Red-hot Gators enter NCAA Tournament in thick of national title hunt • UCF determined to stick around beyond this NCAA Softball Regional
 Sentinel Sports Final Friday, May 17, 2024 | | |
| | | | | The Gators softball team are entering the regionals as favorites to move on. UCF barely made the cut, but the Knights are in Tallahassee for the second year in a row with long odds to overcome. ... Also for the second year in a row, no Lionel Messi at Inter&Co Stadium because of "injury." Worse, Inter Miami kept his status under wraps until late. Great for them. Terrible for fans. Mike Bianchi doesn't like it. Nor the disrespect shown towards MVP Nikola Jokic. But he's not the "face" of the NBA, in large part, because he doesn't want to be. Kind of like Tim Duncan, who has the highest Q rating of any NBA player on Madison Avenue (yes, his name recognition in households with passive sports interest was off the charts) but he refused to be a pitchman. Rarely did interviews. ... The 2A track state championships were good to Montverde Academy, and Trinity Prep's Victoria Hill collects hardware like Carl Lewis. ... I picked Timberwolves in 7 before the series. They're going down to the wire with the Nuggets after that Game 6 walloping Thursday night. I still don't feel good about my pick. | | | | Since joining MLS last year, Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi hasn't attended both games at Orlando City. Maybe it's time for Orlando sports fans to start referring to him as Lionel "Missing." | | | | | UF (46-12) enters Friday's Gainesville Regional against Florida Gulf Coast (37-19) as the NCAA Tournament's No. 4 seed. Its riding an eight-game winning streak following the program's first SEC Tournament title since 2019. | | | | | The Knights are hoping to forget the disappointment of last season's tournament appearance with a stronger showing starting Friday. | | | | | The Class 2A track and field state championships were won by the Montverde Academy girls and boys teams. | | | | | Montverde Academy's boys 4×400 scored a clutch win in the final event to give Eagles a sweep of the team titles in FHSAA 2A track and field championship meet at UNF. Georgia recruits led the Eagles girls domination. Trinity Prep junior Victoria Hill earned her third gold and 11th career medal. | | | | | After more than a decade, EA Sports College Football 25 — which features a Floridian on one cover — will be the return of the company's popular college football video game. | | | | | Jonathan Aranda and Isaac Paredes deliver big hits during the winning rally, and birthday boy Richie Palacios adds a sacrifice fly. | | | | | Masters champion Scottie Scheffler shot a solid 4-under 67 in the opening round Thursday. Scheffler started the tournament with a bang, holing out for eagle on the first hole. | | | | | The Wolves reserves led a 24-0 run in the fourth quarter on the way to a staggering 50-point lead, a fitting follow-up to the 20-0 surge the starters led in the opening frame. | | | | | Lake Brantley hosts Sanford Seminole and Windermere High, Horizon, Eustis, Montverde Academy and Cornerstone Charter play at home Friday in FHSAA softball regional championship games. Hagerty travels to Pace on Saturday. | | | | | He didn't play much for the Tigers last season but averaged 25.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 blocks as a high school senior. | | | | | Lionel Messi's annualized pay from his Major League Soccer contract with Inter Miami is just more than $20.4 million in his first full season. | | | |
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