Papa_Bull

Smazza lambasted Reggie on here for saying that he would have no problem recommending a kid to play for Seth at VT. Reggie also said he'd recommend USF to his his kids as well, but that apparently made no difference and he continued his usual diatribe ad nauseam.

Sounds like something we can do at USF! Boxing class To break the monotony of offseason workouts, North Carolina State football players have turned to boxing. The bouts consist of three one-minute rounds and are refereed by a strength coach. "It's just for fun, something to do, entertainment. Just mix it up and do something different," Wolfpack linebacker Oliver Hoyte said. "There's no hard feelings between us." Hoyte, a 6-foot-3, 252-pound senior, said the matches are a mutual decision. So far, he has been unable to get anyone to agree to step into the ring with him. "I never got a chance to box. Everybody turned me down," Hoyte said. Others have stepped in the ring. Hoyte said last summer's bout between defensive end Maurice Charles (6-3, 254) and fullback Chauncey Graham (5-10, 217) was the best he's seen. "Back and forth, it was a slugfest," he said of Charles' victory. "Like two Mike Tysons going head to head." http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/sports/12214867.htm Maurice Charles Class: Sophomore Hometown: Miami, Fla. High School: Carol City HS Height / Weight: 6-3 / 254 Position: Defensive End I just hope Leavitt doesn't take  going "head to head" literally.

It seems we will have the best wide receivers in the Big East for years to come. Do we know if Grant has cleared? Here is another WR who we recently got, who could end up being very good:

Jim...The Miami AD has said that the UM return game is most likely to take place between 2008-2010.

I don't think Frane played this summer for Croatia. He probably wanted to let his leg heal. Back in Nov 2004 this is what Insiders said about him when they covered the Big Apple Tourney: It wasn't too long after that he fractured his leg and didn't see much playing time during the season.

How could anyone know if it was a good or bad decision if we don't know WHY we weren't interested. Perhaps, it's as simple as they wanted the game at their home in 2006 and we wanted it in Tampa. It would be nice to know the reason.

Time to start cracking the whip, by putting some people in the penalty box. I wouldn't just limit it to one word answers, but I don't run the board.

27774 blahs. ;D

Mitchell In Middle Of Chiefs' Overhaul By IRA KAUFMANikaufman@tampatrib.com Published: Aug 19, 2005 RIVER FALLS, Wis. - Like the Bulls he once played for with distinction, Kawika Mitchell faces heightened scrutiny this fall. The highest draft pick in University of South Florida history finds himself in the spotlight entering his third pro season with the Chiefs. The 6-foot-1, 253-pound middle linebacker figures to start the Sept. 11 opener against the Jets, but fiery defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham is demanding significant improvement. Mitchell started 12 games last season and finished second on the club with 85 tackles, but he failed to force a turnover on a defense that ranked 31st and consistently undermined one of the NFL's premier offensive units. "Kawika has missed some tackles, and what happens then is you're worried about missing another one, rather than just playing," Chiefs coach **** Vermeil said. "This morning, he flashed into a couple of plays and I said to myself, 'That's a middle linebacker.' He has to keep seeing what a middle linebacker has to see, and Kawika then has to react properly." The Chiefs overhauled their defense in the offseason, adding outside linebacker Kendrell Bell and veteran defensive backs Patrick Surtain and Sammy Knight. Flanked by Bell and heralded rookie linebacker Derrick Johnson, Mitchell is expected to provide some thump, along with substantially better tackling technique. "I think I've got the mind part of the game down pretty well," Mitchell said. "I've got to make more hits, force more turnovers and spark this defense. Being physical is the key because our expectations are to be a top-five defense." Mitchell, 25, ranks as USF's single-season and career leader in tackles. He started 39 games for the Bulls after transferring from Georgia following his redshirt freshman season. "I still talk to Coach Jim Leavitt all the time," Mitchell said. "He's a piece of work. Gunther and him are real similar in a lot of ways. Leavitt's definitely an interesting guy. I call him every week during the season. I leave a message for Coach, talk some trash, tell him to pick it up, you're soft, stuff like that. It's going to be rough for USF, but we'll be a contender eventually." When Mitchell was a USF senior, Leavitt told NFL scouts that Mitchell would become one of the league's best linebackers. "There is no ceiling for him," Leavitt said. "I always thought he was very similar to Pro Bowl linebacker Junior Seau when he was with San Diego. He's very determined and focused. Our program wouldn't be where it's at without Kawika. I've coached some great linebackers, and no one is better than Kawika." With a wife and two young children, Mitchell has settled down off the field. On fall Sundays, he is determined to settle for nothing less than sudden impact. "This scheme fits my personality and my style of ball," he said. "We're trying to be more aggressive and I think you'll see the difference this year. The game slowed down for me late last season and I'm looking for a big year." So is Vermeil, who still believes in Kansas City's second-round pick in 2003. "Kawika has all the physical skills to play middle linebacker," Vermeil said. "In fact, I don't think I've ever had anybody with the same grace and balance at the position. Now it's a matter of seeing, reacting and striking. We've got a lot riding on this young man." http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGBS79YXJCE.html

Follow up article: Bucs WR Clayton Impressed By Hill Published: Aug 19, 2005 TAMPA - If former LSU WR Amp Hill comes to the University of South Florida, Bucs WR Michael Clayton said the Bulls will be getting a "hell of a" receiver. In 2003, Hill was a freshman and Clayton was a senior at LSU. Hill worked into LSU's four-man rotation before suffering a severe knee injury that sidelined him for the season. "He had all the skills to be a No. 1 receiver, a top receiver at LSU," Clayton said. "He was one of the top guys in that class. We expected a lot from him, but he just had that nagging knee injury. From what I've heard, he's gotten back 100 percent. I guess he just wasn't happy about his spot on the depth chart. "He was a guy who came out and competed every day. He could have been a top guy, should have been one of the top receivers at LSU, so they're getting a speed guy, a strong guy who can catch. They're getting the full package." Hill's mother, Shandra, said Wednesday her son "wants to go" to USF. The Bulls received Hill's release from LSU, but it's unknown when he will make a decision on his new school. If Hill (6-3, 203) attends USF, he would have two years' eligibility in 2006 and 2007. http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGBVMMZXJCE.html

Tampa Trib too: HALL AMONG BEST: Senior RB Andre Hall is among 40 players on the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year watch list. The list will be trimmed to 10 in November. The winner will be named in December. The award is voted on by the 119 Division I-A coaches and sports information directors http://bulls.tbo.com/bulls/MGBVMMZXJCE.html

SPT mentioned it this morning: College football Four from state on top player list By Times Staff Writers Times Wires Published August 19, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TAMPA - South Florida senior running back Andre Hall is one of 40 players on the watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. Hall, who rushed for a school-record 1,357 yards last season, is one of only three Big East players on the list; the others are Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko and his top receiver, Greg Lee. Three other players from state schools made the list: Florida quarterback Chris Leak, Florida State running back Leon Washington and Miami defensive back Devin Hester. Ten semifinalists will be chosen in November. Leak is the only player from a Florida school on the 33-candidate quarterback list. USF INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore cornerback Mike Jenkins participated in both of Thursday's practices, but wore what looked to be a cast on his right hand. Coach Jim Leavitt said Jenkins injured a finger. "I don't think it's a real big thing. I'm more worried about Mike because he has a stomach virus," Leavitt said. "I broke my thumb and played when I was a DB." LINE BATTLES: Junior Thed Watson of Lakewood and redshirt freshman Marc Dile lined up with the first-team offensive line at left and right tackle, respectively. Line coach Greg Frey said both positions are closely contested, with Watson vying with sophomore Jerome Springfield and Dile competing with sophomore Walter Walker. - GREG AUMAN, Times staff writer and MIKE CAMUNAS, Times correspondent http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/19/Sports/Four_from_state_on_to.shtml

Nomads of the net Volleyball players have to be willing to move around - a lot By SCOTT SEYMOUR Herald-Tribune sports editor To live as a professional volleyball player is to live as a nomad. One year you're playing in the Azores off the coast of Portugal, the next you're in Denmark. Or you start the season on Cyprus and finish it in Indonesia. And then there's the off-season. So far this summer, Chelly Collier has gone from Ottawa to Florida to Grande Prairie. Next week, she'll cross the continent again. Collier, a Brazilian-born pro who's teaching at the Impact Volleyball Camp this week at I.V Macklin school, will return to her college alma mater, the University of South Florida, to attend a special alumni ceremony in which her No. 10 jersey will be retired. It will be the final honour bestowed upon Collier, who last November was named the NCAA's Conference USA Volleyball Player of the Decade. Grande Prairie to Tampa means her travel budget will take another hit, but it's too big of an honour to not accept in person. "I'm pretty pumped about it, but it does feel like I've been travelling the whole summer," said Collier, a star outside hitter with the USF Lady Bulls from 1998-2002. "I was up in Ottawa for a couple of months and then I went down to Florida at the end of June and I was doing volleyball camps there and then I came up here." Collier first came to North America as a Grade 11 exchange student in a small town in Nebraska. While playing club and high school volleyball there, she quickly caught the eyes of NCAA scouts and landed a scholarship to South Florida. After that, she turned pro. Her parents moved to Ottawa six years ago, but her nomadic life of the past 10 years or so has thrown a snag in her efforts to become a Canadian. Collier, 25, has landed immigrant status, but because she hasn't lived in Canada very much in the past few years, it's hampering the citizenship process. "I have all the rights of a Canadian citizen, but I can't vote or play for the national team," she said. "We have a lawyer on the case and the national team is trying to help me." Collier has no plans to change her career or lifestyle just yet, though. She will play in Avila, Spain this fall. "I've been teaching a lot this summer, because I eventually want to coach when I finish playing," said Collier. "I'm really trying to keep all of my connections (in Florida) and try to make new connections here." Dan Kurylo is the local connection here. But connecting the dots gets complicated. A former GPRC Wolf and University of Calgary Dino in the 1990s, Kurylo's pro career started about three years ago when, after he graduated from U of C with a degree in business, he was signed by a team in Indonesia. After a season there, he didn't get any pro offers, but instead got an invite from Ryan Pomeroy, another GP product who was playing pro on the Azores off of Portugal, to come and train with the club team. A few months later, Kurylo signed on with a team in Denmark, where he played a full season last year and plans to play this season. But it was while Pomeroy and Kurylo were in the Azores that they got the idea of setting up a volleyball school in Grande Prairie, featuring instruction from professionals and national teamers. "We were chillin' by the ocean and hanging out and we thought, 'Well, why don't we get all of our buddies together who play pro and you don't see all year, meet in the summer, tell each other stories and teach kids about volleyball?" said Kurylo, 27. From that, Impact Volleyball Camp was started last year. Kurylo and a rotating group of instructors have taken it across the Peace Country and the Prince George area over the last couple of summers and will keep in Grande Prairie next week for a special elite camp for high school players. Last season in Indonesia, where Collier was the league's MVP, she met Marcelo Barreto, a fellow Brazilian who played with Pomeroy and Kurylo in the Azores. Barreto had been invited to teach at the Impact Camp this summer and when he told Collier of it, she e-mailed Kurylo right away. She already knew of the camp through Lisa Reynolds, another of its instructors and current Spanish League pro who Collier met while both trained with Canada's national team. Collier's glittering volleyball resume made her an easy hire for Kurylo, not to mention a bit of a coup for a school only in its second year of operation. "When she told me who she was and where she played, I looked at her stats from Florida and said 'Oh, yeah, you're in,'" Kurylo said. "I asked Marcelo how she played and he said 'She's awesome.'" This week Collier, Kurylo and Barreto joined Nathan Bennett, an Athabasca resident and former U of Alberta star now playing pro in Belgium and Murray Laidlaw, a Prince George native who played in Sweden last year, as the instructors. TEACHING IN HIS BLOOD Barreto, 22, had never instructed at any level before but is loving his crash-course in teaching this summer. "My dad and mom were both phys ed teachers, so it's probably in my blood to teach," said Barreto, who played in Maia, Portugal last year and will hook up with a team in Amsterdam, Holland this season. "It's fun, especially with these younger kids. They have a lot of energy and they're really up to everything. If you ask them to do something, they just go and do it. The older they get, the harder it is, though." Collier just loves the idea of continuing her volleyball career in any way, shape or form. She says most of her Florida teammates walked away from the sport after graduation. "I feel so lucky I can do this for a living and still play," said Collier. "I love teaching. I think it's so nice to give back to the sport. It's a totally different feeling than when you're playing - just because you're a great player doesn't mean you're a great coach and that's what I like about it. It's very challenging and very rewarding." And in the case of the young players she's taught here, it's eye-opening. "I can only compare female players because I've only taught girls, but the girls are way more athletic here than they are in the U.S. It's just a shame they don't get to play as much," she said. "Down in Florida, we had 400 kids in one camp. But here, the level of the 30 kids is a lot better than the level of those 400 kids down there." http://www.dailyheraldtribune.com/Z01_00anomad0818.lasso

Let us read it first and then't we'll let you know. ;D

Lambert Trophy Revamped By BlueGoldNews.com Date: Aug 18, 2005 The ECAC has announced the eligible teams that will qualify for the Division I-A Lambert Meadowlands Trophy. With the recent realignment of the Big East, Atlantic Coast Conference and Mid-American Conference, there will be 14 teams eligible for the coveted trophy. The following teams are eligible: Army, Boston College, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Louisville, Navy, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Florida, Syracuse, Temple and West Virginia. Established in 1936 as the "Lambert Trophy" to recognize supremacy in eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in Divisions I-A. The Lambert Cup will be awarded to Divisions I-AA, II and III teams. To be eligible for the Lambert Trophy, a school must be located in the East or play half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half of their schedule features eligible teams. While Boston College has joined the ACC and will not play at least half of its games against Lambert Meadowlands teams, by virtue of its location in Massachusetts it continues to be eligible. This same principle also applies to Temple and Buffalo, which both enter the Mid-American Conference. Although their schedules are not comprised mostly of other Lambert teams, both institutions are located in the East and both remain eligible. Conversely, while Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida are not located within the East, but because they joined the BIG EAST this summer and will thus play at least half of their games against Lambert teams, they are now eligible. The ECAC will conduct the weekly poll in each of the four divisions and the final poll distributed in early January will determine the trophy winners. The teams will be presented with their awards at the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet on Tuesday, February 7 at the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Boston College received the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy presented with the ECAC in Division I-A. 2005 National Champion James Madison received the Lambert Meadowlands Cup in Division I-AA while West Chester University and Rowan University were presented the Lambert Meadowlands Teams of the Year presented with the ECAC in Divisions II and III, respectively. Four separate panels of media, one in each division, participate in a weekly poll. Playoffs and bowl games are including in the polling. http://story.scout.com/a.z?s=17&p=2&c=426060

Not even for Out of Conference games? They used to allow that. Is that because of Security? Thanks Eric.

I got my season tickets too. Just curious, has anybody received their tickets for the Miami game? I haven't yet and didn't know if I should have.

I remember when we switched and Leavitt was asked what he thought of the new logo. He said he'd like it if we win and wouldn't if we don't. Maybe he switched back.  ;D

My favorite is our secret weapon!

Free from Scout today. Bulls Practice Report & Photo Gallery By Josh Newberg USFnation.com Date: Aug 17, 2005 Today there are two practices, the first began at 8:30 AM and USFnation.com was on hand to catch all the action. In today’s report there is a breakdown of what has been going on with the quarterback competition and a photo gallery to go along with the observations. Read on for the best Bulls report around. Once again today Courtney Denson working with the first unit during the no-huddle drill, which is the first drill of the day. After he got through two or three plays the coaches were screaming at him because he was taking too long to call the play at the line. He was standing over center looking around but not barking out the play. To me it looked like he was buying time so he could remember the calls. Beside that he looks improved from voluntary workouts. He has a strong arm and throws a great deep ball. The last couple days I have not noticed him miss a receiver. Also, he has a much more serious demeanor and there isn’t as much joking around. From what I have seen he is comfortable on the run but I have not seen enough of him in the pocket to say whether or not he has improved as a pocket passer. With that being said, I still believe Pat Julmiste is the starter. Overall he brings more to the position than any of the others at this point. Pat is the leader and I think he deserves the shot at Penn State. Here is today’s photo gallery: http://southflorida.scout.com/2/425429.html There is a large photo gallery there.

Did I mention our QB really sucked too? ;D

I see they have a USF page but it's limited at the moment. http://www.bucgear.com/bucgear/search.asp?search_freetext=USF&search_submitted=yes&s_id=1&move=none&q_list=Brand%2CStyle&q_count=2&SUBMIT1=Find Also a page under "South Florida" http://www.bucgear.com/bucgear/search.asp?search_freetext=South+Florida&search_submitted=yes&s_id=1&move=none&q_list=Brand%2CStyle&q_count=2&SUBMIT1=Find Perhaps they will add Jerseys.

Well, I heard a while back that we were trying to finalize a deal with Authentic Team Merchandise. I don't know the current status of that. http://www.authenticteammerchandise.com/

Did he play any defense in HS? I forget. I don't know what position Leavitt promised him when we took him from Miami.