Fan
Typing away at the laptop.......
For those pining for some Gator news in the offseason, there was no shortage of such this past weekend. First off, <strong>HUGE</strong> congrats to one of my favorite current Gators, Jeff Demps, for his 100-meter men's outdoor track title as well as for his being part of the winning men's 4x100 relay team (kudos to Chris Rainey as well for being a part of that same quartet). Kudos to Mariam Kevkhishvili for winning the women's shot put title at the NCAA outdoor meet, and congrats to the entire Florida men's track team for their second-place finish at the NCAA meet!
It's great to see our Gator baseball team back at the College World Series after a five-year absence by taking the Super Regional series against the Hurricanes on our home field in Gainesville. A combination of a complete-game win by Alex "Johnny Pants" Panteliodis in Game 1, great defense out in the field, effective hitting and seven errors by Miami in Game 2 got us back to Omaha this coming weekend to face UCLA in the first round. Best of luck guys, and represent Gator Nation well!
A bit of unsettling news offset all of the above when redshirt sophomore WR Frankie Hammond was arrested early Sunday morning on charges of DUI and open bottle. Nothing short of an act of total <em><strong>stupidity</strong></em> on his part, but it also meant that Coach Meyer is, beginning this season, enforcing a stronger zero-tolerance policy toward player misconduct. As much as I don't fancy the idea of the innocent suffering on account of the guilty the emphasis on team unity, adherence to team rules and teammates being asked to watch out for each other is being made clear; given the number of player arrests in the past few years being at an unacceptable level, this new policy is being implemented with the entire team sharing in the guilt of the transgressor as a deterrent to any further violation of the law or team policy. Sure, drinking adult beverages is a part of college life and won't go away anytime soon on our campuses, but then again there's no excuse for students who are legally considered adults under the law to not conduct themselves in a rational manner where the consumption of alcohol is concerned. Though some of our fanbase is already playing the "judge-jury-executioner" role in suggesting he be removed from the team, I honestly don't see Hammond's punishment being that drastic - but then again I don't anticipate Urban being as lenient as he was with Carlos Dunlap, who was guilty of the same thing last season prior to the SECCG and wound up being suspended from that one game. I expect Coach Meyer to see how Hammond's case will be adjudicated in the courts and review any mitigating circumstances that may exist before he makes a final decision on Hammond's penalty.
For all the media hype and rumor-mongering taking place in the past few months about conference expansion, the number of teams changing alliances hasn't been as drastic as was anticipated. Looks as though the Big 12 will remain intact for the time being, albeit minus two of their members (Colorado to the Pac-10; Nebraska to the Big Ten). Personally I think all this is a bit ridiculous, but the bottom line is that the Almighty Dollar is the driving force behind all these moves as opposed to trying to maintain the integrity of college football. Whether or not these moves will result in the Big Ten and Pac-10 implementing conference championship games, respectively, and eventually facilitating a playoff to replace the current BCS system remains to be seen, but if this re-alignment will ultimately compel a post-season playoff, then there's one thing constructive to all this.
Counting down the days until the start of the season on September 4..........
For those pining for some Gator news in the offseason, there was no shortage of such this past weekend. First off, <strong>HUGE</strong> congrats to one of my favorite current Gators, Jeff Demps, for his 100-meter men's outdoor track title as well as for his being part of the winning men's 4x100 relay team (kudos to Chris Rainey as well for being a part of that same quartet). Kudos to Mariam Kevkhishvili for winning the women's shot put title at the NCAA outdoor meet, and congrats to the entire Florida men's track team for their second-place finish at the NCAA meet!
It's great to see our Gator baseball team back at the College World Series after a five-year absence by taking the Super Regional series against the Hurricanes on our home field in Gainesville. A combination of a complete-game win by Alex "Johnny Pants" Panteliodis in Game 1, great defense out in the field, effective hitting and seven errors by Miami in Game 2 got us back to Omaha this coming weekend to face UCLA in the first round. Best of luck guys, and represent Gator Nation well!
A bit of unsettling news offset all of the above when redshirt sophomore WR Frankie Hammond was arrested early Sunday morning on charges of DUI and open bottle. Nothing short of an act of total <em><strong>stupidity</strong></em> on his part, but it also meant that Coach Meyer is, beginning this season, enforcing a stronger zero-tolerance policy toward player misconduct. As much as I don't fancy the idea of the innocent suffering on account of the guilty the emphasis on team unity, adherence to team rules and teammates being asked to watch out for each other is being made clear; given the number of player arrests in the past few years being at an unacceptable level, this new policy is being implemented with the entire team sharing in the guilt of the transgressor as a deterrent to any further violation of the law or team policy. Sure, drinking adult beverages is a part of college life and won't go away anytime soon on our campuses, but then again there's no excuse for students who are legally considered adults under the law to not conduct themselves in a rational manner where the consumption of alcohol is concerned. Though some of our fanbase is already playing the "judge-jury-executioner" role in suggesting he be removed from the team, I honestly don't see Hammond's punishment being that drastic - but then again I don't anticipate Urban being as lenient as he was with Carlos Dunlap, who was guilty of the same thing last season prior to the SECCG and wound up being suspended from that one game. I expect Coach Meyer to see how Hammond's case will be adjudicated in the courts and review any mitigating circumstances that may exist before he makes a final decision on Hammond's penalty.
For all the media hype and rumor-mongering taking place in the past few months about conference expansion, the number of teams changing alliances hasn't been as drastic as was anticipated. Looks as though the Big 12 will remain intact for the time being, albeit minus two of their members (Colorado to the Pac-10; Nebraska to the Big Ten). Personally I think all this is a bit ridiculous, but the bottom line is that the Almighty Dollar is the driving force behind all these moves as opposed to trying to maintain the integrity of college football. Whether or not these moves will result in the Big Ten and Pac-10 implementing conference championship games, respectively, and eventually facilitating a playoff to replace the current BCS system remains to be seen, but if this re-alignment will ultimately compel a post-season playoff, then there's one thing constructive to all this.
Counting down the days until the start of the season on September 4..........
