Sports Shorts

* UF just announced its non-conference basketball schedule for the coming season. It includes Stanford, Florida State, Cincinnati, Clemson, Baylor and Incarnate Word. Say what? Although it sounds like a Catholic parish in my old Philadelphia neighborhood, it’s a private Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas, that has been a member of the Division I Southland Conference since 2013. For the record, it was founded in 1881 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

* Remember when “Heavyweight Champion of the World” was a very, very big deal? From Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano to Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson. Iconic status was a given. The current heavyweight champ is Anthony Joshua of England.

* I always root for the USA. But sometimes in soccer it’s a lot less chauvinistic. Case in point: America’s recent 3-2 win over Martinique in a CONCACAF Gold Cup match here at the RayJay. Martinique has a population of less than 400,000, about the same as Tampa’s. It’s like being a relative of Goliath and hoping he kicks that little upstart David’s ass.

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