Quick.. invest in pharmaceuticals... cuz there will be a steep rise in blood pressure now.
Woody On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 8:20 AM, JunoGator <[email protected]>wrote: > > Florida closes Pro Day, all spring practices to the public > > by *Post correspondent Greg Luca* > > > Florida football spring practices will be closed to the public and media, > the team announced Wednesday. > > Spring workouts had been open throughout Urban Meyer’s tenure, but will be > private in the Gators’ first season under new coach Will Muschamp. “With a > new coaching staff here teaching our system, we feel like minimizing our > distractions is important,” Muschamp said in a statement. “We realize that > there is high interest from the fans, and we are extremely appreciative of > the support that The Gator Nation gives us. > > “We hope they understand that this decision has been made in the interest > of helping our program be successful on Saturdays this fall by allowing our > team to learn and develop together in this type of environment. We also > respect that the media have a job to do and understand that this creates a > challenge for them, so we ask for their patience with us as we work through > our first spring practice here at Florida.” > > The Gators’ March 15 Pro Day also will be closed to the public, though > media is allowed to attend. > > “Pro Day is an extremely important day for the career hopes of these > players, and they’ve spent an enormous amount of time and energy preparing > for it,” spokesman Steve McClain said. “We feel that creating a more private > environment and minimizing potential distractions will help give them the > best chance to perform up to their potential. We also feel like it’s become > more important than ever for us to monitor who is around our team and > student-athletes, and taking this step provides us an even greater ability > to manage that.” > > Florida’s spring game is April 9 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. > > > > Closed-door policy in effect for spring practices and Pro Day > > As expected, Florida announced Wednesday that spring practices would be > closed to everyone, but, not as expected, the Gators' Pro Day (March 15) > will be closed to the public and open to the media. (Ha! Take that suckers! > I get to watch *Will Hill* run windsprints in person and you don't!) > > I'd imagine you're far more bummed about not being able to see practices, > given the massive changes in store for Florida this year and the lack of > starpower among the NFL hopefuls, but the Pro Day thing caught me off guard. > Lots of other schools keep them closed, and this is either Florida following > suit or responding to a direct request from its players. > > UF released two statements on the decisions today: > > Head coach *Will Muschamp* on spring practices: > > "With a new coaching staff here teaching our system, we feel like > minimizing our distractions is important. We realize that there is high > interest from the fans, and we are extremely appreciative of the support > that The Gator Nation gives us. We hope they understand that this decision > has been made in the interest of helping our program be successful on > Saturdays this fall by allowing our team to learn and develop together in > this type of environment. We also respect that the media have a job to do > and understand that this creates a challenge for them, so we ask for their > patience with us as we work through our first spring practice here at > Florida.” > > Spokesman *Steve McClain* on Pro Day: > > "Pro Day is an extremely important day for the career hopes of these > players, and they’ve spent an enormous amount of time and energy preparing > for it. We feel that creating a more private environment and minimizing > potential distractions will help give them the best chance to perform up to > their potential. We also feel like it’s become more important than ever for > us to monitor who is around our team and student-athletes, and taking this > step provides us an even greater ability to manage that." > > I think Muschamp's comments are pretty standard and very agreeable, and > McClain's make sense as well. The most interesting part to me is the last > sentence, which screams "WE'RE SHOOTING AGENTS ON SIGHT FROM NOW ON!" > > Not much to say about all this. Pro Day isn't a big deal since this is the > least-anticipated one in quite a while, and I'll have a lot more on spring > practice early next week, when a press conference is scheduled with Muschamp > and *Charlie Weis* in advance of the first workout on March 16. But the > red flag, at least for me and other reporters, is that this could be the > dawn of a new day as far as media access with the Gators. Weis has never > been a fan of reporters, and Muschamp came up under *Nick Saban*, who's > also closely guarded. I'll spare you the soapbox rant, but if the program > does become less accesible to reporters, it affects fans too. > > --- > > You all cool with practices and Pro Day being closed? It essentially means > no one will know anything about the formation of a new offense and defense, > but it should make life a bit easier for the players and coaches. And with > Pro Day, I promise to recount all the drama from every last epic drill. > > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
