J

Website: http://www.gatorsportsnation.com

I have been a Gator fan my whole life. I started GSN when I was a sophomore in high school because I loved writing and especially when it was about the Gators. You can describe me as one of the biggest fans alive! There is nothing better then going to the Swamp on a Saturday to watch a football game. Go Gators! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to send me an email. admin@gatorsportsnation.com

Posts by J:

Texas bound for Steve Addazio

Posted by admin on December 22nd, 2010   No Comment

Florida Gators offensive coordinator Steve Addazio has accepted to coach the offensive line for the Texas Longhorns, according to several sources.

Addazio has been struggling with offensive play calling the past couple of seasons. Florida, who is ranked 80th in the country for total offense and 48th in scoring offense, suffered five losses that were caused mainly by poor offensive play calling. Addazio makes a great offensive line coach and one heck of a recruiter, its going to be a pretty big loss in those two areas for the Gators but I am sure coach Muschamp will come up with a plan to fill in those gaps.

Addazio, who has been coaching with the Gators since 2005, was named the interim head coach when Urban Meyer stepped down the first time due to health reasons. Coach Addazio was also interviewed for the head coaching job over at Temple.

Gator Sports Nation will release more news once received.

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Florida falls to Jacksonville in OT, 71-68

Posted by admin on December 20th, 2010   No Comment

Gainesville, FL.- Terrible defense and poor shooting cost the No. 19 Florida Gators (8-3) a huge upsetting loss to Jacksonville University (7-3) at home earlier today.

This is the first time the Dolphins defeated the Gators since 1994, and it sure was not a game you would of enjoyed watching. Head coach Billy Donovan said it was the worst game he had been apart of the past 15 years of coaching at Florida, and I agree with coach Donovan one hundred percent. It was horrible.

Florida played one of their best games so far against Kansas State on Saturday and they turn around on Monday like they have never played college basketball before. I’m not trying to stay negative but they didn’t do anything right. Poor defense. Poor shooting. Poor passing. I can go on and on. But don’t get me wrong, Jacksonville has some talent and they played hard but this game had no business turning out like it did.

“We were totally ripe to be beat,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said. “I’m not sure we could have beat anybody tonight. And that’s not taking anything away from Jacksonville, because their kids did a great job.”

The Gators went into their locker room at halftime trailing by two. I thought for sure they would of came out during the second half with some kind of fire… Intensity… something. But they didn’t. They were dead the whole entire game. You could tell that Jacksonville was fired up, the bench was into the game just as much as the five guys on the floor.

Florida had a small little run going during the second half but it just didn’t phase the Dolphins from fighting back. Florida also had a golden opportunity to go ahead at the end of the second half but they used poor clock management and got off a bad shot instead of trying to go to the basket with more time on the clock so it resulted into overtime.

Delwan Graham made a couple baskets that were huge late in the game and Keith McDougald stepped up big, sinking the one-and-one with about 30 ticks to go that put them up 69-66. Florida responded with a two pointer that narrowed the score down to 1 but McDougald sunk two more free throws with 17 seconds left that put the game away.

“He was very, very confident,” coach Cliff Warren said. “He talked about it in the huddle, ‘I’m going to make the free throws, Coach. Just get me open.’ Very confident.”

Erving Walker led the Gators with 21 points and teammates Vernon Macklin (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Alex Tyus (10 points, 11 rebounds) both finished with double-doubles.

The Gators are back in action this Wednesday as they host Radford at home starting at 7:00pm.

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Tebow to make his first career start today

Posted by admin on December 19th, 2010   1 Comment

Well Gator fans the wait is over. You will now get to witness former Florida Gator quarterback Tim Tebow make his first career start as a Denver Bronco today at Oakland according to several sources.

Kyle Orton is suffering from bruised ribs so Tebow has been taking every snap during practice. Tebow has made only a few appearances as a Bronco, only throwing one touchdown pass this season. Today is his time to shine, finally getting the golden opportunity he has been waiting on.

Interim coach Eric Studesville reported this week that Orton is still the starting quarterback but said that the whole quarterback situation wasn’t yet settled because of the status of Orton’s injury.

Orton has been sacked 34 times, a career high for him. He has also thrown close to 500 passes this season. Orton showed obvious pain when he stepped up to the podium to speak this week and said his arm wasn’t the problem. But what happened the past couple of weeks Orton? Nothing but bad performances. We should of seen Tebow a lot this season because Orton did not impress me much at all. I believe former coach Josh McDaniels had several opportunities where he could of put Tebow in the game for Orton but he didn’t, even when they were behind three or four touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

You can see Tim Tebow and the Broncos on CBS today at 4:30pm.

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Ryan Shazier to announce decision tonight

Posted by admin on December 17th, 2010   No Comment

Gator Sports Nation has confirmed with Ryan Shazier that he will be announcing his decision later tonight at his church.

Ryan decided to keep his options open after Urban Meyer stepped down as Florida head coach. Shazier recently took visits to Baton Rouge and Columbus, where he just got back. He told me his visit was good and he liked it but for some reason “I” still think his heart is a Florida Gator. Especially after a nice talk with Muschamp and some of his fellow friends who have stuck with their commitment. Time will only tell….

Stay tuned on Gator Sports Nation around 10pm for his decision.

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AC Leonard stays committed to Gators

Posted by admin on December 17th, 2010   No Comment

The 6’3 230 TE from (Jacksonville, FL.) AC Leonard met with Will Muschamp and announced on Thursday at his high school that he remains committed as a Florida Gator.

Leonard plans to enroll early next month and will be able to start spring practice. Leonard cannot sign a letter of intent until February 2, but as soon as he starts taking his classes he would have to sit out a year if he decided to transfer somewhere else.

“I am excited [about enrolling at Florida early],” Leonard said. “Coach Muschamp came by the school. He’s a pretty good dude. I like him.”

Leonard will be arriving in Gainesville on January 7 and will start classes on the 10th.

This is a big commitment for Florida. One of the biggest out of the 17 we have. With Leonard keeping his commitment to the Orange and Blue, this really helps with the other recruits staying committed.

Leonard, a four-star recruit is marked down as the 49th overall prospect by Rivals.

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Billy Donovan press conference

Posted by admin on December 16th, 2010   No Comment

Florida Gator basketball head coach Billy Donovan talks about his players Kenny Boynton and Vernon Macklin. Coach Donovan also discusses about the upcoming game on Saturday against No. 5 Kansas State that will take place at 3:00pm in Sunrise, FL.

(Video credit by Doug Finger)

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Three Gator baseball players earn preseason All-American honors

Posted by admin on December 16th, 2010   No Comment

Florida had three players listed on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pro-Line Athletic Preseason All-America teams.

Sophomore Austin Maddox earned second team after being awarded as the SEC freshman of the year last season. Maddox started a total of 63 games last season in four different positions for the Gators. Maddox batted .333, had 72 RBI which was a team high and had 17 home runs.

First baseman Preston Tucker and pitcher Alex Panteliodis were selected for third team. Tucker started 50 games at third base, hit .331 with 49 RBI, 17 doubles, 11 home runs and eight stolen based. Pateliodis ended the season 11-3 with a 3.51 ERA.

(Info gathered by Rachel George from the Orlando Sentinel)

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UF Football to have ticket prices increased next season

Posted by admin on December 16th, 2010   No Comment

Even with a down season this year, the ticket prices are still rising.

The Gainesville Sun reported that the UAA (University Athletic Association board) board approved $5 per-game increase for all home games next season. Also pending are the Florida/Georgia tickets which will be rising to $10 if Georgia approves of it.

“Ticket prices are how you make money to run your program,” Foley told the Gainesville Sun.

By changing the ticket prices next season, the University of Florida will make more than $3.1 million extra. Foley said that is the money they need in order to balance out their budget from their increased costs. Foley also brought to our attention that the ticket prices have stayed the same the previous five years and has been sitting at the bottom as the lowest prices throughout the SEC.

“You try to be fair and I think these are fair,” Foley said.

Even though Will Muschamp’s contract of $2.7 million per year is still lower than what Meyer was being paid, Foley said they have to wait it out until the Muschamp staff is hired to see where they stand. Muschamp’s contract was not one of items considered for the increased costs.

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