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OT: dinner and sightseeing advice

My wife and me are planning a road trip for a wedding in Chattanooga in May. we wanted to see areas of the country we never been while catching baseball games in Both Kansas City and St. Louis. We have stops in Montgomery Al,Memphis,Joplin Mo and Nashville. I am looking for ideas on restaurants and sightseeing. Planning on stay on /Beale Street in Memphis

Thanks
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Reactions: Knightbengal

Behind on your covid booster?

Those same people now “behind” on boosters used to tell us how bad we are and now want forgiveness. But let's be clear, they're not behind, they are scared, as well they should be. 💉💰☠️

Mike, Jerry, Jerry Curl, Joe and all the other bag holders, hope to see you on the other side of 24

RIP Wayne, Billy, CrazyHole, Jake, James and all the other poor souls victims of this horrible experiment gone wrong

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OT: Help for Product Manager Jobs in JAX or Remote

Good morning friends,

I had the chance to connect with a good friend this weekend who is a product manager in Jacksonville. He got laid off to close last year and is still searching for a gig. This isn't my world, but I know brilliant people here work in that space. He's worked at places such as Thryv, Inc., AutoQuotes, and recently, Solutions by Text. If anyone has anything open or a new lead I can send him, it would be greatly appreciated. He's got two little kids, and the situation is becoming more urgent daily.

If you do, please DM me so I can connect you.

Thank you!

  • Poll
Losing interest in college sports

Are you losing interest in polls and/or college sports

  • Yes, I am losing interest in polls

    Votes: 6 23.1%
  • Yes, I am losing interest in college sports

    Votes: 23 88.5%
  • No, it's the off season and getting attention ain't a bad thing

    Votes: 1 3.8%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 3 11.5%
  • Placeholder for valuable feedback from the dungeon on what was missed.

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • Dang, they give you a lot of possible answers

    Votes: 2 7.7%

I've been a diehard UCF and college sports fan since the 80s. I've had season tickets to UCF football for years and have been following Brandon & UCF recruiting since his days as Big Daddy, but since the advent of Super Conferences, NIL and the transfer portal I've begun to lose interest. Many of those in my friend group are feeling the same way. Sure we'll still go to games and watch on TV, but the passion is waning and this will eventually lead to not renewing season tickets, not financially supporting school athletics, and not watching on TV or listening to Marc on the radio. The lack of leadership in college sports and the greed on all sides is destroying something that at one time was almost magical. Does anyone else feel this way?

My Tour of Croke Park

I got a chance to tour Croke Park in late July as I was
traveling through Dublin and the rest of Ireland. Below are a bunch of pictures
and a few videos of my tour. Croke Park is a very cool stadium and will be a
great venue to host the UCF-Penn State game.
It seats 82,000. The main events played at Croke are Gaelic Athletic Association
(GAA) events including the Semi-finals and finals of Gaelic Football and
Hurling. This is a huge deal in Ireland. It's similar to our Super Bowl. All of the top
dignitaries including the President and Prime Minister attend these
matches All 32 counties in Ireland are represented in
the GAA, each with a team made of up AMATUER players that were born in that
county. There is an incredible sense of pride that these players and fans have
for their hometowns.


The tour was about an hour and a half tour, starting with a
behind the scenes movie about game day for the GAA event. We then when through
the back area of the stadium to the Player's Lounge. This is where the GAA
hosts both the winning and losing teams and their select guests after the
match. There is a full bar and catered food. We then went through Locker Room
2, which is considered the Lucky Locker Room in Croke. We went through a warm
up room, down the tunnel, and to the field. Most of the shots you see are from
the Hogan Stands of the stadium, which is the Home Side and will also be UCF's
side. The Hogan Stands are named after
Gaelic Football Michael Hogan who in 1920 was playing a GAA match for Tipperary
when British soldiers entered the stadium and shot him and 13 others. This is
famously known as Bloody Sunday. I found that part really interesting.

We then moved to the upper deck of the stadium. I think
these were still pretty good seats and because of the Irish weather it is
covered. We then walked through the stadium to the other side into a luxury
suite. We finished the tour back at the
GAA Museum, which I suggest everyone try and go to.

The field itself is 157 yards by 96 yards compared to an
American Football field of 120 Yards by 53.
So there will be some additional room around the field for this game.

Overall people in Ireland seemed very excited for the game.
The Notre Dame- Navy game was tough to get tickets to and there is definitely a
demand from the Irish people to see American football. I spoke to several
people including a pub owner in Dublin who was very excited for the "match."
Their ultimate goal is to get an NFL game, so this will be a good test.

I can give you some more details about where to stay and
what to do in Dublin and the rest of Ireland, but I will post that in the
Ireland forum. You will definitely enjoy Dublin and the other parts of Ireland
if you get a chance to go.

Videos

360 From UCF Side Lower Level

Another 360 From UCF side Lower Level





360 From UCF side Upper Deck





Outside Croke Park

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Players Lounge
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Locker Room
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Warm Up Room
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Tunnel To Field

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Field View from Hogan Stands (UCF Side)

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Hogan Stands
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Field Shot From the Upper Deck
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A look at 'The Hill" standing room only section
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View From Luxury Suite

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This post was edited on 9/13 10:35 PM by OlearyLookAlike

How does the B12 embrace the Truck stop theme?

Seems to me that the truck stop conference tag from the Pac 12 fans is awesome. Especially now that the snobbery is turning on them I would love to see the fans unofficially adopt this. Maybe B12 work shirts with name patches on them that say "Knightro" or "Hypno" or something like that along with "B12 Truck Stops" on the back and some tag line about better than Buckey's or best servings of crow in the nation.

I would buy one

***Recruiting Update - UCF adds new commitment***

UCF's 2021 recruiting class is adding some international flair.

Leander Wiegand, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound offensive tackle from Germany, committed to the Knights earlier today. He had recently received an offer from the staff.

"I am really grateful and excited," Wiegand said in a message. "UCF said they really liked my abilities and my work attitude."

UCF recruited another lineman from Deutschland in this past recruiting cycle, Paul Rubelt, who is now a true freshman. Leander said he was already somewhat familiar with Paul and did connect with him during his decision-making process.

"I looked up everything I could find and talked to Paul about the school," Wiegand said. "There are several reasons I like UCF a lot. I think it is a great place to get perfect education! Also, I heard great things about the people and the community. And of course the football program looks and sounds amazing. I love to compete in everything and that's why I think it is the right place!"

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Wiegand said the COVID-19 pandemic hampered his recruitment. Ideally, he would have embarked on a visit tour during the summer so schools could have become more familiar with him. That's the route that helped many Germans the past couple years gain offers.

TCU, UMass, UConn, Central Michigan and South Florida were among the schools also in contact. Wiegand said he felt most comfortable with UCF's coaches and trusted the advice from Rubelt.

American Football is surging in popularity throughout Germany. Wiegand has been a member of the Aachen Vampires, a team based in the western part of the country near the border with Belgium. (https://www.aachen-vampires.de/)

Germany has also become an international hotspot for college football recruiting in recent years. Players currently committed in the 2021 class include QB Alexander Honig (TCU) and OL Danijel Miletic (Virginia Tech).

In addition to Rubelt signing with UCF, other German players that signed in the 2020 class included DE Alexander Ehrensberger (Notre Dame), TE Maximilian Mang (Syracuse), TE Roberto Miranda (Arizona), OL Miles Zietek (Temple), DE Melle Kreuder (Minnesota) and DE Hugo Klages (UMass).

The 2019 class of Germans featured OL Kariem Al Soufi (Virginia), WR Luke Wentz (Virginia) and DT Joseph Appiah Darkwa (Penn State).

Wiegand is slated to be a mid-year enrollee and enroll in January.

FOR SALE: UCF Alum Sports Card Collection - approx 1,125 cards - NFL, MLB, NBA, UFC, Golf, Soccer, NASCAR

Up for sale is my personal collection of UCF Alumni professional sports card...

Approx ***1,125*** mint condition cards, compiled over years and years. Autographs, jersey/patch cards, individually numbered, in and out of UCF uniforms etc.

UCF Stars BIG & SMALL, common and obscure, from sports such as: NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, UFC, M/W SOCCER, VOLLEYBALL, GOLF, WNBA.

Big Names include guys like:
Culpepper
Marshall
Jermaine Taylor
Murray
Bortles
Perriman
K. Smith
D. Gabriel
Mike Sims Walker
S. Jefferson
A. Samuel
Drew Butera
Josh Sitton
Chad Mottola
Mike Maroth

"Small" Names include:
Rannell Hall
Josh Robinson
Deshorn Brown (MLS)
Sean Johnson (MLS)
Tari Phillips (WNBA)
Michelle Akers
Robert Damron (Golf)
Aric Almirola (NASCAR)
Tom Lawlor (UFC)
Seth Petruzelli (UFC)
Phil Dalhaussser (VB)
Esix Snead
Darnell Sweeney
Ben Lively
Clay Timpner
Eric Skogland
Dan Winkler
Torrell Troup
Bruce Miller
Storm Johnson
Matt Fox
Michael Gaines
Siaha Burley
Greg Jefferson
Shaquem Griffin
Atari Bigby.....so many more.

It's one of the largest UCF Alum Collections I've seen, particularly regarding the more obscure names.

Collection can be viewed on Flickr. See link below

Serious inquiries can DM me.

GO KNIGHTS!

Citrus Bowl, the Jags, and TDT

Yesterday Orange County gave FCS another $10M in TDT funds in their bid to host the Jags in 2027 and I'm sure they'll get more if they actually land them. Feel like this would be absolutely terrible for UCF's chances of actually getting a dime of TDT money and attendance/fan interest if the team is still mired in mediocrity in 2027 and there's an NFL team in town.

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