* The last time the USF Bulls made the NCAA tournament, George H.W. Bush was president of the United States, Frank Borkowski was president of the University of South Florida and I was the media relations manager at USF. It’s been that long.
By qualifying for the “Big Dance,” USF is a regional, feel-good story after 20 years of underachievement and a dormant fan base. Regardless of how the Bulls handle the big stage, here’s hoping this year’s success can be converted into something other than a trivia footnote for the class of 2032.
That means re-energized recruiting, which means keeping some blue chippers at home. And nothing helps recruiting more than having a national spotlight to make your case. Go, Bulls.
* Reasonable people can disagree about Tim Tebow’s prowess as a pro quarterback and the propriety of using the football field as a forum for religious faith expression. But no one should have a quarrel with his perspective on what does–and does not–constitute a hero. In short, athletes are not heroes. Not even close.
But no one has said it quite as bluntly as Tebow did last Saturday when he was in town and spent time with an Army officer, Romy Camargo, who was paralyzed by a sniper’s bullet in Afghanistan.
“I do nothing special,” noted Tebow. “Athletes do nothing special. We play a silly game. Here’s someone who put his life on the line for our country. That’s a real hero. That’s someone doing something important with his life. It’s a true inspiration to me.”
More to the point, you know he meant it.
*A Canadian skiier, Nik Zoricic, was killed in a World Cup ski-cross event on Saturday. The video made the rounds, and it was jarringly tragic. The death of Zoricic, who crashed head first into safety netting on the side of the last jump, reignited a safety debate on skiing, especially the relatively new, envelope-pushing freestyle variety. The latter, which includes Zoricic’s event, has been likened to “NASCAR on skis.” It was a prophetic warning, not a hot-shot compliment.