Dan Hurley rejecting Lakers evokes memories of Billy Donovan embarrassing Magic | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on June 12, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, NBA, Opinion, Orlando Magic, Sports.

Hey, at least Dan Hurley didn’t accept the Los Angeles Lakers job, waver, waffle, change his mind and back out a couple of days later. That’s what Billy Donovan did to the Orlando Magic 17 years ago when, just like Hurley, he was coming off back-to-back NCAA championships and was the most coveted coach in all of basketball. Billy D. took the Magic’s blockbuster contract offer, was introduced at a press conference and Central Florida was overtaken by Donovan delirium. “It’s exciting to get the hottest coach in America to coach our team,” said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, sitting front and...

College football is idiot-proof and will thrive despite having to pay players | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on May 26, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Miami Hurricanes, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

Will you please halt all of the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing? Cease and desist with all of the castigation and consternation. And, for the sake of the late and great Beano Cook, stop with these ridiculous doomsday scenarios that college football is circling the drain now that the NCAA and the power conferences have agreed to allow schools to directly pay players for the first time in the 155-year history of the sport. Believe me, college football will not only continue to survive, it will thrive just as it always has for one very simple reason: It’s idiot-proof. Completely and totally...

Did Georgia’s Kirby Smart convince Jaden Rashada to sue UF’s Billy Napier? | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on May 24, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Opinion, Sports.

Running off at the typewriter. … There are some of my Gator conspiracy theorist buddies who are actually convinced that Jaden Rashada suing University of Florida football coach Billy Napier and UF’s heavyweight sugar daddy booster Hugh Hathcock for NIL fraud is all being orchestrated by Georgia coach Kirby Smart as a way to get Napier fired. Really, guys? Seriously? Personally, I think it’s just a massive coincidence that Rashada, the much-traveled California quarterback, filed the lawsuit just three weeks after transferring from Arizona State to Georgia. First and foremost, it takes more...

DJ Lagway is exciting, but UF’s future is in Graham Mertz’s hands | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on April 14, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Opinion, Sports.

GAINESVILLE — This timeless phenomenon is as old as college football itself: Fans, almost without fail, will embrace the potential and promise of the future more than the steadiness and stability of the present. They want to play with their new Buzz Lightyear action figure while casting old reliable Woody, the pull-string cowboy doll, into the deepest recesses of the toy box. Who cares if Florida Gators senior quarterback Graham Mertz led the SEC with a 72.9% completion rate and had a 20-to-3 touchdown-to-interception comparison last year? Who cares if he has 43 college starts on his...

UCF coach Gus Malzahn needs to make up his mind about calling plays | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 31, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

Head coach Gus Malzahn created quite a flood of discussion and debate a few days ago when he revealed that he will go back to being the chief offensive play-caller next season for UCF. Personally, I don’t understand why there is so much debate about this. Malzahn, after all, has been one of the great offensive minds in college football over the last two decades. However, I do have one question: Why does he keep giving up the play-calling duties and then changing his mind? I hearken back to something another renowned college football play-calling head coach, Steve Spurrier, once told me when...

College ADs cower in the presence of coaching super-agent Jimmy Sexton | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 17, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Miami Hurricanes, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

Who do you think is the most powerful person in college football? SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey? Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti? NCAA President Charlie Baker? College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock? Influential ESPN commentator Paul Finebaum? Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong. You’re not even close. It’s college football coaching super-agent Jimmy Sexton, the man who has literally and legally convinced college athletic directors to sign away mega-millions, if not billions of dollars, in one-sided coaching contracts to his grateful clients over the years. Sports agent...

If FSU and other college stars are getting paid, then they should play in bowl games | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on January 2, 2024. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Miami Hurricanes, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

With apologies to the the legendary Simon & Garfunkel and their iconic song Mrs. Robinson: “Where have you gone, Charlie Wysocki? A college football nation turns its lonely eyes to you — woo, woo, woo.” As I sat in the press box for the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl matchup Monday between Iowa and Tennessee, I thought back to the first bowl game I ever attended in this same stadium more than four decades ago. I was a wide-eyed teenager as I excitedly watched the Charley Pell-coached Florida Gators play the Jerry Claiborne-coached Maryland Terrapins in the 1980 Tangerine Bowl. I don’t remember a...

College Football Playoff Committee: ‘Undefeated ’72 Dolphins don’t pass our eye test’ | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on December 8, 2023. Posted in Columnists, Florida State Seminoles, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Jacksonville Jaguars, Latest Headlines, Miami Dolphins, NFL, Opinion, Sports.

Running off at the typewriter. … Breaking news: The College Football Playoff Committee has reconvened and has unilaterally decided to go back in time and strip the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins of their perfect season and Super Bowl championship. “In hindsight,” CFB Playoff Chairman Boob Corrigan says, “the ’72 Dolphins, much like this year’s Florida State team, were just not the same after quarterback Bob Griese broke his leg and was replaced by aging backup Earl Morrall.” But, Mr. Corrigan, even though the Dolphins were in the bottom half of the league in passing offense back then, they...

Here’s hoping UCF isn’t ducking USF in a bowl game | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on November 29, 2023. Posted in Columnists, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

Let’s get right down to it, shall we? UCF and USF should play in a bowl game. We want them to play in a bowl game. We need them to play in a bowl game. Any bowl game. Preferably right here in Orlando at the Avocados From Mexico Cure Bowl, which has raised millions of dollars over the years for cancer research and is actually played in UCF’s home stadium. UCF-USF would sell out the Bounce House and raise even more money to help cure cancer. A good game for a great cause. Or if USF doesn’t want to play a bowl game in UCF’s home stadium then play the game in the Gasparilla Bowl at USF’s home...

FSU’s Jordan Travis, UF’s Graham Mertz epitomize football courage | Commentary

Written by Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Syndicated User on November 22, 2023. Posted in Columnists, Florida Gators, Florida State Seminoles, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage, Fort Lauderdale Mortgage Rates, Latest Headlines, Miami Hurricanes, Opinion, Sports, UCF Knights.

At the time, three weeks ago, it seemed a bit out of place when Florida Gators coach Billy Napier began his postgame press conference after a devastating loss to Arkansas with a discourse on the innate quality that is a mandatory prerequisite to playing college football. “It takes courage to play this game,” Napier said. “Courage is giving your best with no guarantee of the outcome you want.” Napier should have added: “Courage is also giving your best with an absolute guarantee of an outcome you don’t want.” Like a devastating injury. Napier’s “courage” speech after the Arkansas game rings...

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