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The University of Florida quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner sure does interesting things when away from school.
During spring break, Tebow added a new facet to his fame. In an impoverished village outside General Santos City in the Philippines, Tebow helped circumcise impoverished children.
On the Friday of a weeklong trip to the orphanage his father’s ministry runs in Southeast Asia, Tebow assisted with the care of locals who had walked miles to the temporary clinic that the ministry helped organize. More than 250 people underwent medical and dental procedures, some of them from “Dr. Tebow,” who has no formal surgical training.
“The first time, it was nerve-racking,” he said. “Hands were shaking a little bit. I mean, I’m cutting somebody. You can’t do those kinds of things in the United States. But those people really needed the surgeries. We needed to help them.”
Tebow didn’t plan on operating that day in the Philippines — his job was to preach to the hundreds of people before they had teeth pulled or cysts removed. But as the day rolled on, he grew curious about the three Filipino doctors and his friend, UF graduate and aspiring doctor Richard “R.B.” Moleno, in the bus-sized vehicle that served as a mobile hospital.
Tebow started as a helper and gofer, holding tools and running errands for the medics. By afternoon, he was asking questions and looking for more active ways to help. And by the end of an exhausting day, he was wearing gloves and a mask, wielding surgical scissors, finishing off stitches with a snip.
The patients were too young to ask Tebow his medical background. What would the parents say if they knew about his other sideline, pardon the pun? Free medical care is free medical care I guess.
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| Saturday, April 26, 2008 |
 The Jacksonville Jaguars moved up from the 26th spot via a trade with the Baltimore Ravens almost the instant that the last pick was made. For whatever reason, though, they’re taking their sweet time making a pick. Are they trying to trade down?
The Jags take Florida DE Derrick Harvey, which everyone seems to think is a huge reach.
Scouts, Inc.: 11th
Strengths: Is tall and well built with very long arms (35.4 inches) and big hands (9.3 inches). Has a quick first step for his size and can beat most blocker to the point of attack. He hugs the rail tightly as a pass rusher and wastes very little motion getting to the quarterback. Runs line stunts well and flashes an effective rip move when shoots inside. Changes directions well, flashes an effective spin move and can set tackles up to the outside before redirecting inside. Has a mean streak and flashes the ability to deliver the big hit when gets to the quarterback. Keeps head up, times jumps well and can get hands on passes when doesn’t get to the quarterback. Shows good awareness and locates the ball quickly. Moves well laterally and does a nice job of scraping down the line of scrimmage. Stays home when plays goes away from him and generally does a nice job of setting the edge when opponents attack the perimeter to his side. Takes sound pursuit angles, closes down cutback lanes and has sideline-to-sideline range. Plays under control in space, wraps up upon contact and is a reliable open field tackler. While doesn’t have much experience dropping into coverage, is quick and athletic enough to hold own in zone coverage once he gains experience in this area.
Weaknesses: Is quicker than fast. Shows good initial burst but lacks elite closing quickness as a pass rusher. Though tough, he lacks ideal lower body strength, doesn’t always stay low to the ground and struggles to anchor when teams run at him. Can deliver a power punch at times but doesn’t always use hands well and takes too long to long to shed blocks when gets reached. Relies on quickness too much and occasionally tries to sidestep blocks rather than stacking them up. Doesn’t protect legs all that well and is vulnerable to cut blocks. Appears to pull up when blockers are able to get into position and effort is inconsistent.
Overall: Florida red-shirted Harvey in 2004 and he appeared in nine games of the 2005 season. Harvey stated all 14 games of the 2006 season and recorded 11 sacks that year. He started all 13 games of the 2007 season recording 32 total tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss, 4.5 quarterback sacks and three quarterback-hurries. Harvey lacks ideal top-end speed and he also needs to improve his lower-body strength in order to take on bigger NFL blockers in the run game. While he is not quite as explosive as former Gator line-mate Jarvis Moss (Broncos), Harvey is a more complete player at this point. He possesses very good initial burst and athletic ability for his size. We think Harvey can develop into a good every-down starter in a 4-3 scheme at the next level, which is why we give him a slightly higher grade than the one we gave a year ago to Moss, who was selected 17th overall.
Rick Gosselin:13th
Mel Kiper: 23rd
A battle-tested SEC veteran with that quick twitch you look for in a pass-rusher. Harvey started slowly in 2007, but came on in the latter half of the season, finishing with 8½ sacks and 17 tackles for loss.
It’ll depend somewhat on what the Jags gave away to move up but it does seem that they moved up too high for Harvey. Then again, there’s been a run on defensive linemen and they must have felt it worth the cost.
It was broom and dustpan time in Gainesville last Friday.
The Gators’ 2006 BCS National Championship trophy fell off of its stand in Florida’s football offices and broke Friday, Florida’s operations and facilities director Chip Howard said Monday.
Because Florida is preparing to move to its new offices, which are expected to be completed in July, Howard said the trophy was in a temporary location in an open area of one of the stadium’s sky boxes.
“It was on a coffee table, and it was inadvertently bumped,” Howard said. “It doesn’t take much for the top of it to fall off.”
The trophy was insured for $8,000, and the university has already put in an order to replace it. Howard said it should take about 90 days for the new Waterford crystal trophy to reach Gainesville.
At least it was insured. Note also, the trophy was on a coffee table. Was someone using it to store mints?
The Boca Raton University makes it first ever trip to Gainesville. However it isn’t the first for the Owls’ Coach.
It was the 1980 season finale and Howard Schnellenberger’s unranked Miami Hurricanes had tacked on another touchdown for a 28-7 lead against No. 18 Florida. The Gators’ student section, frustrated and angry at its targets below, unleashed a final volley.
The fruit, used to sneak alcohol into the stadium, hit a UM cheerleader. Next, Schnellenberger’s 20-year-old son got plunked.
Then came a near-knockout blow. Assistant coach Christ Vagotis took one to the head, dropping him to a knee.
With one second remaining, Schnellenberger fired back.
“Field goal,” he yelled to his kicking unit.
Offensive coordinator Kim Helton, standing alongside Schnellenberger, couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Oh, coach. Don’t do it …don’t do it,” Helton pleaded.
Danny Miller’s field goal brought more venom, but Schnellenberger had made his point.
“They raised a ruckus when I kicked it, but that’s why I did it,” he said this week. “I wanted to be asked about it after the game.”
Rowdy Florida College football fans in 1980. Hard to believe? You got to remember that the Gators went winless in 1979 and some thought the Hurricanes were doomed after Coach Lou Saban left Miami for West Point early in 1979.(Funny how Sabans leave Miami early, as I pointed out in this post)
Today, Schnellenberger returns to Florida Field for only the fourth time since that infamous orange-inspired field goal when his Florida Atlantic Owls play the Gators, who are favored to win by 34 points.
*****
Schnellenberger, whose Hurricanes were on their way to the Peach Bowl, the school’s first post-season game in 12 seasons, didn’t hesitate to call on Miller for a 35-yard attempt.
*****
Schnellenberger’s Hurricanes weren’t as successful in their last two visits to Florida.
In 1982, the Gators snapped a four-game losing streak against UM, winning 17-14 on a late touchdown catch by running back James Jones.
In 1983, Schnellenberger started a freshman quarterback at Florida Field and lost 28-3.
Fortunately for UM, Bernie Kosar recovered from that inauspicious debut to lead the Hurricanes to 11 straight wins, including the 1984 Orange Bowl against Nebraska for the Hurricanes’ first national championship.
Schnellenberger’s last game at Florida came as Louisville’s coach in a 31-17 loss in 1992 to Steve Spurrier’s Gators.
I played ball against James Jones star of the 82 game. James Jones, who went on to play for the Detroit Lions, played high school football at Pompano Beach Ely High School.
This year I think Howard Schnellenberger is more worried about his heavy underdog Owls team getting out of Gainesville in one piece physically, rather than the threat of more oranges being thrown at him.
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| Sunday, September 30, 2007 |
It was a bizarre weekend in college football, with eight ranked teams losing to teams ranked below them — seven to teams not ranked at all.
#3 Oklahoma lost to unranked Colorado, 24-27.
#4 Florida lost to unranked Auburn, 17-20.
#5 West Virginia lost to #18 South Florida, 13-21 (Thursday night).
#7 Texas lost to unranked Kansas State, 21-41
#10 Rutgers lost to unranked Maryland, 24-34
#13 Clemson lost to unranked Georgia Tech, 3-13
#21 Penn State lost to unranked Illinois, 20-27
#22 Alabama lost to unranked Florida State, 14- 21
This was on top of several other close finishes.
ESPN’s Pat Forde dubs it “Insanity Saturday” and observes that this throws the whole season out of whack.
Just that fast, the college football landscape shifted seismically beneath our feet.
Just that fast, the Red River Shootout game Saturday between Oklahoma and Texas was dropped to undercard status. For the first time in years, it’s not the marquee game in the Big 12. And for the first time in years, the league’s maligned North looks more compelling than the South. If you can believe it, the biggest game in that league next week might be unbeaten Kansas at 3-1 Kansas State — either that or 4-1 Nebraska at unbeaten Missouri.
Just that fast, the upcoming LSU-Florida showdown Saturday in Baton Rouge lost half its helium when the Gators were shocked in The Swamp by an Auburn team that had lost at home to South Florida and Mississippi State on consecutive weekends.
Just that fast, the three Big East teams that began the season in the Top 25 all have at least one loss. Louisville went down first, then West Virginia, now Rutgers. Suddenly South Florida, Connecticut and Cincinnati are the unbeaten teams in the Big East. Honk if you foresaw that in August.
Just that fast, Illinois is 4-1 and tied for first in the Big Ten at 2-0. That’s the same Illinois that went 2-10 last year, with only one victory over I-A competition.
Just that fast, we have an ACC plot twist that leaves Virginia and Boston College well out in front in their respective divisions at 3-0 in league play. Virginia was left for dead after a Week 1 blowout loss to Wyoming. Boston College was picked last in its division by at least one preseason magazine.
And just that fast, USC and LSU put that much more distance between themselves and what’s left of the pack.
The object lesson here is that no favorite is safe. Not at home, not on the road, not in league play, not out of league play. If those lessons hadn’t already been learned by Appalachian State 34, Michigan 32, and Syracuse 38, Louisville 35, they were reinforced on Insanity Saturday.
And no lead is safe. You’d think the Sooners getting up 24-7 would be enough to make Colorado quit. You’d be wrong. The Buffaloes scored the final 20 points, winning on the last play of the game — a 45-yard field goal by Kevin Eberhart.
[...]
Underdogs aren’t scared right now, by much of anyone. Players and coaches are shrugging off past history, blowing off bad losses, not worrying about falling behind and regrouping to pull upsets nobody saw coming. Nobody’s rolling over.
I’ve seen this sort of thing in college basketball before but never to this extent in football. The bottom line, though, is that Notre Dame and Alabama and Michigan no longer have an automatic recruiting advantage over South Florida and West Virginia and Georgia Tech. There’s a wealth of talent out there and plenty of television exposure to be had in the realigned conference structure. Players would rather go to a program with less prestige and start than sit on the bench and one of the Big Boys.
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| Tuesday, June 12, 2007 |
The Magic are offering fans who bought season tickets to see Billy Donovan coach the team their money back.
The Orlando Magic are offering refunds to fans who bought season tickets just after Billy Donovan’s hiring.
More than 200 packages sold within 24 hours of the announcement that the Magic had lured Donovan away from Florida, where he won two straight NCAA titles. Donovan changed his mind a day after his May 31 introduction, deciding to return to the Gators.
The Magic said they were contacting individual fans who bought tickets within 48 hours of the Donovan announcement. So far some have decided to keep the tickets, the team said without specifying an amount.
A very classy gesture.
It looks like the UF coach has changed his mind.
The Orlando Magic today will allow Billy Donovan out of his 5-year, $27.5 million contract that he signed on Friday.
“It’s over,” said a source close to the situation.
Donovan had reservations about leaving the Florida Gators for the NBA on Friday and spent all weekend trying to find a way to get out of his contract. On Saturday, Orlando Magic General Manager Otis Smith went to Gainesville to try to convince Donovan to honor the deal. Smith talked with Donovan again on Sunday, and so did Magic President Bob Vander Weide.
Unless Donovan wakes up today and changes his mind, the Magic will let him go, the source said.
Almost everyone at Florida, from people on his staff to other NBA coaches to even his wife, told Donovan to go to the Magic — but after Friday’s emotional news conference in Gainesville, he started thinking he might have made a mistake. That was the first time he even mentioned there being a problem.
*****
On Monday morning, Joel Glass, vice president for communications for the Magic, released a statement:
“While Central Florida, the Orlando Magic and Billy were energized with the announcement of his contract signing on Friday, we know there was a different feeling in Gainesville and people have been tugging at him since that time. Billy is conflicted with those emotions and the opportunity he has ahead in Orlando and in the NBA. We’ve had numerous conversations and a personal visit in Gainesville with Billy over the last 48 hours and we have a commitment from him that the dialogue between us will continue.”
I thought all along that Donovan was going to stay in Gainesville. Coaching in the NBA is a whole different affair than college ball and the Magic are a mediocre team at best. The money and close proximity to his current job, were inviting, but Donovan has job security where he is. In five years or less, Billy could be looking for work again. Do you trade long term stability for short term gain? I wonder if that’s what went through Billy’s mind.
This about face may destroy any chance for Donovan to become a NBA coach, but who knows. Some franchises are desperate(like in any team sport). The Gators will be happy to have their coach back, that is for certain.
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| Thursday, May 31, 2007 |
After weeks of speculation as to his future, Billy Donovan will stay in Florida — with the NBA’s Orlando Magic.
Rich history wasn’t enough to lure Billy Donovan away from Florida. In the end, it was just riches. Donovan will have plenty of them after he was hired to coach the Orlando Magic on Thursday. The team confirmed the hiring Thursday night and scheduled a news conference for Friday morning.
Donovan agreed to a five-year deal paying $5.5 million annually, an official in the NBA told The Associated Press.
“Billy Donovan is a winner,” general manager Otis Smith said. “We feel he is the right person to develop and maximize the talents of our players. We look forward to Billy leading us to the next level.”
Donovan has been the subject of speculation since the Gators’ second straight NCAA championship in April. He turned down an offer to coach Kentucky, whose storied program launched his career as an assistant in 1990, and was more recently linked to the
Memphis Grizzlies’ vacant coaching job.
He seemed to squash those rumors after turning down the Kentucky position, proclaiming, “I love the University of Florida.” But Orlando, about 115 miles south of Gainesville, proved too strong to resist. The Magic job pays more than twice Donovan’s $1.7 million annual deal with the Gators. “There’s going to be a lot of hamburgers, a lot of filet,” departing Florida star Joakim Noah joked.
Both Donovan and the school had said all along they were negotiating a contract extension. Florida president Bernie Machen said Thursday the deal was basically done, just not signed. “There’s always a next,” Machen said at the Southeastern Conference’s annual spring meeting in Destin, Fla. “Billy Donovan has been here for 11 years, won two national championships. He’s been a great ambassador for the University of Florida. We’ll always love Billy Donovan, whether he’s here 11 years or 21 years.”
Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley also emphasized there were no hard feelings. “We certainly wish this run could have gone on forever. It’s been an incredible privilege to be a part of. We’re indebted to Billy Donovan,” Foley said in a written statement. “We hired him 11 years ago to build Florida basketball and he did that beyond anyone’s expectations. We’ll miss him as a coach, but we’ll always be friends and remain close to Billy and his family.”
That’s the right attitude. Despite the AP lede, Donovan was being paid plenty to coach the Gators and could have probably gotten something close to the money the Magic is paying to stay there or go to Kentucky. But with all his stars gone and two national championships under his belt, he has nowhere to go but down. A new challenge just makes sense. And the fact that he won’t even have to move his family to take the job is a huge bonus.
From the Orlando Sentinel-
The Orlando Magic have made a whopping offer Thursday morning to Florida Gators basketball coach Billy Donovan, sources close to the situation told the Orlando Sentinel.
The Magic expect Donovan to accept the offer to replace Brian Hill as the head coach by the end of the week.
Donovan, 42, led the Gators to back-to-back NCAA titles.
I don’t know. There is a mighty large difference between coaching college and the pros. Donovan could be successful in the NBA, but the egos a coach has to endure may not be worth it, or the fact that Orlando has been a pretty hapless franchise for most of its history. On the other hand how much more can Donovan due at UF after winning back to back national titles?
My prediction- Donovan stays put.
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| Saturday, April 28, 2007 |
The Jacksonville Jaguars took Florida safety Reggie Nelson with the 21st pick. Mel Kiper reports that this is the guy they would have taken at #17, so they got a 3rd and 6th round pick, in essence, for nothing.
What the Experts Say:
Scout.com Profile: Displaying tremendous improvement in his overall game last season, Nelson is a top-flight free safety with the ability to be placed over receivers in man coverage situations. Needs to fine-tune his instincts, yet should quickly break into a starting lineup for an NFL team who needs a ball hawk in center field.
Player Evaluation:
STRENGTHS: Burst Out Of Breaks, Coverage Awareness, Recovery Ability
 AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Size
Biography: Junior college transfer who became a full-time starter last season, winning All-Conference and All-American honors after producing 51/6/5. Started four games the prior season and posted 46 tackles.
Pos: Athletic centerfielder with tremendous ball skills. Displays outstanding sideline-to-sideline range, shows good speed to the flanks and flashes on the scene, playing with a large degree of suddenness. Diagnoses the action, possesses a sense of timing and shows great hands going up for the interception. Plays with balance, body control and easily gets vertical or contorts in midair to defend the pass. Fluid pedaling in reverse, smooth flipping his hips and works well with cornerbacks. Possesses a closing burst and shows the ability to recover. Aggressive in run defense and sizes up ball carriers. Keeps the action in front of him and remains disciplined.
Neg: Not strong at the point of attack. Misreads assignments on occasion.
UPDATE Scouts.inc:
Filling the No. 1 need and getting great value is at the pick is all any team could ask for and the Jaguars did just that with this pick. Critics point out that Nelson is somewhat one-dimensional because he isn’t big enough to line up in the box or a great run defender but he has great range. His ability to cover so much ground should make him an immediate upgrade over FS Gerald Sensabugh and he gives the Jaguars another playmaker to complement DC Rashean Mathis. In addition, the Jaguars should feel comfortable with this pick because of their familiarity with the player. Jacksonville isn’t too far from Gainesville and head coach Jack Del Rio reportedly attended the Gators’ Pro Day.
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