*FSU football coach Jimbo Fisher just inked a five-year, $9 million contract that is packed with performance incentives covering more than a dozen categories. The bonuses speak volumes about priorities. They range from $250,000 if the underachieving ‘Noles, trying to win back a disgruntled fan base, bring home a BCS title to $25,000 if the team, still reeling from an embarrassing academic scandal, achieves a 75 per cent graduation rate.
*Can’t help but feel for beleaguered USF coach Jim Leavitt. Chances are one of his inimitably emotional rants has been mischaracterized as an assault on one of his players. Even the player in question says Leavitt didn’t hit him at halftime of last month’s Louisville game. It’s likely that the AOL Fanhouse.com story will ultimately be seen as exaggerated, context-challenged and maybe agenda-driven.
But Leavitt still loses. The incident is another reminder that his hyper-emotional, often overbearing manner is wearing thin. His sideline antics are as familiar as they are embarrassing. And who could not but wonder if USF, a program that has acquired an unflattering reputation for playing without discipline and composure when the pressure is on in Big East games, might be channeling its histrionic coach on the field.
*By all accounts, Tampa acquitted itself well as host of last week’s NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship. It had never been held in Florida before. The final, between Penn State and Texas, drew more than 12,000. Last year the title game in Omaha, Neb., drew 14,000. And Omaha is a v-ball Mecca — and the University of Nebraska was one of the competing teams.
And while it didn’t offer vintage, chamber of commerce weather, Tampa, which has a solid national reputation for first-class hosting of sports events, looked good while so much of the country was being buffeted by awful December weather. Word is Tampa might be in line for a return volleyball visit as the sport continues to grow itself nationally – not just out West.