NBC2 SPORTS BLOG – Good times in Gainesville
The chant that echoes from the blue and orange clad fans at Florida Gator athletic contests declares, “It’s great to be a Florida Gator!” … and there may never have been a time where that was more true than right now.
Monday, a week to the day after the Florida football team pounded Ohio State for the NCAA Football Championship, the basketball team is back on top of the national rankings as well. Beating South Carolina Saturday allowed the then-2nd-ranked Gators to sit and watch then-top-ranked North Carolina fall to Virginia Tech. As expected, the loss to the Hokies toppled Carolina from the top slot, giving voters cause to move the Gators into the #1 slot. It’s the second time this season the Gators have been #1 after they started the season in the top slot. They remained there until their first loss of the season, an upset to Florida State nine games in. With nobody else looking like they’ve got the guns to make a push in the SEC, the Gators are in terrific shape for a successful run through the conference season and into the postseason where they figure to be near locks for at least a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Meanwhile, a couple locker rooms over the football team has slowly seen one player after another declare for the NFL draft. The defections to the big leagues will seriously hamper any hopes the Gators might have of serving up a repeat title next season. Monday was deadline day for college juniors to declare their intentions for the NFL draft, and a total of four Gators have decided to take the leap. The latest, and probably most injurious to the Gators outlook for next season, is linebacker Brandon Siler. Siler joins All-American safety Reggie Nelson, and fellow super-juniors Jarvis Moss and Ryan Smith in leaving Gainesville early. The only junior to stay out of the five projected to be potential NFL draft picks this June is receiver Andre Caldwell. His retention is significant as the Gators move out of the Chris Leak era, turning the offensive reins over to Tim Tebow next fall.
ATTABOY GEORGE!
After demolishing the field in PGA Qualifying School - an event considered the most pressure-packed setting in all of golf - Fort Myers’ own George McNeiil showed his Q-school win was no fluke in his PGA debut last weekend.
McNeill fired four solid rounds in the Sony Open at Wailiea in Hawaii, closing out with an eagle on the 72nd hole of the tournament to finish tied for 13th. The win nets McNeil just over $89,000. In one weekend, he likely surpassed what he would have made in an entire year as an assistant course pro… the path he would have been on had he not succeeded at Q-school in his ninth try to qualify for the PGA Tour.
McNeill’s presence on the PGA Tour gives Southwest Florida a rooting interest in golf’s biggest tour for the first time since Tommy Tolles played regularly.
BLADES HIT HALFWAY
The Florida Everblades have completed the first half of the ECHL season and are off for the six-day All-Star Break. Goalie David Shantz is the only player flying to Boise, Idaho for Wednesday’s All-Star game. But he’s not alone in the traveling party: Coach Gerry Fleming and radio play-by-play man Kevin Reiter also garnered well-deserved trips to Boise for their roles with the team this season.
The Everblades hit the halfway point tied for the division lead with Gwinnett, but the Gladiators have played three more games than Florida. Western Conference leading Alaska also matches 48 point total in the standings. The thing that makes the outlook for the rest of the season so positive for the Blades the fct they’ve taken a total-team approach to winning so far. Take Reggie Berg out of the mix, as he's been an offensive wonder as one of the few 30-somethings on the team. But after Berg - Dustin Johner’s 30 points have him 50th in the league. That's the highest any Everblade sits in the league scoring record after Berg. That's an odd stat for a team tied for teh best record in the league. Credit the defense, especially the goaltending tandem of Shantz and Craig Kowalski, for serving as the backbone of the team’s solid first half.
DEVINE UPDATE
The wait is now on for a couple things relating to the college decision for North Fort Myers football star Noel Devine. With mentor and fellow North-grad Deion Sanders helping coordinate his college search, Devine will make his initial visit to LSU this weekend. The trip to Baton Rouge is the only one Devine has planned at the moment. However, he still has interest in Florida State, Florida, West Virginia and North Carolina.
The entire college search hinges on Devine’s ability to qualify or not. The combination of grades and test scores still needs to improve before he meets the NCAA standards. If he can’t get over the minimums, he will enroll at Milford Academy in New York for a year of prep school before moving on to college the following year.
