Gallagher, Watermelon-Smashing Comedian, Is Dead at 76

[Leo Anthony Gallagher, Jr.] went on to the University of South Florida, where he majored in English literature and orchestrated a protest against cafeteria food… After graduating in 1970, Mr. Gallagher worked as a salesman for a chemical company in Chicago.

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Looking for ideas on where to tailgate on Saturday. I have my boys w/me and my newphew is a student at USF. He's a sophomore and never been to a USF game so we invited him to hang and experience some real tailgating. I may even convince him in wearing a UCF shirt as his last game was at Brighthouse about 5 yrs ago and was cheering for the Black and Gold as a HS student. All joking aside....based on my experience from the bowl game last year, there was an area noted as the Tampa Tailgate off Ohio Ave we parked at last year. The police had the intersection of Hines and Ohio blocked last year so I had to do a U'turn and I found the closest place to go. It wasn't bad at all considering I got there late. Looking forward in hearing where everyone is going on Saturday. It was only a 5 min walk from the stadium, plenty of room to cook and toss a ball, and was reasonably priced.

My kids are bugging me about seeing snow. Anyone have any good recommendations for cabins in the mountains? Just looking for something with a good view and a hot tub. GA/NC/TN works for us

Anyone know of any in Miami or Fort Lauderdale?

Anyone making plans to watch this in the area?

(No taxation without representation bowl?)*

Do your thing Dungeon:

For Years, The Naval Academy has played dirty football. Always resorting to cheap shots and chop blocks. UCF will have to be calm and cool and take no retaliation penalties.

Hopefully we play more than 3 games. I don't have a lot of faith in that happening, though. Got to be honest. In any case, I've got my home and away jersey's ready to go. I went to the World Cup in 2006 and saw 5 games over 14 days. One of the best trips I've ever had in my life. So much fun. So much craziness and drunken buffoonery.

Last week i mentioned feeling like the offense turned a corner in that 2nd half and i was interested how we would build on it this week and we put together a complete game on offense. From the very beggining we were firing on all cylinders. I thought Gus called a solid game, moved the pocket for JRP, receivers caught passes (not sure if i even noticed 1 drop). We mixed in the different running backs, got Richardson & Harvey involved early, didnt for JRP runs, not triple reverse flea flickers called, scored 70 freaking points (all on offense). Usually when a team scores 70 there is a special teams or defensive TD in there but that was not the case here. Really solid game...

UCF Fast:

• JRP: I have always preferred JRP over MK and i have been clear on that on here each week and defended that position. I felt this was the first game where you could really see how dangerous this offense can be when balanced the right way with JRP's threat of running and 3 stud receivers, solid TEs, a solid OL, 3 headed monster at RB, fast paced offense, we are tough to plan for and stop when fully healthy and not dropping passes. JRP accounted for 7 TDs tonight by mid way through the 3rd quarter. I am not sure what the record is at UCF but having 7 scores that early in the game is nasty. My favorite JRP play was the long throw to Bowser. JRP moved around, bought time, and found Bowser as an outlet (had to be his 4th read). Really solid play.
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• Okeefe & Hudson: Both had great games at WR. Baker got hurt so it left these two to just run past the Temple DBs. It was like we could do that whenever we wanted to. My understanding was that Temple had a decent defense and we curb stomped them.
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• Defense: I am not sure what it is about the first few defensive series. We seem to always make the other team look like world beaters. Temple had like 150+ yards in the 1st quarter, they put up 10 pts easily on us and then just like that our defense shuts them completely down the rest of the night. Really odd how that happens but i am starting to get confident in it. During the game when it was 14-13 or something like that my dad said "wasn't UCF favored by 23 pts"? With out hesitation i said we will absolutely cover. This is temporarily close, we will pull away as the game goes on. I didn't expect we would out score them 56-0 from that point on but damn. Shout out to Johnson and Celiscar both stood out to me tonight.
• Offensive Line: Going to give some love to the big uglies, pretty clean game tonight. Not major penalties, holes were there, JRP protected well, solid all around game.
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• Space Game Theme: I say this every year but the Space Game theme is a marketers wet dream. We really have something unique with this concept. The alternative uniforms, colors, mascot, the buy in from the school, city, fans, players, it is really cool. We are in a very unique position to flex it and i do think at some point it is going to become a really big deal outside of UCF. One day Musk will notice. It just makes too much sense. I also love me some Citronaut!!!

UCF Slow:

• Pass Rush: I am nitpicking here but my only beef with anything UCF did on the field is that i felt we struggled to generate consistent pressure on the QB. Temple attempted 44 passes and we had 0 sacks. Just seems like we should have had a few.
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• Game Length: This is a common bitching for me but it really baffles me how this cannot be corrected, this game went on for close to 4hrs and that was with a really fast 4th quarter. The beggining of the 2nd quarter i think ESPN took 3 separate 3 minute TV timeouts before 4 minutes ran off the clock. FFS, the NFL gets the games in at about 3hrs every week with great consistency, the college game TV timeouts just seem poorly placed and so long. I really believe attendance would pick up as well if they figured out how to move things along faster.

Not much else to bitch about tonight. The boys looked strong. The team leaves the state for the first time this year next week at ECU for a night game. ECU is a scrappy team, they are going to bring it to us. If we play anywhere close to how well we played tonight we should roll them up but these guys arent used to being on the road and if it is close and we have to fight i hope we keep it together. Love to keep this mo going into Cincy in two weeks. 6-1 going into that game would be a lot of fun. Finally a full tailgate Sat packed house night game right before Halloween. Crazy Uncle Phil's Halloween Tailgate action in full effect. I can't wait. I am heading to KC to watch my Bills this Sunday as well. Lots of action packed fun to look forward to. Go Knights!!!

I was first to New Orleans am I first to Tampa? If you live here it doesn’t count 😂!

This was in my inbox since I purchased tickets through them.
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I have 2 reserved parking passes in lot 3D (right next to stadium) for sale
$40 each - email me Dtipton@tiptonai.com

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Matt Grothe is undoubtedly one if the iconic figures in the history of the War on I-4.

The Lakeland native was South Florida's starting quarterback during their successful early years as a member of the Big East, including the 2007 season when they made it all the way to No. 2 for one week that October. He was also a perfect 4-0 against UCF, the latter three of which he was the starter.

For our War on I-4 preview, I was honored to have Grothe join me to reminisce on those early days of the series and his thoughts about the future of the rivalry.

Among UCF fans, Grothe, along with former head coach Jim Leavitt and former president Judy Genshaft, has always been regarded as a something of a villain as he never shied away from taking shots at the school up the street. After the 2007 game in which USF won 64-12, Grothe's postgame comments riled up UCF fans even more.

"It's nice to score 64 points," Grothe said at the time. "It's not like we were trying to run up the score. If we were, we could have scored more."

Prior to the 2008 game, the first-ever meeting in the Bounce House, Grothe told the story of how UCF students got hold of his cell phone number and barraged him with calls and messages before the game. His father was even the subject of a threat.

While the 2007 game is a sore spot among UCF faithful, Grothe said the most satisfying War on I-4 win during his career was that 31-24 overtime victory in 2008.



At one point, South Florida appeared to be the school destined to become part of a "Big Four" in the state as they had the coveted BCS status. They fought hard to keep UCF out of the Big East and were successful in doing so for several years, but ultimately the league fell apart ironically which can be attributed to Genshaft turning down ESPN's TV deal.

In 2013, both schools became conference mates in the renamed American Athletic Conference, but no longer a BCS auto-bid or Power Five league. From there, the Knights began chipping away at the series lead.

The most memorable War on I-4 game is arguably 2017, when UCF and South Florida played one of the most thrilling games of the college football season. A back-and-forth affair, the Knights won the game on a late Mike Hughes "reservation for six in the cabanas" kickoff return touchdown.

Since then, the trajectories couldn't be any more different. UCF won a National Championship that season (it's in the NCAA Record Book, folks) and continued to win at a high level, while South Florida started to see a program downturn. Charlie Strong was fired after posting a 4-8 record in 2019. His replacement, Jeff Scott, was 4-26 during the last three seasons and mustered only one win against a FBS opponent (Temple). Scott was fired earlier this month.

UCF meanwhile is headed to the Big 12 next season, while South Florida will remain in the American. After this meeting, the War on I-4 is effectively over unless both schools agree to play each other in a non-conference game. South Florida has full schedules for the rest of the decade and UCF doesn't seem to have much enthusiasm in scheduling future matchups.

Even though South Florida is disappointing they're getting left behind, there is some optimism in Tampa. They must make the correct coaching hire and Grothe and the fanbase are excited over the prospect Deion Sanders could be in the mix. An indoor practice facility just opened and there are plans for an eventual on-campus stadium. If the Bulls can get their act together, perhaps the door will open in regards to future conference realignment.

Today, Grothe is aligned with the Fowler Avenue Collective. On Saturday, his group and Mission Control will join forces to host a joint tailgate prior to the last-scheduled War on I-4.

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Things are in motion at Casa de Drama. Having a great cup of coffee and taking in this crisp, foggy and overcast Thanksgiving morning in Orlando.

This year I welcomed a new niece, most fit I’ve been in years, started working more for myself and very excited for the future. The year has been pretty standard but laying the foundation for some big things down the line.

Wanted to wish you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving. This Place gives me an outlet for my creativity and a forum to share things I’m passionate about with people that appreciate it. I’m thankful for all our interactions and I am very excited to meet some of you in person in Tampa this weekend.

Say a little prayer for the Reid family spending their first Thanksgiving with an empty chair at the table this year. Hope James is a reminder for all of us to live fully and embrace things you’re passionate about with complete enthusiasm and to share that fire with the world.

Love you all.
Eat well.
Go Giants.
God Bless The USA and Charge On.

DD ❤️

Close game in the third. Ole Miss settled for 3 FG to start, scored a TD to go up by 9, but conceded a TD just before halftime. 2 point lead continues in a rainy 3rd quarter. ( Miss State scored on the opening drive, too.). I like Ole Miss in this matchup. Who ya got?

The Sons of UCF are joined by Kenny Morales, reporter for Spectrum Sports Bay Area. Kenny provides some insight on the current state of this Bulls team, who have only 1 win on the season and fired coach Jeff Scott earlier in the year. The Knights will go as far as QB John Rhys Plumlee can take them, with his running ability specifically being a key factor for success. This is also the last scheduled matchup for the football programs, and UCF holds a 7-6 series advantage coming into this game. UCF will join the Big 12 conference in 2023, while the Bulls will remain in the re-worked AAC.

Click here to watch.

The Sons of UCF and UCFXOS collaborate to bring you a film breakdown of the UCF Knights and Navy Midshipmen football game from the 2022 season. UCF came into this game riding high off a big win the week prior, but found themselves sputtering on offense throughout the day. The Knights made a QB change after halftime, but after a quick scoring drive, the offense continued to struggle to put points on the board. In the end, Navy's ball control offense and attacking defense proved to be too much, and they defeated UCF 17-14. UCFXOS, Andy Bartsch, has over 10 years of experience coaching and breaking down film. You can find Andy on Twitter @UCFXOS

Click here to watch.

Disclaimer: Vanilla bro post

Does anyone have an idea how to score tickets to The Match with Tiger, Rory, Spieth and JT? I’ve scoured the internet and ticket sites with no luck.

Thanks!

While it will be a mostly raining week (for the next 4 days), next weekend looks beautiful!!!

Saturday: Sunny, High of 70, low of 52...temps in the lower 60s at kickoff and temps dropping a few degrees during the game.

Bonus Sunday: Mostly Sunny skies...High of 74, low of 58.

UCFXOS joined me again for another film review of the UCF/Navy game. Was it play calling or execution? Did we make any adjustments? We do our best to try to explain it all:

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They’ll be in the Big12 in 4 years max. Be ready…..






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Just a random thought about how many great things came outta Central. My wife, some of my life-long friends, a community, a hobby, memories. It was life altering. Charge on my friends!