CousinRicky

So did I. They paid for my USF basketball season tickets though. I wanted to make a big bet on Miami, but then if USF pulled the upset I would have been angry USF won ... and I didn't want to go there. So I only bet $20 on Miami, by keeping it low I could root for USF (because I would gladly lose that bet to see a Bulls victory) ... and the pain of my Bulls losing was comforted by $18 and change. Pretty close to what I did. $20 win. And I would always exchange a lost bet for a USF win. Like an old advertisement said about gambling "Bet with your head, not over it."

Some of our naive "fans" apparently are prepared for a one year overhaul ... I think most realistic fans expect a team that is reasonably competitive year in and year out. We could play this game over 100 times and the product we have looses every time, probably looses to FIU 60/100 and McNeese St 50/100. There is no fathomable way that is acceptable for the budget or investment we have placed in football. What I would say is naive is to think we can play another 3 years of football the way we have played the last 3 years and remain solvent. We either need to dramatically cut expenditures or return to a level of competitiveness that is at least marginally entertaining. So what do you say to UCF fans who went through an 0 -12 season not too long ago and are now enjoying a decent team? They didn't get their money's worth that year but they are now. This stuff goes through cycles unless your Alabama, Ohio St, etc. This is a tough year but, as others have said, things will get better eventually.

I'm just saying that if you had told me in August that 3 weeks in we would have the 23rd ranked defense in total defense and that Shaw was averaging over 130 a game I would never believe that we were 0 - 3. The numbers only support games lost by turnovers, big plays, and special teams. We are better than our record. No we aren't. Ir defense has faced two of the worst offenses in the country. Lets see how we fare against Miami before puffing our chests. This is a bad football team right now, we're rated correctly. Was going to post something similar re: the level of competence of the offenses we've played. If our 1st 3 opponents had been L'ville, Miami and Cinci my guess is we wouln't be at #23 in the country. Most schools have weak schedules for the first three games. We are compared to those schools. We'll see, but if you want to believe we suck worse than any school in the country go ahead. By the end of this season we'll be a better team. That hasn't been true for nearly 10 years and makes me think we aren't as bad as it record. I get it though, it hurts less when you lower the bar. If you think we would lose to fau or mcneese again your crazy. Those were flukes two untimely low probability flukes. Are we good, no not by our expectations, but not 119 in 1a. Not true. You think maybe we did get it right after all? Not that we're happy about it. But a real offense showed our D for what it truly is.

Hate to admit that I made a few bucks on today's game.

Awesome idea .... Do you have recipe or I think they used to sell in stores down here? make a pot of chili dump way too much cinnamon in it make a pot of noodles put the chili on top of the noodles throw the whole pot in the trash Skyline is nasty Tradition!!! There are 100 different recipes for Skyline chili. Believe the original is like the Colonel's chicken recipe, only the company has it. A friend has a version that she makes that supposedly came from someone who worked there. Doesn't matter. In keeping with our visiting team theme, we'll eat some version of chili and probably some Brats or Franks. Triple, there is a Skyline Chili place in Clearwater. Not sure if they sell it in quarts or gallons at that location but it might be worth a call. Can't find Little Kings Cream Ale on the Total Wine site (even though I don't think it is made in Cinci any longer). I've bought it there in the past. Again, not a great beer but it is/was from Cinci. AJ, don't take away our one pleasure of going to football games. The football doesn't cut it so our tailgates get us through.

Skyline chili tailgate baby.

Realistically... in all honesty... this is gonna be butt hurt city. 60-0 might not be out of the realm of possibilities. All I have to say is I will be drunk by half time. I get drunk before we enter the stadium. Much cheaper and eases the pain sooner.

This. He is not lacking in confidence.

Was FAU not an in-state opponent?

I'm just saying that if you had told me in August that 3 weeks in we would have the 23rd ranked defense in total defense and that Shaw was averaging over 130 a game I would never believe that we were 0 - 3. The numbers only support games lost by turnovers, big plays, and special teams. We are better than our record. No we aren't. Ir defense has faced two of the worst offenses in the country. Lets see how we fare against Miami before puffing our chests. This is a bad football team right now, we're rated correctly. Was going to post something similar re: the level of competence of the offenses we've played. If our 1st 3 opponents had been L'ville, Miami and Cinci my guess is we wouln't be at #23 in the country.

Never thought I would be pining for the good 'ol days of Pat Julmiste. Hope you are being sarcastic. Bench will be better than Julmiste.

Bench has been getting more reps than he had since the last game - not all the reps. Don't know what that means as to who is starting.

Pretty much all coach speak. Didn't name the starting QB although Louk pressed him on it. When asked if he was tempted to change his offensive scheme to fit the personnel, he pretty much said "no". They have a system they believe in and will stick with it and try to add the players to fit that system. Mentioned how these players were recruited for a spread offense. But if you change now you'll always be changing.

Yeah, and I think you claimed you were going to make a huge bet on our Michigan State game, giving the points. How did that work out for you, or was that also just a bunch of wind. Go Bulls! Gamblers only tell you when they win.

Out of donations, season parking and tickets, do you have any clue at all how much goes to the TSA now? Rich - you are right, but that isn't profit, that is the salary of ushers and security and cops and a whole bunch of other people who USF would also have to pay if the games were on campus, plus the electric bill and things like that. Yes there is a small bit of profit, but its not much for the TSA. USF loses out the most on concessions, where we get nothing. (money goes to Bucs and their concessionaire) USF gives up 10% on merchandise to the bucs concessionaire who owns those rights. USF also gives up single game parking, and season parking after a certain number (which we might not have reached). If a stadium was paid for that money would be "profit". But I'm thinking that that money would be going to pay for the stadium. Don't know what the debt service would be, but that $150K is pretty cheap all things considered. Sure there is revenue left on the table. But let's say a stadium is $150 million along with some interest. Just the principle is $5 million per year over 30 years. This is all simplified, but we are paying TSA under $1 million a year. I'm sure someone on this Board will run the numbers to tell us how much we lose in beer sales, parking, etc. But I still believe if it were cheaper more cost effective to have an OCS that there would be one being built.

Believe we pay about $150K per game for rent.

Those Holtz recruits almost beat L'ville @ L'ville last year. Many of the guys playing on Sat v Miami were playing in that game. Losing BJ is was huge but a lot of these guys played well in that game. Won't be shocked if we keep it relatively close. But I also won't be shocked if they beat us by 40.

Thought you were going to Michigan State this year?

If we had a stadium on campus I'd gladly up my donations, pay more in parking, and more in ticket prices because USF would be keeping all of that money vs. the Bucs/TSA keeping most of it. Just to be clear, your money would be going toward the bond holders and/or banks through USF. The debt service on building a stadium would prolly require more per year than what the Tampa Sports Authority/Glazers get from us now. If it were cheaper the OCS would be in build stage right now.

Michigan State tickets were only $50. Notre Dame was more than that, I'm thinking $70. So it seems to vary. Believe we paid $50 or $55 for the opening of FIU's stadium.

As opposed to the Leavitt era when we lost 27 - 7 in 2005. Seriously, people need to stop. We had some crap losses under Leavitt too. That's why people wanted him gone. Some of our best wins were under Jim, but some horrendous losses as well. Holtz wasn't the anti-Christ. Leavitt wasn't the Messiah. And we have no idea yet what Tags will turn out to be.

Let's charge as people leave the stadium - $1 per point scored by the offense. Still under $10.

Hoping to get an answer here, if not, I'll email you. So I have an online subscription to the paper. Does that get me access to the blogs or is that another fee?

i watched alot of football yesterday our lack of talent is truly amazing considering where usf is located utah state has a better qb than us My guess is you will be happy with Steven Bench come Novemberish. Not saying we win a lot of games but the QB play will be much steadier.

Just a philosophical difference I guess. Not sure why you are thanking people for doing what they said they would do. If you were someone complaining about them not coming through, then I can see people calling them out. But if I go to the grocery store to buy something on sale, do I need to stop by customer service counter and thank them for actually charging me the sale price?