SPOILER ALERT: Kudos to Florida on Winning NCAA Women's Gymnastics Crown

The University of Florida Gators are only the fifth school to win a NCAA Women's Gymnastics title; they join the ranks of UCLA, Utah, Georgia and Alabama. Each of those schools, except Utah, qualified for the Super Six finals.

In victory, the Gators edged out second-place Oklahoma, third-place Alabama, the two-time NCAA champ and fourth place UCLA, the host school. LSU finished fifth; Georgia came in sixth.

For Gators' Coach Rhonda Faehn, a UCLA alum in her 11th year as coach of Florida after a coaching stint at Penn State, the title comes after years of heart-breaking near misses, includes last year's NCAA Championships in Georgia.

The Gators team consists of two Olympians: British national Marissa King, who also celebrated a birthday on Saturday and American Bridget Sloan, who is a freshman from Pittsboro, Ind.

Other stand-outs on the squad include Kytra Hunter (pictured top), Randy Stageberg (pictured bottom), Ashanee Dickerson and Alaina Johnson.

Here is the order of finish:

1. Florida 197.575

2. Oklahoma 197.375

3. Alabama 197.100

4. UCLA 197.100

5. LSU 197.050

6. Georgia 196.675

We issued a SPOILER ALERT because the meets airs on ESPN-U at 8:00 p.m. on April 30th.

For a look at the individual results from today's competition, go to our sister blog:
http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Reptile Week Cont'd_ The Alligators

Yesterday, we started with the turtles. We forgot to mention that the Minnesota-based folk/rock band Trampled By Turtles will be performing in Buffalo, NY, at the Town Ballroom and The Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine, on Dec. 2, in addition to their show at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. The band plays many other days in the northeast during that interval as well.

For those of you in North Carolina, my good friend folk singer Bruce Piephoff will play at the Southern Lights Bistro in his hometown of Greensboro, NC, on Nov. 29 and Dec. 4; I'm not sure if he has ever written a song about reptiles.


Today, we continue with the mighty alligator, which can be found from North Carolina to Florida here in United States. Initially, we were going to post an entry for crocodiles, which were the subject of a kitschy, but catchy Elton John song "Crocodile Rock."

But, we couldn't find a good image of Gustave, the notorious man-eating croc in the central African nation of Burundi to use. Gustave, who has reportedly devoured some 300 people, perhaps some of whom were photographers, was mentioned in a "Mental Floss" article about Burundi within the last year.

That same magazine said that 9:30 a.m. was the best time to post blog entries. It's actually 9:30 p.m. here on the east coast, but it is that time in Beijing, China, right now.  Perhaps, it's that time in Hong Kong too.

The Crocodiles are also the nickname of the Turkish soccer team Bursaspor, located in Bursa, Turkey, in western Turkey; the city is Turkey's fourth largest. This weekend the Crocs' tied Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash 3-3. I suppose taking photographs of the game is less risky than sneaking up on Gustave.

As for alligators, if one is in St. Augustine, Fla.,  then one can visit the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, which is open from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

http://www.trampledbyturtles.com

http://www.brucepiephoff.net

http://www.southernlightsbistro.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.alligatorfarm.us

http://www.bursaspor.net (In Turkish)

Turkish Futbol Update- Fenerbahce Still in Charge

Since one of my favorite Turkish soccer teams Bursaspor from Bursa, Turkey, is having a banner year as the team is currently in third place, we thought we'd post another Turkish Futbol update.

My friend Ugur Celikkol who lives in Bursa and is in charge of a fan team for the Gators (their nickname is Timsah, which means alligator in Turkish) told me recently that he is very pleased with the team.

Here are some scores from last weekend's play. Traditional Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce remains in first place, while their rival my beloved GaltaSaray is in a close second place:


Bursaspor 3 Eskisehirspor 1
Kayserispor 1 Gazinantepspor 0
Fenerbahce 5 Sivasspor 1
GalataSaray 2 Denizlispor 1
Trabszongspor 2 Diyarbakir 1
Besikttash (Istanbul) 1 Antalyaspor 0
Istanbul BB 4 Kasimpasha 2
Manisa 0 Ankara Gucu 0 (tie)

Turkish Soccer Update- Go BursaSpor!

It has been a good solid two years or more since we last blogged on Turkish soccer. But, the recent international games between Turkey (my late father's country) and historic rival Armenia have put more focus on Turkish soccer.

I am also pleased to report that my friend Ugur Celikkol's local team BursaSpor, (nicknamed Timsahlar- the Alligators) in
Bursa, Turkey, is in third place. BursaSpor has 35 points as opposed to the Turkish Premiere League's top two teams: traditional Istanbul powers FenerBahce (37 pts) and GalataSaray (36 pts).

BursaSpor actually beat GalataSaray, another one of my favorite soccer teams, by a
1-0 margin on Nov. 27, 2009.

This weekend, BursaSpor will host KasimPasha while GalataSaray faces GaziantepSpor on the road. FenerBahce always plays away from home with a game against DenizliSpor.

Stateside, it should be pointed that there is an alligator farm in St. Augustine, Fla., which is open to the public.

And, the sport of alligator wrestling (pictured) has yet to become a part of Turkish culture though one can perhaps see this somewhere in Florida.