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BullWriter

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    Ashley Burns SHUTS THE HELL UP!

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    Oh, how refreshing... gone is the bravado from that little punk after we whooped UCF's ass...

    http://www.ucfnews.com/media/paper174/news/2005/09/19/News/Running.Of.The.Bulls-988999.shtml

    Running of the Bulls

    Despite bad game for UCF, rivalry with USF holds plenty of benefits for both

    By Ashley "I'm A Punk" Burns

    Published: Monday, September 19, 2005

    Heading into Saturday's first-ever matchup with the University of South Florida Bulls, UCF football fans were anxious to see what they believed would be the beginning of a rivalry.

    USF fans didn't agree. Some of them did, but the majority of Bull nation were convinced that UCF didn't even belong in the same sentence, let alone field, as USF. The Bulls' 31-14 trouncing of the Knights added weight to the USF argument.

    Yet there were 45,139 fans in attendance, and if that's not enough to convince the USF brass that this rivalry is beneficial for both sides, thousands of UCF fans made the journey from Orlando to watch the Knights extend their losing streak - as always, the longest in the nation at 17. While the outcome undoubtedly left all of them sour, the experience is one that some see as the beginning of something big.

    One of those fans in attendance was Florida Sen. Lee Constantine, who has publicly supported this rivalry for many years and has been quite vocal as far as seeing that it happens annually, far beyond the current two-year home and home agreement that USF was so gracious to accept.

    "This is something that is very near and dear to me," Constantine said of the rivalry. "It's something that should happen annually. Every school needs a rival that they can say, 'We hate them or we love to hate them.' USF and UCF are natural. For me, it was imperative for UCF and USF to improve their programs and continue on to the next step and have this kind of rivalry."

    Fans from both sides at the game showed respect toward each other, despite being playful with distaste for each other's teams throughout the game. There were fans wielding signs which gave UCF credit for attractive girls and drinking prowess, and others that let UCF fans know that USF jumped the shark by joining the Big East, leaving UCF in its wake. There were painted faces and painted bodies, crazy pom-poms and more. All are part of the rivalry that Constantine hopes to continue and help build.

    "This game, in my opinion, will be the largest-attending crowd for each school home and home every year," Constantine said.

    Saturday's crowd was the second-largest in USF history at Raymond James Stadium. Although the Bulls have had some controversy in the past with calculating attendance numbers, the debut game's attendance was legit.

    Before the game, Constantine expressed his overwhelming devotion to UCF, win or lose. He said it's important for fans to stay behind the players because they need to know the students and alumni believe in them.

    "I'm UCF tried and true, black and gold running through my veins," he said. "This is the most important game that we've ever played. This sets the table for the rest of the season. We've gone to the next level. We're in Conference USA, we've got a great coach. Two weeks ago at the South Carolina game, we saw that the players bought into the program and they believe in the coach. We - alumni and students - believe in them. They need to believe in themselves and this is the game that can make them do this."

    In the past, USF officials have been reluctant to play UCF because some critics believe they think the Bulls have a better program than the Knights. Because USF joined the not-so-illustrious revamped Big East, the Bulls may believe they hold an edge over UCF in recruiting. While that thought process is certainly valid, the rivalry could hurt either team depending on each year's outcome.

    "They think that they have a recruiting edge," Constantine said. "They really don't but they think they do. If they keep maintaining the thought 'we're better that UCF,' then they'll never lose that competitive edge. They will always think it's going to be there. It's crazy. It's really ridiculous. Their coach has dictated this policy for their university for a number of years. Like I told the president of the university two years ago, 'who runs your university - you or the football coach?' This game is good for both of us - win or lose."

    It was certainly good for Tampa's economy over the weekend as there were almost no hotel rooms available in the area surrounding Raymond James Stadium. In some parking lot tailgate areas, the UCF to USF ratio was almost 10-to-1. Of course the same can be said for the other lots that were heavily concentrated with green and gold. Either way, Constantine said, that's a good thing.

    "Look what it has brought," the Republican from district 22 said. "We're going to have thousands here and they're going to have more than they normally have. This is a rivalry game and there's nothing that can beat it, especially in Florida, the home of college football. Nothing can beat a rivalry game."

    Prior to the game, Constantine spoke to the UCF players after practice last Thursday. It was there that he was named an honorary captain for Saturday's game. He also offered Coach George O'Leary's young team some words of wisdom to help get them pumped up.

    "I told them the history," Constantine said. "I told them that I was at the first game back in 1979 and I've been going ever since then. I told them how much the 150,000 alumni are looking at them. We believe in them. The students believe in them. The coaching staff believes in them. I know they believe in the coaching staff. All they need is one more step - to believe in themselves. I also told them how hard it was to get this game. USF does not want to play us."

    If Saturday's game was any inclination of what the future may hold, the Bulls may want to play UCF as often as possible.

    Fan support for 2006 road game @ UCF...

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    Drunken students acting like fools is something you find everywhere on game day.  I don't support it, but don't sit there and act like UCF is the only school that has bad behaving students.  And don't use that as an excuse for why your sorry a$$ fan base won't show up next year!

    And yet, not once in our 8 year history have we had pregnant women accosted, profanity-laden chants around small children, personal property destroyed, and our mascot requiring a police escort.

    Yeah, you guys are some great fans alright... idiots.

    Rating the state's RB's

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    When I was roving the sidelines last year, I saw many an instance where Andre was on the sideline, getting work done on him.  Let's not forget the games where he basically disappeared for the entire 2nd half... I believe Army was one.

    Leavitt didn't just sideline his best runner for the hell of it.  The wear and tear DID get to him... hopefully the training staff has addressed it, but I don't think it was a matter of conditioning.  He got banged a lot.  I don't think the article is terribly far off in terms of accuracy, but Hall is a mule and will tough it out.

    TheBullsPen.com Fundraiser:  Bradley Mosley

    in USF South Florida Bulls Athletics

    Posted

    I just wanted everyone to know that I sent Vicki Mitchell a check for the amount of the contributions we raised for this fundraiser.  She will be depositing the money into Bradley's fund and thanked us all for our generosity.

    I want to thank everyone who donated either to this fund or directly to Bradley's fund at USF.  Even the smallest donations will go a long way towards helping him through this.

    Again, stuff like this makes me prouder than ever to be a Bull.  Many thanks.

    Matt

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