Hello to all, and a great big thank you to all Outsports members who sent emails to me expressing your support during my recent hospital stay. I am back home now, and though not at 100%, I am doing alot better. A very special thank you to the Outsports readers who contacted my Mom for my address, and sent balloons and flowers to my room. It is continally amazing to me how great a group of friends like y'all can be. I have submitted the first in a series of 7 articles to Jim & Cyd for posting on this years football predictions. This article will cover the Non-BCS Conferences (all 5 of them), and then I will follow weekly with a major preview of each BCS Conference, and will finish the series off with My Top 25 Picks, My Pre-Season All-American Team, and finally, my Top Heisman Candidates. Hope y'all enjoy, and dont be shy about emailing me your opinions on the aricles, as I am sure I will not be able to make all of you happy with my predictions!!! Talk to all soon!!!

Exfballplayer (David)
wink :cool:

Welcome home David!

I'm looking forward to your columns. You take it easy, because in just a few weeks, I know you'll be too worked up to relax.

Jim

David:

Glad to know you are better and out of the hospital. Thanks for sharing this good personal news and I hope you continue to improve.

BTW, I see in your profile that you don't list Mike Alstott or Brian Urlacher among your favorite athletes, which disappoints me. I adore both of these players.

Nevertheless, stay out of the hospital!

Michael

[ July 22, 2003, 08:53 AM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]

Mike:

Buddy I totally love Mike Alstot and Brian Urlacher, I just ran out of room on the profile!!! LOL Besides, Brian Urlacher is my husband, he just doesn't know it yet!!!

LOL

Exfballplayer (David)

Great to have you back, David! Your name came up at the DC Happy Hour - we were all wondering where you were and were hoping that you were OK.

gj

Great news to hear that you are back at home David!....I hope at least a few of the male nurses at the hospital were cute wink -- not that we want you to go back as a patient again anytime soon, of course.

Look forward to reading more of your college football columns in the upcoming days and weeks (opening day is only 39 days away -- yeah!)....just be sure to be kind to the Gamecocks in your pre-season prognostications -- after the beating that your Hogs have given to Lou Holtz' boys since he arrived in Columbia, I think this is the year that the 'Cocks finally enact some revenge (like perhaps Nov. 8th in Fayetteville).

As GatorJamie mentioned, your name was brought up by several Outsporters at the recent DC event and it's terrific to hear that you are on the road to recovery -- and just in time for the college gridiron season to begin.

[ July 22, 2003, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: gamecock ]

David:

glad to have you back in the fold...and just in time for football season.

You know, when you Mom was posting for you (which i think is sensational), I couldn't help but think, "I hope she hasn't looked at the pictures on his home page" LOL..

Great to have you back.

[ July 23, 2003, 07:41 AM: Message edited by: Aubie in Bham ]

Hey guys:

Thank you again to all of you for continually thinking of me. Believe me, it does a lot of good to receive such a mental lift as that. This period of illness has re-taught me something I learned when playing college ball, 50 - 70% of the battle is mental, and y'all get a huge "assist" in that category. And for all of you who are asking: no, just about all my nurses were women!!! That sucked!!! (well, not in the way I wanted) LOL

The first in the series of articles is now posted, so go hit the College Football section on the homepage and you can check out the first in a series of 7 articles on College Football Preview. I am sure some of you will not agree with me, but hey, I love a healthy debate!!!

Talk to you soon!!!

Exfballplayer (David)

P.S. No, Mom has NOT seen the photos on my yahoo website. LOL She doesn't know about my yahoo email address!!! LOL Mom's are sometimes better off not knowing everything!!!

wink :cool:

Which is fine, as long as she doesn't click on the link to your website! wink eek!

Whatever. As long as WE can still click on that link...

If that's what you're into... wink

David, ready for Oct. 18?

YES, YES, YES!!!! That's exactly what some of us are into!

Jim

Gator Jamie:

If you make the trip to Fayetteville to watch the game, I must warn you that Razorback fans will not be hospitable that weekend. Some are already billing it the biggest game of the season, but then again, they are saying the same thing about Texas. Personally, I think the Auburn game will be the biggest of the year, cause I am already predicting the winner of that game to win the SEC west. (A little SEC preview there) LOL Anyways, Arkansas fans are still in a very ugly mood a decade later after the last time the Gators came to town. If you dont remember that game, it was Danny Wuerrfel's senior year, and we SUCKED that year. The game was pretty much over by halftime, and Arkansas put it its' second and third stringers, figuring that Florida would do the same. NOT Good ole Spurrier (I hate him) kept Wuerffel and the starting Wide Receivers in the game, and ran the score up so that they won by 50 + points. They had to escort Spurrier off the field with 20 State Troopers around him, the Razorback faithful was so pissed. Well, they have NOT forgotten, so it could turn out to be a VERY physical game. I am so glad that Spurrier is gone from Florida, but for this one game, I wish he was back down there so that we could kick his butt. Beating Ron Zook is not as appealing, as I really like Coach Zook. So, all I can say is bring it on Gators, and we will see what happens. I do expect CBS to pick this game up as the Game of the Week, but I could be wrong.

ROCK ON SEC!!!!!

Exfballplayer (David)

P.S. For those of you who feel that the ACC can now rival the SEC as the Football Conference of the South, I say this -- DREAM ON!!!!! LOL

wink :cool:

That should cause some comments to come back!!! LOL

David,

Well let the games begin! It's too bad that the Hawgs still have their knickers in a knot over Spurrier, but if it adds to the DramaThatIsCollegeFootball, it will make for good copy.

But as far as "running up the score" allegations, I don't buy it in this instance. First, Spur-Dog had no axe to grind against Arkansas, at least not in the way he did against Ga or f$u (and I was present at the 1982 UF-uga fiasco when Dooley ran up the score 44-0 without even a whisper of criticism).

Second, The Head Ball Coach had a legitimate Heisman candidate that year that he needed to showcase. Keeping Wuerffel in that game -- and others -- and letting him strut his stuff paid off. Remember also that UF is not one of those schools that pushes the Flavor of the Year every year for the Heisman.

Third -- and please don't take this the wrong way -- it's admirable that Arkansas pulled their A-team when it appeared that the cause was lost. But Spurrier (or any other coach that wants to keep a UF job) could not do that. In addition to his competitive nature, there was the infamous "Choke at Doak" in 1994 (? I musta blocked the date) when UF got up 31-0 on the semi's in the fourth quarter in Tellahussy, then pulled back, only to see said semi's roar back to a 31-31 tie. To this day, the Gators will never pull back, and real Gator fans will never leave a game early.

32 more days!

GatorJamie