Has Jim Leavitt Gone Too Far This Time?

[NormalBull]

I dunno twilly.  It looks to me like The Jim was trying to show the guys how Teachey does his rugby style punts and he took a bit of a tumble.  Or maybe he is doing his Chevy Chase impersonation......Nahnahnah......

;D

Normal

[Jamie]

I can imagine CJL dropping a 60-foot putt and doing the Tenacious D power slide across the green to celebrate it.

[smazza]

Well, I'm glad that he just got married... or this pic may raise a few eyebrows.

totally agree

strange picture

[CyberBull]

Well, I'm glad that he just got married... or this pic may raise a few eyebrows.

totally agree

strange picture

actually....I would only worry if I saw Leavitt wearing a tank top....

[Brad]

I can tell by the more than 390 views that my thread title was very tantalizing...probably left a lot of UCFers drooling but disappointed.  Only smazza stepped up with a response.

[E.T.]

Comparing sMAZZA posts with UCiFer's ?

[crambone]

Boxers or briefs?

[KB]

I didn't realize that pic was from the BigEast Golf tourney and that picture is on bigeast.org.

A BEHIND-THE-SCENES LOOK AT THE 2007 BIG EAST SUMMER KICK-OFF FESTIVITIES

Three-day event for coaches, athletic directors, bowl partners and media is considered by many as the best around

July 20, 2007

NEWPORT, R.I. - "I go to a lot of these events, and this is by far the best."

Orange Bowl Chief Executive Officer Eric Poms made his third consecutive trip to scenic Newport, R.I. for the 2007 BIG EAST Summer Kick-off Festivities on Sunday, and needless to say, he's had a good time.

Each year, the BIG EAST Conference hosts a number of events in Newport in conjunction with the league's annual football meetings and media day event. It's a great opportunity for media and bowl partners from around the country to interact with the league's head coaches, players and football athletic directors in an intimate setting, whether it be on the golf course, at a traditional New England Clambake or at a dinner function at a mansion on the Newport waterfront.

This year's event started with business meetings for coaches, athletic directors and BIG EAST staff on Sunday afternoon. Executives from 17 of the 34 NCAA Division I-A bowl games filtered into the Hotel Viking at the same time, in advance of the first social event of the week: an outdoor dinner at the Inn at Castle Hill on the Newport waterfront.

Two notable observations that came from the evening:

1. New head coaches Brian Kelly (Cincinnati) and Steve Kragthorpe (Louisville) both had their work cut out for them early on. New to the event, they both did a great job getting around the room to meet as many people as possible in an attempt to catch up to the "veteran" head coaches in attendance.

2. Commissioner Michael Tranghese warned everyone in his closing remarks that while Sunday evening's official dress code was "resort casual," to be sure everyone was casual at Monday night's Clambake because, "Trust me," he said jokingly, "you will get dirty."

Many of the national and local media who planned on attending media day on Tuesday, got a head start with the league's annual scramble golf outing at Newport National Golf Club. The 90-plus golfers were treated to a well kept links style course in a traditional scramble format with prizes awarded to the top three gross and net scores, in addition to two longest drive and closest-to-the-pin prizes.

   

The weather for the event was perfect - about 85 degrees and sunny.

Here were the winners:

Third-place net:

John Paquette (BIG EAST Associate Commissioner)

John Gerdes (USF Sports Information Director)

Sue Edson (Syracuse Sports Information Director)

Second-place net:

Adam Caparell (Writer, CSTV.com)

Paul Zeise (Writer, Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Brett McMurphy (Writer, Tampa Tribune)

First-place net:

Rich Rodriguez (Head coach, West Virginia)

Ivan Maisel (Writer, ESPN.com)

Jim Landis (Sugar Bowl Committee Member)

Eric Poms (CEO, Orange Bowl)

Third-place gross:

Michael Tranghese (BIG EAST Commissioner)

Sam Zurik (Sugar Bowl Committee Member)

Gary Stokan (Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl)

Jack Seiler (Orange Bowl Committee Member)

Second-place gross:

Greg Schiano (Head coach, Rutgers)

Pete Thamel (Writer, NY Times)

Steve Hogan (Champs Sports/Capital One Bowl)

Rick Catlett (CEO, Gator Bowl)

First-place gross:

Brian Kelly (Head coach, Cincinnati)

John Congemi (ESPN Regional Broadcaster)

Steve Hale (Senior Bowl)

Kevin McDonald (Humanitarian Bowl)

Closest-to-the-pin:

No. 13: Brett McMurphy (Writer, Tampa Tribune)

No. 4: Doug Woolard (USF Athletic Director)

Longest Drive:

No. 6: John Congemi (ERT Broadcaster)

No. 15: Brian Lowe (DVSport, Inc.)

The aforementioned winners were treated to several Nike Golf prizes that included drivers, putters, wedges and full iron sets. In addition, the third-place winners were given Newport National golf shirts.

Those who went to the golf outing rushed from the 19th Hole to the buses to the Hotel Viking to change before what has now become the talk of BIG EAST Football Media Day: The Clambake!

Stewart Mandel, college football writer for CNNSI.com, was a first-timer to the Clambake, and he wrote in his blog the next day:

On the eve of the Big East's preseason Media Day, coaches, players and media members mingled on the lawn of the historic Eisenhower House here in this posh New England vacation spot. Rare are the opportunities anymore for the writers to interact socially (and completely off the record) with some of the sport's participants. But on this night, scribes from across the country sat under a tent enjoying a lobster dinner with the likes of Brian Brohm, Ray Rice and Rich Rodriguez.

Other prominent national writers chimed in on the event:

Tom Dienhart, Sporting News

Check it out: Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is showing me how to eat lobster. I'm at a clambake at the Eisenhower House in Newport, R.I., for Big East media days. And, I have to tell ya: There is no way any league can top the festivities going on here. "Make sure you eat the meat in the claws," Wanny advises. "Grab hold of one and twist it off like this. Pull the lower part of the claw off. There's good meat there. You'll have to dig in to the other part of the claw to dig that meat out."

Dennis Dodd, CBS Sportsline

I've never eaten anything that looked up at me from the plate. Welcome to Newport, where you're only as good as your next lobster trap. That's another way to describe the monster reception put on by the Big East at their media days this week. Out at Fort Adams State Park, which overlooks Narragansett Bay, we unofficially kicked off the 2007 season. Good food, good company, good weather. I felt like putting on an ascot, climbing in a sailboat and ... running aground because I don't know anything about sailing. So it's only mid-July. The Big East seems to always start the season with the first of the major-conference media days.

Two things were different at this year's Clambake, which was sponsored by DVSport, Inc. - the league's source for instant replay:

1. Less mosquitoes! Many of those who wore shorts and short-sleeved shirts last year were forced indoors because of the mass of biters out there. This year, the tented area was sprayed to prevent the bugs, and even Coach Rodriguez commented that he didn't need his long pants this year.

2. Who's that camera man? Steve Slaton and Pat White did not have a shadow at the Clambake. It was an ESPN cameraman who was there for an all-access piece on West Virginia's two Heisman candidates.

Most of us here who work for the Conference office called it an early night in anticipation of an early morning for Tuesday's media day. Among those who were given the earliest of wake-up calls were Heisman Trophy candidates Ray Rice, Brian Brohm, Pat White and Steve Slaton. They were scheduled to be in suits by 6:00 a.m. to shoot the BIG EAST's public service announcement, which will air during league contests throughout the 2007 season.

By 6:30 a.m., the stage was set for the four to begin posing as necessary for the thirty-second spot. During breaks, you could see all four of them dive into a huge bag of Dunkin' Donuts (this is Rhode Island, remember) in an effort to keep their eyes open. While their patience was tested, all four were very accommodating. (Check out photos of the shoot by clicking here)

Media began to filter into the Bellevue room at the Hotel Viking around 9:00, picking up their press packets, conference media guides and media gift (BIG EAST branded toiletry bag) along the way. Meanwhile, BIG EAST staff was bustling about. In shirts and ties, they lifted each of the bowl trophies from the league's well documented 5-0 bowl season, including the ESPN Bowl Challenge Cup, so they were set up on the front tables before Commissioner Tranghese began his opening remarks.

As 9:30 arrived, it was clear this media day would be one for the record books. The Bellevue room had never been so crowded. Later on, Rich Rodriguez joked to the slew of writers who surrounded his table, "Three years ago, I hadn't had more than three writers here..." Associate Commissioner for Communications John Paquette explained the format for the day - radio and print media talk to coaches here and players go downstairs to television, and then switch after an hour-and-a-half - before introducing the Commissioner for his opening remarks. (Check out our media day page to watch the full content of Tranghese's remarks by clicking here.)

Much of Tuesday afternoon was left for writers to file their stories. Many of those bowl partners and their wives and others who remained in town took in a little bit of Newport for the afternoon before dinner at the Canfield House officially closed out the week's festivities.

In the end, the Orange Bowl's Eric Poms was not the only one who expressed their gratitude for a great time in one of the most popular New England towns to visit during the summer. This year's events garnered a record turnout from both media and bowl partners alike. After word gets out, maybe next year we'll see even more.