1 » For all of the flack that former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has received about his mechanics and throwing motion, perhaps forcing a player to tinker with something that they have used to reach a high level of success is not the best thing to do. (Who would have thunk it?) Bruce Feldman of ESPN breaks down an instance where adjustments like these did an injustice rather than facilitated an improvement, focusing on the story of Steve and Chris Walsh of the Miami Hurricanes.

Additional note: ESPN NFL Draft talking heads Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay have both upgraded their projections, agreeing that Tebow will likely be a second-round pick in the upcoming event. However, both made sure to state that picking him that early is indeed “a reach” by any team that does so.

Three more BITS on Tishman, LSU’s Sheppard and women’s tennis after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Tebow, Tishman, Shepard, tennis

Tags: Allie Will, Billy Donovan, Chris Walsh, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, LSU Tigers, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels, Ring Tennis Complex, Rod Tishman, Russell Shepard, Steve Walsh, tennis, Tim Tebow

1 » Competing in the DeMarini Tournament over the weekend, the No. 3/10 Florida Gators began with a solid 12-3 win over Pacific on Friday. Falling to No. 10/12 Stanford 2-0 later that afternoon, the Gators needed to rebound through the final two games of the tournament in order to come out on top. Florida did just that, earning a 12-0 victory over the Cal State Fullerton Titans (3-16) in five innings on Saturday. Senior outfielder Francesca Enea led the Gators with a 2-3 performance for two home runs (including a grand slam) and five RBI. Sophomore OF Michelle Moultrie also contributed, going 3-3 from the plate with three runs. Junior starter Stephanie Brombacher (11-2) earned the win in four innings of work.

Sunday was the final day of the tournament, and the Gators still had some work to do. Florida began the day with a dominating 14-3 win over the UC Davis Aggies (7-11) while totaling a season-high 16 hits (third-most in school history). Enea went 3-4 and extended her hit streak to 11 games while jacking another grand slam. Her 51 career home runs tie for second on the SEC’s all-time list. Brombacher (12-2) got another win on three innings of work. Later that day, the Gators (16-2) closed out the event with a 13-1 victory over the Loyola Marymount Lions (3-7). Junior shortstop Megan Bush went 3-3 with two home runs, three RBI and three runs as freshman starter Ensley Gammel (3-0) earned the complete game win.

Read about tennis’ dominating victories, golf and track & field after the jump!
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Softball, tennis dominate; golf, track

Tags: Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Auburn Invitational, Auburn Tigers, Cal State Fullerton Titans, DeMarini Tournament, Ensley Gammel, field, Francesca Enea, golf, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Loyola Marymount Lions, LSU Tigers, Marrit Boonstra, Megan Bush, Michelle Moultrie, Ring Tennis Complex, Roland Thornqvist, softball, Stephanie Brombacher, tennis, track, UC Davis Aggies

1 » After suffering their first loss of the season against No. 6/3 Florida State in the inaugural Florida Four tournament, the No. 5/6 Florida Gators traveled to Coral Gables, FL, for a three-game series against the No. 16/11 Miami Hurricanes. OGGOA will wrap-up the series on Sunday, but on Friday, the Gators (6-1) took down the Hurricanes (6-2) 7-1 in the series’ first game. Sophomore starter Alex Pantelidois (3-0) held Miami hitless into the fifth inning and registered a career-high eight strikeouts. Fellow sophomore Nick Mardone earned his first career save by striking out seven over 3.1 innings without giving up a hit or run. Three Gators acquired two RBI in the contest.

Five more BITS including a softball doubleheader, gymnastics triangular meet and SEC openers for men’s and women’s tennis…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS Baseball, softball, gymnastics, tennis win

Tags: Alex Pantelidois, Alexandre Lacroix, Allie Will, Antoine Benneteau, Arkansas Razorbacks, Ashanée Dickerson, Ball State Cardinal, baseball, DeMarini Invitational, Ensley Gammel, Francesca Enea, gymnastics, Lauren Embree, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, Miami Hurricanes, Nick Mardone, North Carolina Tar Heels, O'Connell Center, Pacific Tigers, SEC, softball, Stanford Cardinal, Stephanie Brombacher, Tegan Gerhart, tennis

1 » After a huge upset win over the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers last Tuesday, the Florida Gators looked to be squarely in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. A few days later, the Gators found themselves back on the bubble falling to the Georgia Bulldogs on the road. ESPN’s Mark Schlabach looks at what happened and what the team needs to do from this point forward.

2 » Four former Florida golfers were at the top of the leaderboard going into the final round of the PGA’s Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. Mark Calcavecchia, Matt Every, Camilo Villegas and Chris Couch were all in the hunt for the tournament title, but each wound up falling short in the end. Couch finished T4 (-13), Villegas was T8 (-11) with Every and Calcavecchia shot a final-day 74 to fall to T43 (-7).

Four more BITS on Brantley, Brown, tennis and baseball…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: NCAA bubble, PGA, Brantley, Brown

Tags: Allie Will, baseball, Camilo Villegas, Central Florida Knights, Chris Couch, Duke Blue Devils, Freshman of the Week, Georgia Bulldogs, golf, Hudson Randal, John Brantley, Lauren Embree, Linder Stadium, Mack Brown, Mark Calcavecchia, Marrit Boonstra, Matt Every, Mike Pouncey, NCAA Tournament, PGA, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, tennis, Trey Burton

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share with our readers. In those instances, we present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

» Arguably the greatest player in the history of Florida Gators baseball, free agent Brad Wilkerson has signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a member of the 2010 UF Hall of Fame class, a part of the 1996 and 1998 College World Series teams, a two-time All-American, three-time All-SEC selection and the 1998 Collegiate Player of the Year. Wilkerson holds career records at Florida for batting average, RBIs, slugging percentage and walks. He played for four MLB teams from 2001-08 and won a gold medal with Team USA baseball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

There are seven more Gator Bites for you to check out…after the jump!
Continue Reading » Gator Bites for Wednesday, February 24

Tags: Allie Will, Ashanée Dickerson, baseball, Billy Donovan, Brad Wilkerson, Brittany Dashiell, Central District Invitational, Deanna Allen, Florida State Seminoles, Freshman Gymnast of the Week, golf, Gymnast of the Week, gymnastics, Isabelle Lendl, La Salle Explorers, lacrosse, Marika Lendl, Marissa King, Marrit Boonstra, MLB, Pensacola Junior College, Philadelphia Phillies, Ray Shipman, Sam Wyche, SEC, tennis, Tyler Murphy

1 » Former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow has been lining up speaking engagements left and right since graduation, and he has recently agreed to be the keynote speaker for Union University’s second annual Roy L. White Legacy Golf and Gala on April 19. Tickets to the event, which will be held at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, are at least $50 per seat. More information can be found here.

2 » Gators sophomore first baseman Preston Tucker has been named to the Preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List. The award, which honors the best college baseball player each year, is sponsored by Major League Baseball. Tucker was the 2009 SEC Co-Freshman of the Year and earned a triple crown for Florida by leading the team in batting average (.364), runs batted in (85) and home runs (15). His RBI mark set a University of Florida single-season record.

3 » Speaking of Florida baseball, the preseason No. 7-ranked team will open its 2010 season against the South Florida Bulls on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at McKethan Stadium in the first of a three-game series. The second and third games will take place at 2 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday, respectively. The Gators have also earned preseason rankings of No. 9 by two services and No. 10 by another. Baseball finished 42-22 in 2009 and won the SEC East Division title for the first time since 2005.

4 » Sophomore Nassim Slilam and freshman Allie Will were named to the 2010 ITA All-Tournament Team for their performances at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships last week. Slilam and Will each went 3-0 in their respective performances, and Will improved her singles record to a team best 27-3 this season.

Tags: Allie Will, baseball, Carl Perkins Civic Center, Freshman of the Year, Golden Spikes Award, ITA All-Tournament Team, ITA National Team Indoor Championship, McKethan Stadium, MLB, Nassim Slilam, Preston Tucker, SEC, South Florida Bulls, Tim Tebow, Union University, University of Florida

From time to time, OGGOA will come across a plethora of news and notes that we wish to share with our readers. In those instances, we present a special post: Gator Bites. Enjoy.

» Florida Gators associate athletics director Steve McClain spoke with The Florida Times-Union about head coach Urban Meyer’s leave of absence. He had this to say: “If you compare [what Meyer is doing now] to what he was usually doing, it was very different. He [has] made a lot of changes.”

» In a meeting with the media today, running backs coach Stan Drayton told reporters that redshirt sophomore Chris Rainey will be both a rusher and slot receiver next season. While this may seem like big news to some, it is important to realize that former kick returner Brandon James technically held this job last season and amassed a grand total of 24 catches for 215 yards. Obviously Rainey is more talented offensively, but the “change” in position is less important than an increase in production would be.

• Expect redshirt junior RB Emmanuel Moody to see a big increase in carries.
• Freshman RB Mike Gillislee could see more game action, too.

Plenty of additional news and notes are available after the break! Keep reading…
Continue Reading » Gator Bites for Wednesday, February 17

Tags: Allie Will, Carlos Dunlap, Chris Rainey, D.J. Durkin, Draft, Emmanuel Moody, George Edwards, Joe Haden, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Gillislee, National Signing Day, NFL, SEC, Sekou Bangoura Jr., Stan Drayton, Steve Addazio, Steve McClain, Teryl Austin, Tim Tebow, Urban Meyer