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UCF - nr (32 among others receiving votes)

Scheduled teams:
U Cin- 22

Conference:
U Houston - 25

jump starting an excellent season.

Being at home gives us one helluv an advantage!

Thought?

Kansas is the only state, so far anyway, who has put abortion on the ballot to let the people decide. And Kansas, not exactly a liberal hot bed, has voted overwhelmingly to keep abortion legal. Republicans have to be shitting themselves right now. If a state as conservative as Kansas voted to keep abortion legal (as I am typing this about 50% of the vote is in, and almost 2/3s have voted to keep abortion legal) then Republicans have to know they have way over stepped and misread this issue.

Also. new polling shows that who takes/keeps the house, is actually very competitive and likely wont be a Red wave like people have been suggesting, and I would imagine the abortion issue is playing a role in Democrats gaining ground.

Marc Daniels had a great interview today with Willie Steele, who wrote a book and befriended W. P. Kinsela, who wrote "Shoeless Joe Jackson", which became Field of Dreams.

Here is the link to today's I terviee which is at the end of his show. Starts at around the 80 min mark.


Yankees will play the White Sox this Thursday at 7 pm as MLB built a 8,000 seat stadium around the ball field which has always been there.

I was able to visit the Field of Dreams in 1992 on Labor Day Weekend.

The Corn was really high...there was an old timers game going on...a few small bleachers were around the field.

The place is magical....just like the movie...as Marc talks about wanting the chance to play catch with his Dad one more time.

People will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

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While many of these seats were probably available thru their ticket office, over 200 great seats are now also available online in Sections 204 and 205, right on the 50 and 40 yd lines.

Online, tix are $110 (other club seats by the 30 are $85 online or $75 if you buy direct) but like the others, believe there is at least a $10 discount per ticket if you buy direct from their ticket office (Noah in FAU Tix Office has helped a ton of UCF Fans with buying directly thru their office while saving $$$. His number 561-297-0024).

That idea has support from Jordan Acker, a member of Michigan’s board of regents and the board’s former chairman. Acker published an op-ed in Sportico last week encouraging university trustees to be proactive on player compensation rather than allowing decisions to be dictated by the courts or lawmakers. For Acker, hearing Harbaugh express a similar sentiment was an indication of an attitude shift among leaders in college sports.

“I thought that was really smart of Coach Harbaugh,” Acker said. “That’s exactly how we should be thinking.”

The idea of conferences negotiating directly with players isn’t a new one. Economists Andy Schwarz and Dan Rascher argued in a 2000 paper that the answer to the problems created by the NCAA was to allow conferences to set their own policies on player compensation, creating a competitive environment rather than one in which players’ earnings were suppressed by a centralized governing body.

“Each conference, then, could choose a common wage regime, and within that conference, the necessary balance for the creation of a team sport would be maintained, without the need for an overarching super cartel to control the entire market for college-age athletes,” Schwarz and Rascher wrote.

Now that players can profit from their NIL rights, a framework exists to put that idea into practice. Players could be students at their respective schools while earning income from the conference, just as other students make money from outside sources. They wouldn’t be paid for their performance, per se, but for the use of their names, images and likenesses in media rights deals.

“With that structure in place, it would be perfectly reasonable for the athletes’ employers to include a group NIL offer as part of what is handled at the conference level,” Schwarz wrote in an email.

Sharing money with players would involve some complex calculations, requiring the conference to formulate payments for thousands of athletes across numerous sports. Would the college athletes unionize and negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that would satisfy antitrust concerns? And Schwarz said it’s not entirely clear how Title IX would apply to NIL payments distributed by a conference, but it’s likely the league would need to set aside roughly equal pools of money for men’s and women’s sports. Within those pools, Schwarz said, the conference would have the freedom to set terms in line with the market for each sport’s media rights

A friend and his family will be attending their first ucf game. They have already purchased tickets but I wanted to get them a parking pass. If anybody can’t make it and wants to sell let me know

I hope it works out for him. I hate that he was injured let alone in a blowout.
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UCF defensive tackles coach Kenny Martin is in a good spot. He has a solid nucleus returning between Ricky Barber, Anthony Montalvo and Keenan Hester, plus has some young talent including Auburn transfer Lee Hunter.

UCFSports.com caught up with Martin - an Orlando native - at the recent media day.

I just spoke with Ricky Barber. He was an All-American a couple years ago with you at Western Kentucky. Last year he got banged up and wasn't able to do everything he wanted to. He said he's now feeling healthy. What do you expect out of him this year?

"I expect Ricky to have the same season he had with me a couple years ago, be an All-American and all that good stuff. The thing I'm most excited about is for UCF to be able to see him full throttle and healthy. Ricky is going to be special. He can pass rush. He's strong and physical. He's strong and physical."

What did you remember when you were recruiting him? Was there something you saw that other coaches didn't?

"I was watching his film. He was a two-star coming out of high school. He wasn't highly recruited. When he came to camp, he was only 230-something pounds. He's up to 297 now. He had a 6-8 wingspan. I was like man, he's quick, he has long arms. We can build him up. He's very special. Then you look at his athletic ability on film. He was playing wildcat quarterback. He was playing all the position on the line. He's a special human. He's got a great family. He's a really good player."

How has he ingrained himself with this team? He comes in a transfer and doesn't know the guys, but now that he's been here - it seems like he's more of a leader now and a lot more mature.

"He is. He's grown with it. He knows he wants to take the next step. He wants to have a special season. He took the challenge. I told him I'm going to challenge him to be the guy. Have the guys lead you. He took it. He rolled with it. Everybody is following behind. He's becoming the leader of the room."

Having Ricky and Anthony Montalvo, however many years he's been here, how reassuring is to have guys like that you can lean, two rocks.

"It's a great cushion to have knowing you have two guys, well Keenan Hester started some games last year too. It's really good to have those three guys I can always depend while bringing up the other guys. Monty is always going to do everything right. He's going to know the playbook ins and outs. He's going to line people up. He's going to give great effort. That's why you love Monty when it comes to that. I have three guys that you can really throw in there at any time."

You mentioned Keenan Hester. What do you want to see out of him this year?

"I want Keenan to take the next step. I want him to be the dominant player he can be. We talked about it. I challenged him. Get outside your comfort zone a little bit. Last year he showed a little peek of what he can do. We're working a little bit more. Hopefully he can have his breakout year we expect to have.

Lee Hunter is a transfer from Auburn with tremendous talent. What are you hoping he can give you this year?

"He has a huge ceiling. He's a big man that plays very angry. I love it. That's what you need to have in the trenches. Somebody that can demand double teams. Someone that plays angry, heavy hands, that wants to cause disruption in the backfield. That's what Lee Hunter brings. Again, he's still young. We've got to not forget that. He is a young player. He's still learning our defense. Learning our system. Learning what we're looking for in our defense. He'll come along. He's going to be a real good player for us."

I feel like when Gus is talking about Hometown Hero in recruiting, it means something a little different to you. You didn't play here, but you're from the hometown, you're from Orlando. You understand what it's all about. How fun has it been being part of this staff that's have so much success on the recruiting trail?

"It's so cool to be here and know that UCF is going into a Power Five. That's something you can sell to these guys. I might be sounding biased, but I do believe the Central Florida area, Orange County, Seminole, Polk County, even Tampa area, we have some of the best talent in the country. Not just the state of Florida, but the country. You keep these guys in the area, the sky is the limit for UCF."

What was your recruitment like? You were at Ocoee? That was a new school back then?

"It was a brand new school. I was the first Division I player out of the school."

You were a Knight. An Ocoee Knight. I know you went to Western Kentucky.

"I went to Western Kentucky. I had scholarships all over the place. They did a really good job of building relationships. That taught me how to build relationships with people. That's really important. The best thing I did was go to Western Kentucky. They really helped me grow. If UCF would have given me the opportunity, I probably would have been a Knight again."

Being a local guy, did you go to UCF games?

"We grew up watching games. One of my good friends is A-Train, Alex Haynes. Evans High School. He played football with my older brother. We went to Citrus Bowl games. We used to go to Citrus Bowl games a lot. It was fun."

When you're recruiting for UCF, being a native, does that help?

"It does. I have built relationships with people here. People know me in the area. It's all about getting to know people and treating people the right way and not burning bridges. I've never burned bridges, so I feel I'm a good spot with a lot of people here in Orlando."

You're like the food recommendation guy? We talked to Kenny Ingram in the spring and you took him to a place in Millennia?

"The Licking."

What are your favorite spots around here?

"You've got to go to the Licking. Some of the best food in the area. Tibby's of course. As of lately, we've been going to EPCOT just to go to all those places. Those are good spots. There's another place that you need to go to. It's called Seana's. It's a Caribbean soul food. It's over there off Good Homes and 50 on the west side. They've got a location there and another one downtown. Good dude too. He'll take care of you."

And presumably that was the N-word.

Cale Gundy is Mike Gundy's brother.

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I got Baptiste and Johnson as starters, Lewis Jennings, and Mosier as top reserves. At least through the Georgia Tech game.

On Thursday Mrs. Z and I celebrate 37 years of marriage. A long time ago I made the mistake of buying her a very expensive anniversary ring which she got pissed about because we really needed furniture not a ring, Mrs Z is a very practical person and probably the reason we are not totally broke right now. After that fiasco we have an agreement that if a gift is more than $100 we have to ask the other person first. With inflation I might push it to $150. So here is the challenge what can I buy for $100-150 that says I would do it all over again. Flowers are just kinda Blah and die. Fancy chocolates neither of us need. Give me some ideas. I can’t go over because she will be upset since we just spent 1600 on a washer and dryer. Seriously that is how she thinks, yes I got a good one. Actually the best one!

Anyone else trying to make it to every game this year? With 9 games in Florida - and the remaining 3 games being the last time we play long time peers - I figured I’d give it a shot.

I’m sure there are a few folks on here who do this.

2020 was doable but with the ECU game restricted to family only that ruined the effort there. Still made Houston, Ga Tech, usf, and the Boca bowl.

Congrats to Laura Segarra ’22, PhD who received UCF's 400,000th degree last weekend.

Not sure if anyone else has seen (didn't find in search), but he had blood clots that he claims are from vaccine and had to retire. Regardless of politics, sad for him.

And away we go.gif

Yellen vs Greenspan ?

I think Greenspan, but the Housing bubble hurts my argument. My friend says she did great for 4 years.

Thinking only about increasing/ decreasing Fed funds rate. So no stock market.

Give me some ammo pro or con.

Media Day Interview from the Sons of UCF: UCF Knights special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Brian Blackmon shares his thoughts on the tight end group and special teams unit heading into 2022. Blackmon leads a tight end room that includes Alec Holler and transfer portal addition Kemore Gamble from Florida. On special teams, the Knights are once again evaluating the place kicker role with incumbent Daniel Obarski and true freshman Colton Boomer.

Click here to watch.

I am thinking about getting my son one of the Bowser shirts.

Has anyone compiled a list of the links to use to get to the player's merchandise? Is there an easy was to search for these?

Nm

Just purchased 2 at $95 each with minimal fees. 5 rows up at the 50 yard line. Available for the UCF sideline. Doesn’t look like they are pulling any of the FAU tricks

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Can someone please tell KZ this is a stupid investment? Unless he's undercover, then please continue.