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    Brad

    By Brad

    Brad

    By Brad •

    The Bulls Pen Celebrates 23 Years

    By Brad Meyer | Published 08/31/2022 | USF Fans Site News

    Today marks the beginning of the 24th season of TheBullsPen.com.  It's amazing to me, so I write this post.

    We started up with "TheBullsPen" being the message board for the SouthFloridaBulls.com site.  The site's beginning in 1999 was launched just before the Bulls first game of their third season. 

    SFB was a blast, I started it when I lived in Tampa and could attend USF press conferences, media days, games and host watch parties.  As I moved out west, it became harder to maintain but the message board was booming - and so were the Bulls!  So around 2008, SFB became DOA and The Bulls Pen emerged as it's own entity.

    There have been thousands of fans that have come through the login of The Bulls Pen.  Several fans are still engaged, an entire generation later (note: my kids are 24 and 22, TBP became the middle child).  Others have moved on to create other Bulls  sites or simply disconnected from the site and/or the Bulls.  There was a real shakeout in 2010 with the termination of Jim Leavitt that rocked the program and our membership.

    Still, through the bad times as well as the good times, The Bulls Pen survived and continued in its goal to find, invite and engage other Bulls fans into our online community and build fan support for the Bulls year round.

    I'm very thankful for our robust membership and that the site still plays a role in growing the fan base and facilitating discussion.  

    The members here have been terrific over time, frequently lending their time and money to building the site, supporting the Bulls or even sending students to away games.  Recent membership involvement has seen the site host the Bulls Block Party again, contribute to the IPF and establish a NIL fund for USF student-athletes among other things.

    When The Bulls Pen was too big to remain on a web hosting account, we moved it to a member's server.  In 2007, when that server took a beating we had to upgrade further.  Today we are hosted in a spot that allows for unlimited growth.  Now it's just up to us to grow!

    Thank you all for being members of The Bulls Pen.  It means a lot to see names familiar to me from the days of the Carraba's watch parties or the new names popping up weekly of new fans to our board that want to talk some Bull.

    A toast to The Bulls Pen and it's members! :guinness:

     

     

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    bullsbucsfan426

    I joined after the Miami win in 2010. Hard to believe it's been nearly 12 years on here. Unfortunately it's been mostly downhill from here.

    Fortunately-I still love USF and I'm grateful for this website giving us all a place to vent. 

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    fhemmer209

    Thank you for doing what you do, Brad. Not easy to keep a group together this long. I have been a season ticket holder since day 1 but it took awhile for me to find this forum and I am glad I did. Even if I don't post a lot I enjoy reading what others have to say.

     

    GO BULLS!

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    Brad

    It's an effort by many including especially the people that care enough about USF Athletics to come here and have an in-depth, serious discussion.  Thank you all and others that have been a part of our community.

    • Go Bulls! 3

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    Rocky Style
    13 hours ago, Brad said:

    It's an effort by many including especially the people that care enough about USF Athletics to come here and have an in-depth, serious discussion.  Thank you all and others that have been a part of our community.

    Serious discussions are well and good, but what about the Rich Rodriguez hotdog environment memes?

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    Brad
    2 hours ago, Rocky Style said:

    Serious discussions are well and good, but what about the Rich Rodriguez hotdog environment memes?

    This was obviously a very huge contribution in a period of rapid message board growth.  TBP would be likely be only a memory if not for the hot dog environment memes and references.  

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    BullyPulpit

    17 years of entertainment, community, and wonderful memories on here. My favorites were getting to organize the pre-bowl events in El Paso, where we were unexpectedly joined by Judy and Doug) and at Dreamfield's in Birmingham. With all of life's changes and the trials and tribulations of USF athletics, The Bullspen has remained a consistent rock and a place to go to commiserate and celebrate, all while enjoying the memories of the past and looking forward to the future. I am excited where the athletic department seems to be heading and I'm happy to know that I will have a front-row seat at this site to watch it all happen!   

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    • Go Bulls! 1

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    Rocky Style
    11 minutes ago, BullyPulpit said:

    I am excited where the athletic department seems to be heading and I'm happy to know that I will have a front-row seat at this site to watch it all happen!   

    A lot of change is happening fast!  It's a great time to have stuck around.

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