MikePhillips

I miss Grothe, I loved the guy and his commitment on the field It didn't matter who he was playing against, he came in with the expectation he was going to win it, and he was going to do anything he could to win it Pure eff'n warrior, I loved watching him play.

Most people compliment me for representing my school, and showing my school pride... regardless of the USF football team's performance. The only people who'd actually make fun of you, would be a fan of another school that didn't even go to that college... UM Fans On gameday, everyone cares about football. When it's not gameday, no one cares. The older folks tend to sympathize, if you have followed a team long enough, it's going to go through what we are going through. Everyone has good years they love to reflect on, everyone has bad years they wish they could forget

Please tell me this isn't our band.....

I'm really at the point where I think we should start chuckin' hail marys Why not? Here is the possible outcomes- 1) They intercept it - which is fine because we're usually 3 and out, and a punt would have landed them in nearly the same field position anyways 2) We get a pass interference on defense - 1st down and 15 yards 3) We catch it, completion for 30 yards 4) We drop the pass, redo the play 5) We get sacked, lose 5 years. Usually the false start from the shifts, or the holding gets flagged anyways, so a sack isn't so bad I mean... why not? Any one give me any reason, why chucking hail marys is worse than we are currently doing on the field?

If you can make it to the Undertow at St Pete Beach for a beer and sunset, it's an amazing experience Get there plenty early, it fills up quick! Edison's is a great place to eat dinner near downtown Tampa. Also, a great place to eat lunch is Oxford Exchange near downtown Tampa as well. Make reservations at both Busch Gardens is great right now with this weather. tbo.com has some great ideas of things to see and do Thanks for visiting Tampa!

can we at least.. BRAINSTORM on where it would actually fit? Step 1) Where would we put it? Step 2) Does the location have enough room to fit the stadium, plus 20,000+ parking spaces? Step 3) What kind of a conniption fit would the local residents have, when they realize that a stadium is being built within earshot of their house? This stadium is going to host other events other than football. (Concerts, motivational speakers, etc) There is quite a bit of empty real estate west of the Embassy Suites (where they used to do the Christmas car rides), ya'll thinking about putting it there?

I was happy when we actually got a program. My first year at USF was in 1996, and the ONLY place to get USF TShirts was the rinky-dink bookstore they had behind the post office, which is now currently parking services. I was happy with the program, right up to the point of them firing Leavitt. Sure, we lost many games we should have won, and won quite a few games against team that we should have lost. But ever since the firing of Leavitt, the program has just fallen off a cliff I loved Leavitt, I was furious when he was fired. He built something out of nothing. I remember seeing that double wide trailer parked out near the baseball field. I remember when the team used to drive over from Fontana in the back of pickup trucks, practicing out of left center field in the softball intramural softball fields. I loved hearing the practice field get quite when I'd hit a home run into their practice area! LOL So yes, I was happy knowing that while we may not win every single game, we at least had a CHANCE to win those games. I still support the team, but that heart and drive we had in the late 1990's and early 2000's just doesn't feel like it's there anymore

Basically, a degree from USF will cost about an extra $250 more

I think what was really cool, was when she told my daughters (who just started kindergarten)- "Nice to meet you ladies! I was your daddy's principal at USF!" My wife is a 1st grade teacher at the same school they attend (Simms), so they've met the principal at their school many times. Seeing their "Ohhhhhh.... that's who you are!" shocked face when she said that was awesome. She is such a class act, I graduated in 2001 the year after she got the president position at USF. I love seeing her, she truly is an amazing person. She completely lights up any place she walks into <3

In spite of the second half, I wanted to give a big THANK YOU to Judy Genshaft for walking along side the stadium, politely waiving and saying hello to everyone I have never seen her do this before, not sure if it was planned, but it was certainly appreciated. She stopped, shook my daughters hand (and mine), was extremely polite I told my daughters "The last time daddy shook her hand, was at my graduation!" This was an extremely special treat for me Sorry if this distracts from the usually doom and gloom of the football team.

fumbles happen. While it was a silly mistake not to switch hands, I wouldn't put the entire fault of the loss on him. That's soul crushing to cover that much real estate, to have a fumble at the end The loss is the SUM of all the parts, just like the win is the SUM of all the parts Melvin Gordon fumbled the football for Wisconsin in the red zone in the 3rd quarter... almost in the same exact spot as Swanson did Dd it cost Wisconsin the win? No It was crushing, but it hardly cost us the win. How many 3 and outs did we have? How many times did we punt? How many times did we fail to stop the run from Wisconsin? It's not fair to put this in his lap. The play contributed, but a very small amount to the bigger picture.

it was pretty quiet, we got some club level seats to keep out of the rain

USF ponchos anyone? LOL No rain, no rainbow

tomorrow is my birthday. Taking the family to Tampa Club, then heading to the game We NEED to win this one... ESPN Primetime? Come on gentlemen, let's get this one tomorrow!

I lived in the ORIGINAL "Village" in 1996, which was the housing on the other side of the street from the police station Beta Dorm in 1996 and 1997 Fontana from 1998 to 2000 The cat fights in the Village were incredible! Especially when the possums would get into it with them, you could hear those for miles around!

Elmer For President!!!! LOL (Elmer was the ******* security guard at Fontana in the mid-late 1990's. He locked you out on the fire escape if you were out there smoking, and towed your friend's cars out of the lot)

Trying to shed some humor in here, so bear with me I can't even remember, the last time someone actually hit Hootie with a football Can we please maybe move them up 10 yards? Because Hootie gets about 5 seconds to change direction before the ball comes close to hitting him Maybe I'm just being bitter, but I kinda look forward to seeing that owl get drilled at least once a season. Hasn't happened in at least 5 years

Well the one thing unfortunately we forget is that Tampa is NOT a "college town" There is quite a bit to do here for college students, other than attending football games. Beaches, theme parks, South Howard, etc When I was in school at USF, I just wanted to be entertained on the weekend. The drive to the Old Sombrero wasn't bad. Take Nebraska to Busch, Busch to Dale Mabry, Dale Mabry south to the stadium. You are there in 20 minutes, parked by 30 minutes. I've never found the parking situation to be anything but extremely reasonable and efficient. I've never had a single issue with parking since 1997 when I attended the first game. It's always been easy and hassle free If the program can just bat .500, they'll fill the stands again. But this is brutal to watch, it's truly soul crushing to sit in the stands and experience this, weekend after weekend, year after year

In all seriousness, I'm going to attend every game I can. Been attending these games since the first one in 1997 and not going to stop anytime soon When they are good, I drink When they suck, I drink a little more Actually, at Saturday's game, I ran into a buddy of mine who is a sports photographer. He snapped an awesome picture of my wife and I. I still have fun, win or lose. I cheer when they do well, I drink when they don't do well. To see the player's faces when they do something good, and come running by me in the south end zone, makes it worth it to me. That 75 yard touchdown we had last weekend, the player who caught it stared right at me and my wife jumping up and down. It made me feel good to show them that I was still there, and I was still cheering from the front row Good or bad, it's still my team. I can understand why people don't want to come, but I'll be there :-)

The biggest difference between Leavitt and Post-Leavitt, is in the attitude of the players The player now just look like they are embarrased to be out there. They don't make eye contact with the fans, they don't look up, they don't even seem to talk to each other When Leavitt was the coach, sure we had multiple .500 seasons, we lost to teams we should have beat, and we beat teams that we should have lost to. What I see, is the self esteem of the team is just missing, and has been gone for almost a half-decade. Too much "poo rolling downhill" has fallen on their shoulders, and their hunched over from the weight of it. At this point, it's just time to celebrate what they do right, ignore what they do wrong. We're in a very dark, very evil, very desolate area of college sports right now, this program is living the nightmare that no one would EVER want to live through. I hate to say this, but I think we need to drop down two divisions, disappear from the spotlight for a couple years, and build it back up again. Join FAMU in the MEAC, see if we can bat .500, work our way back up

no effn way You don't do that to your fellow student athletes Just stay at home if you are at that point There is a line between being upset, and being disrespectful Unlike professional teams, you have an association with those student athletes on the field. They are attending, and graduating from the same school you did. Talk like this shows a lack of class, and a lack of respect How would you have liked it, if your parents and friends attended your graduation with paper bags on their head? With your GPA written on them? If I see someone wearing a paper bag on their head, I'll rip that **** off your head faster than you can blink. They can take me to jail, but there is no way I'm going to personally tolerate that level of disrespect and lack of class towards my fellow classmates

I'm one of the hugest Jim Leavitt fans you'll ever meet, but there is no way in hell he'll come back to this For him to come back, especially to this debacle, would only sour the memories we had of him in the late 1990's and early 2000's I would love to get him back, but there is absolutely no way in hell, after everything that took place... that he'd come back to this. No way https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npnm8bAAzeg

Great point. Logistics > Location Right now at Raymond James, I can find a parking space within 5 minutes, cross 1 road and be at the gates in 5 minutes. From the time I see the stadium, to the time I'm at the front gates, is less than 10 minutes. If they move to an OCS, and I have to walk 2 miles because of the parking situation, no thanks, I'll give up my tickets and stay home.

sorry if I went on a rant about the parking services, etc Here is how it can work- 1) Put the On Campus Stadium any place it will fit. That area west of the main entrance might work, or back near the botanical gardens might work also. Maybe even behind the elementary school 2) During the game, open up the ENTIRE CAMPUS to parking for the event. There rarely are any classes Friday or Saturday nights, so obviously there is no need for faculty parking, staff parking, student parking, etc. Open up the ENTIRE campus for parking. If you can find a spot, take it 3) Start ticketing on Sunday afternoon, after the game. This gives people who were too drunk the night before, who did the RESPONSIBLE THING of having someone else take them, plenty of time to sleep off the alcohol and safely retrieve their car the next day. Now, are the bureaucrats, policy makers and planners at USF smart enough to figure this out? Absolutely not, they do not have the intelligence to figure this out. If they build an on campus stadium, I predict it will have 50,000 seats, with a parking lot the size of the one behind the Marshall Center near Health Services. No parking garages, no other lots to park in, no place to tailgate, no place to hang out. No tailgate parties, no big places to get food like we currently have with the Bulls Club, no place for kids to run around and have fun, none of that. Quite a few smart people designed Raymond James Stadium. We enjoy how well that stadium was thought out, with major roads, multiple entrances and exits, lots of safe and convenient parking for guests, workers, and patrons. To assume that USF is capable to putting the same amount of thought and design into an OCS, (that was put into Raymond James), is horrifically overestimating the intelligence of the planners that will be in charge of this disaster. I would love to have an On Campus Stadium, I get a great feeling walking through the campus with my daughters and seeing how much it's changed. I really enjoy how beautiful the campus is, and it's a great feeling to walk around there. I'm proud to be a USF alumni and I'm proud to say "I graduated from here!" Back in the late 1990's, when we had ALOT more parking before they expanded the dorms, we could barely hold the concerts at the special events center, and that seated what? 5,000 people? Multiple that times 10? ugh.... Don't forget, USF is surrounded by residential areas. Noise complaints anyone? 1 kid with autism within 5 miles of that OCS, can easily derail the entire project.