Alligator Army Notebook: March 19th

- Today's the last chance to join the Alligator Army Tournament Pick'em. To win the lovely Gators beach towel, go here to join the group; the group ID is 38472 and the password is army.

- I really hope you had a chance to see Gator Baseball's 6-1 victory Tuesday night against Florida State. Not only did they limit the Noles to only one run, FSU left the bases loaded three times in the game. It wasn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but the Gators pitchers Manned Up and got outs when necessary. Stephen Locke pitched 5.1 innings, allowing only four hits. Kyle Mullaney, who was terrible as a starter a few weeks ago, earned the save with 1.1 IP and no hits. The only thing UF should be concerned with is the six walks allowed. But when you limit FSU to seven hits and their 3-4-5 hitters go 2-12 with one RBI, walks don't matter as much. A very strong performance by a staff that needed to prove they can compete with the elite.

- Very rarely did a Florida batter have a poor trip to the plate. UF's 11 hits were helped by four walks and a parade of Noles pitchers who kept the ball up. Avery Barnes was the leading hitter, going 3-4 with a walk, RBI, and run scored. But UF also scored by taking the extra base and on fielder's choice plays. They need to keep doing that because they are not a power team. However, that aggressiveness led to two stupid pick-offs. (Clemente Figueroa was even caught off third on the shortstop cutoff play. I haven't seen that happen since the 1997 Northside Major Yankees did it against the Cubs.)

- If you're a regular reader, you may notice that there should be a basketball preview here. But since Billy D says they are not worthy of the practice complex, the team doesn't get a preview for tonight's game against San Diego State. If they win, I'll reconsider. Besides, there is something pretty significant happening today besides basketball...

- AWWWWWWWWW YEAHHHHHHHHHHH! Spring Football! Mmmmmmmm, you smell that right? No, that's Jacques Rickerson getting burned. The other smell. Yup, that's Tim Tebow comin' at cha. I've heard from some people that Tebow has spent his off-season workouts working with UF Physical Plant and knocking down walls. Not interior walls. Exterior walls. The AAFL may even harness the power of Tim Tebow, sell it to South Florida to avoid another blackout, and use those funds to restore the league. Tebow, reportedly, is very excited. If you go to practice, no cameras. The UAA is worried about cameras and everyone else is worried about Emmanuel Moody. Good to know.

Here's Moody playing against Arizona in 2006. If he doesn't do this for UF, Meyer should try to trade him back to USC for one of their other five-star backs and a Song Girl to be named later.