ESPN 98.1 FM / 850 AM WRUF ESPN 98.1 FM / 850 AM WRUF
The Back Nine comes at you after a fun vacation that was ruined by a bad weekend.
10. I talk all the time on The Tailgate about how one of the great things about living in Gainesville is all these great weekends we have with so many big-time sporting events and great teams representing the University of Florida. This weekend, not so much. It was hardly the way anyone in the Gator Nation expected the end of the bat and ball sports and now we are stranded on a deserted island of bad streaming options and golf. We do still have track and field (NCAAs start June 11), but we are also heading into the abyss unless you are a big MLB or WNBA fan.
11. The end for baseball was especially depressing, the Gators giving up 11 runs twice to East Carolina to be eliminated. The truth is that the team coach Kevin O’Sullivan took to Conway, S.C., wasn’t good. The injuries turned Florida into a Bad News Bears infield with too many left-handed bats in the lineup. There were also too many fire starters in the bullpen. Yes, Sully did a great job of turning this thing around, but you can only push a car running on fumes so far up the hill.
12. Florida’s softball team certainly didn’t end its season the way it wanted to, but that’s what Florida has become. Two-and-barbecue in Oklahoma City makes for a quick exit (especially because the NCAA changed the format). But let us not forget that this team went to its 13th WCWS under coach Tim Walton and did so without an elite pitcher. You can get there without one, but you won’t stay for long.
13. Which takes us to the mystery that is Keagan Rothrock. She had a blister so she could not pitch Friday after a very uneven season defined by her injury that nobody likes to talk about. Still, I would have gone with a different starter with your season on the line, but Walton is the one who knows more about softball than anyone reading (or writing) this column. Hey, I tried to convince one coach at UF that a knuckleball would work in softball (the idea was quickly shot down).
14. I have been on the metal chairs in the dungeon of the stadium for a lot of last game of the season news conferences in OKC and they are always emotional, but Kendra Falby’s had me welling up. Gator fans demand loyalty and she is the speedy version of it. I’ll miss her and all of the seniors. The bottom line is it only ends well for one team in every sport.
15. So, here we are with everything but track and field finished for another academic year at UF. One national title, one SEC title, three Final Fours, a resurgence in football and a lot of sports played on the biggest stages. It wasn’t a spectacular season for UF, but that is because we hold the athletics at Florida to a ridiculously high standard.
16. I mention football because we all know that summer loving is going to be off the chains all summer. This is the year coach Billy Napier is betting on. He has his best team and an elite quarterback. The schedule is tough, but Florida is better equipped to handle it. I think this season is going to come down to three games early in the season – at LSU, at Miami, Texas. Hide the eyes of your kids because it’s going to be intense.
17. By the way, I was curious about some of the early spreads for college football and – this is going to make some of you angry – I think FSU getting 10.5 points in Gainesville is a good bet. FSU will be better … unfortunately. The Gators are underdogs against LSU (7.5), Miami (5.5) and Texas (7.5). Also, 9.5 is the spread against Georgia and a few shekels on the Gators seems like a good bet. I’m not telling you who to bet on because I play with Monopoly money.
18. Sorry, there was no Back Nine last week, but I was working on layering my tan in Vilano Beach. I was also listening to some awesome music in the hot tub:
- “Long Dark Night” by Judah and The Lion.
- “Black Sun” by Death Cab For Cutie. And I found out something I didn’t know about Death Cab, which is how the Beatles directly influenced the name of the band. Ask me about it sometime.
- And for an old one, it may be sappy, but it came up on Sirius and I can’t get it out of my head. “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan and John Ford Coley.
