USF alumnus thinks the Bulls are overrated and wants them to fail.

[bull_roarer]

it's dripping with sarcasm.

[Meccariello]

he is like a lot of older alumni that hated the idea of USF having football. Not allowing USF to have football cost us hundreds of millions of $$ over the course of USFs history. What a huge mistake that was... This columnist is just another one of "those" almumni" who didnt get it back then and show no support which is why we have a tier 4 school now

[Bobcat99]

Ahem.

It's satire, kiddos. He's poking fun at the sportswriters who have an inherent bias against any school that has never won a national championship.

[Guest BasketBull.]

He's the worst kind of USF graduate I could envision --I actually dislike him more than a gator or a knight (that's saying a lot!).

----->      sports@corsicanadailysun.com          <------

The Oracle

Tony Marquis 4/18/06

Can you buy this much excitement?

USF football has an excitement problem.

I couldn't shake the feeling while watching the Spring Game on Saturday that there was something seriously wrong with the football team. I couldn't help feeling disinterested.

The Athletic Department tried, or at least someone did.

When no one was lining up, and when the 3,000 strong finally showed, whoever was in charge made about 500 of them move from one part of the stadium to another, possibly in an effort to accommodate the Catch 47 cameras.

But no lens filter could avert the attention of the crowd and the television-viewing public of the shoddy field conditions. The grass at Ray Jay resembled the greens at The Claw - which isn't a good thing, in case you aren't familiar with them. I think when I walked on the field I heard Jim Leavitt tell Matt Grothe to use an overlap grip.

But even if the field wasn't presentable, there were more glaring issues in the personnel department.

With Andre Hall went the small amount of national attention paid to the Bulls. And when Leavitt had a chance to answer questions in his depth chart, he ran the ball sparingly and put in Courtney Denson at quarterback.

Running Denson out for one play at quarterback is the boxing equivalent of Muhammed Ali circa 1975 tagging Butterbean to step into the ring for him. Sure it's funny and semi-crowd pleasing, but you just don't do it.

At the exact moment Denson was running his quarterback draw, USF's quarterback picture got a little bit more confusing. At that exact moment, Carlton Hill was sitting alone on the bench, perhaps thinking about the special classes he's been in for the bulk of spring. And sometime following that moment, Leavitt tugged on his hair and decided that if the season started that day, Pat Julmiste would be the quarterback.

The players on the field may not have been spectacular, and there's little reason to think the next crop will help that.

USF's top recruits were two defensive lineman and a few wide receivers. The linemen - Frank Harry and Leslie Stirrups - are gone, and additional wide receivers are all the football team needs with 12 on the roster already.

There were some interesting things: Mike Jenkins had two picks, as did Jerome Murphy and Amp Hill. Hill, a transfer wide receiver from LSU, led all receivers with eight catches and 87 yards - a surprise considering USF's past struggles with the passing game.

But those elements were overpowered by USF's boring double-reverses and its overuse of illegal game-extending timeouts. Any semblance of a game was spoiled by multiple players switching teams multiple times.

If USF football was a woman, then the Spring Game was the biggest turn-off I've ever seen.

If USF can't sell the product, it will have a tough time convincing prospective season ticket holders to invest in home games featuring McNeese State, Florida International and Rutgers.

But that's the least of its problems.

[Jamie]

The thing that worries me most is the dim-bulbs in Corsicana probably don't get whatever humor he was trying to toss out there. Which by the looks of his Oracle career, might not have been any.

[Qbanbull]

what a joke.  he is just looking for attention.

You said it. This guy is a nobody and he is doing what everyone else is, trying to grab on the USF's limelight. You are going to see a lot of these quacks come out of the woodwork from here on out. They know they will recieve attention be it for something positive or negative. best thing to do is ignore them, that really nails, the fact that they are a nobody, home. Just laugh at it and move on.IMO

[WoDoS]

it's dripping with sarcasm.

I agree.. Albeit a little on the dry side but still sarcasm..  :gobulls

[OttawaBull]

Ahem.

It's satire, kiddos. He's poking fun at the sportswriters who have an inherent bias against any school that has never won a national championship.

Agreed. Satire through and through. However, because he doesn't appear to be that skilled a writer, I could see where it would be easy to miss it.

[Mission9]

As I recall, that guy was an Oracle writer.....

You can take it from there...

I think people in 3rd world countries use the Oracle to wipe their butts with.

[tamiamibull05]

I could see how some could perceive this article as satire. However, Marquis was well-documented over the yrs he was with the Oracle as being a Bull-hater, particularly of the football program. He was always critical of the team and typically picked against us in every college pick 'em. He was HATED by the USF football staff and Leavitt avoided him as much as possible. The root of all this? Marquis tried to get into the program as a student assistant. It didn't happen, so instead he made it a point to get us back with the power of the pen. Since the team was overall successful during the years he was there (other than 2004), there wasn't much he could write. In more current times, as we keep winning, this troll can continue to rot away in relative obscurity as a sportswriter in a small Texas town.