Ongoing UF Softball Commentary

I'm so happy I became a fan before all of the "pay to play" started to happen. I don't think I would love softball as much as I do if I became a fan in 2018 or later.

 

So let's change gears a bit. what are some of your favorite softball moments or games? my top
10 Ali Gardiner hitting the walk off to beat alabama and advance to the finals
9 Jordan hitting the walk off the beat Texas A&M
8. The run in the 2013 sec tournament
7. The Nebraska game ( 2013 wcws)
6. the 2011 wcws elimination games vs alabama.
5. eliminating ucla in the 2011 regionals
4. Skylar Wallace highlight reel
3. Kendra falby highlight reel
2. beat a very tough VT team 2 games in a row.
1. the 2014 and 15 national titles
Bonus: the team adopting Heather Braswell and really lifting her and her families spirts up. I wish she was able to witness the national title but I know she was there in spirit.

 

I truly hate seeing athletes’ social media accounts and all it references is “getting the bag…”. Nothing about winning just the bag. I was really hoping softball would be immune to this crap.

 

Looking forward to Fall softball. I need to block out time on my calendar now to make sure that I am available to come to GNV.

As I recall from years past, Fall ball is always within the last two weeks of October and first two weeks of November.

Is that about right?

 

It wasn't a win, but my favorite moment was the 18-inning game (I think) against Oklahoma (I also think) in the title series. Never been so stressed or had as much pure fun watching softball as I did that game.

 

It was 2017 and the Gators lost to Oklahoma 7-5 in 17 innings, the longest game in WCWS history. Barnhill and Gourley combined to strike out 26 Sooners. Epic 5 1/2 hour game and I was there and stayed until the end which was after midnight. Awesome experience despite the loss!

 

Money and its ‘presence’ can be a very beneficial factor in life. But if I remember correctly, it’s written somewhere that ‘the love’ of money is the root of all evil. The injecting of and the pursuit of the money factor has all but ruined sports just as it does almost everything.

 

Gone are the days when a newly recruited class come in as freshmen, worked hard as a team, got better each year and graduated together (except for the occasional redshirt or transfer). The fans received the gift of getting to know them over the years, following their favorites. Senior Day is now filled with players we barely got to know.

Covid definitely changed the landscape, adding the 5th year and the portal has gone wild. Now we are experiencing bidding wars. What’s next? Are these players going to start hiring agents? Maybe some already have one. This whole Vawter/Maxwell issue really opened my eyes because it hit so close to home. At least the saga is over, no more stringing us along. We may feel we are at rock bottom right now, but there is no where else to go but up! Go Gators!

 

Oregon and Washington to the Big Ten and likely Arizona, and probably ASU, to the Big 12. The Pac 12 is history as we know it.

 

Utah has also asked in to the Big 12 along with ASU.

 

will the last team leaving the pac12 turn out the lights, the party is over

 

So, Stanford has to make a move. The SEC? I'm not in favor of SEC expansion but if Stanford wants in, with their excellent athletics and academics, how do you say no? You would need another to even things out. Cal? While their athletic department isn't earth shaking, their academics are in a different stratosphere.

 

And Oregon State and Washington State can just go jump into the Pacific because they are totally screwed.

 

No mas

 

That would involve a lot of travel. Think about all of the other teams besides the big sports.

 

The Big 10 is doing it. We already travel a lot for A&M, and that will be added to with OU and UT.

If we can add Cal and Stanford, we should. I don't like conceding both the west coast and the midwest to the Big 10 because they are willing to overlook logistics and we aren't. We can't allow the Big 10 to be the national brand and let the SEC remain a (albeit very large) regional one. Not if there are only going to be two conferences left.

 

More likely Cal and Stanford join the Mountain West but who knows.

 

I have seen the facilities of both. High Schools in TX have better facilities. Vandy has better facilities. If we are he'll bent on expansion, go get VA Tech, VA, NC and Duke. Nice facilities, great academicis, decent teams, good fan bases, big names, easy travel, no time changes, big TV markets and best of all leave fsu and miami stranded with nowhere to go!