Happy 37 Days Until Football Day today. I feel like Rusty and Audrey in the back of the station wagon on the way to Wally World. "Are we there yet?" Well, not quite, but think of the following events as Christie Brinkley in the pool to help make the journey go by faster.
Before we proceed, please don't forget the Voodoo Five USF Funeral on August 28th at Irish 31. We'll have some additional details on next week, but it's coming together quite nicely and thanks so much to our friends at Irish for helping us put together what should be a really fun evening.
Edit as of 2:45p.m.: USF has just opened up the first week of practice to the fans! Details here:
USF Football will kick of the 2014 season in six Saturday's and Head Coach Willie Taggart's Bulls will begin preparations in earnest for the season on Monday, Aug. 4 when fall training camp opens.
As he did in the spring, Taggart will open the first week of practices at the Frank Morsani Football Complex to the public. Fans are invited to come and watch as Taggart and the Bulls, including 30 new scholarship players, begin preparations for 2014. USF will be staying on campus for all of fall training camp this season leading up to the season opening kickoff on Sat., Aug. 30 vs. Western Carolina. That game is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff in Raymond James Stadium.
A schedule of Bulls' practices open to the public includes the following dates:
Mon., Aug. 4 at 10 a.m.
Tues., Aug. 5 at 10 a.m.
Wed., Aug. 6 at 10 a.m.
Thurs., Aug. 7 at 8:30 a.m.
Fri., Aug. 8 at 3:00 p.m.
Sat., Aug. 9 at 2:00 p.m.
Also USF Fan Fest has been announced, and it'll be August 16th from 12pm-3pm... at Corbett Stadium on campus. Yes, that's the soccer stadium.
USF's annual Bulls Fan Fest will take place on Sat., Aug. 16 at Corbett Stadium, home of the USF soccer teams and site of the Bulls' spring football game, on the USF Campus. A free event and open to the public, Bulls Fan Fest is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. and this year will involve all of USF's fall sports teams. The USF football players and coaches will be joined by the USF men's and women's soccer, volleyball and cross country programs in a day packed full of great experiences and fun for Bulls fans.
Along with the opportunity to get autographs and pictures with student-athletes, coaches, Rocky The Bull, Sun Dolls and cheerleaders, fans will have the chance to participate in interactive games with their favorite Bulls. Among the many activities fans can participate in with the student-athletes will be games for kicking field goals, scoring goals, serving volleyballs and much more.
There will be opportunities to get pictures in Bulls' uniforms, show off your endzone dance, win prizes and hear from all of the Bulls' fall sport head coaches.
Fans are encouraged to arrive early for a special sale of old USF athletic gear, apparel and collector's items at discounted prices beginning at noon. On the sale block will be old uniforms, team issued gear, memorabilia and more.
Not sure how to feel about this. It was always fun running around on the pitch at Ray Jay and re-enacting Ben Moffitt's interception against WVU in '07, but the masses of empty space around the facility did make it seem like a bit of a waste. I missed the spring game at Corbett due to the weather, but it played to rave reviews by everyone in attendance. So maybe this is a good thing? Also glad to see the soccer, volleyball, and cross country teams get a chance to be involved too. Any PR they can get is always a good thing.
My friend Lolo stole my original David Mullins #11 football jersey years ago, so the chance to replace it at discounted prices sounds awesome. I'll be happy, but my credit card might be sad after this one.
Tell us in the comments how you feel about having Fan Fest on campus instead of on the field at Ray Jay.