Saturday Night Hangovers

The pounding in Urban Meyer's head on Sunday morning was the hangover of his first loss to Georgia in his three years at the helm of the Florida Gators. Similarly, Jim Leavitt woke up with a throbbing temple, the result of his USF Bulls losing on the road at UConn for the second time in three years.

Me? The pounding in my noggin is the fault of Blue Man Group.

The Sun Sports studio is located on a sound stage on the back lot of Universal Studios Florida. My windowless office on the third floor, like all of our offices here, is one thin wall away from the recently constructed Blue Man Group theater. When the group rehearses or performs -- which is every day, mind you -- the pounding from the percussion-heavy music reverberates through our offices. It's akin to the guy in the apartment next door with the loudest stereo in North America, and it happens...every...night.

Still, I would rather be here than in the coaching offices in Gainesville or Tampa.

As I write this, I'm watching Duke play Florida State, getting ready for a live postgame show that is sure to be seen by literally tens of loyal fans. Whose idea was it, exactly, to have Duke and FSU kick off at 8pm on a Saturday night?

At this hour, the wringing of hands among Gator and Bull media has yet to begin in earnest...but it's coming. You know it's coming.

Florida has now lost three of its last four games, all in the SEC. Coming off the 2006 National Championship, the Gators find themselves in a situation where next week's game against Vanderbilt -- Vanderbilt -- has serious SEC implications for both teams. Those blessed 'Dores, the perennial conference footwipe, have exactly as many SEC losses this season as Florida, with the added benefit of a win in hand over South Carolina. UF has to win out against Vandy and the SpurCocks, plus get help, to reach the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta.

That, friends, is what nine new starters on defense, no running game to speak of, and a shoulder injury to SuperTebow will do for a team.

Florida has been living on borrowed time with Tim Tebow all season, and while they knew it, they had little choice. Tebow was, and is, Florida's most effective ball carrier, leading the team in carries and rushing yards. When he's slowed by an injury -- as he was Saturday night against Georgia -- the threat of a running game all but disappears. While he did find the end zone twice on the ground against UGA, placing him two rushing TD's away from tying Florida's single season record of 14 set by Emmitt Smith in 1989, those numbers are misleading. With six sacks on Saturday, Georgia held Tebow to -15 yards rushing, and the "real" Gator running backs (as opposed to Tebow or the wide receivers) finished with 46 net yards on 8 carries.

On a related note, Kestahn Moore may never be heard from again.

Aside from Tebow's health, a horrific game from Moore, and a young defensive backfield that was burned repeatedly on Saturday, you have to give Georgia some credit. Yes, the team celebration on the goal line after the game's first touchdown was inflammatory and stupid, and yes, Mark Richt's halftime comment -- "I told them that if they didn't get a celebration penalty after our first score, I'd be mad at 'em" -- was a spineless method of glossing over the fact that the UGA coaching staff practically shoved their guys out there. But it worked, didn't it?

Look, Georgia had lost 15 of its last 17 meetings with Florida and 17 of its last 23. Richt, who happens to be the fourth-winningest active head coach in D-I football by percentage, was 1-5 against the Gators. He had to do something to get his guys emotionally invested in the game. So he made a statement -- a potentially suicidal statement, but a statement nonetheless. And while Florida did indeed march right back and even the score at 7-7, and even took the lead later in the game, the Bulldogs were duly energized by the goal-line celebration.

Georgia played with more emotion, and took advantage of a Florida team whose weaknesses were all exposed at once. The wonderfully named Knowshon Moreno, who was only toting the rock due to injuries to Kregg Lumpkin and Thomas Brown, gashed the Gators for a career-high 188 yards and three scores. Matt Stafford, like Andre Woodson a week earlier, showed what an experienced quarterback can do against Florida's 79th-ranked pass defense. The Bulldogs' 42 points were the most they've scored against Florida since the memorable 1982 game, when eventual Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker romped for 219 yards in a 44-0 rout.

If they lose, the Bulldogs' goal line celebration is viewed as a classless, thuggish mockery of the game. But they won, and you have to point to that act as the moment that the Bulldogs set the Gators back on their heels.

As for USF's loss in East Hartford: if you thought the tumble from 2nd in the BCS Standings to 10th (after losing on the road, at night, on a short week, to media darling Rutgers) was dramatic, wait until you see what happens now. UConn, despite entering the South Florida game as the leader of the Big East Conference, has received zero respect from the pollsters, failing to show up in either the AP or Coaches' top 25 until now. They were, however, 23rd in the BCS prior to the South Florida game, and will soon be climbing.

Much like Florida, USF's offense was exposed on Saturday. Much like Florida, USF relies upon its running quarterback, and Matt Grothe delivered, to the tune of 145 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. However, unlike Florida, USF doesn't have a stable of five-star receivers to take the pressure off Grothe, and when faced with a defense much like their own -- Connecticut has the best scoring defense in the Big East and the second-best rushing defense -- they stumbled.

Grothe is to USF as Tebow is to Florida, but Tebow has more help in the passing game. Without help, Grothe cannot beat everyone by himself, as we discovered in East Hartford. From BCS National Championship Game contender to outside shot at winning its own conference, all in the span of three weeks -- that's what's causing Jim Leavitt's headache this morning.

Me, I'm still blaming the Blue Men.

Bullletin Board Material

Just curious: does anyone actually post anything on a bulletin board anymore?

We sportscasters are not allowed to earn our earpieces until we master the "bulletin board material" cliche'. You know the drill: Mouthy Superstar or Arrogant Head Coach flippantly offers a comment questioning the skills/talent/intelligence/legitimacy/masculinity of an upcoming opponent, and the talking head says, "...and THAT'LL be bulletin board material for the Rhein Fire this weekend!"

(And yes, I'm using an NFL Europe reference. Double bonus points for me.)

We have at least one piece of hard evidence of the Bulletin Board Material Theory from this college football season, as South Florida head coach Jim Leavitt apparently used a photo of Orlando Sentinel columnist David Whitley "riding" the USF Bull mascot as a rallying point for his squad shortly before they pulverized UCF.

You can read David's column to get the whole story, but to summarize: he wasn't knocking USF, per se. He was attempting to do something stupid in order to generate a reaction, which would make for a nice column. And by the way, it worked.

On the topic of David's employer, the Orlando Sentinel -- once, more than a decade ago, I watched an argument in the Orlando Magic locker room between Sentinel writer Brian Schmitz -- who still covers the team for the newspaper -- and then-power forward Jeff Turner. At the time, I was a broadcasting intern for the Magic, and I already knew Jeff to be a regular guy -- patient, accommodating, friendly to a fault. He's the kind of person who might coach your kids, or maybe live down the street from you. Come to think of it, he does coach kids, and he does live down the street from me.

Probably why I made that analogy.

Anyway, as I remember this scene, Jeff, who never yells at anything, was absolutely letting Brian have it over something Brian had written in his column that Jeff considered "motivational" for that night's opponent -- in other words, Bulletin Board Material. Jeff's argument was that the hometown newspaper should never print anything that an opponent could use to fire themselves up; Brian countered by defending his column as accurate and neutral, and found Jeff's position to be weak.

Hate to overdo this, but Jeff Turner really never gets mad, and he really was mad that night, and...man, you had to be there.

Point being, there's considerable anecdotal evidence for the Bulletin Board Material Theory, at least, in my career. I bring this up because, with the NBA season fast approaching, our Florida teams (and Sun Sports/FSN Florida partners) already have some material to clip and save.

Sports Illustrated has published its annual NBA season preview, and their experts have picked the Orlando Magic to miss the playoffs and finish 10th in the Eastern Conference. From the "Enemy Lines" section, wherein an opposing team's scout anonymously breaks down the Magic, there's this little nugget:

"I think they can be a better team, but I doubt that their record will be better because of the losses of those three guys [Grant Hill, Darko Milicic and Tony Battie]. I think it will be a good year if they can reach .500 without the leadership of Hill in the locker room and on the court, though they may be able to help themselves by acquiring an extra guy for the frontcourt..."

A "good year if they can reach .500"? Congratulations, Coach Van Gundy, you've just been handed some Bulletin Board Material.

What does SI have to say about the Miami Heat? The mag has them 4th in the East, and winning the Southeast Division. Again, from the "Enemy Lines":

"The big questions with Miami are going to involve injuries, age and chemistry. Those are three huge issues. Dwyane Wade is going to miss the start of the season while recovering from shoulder surgery. They're not going to win many games while he's out...Shaq will be 36 in March. He's on the downslide, and he's injury-prone...He's still the most dominant big man in the game, but I'm not sure he has enough around him...Overall, they'll have to do their best to hold on until Wade can come back in late November, which means riding Shaq without wearing him out. If they can stay competitive in the first part of the season, then they'll have a chance, but there will still be a lot of other issues for them to get through."

Ummm...and which part of this, exactly, compelled the SI writers to pick Miami to win its division and get home court in the first round? Did they choose to ignore this scout's perspective, or do they simply disagree with it?

Either way, The Diesel has just been handed Bulletin Board Material. And he's the kind of guy who eats that stuff up. Worth watching.

ESPN.com takes a different approach to its preseason previews, taking a poll of various NBA writers and columnists and presenting an "average" predicted finish, something akin to a college football poll. I tend to value this style a little more, for two reasons: first, it's a consensus of at least ten different writers, all of whom have different backgrounds, predilections, and fields of expertise. Logic would dictate that the results are more balanced. Second, each writer actually signs his or her name to the prediction, as opposed to SI's "anonymous" opposing scout. Accountability never hurts.

So where do ESPN's ten experts place the Magic? Five of them have Orlando winning the Southeast Division, four of them have the Magic finishing second, and Chris Sheridan says Orlando is a fourth-place team. Sheridan has the Magic 12th (!) in the Eastern Conference, while every other expert places them in the playoffs. ESPN's average predicted finish for the Magic in the Southeast Division is 1.7; the team's average predicted finish in the conference is 6.3.

Miami's scorecard: only one expert, J.A. Adande, picks them to win the Southeast, although nobody else on the board has the Heat lower than third. But here's the really interesting part: half of the expert panel, a full five out of ten members, picked Miami to miss the Eastern Conference playoffs entirely. ESPN's average finish for Miami in the Southeast is 2.4; in the conference, it's 7.8.

Voila, Pat Riley: Bulletin Board Material. Truthfully, this is probably more a statement about the perceived weakness of the Southeast Division than it is any endorsement of the Magic or the Heat, but it's an interesting disparity nonetheless.

For the sake of argument, the "Power Rankings" at CBS Sportsline have Miami and Orlando smack in the middle of the league at 14th and 15th, respectively. In the one NBA preseason poll that I never fail to read, the General Manager's Survey conducted by the league itself, both Miami and Orlando received votes as potential Eastern Conference champions and NBA champions (a serious stretch, in my view). Miami received 40.7% of the GM vote as predicted Southeast Division winners, while Orlando was close behind at 37%.

Not much Bulletin Board Material there. "We think you're gonna be okay" doesn't qualify as fightin' words.

So here's my quick take on Florida's two NBA franchises: in the early-season absence of Dwyane Wade, Miami will indeed struggle. Riles will whip them into something at or above .500, but they won't be blowing anybody's doors off. The over/under on Shaq's first five-game absence with a nagging injury is December 15th. Behind those two players, the Heat roster is thin -- Alonzo Mourning will again be called upon to play twice as many minutes as he should at this stage of his career, and there's a hard ceiling as to what you're going to get out of Ricky Davis, Smush Parker, and Jason Williams. But when those two players, O'Neal and Wade, are healthy, Miami can contend in the Southeast Division.

Orlando is more of a mystery. Dwight Howard will be a monster. Rashard Lewis will be consistent as a scorer for as long as he can stay healthy. The Magic are loaded with quality NBA players in the backcourt, with Jameer Nelson, Carlos Arroyo, Keyon Dooling, and yes, JJ Redick, who I think will play a much larger role this season. Where Orlando suffers is up front -- Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Trevor Ariza, and even Pat Garrity can all bring offensive skills, but they'll all be forced to play out of position and guard bigger players. It would really help Stan Van Gundy's cause tremendously if it turns out that Marcin Gortat and/or James Augustine can play a lick, as that would take some minutes and pressure away from Howard and Adonal Foyle. I tend to agree with the Enemy Lines notion that Orlando needs at least one more big body.

Yet, as I look at the Southeast Division, the only team other than Miami or Orlando that can contend is Washington, which is a fun team to watch, but even thinner in the frontcourt than Orlando. The division will come down to the Wizards and Magic, with their free-for-all offenses and deep backcourts, against Miami, with the teetering health of Shaq and the MVP potential of Wade. Because of the presence of Dwight Howard, however, I have to give the Magic an early edge.

Hope that doesn't make anybody's bulletin board.

Thanks For Watching

(Note: the following appears in the November 2007 issue of Unrestricted Magazine, a South Florida publication for whom I have written columns each month for over a year now. If you're ever in Miami, pick it up.)

Is anyone watching this?

Between the Orlando Magic, ESPN, and Sun Sports/FSN Florida, I've been working in front of a television camera for nearly 15 years now, and I've asked myself that question many times. Late nights, blowout games, rollercoaster ratings -- sometimes, it's easy to wonder if the time and effort is worth it. Every so often, however, I receive human reminders that yes, someone really is out there. This fall, two examples made this perfectly clear.

A few months back, I received an e-mail from a group of avid Chevy Florida Fishing Report viewers who had an idea for a fishing tournament. These loyal fans had met each other online at the Sun Sports fishing message boards, and they wanted to create a real-life fishing tournament that would allow them to meet and compete with each other. They contacted me in the hope that Sun Sports would get involved, but after much homework on my end, I reluctantly had to tell them that we lacked the resources they needed.

Rather than give up on the idea, these enterprising viewers forged ahead on their own. What they created was a fishing tournament, alright -- a "virtual" fishing tournament.

Using our message boards to spread the word, 30 to 40 viewers created a set of rules, an entry form, even their own website. Each participant fished his home waters for a specified period of time, photographed each catch, recorded sizes and weights, and then e-mailed those photos to each other. Winners were declared in several different categories. Again, Sun Sports had nothing to do with this -- it was purely viewer-driven, an organic, grass-roots effort, and it was incredible in scope. These anglers lived all over Florida and barely knew each other beyond the message boards, but they were drawn together by their common affection for the Chevy Florida Fishing Report.

In recognition of their devotion and ingenuity, I invited the winners of each category to come see the season finale of the Chevy Florida Fishing Report live, in our studio, in October. You'd have thought I invited them to the White House.

"Geeked" cannot describe the reaction. E-mails flew around the state as the ten lucky winners organized rides with each other and taunted their buddies who failed to win the "virtual tournament." When the season finale arrived, the studio looked like a carnival, as our guests posed for photos, asked for autographs, and acted like kids at Disney World. The invitation cost us nothing, but gave these loyal viewers something they'll talk about for the rest of their lives. To think I wondered if anyone was really watching.

Air Force Master Sergeant Tom Rados, on the other hand, is a college football fan. He's devoted to his Florida State Seminoles and believes strongly in the value of a playoff system for Division I football. Last year, Tom e-mailed me a detailed proposal for such a D-I playoff bracket, one that I found so interesting, and so well-researched, that I wrote several blog entries about it on the Sun Sports website. We later devoted an entire episode of Monday night's "Tailgate Overtime" show to Tom's idea, which we called "The Rados Plan."

Tom didn't see that show until several months later, however. Shortly before that show aired, Master Sergeant Rados was shipped off to Iraq. While Tom was overseas, his wife mailed him tapes of Florida State football games and our college football shows on Sun Sports -- including the "Rados Plan" episode of Tailgate Overtime, which apparently made him a minor celebrity when he showed it to his mates on post.

Tom isn't allowed to tell me where he was, what he was doing, or who was with him. He wasn't allowed to send me any photos that might indicate his location in Iraq, because, as he wrote in an e-mail, "You give the bad guys enough little puzzle pieces and they can get the big picture." I can assure you that Tom's assignment placed wins and losses on a football field into perspective, in my mind.

The good news is, Tom is back home in Fort Walton Beach with his wife and two daughters. The better news is, Tom came to our studio in late October to watch "Tailgate Overtime" live, on my invitation. We even put him on camera -- as we had done for the fishing guys – and allowed him to tell a little of his story. At the end of the night, I asked Tom and his wife if they enjoyed the experience.

"This was unbelievable," he said. "We've only been here for one night, and this is the highlight of the entire vacation."

Thanks, Tom. And thanks, "CFFR" viewers. Thank you for reminding me that someone is, indeed, watching. And thank you for making all this effort feel worthwhile.

Hanging Your Hat

Terrific topic for "The List" on Monday's "Tailgate Overtime" on Sun Sports: Best helmets in college football.

For those who haven't caught it yet, "The List" has become one of my favorite segments on the Monday night show. Each week, two or three panelists are asked to come up with their top five on a variety of topics -- best traditions in college football, best quarterbacks ever to play in Florida, and so forth. We pitted former Miami quarterback Steve Walsh against national radio host Todd Wright for this one.

Here's Steve Walsh's list of the best helmets:

5. Oregon



What strikes me about this helmet is not the "O" logo, which is pretty boring, but rather the color of the helmet itself, which is a glossy, metallic green the likes of which cannot be found in nature. The helmet seems to morph and change color depending on time of day and stadium lighting. It's mysterious and futuristic, which is advantageous -- it distracts fans from the fact that a football team can be called the "Ducks."

4. Michigan



Love the unique quality of this helmet -- even though they may or may not have stolen it from Princeton:



...but no matter. It's cool, and unique, and instantly recognizable. And as Todd Wright pointed out on the show on Monday night, the Michigan hockey team uses the same design on its helmets. Nothing like a two-for-one.

3. UCLA



I'm not big on the cursive look -- as you're about to discover -- but I give Steve credit for pointing out that it's a very Hollywood look. The baby-blue jerseys, while not exactly fear-inducing, seem to work for the Bruins.

2. Florida State



This is my personal favorite. Yes, it's politically incorrect, and yes, lots of teams use gold domes, but nothing in college football is sexier or more appropriate than the Seminole Spear. This is as close to a perfect helmet as you can get.

1. Louisiana State



I have to disagree with Steve here. I like the look -- a sort of retro thing, with the tiger face underneath the old-school block letters -- but there's nothing stunning about this lid.

Here's Todd's list of the five best helmets in college football:

5. Miami



I've never loved this logo, but as Todd pointed out, the "U" on the helmet has led to fans calling Miami "The U," which is cool and inclusive in a secret-society kind of way. Personally, I never understood why Miami can lay claim to "The U." Doesn't every university, by definition, have a "U" in its title?

4. Alabama



Todd is showing his old-school sentimentality here. The numbers on the side of the helmet is a throwback to a bygone era, one that several other programs have maintained as well, including Georgia Southern:



...but nobody pulls it off like Alabama.




3. Texas



LOVE this one. Iconic, simple, fierce. There's no mistaking this helmet for anyone else's in all of college football. White hat, white face mask, no stripe, stencilled Longhorn on the side. Texas, baby. Texas.

Todd has Florida State number two on his list, and Michigan number one.

Here's two I think they missed:

Southern Methodist



The Mustang is also among the most instantly recognizable and iconic logos in all of college athletics. I take a couple of points away because the school went to a blue helmet instead of the traditional white one:



...but seeing as how they were probably trying to distance themselves from the Death Penalty days, I'll give them a pass.



I also love Air Force:



...because the United States Air Force -- the armed service, not the service academy -- uses this artwork on their warplanes. Also, this helmet was allegedly the inspiration for the San Diego Chargers' lids:



...which is good enough for me.




Now, onto the helmets that are NOT good enough for me: as seen on TV on Monday night, my personal list of the five WORST helmets in college football.

5. Boise State



That's not a helmet, it's a logo for a fast food chain. I'll take a Double BroncoBurger with cheese.


4. Arizona State



Can anyone tell me why the Sun Devil is wearing feetie pajamas?




3. West Virginia



Holy 1975, Batman! Shouldn't this be the logo of some run-down ski resort in western Massachusetts? Waterford Valley? There's a fine line between "retro" and "ugly," and West Virginia has crossed it.


2. Illinois



Before the New York Giants went to the retro look, they should have sued the Illini for copyright infringement:









And my number one worst helmet in college football:

1. Florida



Look, there's nothing wrong with it. It's not ugly. It's simple. The colors are cool. But with a name like "Gators," couldn't they do a little better? Something more aggressive? Are there not a hundred possibilities with the alligator, a naturally scary-looking and awe-inspiring reptile?

I would even take this:




...over something that looks way too much like these:





...but that's just me.

You can vote on Steve's list and Todd's list (but not mine) at the Sun Sports website, www.sunsportstv.com, from now until next Monday night at 7pm. We'll announce the winner of Best List on the show. As for the Worst List, I'll take the heat, as long as you've got something better.

(Credits: The Helmet Project, one of the great time-wasters in the history of the Internet)

Signed, Concerned

"I have a number of concerns, and these are in no particular order."

(Double bonus points for anyone who can correctly name the movie.)

The so-called rivalry between South Florida and UCF has been well-documented, with input from me, Mike Bianchi, and a number of media types who arrived at the party shortly after the bartender hollered "Last Call." The short version is this: USF, they of the head-swimmingly fast rise from Football Nowhere to top-5 ranking, considers the University of Central Florida's football program to be a weak sister. South Florida is in a BCS conference, and therefore has absolutely nothing to gain by playing UCF on an annual basis. If they win, they're supposed to win, and it does nothing for their strength of schedule; if they lose, it's a crushing upset, and UCF can use it against them in recruiting while USF suffers in their unabashed bid to be considered among the top-tier programs in the nation. That's why USF head coach Jim Leavitt wants nothing to do with this game, and that's why the series has no scheduled future beyond 2008.

UCF, on the other hand, desperately wants South Florida to recognize them as a regional rival -- the schools, after all, are only 96 miles apart -- because such recognition validates UCF's program and gives them one guaranteed sellout per season with recruiting and braggin' rights ramifications. George O'Leary, who is nothing if not brutally honest, has admitted to the media that if UCF is to be considered a legit top-25 caliber program -- rare air that USF currently occupies, no matter what that moron Nick Saban has to say about it -- the Knights not only need to schedule teams like USF, Florida, Florida State, and Miami every year, they need to show up and beat them once in a while.

Everybody clear on that? Good.

So understanding that, understand this: the four-ton egg that UCF laid at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Saturday set the Knights' program back five years. Forget Alabama, forget any monumental game that UCF has played in its 28-year football history -- this was the one game that could have changed their lives, and they blew it. Bad.

It's not a rivalry if you're getting your intestines handed to you every year. South Florida was ready; UCF was not. As an unbiased media guy, I truly have no rooting interest here, but come on -- 64-12? 545 total yards to 144? The leading rusher in the nation garners 56 yards on the ground and no touchdowns? Are you serious?

You gotta show me something. What a disaster for UCF. And what a blow to the Big Five.

Here's the second thing that concerns me, and I hesitate to write it, because I am not a conspiracy theorist: somebody at Fox has a thing for the Cleveland Indians.

My wife, as I have submitted in full disclosure, is a fire-breathing member of Red Sox Nation. During Game One of the American League Championship Series, she noted while watching the game that it seemed as if the broadcast team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver were waxing a wee bit too philosophic about the Tribe, at the expense of the Sawx. Initially, I wrote it off as the yapping of another Red Sox apologist, and given the fact that Boston laid wood on Cleveland during that game, I figured it didn't really matter anyway.

Then I watched Game Two. Know what? She's right.

Buck and McCarver were absolutely transparent in their affection for Cleveland. I wish I could lay out transcripted examples of this theory, but you'll have to trust me as a guy who's only been in this business for fifteen years: something is going on.

My knee-jerk reaction was something along the lines of "Cleveland must have a deal with a Fox regional network like Sun Sports, and Boston does not," because I'm a TV guy and that's how I think. But they don't. The Indians have their own regional sports network, SportsTime Ohio, in much the same fashion that the Red Sox own their own regional net called NESN, which happens to be one of the best in our business. So the TV Attachment Theory is toast.

No, there's something else going on here. Maybe the Indians organization was more willing to allow their players to be miked up for Fox's national telecast, or perhaps the Fox guys got the blow-off from Boston's PR people one too many times, but something is afoot. I've only been doing this for fifteen years, as I may have mentioned, and once my attention was drawn to it, the sweet-talking of the Indians became obnoxiously apparent.

Again, I have no dog in this fight. I love my wife, but once the Braves were mathematically eliminated, I ceased to give a crap about the MLB playoffs. I'm just reporting my opinion as someone who possesses personal knowledge of the TV sports business. The guys in the Fox booth are making it sound like they reeeeally want Cleveland to look good. And even if that's totally false, it's not the impervious message of impartiality that a national network is obligated to deliver to a League Championship Series.

The funny thing is, we at Sun Sports get accused of favoring one team over another all the time (which we absolutely do not do, and I will fight you to the death on this one), usually via unsigned e-mails or anonymous message board posts after another Chevy Tailgate Weekend. So I realize that I am Pot accusing Kettle. But I'm dead serious about this, and I gave it due diligence before I wrote it. I shall stick to my guns.

Knock it off already, or come clean. Your audience deserves that respect.

That is all.

Press Conference Mess

I had every intention of live-blogging during the Florida State - Wake Forest game on Thursday night, but was just too damn tired.

The season finale of the "Chevy Florida Fishing Report" ran live from 7pm until 8:30pm, compelling me to ask our studio crew to set up a TV monitor off-camera with the Seminole game feed, just so I could keep one eye on the game. Once we finished the fishing show -- and sampled some of the indescribably good cooking of Jay Herrington from Fish on Fire in Orlando -- I trudged back up to my office to catch the end of FSU-Wake.

Meh.

Rather than attempt to explain what's wrong with the Seminoles, let me stick to things I know: the special insanity of live television.

For the first time in the five seasons of live postgame shows on Sun Sports, head coach Bobby Bowden did not appear for his press conference on the Geico Seminole Postgame. After several e-mail chains and investigation, here's what I came up with:

Wake Forest's home stadium, BB&T Field, has one and only one interview room big enough to hold a press conference. About fifteen minutes after the game ended -- right about the time I expected to see Coach Bowden, as he is legendary for his quick arrivals at the microphone -- I glanced over at our live feed from Winston-Salem to see Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe sit down at the interview table.

Uh-oh.

Our crew in Winston-Salem had been instructed by all knowledgeable parties to set up their cameras and lights for the Bowden press conference in that very same room. However, Florida State's sports information department had told Coach Bowden to address the media in a hallway outside the Seminoles' locker room, owing to the fact that the stadium did not offer a press conference area separate from Grobe's. Somewhere along the line, that fairly important piece of information never got to anyone at Sun Sports. Upon emerging from the FSU locker room, Bowden was cornered in a hallway by the dozens of print media reporters who were working feverishly toward their deadlines -- the game ran long -- and he gave them the comments they needed for their stories. End of story, as far as the reporters and Coach Bowden were concerned.

He never entered the press conference room. Thus, he never appeared in front of our cameras. Even if we had known that Bowden would be addressing the media in a hallway -- which we didn't -- the space there was far too small and cramped to set up the lights and camera for the live Sun Sports postgame (and knowing THAT, we would have made arrangements to get him somewhere else). There are too many chefs in this kitchen to list, and I have no intention of throwing anyone under the bus, but: Bowden is supposed to appear for his press conference on Sun Sports after every game, home or away. Any confusion about this issue has been addressed as of Friday, as Sun Sports management was in touch with Florida State's sports information department first thing in the morning. We've been assured that this won't happen again.

However, coming as it did one week after we had to wrap a Seminole postgame show into a Gator pregame show, there was at least one inevitable e-mail to Sun Sports on Friday morning chiding us for "Gator bias." This particular issue wears me out, so much so that I cannot dignify it with a response, other than to say that if anyone seriously believes that a Fox regional sports network favors one "home team" over another, said person has absolutely no clue how the television business operates.

Do I sound cranky? It's the halfway point of the college football season. A few four-hour football games and 1am bedtimes will do that to a guy.

Let me instead end happy and say "thanks" to Tom Block, our FSU reporter, who is the hardest-working man in show business. Even though Bowden was a no-show on the postgame, Tommy corralled Jimbo Fisher, Xavier Lee, Antone Smith, and just about every other important figure in this game for one-on-one interviews. Tom earns every penny every week.

Now, if he could just teach the Seminoles how to run the ball.

Game Night

Posting at 10:12 pm on yet another Saturday night at the office...

Interesting TV tap dance today when the Florida State-NC State game fell victim to a lightning delay in the 3rd quarter. We were already tight for time -- the plan was to provide live Seminole Postgame coverage for at least a half-hour until a scheduled Gator Pregame show started at 7:30pm. Once the FSU game reached a 45-minute delay, we knew we had no shot. The Seminoles wouldn't finish until nearly 7:45pm, and thus beginneth the dance.

Do the first segment of Florida content from the studio and Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. Take a break. Hustle Terry Norvelle into a seat next to Brady Ackerman. Come back from break. Remind everyone watching that we'll still be bringing more live reports from LSU, but for now, here's Bobby Bowden. Some FSU analysis from the Sun Sports broadcast team in Tallahassee. Take another break. Good times.

Fortunately, the TV audience doesn't get to enjoy the special insanity of the control room during these dual postgame/pregame shows, where our producer, director, tape operators, graphics operators, and crew pull their hair out to communicate with crews in both Tallahassee and Baton Rouge, switch out the graphics when necessary, make sure we hit our commercial breaks, make sure we get every sponsored element into the show, and generally perform blind surgery at Warp Factor Ten. REALLY good times.

But it got on TV, which is all that matters.

Help Wanted

Had a great blog entry planned out this week.

After beating 5th-ranked West Virginia on Friday night in Tampa, the University of South Florida has reached a dizzying pinnacle: 6th in the AP poll, 9th among the coaches. It's the fastest climb from entry into Division I football to the top-10 in the modern era of college football. USF's transitional season into D-I was six short years ago.

I was trying to come up with an analogy that would clearly explain how ridiculously fast USF's ascent has been. Was it Percy Harvin fast? 'Mike Bianchi heading for a free media buffet' fast? 'Whit Watson leaving the golf course after a double on 18' fast?

In all cases, we're talking breathtaking speed. But that didn't quite capture it.

Then, as I pored over South Florida's athletic website, it hit me: the Bulls have made the jump to lightspeed. May the Big Five be with you.




Spooky, no?

However, that entry has been shelved in favor of this one: I'm officially hanging out the "Help Wanted" sign at Sun Sports. Understand that I have absolutely no authority to do this whatsoever, as I do not hire or fire anyone here. Furthermore, we're not really hiring, as far as I know. But seeing as how I have already decreed both a Big Five and a Big Four and nobody has stopped me yet, I figured, what the heck.

First rule of being a sports journalist: beg forgiveness, not permission.

As soon as I posted the "Big Four" blog, wherein USF was welcomed to the big time by the Committee (me) by virtue of their win over Auburn, a Bulls fan in Arizona posted a reply asking me this:

"If USF has a seat at the table in the Big 4, when will you give USF a studio seat, aka Floyd, Walsh and Doering? Maybe it's time to consider a USF personality if USF really is in the club or as high as #2 in the state as many of you say."

Over the last few weeks, I've received several e-mails from Bulls fans asking the same question. Just this week, there was this thread on TheBullsPen.com, a USF fan site, wherein South Florida fans began exchanging suggestions for a former Bull who might fit the bill as a panelist on "Tailgate Overtime." I also did a live chat on SunSportsTV.com on Monday night after "TGOT," something we call the After Party, and was hit with yet another request to get USF representation on our shows next to the "Big Three" of Miami's Steve Walsh, FSU's William Floyd, and Florida's Chris Doering.

As I e-mailed one of these many correspondents a few weeks back -- this smells like a conspiracy. A concerted effort, if you will. But so what? They have a point.

Thus, the "Help Wanted" sign.

Here's the criteria, as I wrote during the chat: the ideal candidate will be a former USF football player who is instantly recognizable to even a casual college football fan. NFL experience is preferred, but not required. The candidate should be media-savvy, able to express his point clearly and energetically, avoiding the "deer-in-headlights" look at all times (although we occasionally relax this rule for Bianchi. Ba-dum-ching!) Previous on-air experience is a big plus.

The ideal candidate must also be available for 20 episodes of "Tailgate Overtime" from late August through National Signing Day in February. The show is live every Monday night at 7pm, shot at a studio in Orlando, Florida. There's compensation, but not enough to live on -- everyone on that show, including Walsh, Floyd, Doering, Bianchi, and national sports radio host Todd Wright -- has a day job.

Except me, of course. This IS my day job. And night job, and weekend job. Never mind. That's the criteria.

The intriguing challenge to this, of course, is the fact that USF has become big time almost too quickly. With only ten years of football history to go on -- and just over half of that time spent as a full-fledged D-I program -- it's not like there's dozens of former star players wandering the streets of Tampa. As one message board poster pointed out, correctly, most of USF's best football players are either still in school, playing in the NFL, or hanging around trying to retain a roster spot with some pro team somewhere. When it comes to finding a former player with the cache' of a Walsh, Floyd, or Doering -- three guys with national and conference championship rings, NFL service, and in Bar None's case, a Super Bowl trophy -- USF's short history is a hurdle.

Of course, this could get out of hand quickly. What if UCF beats South Florida in two weeks and enters the polls? Will Alex Haynes be calling me? Daunte Culpepper? Asante Samuel? And what about Florida Atlantic? They've got the Bulls this week -- if they pull off the upset, will Jared Allen's people be in touch?

We'll jump off that bridge when we come to it. After all, there's room at the table for everybody, literally and figuratively. Mostly figuratively.