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Archive for June, 2009
Jesse Scroggins Set To Visit UF Next Weekend
Posted by admin on June 14th, 2009 No CommentJesse Scroggins, the 4 star quarterback from Lakewood (Cali.) will look to have an unofficial visit with Florida next weekend. Followed by the visit in Gainesville, he then will take another unofficial visit to Tennessee who is trying to recruit him and his teammate Dion Bailey.
Scroggins really has interest in LSU. He wants to attend a second visit maybe during July or so. He will visit with teammate Kevin Anderson. “Eventually we’ll get down to LSU together,” Scroggins said. “I know he definitely liked it.”
Last season for Lakewood, Scroggins threw 179-314 for 2,462 yards, 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He recently had an interview that stated he wanted to try and narrow the list of schools who are interested in him, and he still has LSU down.
“Everything is still open to me,” Scroggins said. “I don’t know too much about them (LSU) other than the recent victories. I don’t know about the tradition and that’s what I’m looking forward to getting to know about them.”
I hope he ends up landing at Florida but just the talk right now shows that he has most interest in LSU. But it’s still too early to see his decision.
Grossman To Play For Texans
Posted by admin on June 12th, 2009 No CommentFormer Florida Gator quarterback Rex Grossman has made a deal with the Houston Texans. I have heard that Grossman should sign as soon as he passes his physical that he is about to take.
Rex is a free agent and has led the Chicago Bears to a NFC championship in 2006. He has had injury problems in the past, I just hope it doesn’t happen in Houston like it did in Chicago. He is projected to be either a second or third string, backing up starter Matt Schaub. Grossman’s six year career so far has been spent in Chicago. Now its a huge turn around from that freezing snow to the scorching heat.
Two Florida Baseball Commits Selected In First Round
Posted by admin on June 10th, 2009 No CommentTwo of the Florida baseball commits have been selected in the first round of the 2009 MLB draft on Tuesday night. Fort Myers Bishop Verot third baseman Bobby Borcher was chosen by the Washington Nationals as the 16th pick in round one and Buchholz High School second baseman LeVon Washington was selected as the 30th pick in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Borcher and Washington have both already signed with the Gators but Washington is most likely going to Tampa to play with the Rays. It seems like LeVon has already spoken to Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan and he was fine with his decision. Washington made sure to thank coach O’Sullivan for everything he has done for him. He said he is really excited to sign with a minor league team this summer.
Borcher was already projected to be a top 20 pick in the draft. Borcher really knows how to stroke the ball well and that’s one of the main reasons he stood at the 16th overall pick. He was rated the No. 1 hitter in the 2009 draft.
As for Washington, he has tremendous amount of speed. I mean… this kid is fast I tell you. LeVon was rated the fastest runner in the MLB draft this year. I have a lot of stories behind him from my playing experiences with him. When I played against Washington when he was at Gainesville High School his junior season, he would always steal and we couldn’t throw him out. We had one of the best catchers in the state but still could not find a way to throw him out. We played him at their place late in the year and along with about 6 stolen bases he had, he also homered two times in dead center all in the same game. LeVon is going to a great player, I can already see it.
Gators Swept In Super Regionals
Posted by admin on June 8th, 2009 No CommentYou would think home field advantage would have helped along with an atmosphere full of 4,313 , but not this series. Florida could not find a way to get past Southern Miss in the Super Regionals 2-0 series loss which eliminated them from the tournament and reach of the 2009 college world series.
It all happened when Southern Miss scored those three runs in the eighth inning that gave them the 7-6 lead. Florida could not get one thing going in the bottom of the eighth or ninth inning to help them at least stay alive for game three and have a shot at the college world series.
Florida pitcher Billy Bullock was brought in late in the game to close with a two run lead but for some reason he could not hold on for one inning and that’s when it slipped down to a one run lead. Bullock (3-3) started off by hitting the first batter, then walked the next guy which put runners on first and second. Bullock recorded a strike out after but from there on is when things got rough. Southern Miss first baseball Joey Archer hit an RBI single to tie the game up at 6.
Florida hit the ball real well in the first part out of the game, taking an early 6-1 lead. They need to learn how to finish. You get excited and so confident in the beginning when your ahead and tend to not try as hard, but look where it gets you.
Preston Tucker had a great game for the Gators batting 2 for 2 and drawing three walks that helped Florida take the early lead.
But the man I feel real bad for right now is Brandon McArthur. He has been through so many tough times with injuries and tough seasons, but he never gave up. It was a long six year career at the University Of Florida and I’m sure something he will never forget. This quote really gave me the chills when I read it.
“Never once did I ever think I made the wrong decision in coming back,” said McArthur, who fought back tears in the post-game press conference. “It’s been an unbelievable experience.” (Gathered by Gainesville Sun.)
Florida Faces Southern Miss In The Super Regionals
Posted by admin on June 6th, 2009 1 CommentThe men’s baseball team is giving hope to Gator fans after a disappointing and humiliating World Series loss by the softball team.
The Gators will have to defeat a good baseball team in the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. Southern Miss was the third-seeded team in the Atlanta Regional conference. They made it to the Super Regional to face us by beating Georgia Tech, their top seeded team. The Golden Eagles are ranked 19th with a record of 38-24.
The 9th-ranked Gators 42-20 will have to keep the momentum they have after winning three straight games and beating Miami to win the Gainesville Regional.
The Gators will have a tougher time getting hits against Southern Miss than they did against Miami and Bethune-Cookman. The Gators had an impressive 22 hits in the last game they played against Miami. Florida will faceoff against a strong pitching staff in pitchers Todd McInnis and JR Ballinger. McInnis had a 9-4 record and Ballinger went 6-3 for the Golden Eagles. However, the Gators are on a roll and it should take more than 19th ranked Southern Miss to beat them.
The Gators will need to win two out of three games to advance to the World Series in Omaha, Nebraska where they’ll face either TCU or Texas..
The game will be held at McKethan Stadium at 3 pm. It can be seen on ESPNU and will be broadcasted live on 103.7 FM. Sundays game will be played at 7 pm. and shown on ESPN2.
By: Gabe Thompson
A Strong Recruiting Class That Should Make The Grade
Posted by admin on June 5th, 2009 1 CommentA total of 20 starters are returning for the Florida Gators in 2009 after winning the National Championship in 08, but that doesn’t mean this year’s freshman won’t rack up large amounts of playing time. With the quality brought in at positions of need or for depth some of these young players will soon become household names in Gainesville.
Andre Debose is a five star prospect out of Seminole High School and will provide immediate impact at wideout. With the departure of Percy Harvin, Debose will be counted on to try and replace the offensive production lost with Harvin’s departure into the NFL.
Gary Brown is another five star prospect and rated third best in the country at defensive tackle. He should add solid depth behind the nation’s number-one rated defensive line. Brown managed to rack up an impressive 26 sacks during his junior year at West Gadsden High School in Quincy, Florida.
Two key prospects at offensive line should find there way onto the field. Xavier Nixon from North Carolina and Nick Alajajlian of Naples High School are both are highly-recruited offensive lineman. Nixon is rated the number-three offensive tackle and Alajajlia is rated number five in the nation at offensive guard. Both players are a little undersized coming into college and should see an increase in body mass with UF’s weight training program.
Five star recruit Jelani Jenkins should find his way into the rotation of UF’s second-best rated line backing corp. Jenkins is the top-rated outside linebacker coming out of high school, and he was rated as the number-one prospect for the state of Maryland.
Mike Gillislee should find his way into the rotation behind running backs Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey. Gillislee rated as the seventh best al-purpose back rushed for over 1000 yards during his senior year at Deland High School.
There wasn’t a large number of players in this years recruiting class, but there’s plenty of talent to make up for it. The Gators are the top-rated team going into next season and are the strong favorites to go all the way.
By: Gabe Thompson
John Brantley Recovering From Surgery
Posted by admin on June 4th, 2009 No CommentBy: Brandon
Gators backup quarterback John Brantley went through and had surgery about a month or so ago and is now out of his boot. Brantley should be up and ready to practice this coming August.
Brantley had a tear in his ankle from last season but he chose rather to take care of it after the season was over. Brantley participated in all of the spring drills that Florida went through and he didn’t show any signs of pain. He threw for 265 yards in the spring practice game this year which I thought was really remarkable from John.
Brantley will see the field a lot more this year then he did last season. Most likely maybe in the Charleston Southern game you will see two quarters or so full of John Brantley passing and play calling. Right now he is not 100% healthy from the surgery but is maybe half way but he will get there. I’m very excited to see what he will do after Tim Tebow graduates, he is projected to start after Tebow leaves.
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