Going along with the theme of my posts this week, "Yahoo Groups" could potentially be another method of getting information out to the student population.
Courtesy of groups.yahoo.com...
"What's a Yahoo Group?
It's where people with a shared interest meet, get to know each other, and stay informed. Your group gives you instant access to:
Shared message archives
Photos and photo albums
Group event calendars
Member polls and shared links
And best of all, it's free."
This sounds like a great way to have another avenue to communicate using technology. The shared messages feature could be used similar to that of the blog. Answer questions, share a different perspective that studetns dont normally hear, etc. The photos can be used to post all of the photos that opur department takes. There are many events where our marketing staff takes tons of photos, yet they never make it onto to the website for various reasons. I'm sure studetns would love to see them. The group event calendar is obvious. Any reminder of when our special events and deadlines are cant hurt the cause. Menber polls can actually be very successful. The only feedback we get right now is through a survey at the playoff captains meeting. if we had accessible polls online, a lot more responses would probably be recieived.
Granted, similar to facebook, we could not make this the only way to get information. it would just be an addition to beneift those studetns who use Yahoo. Thoughts?
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Blogging
This post will discuss whether or not Blogs would be beneficial to the Recreatioanl Sports department. This semester is the first time I have ever been a part of a Blog in any capacity. I could not find a university who uses this method of communication for Rec Sports though. I think this would be agreat way to announce special events, answer questions, etc. Sometimes have questions, but are afraid to ask me. its a similar situation in class. It usually takes that one person to ask the question that everybody is dying to know, but they are all too scared.
A blog could be open to the studetns to ask questions, and the GAs could candidly talk about certain policies. Obviously, we would have to be careful to what we said as this information could come back to bite us in the butt, but I think it would be really awesome. If I was around next semester, I really think I would have a blog for my sport. I know how many people comment on my "Game of the Day" that getsposted daily. I can only imagine how many people what check out what I had to say in a Blog. Games could be talked up, talented players could get recognition (Obviously you Grant), and it would just be a fun atmosphere for those serious Intramural Participants. What do you guys think? If a blog was linked to the website would you check it out to see what was goin on?
A blog could be open to the studetns to ask questions, and the GAs could candidly talk about certain policies. Obviously, we would have to be careful to what we said as this information could come back to bite us in the butt, but I think it would be really awesome. If I was around next semester, I really think I would have a blog for my sport. I know how many people comment on my "Game of the Day" that getsposted daily. I can only imagine how many people what check out what I had to say in a Blog. Games could be talked up, talented players could get recognition (Obviously you Grant), and it would just be a fun atmosphere for those serious Intramural Participants. What do you guys think? If a blog was linked to the website would you check it out to see what was goin on?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
This blog will discuss whether or not websites such as facebook.com and myspace.com would be beneficial to a Recreational Sports Department. There are many schools out there who are beginning to use facebook for many different aspects of their programs. For example, Washington State has an Intramural Group where they announce their special events. If you join the group, you frequently recieve messages about upcoming activities. They also have special groups for their officials, and obviously an administrator from the program would have to allow a person to join. Pictures are posted, scenarios are discussed, etc. You could potentially even send out a schedule through facebook as well. Obviously you would have to keep the normal scheduling dispersion methods as well in case people arent members.
I think UF should jump on this boat immediately. Facebook.com has become so huge and it would increase the marketing efforts tenfold without even spending a dollar. The only negative I can think of is that students might think its a little cheesy. If we post those odd flyers on the side to announce things, that might be a detriment. Would you guys join an Intramural facebook group? Thoughts?
I think UF should jump on this boat immediately. Facebook.com has become so huge and it would increase the marketing efforts tenfold without even spending a dollar. The only negative I can think of is that students might think its a little cheesy. If we post those odd flyers on the side to announce things, that might be a detriment. Would you guys join an Intramural facebook group? Thoughts?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Changes in Football
I found a cool clip on YouTube about some technological changes in the game of football.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cOgEN35DVOg
There are 3 examples from this video. The first is this awesome temperature pill that can catch players temperatures rising too steadily before they reach the point of no return. Any idea if our players use these after the death of a future player 5-6 years ago?
The next one is the use of shaded contact lenses. As you will see, some can be used to look through the glare of the sun, while others are used to just see the ball better (i.e. for golf). Do you think this ruins the spirit of the game if some poeple arent effected by the sun while others cant see at all looking up?
The last one is the use of simulations for quarterbacks. Every team they play is embedded into the system down to the numbers and skin colors of every single player. Must be incredible to use for the QBs who break their foot during Spring drills...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cOgEN35DVOg
There are 3 examples from this video. The first is this awesome temperature pill that can catch players temperatures rising too steadily before they reach the point of no return. Any idea if our players use these after the death of a future player 5-6 years ago?
The next one is the use of shaded contact lenses. As you will see, some can be used to look through the glare of the sun, while others are used to just see the ball better (i.e. for golf). Do you think this ruins the spirit of the game if some poeple arent effected by the sun while others cant see at all looking up?
The last one is the use of simulations for quarterbacks. Every team they play is embedded into the system down to the numbers and skin colors of every single player. Must be incredible to use for the QBs who break their foot during Spring drills...
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Football tickets
Well it here it is again...the time of year when students have to attempt to get season football tickets for next year. Fortunately/Unfortunately, I won't have to go through this process again. I'm sure you UAA kids have talked about this topic more than you ever wanted to, but I figured Id post it anyways. Is there really no better way to set the system up here than to have kids spend hours at a time on their cell phones rackin up minutes and usually not even getting through? I know we have done an online lottery for the UGA game in the past, but apparently that wouldnt work for overall tickets. After looking around this thing they call the Internet, I came across a policy that I liked.
http://www.wvu.edu/football_tickets/
As you can read, West Virginia has an online registration system.
"1.1.2 Currently enrolled, athletic-fee paying WVU students are eligible to receive one (1) ticket each to football home games.
1.1.3 Once athletic-fee paying students log-in, depending on their status, they will select a ticket in one of the following areas: Maniacs (for fee-paying Maniac members in good standing); Senior Spirit Section 121 (for students who have achieved senior status of 89 plus credit hours or who are graduate or professional students that have paid the necessary fee); or Upper Deck or Lower Deck (open to all students)."
If the demand for tickets exceeds the number of tickets offered, they immediately go to a "Loyalty Distribution" system. The year of schol that you are in and the number of games that you have attended adds to your loyalty points. it seems very simple to me. It might suck for some freshmen out there, but thats the breaks. I remember having friends who couldnt go to games their senior year after not missing a game for 3 years and it really isnt fair. I'll be interested to hear some other thoughts on what technology is out there that has been researched by UAA.
http://www.wvu.edu/football_tickets/
As you can read, West Virginia has an online registration system.
"1.1.2 Currently enrolled, athletic-fee paying WVU students are eligible to receive one (1) ticket each to football home games.
1.1.3 Once athletic-fee paying students log-in, depending on their status, they will select a ticket in one of the following areas: Maniacs (for fee-paying Maniac members in good standing); Senior Spirit Section 121 (for students who have achieved senior status of 89 plus credit hours or who are graduate or professional students that have paid the necessary fee); or Upper Deck or Lower Deck (open to all students)."
If the demand for tickets exceeds the number of tickets offered, they immediately go to a "Loyalty Distribution" system. The year of schol that you are in and the number of games that you have attended adds to your loyalty points. it seems very simple to me. It might suck for some freshmen out there, but thats the breaks. I remember having friends who couldnt go to games their senior year after not missing a game for 3 years and it really isnt fair. I'll be interested to hear some other thoughts on what technology is out there that has been researched by UAA.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Off-season trouble
Over the last few years, our football players have been out of the news during the off-season. This was great as we got to kick back and laugh at all of our rivals struggle through. This was a sign on good team leadership and committement to the following season. This is what worries me after the last few days. Within 4 days, a possible starting linebacker and a possible starting offensive lineman have been arrested. Dustin Doe got into a fight, and met with the team's leadership committee. They decided to punish him internally, but not suspend him. I would imagine this topic was broached by the coaches earlier this week when it happened. Thats why I am so confused as to what happened early this morning. Ronnie Wilson was arrested.
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/LOCAL/70405003
"University of Florida offensive lineman Ronnie Matthew Wilson was arrested early Thursday on charges of aggravated assault, simple battery and use or display of a concealed weapon during the commission of a felony, a Gainesville Police arrest report stated" (Fisher, 2007).
The report goes on to say that he pulled a rifle out of his trunk and shot it in the air to show the other man how it felt it to be scared. Are you serious? Were you not paying attention the last few days inpractice when Dustin Doe got away lucky. Do you really not want to play this season? I only hope that these two incidents are an anomaly and we don't have to deal with this for the rest of the off-season.
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070405/LOCAL/70405003
"University of Florida offensive lineman Ronnie Matthew Wilson was arrested early Thursday on charges of aggravated assault, simple battery and use or display of a concealed weapon during the commission of a felony, a Gainesville Police arrest report stated" (Fisher, 2007).
The report goes on to say that he pulled a rifle out of his trunk and shot it in the air to show the other man how it felt it to be scared. Are you serious? Were you not paying attention the last few days inpractice when Dustin Doe got away lucky. Do you really not want to play this season? I only hope that these two incidents are an anomaly and we don't have to deal with this for the rest of the off-season.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Neutral Sites
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/GATORS04/704040368
Last night, our baseball team (19-13) decided to bring the A game and absolutely pounded FSU (29-3) with a score of 16-7.
"The game was played before an overflow crowd of 12,280 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville - the largest crowd to watch a college baseball game in this state's history. The mark shattered the previous record of 8,277 set by Miami on Feb. 9, 1996 against Texas" (Zimmerman, 2007)
The issue I wanted to bring up was the playing of rivalry games at neutral sites. I bet some players would rather play all the UF-FSU baseball games at this stadium because it would draw so many fans. Others might want to continue to play the home and home series because those are our most electric atmospheres of the season at our stadium.
My opinions on neutral sites is that the site should be about an even distance of each school so the fans have a fair chance of filling the stadium. The UF/UGA football game is probably unfair because we have to drive less than 2 hours and they have to drive 6. To their credit, they always fill their part of the stadium. In baseball game, I wonder if the fans of FSU traveled the 4 hours compared to our 2. If we dominated the fan base, this wouldnt be a good site for future games. There are pros and cons to neutral sited games, but then who's to decide which rivalries get that option? Should we meet Tennessee half way next year and play in a random stadium? Just seems odd. Thoughts?
Last night, our baseball team (19-13) decided to bring the A game and absolutely pounded FSU (29-3) with a score of 16-7.
"The game was played before an overflow crowd of 12,280 at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville - the largest crowd to watch a college baseball game in this state's history. The mark shattered the previous record of 8,277 set by Miami on Feb. 9, 1996 against Texas" (Zimmerman, 2007)
The issue I wanted to bring up was the playing of rivalry games at neutral sites. I bet some players would rather play all the UF-FSU baseball games at this stadium because it would draw so many fans. Others might want to continue to play the home and home series because those are our most electric atmospheres of the season at our stadium.
My opinions on neutral sites is that the site should be about an even distance of each school so the fans have a fair chance of filling the stadium. The UF/UGA football game is probably unfair because we have to drive less than 2 hours and they have to drive 6. To their credit, they always fill their part of the stadium. In baseball game, I wonder if the fans of FSU traveled the 4 hours compared to our 2. If we dominated the fan base, this wouldnt be a good site for future games. There are pros and cons to neutral sited games, but then who's to decide which rivalries get that option? Should we meet Tennessee half way next year and play in a random stadium? Just seems odd. Thoughts?
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Keep Billy D
Check out this site that went live on Sunday... http://keepbillydonovan.com/ After seeing this as the main part of the article "Gators, there's only one way to let the University of Florida know where Gator Nation stands on this critically important issue...tell the administration! The University of Florida Athletic Association phone number is #(352) 375-4683". I truly hope you guys have to answer that phone number! lol Seriously though, as much as I want Billy to stay, websites like this are a little ridiculous if you ask me.
Its one thing to have the ole fireronzook.com page because then the administration can see how much everybody truly wasnt happy with him. On the Keep Billy site, this isnt the case. It has 2 small paragraphs and the site is pretty much useless after that. Who does this guy think will be answering the phones?! "Good morning, this is Jeremy Foley, how can I help you?" Dont think so. I guess the only hope is for some poor UAA interns or whoever answers that intiial phone call will get so crazed that they will bust through Foleys door and force him to do whatever it takes to keep him. Interesting people I tell ya...
Its one thing to have the ole fireronzook.com page because then the administration can see how much everybody truly wasnt happy with him. On the Keep Billy site, this isnt the case. It has 2 small paragraphs and the site is pretty much useless after that. Who does this guy think will be answering the phones?! "Good morning, this is Jeremy Foley, how can I help you?" Dont think so. I guess the only hope is for some poor UAA interns or whoever answers that intiial phone call will get so crazed that they will bust through Foleys door and force him to do whatever it takes to keep him. Interesting people I tell ya...
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Intramural Conduct
http://www.fsu.edu/~success/handbook/conduct.htm
So I looked online for the student-athlete code of conduct for UF, but I couldnt seem to find one available online. I was able to find one from Florida State very easily. I'll just assume its because they are always in trouble and need to refer to the conduct policies very often. Anyways, the reason I bring this up is in regard to situations we have had in the Intramural Department this year. The soccer team was involved in an "almost" brawl on the Intramural flag football field. Football players were ejected from a basketball game last spring for flicking off the officials. Two nights ago, a softball team full of football players had to be calmed down by myself becuase they were yelling at the officials and the other team. After they were calmed down they played soccer the following night and one of them was ejected for verbally abusing the supervisor. You gotta be kidding me! When we have issues, we contact one of the coaches or something to that effect and make sure they know what the deal is. We have no clue what happens from here on out. Some teams might punish their players by making them do extra sprints after practice. Some teams might laugh it off as stupid Intramurals and who cares. Check out this paragraph from FSU's handbook:
"As the University's most visible ambassadors, student-athletes at Florida State are expected to uphold, at all times high standards of integrity and behavior which will reflect well upon themselves, their families, coaches, teammates, and the Department of Athletics and Florida State University. Student-athletes are expected to act with propriety, to respect the rights of others, and abide by all rules and regulations of Florida State University, the ACC, and the NCAA. Failure to do so may result in suspension from the team or even the university. SCHOLARSHIP ATHLETES RISK HAVING ALL OR PART OF THEIR FINANCIAL AID REVOKED FOR VIOLATION OF THIS CODE".
In no way am I asking scholarships to be revoked or for these players to be kicked off the team. I just wished we knew if they were actually being held to a higher standard, or are we just just another joke on the field for them... My guess is a joke. :)
So I looked online for the student-athlete code of conduct for UF, but I couldnt seem to find one available online. I was able to find one from Florida State very easily. I'll just assume its because they are always in trouble and need to refer to the conduct policies very often. Anyways, the reason I bring this up is in regard to situations we have had in the Intramural Department this year. The soccer team was involved in an "almost" brawl on the Intramural flag football field. Football players were ejected from a basketball game last spring for flicking off the officials. Two nights ago, a softball team full of football players had to be calmed down by myself becuase they were yelling at the officials and the other team. After they were calmed down they played soccer the following night and one of them was ejected for verbally abusing the supervisor. You gotta be kidding me! When we have issues, we contact one of the coaches or something to that effect and make sure they know what the deal is. We have no clue what happens from here on out. Some teams might punish their players by making them do extra sprints after practice. Some teams might laugh it off as stupid Intramurals and who cares. Check out this paragraph from FSU's handbook:
"As the University's most visible ambassadors, student-athletes at Florida State are expected to uphold, at all times high standards of integrity and behavior which will reflect well upon themselves, their families, coaches, teammates, and the Department of Athletics and Florida State University. Student-athletes are expected to act with propriety, to respect the rights of others, and abide by all rules and regulations of Florida State University, the ACC, and the NCAA. Failure to do so may result in suspension from the team or even the university. SCHOLARSHIP ATHLETES RISK HAVING ALL OR PART OF THEIR FINANCIAL AID REVOKED FOR VIOLATION OF THIS CODE".
In no way am I asking scholarships to be revoked or for these players to be kicked off the team. I just wished we knew if they were actually being held to a higher standard, or are we just just another joke on the field for them... My guess is a joke. :)
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Transfers
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070328/GATORS01/703280361
This article is about the former UF quarterback Josh Portis, and how he is batting for the starting job in the Maryland backfield. "Jordan Steffy enters spring practice No. 1 on the depth chart based on experience. The 6-foot-1, 209-pound Pennsylvania native has been in the system for three seasons and understands the offense better than any of the other signal callers. Portis is a faster, more dynamic runner, blessed with exciting moves and capable of running the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds" (Gatorsports.com, 2007) I wonder how Portis felt this year when he watched how Tebow was used and watched his buddies win the national title...I also wonder if Portis could have pulled off the jump-pass, but thats another topic! :)
I really root against guys that transfer away from our programs, unless its for a valid reason. Ingle Martin was not a UF caliber quarterback. Go to Furman and do something. I can understand that. Mario Boggans not being able to lose weight and get up and down the court for Billy D so he leaves? I dont get that. There has been a bunch of guys from the basketball program especially that have transferred, and I truthfully am happy they are all gone. Still, I cant bring myself to wish them the best. I smiled at every Applebee missed shot and every OK. State loss thsi year. Myabe its just me. Do you guys even care about people when they transfer away? Do you root for them or against them? Just curious...
This article is about the former UF quarterback Josh Portis, and how he is batting for the starting job in the Maryland backfield. "Jordan Steffy enters spring practice No. 1 on the depth chart based on experience. The 6-foot-1, 209-pound Pennsylvania native has been in the system for three seasons and understands the offense better than any of the other signal callers. Portis is a faster, more dynamic runner, blessed with exciting moves and capable of running the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds" (Gatorsports.com, 2007) I wonder how Portis felt this year when he watched how Tebow was used and watched his buddies win the national title...I also wonder if Portis could have pulled off the jump-pass, but thats another topic! :)
I really root against guys that transfer away from our programs, unless its for a valid reason. Ingle Martin was not a UF caliber quarterback. Go to Furman and do something. I can understand that. Mario Boggans not being able to lose weight and get up and down the court for Billy D so he leaves? I dont get that. There has been a bunch of guys from the basketball program especially that have transferred, and I truthfully am happy they are all gone. Still, I cant bring myself to wish them the best. I smiled at every Applebee missed shot and every OK. State loss thsi year. Myabe its just me. Do you guys even care about people when they transfer away? Do you root for them or against them? Just curious...
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Academics
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/GATORS01/70326037
This article discusses how the mens basketball team has to deal with their academic workload, along with their responsibilities as basketball players. I can't even imagine how hard it is to focus on anything related to school right now. I'm struggling with it and Im just a huge fan! They are expected to learn how to play against teams that they might not have ever seen, and sometimes they only have about 40 hours. Then the players are expected to keep up their GPA's to a standard that is worthy of the University.
Sometimes this doesnt always work. "Walter Hodge walked into a midterm exam Monday and didn't know any of the answers."All guesses," Florida's sophomore guard said. "I didn't know anything." (Zimmerman, 2007)
People all over the world will read this article and chuckle at this. They'll laugh because right now, who cares? The Gators are in the Final Four. Months down the road when Hodge could potentially become ineligible due to bad grades, all of a sudden there will be an uproar.
This article discusses how the mens basketball team has to deal with their academic workload, along with their responsibilities as basketball players. I can't even imagine how hard it is to focus on anything related to school right now. I'm struggling with it and Im just a huge fan! They are expected to learn how to play against teams that they might not have ever seen, and sometimes they only have about 40 hours. Then the players are expected to keep up their GPA's to a standard that is worthy of the University.
Sometimes this doesnt always work. "Walter Hodge walked into a midterm exam Monday and didn't know any of the answers."All guesses," Florida's sophomore guard said. "I didn't know anything." (Zimmerman, 2007)
People all over the world will read this article and chuckle at this. They'll laugh because right now, who cares? The Gators are in the Final Four. Months down the road when Hodge could potentially become ineligible due to bad grades, all of a sudden there will be an uproar.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Gator Vision
So after coming to the realization that I will be graduating in 40 days and moving to another city other than Gainesville, I actually contemplated signing up for Gator Vision. As you three probably know, this is a way to watch live Gator games on your computer. Its actually made for the Gator enthusiast that has a special interest in the "random" sports. You can catch live games of womens volleyball, womens soccer, mens baseball, womens softball, gymnastics, and some womens basketball games. For those of us out there that wont have the option of scanning into some random baseball game for free anymore, this could actually be clutch. I'm sure over the next few months, the side bar clips on Gatorzone.com will keep my interest level peaked. http://www.gatorvision.tv/
I wonder if other universities have this option available. I looked around and didnt really find anything like this anywhere. UF 1 Everybody Else 0
Now I'll have to work on Bud Selig and convince him to let me watch the Marlins without subscribing to Direct TV...ahhh ill save that topic for another post!
I wonder if other universities have this option available. I looked around and didnt really find anything like this anywhere. UF 1 Everybody Else 0
Now I'll have to work on Bud Selig and convince him to let me watch the Marlins without subscribing to Direct TV...ahhh ill save that topic for another post!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Safety of Coaches
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/03/22/cricket.death/index.html
Although this isnt too prevelant in the United States, it definitely got me thinking. After a huge loss in the World Cup Cricket tournament, the Pakistani Coach was murdered.
"Woolmer's death came less than 24 hours after former world champion Pakistan was beaten and eliminated by the relatively unknown Irish team on St. Patrick's Day, one of the biggest shocks in World Cup cricket history. The loss on Saturday prompted outrage among the team's hardcore fans, with protesters burning effigies of Woolmer and the team captain in Karachi" (Raedler, 2007).
I was curious to see if my favorite UAA people had some insight into the security of players and coaches in big games compared to regular games. Obviously, Gator games are much different than the World Cup in countries where they are very passionate about it, but I was still interested. Do our coaches always have security with them on road trips or would they rather just be normal people around the hotel and whatnot. Is it taken into account when we play in cities such as Lexington where we know that their fans really hate our basketball team? If I was a big time coach and saw incident slike this, it would definitely frighten me. As we've seen in random occurences with fans that jump onto the field to fight coaches, some people out there are just plain crazy!
Although this isnt too prevelant in the United States, it definitely got me thinking. After a huge loss in the World Cup Cricket tournament, the Pakistani Coach was murdered.
"Woolmer's death came less than 24 hours after former world champion Pakistan was beaten and eliminated by the relatively unknown Irish team on St. Patrick's Day, one of the biggest shocks in World Cup cricket history. The loss on Saturday prompted outrage among the team's hardcore fans, with protesters burning effigies of Woolmer and the team captain in Karachi" (Raedler, 2007).
I was curious to see if my favorite UAA people had some insight into the security of players and coaches in big games compared to regular games. Obviously, Gator games are much different than the World Cup in countries where they are very passionate about it, but I was still interested. Do our coaches always have security with them on road trips or would they rather just be normal people around the hotel and whatnot. Is it taken into account when we play in cities such as Lexington where we know that their fans really hate our basketball team? If I was a big time coach and saw incident slike this, it would definitely frighten me. As we've seen in random occurences with fans that jump onto the field to fight coaches, some people out there are just plain crazy!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Wow
Although this blog is about Gator sports, when I came across this article, I had to show you guys. Apparently WWE wrestlers have now been linked to the steroid scnadal....IM SHOCKED! :) When a Sports Illustrated writer asks a spokesman about their policy he said:
Gary Davis, a WWE spokesman, pointed us to a Talent Wellness Program instituted in February 2006. As to whether anabolic steroids and HGH are banned, Davis sent us an email quoting the policy: "The WWE policy prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."
Ok, seriously....did anybody ever see some of those wrestlers? I bet more than half of them are on steroids. The only reason nobody has cared for so long is because it is good for the sport. More muscular wrestlers mean bigger and better crowds because people like to see these "beasts". Can you imagine if Grant and I got in the ring? I think the arena would be empty before I even pinned him in 30 seconds. This just leads me to my point of the blog. When it benefits the sport, governing bodies turn their head the other way.
In 1998 during the home run chase, there was the same steroid problem that we see today. The difference was that baseball needed Big Mac and Sammy to revive the sport. Once the fans were back in their seats and back into the retail stores, they didnt care whether or not they busted these guys. The funny thing to me is that this has become such a ridiculous story that it is now gonna turn people off to the sport. I for one wanna throw my tv through the window when a steroids story comes on SportsCenter.
Whether or not people care about steroids also depends on the popular sports in our country. There would be about 7 people who cared if the whole MLS was on steroids so they healed quicker after games.
Here is the article I was looking at... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/19/wrestlers/index.html
Has anybdoy seen CJ lately...that guy might be on steroids! :)
Gary Davis, a WWE spokesman, pointed us to a Talent Wellness Program instituted in February 2006. As to whether anabolic steroids and HGH are banned, Davis sent us an email quoting the policy: "The WWE policy prohibits the use of performance-enhancing drugs, as well as other prescription drugs which can be abused, if taken for other than a legitimate medical purpose pursuant to a valid prescription from a licensed and treating physician. For purposes of WWE's policy, prescriptions obtained over the Internet and/or from suppliers of prescription drugs from the Internet are not considered to have been given for a legitimate medical purpose."
Ok, seriously....did anybody ever see some of those wrestlers? I bet more than half of them are on steroids. The only reason nobody has cared for so long is because it is good for the sport. More muscular wrestlers mean bigger and better crowds because people like to see these "beasts". Can you imagine if Grant and I got in the ring? I think the arena would be empty before I even pinned him in 30 seconds. This just leads me to my point of the blog. When it benefits the sport, governing bodies turn their head the other way.
In 1998 during the home run chase, there was the same steroid problem that we see today. The difference was that baseball needed Big Mac and Sammy to revive the sport. Once the fans were back in their seats and back into the retail stores, they didnt care whether or not they busted these guys. The funny thing to me is that this has become such a ridiculous story that it is now gonna turn people off to the sport. I for one wanna throw my tv through the window when a steroids story comes on SportsCenter.
Whether or not people care about steroids also depends on the popular sports in our country. There would be about 7 people who cared if the whole MLS was on steroids so they healed quicker after games.
Here is the article I was looking at... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/03/19/wrestlers/index.html
Has anybdoy seen CJ lately...that guy might be on steroids! :)
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Hossette hearts gymnastics
http://www.gatorzone.com/story.php?id=11849&sport=gymna&html=gymnastics/news/20070316104300.html
First off, let me apologize for only being able to post 3 times on Sunday and not 3 times during the week. I understand this class is an online class, but I was out of town for Spring Break and unable to reach a computer.
Since the hossette had such a passionate response to my first post, I will talk about some Gator gymnastics. Last week the best team in the country fell to #2 in the rankings while recording victories. Hmmm...lets think about this. A team that has dominated everybody all year gets dropped to #2 why? I have no clue. Thankfully I have an immense amount of knowledge about gymnastics and realized that the rankings are based on average team scores. Do any of you guys think this is absurd? The rankings are useless as it is because the title is decided on the "floor" anyways, but this rankings system just makes it worse.
A team should be ranked on who the committee feels are the best teams. Sometime circumstances occur where a team might not perform to the greatest of their abilitiy for some odd reason. For example, earlier this year the Gator women traveled to Georgia and incorporated a major change in their floor routines. Every routine has a "Gator Chomp" somehow involved. Last year, the Georgia fans booed so loudly when it happened that the girls couldnt even hear their music. To avoid this, the ladies took it out and switched up everything. To their credit they still did great and came out of the maybe the toughest environment around with a solid score and a tie. Should something like this mean they should be dropped in the rankings? Shouldnt the committee be able to say that they overcame that adversity of changing their routines and still are the best?
For Grant - The Gator softball is 2-6 in SEC play. Yes, they did have a couple of big wins. Congrats ladies.
First off, let me apologize for only being able to post 3 times on Sunday and not 3 times during the week. I understand this class is an online class, but I was out of town for Spring Break and unable to reach a computer.
Since the hossette had such a passionate response to my first post, I will talk about some Gator gymnastics. Last week the best team in the country fell to #2 in the rankings while recording victories. Hmmm...lets think about this. A team that has dominated everybody all year gets dropped to #2 why? I have no clue. Thankfully I have an immense amount of knowledge about gymnastics and realized that the rankings are based on average team scores. Do any of you guys think this is absurd? The rankings are useless as it is because the title is decided on the "floor" anyways, but this rankings system just makes it worse.
A team should be ranked on who the committee feels are the best teams. Sometime circumstances occur where a team might not perform to the greatest of their abilitiy for some odd reason. For example, earlier this year the Gator women traveled to Georgia and incorporated a major change in their floor routines. Every routine has a "Gator Chomp" somehow involved. Last year, the Georgia fans booed so loudly when it happened that the girls couldnt even hear their music. To avoid this, the ladies took it out and switched up everything. To their credit they still did great and came out of the maybe the toughest environment around with a solid score and a tie. Should something like this mean they should be dropped in the rankings? Shouldnt the committee be able to say that they overcame that adversity of changing their routines and still are the best?
For Grant - The Gator softball is 2-6 in SEC play. Yes, they did have a couple of big wins. Congrats ladies.
Stay Off the Court!
http://www.insidevandy.com/drupal/node/3147
I came across this article from the studetn newspaper at Vanderbilt the day before we played them in basketball a few weeks ago. (Yes, they beat us, but we will ignore that for now because honestly its still Vanderbilt) The article discusses the ramifications for students that rush the court or field after games. As of now in the SEC, there are minor fines such as $5,000 for the first offense, $25,000 for the second offense etc. In my belief this is absolutely not strong enough. The universities and their athletic departments enjoy getting the clip on Sportscenter of their "great" fans showing their "enthusiasm". They are more than willing to pay the bills to make this happen.
The consequences for storming the court should be absolutely harsh. Im talking about something that would make the fans never consider doing it again. How many people have gotten injured when this happens? How many players have had to use self defense from opposing fans? How many police officers have not been somewhere else because they had to stand around the entire court or field at the end of each game?
How bout this suggestion UAA people. Any student attends a game where fans rush the court may not attend the following game. There are obviously faults to something like this such as studetns can possibly get tickets and that you would be punishing many students that didnt do anything. But...The students would police themselves and create a culture where nobody wanted to get anywhere near the court! :)
Here at THE University of Florida, we expect to win every single game so there is no need to act like fools and get on the court when we do. I just wish some other schools would stop acting like they've never been there before.
I came across this article from the studetn newspaper at Vanderbilt the day before we played them in basketball a few weeks ago. (Yes, they beat us, but we will ignore that for now because honestly its still Vanderbilt) The article discusses the ramifications for students that rush the court or field after games. As of now in the SEC, there are minor fines such as $5,000 for the first offense, $25,000 for the second offense etc. In my belief this is absolutely not strong enough. The universities and their athletic departments enjoy getting the clip on Sportscenter of their "great" fans showing their "enthusiasm". They are more than willing to pay the bills to make this happen.
The consequences for storming the court should be absolutely harsh. Im talking about something that would make the fans never consider doing it again. How many people have gotten injured when this happens? How many players have had to use self defense from opposing fans? How many police officers have not been somewhere else because they had to stand around the entire court or field at the end of each game?
How bout this suggestion UAA people. Any student attends a game where fans rush the court may not attend the following game. There are obviously faults to something like this such as studetns can possibly get tickets and that you would be punishing many students that didnt do anything. But...The students would police themselves and create a culture where nobody wanted to get anywhere near the court! :)
Here at THE University of Florida, we expect to win every single game so there is no need to act like fools and get on the court when we do. I just wish some other schools would stop acting like they've never been there before.
Charity
http://www.gatorsports.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/GATORS24/70317022
The best basketball team in the country is preparing for the NCAA tournament the day before by not watching film, not resting up in their rooms, not having meetings, but getting a dose of reality. Coach Donovan took his team on a sobering trip through the damaged areas of New Orelans to prove a point. No matter how hard you think you have it, you are living in a fantasy world to some. The post-Katrina damage will effect that area for who knows how long. The point of this blog is not to discuss Katrina but instead to discuss the charitable efforts made by teams. Most teams in tournaments, all star games, etc. travel to a charitable event of some sort. Many times it is a childrens hospital. Many times there is a 2 minute "feel good" clip before their games about how the players went there and how nice they are blah blah blah.
I wish this was a bigger deal. I would imagine that some teams and players perform charitbale acts more than others. I wish the media in our country would put together a show of some sort that specifically targeted these players. I personally think that these players should get the recognition that they deserve. Im not talking about "NCAA Man of the Year" or soemthing to that effect. What happens to the hundreds of kids who didnt win the award? My feelings would be for a show like GatorZone TV to have a segment every single show about a Gator athlete and what they do for the community. Shoot, maybe this would persuade more players to get involved in other activities...Thoughts?
The best basketball team in the country is preparing for the NCAA tournament the day before by not watching film, not resting up in their rooms, not having meetings, but getting a dose of reality. Coach Donovan took his team on a sobering trip through the damaged areas of New Orelans to prove a point. No matter how hard you think you have it, you are living in a fantasy world to some. The post-Katrina damage will effect that area for who knows how long. The point of this blog is not to discuss Katrina but instead to discuss the charitable efforts made by teams. Most teams in tournaments, all star games, etc. travel to a charitable event of some sort. Many times it is a childrens hospital. Many times there is a 2 minute "feel good" clip before their games about how the players went there and how nice they are blah blah blah.
I wish this was a bigger deal. I would imagine that some teams and players perform charitbale acts more than others. I wish the media in our country would put together a show of some sort that specifically targeted these players. I personally think that these players should get the recognition that they deserve. Im not talking about "NCAA Man of the Year" or soemthing to that effect. What happens to the hundreds of kids who didnt win the award? My feelings would be for a show like GatorZone TV to have a segment every single show about a Gator athlete and what they do for the community. Shoot, maybe this would persuade more players to get involved in other activities...Thoughts?
Sunday, March 11, 2007
And so it begins...
As you will all (obviously everybody will read this) learn, one of my passions in life is sports. I grew up as the "hoss" (Register, 1983) on all of my athletic teams. I am also finishing up my Masters in Sports Management in 65 days. I'm obviously not counting down. :) I grew up as a fan of the Miami Hurricanes. When you are finished scowling at that statement, please understand I grew up in South Florida pre Steve Spurrier and pre South Florida having such dominant sports franchises such as the Florida Marlins and Miami Heat. As I have been at UF for 6 years now, I truly bleed Orange and Blue. I didnt think it would happen, but I am a Gator through and through.
Since last March, the University of Florida has owned college sports. The basketball team won a title, the football team won a title, we have had 5 different teams hold a #1 ranking this year, and the basketball team has recently earned the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
I will use this blog to talk about everything in the world of gator sports....from Joakim Noah regaining his form, to Melanie Sinclair's Perfect 10's on the uneven bars (did I just write that?), I will try to touch on as many topics as I can. Go Gators!
Since last March, the University of Florida has owned college sports. The basketball team won a title, the football team won a title, we have had 5 different teams hold a #1 ranking this year, and the basketball team has recently earned the #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
I will use this blog to talk about everything in the world of gator sports....from Joakim Noah regaining his form, to Melanie Sinclair's Perfect 10's on the uneven bars (did I just write that?), I will try to touch on as many topics as I can. Go Gators!
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