ESPN visits Gators

ESPN's Erin Andrews will be in Gainesville Thursday to interview Tim Tebow and compile a report for the network's "Titletown USA" project. Gainesville is one of 20 finalists featured in the multimedia project. On TV, Gainesville will be the featured city during both the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. editions of SportsCenter on Monday, July 14.

MadTV star to headline Gator Growl

GAINESVILLE - Frank Caliendo, one of the nation's best impersonators, will headline this year's Gator Growl, the 84th annual event.

Billed as the "World's Largest Student Run Pep Rally,'' the event will be held Nov. 2 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, in conjunction with Homecoming.

Caliendo is best-known for his witty sketches referencing pop culture, and his realistic mimicry of a wide cast of politicians, actors, commentators and other comedians. He is most know for his John Madden and George W. Bush impersonations.

He has been a frequent guest on "Fox NFL Sunday" and "The Late Show with David Letterman" while starring on "MadTV" since 2001. This fall, Caliendo's own show will air on TBS, titled "The Frank Show."

General Admission tickets are available through Ticketmaster at (904) 353-3309 for $20 each.

GatorCountry.com makes deal with ESPN.com

GatorCountry.com will boost its content through an affiliation with ESPN.com that makes GatorCountry.com members ESPN.com insdiers. The deal, along with similar ones with Ohio State's Bucknuts.com, Oklahoma's OUInsider.com and Southern California's WeAreSC.com, will allow GatorCountry.com to incorporate ESPN.com player ratings and other analysis within their sites. Members also will receive a subscription to ESPN The Magazine .

GatorCountry.com will provide content for the Florida team pages at ESPN.com and will be able to use ESPN.com video related to the Gators. 

On second thought ...

In the words of the late Eddie Rabbitt — “But on second thought...” Here are a handful of college basketball coaches who’ve turned around in their tracks only days after joining a new team, going back to the school they’d left behind.
Earlier this spring, Creighton University (Neb.) coach Dana Altman was introduced as head coach of the University of Arkansas basketball team, but after two days, Altman returned to Creighton.
In 2006, Winthrop University’s head coach Gregg Marshall accepted the job at the College of Charleston, only to have a change of heart and return  to Winthrop (in Rock Hill, S.C.) the next day. Marshall now is head coach at Witchita State University in Kansas.
In 1993, Bobby Cremins left George Tech to coach the basketball team at South Carolina — but pulled an about-face and went back to Georgia Tech two days later. Cremins coached the Yellow Jackets for 19 seasons — winning three ACC titles — before retiring. After six years out of the game, he was hired in 2006 to coach at Charleston — a job that was open because Marshall had backed out.
That gives Charleston a connection to two of the three second-thought scenarios. Asked about Marshall’s decision to pass on the Charleston job after accepting, Cremins replied at the time, “He pulled a Bobby Cremins.”

— Compiled by Dave Scheiber, along with information from the Associated Press.

Fans greet the team

As America’s newly crowned back-to-back national championship University of Florida basketball team arrived home from its winning 84-75 triumph over Ohio State in Atlanta, the thrill - and exhaustion - of being No. 1 stretched from crowded coffee shops to campus lawns where students napped from late night celebrations.

Call it the hangover highs.

"I had a Diet Coke as soon as I woke up," groaned freshman Lauren McKinney, 18, at a campus Starbuck’s Tuesday morning. "I’m so tired. Excited, but tired."

Teaching assistant Vinodh Venkatesh, 24, dozed on a bench outside Smathers Libraries before an afternoon Spanish class. More than 80 percent of his 25 students told him they were skipping.

"I planned accordingly," he said. "My bus ride to campus was pretty interesting. People were asleep."

After the game, some over-zealous partiers threw-up in the bushes, yanked down tree branches or climbed greased light poles until police coaxed them down.

At least one student shimmied up on the roof of a sandwich shop. One teen suffered minor head injuries after he fell about 10 feet from a palm tree near the popular Swamp restaurant.

Officials extinguished nine minor street fires of old furniture and garbage. Police arrested four people for disorderly conduct, including one woman who slapped an officer.

By far the night’s worst event occurred about 2:10 a.m. when University of North Florida student Austin John Wright, a 21-year-old from Atlantic Beach, struck Gainesville veteran police Lt. Corey Dahlem, 45, who was working overtime to help control the crowd.

Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Burroughs said Wright drove more than 30 mph in his 2001 Toyota Tacoma down University, which had been blocked from traffic, where he struck Dahlem, who was thrown about 25 feet in the air.

Wright drove away, nearly striking two motorcycle officers, before he was finally stopped and arrested several blocks away.

Dahlem, a married father of two, was taken to Shands Hospital with critical internal and head injuries.

Wright, whose breath tested three times the legal alcohol limit, was booked into the Alachua County Jail where he faces four charges, including driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries.

Despite the evening accident, the team’s win reverberated throughout the day Tuesday.

Workers at Gators Plus near campus unloaded boxes all day to keep the racks filled with at least 10 different types of championship shirts.

"This is like Christmas time," said store owner Bill Olander. "It’s fantastic for business."

About 1,500 fans greeted the team at the city’s airport. Some waited in the blaring sun for about three hours, waving pom poms and copies of the Gainesville Sun’s souvenir edition, "Team Terrific."

As their plane touched down, the band started playing, three members of the Dazzlers dance team boogied.

Television cameras and photographers surrounded the team like paparazzi as they signed autographs, high-fived the fans and showed off the championship trophy. Two helicopters circled overhead.

"Dan! Dan!" yelled UF sophomore Lewis Curtwright, 20, as forward Dan Werner approached. "I love you," he said, ruffling the player’s hair. "You rock. Sign my shirt. That’s my man. Dan the man."

-- Melanie Ave, Times staff

Send your pics:

Do you have photos to share from the airport or from Gator celebrations? E-mail  your photos to submit@tampabay.com.  Please include the title in the subject  line and photo caption information and your name in the body of the message. View  photos here.
.

Joakim Noah signs a basketball for a young fan today.

Marreese Speights signs a shirt for a fan at the airport. 

Al Horford Holds the championship trophy as the team arrives at the airport.

St. Petersburg Times photos by Zach Boyden-Holmes. Click to enlarge.