Florida linebacker commit Hearns eager to return from ACL tear
By ADAM PINCUS< | July 4, 2012Football didn’t always come easy for James Hearns.
Football didn’t always come easy for James Hearns.
Billy Heywood is braver than most. Portrayed by Luke Edwards in the 1994 film Little Big League, Billy inherits the Minnesota Twins after the death of his grandfather, the team’s owner. One week later, Billy names himself manager.
For sprinter Jeff Demps, this year has been about making sacrifices for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Rodney Adams wakes up every morning at 6:30 ready to take the field for two-a-days.
As a part of The Alligator Awards recognizing the best in UF athletics during the 2011-12 athletic season, columnists Joe Morgan and Corey McCall will debate two of the five nominees in each week’s category. Vote for the winner online at alligatorSports.org.
Last week, Brian Johnson was not thinking about life after Omaha.
Joe: Rewind to January 1, 2012. The ball has dropped in New York City, and I’m drinking champagne out of a plastic wine glass. A fortune teller — decked out in purple robes with a crystal ball — saunters over and tells me the Gators will win three national championships in the first six months of the year and that John Carter would be the box-office bust of 2012.
When junior Dwight Barbiasz first started competing in the high jump in 2008, he had to spend that summer watching the Olympics from home. This year Barbiasz wants in.
The Gators were the last team to leave Omaha disappointed in 2011. In 2012, they are one of the first.
The Gators’ untimely demise at this year’s College World Series was unexpected to say the least.
The third time against Brian Johnson proved to be the charm for South Carolina.
After losing to South Carolina in the College World Series final last June, Florida has had the two-time defending national champions’ number this season.
Whether the Gators win or lose this year’s College World Series, Brian Johnson will always be remembered in Omaha. After an apparent Johnson home run was called a ground-rule double in Florida’s 8-4 win against Texas last season, instant replay has been implemented for the 2012 College World Series.
You’ve heard of ultimate frisbee — you know, that game with the hippies running around barefoot, throwing around a disc and enjoying Janoris Jenkins’ favorite pastime.
Junior Tony McQuay has had a nice year in 2012. The sprinter started off winning the U.S. Championships in June, then won his first NCAA indoor title in the 400 meters and last week he won his first NCAA outdoor title in the 400 meters as well as Florida’s first 4x400-meter relay NCAA title.
On Tuesday the UF Student Ticket Office announced its plan to extend the lottery registration deadline from June 7 to June 22.
In the 2011-2012 season, Willis’ first year as the UF policy debate director, his squad jumped an unprecedented 62 places in the Cross Examination Debate Association national ranking. The team entered the season ranked No. 68 out of 117 teams and ended the season ranked No. 6.
The Gators’ roster boasts nine new MLB prospects, but Florida relied on more than its highly-regarded upperclassmen to advance to a third straight College World Series.
There was nothing junior about what the third-year Gators accomplished Sunday.
Corey: For those of you looking for a competitive NBA finals, don’t get your hopes up. The real finals ended when the Thunder took four straight games to upset the Spurs. Now begins the encore: like when you sit through a Dexys Midnight Runners concert. When they hit the stage at the end to play one last song, there is only one possible outcome.