1 » Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin on Saturday noted via his Twitter account that he would be having “minor surgery.” Most assumed the surgery Harvin mentioned was for his injured ankle, which sidelined him for the remainder of the season. However, Tom Pelissero of 1500 ESPN radio reported Sunday that Harvin actually went in for an emergency appendectomy. He is expected to be back to normal health in 2-3 weeks and will spend the entire offseason rehabbing his ankle and trying to get back on the field in the summer.

2 » The U.S. Women’s National Team concluded its 2012 campaign and its Fan Tribute tour across the United States with a 4-1 win over China in Boca Raton, FL on Saturday night. Former Florida Gators striker Abby Wambach scored twice in the friendly, increasing her international goal total to 152 and pulling within six of Mia Hamm, who holds the record with 158 career international goals. Florida head soccer coach Becky Burleigh was in attendance at the match, cheering on Wambach and former Gators defender Heather Mitts, who plans to retire. USA outscored China 10-1 in the three-game friendly series and concluded the 2012 campaign with a 28-1-3 record. Wambach ended 2012 with 27 goals (second-most in her career) and was the only member of the USWNT to start and play in all 32 games.

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Tags: Abby Wambach, Becky Burleigh, Charlie Weis, Chris Martin, Conor Dwyer, FINA, Great Britain, Heather Mitts, Jemma Lowe, Kansas Jayhawks, Minnesota Vikings, NFL, Percy Harvin, Ryan Lochte, Scott Holsopple, soccer, swimming, United States, USA, USA Soccer, World Swimming Championships

Olympic champion and former Florida Gators swimmer Ryan Lochte set his second world record in as many days on Saturday at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Lochte, already the owner of the short course world records in the 400 Meter Individual Medley and 200 Meter Individual Medley, set a new world record in the 100 Meter Individual Medley on Saturday by swimming the race in a blazing 50.71 seconds.

He now owns all three short course I.M. world records and has strengthened his hold as the best short-course swimmer alive and perhaps the best in the history of the sport.

Lochte became the first athlete to swim the 200M I.M. in under 1:50 when he set a new world record on Friday with a time of 1:49.63 in the event’s finals.

He now holds five world records. Lochte is also the record holder in the 200M I.M. (long course) and is part of an American team that owns the world record in the 4×200 Meter Freestyle Relay (long course).

This past summer, Lochte brought home two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. He has corralled five Olympic gold medals and 30 World Championship gold medals (12 long course, 18 short course) and is the odds-on favorite to win gold in the 200M I.M. final on Sunday.

In 2012 alone, Lochte has set two world records and won six gold medals including two in the Olympics and four (so far) in these World Championships.

Photo Credit: USA Swimming

Tags: FINA, Olympics, Ryan Lochte, swimming, USA, USA Swimming, World Swimming Championships

Ryan Lochte is one of a number of former Florida Gators swimmers competing at the 2012 FINA World Swimming Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, but as of press time on Friday he is the only one of them to set a brand new world record at the event.

Lochte, already owner of both the long course and short course world record for the 200 Meter Individual Medley, bested his own time in the short course version of the event, swimming the race in a blazing 1:49.63 on Friday.

Previously setting the record two years ago at the same event in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Lochte shaved 0.45 seconds off his time and became the first athlete in the history of the sport to swim the 200M I.M. in under 1:50.

Lochte holds four world records. He also has the men’s record in the 400 Meter Individual Medley (short course) and is part of an American team that holds the world record in the 4×200 Meter Freestyle Relay (long course).

Many in the aquatic world believe Lochte to be the best short-course swimmer in the history of the sport due to his dominance of the individual medley events. His latest world record time will only further those strongly-held opinions.

This past summer, Lochte brought home two golds, two silvers and a bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. He now holds five Olympic gold medals and 30 World Championship gold medals (12 long course, 18 short course).

In 2012 alone, Lochte has won six gold medals including two in the Olympics and four in these World Championships.

Photo Credit: USA Swimming

Tags: FINA, Olympics, Ryan Lochte, swimming, USA, USA Swimming, World Swimming Championships

1 » University of Florida trustees on Friday approved a $10 million contribution as part of a $50 million renovation for the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. According to The Gainesville Sun’s Nathan Crabbe, who spoke with trustee Steven Scott, it will take 2-3 years to raise the remaining $40 million, so the O’Dome will not be looking much different any time soon. Eventually, the arena will feature an updated entrance; new seating areas including a permanent, non-retractable lower level, club seats and boxes; and additional concession stands and team shops. Florida will also improve the audio-visual elements inside the arena. The school just completed a $900,000 renovation on the structure in the summer of 2011 that included brand new seats in the lower bowl, wider aisles, handrails and more. UF also recently remodeled the gymnastics studio on site at the O’Dome. Read more | Pictures

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Tags: Bradley Beal, Conor Dwyer, Draft, FINA, Jemma Lowe, NBA, NFL, Oklahoma City Thunder, Olympics, Ryan Lochte, Sharrif Floyd, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, swimming, University of Florida, Washington Wizards, World Swimming Championships

ESPN College GameDay will emanate from Gainesville, FL for the first time since 2009 on Saturday as the No. 2 Florida Gators (6-0, 5-0 SEC) host the No. 7 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-1, 4-1 SEC) at 3:30 p.m. in a game that will air live on CBS.

It was announced Wednesday that Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will be on hand to be the guest picker for the show, which will be set up and aired from the grass outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium’s façade that faces University Drive.

To get fans ready for the program and game, OGGOA had the opportunity to sit down for a question-and-answer session with ESPN‘s Desmond Howard, one of the three analysts who are part of the College GameDay crew.

Be sure to tune in to ESPN on Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon!

ADAM SILVERSTEIN: This is the third time already this season that Florida will be featured on College GameDay. How have you seen the Gators progress and improve from when the program was on-site for the Texas A&M game until now?
DESMOND HOWARD: “That’s simple. The offense has gotten better. Jeff Driskel has gotten more confident. I think the players around him are more confident in him, and the running game with [Mike] Gillislee has become more solidified. They’re playing a very physical brand of football on the offensive side and defensive side, so those are the biggest differences so far?”

AS: The first BCS standings were released on Sunday and obviously Florida being ranked No. 2 was a major point of argument for some. How do you feel about the Gators deserving that spot in the initial standings and do you really think the BCS is worth arguing about so early in the season?
DH: “I don’t have a problem with it at all. It’s like people need something to argue about and debate about so they talk about the BCS rankings. We’re in the middle of October. If anyone knows anything about football, you understand that this is going to shake itself out. Especially with Florida at No. 2 and Oregon at No. 3. You have Alabama at No. 1 so those teams, if they keep going the way they’re going, one of them is going to cancel the other one out. If this was Nov. 22 or something like that, then we’ll be having a conversation. But like I said, they’re still going to play each other in the SEC Championship if they stay on the same course they are on right now, so what is there to argue about? So no, I don’t have a problem with the BCS rankings whatsoever.”

Read the rest of this Q&A with Desmond Howard…after the break!
Continue Reading » Q&A with College GameDay’s Desmond Howard

Tags: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, College GameDay, Connor Shaw, Desmond Howard, ESPN, Jeff Driskel, Jon Bostic, Marcus Lattimore, Matt Elam, Mike Gillislee, Ryan Lochte, SEC, South Carolina Gamecocks, The Swamp

1 » X&O Labs, a football research company for coaches, took a special look on Tuesday at the Florida Gators offense and how the team’s downhill running game was able to dominate the LSU Tigers last Saturday. Noting that new offensive coordinator Brent Pease has “has implemented some of the same heavy, unbalanced formations that he used at Boise to gash defenses,” senior research manager Mike Kuchar outlined five of the different formations and went into even greater detail in the video below.

2 » Asked to explain this week why they were so gassed on Saturday in Gainesville, FL, LSU players told the Shreveport Times that heat-related fatigue was at fault. “It is Florida,” said linebacker Kevin Minter, who cramped up in the third quarter after dominating the first half and still finished the game with a school-record 20 total tackles. “The humidity is ridiculous. [...] We had a lot of miscues when we were breathing hard. You can’t let fatigue take over.”

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Tags: Christian Taylor, Conor Dwyer, field, LSU Tigers, Ryan Lochte, swimming, track, University of Florida, Urban Meyer, Will Muschamp

1 » The Florida Gators official announced on Thursday something that has been long rumored – the team will honor current and former University of Florida student-athletes that participated in the 2012 London Olympics at halftime of the team’s home game against the LSU Tigers on Saturday. Featured at the event will be swimming medalists Ryan Lochte and junior Elizabeth Beisel as well as track & field medalists Christian Taylor and Will Claye, who make up just four of the more than 20 athletes and coaches being honored at halftime.

2 » Could sophomore quarterback Jacoby Brissett be on his way out the door? It’s possible, says Dwyer High School head coach Jack Daniels, who recently spoke with the Palm Beach Post’s Matt Porter. In a series of tweets sent out Thursday, Porter notes that “Brissett is all-in this season [and has] no plans to transfer” yet also notes that West Virginia and South Florida are potential destinations. “He’s making the most of a situation he’s not happy with, but he knows that’s his team right now,” Daniels told Porter. “If he doesn’t get his chance, I’m pretty sure he’s leaving.” Brissett getting “his chance” would probably only occur if starter and classmate Jeff Driskel went down with some sort of injury or pulled a 180 and began regressing dramatically.

3 » Despite quarterback Mark Sanchez playing horribly through the first four games of the season, New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is not planning to insert Tim Tebow as his starter any time soon and said as much during media availabilities this week. But while Ryan may not be ready to make a chance, team owner Woody Johnson could insist on it, especially if the Jets continue playing this poorly. NFL.com reporter Jeff Darlington wrote this week that New York must embrace the inevitability of Tebow starting, a move that could very well turn the team’s season around. Also interesting about Darlington’s piece is the opening two paragraphs, which detail the lack of support Tebow had with the Denver Broncos from the get-go.

They marched one by one through the second floor of the Denver Broncos’ training facility, each quarterback stopping first in offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s office to hear the same message that would then be echoed like a corporate line from coach John Fox.

“Stay ready,” McCoy told Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn, a story relayed by one team source and corroborated by another. “We’re not sure how long this is going to last.”

4 » Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin has already done some amazing things in his young NFL career but still managed to add another honor this week when he was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. Harvin, whose franchise-record 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last week undoubtedly fueled his receiving of the award, did not receive any honors last year after racking up the awards during his rookie campaign in 2009. He is currently averaging 74.75 yards on 7.5 receptions per game this season but has yet to find the end zone as a receiver or rusher.

Tags: Christian Taylor, Denver Broncos, Elizabeth Beisel, field, Jacoby Brissett, Jeff Driskel, New York Jets, NFL, Olympics, Percy Harvin, Ryan Lochte, swimming, Tim Tebow, track, Will Claye

1 » New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, whose team now has six former Florida Gators on its roster after signing running back Jeff Demps last week, explained Thursday why he has picked up so many players from the team over the years.

Via the Boston Herald.

“First of all, obviously, Florida has a lot of good football players. It’s a great football state. The University of Florida has great athletes and great players at their school, as do a lot of the other Florida schools. I had a good relationship with Coach [Urban] Meyer, as I do with Coach [Will] Muschamp, so maybe we had a little more insight or opportunity to evaluate or whatever. And we felt like those particular players that we drafted there fit our system and what we were doing. Now, not everybody worked out. Some worked out better than others. But that particular class — the [Jermaine] Cunningham, [Brandon] Spikes, [Tim] Tebow, [Aaron] Hernandez, [Percy] Harvin the year before that, [David] Nelson, the receiver [Riley] Cooper — those guys in those couple years there. For whatever reason, [Meyer] asked me to speak at a clinic. Charlie [Weis] was there last year.

“So I just had a little more opportunity to interact with those players in that school, and they were available at the particular times that we were drafting and so forth. Some of it was coincidence. Some of it was maybe a little more homework in a player like Aaron Hernandez, that talent-wise obviously should have been drafted a little higher than what he was, but we were comfortable with Aaron and taking him the time we did. That’s worked out pretty well for us, so sometimes that little bit extra getting to know the player, the person and so forth can come into play. You never know in the draft process. You just never know how it’s going to go.

“Certainly, coincidence is a part of it. Demps, we didn’t really — the guy was running track, so the way it turned out this year, a lot of that was coincidence. It wasn’t that big of a plan, but we’re happy we have the opportunity to work with Jeff and see how it goes.”

2 » On the latest edition of the WWE’s YouTube program Outside the Ring, former Florida defensive end Thaddeus Bullard (known by his wrestling name of Titus O’Neil, one half of The Prime Time Players) takes tag team partner Darren Young on a tour of UF. The duo check out some major sites on campus, visit the athletic facilities, meet with Muschamp and Billy Donovan and do some Gator Chomps along the way.

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Tags: Aaron Hernandez, Bill Belichick, Billy Donovan, Brandon Spikes, Charlie Weis, David Nelson, Gator Chomp, Jeff Demps, Jermaine Cunningham, New England Patriots, NFL, Percy Harvin, Riley Cooper, Ryan Lochte, swimming, Thaddeus Bullard, Tim Tebow, Titus O'Neil, Urban Meyer, WWE