BullyPulpit

Doesn't matter, JD Alexander is already working on a bill to have the Sun Dome relocated to Lakeland so that the Florida Polytechnic University Fightin' Alexanders can play there.

I agree that it is an excellent and reqarding program. For those on the fence, also keep this in mind: You earn .1 Priority Point for every season ticket used, so donating them and knowing they will be used is much better than letting them go to waste.

Hello Everyone, I volunteer with the Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Tampa Bay. It is an excellent program in which individuals are matched up with an underprivileged, one parent child and help them through life. I'm writing this because the program relies heavily upon donations for activities for "Bigs" to do with their "Littles." If you have extra tickets to the games that you know in advance that you are not going to use I would highly encourage you to contact Bonnie Mangione at Bonnie.Mangione@bbbs.org and let her know Brian Motroni referred you and you have some tickets that you would like to donate. I can assure you that they will be appreciated and will get used. The Bigs do not receive any sort of financial assistance, so it is nice to occasionally have a free event that we can do with the Littles. I'm taking my Little to his first ever football game of any sort this Saturday and cannot wait to see the excitement on his face as he witnesses our Bulls in action and I get to take him up to the nice Club Level. This is how Bulls fans are created at a young age. Also, if you have the time and energy and are interested in becoming a Big, feel free to email Bonnie and she will provide you the details. It is an extremely rewarding program as you take an active role in the life of a youngster who might otherwise not have any sort of parental support in his or her life.

I am guessing (and yes, merely guessing) that Matt was given a Notice to Appear in lieu of arrest. Police have the discretion to do this when a misdemeanor is involved. If that is in fact the case, it would explain the lack of an arrest record.

Mike Ford will be the strting RB next season. Leavitt saying he has a ways to go is just to keep him motivated, focused, and busting his ass this off-season. Remember, Leavitt made Grothe "earn it" last year by letting Julmiste go out and suck it up for a half against McNeese St. I would imagine that he doesn't make the same mistake again and will go with the most talented players, not just the most experienced.

My plans are not definitely set yet. We will probably be driving up there and may bring my sister-in-law and her boyfriend with us. If that falls through, or if Southwest comes through with a great DING, we might fly into Birmingham and drive the two hours to Auburn. Either way, we will try and meet up with you and the rest of the RR crew.

For those who want to stay close to the stadium and avoid a 2 hour wait to get out of town following the game, the Knights Inn in Opelika still has rooms I believe. I know the rate is now up to $80, but I booked before they realized the USF game date had changed and the rate was only $50. If you are just looking for a bed to sleep in, this one is probably still your best bet to stay close to the action. No frills, but there will be plenty of thrills at the game!  Works out well for me too, because I will leave around 7:30 am on Saturday and get to Auburn around 2:30pm. Check into the hotel and head over to the stadium. I really can't wait for this game. I have a strong feeling that this will be "The One".

My wife and I jokingly sing that song all the time. We are the smoke free class of 2000, two triple zero everyone's a hero, or a she-ro. Healthy lungs, healthy heart, we want have to stop because we'll never start. We are the smoke free class of 2000, two-oh-oh-oh, YO, that's the way to go. (She-ro, obviously a made up term, is used instead of HEROINE, a female HERO. What a lame song. But, I have never smoked, so I guess it worked.)

Listen guys, I deal with this same type of arrogance at work, as all three partners at my law firm are UF and FSU grads, as well as two associate attorneys. The bottom line is this, we do not have to convince them of our greatness on a message board, we will let our team do the talking for us on the field. Auburn can have all of their past successes and victories and traditions, but on September 8th at about 10 pm eastern time the only history that will matter will be USF 1 - Auburn - 0!

Going to have to cut my trip to South Beach short and haul ass up I-75, but it will be worth it to finally see the Bulls again. It will end the 112 day stretch from the last game. Unfortunately, it is another 139 days between the Spring game and the slaughtering of our sacrifical lamb, Elon.

Probably starting around June, but don't hold me to that.

All you Huggy-lovers are assuming that the rumors were true. When you are an unemployed coach you need to use another school to help leverage the negotiations. If we were "involved" at all, it was most likely a facade, and we were there to help Huggy get more out of K-State.

The poker analogy deals with the two or three recruits he took chances on who didn't pan out. His back was to the wall and he knew that he needed to bring in guys with incredible athleticism. He was in a losing situation. There is nothing more that can be said to those of you who can't see that. With all that being said, I understand why he is no longer here and I patiently await the announcement of the new coach.

All the better. It will be as quite as Morgantown was last year when they came to the realization that we have one of the best defenses in ALL of College Football. I love the fact that Bama Grad is on there spouting off. Can you say sour grapes because we stole their Ford GT...... ;D

Good points...which is why Pelphrey and Marshall were chosen as top targets and fit exactly your description. But now that those type of coaches have told USF no, who will Woolard look at next? Do you or anyone else know exactly why those coaches turned down the USF job? There are a variety of reasons aside from the quality of USF that a coach would choose to bolt. Family, money, greed, other jobs, contentment.....the list goes on.

;D.....something like that. But fl83, do me a favor and tell me the coach at the time we were hiring in 2003 that was a no-brainer that we passed on and would have definitely had this program in a better position. That is the way you have to judge a coach and a program, based upon reality, not some fantasy world where we can compete with some incredible programs right out of the gate.

I think you all are missing the point. The hole was dug before he could even get into the job. Having the budget and facilities of a mid-major (maybe even a low mid-major) at the time he took the job was a tremendous hole, as he would have been playing in a high mid-major conference. CRM took the job as he was up to the challenge. The HOLE grew larger as the Bulls moved to the Big East. Sprinkle in some injuries and a death and the program sunk a little deeper. CRM probably made some recruiting moves that he wouldn't have normally made (or had to for that matter) due to the ever growing hole his program was in. Unfortunately for him (and for us) those moves turned out poorly (i.e. the kid from New York who got kicked off the team) and thus the hole grew even deeper. Think of it like a hand of Texas Hold 'Em. You are short stacked and absolutely dominated by everyone else at the table. You get a pair of pocket 5's. You know you have a 50/50 or 40/60 chance of surviving the hand, but if you fold, you most likely are going to go away without much of a fight. So, you go all-in and hope to double up. If you are successful, your situtation changes and you are not forced to take as big of risks in subsquent hands. However, if you lose the hand, you are done. That is the situation CRM was in. He went all in on pocket 5's and our opponents were holding pocket Aces.

I assume that had you been on the Titanic, you would have been telling someone to turn off the leaky faucet just as the ship's bow began to sink below the waves. Dude, the Bulls are 4-28 in the BE. They got turned down by a coach from WINTHROP! The guy at Arkansas got fired after making the NCAA Tournament twice in the last two years. What, exactly, qualifies as a mess to you? Getting turned down by a coach does not necessarily speak as to the quality of a program. Marshall was using his visit to USF as leverage. He wants to remain in South Carolina and is most likely patiently awaiting a job opening at South Carolina. You can;t judge a book by its cover all of the time, sometimes you have to turn a few pages to see what is really going on.

Guys, timeout. I think you are overreacting to what CRM is saying. He came in with a 5 year plan to turn USF into a winner. I do not think that part of that plan was a shift to the Big East with the opportunity to get pummelled by traditional powers night after night. If he had known we would be in the BE by 2005, I think he would have naturally had to rethink the job. W's and L's are what all coaches are judged by. Why would he want to commit career suicide and come to a program that would not be in a position to win consistently because of the realities facing it? I think his point is more likely to be that there were other options out there that, on their face, did not seem more desireable than the USF position at the time he was hired.

Timing is everything in life. For USF's men's b-ball program, time has not been on our side. Greenburg leaving a sparsely stocked cupboard, USF transitiong to the Big East, countless injuries, a few risky, but talented, recruits who don't pan out, a player's death......all of this leads us to where we are now. But what is the best way to characterize where we are now? I think that MESS is a bit over-the-top. I think CHALLENGE is more appropriate. Our next coach needs to be fearless and innovative. Willing and able to think outside of the box, as USF doesn't represent your typical college hoops program. I would prefer someone young and hungry, not just a name. Someone with a chip on their shoulder, someone with something to prove. These guys who are backing away from the offer are just not up to the challenge, and that is fine, it is not a knock on them. In the end, I am hopeful that USF gets the right man for the job. I do not think that the hiring process should be a firesale. We need to make sure not only that USF is sold on the new coach, but the new coach is sold on USF.

I was singing Colby's praises last year. I love coming out of the huddle with him lined up at RB and then motioning him out into the slot. This creates an immediate mismatch with whoever is covering him, especially if it is an LB. Colby had a great catch against UCF over the middle, and that is where I think he can do the most damage. Also, if we utilize him as a decoy, and run him on a fly route, it will force a safety over to help. Thn you hit Amarri, Marcus, or Taurus over the middle on a crossing route. I have a feeling Colby wil be much more valuable than his year-end statistics may suggest.

I am guessing that the TOTAL allotment, irrespective of priority for season ticket holders, will be at least 2,000. I am hopeful we can get close to that amount up there for this game. Would love to have a great showing on national tv in our biggest OOC win to date.

I had a problem with my credit card (my card company had to change my number because of some stealing of numbers from some department store) and USF called today to advise that they are charging everyone for them now and have them in hand. They were waiting for CJL to sign them all before they charged us for them. Expect to start receiving them by early next week.

The ticket office said they expect at least 2,000 tickets to be available to the Auburn game. It also doesn't matter how early you call as tickets are distributed according to season ticket priority. When they begin pre-sale of the tickets, they do so without the tickets in hand. Look for the ticket to go on sale in June.

I propose that they use you as a guideline. If it is the type of player who displays the character traits that you posess (and your record reflects) then we do not take the player. Would you agree with that as a strategy? :