Brad

Assuming dabull80 and smazza are each in for $100, we are at: Bulliever $ 100 E.T. $ 100 bullwark $ 50 dabull80 $100 smazza $100 Total $ 450 We need $550 more to support a player's locker...right now, at $450, we can support a scale. A locker sounds so much more prestigious. Will a few more Bulls step up?

Sorry ...forgot about the Storm...I have been out of Tampa too long I guess. Any other legit team? The Rowdies? ;D I'll get the Storm on there today. Bulliever

We started this board in hopes we could grow an interest and following prior to the Bulls' entrance into the Big East. This "following" would attract other Bulls to focus in on the BE and get ready for 2005. The board will wilt and die unless someone, a Bulls fan or otherwise, decides to step up and get this board going. We need someone that will: 1) Post stories, stats, facts, opinions, etc. to foster discussion regarding our new conference home, among Bulls and other BE fans. 2) Help get the word out to other Bulls and BE members and their sites. We need to get the conversation primed and ready for 2005... Please let me know if you are someone that can help drive this board. Thanks, Bulliever

I thought about that Minotaur deal too.  Fortunately, I was not involved in that... I have done some minimal fundraising via the board in the past and have been trustworthy...we used the board to fund the Sheriff's and others' activities (road trips to games, as I recall).  If anyone wants to join me, you can be sure the money noted on this post will go straight to USF.  If we don't get a grand, my $100 will still go to the drive in the name of "TheBullsPen.com" or "Friends of TheBullsPen.com", something that we can decide by a poll.  We should harness the strength of this board to benefit USF Athletics when presented with opportunities like this. Donations less than $100 are welcome too, I am going to start the giving at that sum, but any contribution to the Bulls will be outstanding. Modified by Bulliever to correct punctuation

If 9 people meet my $100 pledge, we can sponsor a "TheBullsPen.com" player's locker. If we can get more than 9, we might be able to do a coach's locker or some other items. Just post it here...and help build the new facility. Thanks, Brad

Oklahoma (7) Connecticut (1) Sun. 4:30 On CBS

That NIT win over St. Johns was HUGE...it came after a win over Coppin State. I believe Felipe Lopez was on the SJ squad at the time. After that win, we had the upsettting game against NBE and current C-USA pal Marquette...I know most remember that game and Chucky at the line. An FT away from MSG.

Saraceno with a nifty response.. Despite Wallace's rant, NBA remains a players' league It would be a slam dunk to slap another technical foul on Rasheed Wallace for his comments last week. Or to whisper, "Dummy up, dude — CTC, baby!" Doing so would only reinforce the Portland Trail Blazer forward's seemingly inherent distrust of his fellow man and referee, one that fosters an edgy, me-against-them prism of the world. Wallace appears to genuinely believe that the white establishment is working against his best interests while simultaneously keeping down his young brothers in the NBA. If that chippy attitude allowed him to maximize his abilities and made him one of the best players in the NBA — one befitting the fourth-highest salary in the league — I would say it worked as motivation. But it doesn't, leaving the real conspirator in the continuing demise of Rasheed Wallace none other than ... Rasheed Wallace, who now apparently thinks he's paid $17 million a season to be Dr. Harry Edwards. Wallace rarely plays at a consistently high level befitting such remuneration. He loves to get off on NBA officials, but when is he going to consistently go off on the court like he did Saturday night when he scored 28 points in a triumph against the Los Angeles Lakers? Wallace is entitled to his opinion, even if it is detrimental to his career, a distraction to his team and an embarrassment to his family. Last week, Wallace the sociologist told a newspaper that, in essence, the league's motive for drafting players out of high school was exploitive because "they come into the league and they don't know no better." To that last part, I think we would all nod our heads in affirmation when it comes to teenagers. Wallace the economist went on to explain that he was no rube when it came to pro basketball economics, that he knew Commissioner David Stern is paid more than three-quarters of the players, which should lead the rest of us to respond with a resounding "Duh." "They don't know no better, and they don't know the real business, and they don't see behind the charade," Wallace told The (Portland) Oregonian. "They look at black athletes like we're (expletive deleted). It's as if we're just going to shut up, sign for the money and do what they tell us." On Friday, Stern called Wallace's comments a "hateful diatribe (that) was ignorant and offensive to all NBA players. I refuse to enhance his heightened sense of deprivation by publicly debating with him." I can't explain how Wallace has come to this philosophical place and time as a 29-year-old American enjoying a standard of living once reserved for kings and tyrants. Or why he felt compelled to use a highly charged racial epithet in a public forum. Was it crassness, carelessness or our hip-hop culture? When you're paid as handsomely as Wallace, I suppose it's easy to feel as if you can say or do anything. If you're mature and responsible, you do not. I do not know Rasheed. I have not lived his life, neither in Philadelphia nor at the University of North Carolina. We all become products of our environments and life experiences. Maybe he has a good reason for harboring certain feelings. Wallace's perspective of his employers — that of the sports-league plantation owner — certainly isn't unique, even if it merits some consideration because of its obviousness. Management almost always has the upper hand in business, unless you're talking about Major League Baseball. If Wallace is unhappy over the players' share of the NBA pot (no, no, not that stuff), he needs to talk to his union president, not sling racial arrows. Furthermore, if Wallace's goal was to have an intellectual discussion regarding race in a league whose racial composition is an estimated 80% black, he failed. If his aim was to force Trail Blazers management's hand with a trade, he scored big time (assuming another NBA team wants him). Indeed, it is a players' league in most ways. As Wallace said earlier this season, when a trade was rumored, "As long as somebody CTC, at the end of the day I'm with them. For all you that don't know what CTC means, that's 'Cut the Check.' " Everyone gets rich in the NBA — except the poor fan, who generally is served a substandard product in relation to price. Why wouldn't the league use its labor force to its advantage, even if it means agreeing to pay a minimum salary of $367,000? Every business "exploits" its pool of workers to some degree. Let's see, in 'Sheed's case, that means jetting around the country, staying in luxurious accommodations and living an affluent lifestyle that would make most white Americans blanch or, more precisely, turn green. True exploitation is some kid in the Far East being paid a dollar an hour to produce $150 sneakers for NBA players. The league would be exploiting young blacks — indeed, the new breed of white Euros, too — if it were not compensating them with pay commensurate with their abilities. Have you watched any NBA games lately? I have. I can't figure out who is exploiting whom. *** E-mail Jon Saraceno at jons@usatoday.com Story link

Some have questioned this before... I came across this in an NFL article. Thought I would post it for the NFL fans out there.. TO BREAK A TIE WITHIN A DIVISION If, at the end of the regular season, two or more clubs in the same division finish with the best won-lost-tied percentage, the following steps will be taken until a champion is determined: Two Clubs 1. Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs). 2. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division. 3. Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games. 4. Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference. 5. Strength of victory. 6. Strength of schedule. 7. Best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed. 8. Best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed. 9. Best net points in common games. 10. Best net points in all games. 11. Best net touchdowns in all games 12. Coin toss.

Oh...that's too bad, I was hoping it was a snub... Thanks for the update.

They aren't being shown on TV in Orlando today - it's the Colts and the Falcons...Sorry commentary on a sorry franchise. Are the locals in Tampa still able to watch the Bucs fight for a .500 record today?

down in Miami... at the half [table][tr][td] #13 Miami 6 [/td][/tr][tr][td] The Big East's Rutgers 3 [/td][/tr][/table] At a sparsely attended game in the Orange Bowl...the aerial shots show a lot of empty seats - we need one of the UCF spotters to give us an estimate.

Yeah, I realize that...I just didn't know that action qualified the Trotters as an opponent. And beyond that, flashbacks of Curly, Meadowlark and Geese sort of took me over... Maybe we can play the Generals?

Marquette against St. John's in Coaches vs. Cancer Classic - televised tonight on ESPN2 (9:00 p.m.). And the warm-up game is that C-USA team that didn't make the cut (Memphis) against the ACC's Wake Forest.

Is it me or does it seem equally strange that Syracuse would unveil their National Championship banner during an exhibition? Me thinks that would be saved for the season opener (at least) or a big game...

Syracuse vs. the Globetrotters on ESPN2???????? my gosh

Welcome, we're glad you joined with us. Thanks for the nice words on the board, we hope to see you regularly...don't forget to place your pin on the Member Map and select an avatar using the "Profile" link above. Again, welcome!

What is a message board without a little controversy? BC fans may want to be heard as well... Are we kicked off of every reputable C-USA member's board already? BC, VT, and UM are still in the conference and may offer some good conversation.

I can't believe this is a newsflash... I am not a Bucs fan, but have heard stories of Sapp's crap for years.... Best thing about pro sports...you can get away with murder.

As other Big East fans join, they can select their team logo: And all the rest....

'nuff said.

Yeah, but according to the Glazers, there are still 1.7 billion people, dogs, horses and other living creatures on the season ticket waiting list. So, things will be alright, the Bucs are still very marketable despite the horrendous start. BULLS: Football's Future in the Bay Area

Yeah, living in Tampa made me dislike the Huizenga era of the Marlins, but after he dumped his World Series team, the Marlins quickly became my underdog. That explains my longtime support of the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Bulls. I like the dog. Anyway, I was a League Champion in ESPN Fantasy Baseball for six years in a row, and the entire time I was impressed with the stat-generators on the Marlins team. I told other baseball fans about the Marlins' young talent and the disproportionate amount of losses relative to talent. Sure John Boyle (whatever) was a nice guy , but a hindrance as a manager. It's good to see this team succeed (mature)...on such a limited payroll...Beyond that, I believe real baseball fans that have followed the sport, aren't only surprised by the payroll, but admire the talent.

Based on my ultra-pedantic interpretation of the rules, I am moving this thread to the Tampa Sports Board. The Bucs deserved it anyway. Bad calls go both ways - like the roughing the punter.

And who doesn't like the smazza one-liners?