I think we get a high early ranking based on expectations but a lot about how we perform will be about how quickly we can get "connected" on defense. Just look at the last few minutes of the Houston game to see how well connected we were on D. Incredible.
I expect us to have an adjustment period. Heck, we even had moments of struggle against inferior teams early this past season, even though we were winning. And we had to adjust again once we hit SEC play.
This is where we will separate the sheep from the goats next year, whether fans, pundits, experts or whatever. We have learned to have more trust in Kevin O'Sullivan's season-long approach to his team, with the goal to be a unit that is playing its best with the most effective combination of individuals, at the most important time of the season. Last year, we saw a basketball unit that was built to be at its best, not only at the end of the year, but even at the end of each game. Many of our games were microcosmic examples of the right guys/right time approach that demands discipline, vision, analytics and patience. I believe Coach Golden and his staff are likewise taking a long view of the season, and not pursuing things that make others "happy" short of the long term goals. They are building, game-by-game, towards a superbly functioning UNIT when the post-season arrives. IMHAWIO
Seems like something a US Army Ranger would understand better than most anyone. (Younger brother went to Ranger school twice. His son will be going in another year.)
the intact front court should put us in the Top 5. I'd rather they disrespect us and put us in the 8-10 rage.
Learned at great expense! LOL! Going to Ranger School twice? Yikes. Repeating one phase was bad enough, in my case...Winter/Mountains/No bueno. Injury or dropped and came back to finish the job? DM me the details if you wish when his son goes. I always write letters to people I know going thru that place. They mattered...hearing your name at Mail Call...it meant you were a human being in someone's eyes, if not the Ranger Instructors!
A preseason #1 ranking puts a bullseye squarely on our backs. Anything lower gives us more incentive to go B2B. The Gator Boys Stay Hot!
A good friend of mine that died a few years ago graduated West Point and then went to Ranger school. Told me crazy stories like night jumping into wooded areas in the Alps. He fenced on the West Point fencing team and we were both training partners and occasionally adversaries on the piste. He taught me a lot about fencing foil. More than my coach ever did. My coach was world class in saber and very good in epee. Foil fencing is a different game all together. Much more second intention.
I'm friends with a great WP fencer...who was a poor kid from a rough neighborhood in Philly and used fencing to stay off the streets; saw an exhibition match vs WP and got recruited to go there. Had a stellar career. Our UF Gator Raiders group visited U of N GA for a week spent being aggressors for the Mountain Ranger Camp. (Let their usual aggressors go on block leave.) First ambush we set up near a small open field. I remarked to the NCO RI with us "Why set up covering an open field? They'll go around that." He said "That's the drop zone for the parachute insertion." I gawped. I swear it was smaller than my back yard...maybe 100 X 100 feet surrounded by oaks and pines. I made a remark of appreciation and the RI said, "Son, if you can come here as a Leg (Non paratrooper), do it. This place is hard enough without jumping into these postage stamp DZs." Sure enough, watched 2 guys break legs going into the trees. I made sure to be a straight-leg Ranger. I actually think they stopped doing parachute insertions into the Mountains for that reason.
One of the guys I would train with was on the Navy fencing team fencing saber. He was actually trained as a foil fencer but they had enough foil fencers so he had to switch weapons. He was a good training partner at foil and I came within one touch of beating him in a 15 touch elimination bout. I was fencing out of my mind that bout.
In a nutshell saber is a weapon where being aggressive wins, epee is a weapon that favors the counter attack and foil tends to be more balanced. Of course it is more nuanced than that. I loved foil fencing.
Little bro poisoned himself during the mountain phase. Ended up repeating it in the winter. I recall seeing the white stitching on his patch. Mark has a year of school left. Not sure what happens between graduation and ranger school. It seems like my brother was around home a bit that summer.
I’m sure your brother got a short leave after graduation but he had orders to be somewhere soon after June Week ended. Timing depends on his branch. If he is Infantry, for example, he’ll go to 6-ish month branch basic school then any other schooling (airborne, Ranger, etc) before going to his first unit. An infantryman might get multiple cracks at Ranger School. Most other branches get one, if they are ‘lucky’. This summer your nephew is likely either going to a real Army unit for familiarization purposes, or maybe a school like airborne. I know USMA runs an on-campus air assault school there in the summer. Guys doing that there now between June Week and R Day.
From Andy Katz, 1. Purdue 2. Houston 3. Florida 4. St John’s 5. Michigan 6. UConn 7. Duke 8. Texas Tech 9. Tennessee 10. Kentucky ========================== Florida had beaten 2, 6, 8, & 9 last season! ========================== 11. Louisville 12. Oregon 13. Gonzaga 14. BYU 15. Arizona 16. UCLA 17. Illinois 18. Auburn 19. Kansas 20. Iowa St 21. Alabama 22. Wisconsin 23. Texas 24. NC State 25. USCw ============================== 26. Arkansas 27. Michigan St 28. Creighton 29. Maryland 30. Ohio St 31. North Carolina 32. Indiana :
