Florida Gators, inspired by basketball coach Billy Donovan, rout Georgia Bulldogs in football 41-17

JACKSONVILLE — Three months into the season, Florida football players have tired of hearing head coach Urban Meyer speak about sticking together and overcoming adversity.

So to help get the Gators out of their recent funk, Meyer turned Thursday to a man who knows about defending a national title: UF men's basketball coach Billy Donovan, whose teams won it all in 2006 and 2007. He talked with the team's leaders about 6and not letting outsiders ruin the Gators' season.

"He was very inspiring," Florida quarterback Tim Tebow said. "It was very motivating for a lot of us."

Inspired by Donovan's message, the Gators defeated arch-rival Georgia 41-17 on Saturday in their most complete victory of the season.

"One of the best team wins we've had at Florida," said Meyer, who gave Donovan credit for the win.

"To have a resource like that an eighth of a mile from my office, it's kind of cool," Meyer said.

After sloppy victories over Arkansas and Mississippi State, the Gators finally held on to the ball (zero turnovers), scored from inside the Red Zone (2-of-3 opportunities) and expertly executed the offensive game plan.

The Gators improved to 17-3 over Georgia over the past 20 years, and Meyer improved to 14-1 in rivalry games against Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State and Miami. And with Tennessee beating South Carolina 31-13 Saturday night, the Gators (8-0, 6-0 SEC) clinched the SEC East division title with two conference games to play.

Meyer and offensive coordinator Steve Addazio devised a game plan that allowed Florida's offense to gain 374 yards and score 34 points. Meyer also challenged the players during practice this week to start performing like the No. 1 team in the country, capped by an emotional speech to the team Friday night.

"We weren't living up to our potential or executing as well as we should have been," Tebow said.

Tebow had a memorable performance playing in front of his hometown crowd for the final time in his college career. He completed 15 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and rushed for 85 yards and another two touchdowns, his first multiple-touchdown game since Sept. 26 against Kentucky. More importantly, he didn't turn the ball over and took only two sacks.

Tebow's first rushing touchdown, a 23-yarder late in the first half, gave him 50 for his career, breaking Herschel Walker's official SEC record. Walker, however, scored five touchdowns in bowl games that SEC officials do not count, so technically, Tebow's 51 career touchdowns are still three short of Walker's career total.

"Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Herschel Walker, it's extremely humbling," Tebow said.

Florida may finally have clicked on offense, but the defense once again stole the show. The Gators held Georgia to 286 yards of offense and intercepted four Bulldogs passes. Linebacker A.J. Jones took two away, while linebackers Ryan Stamper and Brandon Spikes snagged one each.

Spikes returned his interception 5 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown to punctuate the blowout and send the Georgia half of the stadium home early.

For Meyer and his players, it was the perfect ending to a tough week.

"There's only one way to have fun around here," Meyer said, "and that's singing the fight song after the game."

Read more »

College basketball countdown: No. 9 Villanova

As a youngster growing up in Herndon, Va., Villanova senior Scottie Reynolds rooted for the Maryland Terrapins, so naturally his favorite buzzer-beater was Drew Nicholas' fadeaway 3-pointer that beat UNC Wilmington in an NCAA first-round game in 2003.

Now Reynolds has a new No. 1 buzzer-beater: his own shining moment in the NCAA Tournament. Reynolds' thrilling length-of-the-court-drive through the Pitt defense last season sent the Wildcats to the Final Four for the first time since 1985.

"It's a lot different around here now," said Reynolds of life on the Villanova campus. "Everyone has embraced us like we won the national championship. The buzz is still that strong."

Villanova is among the favorites to make a return trip to the Final Four this season, and Reynolds is a big reason why. The 6-2 guard decided to come back for a senior season after withdrawing his name from the NBA draft in June. There were a lot of reasons Reynolds wanted to return to school, and one of them was the chance to make another Final Four and have a chance to win the national championship that eluded him last season when the Wildcats were knocked off by North Carolina in a national semifinal.

"I love this group of guys," Reynolds said. "(Last season's seniors) Dante Cunningham and Dwayne Anderson and Shane Clark motivated me to lead the team and wanting that challenge. We want to keep this thing at a high level. We want this team to reach its potential."

And Villanova has plenty of potential. Coach Jay Wright returns four players with starting experience and has added three of the top 30 freshmen in the country.

Reynolds (15.2 ppg) is the undisputed leader. He scored 20 points or more in nine games last year and led the team with 3.4 assists per game. He's a three-year starter and on pace to score 2,000 points for his career.

Junior guard Corey Fisher (10.8 ppg) earned the Big East's Sixth Man of the Year after assuming a reserve role midway through the season. He was the team's third-leading scorer and reached double figures 23 times in 38 games.

Read more »

Basketball becomes bat-sketball as player swats Halloween night invader

It was with an uncanny sense of timing that a bat chose Halloween to disrupt the NBA tie between San Antonio Spurs and the Sacramento Kings. What, perhaps, the creature did not count on were the quick hands of the Spurs' Manu Ginobili who, not content with scoring 13 points in his side's 113-94 win, swatted it from the air as it swooped across the court.

The bat had already sent players to the sidelines twice in the first quarter. The officials stopped the game as it circled then flew across the AT&T Center's court. First they called for a towel to catch it, then a net. But Ginobili took matters, literally, into his own hands. When the bat returned he simply smacked it to the ground before calmly carrying it off court to thunderous applause.

After a brief squirt of disinfectant from a trainer, and with the theme from Batman ringing in his ears over the venue's PA, the Argentinian player carried on much as if nothing had happened. "When you can't dunk anymore, you have to find a way to make it into the news," he said afterwards. "So that's what I did. I grabbed a bat. I didn't think it was a big deal. Then the whole arena started chanting my name."

It was his team-mate, Tony Parker, who led the Spurs' victory with 24 points and seven assists, however it was Ginobili's bat-slapping exploits that grabbed the attention. "That was amazing," said Parker. "The legend continues with Manu. Unbelievable. He's always doing crazy stuff."

It was something his coach, Gregg Popovich confirmed: "The drummer that he marches to sometimes is a little bit different. He never ceases to amaze me and he just did it again. The legend grows. It's incredible on Halloween night. You would call someone a liar if they told you that story."

"I guess in Argentina, bat hunting is part of everyday life," the Kings centre Spencer Hawes said. "Somebody had to do it, and it wasn't going to be me."

Read more »

Federer disappointed by Agassi drug admission

ZURICH — World number one Roger Federer on Thursday voiced disappointment at Andre Agassi's bombshell admission that he had taken drugs in 1997 and then lied to the ATP to avoid a ban.

"It was a shock when I heard the news. I am disappointed and I hope there are no more such cases in future," Federer said at a sponsors meeting at Kilchberg near Zurich.

But Federer also noted that Agassi "has done a lot for tennis, both as a player and as a human being".

"Today, he raises millions of dollars for his foundation for disadvantaged children," the Swiss commented.

Agassi, one of just six men to have won all four Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as one of the sport's finest players, stunned tennis this week by revealing he'd taken the highly-addictive drug crystal methamphetamine in 1997.

The American, now 39, also admitted that he lied to the governing body of the ATP to escape a ban.

Federer noted that today, players must make themselves available for dope tests between 20 and 30 times a year.

"Our sport must stay clean," he stressed.

Read more »

How tennis world reacted to Andre Agassi’s admission of taking crystal meth

Andre Agassi’s autobiography, ‘Open’, has been the talk of tennis since extracts were published in which he admitted to using crystal meth, with Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Boris Becker, Andy Roddick and many others having an opinion.

Rafa Nadal:

“If the ATP covered for Agassi then I think that’s dreadful. If they covered for the player and punished others for doing the same kind of thing then that would seem to me to be a lack of respect for all sportsmen.”

Roger Federer:

“It was a shock when I heard the news. I am disappointed and I hope there are no more such cases in future.”

Darren Cahill (Agassi’s last professional coach):

“[Agassi is] extremely proud of the book and I’m proud of him for giving such an honest and revealing look at his life”.

Boris Becker:

“I’m the last person to throw stones, as there have been some difficult times in my own life, but to hear that he took crystal meth, that certainly puts a whole new light on Andre and it’s not a beautiful light.

“I’m struggling to get my head around why Andre would want to confess to something so damaging as taking drugs and then getting away with it? Why would he want to be so brutally honest?

“I’m really surprised that he would want to discuss such a private part of his life, to talk about such a bad period in his life. I’m sure this will help to sell his book. He doesn’t need the money, though. He’s a rich man.”

Andy Roddick:

“Andre is and always will be my idol. I will judge him on how he has treated me and how he has changed the world for the better.

“If anything we (the top players) are subjected to way more testing and attention. That’s just a fact. And, to be fair, when Andre wrote the reported letter (which deceived the authorities), he was well outside the top 100 and widely viewed as on the way out.”

Venus Williams:

“I’m sure his book will sell. But I can’t say anything about Andre Agassi’s life.”

Serena Williams:

“I don’t know what crystal meth is, that’s my reaction,” said the newly-crowned year-end world number one. I haven’t read anything about his book.”

Martina Navratilova:

“Shocking. Not as much shock that he did it as shock he lied about it and didn’t own up to it.

“Andre lied and got away with it. You can’t correct that now. Do you take away a title he wouldn’t have won if he had been suspended? He beat some people when he should have been suspended.”

Nick Bollettieri (Agassi’s former coach):

“I don’t condone what he did – I’ve made mistakes too, but I’ve done more good than bad.

“Let’s look at what Andre has done, he funds a school for 400 kids from the inner-city. I know underneath he’s a hell of guy.”

Read more »

Serena Williams withdraws from next week's Fed Cup Finals

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the U.S. vs. Italy Fed Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final set to take place November 7-8 in Reggio Calabria, Italy. Williams will be replaced by Vania King. King will be making her sixth appearance on the U.S. Fed Cup team.

Read more »