Gator Nation Sports Page Thursday April 23

Written by Chris Canada, Gatorsfirst.com Co-Founder

We at gatorsfirst.com work hard to bring our readers the latest in sports news from around the Gator Nation.  We check all the news sites, regional and national, and do all the research for you, because we understand you're busy and don't want to be internet geeks like us.  So look for the Gator Nation Sports Page, and stay current on the latest Gators sports news and sports opinions.

We have a lot to discuss since the previous sports page. This sports page will concentrate on stuff outside of Florida spring football, as James will be providing a Gator football-centric sports page tomorrow (sans recruiting).

Before we get into the meat of things, this has nothing to do with the Gators, but it's hysterical. Bo Jackson is getting into the banking business. We can assume that Bo Knows Banking. James and I are just waiting for Tecmo Loans to come out for Nintendo...

Maryland's head coach Ralph Friedgen thinks that Bobby Bowden should vacate their victories. Florida State has gotten away with a ton of stuff in the passed. What history leads you to believe the same won't happen now? (#4 on this list. Also, search for "Free Shoes University" on Wikipedia and see what pops up)

Ed Orgeron plans to play himself in the upcoming movie about Michael Oher. Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo...OHER!

Ex-Gator Coach Larry Fedora had an unexpected radio broadcast during his spring game...Highest of high comedy.

The commissioner of the Mountain West conference has proposed an 8-team playoff. This coincides with a bill that has been drafted to force a playoff in college football. President Obama has already stated that he'd pass any bill like this.

Baseball

The Gators lost two of three at home against the Ole Miss Rebels: Game 1 Loss - 2-6,  Game 2 Win - 8-4, and a Game 3 Loss - 3-5

However, Florida rebounded nicely with wins over Florida Gulf Coast on the road 12-3, and at home against South Florida 5-4. 

Basketball

Alex Tyus finally speaks out about his departure, on his Facebook account. We've been talking about it here.

The Alligator discusses the basketball transfers since 2003-04. Of course, James discussed the transfers and departures over the span of the Donovan era: Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV.

Jeremy Fowler says that Gators basketball welcomes the overhaul of the team.

Finally some good news: Richard Pitino is leaving Louisville (and his dad) to join the Florida Gator staff.

Florida will get another shot at Syracuse in 2009-10 in the third annual SEC/Big East Invitational.

Recruiting

Gator baseball signee Patrick Schuster throws his FOURTH straight no-hitter. Can Schuster break the prep record of six no-hitters? Does this streak put the Gators at risk of him bolting for the Majors?

Now that we have some scholarships available, John Wall is now interested in Florida. This article previews the possible PG recruit.

Gator Women's Basketball signed a decorated guard in Tessah Holt from Georgia. She was the Class 4A Player of the Year.

ESPN's Chris Low says the Gators are scoring big on the recruiting trail for 2010. S - Jordan Haden and TE - Gerald Christian committed this week and they are hot on LB - Jeff Luc. The Alligator also discusses the news commits. The Haden legacy is continuing in Gainesville.

The Orange & Blue game proved to be a great day for recruiting, as a huge crowd of possible future Gators attended. Here is another article about the benefits of the O&B game, including quotes from TE - Gerald Christian. His high school coach was named Jack Daniels, so he's ok by me.

Maybe Pernell Williams will be the 11th commit? He wants in, but he'll have to be offered a scholarship.

Professional Gators

The BullGator takes a look at every Gator that has been drafted in the top-10 on the NFL Draft.

There are only a few Gators expected to be drafted in this year's draft. They include Harvin, Ingram, Murphy, and Watkins. It'll be very different next season, as we will most likely see a big exodus from Gainesville. Here is a list of possible first rounders in 2010. Speaking of those leaving next season, Tim Tebow is learning the in's and out's of the NFL game from new coach Scot Leffler.

Believe it or not, there are other players from the state of Florida that are on draft boards.

Percy Harvin tested positive for marijuana at the draft combine. Concerns are beginning to mount against Percy Harvin as the draft approaches. Percy is falling on everyone's draft boards. Some experts think he's a big risk. Robbie Andreu also discusses the Percy Harvin saga.

What about Louis Murphy??? Should teams even consider Florida WR's when drafting? This article shows that history hasn't been kind to Gator receivers in the NFL.

With the playoffs starting, there has been a lot of talk about why Udonis Haslem is starting over Michael Beasley. Haslem has some strong words in this column. I'll tell you the reason: Udonis is more valuable than Beasley at this point. We works hard, plays tough defense, and is our best rebounder, even though he's undersized for his position. Speaking of Udonis, he's being inducted into the Miami High Hall of Fame this weekend, where he led his team to two consecutive state titles.

Joakim Noah was frustrated with the buzzer-beater loss against the Celtics in game 2. Noah has been playing great, as of late, doing all of the dirty work, including 17 rebounds in game 1.

Ex-gator Brian Gay set a scoring record at the Verizon Heritage this past weekend.

Olympic swimming great Dana Torres will be speaking at Hollywood Memorial Hospital today. In an unrelated story, I was born there.

Total Sports Domination

The #1 ranked Gator Softball team defeated LSU in baton Rouge to end their SEC road schedule undefeated, only the second time in the history of the SEC after USC in 1997. The Gators are now 46-3 overall and 23-1 in the SEC.

The #10 Men's Tennis team swept #29 South Carolina in the season finale. The Gators are now 16-7 overall and 7-4 in the SEC. The SEC Tournament starts today in Auburn.

The Women's Tennis team also starts their conference tournament today, and have the #4 seed.

After the UF Gymnastics team snuck into the Super Six, they ended up finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships, which is a huge accomplishment after a set of bad injuries.

The UF Men's Golf team finished third at the SEC Championships. Billy Horschel took home the individual conference championship by shooting -10 over three rounds. Now the Gators wait until the NCAA regionals, coming up in mid-May.

The UF track team had a great showing at the War Eagle Invitational. For the weekend, the Gators had 32 NCAA regional-qualifying marks and eight event victories.

Florida has another unheralded juggernaut.

Alright! The NCAA has developed another sport that Florida can dominate: Sand Volleyball! I love the first line of this article...

Any Thoughts???

You can find the original article here.