Tuesday, February 5, 2008

National Signing Day 2008

National Signing Day is finally upon us. Schools all over the country have been courting this high school kids for over a year and it all comes down to today. Rivals.com has the Gators at number 1 right now, but there is talk that the Gators could lose two of their commits. Offensive Lineman Ricky Barnum made a trip to Michigan last weekend and is said to be torn between the two programs, and Defensive Back Ramon Buchanon made a trip to Miami this past weekend and is still deciding as well. While it would be nice to have both of them in the class, even if they lose both the Gators will have another top recruiting class under Urban Meyer.

The classes will become official starting around 8 am. Other than the 2 commits that are now debating, the Gators are not looking to any surprises in the class. Meyer has another solid class and has moved onto the 2009 class already.

While the Gators are pretty set in their class and are not waiting on anyone, the same cannot be said for other schools across the country. Alabama has gotten a huge influx of recruits in the past couple of days and are now number 2 in rivals.com class rankings. The number 1 recruit in the country, Terelle Pryor, will finally make his long awaited decision between Michigan and Ohio State. Michigan has pushed very hard for his services, but I think in the end he will be a Buckeye.

Today will be a huge day for college football and high school players across the country. We will try and keep it updated all day.

Monday, February 4, 2008

18-1*

Hey guys, Adam's been pretty busy, and he asked if I'd be interested in helping out with this blog, and I thought "Why the hell not? Maybe my thoughts will look smarter on the screen then they do when I speak." Well, as a brief background, I'm more of a New York sports fan in a lot of ways, I was born there. I'm a Mets fan (sigh), a Knicks fan (bigger sigh), and a Giants fan. So obviously I'm in a pretty good place right now. I'm a pretty avid Fantasy Football player and I follow most of what is going on in sports. I'll try and keep most of my posts here to Tampa Bay related stuff, but for my first post...

My first post I'm going to use to talk about the Super Bowl, which was just an incredible game and an incredible experience. I'm sure most of the readers here are Bucs fans, and so now I know what you guys felt like a few years ago. On to the game!
A lot of polarizing thoughts with this game, people either wanted to see 19-0 or they wanted to see those dirty cheating bastards go down in flames. And go down they did. What a game. Ebb and flow, Tom Brady's pretty boy arse getting planted into the turf every other play (or at least, that's what it felt like), and Eli Manning outplaying the Golden Boy, especially when it counted most. You know it's got to hurt Brady to lose to a Manning in the last game of each of the past two seasons.

I don't know what my favorite part was during most of the game: the constant pressure on Brady, Eli outplaying Brady, or the awkward movements and facial gestures of Peyton Manning in that private booth. You'd think he was the Giants O-Coordinator for all the times they showed him on screen.

What are they going to call that unbelievable play where Manning escaped three defensive linemen and heaved it to David Tyree, who caught it with one hand and one helmet? The Manning Miracle? The Legend Killer? I have no idea what to call it, just like I had no idea how it happened at first. It was one of those "All-Time" type of plays.



And, finally, we get to the Patriots. The funny thing is that their entire season (which started amidst cheating accusations) means NOTHING. Without a championship, it means nothing to go 18-1. It's such an incredible sounding record, and it means nothing. Not tomention the accusations that surfaced this week surrounding the Pats taping the Rams' practices before their upset of the dominant St. Louis Rams. So now it looks like we're not only going to be putting an asterisk on their season, but maybe their entire dynasty...Bill Belichick's little Gestappo Kingdom that he keeps shrouded in secrecy seems to be crumbling around him. He's lost his perfect season and it looks like his genius label may have been based off cheating.

Not only that, but I get to read Bill Simmons' again with a sneer on my face. Maybe now he can stop knob-slobbing everything that comes out of Boston.

Anyway, I'll always remember this doofy looking goober winning a Super Bowl for my team, and for taking out the team that was already pronounced as the "Best Team Ever."





I've never been so happy to hear Mercury Morris be obnoxious.