Florida Gators senior All-American Lauren Hyde has been named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. One of six Florida soccer players to earn honors Tuesday, Hyde is the first Gator to win the award since the SEC began handing it out in 2004. She was also named to the All-SEC first team along with junior goalkeeper Katie Fraine; sophomore forward/midfielder Lindsay Thompson earned an All-SEC second team selection. The Gators also placed three players on the SEC All-Freshman team – F/MF Brooke Thigpen, MF Erika Tymrak and D Kathryn Williamson. Florida led the SEC in freshman selections for the second consecutive year.

The Gators (14-4-2, 8-1-2 SEC) have earned the top seed in the SEC Championship Tournament and will face the defending champion No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers (8-8-3, 4-5-2 SEC) on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in Orange Beach, AL. Meeting earlier this season in Knoxville, TN, Florida and Tennessee tied 2-2 after two overtimes.

Tags: Brooke Thigpen, Erika Tymrak, Kathryn Williamson, Katie Fraine, Lauren Hyde, Lindsay Thompson, SEC, soccer, Tennessee Volunteers

Covering the Florida Gators as close as I do every day, I often find the need to vent regarding some of the coverage the team receives, what occurs on the field or things that happen as it relates to the Gators. Normally I will express these opinions outside of OGGOA, but on rare occasions like this, I feel the need to put my thoughts into print.

1. Brandon Spikes’ eye gouge incident

Did Spikes eye gouge Georgia Bulldogs running back Washaun Ealey? You bet he did. Does he deserve to be held accountable and handed a suspension and/or punishment for his actions? Of course he does. (He has been suspended for the first half Saturday against the Vanderbilt Commodores.) My issue comes with the media coverage and fan reaction to this incident. Ladies and gentlemen, this is football. If you think that a dozen eye gouge attempts (and worse actions) do not go on every game in piles and at the end of plays – you are kidding yourselves. Spikes’ issue is that he did it where people could see it. He also happens to play for the No. 1 team in the country – a team that is one of the most hated in the nation. People are up in arms about Spikes’ eye gouge like it was as bad as Oregon Ducks’ RB LeGarrette Blount’s post-game punch. It wasn’t. Punishment was deserved. Don’t rake this guy over the coals for feeling he needed retribution for the eye gouges and helmet rip-offs he experienced all game long at the hands of Georgia. At some point, anger and the need for retribution do take over. Even so, there are no legitimate excuses for his actions. He is not the only one at fault here, though he is the only one who will receive punishment.

2. Lil’ Wayne gives Lane Kiffin a shout out on new mixtape [after the jump...]

Continue Reading » CHOMPING: On Spikes, Lil’ Wayne lyrics and Slive

Tags: Brandon Spikes, ESPN, eye gouging, Georgia Bulldogs, Lane Kiffin, LeGarrette Blount, Lil' Wayne, Mike Slive, Oregon Ducks, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, Tim Tebow, Washaun Ealey

Sweeping their sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference opponent, the No. 10/12 Florida Gators volleyball team (18-3, 12-2 SEC) took down the Mississippi State Bulldogs (6-19, 2-13 SEC) 3-0 (25-23, 27-25, 25-22) on the road Sunday in Starkville, MS. Florida sophomore right-side/setter Kelly Murphy recorded her seventh triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 25 assists and 10 digs. Murphy’s triple-double was the 13th of her career, a Gators record.

The Florida volleyball team will return home to host the Georgia Bulldogs (14-10, 5-8 SEC) next Friday at 7 p.m. in the Stephen C. O’Connell Center.

In soccer news… The Gators (14-4-2, 8-1-2 SEC) have earned the top seed in the SEC Championship Tournament and will face the defending champion No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers (8-8-3, 4-5-2 SEC) on Wednesday, Nov. 4 in Orange Beach, AL. Meeting earlier this season in Knoxville, TN, Florida and Tennessee tied 2-2 after two overtimes.

Tags: Georgia Bulldogs, Kelly Murphy, Mississippi State Bulldogs, O'Connell Center, soccer, Tennessee Volunteers, volleyball

No. 1 Florida Gators have clinched the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title and earned a spot in the SEC Championship game after a 41-17 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs Saturday afternoon and a 31-13 win by the Tennessee Volunteers against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the evening.

This will be the Gators third SEC title game appearance in the last four years. Florida won the last two contests and earned berths to the BCS National Championship games in those respective seasons (2006 vs. Arkansas and 2008 vs. Alabama). The 2009 game will be played on Dec. 5 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.

Tags: BCS, Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Dome, National Championship, SEC, SEC Championship, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers

Whether you want to be the first to know what color uniforms the No. 1 Florida Gators are wearing, will be stepping away from the television and need score updates or just want extra coverage and game information in addition to what CBS will provide Saturday afternoon, ONLY GATORS Get Out Alive has you covered. Visit us on twitter for live updates throughout the game: http://twitter.com/onlygators

Additionally, OGGOA has come across a copy of the letter SEC commissioner Mike Slive sent Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin last week following his criticizing of conference officials. Slive verbally smacks down Kiffin big-time here. Could not think of anyone more deserving.

It is your responsibility as a coach to comply with the policies of the Southeastern Conference and to know the football playing rules.

Since it is clear from your public comments that you believe this letter “mean(s) nothing,” let me be equally as clear to you. The next time you, or a member of your staff, make public comments of this nature, you will be suspended from all coaching duties for one or more games, and the institution may be subjected to a substantial fine.

I also remind you that this is your second public reprimand in your brief tenure as Tennessee’s head football coach, and on both occasions, you were wrong about the applicable rules.

Special thanks to The Birmingham News for doing the actual reporting.

Tags: Lane Kiffin, Mike Slive, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers

1 » Florida Gators junior punter Chas Henry was named a candidate for the 2009 Ray Guy Award on Thursday. Given annually to the nation’s top collegiate punter, the award may very well end up on Henry’s mantle. He has yet to allow a single punt return yard in 2009, making the Gators one of only two teams in the country to accomplish that feat. Named the preseason All-SEC First-Team punter, Henry has punted the ball 18 times on the season with 16 not returned and seven downed inside the 20-yard line.

2 » SEC commissioner Mike Slive told The Associated Press on Friday that conference coaches who violate the ethics rules against criticizing officials in public will face a suspension or fine (even for the first offense) instead of public reprimands like in the past. The new rule, which is already in effect, was unanimously agreed upon by the conference’s athletic directors and university presidents, including Florida’s Jeremy Foley and Bernie Machen. The ruling comes on the heels of three SEC coaches being warned in the last two weeks including the Tennessee Volunteers’ Lane Kiffin, Arkansas Razorbacks’ Bobby Petrino and Mississippi Sate Bulldogs’ Dan Mullen. “I was no longer interested in reprimands” Slive told the AP.

3 » Former Florida quarterback Rex Grossman and defensive back Lawrence Wright have been inducted into the 14th Anniversary class of the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame. They were honored along with Georgia Bulldogs inductees Garrison Hearst and David Pollack. Grossman was 3-0 against the Bulldogs including performances where he went 27-of-35 for 407 yards and two touchdowns (2001, 24-10 victory) and 36-of-41 setting a school record for completions (2002, 20-13 victory). Wright was a Thorpe Award winner who owned a perfect 4-0 record against Georgia and was part of a senior class that claimed four-straight SEC championships and won the 1996 National Championship. He forced two fumbles and recorded a sack against Georgia in 1995.

4 » REMINDER: No. 10 soccer (13-4-2, 7-1-2 SEC) will host SEC East rival No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks (15-2-1, 7-2-1 SEC) TONIGHT at 6 p.m. at James G. Pressly Stadium. The Gators, with 23 points, currently lead the SEC and can take home the regular season title with a win Friday night. If you are in Gainesville, FL, be sure to go out and support them! Admission is FREE!

Tags: Arkansas Razorbacks, Bernie Machen, Bobby Petrino, Chas Henry, Dan Mullen, David Pollack, Garrison Hearst, Georgia Bulldogs, Hall of Fame, James G. Pressly Stadium, Jeremy Foley, Lane Kiffin, Lawrence Wright, Mike Slive, Mississippi State Bulldogs, Ray Guy Award, Rex Grossman, SEC, soccer, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers

1 » After his performances the last two weeks, Florida Gators senior quarterback Tim Tebow has raised doubts in the media and among fans whether or not he deserves consideration for the Heisman Trophy. There seem to be three prevailing thoughts on this issue. One that wants to play a wait-and-see approach, another that looks at the big picture and realizes the Heisman is about more than just a statistics, and a third that thinks he should not even be in contention for the award. Be sure to read the first article in full if you are a doubter.

2 » On that note, some Florida fans have actually expressed their desire to see what this team would be like with John Brantley at the helm instead of Tebow. Two ESPN columnists apparently received numerous e-mails and comments displaying this exact sentiment. I suppose I can see where fans would have this curiosity. But at the same time, it is a pretty ridiculous ideology to have at this point in time.

Two more BITS and a little extra after the jump…
Continue Reading » FOUR BITS: Tebow for Heisman? Brantley better? Bye good for Georgia? Kiffin/Mullen reprimanded.

Tags: Dan Mullen, Georgia Bulldogs, Heisman Trophy, John Brantley, Lane Kiffin, Mark Richt, Mike Slive, Mississippi State Bulldogs, SEC, Tennessee Volunteers, Terron Sanders, Tim Tebow

It should be no surprise to Florida Gators fans that if a player is committed or being sought after by the Orange and Blue, Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin is one step behind trying to swipe them away. The same goes for four star running back commitment Mack Brown (Lithonia, GA), who committed to the Gators back on July 24.

Brown, who contends that his “commitment [to Florida] is strong,” said the Vols, Alabama Crimson Tide and North Carolina Tar Heels are still pursuing him. In fact, Kiffin even made a theatrical entrance to one of his games in an attempt to impress. “I saw a red helicopter over my head and I was like, ‘who’s in that up there?’” Brown told Rivals. It was Kiffin, of course, angling for Brown to take a visit to Knoxville, TN. The only visit Brown has planned is one to Gainesville, FL, for the Gators game against the Florida State Seminoles. “I talk to Florida every two days at least,” he said. “They like my running style and they want me to come in at 215 (pounds) to be an every down runner.”

Continue Reading » Brown being pursued, Riggs stays silent

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Byrnes, Cody Riggs, Florida State Seminoles, Georgia Bulldogs, Lane Kiffin, Mack Brown, North Carolina Tar Heels, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, St. Thomas Aquinas, Tennessee Volunteers, Urban Meyer