52 Things And A Big Five

Okay, so everyone in the Western Hemisphere has forwarded me the blog entry regarding my former employer in Bristol. If you missed it, do a Google search for "52 Reasons ESPN." You can figure out the rest of the title, I'm sure. Put it this way - it's not a love letter.

Without devoting too much time to a competing blog (or a competing network, for that matter), there are a couple of points I'd like to make:

- I happen to agree that Keith Olbermann is missed. Never mind that we are both Cornell alums and both worked for WVBR, the student-owned radio station in Ithaca - I just think the man is funny. There is nothing wrong with being smart, either. Make sure your kids know that.

- Keith Jackson can stay on the air as long as he likes. He's earned it.

- Sports IS entertainment, folks. What else could it be? We're not solving the problems of the modern world out here. We're providing a diversion and highlighting rallying points for schools and communities - their teams. It's supposed to be fun.

- Chris Berman, Bob Ley, and Dan Patrick are Bristol's version of The Untouchables. Save your energy.

- On "making the story, not reporting it," I'll add two more words: Mark McGwire. Ask me about that one someday. Still not over it.

- No, Suzy Kolber is not.

- John Clayton and Sean Salisbury actually do get along.

- You can rip the Dale Earnhardt movie as long as you leave his SportsCentury episode alone. One of my best friends at the network helped produce it, and I was one of the interviewees. It's my only entry at IMDB.com, so toss me a bone here.

- Love him or hate him, Mark Shapiro made that company a lot of money.

- Mike Lupica invited me to play in his charity golf tournament a couple of times, so I'm on his side. However, I agree that he should watch more than two college football games a year before firing a head coach.

Other than that, a reminder that television sets come with a remote control, and Sun Sports is available on most basic cable systems in Florida.

Back to work.

During Sports Talk Live last Monday, I commented during a package of UCF highlights that the Golden Knights should abandon their white-on-white uniform combination. See, I have this thing about white-on-white - nobody wins with that color scheme, unless you're the Indianapolis Colts.

Anyway, we received an e-mail from a man we'll call "Carlos," because that's his name. Carlos pointed out that Miami dismantled Virginia Tech a couple of weeks ago while wearing the hated white-on-white. "Not only that," he wrote, "but they looked awfully fast!"

Is that our criteria for uniform selection now? "They looked awfully fast"? Nobody looks good in all whites. Terry Norvelle will back me up on this - the moment that Florida stepped onto the field against South Carolina this season, I muttered to nobody in particular, "white on white. They're dead." And they were. Blue shirt, white pants. White shirt, blue pants. Orange pants don't inspire me, but I'll take them over the all-whites any day.

Florida State looks especially awkward on those rare occasions that they go all-white. The garnet pants aren't much better. Gold pants, alternating between white tops and garnet tops, fine. Miami may indeed have beaten Va Tech while wearing the matching white jerseys and pants, but when I think of Miami, I think orange shirts or green shirts. Preferably green, because the shade they use is unique. The orange tops remind me too much of Florida, or perhaps the Denver Broncos, with all the swoopy stripes.

Back to UCF for a minute - I saw a couple of notes on the message boards suggesting that the Knights adopt black tops. To this I say, bravo. The gold jerseys, which the school has been pushing hard across all sports, are just a hair too close to Georgia Tech. Of course, being a Florida native, I know full well that black shirts during a day game in September (or even October) is potentially suicidal. I might accept white shirts and black pants - a Southern Miss or New Orleans Saints vibe - but the gold jerseys bug me. Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

UCF is one of five schools in the state of Florida going bowling this season. A "Big Five," if you will. No other state can make that claim - Texas and California are next with four bowl teams each. Of the five, the University of South Florida might seem like the weak link at 6-5, but I think the people at the Meineke Car Care Bowl did a smart thing (as opposed to the actual naming of the bowl itself, which is atrocious). They invited North Carolina State to come to Charlotte, thereby ensuring something close to a sellout, so they could afford to roll the dice on the opponent. Why not take one of the Florida schools? Someday, when USF is indeed competing with the Big Three on a level playing field, the Bulls may remember the largesse of the nice folks in Charlotte. Perhaps they'll accept a return trip, turning down a bigger bowl in the process, and bring a little of that Big Five hype with them. The Meineke organizers have planted a seed that could someday bear fruit. Good move.

UCF, meanwhile, loses the Conference USA championship game and gets booted from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Their penance? Spending Christmas in Hawaii. Go back and read that again. Yes, they probably deserved a chance to play a bowl game close enough to Orlando to actually bring some fans, but come on. You want Memphis over Hawaii? Get the flowered shirts, don the lei, sip a fruity drink with an umbrella poking out, and enjoy the ride. If you're finally going to a bowl game after 26 years of football under the radar, you may as well do it in Paradise. Your fans will forgive you for playing at 8:30pm eastern time on Christmas Eve.

Last point: in the coming days, Sunsportstv.com will open the balloting for our All-Florida Team, to be announced on January 6th during our final Rec Warehouse College Kickoff show of the season. Terry, Brady and I will put our heads together and come up with our picks in each category, which we'll compare to the results of fan voting on the website. The preliminary categories, subject to revision:

Best Quarterback
Best Running Back
Best Wide Receiver
Best Offensive Line
Best Defensive Line
Best Linebackers
Best Secondary
Best Special Teams Player
Offensive MVP
Defensive MVP
Newcomer of the Year
Coach of the Year

Also, we plan to provide our choices for Game of the Year, Play of the Year, and Hit of the Year - the last of which should be called the "Greg Jones Trophy," in honor of the current Jaguar and former Seminole who de-helmeted North Carolina safety Dexter Reid in a game two years ago, a play that remains the best hit I have ever seen in three seasons of "Chevy Tailgate Saturday."

Anyway, start thinking about your votes, and check the website next week. We'll update the balloting on Sports Talk Live and announce the winners on Rec Warehouse College Kickoff on Friday, January 6. Let the arguments begin.