Hurricane Irma may have gotten Florida’s home opener against the star-studded Northern Colorado Bears canceled this weekend, but nothing is ever strong enough to interfere with an alligatorSports weekly picks column.
Anyone that’s active on social media or has read the news knows that Hurricane Irma is coming.
Around 55 percent, give or take.
I wanted to believe the hype. I wanted to believe Jim McElwain when he said Florida’s offensive line would be much improved in 2017. I wanted to believe the Gators had the pieces for a successful, potent offense that could put up points, yards and wins. I wanted to believe the defense could pick up what NFL draftees Jarrad Davis, Alex Anzalone, Quincy Wilson, Teez Tabor and Marcus Maye left behind.
Jim McElwain is under a lot of pressure at the beginning of his third season. He has to deal with the pressure of starting quarterback Feleipe Franks, a redshirt freshman who’s never thrown a pass in a college football game. He also has to deal with the pressure of going up against Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines without his star running back, Jordan Scarlett, and star receiver, Antonio Callaway, who have been suspended for disciplinary issues.
Jim McElwain was asked a question on Wednesday that I found to be enlightening.
Dear Coach McElwain and Gators football team,
Florida football coach Jim McElwain made an announcement Wednesday that the entire Gators fan base has been patiently waiting for.
The city of Houston is hurting right now. It’s hurting pretty bad.
Florida’s Jim McElwain, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and a bouquet of other college football coaches are wasting their time drawing up plays to move a ball up and down a rectangle. No, based on how much paranoia, control and secrecy they like to involve in such an arbitrary task, it’s clear they belong somewhere else: the U.S. military.
Floyd Mayweather defeated Conor McGregor by technical knockout on Saturday.
Do you trust Jim McElwain?
Quarterback Luke Del Rio took first-team reps in front of reporters Tuesday. And as soon as the news hit Twitter, some fans went ballistic. Or, you know — as ballistic as a faceless Twitter egg on a computer screen can go.
Former scientist and founding father Benjamin Franklin once said the following: “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”
Anyone who listens to Jim McElwain answer one question knows he is not a straightforward man. He rambles. He swerves. He changes topics like a figure skater changing direction. For example, here’s what he said when asked about how challenging the team’s quarterback competition must be given that two weeks from the team’s season opener, it’s still a three-man race:
Every Sunday during football season while I was still at home, my Dad and I would sit down in the living room after our weekly run to Costco and watch that afternoon’s NFL games.
Every meat-eating person knows one harsh truth: We don’t care how the sausage is made, and we prefer not to know. As long as the brats are delicious, who the hell cares?
He wasn’t trying to be funny. He wasn’t trying to make anyone snicker. He wasn’t trying to send the world of social media into a frenzy.
I’m going to start this column off with a question designed to make you think.
When high school defensive backs decide to attend the University of Florida, they’re actually committing to two different schools.
Solutions by The State News
