GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Super Bowl is six days away, which means an avalanche of uninterrupted hype for the rest of the week.
Taylor Swift should have plenty of material by week's end for a new album.
But before the Big Game — hey, the Gators are well-represented (see below) — it's time to roll out the latest edition of Three Tidbits:
1. The death of former Florida State baseball coach
Mike Martin on Thursday generated an outpouring of sympathy and fond memories from his former players and those across the game. Gators head coach
Kevin O'Sullivan paid his respects. "The Florida baseball family is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of
Mike Martin," O'Sullivan said. "Coach Martin was not only an all-time great coach in our game but a first-class human and left a lasting impact on his players on and off the field." I spent some time around Martin in the late-2000s while covering FSU athletics for the
Tampa Tribune. I took the assignment after several years covering Major League Baseball, including the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and manager
Lou Piniella. Martin's folksy and laid-back approach contrasted sharply with that of Piniella, a personable straight shooter who could turn on his fiery side when he considered it necessary. I didn't follow Martin's program daily like when I covered the Devil Rays, but late Seminoles beat writer
Steve Ellis covered nearly every game, home and away. He often spoke fondly of Martin and the way the veteran coach dealt with the grind of a long season and always made time for fans and media. Martin retired after the 2019 season with 2,029 career wins over 40 seasons, the most victories for any coach in college sports. Before O'Sullivan came along, Martin owned a comfortable advantage in the Gators-Seminoles rivalry. That continued early in O'Sullivan's tenure. Martin went 11-5 head-to-head against O'Sullivan from 2008-11. However, over the final eight seasons of Martin's FSU tenure, the Gators dominated, winning 24 of 29 games in the rivalry. Florida's final win over Martin was a 3-1 victory in Tallahassee on April 9, 2019. Martin's career record against the Gators dropped to 76-77 with the loss, making Florida one of only four schools with a winning record against Martin (10 or more games) during his Hall of Fame career. Miami (106-100-3), Cal-State Fullerton (10-8) and Arizona (7-4) are the others. Rest in peace to one of the greatest ambassadors college baseball has ever known.
2. Staying on the diamond, the Gators' season opener is Feb. 16 against St. John's. The two programs have met only one other time, a first-round game in the 1997 NCAA Atlantic Regional in Coral Gables. Florida won 4-3. The teams do have a connection in O'Sullivan and Red Storm head coach
Mike Hampton. O'Sullivan was Clemson's pitching coach in 1999 when Hampton, a former Tigers third baseman selected in the fourth round of the 1994 MLB amateur draft by the Reds, returned to Clemson as a volunteer assistant coach for
Coach Jack Leggett. Hampton is in his fifth season as St. John's head coach and has a difficult task to start the 2024 season: a 10-game road trip that includes a three-game series at Florida, a three-game series at Houston, a mid-week game at Texas, and then a three-game series at Sam Houston State. The Johnnies held their Bullpen Winter Banquet on Jan. 26, with Hampton joined by two other Reds' draft picks 30 years ago: first-round selection
C.J. Nitkowski, a former star at St. John's, and third-round pick
Aaron Boone, currently manager of the New York Yankees.
3. It's Super Bowl Week, so anything is possible when it comes to media coverage. The National Enquirer (does that still exist?) probably already has a photographer camped out on the Las Vegas Strip. We'll see what that means in the case of former Gators receiver
Kadarius Toney, who is in the headlines for an Instagram post attributed to him in which he claimed the Chiefs filed erroneous injury reports on him in recent games. "I'm not hurt,'' he reportedly said. "None of that." Kansas City coach
Andy Reid has publicly denounced Toney's claim. Toney is arguably the most dynamic player to come through UF since
Percy Harvin. You never took your eyes off him when he had the ball in his hands. He has shown flashes of that ability in the NFL in stints with the Giants and Chiefs. However, Toney has also been plagued by inconsistency and has not played since a Week 15 game against the Patriots. A pass bounced off Toney's hands in that game and was intercepted for the second time this season. The Chiefs said Toney did not play in the AFC Championship game because of personal reasons, and Reid said he was "working through some things." In last year's Super Bowl, Toney caught a touchdown and returned a punt 65 yards in Kansas City's win over Philadelphia, raising expectations for 2023. But he has only 27 catches for 169 yards and one score and is under scrutiny for his drops and off-the-field actions. Will Toney play on Sunday against the 49ers?
It's a hot topic. We'll have to wait and see what the Chiefs do. Toney did very few interviews during his final season with the Gators in 2020, but when he did, he came across as someone with a good spirit and varied interests. He appeared to have trouble adjusting to the spotlight in New York, which makes him a member of the
Ed Whitson Club. Here is a toast to Toney and the Chiefs reconciling and that he has an opportunity to showcase in another Super Bowl the electric skill set that made Gators fans jump to their feet often.
