PitBull

my tickets are in!  seems like i'm gonna park in downtown new brunswick and take the shuttle.. it is free

Hadn't thought of it.  Why?  Is it bad?  Nowhere to park?  I should look into that...

ya, the parking is pretty bad from what i hear.. it was the 1st thing my brother in law said.  if anyone finds out anything, let me know.

Here's some info I found:

http://www.scarletknights.com/facilities/parking/parking.asp

i'm not 100%, but i'm pretty sure those are sold out.. i remember visiting that link and sending him the link, only for him to say something to that extent.. we talked last week and i remember him mentioning we might have to take the free shuttle (mentioned at the bottom of that page).. the shuttle from new brunswick is free, apparently.  anyways, i will call him this weekend and find out more details.

Hadn't thought of it.  Why?  Is it bad?  Nowhere to park?  I should look into that...

ya, the parking is pretty bad from what i hear.. it was the 1st thing my brother in law said.  if anyone finds out anything, let me know.

So...anyone hear any good deals with flights?

i'm flying continental.  i arrive thursday at noon, i leave sunday morning.. my roundtrip is 200 bucks.  you can get cheaper if you want to leave like saturday morning or so.. i wanted to stay the weekend.  i fly into newark, by the way.

what are you doing about parking?

2 Questions for you all:

1. have they shipped out RU tickets yet?

2. what is everyone doing for parking?  I'm going with my brother-in-law (RU alum) and he says parking around the stadium absolutely sucks.. unlike the stadiums in florida, it's not located amongst a neighborhood where you can just find parking.

this may seem petty, but how about more trees on campus in general?  the area i'm talking about is the quad/lawn between the chemistry/NES buildings and the engineering/theater buildings.. just west of the MLK plaza.. hell, we need more trees all over the **** place.. i dont know how much baby trees cost, but i'm sure they arent that much.  in like 5 yrs or so, they can really give our campus a lot of shade and give our campus a more wooded feel... it would also feel a lot more "busy", instead the largest stretches of open lawn overlooking ugly and outdated buildings.. i guess the trees would "hide" the buildings from afar.

I have certain expectations...

When USF pulled the trigger on a coach with 2 years remaining, who by all standards, was a good mid-major coach, that tells me that they feel they can do better; they weren't willing to sit around to see if the same coach would turn the corner in another year. [by no means am I saying that I  was for giving the last staff another year.]

So, if USF is going shopping, I expect at least twice as better than what the last coaching experiment.

Hobbs, I feel is not 2X better, just better.

Give the last staff another year or hire Hobbs, it is not much of a difference in my mind.

Beggers can't be choosers.  This basketball program isn't Duke or UNC.  This is probably as good as we'll ever get.  We gotta get this guy.

i think now is right about the right time to leave.. that program has definitely lost its luster, and the mystique of the OB is pretty much gone.

That being said, I dont think they'll build a stadium on campus.  There is NO ROOM on their campus and the ritzy citizens of coral gables would probably say no-- considering the traffic and noise that will come to their neighborhood.

in terms of getting their "own" stadium, i think they might be screwed.  the OB is as close as it will get.  the OB needs to be torn down, though.  it is pretty crappy and out of date.

VERY EXCITED about our future!  Selmon had an eye for football talent (w/ Leavitt), Woolard should have the eye for basketball talent (coming from SLU).

I hear rumors on here that he might switch to safety.  Now that he's with us, will he play QB and back up grothe?  watching film on him, it seems as if he runs our offense to a "T", but then again that was in high school.  The film shows that his arm was kinda pathetic, and he was more of a dink-and-dunk type qb when he did have to pass.  not much mustard on it.  anyways, does anyone have any predictions on his future?

is this guy any good?  sometimes you rack up a lot of tackles because your front 4 sucks.

And for those you haven't heard anything about the highly-touted running back Mike Ford in a while, he clocked in a 4.66, which, Leavitt said, impressed everyone since the cousin of senior receiver Amarri Jackson weighs in at 220 pounds.

4.66 isnt very impressive.  is he just out of shape or something?  maybe we should convert him to FB and make plancher the RB.

I dunno Trip, Rutgers had been mired in 25+ years of being bad, flat bad.

USF on the other hand had sniffed success under the prior regime and has just come to flat out suck.

I still think comparing the two is hard simply because it is much harder to build a talent base in football.

Exactly.  Rutgers had more of a rebuilding of its program than USF basketball does.  What Schiano has done is unparalleled to any coach (even Leavitt).  Remember, this was the birthplace of college football, but also the laughing stock of college football for over a century.

If anything, it gives us hope that our basketball team can get it going.. I'm using the logic: "if RU football can do it, why can't USF bball?"  Remember, there's only 5 people on the court in BBall.  All you really need is that one good recruit to change the way things are.  I think the Geography argument is a little moot in college basketball, considering how many high school basketball players there are, and how little the roster spots are of 1-A teams.

All we need is that 1 coach and probably that 1 recruit to get us competitive.

I believe that our basketball team is much like their football team (pre-Schiano).  We may not have nearly the kind of history that the other Big East teams have, but we just need that special coach that can get it done.  RMC obviously isn't it.  It kind of reminds me of when RU had Terry Shea.  Who wouldve ever guessed that Rutgers would be a national power in football?  This was the same program that lost to a 1-AA team (new hampshire, i think?) Schiano's 1st year.. it reminds me of the bball team's loss to TAMU-Corpus Christi.  Hell, RU is doing an even better job than us in football and they had to shake 100 years of negativity!

I hope Woolard will make a wise decision and the next coach in line will be like what Schiano is to Rutgers football.  Besides, Woolard came from a basketball school, so I'd assume he'd know what kind of BBall talent to bring in here.  I think it's a forgone conclusion that RMC is out.  I'm excited about a new coach.

Wins over Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech, USC, Nebraska, Iowa State, Cal,

Lost by 4 to Texas AM...

What a joke that we didn't hire this guy.

All the guy does is win basketball games and build top notch programs.

Total bone headed move.

Kansas State was awful before he got there.  18-7..

Now wonder this guy is one of the winningest coaches in College Basbetall History..

I'm glad you brought this up.  I was planning on bringing up his success and comparing it to Mac.  I can't believe we didn't take up the opportunity to get him in here.  It would have been instant success for us, and it definitely would have put us up on the map.  Typical USF-- I guess we'll never catch a break  :

Personally, I just hope these recruits dont lose to teams like Kansas or Cincy.. the day we don't lose to programs like these is the day that our recruiting will be on par with the Big 3.

Gameplanning wins games, but talent alone should be able to beat the Kansases and Cincys of the world.

We will get "the star" type of talent eventually... but it takes time.  

We are getting talent that plays every bit as good as a 4 or 5 star right now, only they are rated 3 stars and get developed by great coaching.  THat is much more important to us at this juncture.  If we win a big east championship or two... you'll see the more touted recruits come here... and then Leavitt will make them 6 star athletes  

it didnt seem to take Rutgers too long.. they signed anthony davis, probably one of the best OT's in the nation.

You do realize that Rutgers has been in the BE for 15 years and us 1, don't you?

you do realize that Rutgers has been the doormat of college football since the game of football was founded on its campus, don't you?

We will get "the star" type of talent eventually... but it takes time.  

We are getting talent that plays every bit as good as a 4 or 5 star right now, only they are rated 3 stars and get developed by great coaching.  THat is much more important to us at this juncture.  If we win a big east championship or two... you'll see the more touted recruits come here... and then Leavitt will make them 6 star athletes  

it didnt seem to take Rutgers too long.. they signed anthony davis, probably one of the best OT's in the nation.

There were Gators everywhere.  They were even selling UF Championship banners along Bayshore. Freaking annoying.

There are Gators everywhere.  I've grown used to that fact.

with rod smith gone, are we gonna switch to a more conventional pro-style attack?  if we keep up with this spread option, grothe will eventually get killed.  I wouldn't mind a West Coast Offense where he can stay in the pocket and scramble if need be.

these 5 programs are currently ranked higher than us in the recruiting rankings:

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=9&c=14&view=1&yr=2007

i think we need to start picking up the slack if we plan on winning the Big East in the next 5 yrs or so..

dont get your hopes up.  tyson butler is a 1-star recruit

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=8&c=1&nid=2736745

now that we've got ford, what happens to plancher?  or williams?  or ponton?  I only heard good things about plancher in the offseason, and due to the praises of some of you guys, I could have sworn that he was the 2nd coming of Warrick Dunn.  With that being said, if he was that good, should we RS Mike Ford this upcoming season?  It will give him an opportunity to learn the ropes of college, both on the field and off.  It will also get him acclimated to our offense and the plays.  Hey, it worked for Grothe.  From what I hear, Ford has 4 full yrs of eligiblity.  if Plancher is that good, we can maximize those yrs by seasoning him with a RS.

just heard on 620 wdae that the Sun Sentinel is reporting that Saban is out in Miami.. what does this mean for Mike Ford and potentially Robert Marve coming here?  will they head to Bama now that Saban is there?  Saban is a great coach, the kind of coach kids want to play for.  This isn't some coordinator upgraded to HC.  this is a championship caliber coach.  should we be worried?

I would rather them go OOC so instate talent doesnt beat us, that would mean out of state teams in our conference out recruit us in our home state

out of state teams in our conference already out recruit us in our own state.  our recruiting rankings last yr were pretty bad.  RU is doing a good job of recruiting the state of florida-- as evidenced with their record this yr.

and they AREN'T a 1 yr wonder.. ray rice and mike teel will only be jrs next yr.  they are gonna be good, especially considering the speed in the specialty positions.