Papa_Bull

The question really should be is St Louis ready for the BULLS. I don't think so!  ;D

Here is the St Pete Times article on Marius: USF picks up commitment By PETE YOUNG, Times Staff Writer Published April 1, 2004 Weatherford (Texas) College guard/forward Marius Prekevicius committed to South Florida, rivals.com reported. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Prekevicius, a native of Lithuania, played one season at Melbourne Florida Air Academy and one at Weatherford. He will have three seasons of eligibility with the Bulls. Prekevicius, who also considered New Mexico, Washington State and Hawaii, is a member of the Lithuanian national team. He is considered a superior long-range shooter who can play both guard spots and small forward. He averaged 16.2 points and 3.8 assists this season. "I'm really excited about the team going to the Big East," Prekevicius told rivals.com. Prekevicius and another USF commitment, Albany (Ga.) Westover guard Montavious Waters, can sign April14, when the spring signing period begins. Two signed with USF in the fall, Texas high school guard Collin Dennis and junior college power forward Solomon Jones, who played part of this season for Daytona Beach C.C. before becoming academically ineligible. I don't know why they list him as only 6'4. The european Basketball site lists him at 6'6 and Insiders has him at 6'5. ESPN also reports him at 6'5. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/news/story?id=1773326 Here is their link for all four USF recruits: http://interact.ocsn.com/recruiting/searchrecruit.cfm?sport=basketball&dbyear=03&school_name=sfla#

I wonder if we'll sign a big man with the final scholarship this year. Maybe there is another European JUCO out there who could really contribute immediately. I'm not sure what the coach views as our top priority. Whoever it is, he better be a fast learner.

I beg to differ. TJ will be our second All-American after HALL becomes our first this year. ;D

Not to bring up a sore subject but since you asked: Cornelius Ingram.

Here are his stats from the 2003 Junior National Championship against stiff competition: http://www.galanissportsdata.com/Galanis/Basketball/WJM/GroupG/a1teamrs.asp?t=14

USF needs players who can start and contribute from day one. Marius is a mature player who has already been a star on his national team which made it to the finals. He won't be intimidated by playing in C-USA or the BE. Remember, Coach MAC was also a coach on the National USA team which barely beat Lithuania, and I'm sure is very familliar with what he can do. I'm very happy with his choice.

My biggest concern is everybody just staying HEALTHY for a change. :-/

Here it is from the Trib: ONE TO GO: Weatherford (Texas) College's Marius Prekevicius verbally committed to the men's basketball team Wednesday, leaving only one scholarship available for the late signing period, which begins April 14. Prekevicius (6-5, 215), who will play on the Lithuania national team this summer, also considered Hawaii, New Mexico and Washington State. He will have three years of eligibility at USF. Prekevicius joins Westover (Ga.) High guard Montavious Waters, who committed March 3, and early signees Collin Dennis of Richland (Texas) High, and Solomon Jones of Daytona Beach Community College. http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGAHTFO6ISD.html He's evidently a good 3 point shooter: http://www.proexposure.com/stories/0715f.cfm

Why don't they like him? He certainly has good credentials having worked previously at both Florida and Duke: 1966 BS degree from UF. 1966-70 UF assistant sports information director. 1970-76 Duke sports information director and assistant athletics director. 1976-1977 NCAA director of marketing and productions. 1978-86 UF associate director of athletics. 1986-91 Raycom Sports (founded Block Buster Bowl). 1994-1999 director of athletics at Louisiana-Monroe. 1999 to present USM AD.

Looks like we used the same source. ;D

Here is one answer: Rub out time. Dear Word Detective: We often hear baseball sportscasters refer to the "rubber game" of a series, usually the tie-breaking last game of a three-game series in which each team has already won one game. Knowing what a sports fan you are, we thought we'd ask you about the origin of this term. Our dictionary has no idea, and "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable" says something about whist and bridge and bowls that we don't understand. -- Rick and Jaye Freyer, via the internet. Whist and bridge and bowls, oh my! According to Paul Dickson's The New Dickson's Baseball Dictionary (Harcourt Brace, 1999), a "rubber game" is "The last and deciding game of a series when the previous games have been split; e.g., the seventh game of the World Series." This tie-breaking sense of "rubber" apparently originated in the pulse-pounding English game of "bowls," or lawn bowling. Despite its name, bowls has little in common with American bowling, and consists of rolling wooden balls (called "bowls") across a level green, the object being to get your ball as close as possible to (but not to hit) a little white ball at the other end of the green. "Rubber" in its tie-breaking sense first appeared in the context of bowls around 1599, and was in use by the card-playing crowd (whist, bridge, etc.) by 1744. A set of three games of bridge is still generally referred to as a "rubber." Unfortunately, no one knows where "rubber" in this sense came from. It appears to be unrelated to the elastic sort of "rubber." (Incidentally, our modern elastic "rubber" is short for "India-rubber," from its original source in the East Indies. "Rubber" previously meant anything used to rub, smooth or clean.) Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ventures that the term may have referred to two "bowls" rubbing together, a fatal error in the game of bowls. Or it might be a metaphorical use of "rubber" (something that expunges) referring to the "sudden death" third game of a series, the loss of which would conclusively "rub out" the losing team's hopes. But there is, sad to say, no solid evidence for either theory.

Speaking of monsters....Nice to see SPRINGFIELD on the Depth chart. Also, Jake Griffin is on there and he's not even enrolled YET. Past article on him: http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGAW7GE0WPD.html Just imaging what the three deep chart will look like with some of our other 2004 commits added like Peyton, Mompremier, and Buie and a bunch of quality running backs.

You can follow the gametracker at the link in the article: #38 Men’s Tennis Visits #10 Georgia Match Notes TAMPA, Fla. (March 30, 2004) – After an 11-day break, The University of South Florida men’s tennis team returns to action by visiting 10th-ranked University of Georgia on Wednesday. This match will mark the second top 10 team USF has played this season. The Bulls are listed as the No. 38 team in the country, according to the latest computer ITA poll released March 25. In its last match, USF blanked USF (San Francisco), 7-0, on March 22 at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. The Bulls are 2-1 against SEC teams this season with wins over Alabama and Auburn and a loss to Florida. Georgia is one of the hot SEC teams at the moment, posting back-to-back victories against #9 Florida, 4-3, on March 26, and South Carolina, 7-0, on March 28. Both matches were played at Georgia and places the Bulldogs 4th in SEC with a 4-2 record. Georgia will count on the No. 5 duo in the nation, Bo Hodge and John Isner. In singles, Hodge is ranked No. 15 while Matias Ormaza is ranked No. 99. The Bulldogs will be eager to avenge last year’s loss to USF in which the Bulls blanked Georgia, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA Championships on May 10, 2003, in College Station, Texas. “Every time we play a top 10, top 15 team, is opportunity time for us,†Head coach Don Barr said. “It is a chance to take our program up a notch.†Georgia and USF play 5 p.m., March 31, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga. The match will be available via live scoring at: http://georgiadogs.ocsn.com/tennis_mens/2004/live/0331_USF/0331_USF.shtml#agate

Candidates Starting To Apply For Bulls' AD Job By BRETT McMURPHY bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com Published: Mar 31, 2004 TAMPA - South Florida's athletic director opening officially won't be posted until Thursday, but the school already has received a couple of intriguing applicants. Michigan State associate AD Mark Hollis and former Cincinnati Reds General Manager Jim Bowden have applied to replace Lee Roy Selmon. Chuck Neinas, who has been hired to provide a final list of candidates, met for the first time with USF's search committee Tuesday to review the search scope and timeline. Search committee chairman Hinks Shimberg instructed Neinas to reduce the field to a manageable number of finalists by mid-May. The search committee will interview the finalists and forward their recommendations to USF President Judy Genshaft, who will make the final decision. Shimberg said the school would like the new AD ``on board by early to mid-summer.'' Neinas, who visited campus March 15-16, met with more athletic department staff Tuesday. ``This is a great opportunity for someone at a growing university,'' Neinas said. While Neinas said he has received ``good interest'' from prospective candidates, Hollis, Bowden and Troy State AD Johnny Williams are the only ones to officially apply. Hollis, who has been at Michigan State since 1995, also was an associate AD at Pittsburgh (1994-95) and a Western Athletic Conference assistant commissioner (1988-93). Hollis' creativity in producing revenue at MSU resulted in the development of two attendance world records - ``The BasketBowl'' men's basketball contest between MSU and Kentucky in 2003 (78,129 at Ford Field) and ``The Cold War'' hockey game between MSU and Michigan in 2001 (74,554 at Spartan Stadium). He also proposed a basketball doubleheader (MSU vs. Navy and North Carolina vs. Air Force) to be played on an aircraft carrier stationed in Jacksonville. ``The foundation [at USF] is already built, but there is a tremendous amount of potential,'' said Hollis, a finalist for AD positions at Pittsburgh last May and MSU in January 2002. ``It has a lot to offer. I can see taking USF from a regional level to a national level.'' Other candidates may include athletic directors Richard Giannini (Southern Miss) and Wayne Hogan (formerly of Montana), and associate ADs Richard Konzem (formerly Kansas) Chris May (Colorado), Tom McElroy (Connecticut) and Orange Bowl executive director Keith Tribble.

True. But, it's important how they seed you in the regional and where you play. I presume they use their own RPI formula like in Baseball and Basketball. I hope they don't use polls.

Their SOS is #1 in the country which is what they had last year as well. But, they'll get passed over by the NCAA unless they have at least a winning record by the end of the year despite their RPI. You still need to win games to get to the dance. By comparison, our SOS at the moment is around #150.

There really appears to be a West Coast bias in the ESPN/USA Softball poll. USF went 5-0 last week (including three shutouts) and currently has a 13 game winning streak and, yet, LOST ground in their poll. I checked some of the teams in front of us to see how they did during the week and quite a few lost at least one game to unranked teams. I think the USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Poll coming out tomorrow will have USF moving up a bit:  USA Softball headlines and latest news Pac-10 continues to dominate Top 25 Poll 3/30/2004 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – The Pac-10 Conference continues to reign supreme in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll with Arizona, UCLA and California holding on to the top three spots in this week’s poll. Washington and Stanford also check in among the top 10 at No. 8 and No. 10 respectively. Oregon State (No. 15) and Oregon (No. 17) also rank in the top 20, while Arizona State sits just on the edge at No. 26. Louisiana Lafayette continued to move up among the nation’s elite taking over the No. 7 spot after going 2-0 this weekend, while Oklahoma continued to tumble down the poll to No. 14 after a 0-2 showing versus Texas A&M. The Crimson Tide of Alabama dropped out of the top 10 to No. 11 after a rough go of it during its fourth week of conference play dropping four of five games to Florida and LSU. South Carolina suffered a three-game sweep at home versus Auburn for the first time in school history to fall to No. 18, while the Tigers jumped back into the poll at No. 22 with its successful trip to Columbia. The University of Texas fell out of the poll for the first time this season after opening Big XII Conference action with two losses to Missouri 2004 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll (for the week of March 22-28 ) Rank Team Name 2004  Record Totals Rank last week 1. Arizona (19) 36-1 499 1. 2. UCLA (1) 26-1 481 2. 3. California 31-3 458 3. 4. Florida State 37-4 437 4. 5. LSU 31-7 419 5. 6. Georgia32-6 402 6. 7. Louisiana Lafayette 30-4 366 9. 8. Washington 24-7 347 8. 9. Stanford 27-7 326 12. 10. Michigan 25-6 324 10. 11. Alabama28-9 322 7. 12 Tennessee 34-8 271 13. 13. Florida  31-5 223 16. T14. Oklahoma 26-11-1 214 11. T14 Oregon State 29-9 214 15. 16. Fresno State 29-12 190 17. 17. Oregon 25-9 158 19. 18. South Carolina 17-8 139 15. 19. Pacific 21-9 137 18. 20. Nebraska 22-11 96 T20. 21. South Florida 39-7 94 T20. 22. Auburn 25-4 87 27. 23. Georgia Tech 29-7 86 22. 24. Long Beach State 29-7 70 25. 25. Baylor 31-6 65 24. Dropped out: Texas Others receiving votes: Arizona State (16); Texas State (15); Northwestern (8 ); Notre Dame (7); Northridge (7); Florida Atlantic (7); Texas (6); Illinois (5); Iowa (4) The ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 poll is voted on by NCAA Division I coaches representing 15 different ASA regions and 12 different collegiate conferences. The poll is also voted on by selected softball media members. First-place votes are in parentheses.

Nice to see our first 2004 commit, Antonio Searcy, already moving up the depth chart. Our DT's are going to be awesome this year.

Garris, Searcy, Camon Lauded By Leavitt Published: Mar 31, 2004 TAMPA - At the halfway point of spring practice, South Florida WR J.B. Garris, DT Antonio Searcy and FS Javan Camon have been the highlights so far, Coach Jim Leavitt said. Garris, a 6-foot-2 freshman from East Bay is working with the first-team offense, and Camon takes over the free safety spot from J.R. Reed, who's expected to be picked in next month's NFL draft. Searcy, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound junior college transfer from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College, has worked his way into the two-deep rotation at defensive tackle. Gregg Becnel

Lirette pitched great again. I was hoping he would have started the third game against USM, but that didn't happen. He should be used in the conference rotation when we play the better teams.

USF fell from RPI #27 to RPI #45 after losing two out of three to USM. Here are the current listings for the Top 50: Note: W-L records are through games of 3/28.       RPI Rating  W  L    W  L   Team     1  0.683  28  4   28  4  Texas  2  0.661  20  3   20  3  Stanford  3  0.660  21  7   21  7  Arizona State  4  0.659  22  5   22  5  Miami, Florida  5  0.658  21  4   21  4  Louisiana State  6  0.655  12  2   12  2  Wichita State  7  0.646  20  6   20  6  Rice  8  0.644  16  6   18  6  Birmingham-Southern  9  0.638  24  5   24  5  Florida 10  0.637  20  3   20  3  Mississippi 11  0.635  21  7   21  7  Florida State 12  0.630  21  4   21  4  South Carolina 13  0.614  20  7   20  7  Virginia 14  0.614  21  6   21  6  East Carolina 15  0.609  23  6   23  6  Texas A&M 16  0.606  18  6   18  6  UC Irvine 17  0.603  20  6   20  6  Auburn 18  0.603  21  5   21  5  Tennessee 19  0.602  17  9   17  9  Oklahoma State 20  0.601  20  6   20  6  North Carolina 21  0.601  17  7   17  7  Coastal Carolina 22  0.600  17  8   17  8  North Carolina State 23  0.600  10  7   10  8  Minnesota 24  0.600  18  7   18  7  Long Beach State 25  0.599  15  7   15  7  Washington 26  0.599  17  9   17  9  Arkansas 27  0.599  16  3   17  3  Notre Dame 28  0.598  13  3   13  3  Albany 29  0.598  16  8   16  8  Georgia 30  0.596  25  5   25  5  Florida Atlantic 31  0.596  19  7   19  7  Tulane 32  0.593  20  4   20  4  Southern Mississippi 33  0.591  14  12   14  12  Texas State 34  0.590  17  9   17  9  Texas Christian 35  0.589  12  14   12  14  Southern California 36  0.586  13  11   13  11  Arizona 37  0.585  16  5   16  5  Nebraska 38  0.584  12  10   12  10  Clemson 39  0.580  15  13   15  13  Cal State Fullerton 40  0.579  18  5   18  5  Vanderbilt 41  0.577  14  8   14  8  Mississippi State 42  0.575  17  9   17  9  Texas Tech 43  0.573   9  17    9  17  Houston 44  0.572  15  10   15  10  Oklahoma 45  0.571  18  8   18  8  South Florida 46  0.570  19  8   19  8  Lamar 47  0.569  16  8   16  8  Louisiana-Lafayette 48  0.568   8  9    8  9  Penn State 49  0.568  23  5   23  5  Central Florida 50  0.566  18  7   19  7  Kansas State http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/currentrpi.html USF plays @ Stetson (RPI #91) tonight and then plays a three game home series with St. Louis (RPI #203) over the weekend. Here are the current C-USA Baseball Standings: 2004 STANDINGS (March 29)  .....................Conference........... Overall  Team............  W L T Pct. H  A  W L T  Pct.  H  A  N  L10  Stk. Tulane............  5 1 0 .833 3-0 2-1 19 7 0 .731 15-3 4-4 0-0 7-3 W 6 TCU...............  5 1 0 .833 3-0 2-1 17 9 0 .654 10-3 4-5 3-1 8-2 W 1 Louisville........  5 1 0 .833 3-0 2-1 14 9 0 .609 11-7 2-2 1-0 8-2 W 3 Southern Miss  4 2 0 .667 2-0 2-1 20 4 0 .833 12-2 6-2 2-0 8-2 W 2 USF............... 4 2 0 .667 4-2 0-0 18 8 0 .692 16-4 2-2 0-2 7-3 L 2 East Carolina   3 3 0 .500 1-2 2-1 21 6 0 .778 18-2 3-4 0-0 7-3 W 2 Charlotte........  3 3 0 .500 3-0 0-3 13 9 0 .591 10-5 3-4 0-0 5-5 L 3 UAB............... 2 3 0 .400 1-2 1-1 14 9 0 .619 12-7 2-2 0-0 4-6 W 1 Houston.........  2 4 0 .333 1-2 1-2 9 17 0 .346 6-7 1-6 2-4 3-7 L 1 Saint Louis....  1 4 0 .200 1-1 0-3 7 16 0 .286 7-7 0-9 0-0 3-7 L 1 Memphis.......  1 5 0 .167 1-2 0-3 12 9 0 .571 2-3 4-3 6-3 3-7 L 2 Cincinnati......  0 6 0 .000 0-0 0-6 3 20 0 .130 0-0 2-19 1-1 1-9 L 9 USF is still receiving four votes in the ESPN Baseball poll: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/baseball/usatpoll.htm USF is still receiving some votes in the The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll: http://www.sportswriters.net/ncbwa/news/2004/poll040329.html Here is an article from the Oracle today with some comments on the season by Coach Cardieri: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 Sports Bulls look for second win in Deland By Thomas Simonetti Staff Writer March 30, 2004 After 16 straight home games, 12 of which the Bulls have won, USF baseball coach Eddie Cardieri is starting to talk about making the NCAA tournament. USF (18-8, 4-2) travels to Stetson tonight for a 7 p.m. non-conference game. Cardieri said even though it is not a C-USA game, it is the type his team must win to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. "These midweek games are very important in terms of the at-large bids to the regionals," Cardieri said. "The teams that are going to be there at the end or on the bubble at the end are going to be teams like us and UCF and Stetson. That's who we play in the middle of the week so they are very important games." The Bulls last made the NCAA tournament in 2002. Besides an at-large bid, a C-USA championship would also give USF an automatic bid into this year's tournament. Cardieri said Chase Lirette would get the nod against the Hatters. The freshman from Tallahassee has pitched mainly in relief this season. In his only start Feb. 17 against Jacksonville, Lirette gave up three runs on six hits while striking out five for the win. After that start he was C-USA's Pitcher of the Week. Lirette pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief in the 9-3 loss to Southern Miss on Sunday. He gave up one hit and struck out two on the outing. Stetson (17-10) is looking for a win after it lost both games of a double header Saturday against UCF. The Bulls beat Stetson 6-4 earlier in the season at Stetson in the Stetson Invitational but are only 2-4 on the road this season. Catcher hot at the plate Devin Ivany goes into tonight's game with a 12-game hit streak. The streak was extended Sunday when he belted a double down the third-base line. The junior is on the Johnny Bench Award watch list after he was a finalist for the award last season. Another injury First baseman Matt McHargue probably won't play tonight, Cardieri said. The sophomore pulled a hamstring Sunday against the Golden Eagles. McHargue's injury came after third baseman Jeff Baisley broke his foot three weeks ago. After McHargue came out of Sunday's game, Cardieri had to move some players around. Brian Baisley moved from third to first, and Jeremy Brand came off the bench to play third.

For those who get NFL Network, you might want to tune in on April 3rd. DeAndrew has been assigned Jersey #80. NFL Network To Air 22 NFL Europe Games posted 03/19/2004  Starting in April, pro football fans will have the opportunity to see future NFL stars competing for a World Bowl championship as NFL Network televises 22 games from the 2004 NFL Europe League season. NFL Network's coverage begins in primetime on Saturday, April 3 at 8 pm (ET) when the Amsterdam Admirals travel to Germany to take on the defending champion Frankfurt Galaxy in the season opener. NFL Europe on NFL Network continues through the final week of the regular season on Sunday, June 6. http://www.packers.com/news/releases/2004/03/19/1/ Some NFL Europe games eventually wind up on NFL.com to be seen in streaming video, but I don't know right now if this will be one of them. You can check during the season at the "Video Highlights" link on this page: http://www.nfleurope.com/admirals/frames.html ÂÂ

Added trouble for USF's Fisher Utility football player again is cited for driving with a suspended license. By PETE YOUNG, Times Staff Writer Published March 30, 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAMPA - South Florida football standout Brian Fisher was cited again Sunday for driving with a suspended license. The utility player was arrested and released on $250 bond. Fisher's license suspension is linked to his failure to make child support payments to two women in Escambia County, where he attended Pine Forest High School. Last month Fisher was cited for driving with a suspended license, and last week he was arrested for delinquent child-support payments dating to 2001 and totaling more than $17,000. Fisher, 21, is done with football for the rest of spring practice. "We're going to hold him out until he has his life back in order," coach Jim Leavitt said. Fisher's mother, Doniel, said she paid the cash purge of $570 when her son was arrested last week for delinquent child-support payments to Shacondra Primm (by wiring the money through Jesse Turner, a friend of Fisher's), and her son's situation will be resolved. "Any situation he is in will be cleared up," said Doniel Fisher, who lives in Pensacola. "As his mother I will do what I have to (in order to) make sure his name is cleared. He has family that cares. We will get together in any type of emergency and do what we have to do to take care of our family." Fisher owes Primm $80 a week and Sarida McWilliams $55, amounts that increased about 15 percent for back support. He owes McWilliams a $750 cash purge. "That will be resolved; there isn't a warrant for (the $750) and won't be," Doniel Fisher said. "It will be taken care of soon." Last fall a judge found Fisher in contempt of payment to Primm. But it was not learned until last fall through a paternity test that Fisher had fathered a child with McWilliams. A warrant was issued in January because Fisher had not paid Primm by or complied with the "pay or appear" program. If a payment is missed, he is obligated to appear before a hearing officer and explain why. Fisher has limited opportunities to earn income since he is a full-time student and member of the football team. His mother said it is possible but not likely he could take a job this summer, and Fisher, a rising senior, has a redshirt year available. "He's going to do what he has to do to make sure his responsibilities (are taken care of)," Doniel Fisher said. His status as a student-athlete, could provide access to financial assistance. Fisher can apply for the need-based Pell Grant, which provides up to $4,000 annually and would make him eligible to receive money from the special assistance fund. Associate athletic director Steve Horton said the fund can be used for a variety of reasons, and USF athletes have drawn from it to help provide day care. A new fund established this year, the student-athlete opportunity fund, also might be available. Fisher could be punished by the school and athletic department. His arrest last week was referred to USF's office of student affairs, and he could be suspended a minimum of two games, as per USF's student-athlete code of conduct, for not informing Leavitt and Horton of his arrest. [Last modified March 30, 2004, 01:35:43]

If you think that is something, ECU signed twice as many Florida players this year.