2019 Gator Football Predictions

I ended last year’s prediction with the following two paragraphs. I really should have trusted my instincts about Taggert’s ability to handle the big stage!

New Noles coach, Willie Taggert, is the x-factor in this game. The FSU squad should be more talented than this current crop of Gators. The game is in the tinker box stadium. But this will be the first time Taggert has been in a true big time rivalry game as the head coach. Gator fans need to hope that he blows it big time if they want to pay back their Nole friends for the last few years of crow. The Gators will need help to win this one and I don’t think they get enough.

So there you have it. My thoughts on how the season will unfold for Gator football. 8-3 and a quality bowl will be a major improvement for Gator Nation. For that matter, any bowl would be an improvement over the dumpster fire that was the 2017 season. It’s an often-used cliché in sports, but I think the 2019 season for the Gators is the one that will determine if Mullen has the Gators back in the national contention spotlight. Gator fans should just enjoy any success we have this year and if you get mad or frustrated, just pull up the films for the 2017 games. That should help you remember to stay positive as we wait for a new system to be fully in place for 2019!

I’m not sure how I miscalculated the total games but if you give me one of those wins I predicted and the regular season would have been just right at 9-3 instead of 8-3. Good thing I wasn’t a math major! A huge bowl win over Michigan has the Gator faithful thinking very positive thoughts about the coming season. Although some I have talked with are more cautious than one might expect.

So let’s see if we can get close again this year! The kickoff game against Miami is scary for me. I would think Dan would give this game the focus it deserves, and the Gators come out prepared and hungry. But you never know how some of the new guys are going to react when the lights come on and the game means something. And this game is full of meaning. Miami has become like the other teams in the state of Florida that the Gators play for recent Gator fans. Old-timers know that’s not the case and still consider The U a rival that must be beaten in everything. Although I’m far from convinced it will be easy, I’ll take the Gators to escape and get on the Turnpike North with a win!

Two weeks later, the Gators host Tennessee in the swamp for a …. Oh wait, it’s Tennessee-Martin. This one should be a easy win for the Gators and a chance for a lot of new players to get their first taste of big time football in front a real crowd. Look for Franks to put up some huge numbers in this game early before giving way to the backup!

The loss to Kentucky at home last year still stings. The streak ended. Franks and the offense was offensive in the bad way. I would expect this game to be circled on their calendars and highlighted in the weight room all off-season. Kentucky lost some key players, but Stoops has done a good job of making the Cats more than just a hoops haven. Still, I think the Gators win this one in a back and forth affair.

The fighting dreamsicles come to town for the annual biggest game in September in the SEC East match up. The Gators will have to work hard not to have a let down game after two quality opponents in the first three weeks. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a need for a fourth quarter comeback for the Gators to win this one. Nah, I just can’t pick the Vols to be that good until they show it on the field. Gator’s run smokey out of the swamp on a hot, sticky, Saturday afternoon like usual!

The paycheck game that has been held in November has been moved up to the end of September. This year Towson comes to town. It’s another chance for the eventual red-shirts to get some playing time in the second half. The Gators take care of business and end the month at 5-0 and probably in the top ten if not the top five!

The turning of the calendar brings a chill to the air in most parts of the country, but October in Gainesville can still be hot. The heat definitely rises for the team during the month of October. These four weeks will define the season for the Gators and likely decide whether they are a true national contender again. It starts with a visit from the team from the plains that has many aliases. The Tigers or War Eagles or Plainsmen, whichever you prefer, arrive in town for the first time in almost a decade. This one could go either way depending on the QB play. Whichever signal callers has the better day will lead his team in victory off the field. As a former Auburn fan growing up in Alabama, oh I’m just kidding, I will want the Gators to win and I think they will.

The Gators finally hit the road again on the visit to LSU and Death Valley West. I don’t think the SEC will do the Gators a favor and schedule a 3:30 game, so it’s going to be tough to beat them at night in their place.  I don’t think the young Gators will have enough moxie to handle the crowd and the hype in the Red Stick. The Gators must fly home with their first loss at the hands of the Bayou Bengals.

With a short turn around time and another tough road game, the Gators travel to SC and face the fighting Chickens. This game will be a test of the true nature of Mullen’s ability to motivate the team. They won’t be good enough to be looking ahead to Georgia and be able to stroll into the chicken coop and leave with a basket of eggs. They must be focused, or they’ll leave Columbia with enough egg on their faces to make a humble pie omelet. I’ll always choose Mullen over Muschump, so I think the Gator’s get it done and have fried chicken on the plane home!

At 7-1 the Gators and the Dogs meet again in Jacksonville. I think all the talk about moving the game from the Georgia coaches plays right into the mystic that helps Florida teams with less talent win often in the last 30 years. And I think it happens again this year. Cue the Kirby post-game presser about how it’s unfair to play the game in Florida every year. Georgia didn’t seem to mind coming into the Gators backyard before the Old Ball Coach showed up! The Gators leave with a chance to win the East right in front of them.

Vandy will come to town and put up a good fight, but the run at Vandy is beginning to wane. Look for them to regress as a program and for their coach to move on sooner than later. The Gators will win a tough game because it’s hard to be on the emotional high for 5 games in a row!

Can Missouri find a replacement at QB? Just like the Gators last year, that’s the question that will determine the outcome of this game. This has been the slot for the paycheck game and let’s hope the Gators don’t treat this one the same way. I think with the Eastern Conference title on the line, there will be plenty to motivate the team as they travel as far as they go during the regular season from home.

The Gators end the regular season with the annual game against the team from out west. I think the upperclassmen will remember their previous times of hosting the clowns in the swamp. Those didn’t go so well! I would expect the Gators to put up an excellent ending to a stellar season with a thorough demolishing of the Noles. If that happens, please don’t leave Gator fans! Stay to the end and celebrate the end of one of the best seasons in Gator football in the last decade!

So there you go, 11-1 or maybe 10-2 and the return of the Gators to Atlanta for the SEC championship game. I don’t think we can beat Alabama, but only one team is going to have a chance to do that in the SEC title game, so it might as well be us, right? If you get there, you never know how the ball might bounce on a given night!

Another quality bowl looks to be on the horizon and 2020 looks to be the year for Mullen to really lead the Gators in the quest for our next National Championship! Maybe it will come a year earlier! I know I wouldn’t complain, would you?

What can you gain from reading Tim Tebow's new release, This is the Day?

This is the Day by Tim Tebow

This new book from Tim Tebow will draw mixed reviews from many. Those who love Tim will love the book. Those who don’t like Timmy will hate the book. I have personally been around Tim during his time in Gainesville and I still don’t know exactly why he is such a polarizing figure. Maybe it’s because he really is the same guy no matter where you see him. His faith is the central part of who he is and that makes many people uncomfortable.

The new book contains some of his thoughts on his journey to try to play professional baseball, but it’s not a baseball book. It reads more like a friend giving advice to those who have asked for what makes Tim willing to take such risks. It contains the underpinnings for his life and the reasons why he does what he does daily.

I fear that some will read the book and find it a little too focused on Tim. There are some of the chapters that contain things that make it appear a bit self-promoting. Those who want to take shots at Tim will find some things that appear to be too good to be true in the pages of this book. Those who love him will just see them as the way life is for Tim Tebow.

I think the challenge that Tim presents is solid. His advice on how to implement that challenge will inspire many to take on a new adventure. His grounding in Biblical truth is steadfast and accurate. I believe everyone can find something of value in the pages of This is the Day. Therefore I can highly recommend you taking the time to read this newest release from Tim Tebow.

Review of Davis Bunn's new novel, Moondust Lake

Davis Bunn’s third installment in the Miramar Bay novels is a story of family struggle, redemption, and tragic consequences. It has all the marks of a great romantic novel woven in the setting of family secrets, business intrigue, and the struggle of small-town politics. In typical Bunn fashion, the characters are richly developed. The settings impeccably detailed in word pictures. There are enough twists to keep the plot interesting without leaving the reader in the dark as to what just happened.

If you grew up in a small town you will immediately identify with the characters of the Helms family. What they do for a living might be different, but you’ll recognize the power of small-town life at play. The problems that plague the family are familiar to most families. How can you develop your own life apart from the power family leader? What happens when you dare challenge that person’s authority? Can the family peacemaker keep them all together?

The issue of the place of mental health counseling in the life of people of faith is also a central theme in the book. What would happen if a church devoted some of their resources to providing quality counseling to the members of their congregation and community. Would the secrets be set free on the town or would the people be set free from the secrets that have kept them bound up? Bunn does a great job of weaving the two in a very believable situation.

Fans of Davis Bunn will not be disappointed in the latest edition of the Miramar Bay novels. If you haven’t read his works yet, I would highly recommend this book. You don’t need to have read the previous two works Miramar Bay or Firefly Cove to enjoy Moondust Lake. The stories are set in the same general area but the characters and the stories are distinct. All of them highlight the urban legend stated in the book that Miramar Bay is a town of second chances. If you believe that everyone deserves a second chance you will really enjoy the series.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys good fiction. I don’t think you will be disappointed in this relaxing read.

I was provided a free copy of this book for review by the publisher.

Review of Heart of A Champion by Steve Riach

Review of Heart of A Champion by Steve Riach

Heart of A Champion is a collection of stories about athletes from various sports. Each one is a hero in his or her sport. They are men and women who have achieved incredible success at the highest levels of their professions. They are names you will recognize even if you are not a sports junkie. You see them on your TV and their stats are splashed all over the internet for those who are fantasy sports participants.

The book would be worth reading if all it contained were their professional stories. How they got to the professional leagues or attained Olympic gold medals. It provides a glimpse into the back stories of their lives. Where they came from, who were their influences growing up, and how they got involved in the sport that has made them famous. Riach does a great job of providing the details about why we should hold these people up as successes in their sports through stats, histories, and quotes from teammates and coaches.

But that is not where the stories end. These men and women are not just champions on the fields, courts, and stadiums. There is something deeper that drives them to be the type of athlete that uses their platform to achieve a greater purpose. The author allows the reader to get to know the other side of these famous stars. The side often unseen by the average fan. Many of them are great givers to causes that have deep personal connections to their past. My guess is that everyone who reads this book will find something about someone in the book they didn’t know before they started reading. When there are so many sordid stories about entitled athletes, this book is a fresh breeze of hope for the redemption of professional sports.

In addition to supporting good causes, these athletes share a common faith in Jesus Christ. Their faith stories are interwoven in a way that makes the reader see them as real people with real faith and real struggles. After you have read each short story, you feel like you have just sat down and had coffee or tea with each athlete and they had a chance to tell you who they really are off the field or court. It’s done in such a way that it isn’t pushy or hokey. So this would be a great gift to give to any sports fan, regardless of their religious beliefs.

If you are a sports fan, you’ll love reading this book. If you are a pessimistic sports fan, you’ll be encouraged by reading this book. If you are a Christian sports fan, you’ll find your faith strengthened by reading this book. I really believe you will find value in the pages and the format allows you to skip around and read at your own pace. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I was provided a free copy of this book by the publisher for my honest review.

A Review of Unfriended by Joe Battaglia

I can’t imagine anyone under the age of 70 that isn’t aware of the changes brought about by social media and its meteoric rise within our culture. My apologies to anyone over 70 and I know there are many who are tech savvy. The society in which we live and move and have our being has changed since the advent of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even going all the way back to MySpace!

Joe Battaglia addresses the negative influences of social media over use in his new release, Unfriended. The book is set to be released next week. I would highly recommend anyone working with a segment of the population under 40 years of age get a copy. In the book he addresses many ways that the promised community online fails to live up the real version of community that helps create a functioning society.

He does this by pointing to the promises of the online version and pointing out the flaws of the delivery system associated with virtual community. Battaglia presents the longings of humanity that are common to all that people hope will be met via the online community via the various social media sites. It’s not a bashing of the either. It is simply an honest examination to see if they are holding up under the promised outcomes.

Each chapter is short enough to really hold your attention. Even for those of us conditioned by our media choices to move quickly from one blurb to the next. The readers will find ourselves at some point among those searching for community in our online avatars and will no doubt see our own desires pointed out in more than one of the chapters in the book.

The book seems to mirror something happening in real life in many places. Scholars and regular joes and janes are discovering that the benefits of being connected virtually all across the world are having some unintended consequences in real life. As Sherry Turkle’s book title points out, we are indeed finding ourselves increasing Alone Together.

I wish that Battaglia had included the positive contributions made from the rise of social media in a little more detail. But that wasn’t the nature of the work, so I understand why it wasn’t included. Even with that being said, I think the work is a need-to-read book for anyone who wants to understand the culture today. I highly recommend Unfriended.

I received a free copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review of the work.

2018 Gator Football Predictions

So an 11-1 season is not out of the realm of possibility here. But I can also see a scenario from a couple of key injuries to Callaway not being able to stay out of trouble off the field where the tide could turn and the Gators finish 7-4. Let’s stick with the positive side and hope for a great year to be a fan of Florida Football.

Thus concluded last year’s predictions about Gator football. Perhaps I was a bit dyslexic and meant to say 4-7! At least I did get the part right about injuries and Callaway! I just never thought it would come crashing down the way it did. But it’s a new day, a new coach, a new uniform combo, etc.

The new look Gators will open the season on Sept. 1 with Charleston Southern coming to the swamp. If Mullen loses this game, he’ll be on the hottest seat imaginable, but his derriere will be just as cool as the other side of the pillow after this game. Look for a strong offensive showing against an overmatched paycheck team from the Gators. Just don’t get too excited about the smoke and mirrors!

Week two and a visit from Kentucky will present a real challenge for these new baby Gators. This could be the year that the Cats end the streak. Not so fast my friends, the energy from the swamp crowd will be enough to help the Gators rally and close out the fourth quarter in the heat and humidity to extend the streak one more year!

The ghost of McElwain remains in a week three matchup against Colorado State. A four pm kick means it will either be hot or rainy or both! None of which is helpful for the Rams. I would be surprised if the Gators are not able to handle the Rams, but it will be one of those closer games than people expect.

The Vols have as many question marks as the Gators under a new coach. Playing on Rocky Top is never easy, and a new coach will be amped to get the first win over the Gators and lead the band after the game and yada, yada, yada. But it is still the Vols, so until they beat the Gators consistently, the curse of the Head Ball coach continues, and the Gators come home 4-0 and the faithful are delighted with Dan!

The trip to Starkvegas is never an easy one. It’s hard to get there from anywhere and the Gators have notoriously played poorly among the cowbells. Perhaps that is one reason the former AD lured the former Coach away knowing this date was on the schedule. Mullen’s previous players will be doing their best to remind the coach why he should have stayed. If Dan can find the right QB for the Gators in the fall, they have a chance to leave there 5-0. I’d say that’s a toss up and so is the outcome of this game. I can see the Dogs winning a close battle in the Mullen bowl.

Last year the LSU game was the hinging point and it will be again this year. If the Gators do lose in Starkvegas, this game becomes a must win to have a chance in the East. The Gators let one get away last year against the Bengals and the task isn’t any easier this year. Playing at home should give the Gators a chance and the energy of the coaching staff gets them through this game with a win and probably a top 15 ranking.

The Gators never play well at Vandy. But they more often than not find a way to win in Nashville. If the Gators still have the same starter at QB from week 1, they win this game. If the Gators had this schedule next year, they’d be in the top ten and undefeated, but with so many unknowns in year one it’s frightening to be that optimistic!

That sets up a potential top 10 matchup between two unbeatens or once beaten teams in the annual cocktail party in Jacksonville. It’s already picked as the 3:30 CBS featured game for obvious reasons. It’s always a high priority game. Last year, the Gators were embarrassed by a really good Georgia team. This year’s Dogs are equally as good. However, I don’t think the effort was there last year from the Gators and that won’t be a problem this year with Mullen at the helm. At this point, it’s just hard to pick the Gators over the Dogs but it will be a close game down the stretch. And a turnover at the right moment could mean the Gators sneak across the river with a win. Just don’t count on it!

A loss in Jax makes homecoming bittersweet. More than likely a trip to Atlanta will be off the table, so you have to wonder about the mental toughness of the team. Missouri is a good team , but they shouldn’t be able to come into the Swamp and win. I think Mullen will use last year’s thumping by the Tigers as motivation and the Gators will get a win for Homecoming.

Mullen beats Muschamp every day! Even if South Carolina wins the game, that last sentence would still be true in my mind. I think the Gators take care of the chickens and Gator fans start to regain some of that swagger that has been diminished by the lean offensive years of the past two regimes. And the Gators can’t lose on my birthday!

They get their annual get healthy but play a competitive game opponent in Idaho. I don’t think they will underestimate them, but this team isn’t good enough to do so and win. I would be surprised if Coach Mullen doesn’t have the team ready to play. They win this one going away in the fourth quarter and close out the home section of the season with a 9-2 record heading up to the annual game in Tally.

New Noles coach, Willie Taggert, is the x-factor in this game. The FSU squad should be more talented than this current crop of Gators. The game is in the tinker box stadium. But this will be the first time Taggert has been in a true big time rivalry game as the head coach. Gator fans need to hope that he blows it big time if they want to pay back their Nole friends for the last few years of crow. The Gators will need help to win this one and I don’t think they get enough.

So there you have it. My thoughts on how the season will unfold for Gator football. 8-3 and a quality bowl will be a major improvement for Gator Nation. For that matter, any bowl would be an improvement over the dumpster fire that was the 2017 season. It’s an often-used cliché in sports, but I think the 2019 season for the Gators is the one that will determine if Mullen has the Gators back in the national contention spotlight. Gator fans should just enjoy any success we have this year and if you get mad or frustrated, just pull up the films for the 2017 games. That should help you remember to stay positive as we wait for a new system to be fully in place for 2019!

Review of Thomas Locke's Renegades

Sean and Dillion are back! In the second installment in what I hope will be an on-going series, Thomas Locke weaves together multiple story lines and introduces us to new worlds and new characters in his thrilling new work.

The action is fast paced. The only problem you face when reading this book is how can you stop and wait until the next day to continue reading. Locke’s description of new worlds and new technology is amazing. You can see what a fictional world looks like after reading this novel. As one of the characters  in the book says about another gift, the ability to create images with words is a gift that cannot be taught and can only be honed. He has honed his gift well.

The story will draw you in. If you like to try to guess the outcome, good luck. The author manages again to point the story in one direction and then suddenly shift the flow to an unseen conclusion. The characters that we met in the first Recruits Novel appear in the second but mostly through only the memories and musing of the Twins. This one is about refining the skills that make the twins unique. That uniqueness is what is called for in the current crisis facing our reluctant heroes.

I may be stretching it here, but I can see a possible connection at some point in the future between this series and the Legends of the Realm Series. Those who are familiar with both may or may not agree with me. If true it would be a stroke of genius for Locke to tie them all together with the Fault Lines series in a way that would connect the ancient past, the present or near future, and the distant future. I’ll just leave that with the fans to mull over for a while!

I enjoyed the story immensely. I believe if you are a fan of good fiction you will as well. Now I can’t wait until the next installment in this compelling series!

I received a promotional copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.