Here is the YouTube link. https://www.youtube.com/live/Hb0KACl0ce4?si=NqY2XcyopxEtwLBV Very interesting. It demonstrates the ”Gator Way” that CTW tries to bring every year, particularly this team of coaches. This year’s Team has embraced the Gator Way and gelled into the team we see on the field this year.
D1Softball.com on Instagram: "“...It’s embracing the struggles to then celebrate the successes.” @gatorssb assistant coach @franenea10 shares her experience getting to come back and coach at her alma mater ️ Check out the full episode, presented by @s2.cognition on Apple & Spotify" Great Francesca interview.
And back to ripping the Gainesville Sun....they actually printed an article titled "Why Skylar left Alabama". Now, I know some of the reasons but they are private and I am not at liberty to say so I was interested in the article. Essentially, the answer was, "I don't know." And they actually published this crap that is one of the few articles they ever publish about softball.
Clearly off topic but I need an answer. UFgator72, or whatever Phil's handle, and I are having a back and forth privately about getting breakfast in the morning. I told him how much I miss the Asher Special at Skeeter's. Is that place still there and are they still up 13th street after moving from University down near Main?
You have to go to cafe risque to get skeeters food. They have the ashers risque special. You probably think I’m being a smartass. I’m not.
Never been, but I know a lady who has no interest in what’s going on there that eats there at least once or twice a month.
I have no idea why she would go there simply for breakfast but this has to be somewhere near the top of off-topic threads.
With all the players that do enter the portal almost immediately at season's end, it is refreshing to see a player like the one at texas state who probably could have transferred to nearly any legit school in the top 25 yet stayed where she began.
She has business nearby and she likes the food. I always thought it was weird, but she doesn’t care. Skeeters closed when I was very young, so I don’t have the nostalgic draw to it.
My go to breakfast in Gainesville is 43rd street deli...the one actually off 43rd not off I75 Williston road
I said this back when Tim hired her last July that Francesca will bring that “ it” factor to the team. I call it the “Gator Way”. Like she said, the University of Florida is a special place and if you are able to navigate through your ups and downs and earn it here you can do anything. It will make you a better person. I think she is being successful, it shows on the field and in the dugout. Francesca you’re doing a great job. Thank you for coming back!
Skylar had a bad April which ruined her chance of winning the player of the year award but in my opinion she is the best Division I softball player on the planet. She has gone 9 for her last 11 in the last few games that have been crucial to the Gators. Those numbers are insane.
In one of the recent podcasts, Tim mentioned that when he recruited Francesca he had to promise her mother that he would never call her "Franny". And he never has as far as I know. He even said his daughter (much younger when Francesca played) kept saying, "I want to go talk to Frannnnncesssca).She apparently doesn't like that nickname, or at least, her mother doesn't.
Yes, I am blowing my own horn. In the Fall I kept saying to stop ignoring Ariel. That she could and can play. Early on in the season I said she is our next Hannah Adams. I stand by that. I have repeatedly said that Taylor Shumaker is our next Skylar Wallace. While time will tell, don't bet against it.
The competition for starting position next year will be fierce and I actually think the team will be better than this year.