Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
USF's played in-state powers only twice since its inception in 2000, losing to Miami 27-7 in 2005 and taking a redshirt freshman quarterback into Tallahassee a couple weeks ago and riding three huge plays for a program-validating victory. But probably not this program-validating:
Given what you know about billboards you naturally assume some over-eager fan with too much money and time has thrown it up in an effort to prop up the small slice of the local economy comprised of dudes selling billboard space. This would be incorrect. It's the eager little beavers in the South Florida marketing department who've slapped that up in the aftermath of USF's first-ever victory over one of the instate Big Three.
Naturally, Jim Leavitt is delighted:
"We have not won national championships and we have not won conference championships," Leavitt said. "What gives us the right to sit there all of a sudden like we've won all these championships and done all this stuff? That's not me. That's never been me.
"I don't want anyone to ever think that here I'm the guy having anything to do with that. That bothers me."
Jim Leavitt is not delighted. This is a statement that is accurate at all times, but it's especially accurate right now as he sits in his office designing scorpion pits that will maximally prolong the agony of one Bill McGillis, the USF "executive associate athletic director" and dead man who approved the billboard and said he received "no negative feedback" about it. Leavitt probably wonders how deep his foot has to be in an orifice before McGillis will interpret it as negative feedback.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the billboard is coming down for something more innocuous:
McGillis said the billboard will be switched out on Thursday for USF's "Paint The Town Green" campaign to promote the game against Cincinnati.
That should make it considerably easier for Leavitt to get around the sidelines on Saturday.
(H/T to Fanblogs)
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
3 comments
Comments
Will he put three or four big scorpions in the pit?
by ChiAdam on Oct 8, 2009 11:04 AM EDT reply actions
If they beat #10 Cincy, then they should leave the billboard alon.
by imzhamez on Oct 8, 2009 11:11 AM EDT reply actions
Two of the three have not been close to a national championship in some time. FSU was what, 8-4, when they last won the ACC? Obviously, they’re not talking about decades because USF hasn’t been around that long, but it’s still among the four BCS teams in the state and playing like it.
by theknightswhosay on Oct 9, 2009 2:48 AM EDT reply actions
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