She has hard evidence of the difference the crowd can make. In a December loss to Georgetown, the O'Connell Center was about as quiet as Gainesville during spring break. But during the win over Tennessee, a school-record crowd of 3,123 made the place rock. Good teams are supposed to be able handle that. But if you can get a little edge like we did with the crowd against Tennessee, it can be a major factor in winning or losing.
Athletes respond to encouragement.
Heading into the seventh inning of the second game against Stetson on Saturday, Florida softball coach Larry Ray saw a little too much celebrating from his team. Then Stetson came within a baserunning blunder of tying the game, and Ray was able to drive home the season's first lesson to his team - you don't celebrate until it's over. A clear indication Florida wasn't focused came when pitcher Danielle Wilson threw six warmup pitches, one more than is allowed, resulting in a one-ball count on the first Stetson batter. The SEC announced on Tuesday that the conference women's basketball tournament will move from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Columbus, Ga., in 1998 and then move back to Chattanooga in 1999. This year's tournament will be in Chattanooga.