Florida Gators Beat Miami Hurricanes

Florida Gators (no. 5) men's basketball continued their win streak last night against the Miami Hurricanes 77-67. The Gators extended their win streak giving them a record of 11-0, their greatest start in school history. With a win over Florida A&M on December 30th, Florida will own the claim to best bball team in the state having beat Florida State, Miami, Jacksonville, and Central Florida.

Joakim Noah led the way last night for the Gators with 18 points and 8 rebounds. The Gators now have 5 players avergaing double digits in scoring. That is an unreal stat, especially for the Gators, who in rfecent years have been plagued with hot dogs and me first type players. This is a team that distributes the ball and makes few mistakes.

The Gators did struggle to shoot the ball last night. They came into the game with the NCAA's best game shooting percentage at 54.5% from the field, but shot only 36.8% on the night. Not too bad for a team that shoots a lot of 3-pointers.

It's an exciting time to be a Florida Gator fan. Usually the only thing we have to cheer about this time of yera is football recruiting, which by the way is doing very well this year. Florida should have the number 1 recruiting class in the country. Anyways, this year we have an undefeated basketball team to cheer on. I can't imagine how loud the Rodwy Reptiles are going to be once SEC play starts. This could be a special season for the Gators. I won't get my hopes up too high yet, I mean we have been ranked number 1 a few times in recent years only to see us drop like a rock.

Congrats to the Gators. Next up is Florida A&M on December 30th at 1:00 PM.

Meet Jimmy Smith

Jimmy Smith #82 is a Pro Bowl WR for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jimmy Smith is perhaps the most under rated receiver in recent years and possibly of all time. You can argue that he is one of the most consistent WR to ever play in the NFL. I'm talking eight 1,000 yard seasons (9 after 100 more yards this season), averaging 7 tds a season, and 80 receptions. Jimmy Smith has been the heart and soul of the Jacksonville Jaguars for the last decade. He remains the only player left from the inaugural season.

This past week against the 49ers, Jimmy Smith caught his 853 reception of his career, moving him to 7th all time. 7th!! That's behind guys like Rice, Brown, Carter, Harrison, Reed, and Monk. Why is it Jimmy Smith gets no love? No one ever mentions his name when they are talking about the top WR in the game. Is it because Jimmy plays for a small market? Is it because he doesn't have flashy touchdown dances? Jimmy Smith is the face of the Jaguars franchise. He always has been and will be for a few more years.

Did you know if you google "Jimmy Smith" an old jazz musician is the first 5 hits that show up. You have to scroll down to find our Jimmy Smith. Wow!

When the Jaguars retire their first jersey in franchise history, it won't be number 8, 71, or 28. It will be #82. Everyone in Jacksonville knows #82. It's a shame if you mention #82 outside of Jacksonville, no one will know who it is.

Jimmy Smith started his career in Dallas. He played 7 games for the Cowboys, probably getting on the field only once. He played for the Cowboys during their Superbowl runs and earned himself 2 rings by sitting on the bench. Jimmy was cut just in time for the Jaguars to pick him up as a number 3 or 4 WR during their expansion year. Jimmy showed flashes of greatness in his first few years as a Jaguar, and finally earned the full-time WR1 spot in 1997. Jimmy was a key to the Jaguars early success and playoff runs. We called him Lightning as he flashed by corners burning them for 60+ yard td catches in 5 straight seasons. Jimmy Smith was one of the most prolific WRs of the late 90s earning several Pro Bowl selections.

Jimmy Smith's popularity seemed to dwindle along with the Jaguars during their salary cap hell. The loss of Keenan McCardell resulted in teams focusing on shutting down Smith. He faced double teams every game, yet still managed to catch 80+ balls and 1000+ yards.

Jimmy Smith has never really been injured as a Jaguar. He's missed a game here or there over his 14 year career, but has never missed significant time. In 2003, Jimmy suffered a set back in his career. Smith had a problem, he was addicted to cocaine. The fans in Jacksonville did not boo him, we did not cast him aside and call him names. We stood by him. We watched him grow and rid himself of his habit. Jimmy was suspended for the first 4 games. The 5th game he came back caught 8 balls and put up 130+ yards. Jimmy is clean now. His problems are behind him. He never left the hearts of Jaguar fans. Everyone wore their #82 jerseys that day.

With the recent drafting of WRs in the first round of the 2004 and 2005 NFL Draft, it seems as if the Jaguars are getting ready to replace Smith. But is he ready to go? I want Jimmy to retire a Jaguar. I don't want to see Del Rio cut a man who is about to put up another 70+ catch 1,000 yard season. If you thought fans didn't want to let go of Brunell, wait till talks of Jimmy being cut/retiring come up. We love Smith and respect everything he has done. Jimmy has never made a fuss about anything. He never complains (except the pass interference calls that seem to happen everytime he misses a catch). He goes out there and does his job. He's respectful to fans and media. He is still Lightning. He is still the face of our franchise.

Pro Bowl selections are being announced today. Will Jimmy be on the list? Not likely. No one outside of Jacksonville voted for him. Jimmy Smith is just an average Fantasy WR to most NFL fans. Smith makes the WR position look so easy. CBs still have nightmares about him. He deserves to be recognized. He deserves the standing ovation he gets every week, not only from Jaguars fans, but he deserves it from all NFL fans. He deserves to have his jersey retired. And most of all, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Meet Jimmy Smith, #82, Jacksonville Jaguars.
7th All Time Leading Receiver
2 Time Superbowl Champion
5 Time Pro Bowler
176 Games, 853 receptions, 12170 yards, 67 touchdowns.

Week 17 Houston vs San Francisco

Should both the Houston Texans and the San Francisco 49ers lose this weekend, we will have two 2-13 teams heading into week 17 battling each other for the NFL's worst record and number 1 draft spot. With Reggie Bush being the likely number 1 pick in the draft, who do you think will land him? Should either the 49ers or Texans lose this week 17 matchup on purpose to land the number 1 pick? Who needs Bush more, the Texans or the 49ers?

My bet is the 49ers will tank this game. They spent their last number 1 pick on QB Alex Smith and will not be able to waste such a top pick on a defensive player. Unless the 49ers are sold on Frank Gore (which I know they can't be), they need to lose this game and get the number 1 pick. The 49ers need a play maker like Bush more than the Texans, who already have a nice backfield with Dominack Davis.

Should the Texans lose this game and end up with the number 1 pick, what will they do? Do they draft Bush and part ways with Davis in the future? Do they draft a quarterback and cut Carr? Carr has hardly been productive in his 4-5 years in Houston. But is it his fault? The Texans have had the worst offensive line you can imagine. Carr might not be the problem. If the Texans do end up with the number 1 pick they might trade down to a team in need of a running back, someone like the Jets, Packers, or 49ers. By trading down they might be able to grab a quarterback like Linehart or Croyle or whoever they want.

There's no doubt the 49ers need this loss more. The quesiton is, do they have the balls to throw the game? Will the coach try to lose? Will he call bad plays and run the wrong schemes? Surely you can't tell your players to not play hard. They are professionals for a reason and should want to win. The 49ers need to think about their future. They've got the QB, they've got a decent 1WR in Lloyd, now they need to grab that playmaking running back. Look for Bush to stay in California and join the 49ers this April.

Rockets Win Late vs. Lakers

The Rockets have started the season off with one of the NBA's worst records. However, the have won 7 of their last 9 games including a last second victory of the L.A. Lakers last night. About the last second victory last night, McGrady said "I knew it was in my hands, All I had in my mind was to attack the basket. For us to come out and get this win is really big." He was right about one thing, this win is really big.

The Rockets are in dead last in the Southwest Division, even trailing the displaced Hornets. They are 8.5 games behind the Spurs, which is a deficit they will likely never make up. Their goal now should be to win enough games to put them in the number 8 seed in the playoffs. If the Rockets can stay healthy, they can make it. There is still a lot of basketball to be played, and the Rockets are only about 3 games behind the number 8 seed Lakers.

Houston's poor performance at the start of the season is due to their struggles with injuries. Most of their problems coming from the week or two span when Tracy McGrady was hurt. Yao Ming missed his 3rd game of his career last night with a sore toe. And they say Yao isn't tough! Maybe if his toe wasn't the size of my whole foot, he could have played. Regardless of Yao's status, they proved they can win without him. Mutombo might not be the best replacement for Yao, but he comes out with fire and defense. He energizes the team and the crowd.

Tracy McGrady is the Rockets leading scorer with a 24.7 ppg average. That's a number that should rise as the season progresses. McGrady also leads the team in minutes per game, assists per game, and steals per game. It's no secret that the Rockets are contenders with him in the lineup. With everyone healthy the Rockets can make a push for the playoffs. The season is still young and they have something this year they didn't last year, and that's a healthy Juwon Howard.