Daily Links
• Greg Auman writes in Friday's St. Petersburg Times how redshirt freshman quarterback B.J. Daniels and USF basketball player Justin Leemow volunteered for a summer outreach program at the Bob Gilbertson Central City Family YMCA, a program that teaches inner-city kids how to swim at an early age. Mike Brown, who has overseen some of the YMCA's swimming initiatives over the years, praised the two USF athletes for their work with the younger kids.
"These guys are not just counselors, but role models for these kids," Brown said. "You go out there and you see how they're influencing young kids. For them to have strong, young African-American men to look up to is important, and they were with us all summer."
• Junior college transfer Jason Pierre-Paul, a defensive end, officially made his debut with the team Thursday night, writes Brett McMurphy, who sums up how he did along with a few other notes on the team's recent practices.
• Auman adds information about another player who will join the team this season in walk-on tight end Chase Boswell, the fifth player from Wharton High School graduate to join the team.
• Auman also reports about Pierre-Paul making his first appearance at practice, and runs through a few news and notes from Thursday night's practice, including how tight end Andreas Shields is coming along with his ankle injury.
• Catch USFNation's take on Thursday night's practice, including how head coach Jim Leavitt thought everything went on the evening.
• ESPN's Brian Bennett offers his best-case/worst-case scenarios for the Bulls for the 2009 season.
• Greg Auman's Blog
• Brett McMurphy's Blog
• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's BIG EAST Blog
• Oracle Sports Blog
| GoUSFBulls.com Daily News Wire |
August 20 |
Daily Links
• Greg Auman says that the offense shined in the Bulls second scrimmage of the preseason Wednesday night, with head coach Jim Leavitt offering lots of praise for some of his offensive players. "I wanted to scrimmage under the lights, and we got it in," Leavitt said. "Offensively, they did a great job. B.J. Daniels had a good night, and Evan Landi looked good. All the running backs looked good."
• Check out what USFNation had to say about the scrimmage under the lights as well.
• Gregg Becnel writes that with Jessie Hester out, USF is looking at a quartet of receivers to step up and be the starting wide corps, while several other players are looking to push those four for playing time.
• With the AP preseason ballot being released Saturday, Brett McMurphy releases his preseason Associated Press ballot. Find out which two BIG EAST teams made his top 25.
• Auman offers a whole slew of notes and links for your Thursday morning, including a link to collegefootballnews.com, in which the website lists the top 30 quarterbacks of the future, with B.J. Daniels coming in at No. 30.
• Auman writes that the Bulls may have yet another option at kicker in the search for someone to handle kickoff duties and serve as a backup to Delbert Alvarado this season.
• Fans can also catch CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd's BIG EAST preview, including his preseason All-BIG EAST team.
• Auman, McMurphy, ESPN's Brian Bennett all report that the Sun Bowl will not continue its affiliation with the BIG EAST beyond the 2009 season, as the bowl decided to go with the ACC.
• Former USF All-American Damu Cherry is out at the World Championships after failing to qualify for the final Wednesday, according to McMurphy.
• Greg Auman's Blog
• Brett McMurphy's Blog
• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's BIG EAST Blog
• Oracle Sports Blog
| GoUSFBulls.com Daily News Wire |
August 19 |
Daily Links
• Running back Mo Plancher has continued to persevere, despite all the injuries the senior has suffered through during his career, but all that work could soon pay off, as Plancher is about to become the team's starting running back, says the Tampa Tribune's Joey Johnston in The Wake-Up Call.
"I feel like I've been humbled and I've been tested,'' said Plancher, a shifty 5-foot-9, 200-pound product of Naples Barron Collier. "So I'm taking every day as it comes. All I'm doing is living each day to its fullest and trying my best."
• There was some good news on the injury front for the Bulls yesterday, as running back Jamar Taylor could potentially return during the season and will not require surgery on his knee, write Brett McMurphy, Greg Auman and ESPN's Brian Bennett. Originally thought to be a torn ACL, Taylor's injury is only a sprain that will sideline him 8-10 weeks.
• George Selvie and Jerome Murphy were both named to the watch list for the Nagurski Trophy, given to the nation's best defensive player.
• There is a new addition to the football team, as freshman Renato Proia, a goalie for the USF soccer team and one of three who tried out with head coach Jim Leavitt, joined the Bulls and will compete for kickoff duties, says Auman.
• McMurphy goes through a few odds and ends, including Proia joining the team and which true freshmen will definitely not be redshirting this year.
• The Bulls' two-deep is almost set, writes Phil Neary of The Oracle.
• Jack Carey of USA Today says that the Bulls are prepared to go all the way this season in the battle for the BIG EAST title.
• The BIG EAST will have a different bowl lineup come 2010, as the league announced it will add the Champs Sports Bowl and drop the Gator Bowl after the current round of contracts are up following the 2009 season, according to both Auman and McMurphy.
• Bennett adds some more details to the deal with the Champs Sports Bowl as well.
• McMurphy also states that the Sun Bowl will decide soon on whether to continue its deal with the BIG EAST or switch to the ACC.
• McMurphy gives the rundown on all the radio stations that will be carrying USF football this season, as the Bulls added two more, which brings the total to 13 for the year.
• On the lighter side of things, Auman links to the video on GoUSFBulls.com of Tuesday's post-practice interview with Leavitt, paying close attention to the coach's battle to open up the Nesquick chocolate milk while taking questions.
• Former USF standout Damu Cherry qualified for the semifinals at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships Tuesday, says McMurphy.
• Greg Auman's Blog
• Brett McMurphy's Blog
• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's BIG EAST Blog
• Oracle Sports Blog
| GoUSFBulls.com Daily News Wire |
August 18 |
Daily Links
• George Selvie, who would like to someday teach history, and his teammates are trying to prevent history from repeating itself in 2009, writes Martin Fennelly in the Tampa Tribune. After collapsing down the stretch the last two seasons, the Bulls are looking to make their own history this season, learning from their mistakes and hopefully capturing the BIG EAST title after coming close before.
"If you don't know your history, how can you move forward?" says Selvie.
• Greg Auman offers a bunch of links for your Tuesday morning and informs his readers that the BIG EAST will announce at 2 p.m. today its future bowl lineup. Included in his links is one to a story in the Fort Myers News-Press about running back Mo Plancher, who has impressed his coaches and could very well begin the year as the team's starting running back.
• Fanhouse.com spoke with Maikon Bonani at Saturday's Fan Fest and how appreciative the kicker was for being there with the fans and his teammates after his fall. Said Bonani, "It's great to be with my teammates and be part of my family again. It's a blessing to be here."
• After Saturday's scrimmage, Auman gives a rundown on how the depth chart for the Bulls is changing, and that sophomore walk-on Chaz Hine has received a scholarship for his hard work during the past two years.
• Brett McMurphy also posts a few quick notes, including some updates on how a few injured players are coming along in their recovery.
• Auman also runs through a few news and notes concerning injuries plaguing the Bulls this preseason and who could miss time at the beginning of the year.
• McMurphy writes that former USF standout Damu Cherry will compete at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Berlin beginning today. He also links to an article in the Tampa Tribune in which Cherry states she is going to enjoy the moment during her first appearance at the championships.
• Greg Auman's Blog
• Brett McMurphy's Blog
• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's BIG EAST Blog
• Oracle Sports Blog
| GoUSFBulls.com Daily News Wire |
August 17 |
Daily Links
• Greg Auman posts a link on his blog to a story in Saturday's St. Petersburg Times that tells how football is a way for USF linebacker Kion Wilson to get his mind off a pair of tragedies that struck within a short amount of time of each other earlier this year."That's the only thing that keeps my mind clear," said Wilson, 22, who will anchor USF's defense as the starting middle linebacker. "I try not to think about it much. I'm around guys that love me, and I love them back."
• Brett McMurphy viewed an advanced copy of Tuesday night's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel for an article that appeared in Sunday's Tampa Tribune, in which former USF walk-on Nick Schuyler tells of how getting seasick before his boat capsized saved his life, the same accident that claimed the life of former USF player Will Bleakley. Catch the full interview Tuesday at 10 p.m. on HBO.
• Eric Deggans of the St. Petersburg Times also blogs about the upcoming episode, in which Schuyler asks why he survived but the other three players did not.
• Auman posts a whole bunch of links Sunday, from a New York Post article that details Schuyler's experience at sea to stories from the Lakeland Ledger and ABC News in which Maikon Bonani recalls the day he fell from the skyride at Busch Gardens.
• Auman runs through his news and notes from Saturday morning's intrasquad scrimmage before USF hosted its Fan Fest at Raymond James Stadium.
• Check out Brett McMurphy's news and notes as well following Saturday's scrimmage, including the distance of a couple of Delbert Alvarado field goals, as well as some quick notes from The Oracle as well.
• McMurphy also runs through a few notes from the Fan Fest, including a link to a story in Sunday's Tampa Tribune in which McMurphy follows Matt Grothe's time at Ray Jay, specifically the number of items Grothe signed for fans throughout the event.
• Auman also writes about the happenings at the Fan Fest, so fans who were not present can read what Leavitt said to fans as the event got underway.
• Media members can learn a lot from media day during the 2009 Fan Fest, and Auman gives us 10 things he learned during the media interviews held before the players signed autographs.
• Check out a photo gallery from the Fan Fest from USF Nation as well as a transcript from Leavitt's press conference at the event.
• The Lakeland Ledger also gives fans a photo gallery from Saturday's Fan Fest.
• Readers can find more links and notes from Auman, including a link to a story by Bennett on his ESPN.com blog in which he names his preseason all-conference second team after posting his first team the same day.
• Auman posts several links to articles, including a link to a Newsday story about which teams could be contending for the BIG EAST title and where the publication has USF, and Bennett's BIG EAST preseason all-conference team on ESPN.
• Matt Grothe and the backup quarterbacks drew praise from head coach Jim Leavitt Friday, says Auman, who also writes about which newcomers had interesting haircuts.
• In his search for a backup kicker, Leavitt worked out three USF soccer players, tells Auman.
• Former USF wide receiver Huey Whittaker resigned with the New York Jets in an attempt to earn a roster spot with the team, according to Auman.
• Auman also talks about the possible new BIG EAST bowl lineup for the 2010 season, including a link to an article by Bennett describing what changes to expect.
• Bennett also adds a little bit more to the BIG EAST bowl deals.
• Marcela Gurgel was named the preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year, according to Auman.
• Greg Auman's Blog
• Brett McMurphy's Blog
• ESPN.com's Brian Bennett's BIG EAST Blog
• Oracle Sports Blog
