Monthly Archives: December 2020

Keyontae Johnson Update. 12/14 – USA Today

Gator Sports
Florida forward Keyontae Johnson is in a medically induced coma two days after collapsing on the court in his team’s game against Florida State on Dec. 12, his grandfather confirmed to USA Today’s Josh Peter and Tom Schad.
Johnson – who was previously labelled as being in critical but stable condition – was transported to a hospital in Gainesville, Florida, after initially receiving medical attention in Tallahassee. His grandfather, Larry DeJarnett, says the hope is that Johnson gets taken out of his coma Monday afternoon.
The 6-foot-5 junior had to be taken off the court on a stretcher after Florida finished up a timeout during the first half on Saturday. Johnson threw down a transition dunk on the previous play leading into the short break.
While the cause of his collapse remains unknown, Johnson was notably one of numerous Florida players to test positive for the coronavirus this past summer, according to The Associated Press.

ESPN Post on Keyontae. Still critical but stable.

Gator Sports

Florida basketball star Keyontae Johnson remained in critical but stable condition Sunday morning, one day after he collapsed during the Gators’ game against Florida State.

The school announced that Johnson was still at Tallahassee Memorial hospital Sunday morning. Gators coach Mike White, associate AD for sports health Dave Werner and Johnson’s parents are with him at the hospital.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin said the school is thankful for the care Johnson has received.

“Keyontae received terrific care on site by the FSU staff and at Tallahassee Memorial, which has worked in consultation with UF health,” Stricklin said in a statement. “We’re glad his parents can be by his side, and they all feel the support of Gator Nation.”

The Gators were coming out of a timeout during Saturday’s 83-71 loss to the Seminoles when Johnson collapsed on the court. He was given emergency medical attention and taken to the locker room.

Before the incident, Johnson had just finished an alley-oop on a pass from Tyree Appleby. He celebrated with teammates and walked toward the sideline. As the team broke its huddle, he collapsed on the court and players screamed toward the sideline for help.

Johnson, a junior forward from Norfolk, Virginia, tested positive for COVID-19 during the summer. He is averaging 19.7 points per game this season and is considered an NBA prospect. He scored five points in four minutes Saturday.

Prayers for Keyontae. Critical but Stable….

Gator Sports
In what can be described only as a truly terrifying scene, star junior Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the Florida State court only minutes into the game after walking back on the floor from the timeout. The incident happened with little lead up as mere minutes prior he threw down an alley-oop in transition looking like his normal self. That dunk capped off a run that put the Gators in an early lead and led to a Florida State timeout. Following the break, he collapsed without warning. A stretcher took him off the floor and he was raced to a Memorial Hospital in Tallahassee where his condition was described as “critical but stable.” That is the last update we have received.
From the Tallahassee Democrat Newspaper:
Florida forward Keyontae Johnson is in “critical but stable condition” after collapsing in the first half of Saturday’s men’s basketball game against Florida State in Tallahassee.
Johnson, the SEC’s preseason player of the year, was moved to a stretcher and carried off the court shortly after collapsing near midcourt. He was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where his condition was determined. The American Hospital Association defines a patient in critical but stable condition as having “vital signs that are unstable and not within normal limits. Patient may be unconscious. Indicators are unfavorable.”
Following Florida’s 83-71 loss, UF coach Mike White opted to be with the team rather than speak to the media via Zoom, due to a lack of updates on Johnson’s condition.
White is staying overnight in Tallahassee with Johnson while the team returns to Gainesville. 
 

🐊Basketball TV schedule🐊

Gator Sports
Southeastern Conference Releases Men’s Basketball Television Designations and Start Times
 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Southeastern Conference announced television designations and start times for Florida men’s basketball’s 18-game conference slate on Tuesday.

UF is set to begin conference play on ESPN2 at 9:00 p.m. ET in its SEC opener at Vanderbilt on Dec. 30. CBS will televise Florida’s league home opener on Jan. 2 against the LSU Tigers at 2:00 p.m. at Exactech Arena inside the Stephen C. O’Connell Center and UF’s Feb. 27 road matchup against Kentucky at 4:00 p.m. 

The start time for Florida’s contest at West Virginia as a part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Jan. 30 is still to be determined. The Gators will head to Morgantown, W.V. for the first time since 1970 with an all-time mark of 6-3 vs. the Mountaineers, including 2-0 under head coach Mike White. 

Overall, Florida will appear on the SEC Network six times throughout this year’s campaign, while several of the team’s games have options to be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. 

The Day that will live in Infamy. Essay by Bill Bennett

Opinion
Pearl Harbor
Sunday, December 7, 1941, began as a serene morning at the U.S. Navy base on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. The warships of America’s Pacific Fleet rested at anchor. Many sailors were preparing for church or relaxing, and all was quiet at Pearl Harbor.

At about 7:55 a.m. a buzz from the sky broke the calm as a dive-bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan dropped out of the clouds. Seconds later, a swarm of Japanese warplanes followed. Sirens wailed as explosions sounded across the harbor and black smoke poured into the sky.

American sailors scrambled to battle stations while the Japanese planes screamed in for the kill. The main targets were several huge battleships moored in the harbor. Antiaircraft guns roared to life, but they did little good. Bombs and torpedoes hit ship after ship: the Arizona, the Oklahoma, the California, the West Virginia, the Utah, the Maryland, the Pennsylvania, the Tennessee, the  Nevada.

Sailors fought to save their ships, their comrades, and their own lives. Much of the California’s crew abandoned ship after flames engulfed its stern. When the captain determined the battleship might be saved, Yeoman Durrell Conner hoisted the American flag from the stern. At the sight of the colors, the sailors returned to fight the fires and keep her afloat.

Despite such heroism, the attack reduced much of the fleet to smoldering wreckage. The Japanese planes disappeared into the sky, leaving 2,400 dead, 1,200 wounded, and 18 ships and more than 300 American planes destroyed or damaged.

News of the disaster left Americans stunned, but not for long. A remark attributed to Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack, sums up the result of Pearl Harbor: “I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in him a terrible resolve.”

A different election analysis

Opinion

Wayne Root is a Vegas legend.    

 

By Wayne Allyn Root 

 

I’ve been a Las Vegas odds maker and sports gaming expert for four decades- long before I became known as a nationally syndicated conservative talk show host. I understand odds and gambling in a way that no other conservative media personality, host, or politician in this country could. 

 

And I can tell you something is very wrong with this presidential election. It reminds me of a fixed football game. Remember the famous fixed 1978 game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants quarterback handed the ball off. The running back didn’t want it. It fell on the ground. Herm Edwards of the Eagles picked it up and ran it into the end zone with seconds left for a last second victory. Every bettor in the world knows that game was fixed. It doesn’t matter if you can prove it. We all know.  

 

Gamblers also feel the same way about this presidential election. This presidential election is rancid. It feels as fixed as that Giants-Eagles NFL football game. Let me give you the details of this election- from a gambler’s perspective. 

 

Trump entered the night a 2 to 1 underdog. As soon as the polls started to close and the picture became clear, Trump’s odds quickly moved to even money. Then Trump became the slight favorite. Then a moderate favorite. Then a 2-to-1 favorite. Then 3 to 1. 4 to 1. 5 to 1. 6 to 1. 7 to 1. Finally, Trump moved to 8 to 1 favorite. 

 

What does all this mean? Bettors putting their money on the line during Election Night have always proven to be deadly accurate. Smart bettors can clearly see what direction a race is taking. Bettors around the world clearly saw what I saw, when they stared at the electoral map- Trump was headed for an electoral landslide.But something wasn’t quite right. Fox News wouldn’t call Florida for Trump- even though he was ahead by a mile. They wouldn’t call Ohio- even though Trump was ahead by a mile, They wouldn’t call Texas- even though Trump was ahead by a mile. I sat there screaming at my television. 

 

More strange calls. Fox News had called Virginia for Biden at the start of the night- with Trump well ahead in Virginia. Trump would remain ahead in Virginia for three long hours after Fox awarded the electoral votes to Biden. Why would they do that? What was the rush? It made no sense. 

 

Biden was awarded Virginia with Trump ahead. But Trump was ahead by a mile in Florida, Ohio and Texas, yet Fox News refused to award him the electoral votes. I knew at that moment, something was wrong. Something smelled fishy. Something was rotten in the DC Swamp.Bettors witnessed Trump dominating. He clearly won not only those key states of Florida, Ohio and Texas, but Trump also enjoyed large leads in the entire Midwest- Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa. It was all but over. Trump had an electoral landslide. Hence the massive 8 to 1 odds in favor of Trump. 

 

And then it happened. It was the most bizarre call in Election Night history. Fox News called Arizona for Biden. Why? It wasn’t even close to over. There was no reason on earth to make that call. Arizona is STILL not over 8 days later. CNN still hasn’t awarded Arizona. ABC pulled it back from Biden only 24 hours ago. 

 

Why would Fox News be in such a rush to call Arizona for Biden? At that moment, Trump’s odds crashed almost instantly from 8 to 1, back down to 2 to 1. That drop set off alarm bells. My friend who is one of the biggest bookmakers in the country called me to say, “Wayne, something is wrong. I’ve never seen a drop like that, let alone a drop that fast. How can Trump go from 8 to 1, to 2 to 1. Someone knows something. We’ve got a problem.” 

 

It was as if someone had decided in advance to give Arizona to Biden- whether he won it, or not. It was as if the secret code was known to only a few billionaire gamblers, “Fox News awards Arizona to Biden.” Six magic words. Someone was ready for that call. Someone waited until Trump was a prohibitive 8 to 1 favorite, then knew to bet millions of dollars on Biden at the longest odds of the night. Someone knew the fix was in. Someone made a fortune. 

 

There’s more to the story. First, by awarding both Virginia and Arizona to Biden way too early in the evening and also going super slow awarding states to Trump where he led by a mile, Fox News made sure Biden had the electoral lead all night. That’s another big part of the story. Just like the fake pollsters suppressed Trump voters for months in advance of the election with polls falsely showing Trump losing by a landslide, fake “news desk” employees sure appeared to be suppressing Trump votes on Election Night. And also creating an air of invincibility for Biden. If Biden led in every poll before the election, and led all night in electoral votes, then it wouldn’t look like a fix was in, when Biden suddenly wound up the winner the morning after. Right? 

 

One more piece of the puzzle. From almost the moment that secret code “Fox News awards Arizona to Biden” was spoken, three key Midwest battleground states with Democrat Governors all decided to stop counting votes for the night, with Trump way ahead. Why? Why all three, at the same time? Like they were coordinated in advance. Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania all mysteriously quit counting around midnight. 

 

To add to the idea of a fix, these states merely claimed they were stopping counting for the night. After TV cameras and Republican poll watchers were all sent home, these Democrat states all resumed counting, suddenly finding all the ballots they needed to overcome large Trump leads. 

 

I actually took screen shots before I went to bed. Trump was winning Michigan by over 300,000 votes when they stopped counting. He was up in Wisconsin by over 100,000. In Pennsylvania he was up almost 700,000 votes. But in the wee hours of the morning I took a new screenshot. Suddenly Biden was up by 9,000 in Wisconsin and 30,000 in Michigan. How’d that happen? I thought they stopped counting? 

 

It all started with that bizarre Arizona call by Fox News. 

 

Folks, someone knew. The fix was in. A few key people made millions betting on this election. They knew the exact minute to jump in. They knew exactly when a Trump landslide would turn to a Biden victory, with the help of a fake TV network call and fake ballots. 

 

They knew Arizona was going to be called way too early. They knew that fake Arizona call would trigger vote counting to stop and massive ballot fraud to begin. 

 

I don’t know what the Supreme Court will decide. But bettors all over the world know in our guts exactly what happened. The fix was in, no different than that famous NY Giants-Philadelphia Eagle fix in 1978 at the Meadowlands. 

 

Trump was robbed.  This election was stolen. 

 

 

Updated SEC Schedule

Gator Sports

The SEC released the schedule for the next two weeks.
Schedule of SEC Football Games for December 12:

  • LSU at Florida (rescheduled from October 17)
  • Auburn at Mississippi State (rescheduled from November 14)
  • Georgia at Missouri (rescheduled from November 14)
  • Ole Miss at Texas A&M (rescheduled from November 21)
  • Tennessee at Vanderbilt (rescheduled from November 28)
  • Alabama at Arkansas (rescheduled from December 5)

Schedule of SEC Football games for December 19:

  • Texas A&M at Tennessee (rescheduled from November 14)*
  • Ole Miss at LSU (rescheduled from December 5)
  • Missouri at Mississippi State (rescheduled from December 5)
  • Vanderbilt at Georgia (rescheduled from December 5)#
  • SEC Football Championship, Atlanta, 8 pm ET/7 pm CT

Congrats Kyle Trask

Gator Sports

FORT WORTH, Texas – Florida quarterback Kyle Trask was named to the Davey O’Brien QB Class of 2020, the Davey O’Brien Foundation announced on Tuesday.
 
Trask was one of 35 quarterbacks in the nation named to the Class of 2020, with those selected being the official candidates for the 2020 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award.
 
A point scoring model was used to determine the quarterbacks in the Class of 2020. Points were awarded to players based on their overall performance as well as inclusion on the Davey O’Brien Preseason Watch List, weekly Great 8 lists and National Quarterback of the Week winners.
 
Through eight games this season, Trask has been named to the Great 8 List four times and named National Quarterback of the Week once. The redshirt-senior was also on the Davey O’Brien Preseason Watch List.
 
Trask has thrown for 2,810 yards and 34 touchdowns so far this season, while ranking first in the FBS in touchdown passes and fourth in passing yards.
 
Trask’s third touchdown pass on Saturday against Kentucky – a 7-yarder to Kyle Pitts in the third quarter – tied him with San Diego State’s Dennis Shaw (1969) and Houston’s David Klingler (1990) for the third-most passing touchdowns through the first eight games of a season in FBS history.