So has anybody seen numbers on UF season ticket orders? I wonder if the only reason our sales are not down is that demand has always exceeded supply and this year we simply filled more the demand (like Woody's order). What about the rivalry rankings? I think leading up to the Alabama game, it will seem like the No. 1 rivalry, but Georgia is still tops with me. FSU still has to prove it's back.
** 15. Another topic that is sure to result in some questions out in Hoover is the lagging season ticket sales at several SEC schools. Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee are all down this year. Is it the economy or a lack of expectations or both? Is there any way to blame BP for the drop? 16. People like to get on the SEC for scheduling cupcakes and there is plenty of icing been spread around this year's schedules. But the Big 12 gets the softness award for scheduling only 12 of its 48 non-conference games against BCS teams. (The SEC has 16 of 48). Maybe we're starting to understand those lagging season ticket sales. 17. I brought this up on my radio show and offer it up to the Gator Nation. It's my contention that Florida's rivalries change in importance depending on what's going on with those schools. And right now I'd rank them this way — 1. FSU, 2. Alabama, 3. Georgia, 4. Tennessee. The Vols are harmless but the Seminoles believe they are back. That makes venom spew more freely. Discuss. On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 8:23 AM, Shane Ford <go.ufgator...@gmail.com> wrote: > Some boring golf, SEC talking points and ranking rivals > > > By Pat Dooley <dool...@gvillesun.com> > Gainesville SUN sports writer > > Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 9:19 a.m. > Last Modified: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 9:19 a.m. > > > > > > Summer is over for the Back Nine because it's football season. Pay no > attention to the humidity or the fact that it is July. It's football season. > Because I said so. > > > > 10. Is it a conspiracy? Did the world's golfers get together and decide to > try to ruin my summer? Seriously. OK, maybe my life is a vapid waste of > brain cells but one of the real joys of summer is waking up early and > watching the British Open. It was so boring, well, so boring I didn't watch > much. Instead, I went to the beach and had a couple of Oosthuizens. Oh, > wait, that's the guy who won. After a U.S. Open that failed to deliver the > British was 10 times more boring. On the way to Daytona Beach, we went by a > couple of sod farms and I joked that if one of those farmers was asked what > he does for a living he'd say, "I watch grass grow." Which would have been > twice as interesting as watching this Open. I like Louis Oosthuizen. Seems > like a good guy. Great golf swing which makes me wonder why he missed the > cut in seven of his previous eight majors. But Sunday was a drag. Bad > production values and way too much love for the mystique of the tourney. > That I could have lived with if there was interesting golf. Like, say, Tiger > Woods could still play. > > 11. We find ourselves wondering about the biggest reason we turn the TV on > to watch golf. Woods was very average all week. When he switched putters it > sounded like the act of a desperate man. I'm not ready to write him off but > I am going to say he's not back, not really that close. St. Andrews was > supposed to be his return to the throne. So was Pebble Beach. But the truth > is the mental strain seems to have taken its toll on the world's No. 1 > golfer. Phil Mickelson? I have no explanation for the way he played, > especially the iron he hooked out of bounds on Saturday. > > 12. There was one great moment on Friday and that was when Tom Watson > kissed the Swilcan Bridge on 18 and took one final ovation at the old > course. Watson said he's not done with the tournament but he knows he's > probably played his last British Open at St. Andrews. It was touching. And > kudos to Tiger for letting Watson's group play up. Watson has been one of > Tiger's biggest critics, but there are times when you have to let those > things go. > > 13. Speaking of which, Michael Jordan needs to back off his criticism of > LeBron James. Jordan said he wouldn't have gotten together with other > superstars to form a super team like James did. Yeah, except one of the 50 > greatest players of all-time ended up on your team, MJ. Jordan is the best > ever to play the game and he's hardly the only person to be critical of > Miami Thrice, but I think he went a little far. All I know is the NBA has > been relevant in July for the first time since, well, ever. Not always for > the right reason. Dwyane Wade's comments pushed the good taste boundaries. > He said that the media would make it seem like the World Trade Center was > falling down again if the Heat lost two or three games in a row. He did > apologize Monday. There should be a rule for all athlete's that the > following subjects are off-limits to analogies — Hitler, Manson, 9/11, the > Holocaust and slavery. > > 14. Just when things appeared to be calm this summer, we head to Hoover > with controversies springing up everywhere. It looked like we might be > talking only football out there a couple of weeks ago, but Georgia lost its > athletic director, Vanderbilt its coach, Tennessee and Georgia have players > get in trouble with the law, South Carolina has an agent issue with Weslye > Saunders and Florida is dealing with the possibility of vacating the Sugar > Bowl win because Maurkice Pouncey might have taken money from an agent. > Vacating wins is the lamest NCAA punishment there is. I'm just not sure that > there is an alternative that makes sense. And if Florida has to vacate the > win over Cincinnati, do the Gators have to give the trophy back? Do Tim > Tebow's records stand up? > > 15. Another topic that is sure to result in some questions out in Hoover is > the lagging season ticket sales at several SEC schools. Georgia, South > Carolina and Tennessee are all down this year. Is it the economy or a lack > of expectations or both? Is there any way to blame BP for the drop? > > 16. People like to get on the SEC for scheduling cupcakes and there is > plenty of icing been spread around this year's schedules. But the Big 12 > gets the softness award for scheduling only 12 of its 48 non-conference > games against BCS teams. (The SEC has 16 of 48). Maybe we're starting to > understand those lagging season ticket sales. > > 17. I brought this up on my radio show and offer it up to the Gator Nation. > It's my contention that Florida's rivalries change in importance depending > on what's going on with those schools. And right now I'd rank them this way > — 1. FSU, 2. Alabama, 3. Georgia, 4. Tennessee. The Vols are harmless but > the Seminoles believe they are back. That makes venom spew more freely. > Discuss. > > 18. The iPod will be plugged in for the long drive to Hoover with these > dandy songs I picked up — "American Sun" from Maida Vale, "All the Love" > from Sister Hazel and we go back in time for "Do You Believe in Love" by > Huey Lewis and the News. > > Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at dool...@gvillesun.com. You can > listen to The Pat Dooley Show weekdays from 4-6 p.m. on 104.9 FM. And follow > at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley. > > > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- Helen Huntley (727) 823-3801 www.helenhuntley.com -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
