The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.
Good morning!
Saturday afternoon should be an unforgettable moment in Gainesville. University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow plays his final game in the Swamp when the top-ranked Gators face the Florida State Seminoles.
The man who gets to introduce Tebow during UF's Senior Day, well, he's pumped.
As always.
That pregame voice has been a constant at UF home games in the last quarter-century.
East side, south side, you're the big Orange! West side, north side, you're the big Blue!
He's Richard Johnston, the man with the microphone, Mr. Orange and Blue. From the 80th row, he looks and sounds like a hyperactive student.
Give me an Orange! Orange! Orange! Orange! Orange! Give me a Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue!
In reality, Richard Johnston is a 52-year-old bankruptcy attorney with a prestigious law firm - Tampa-based Fowler White Boggs - and Saturday afternoons serve as his high-profile escape from the real world.
"For crying out loud, I'm a ringmaster for 90,000 people,'' said Johnston, who primarily works from his firm's Fort Myers office. "I get to flip the switch on one of the loudest crowds in college football.
"When I'm out there, it's like wearing a pair of old jeans. I feel comfortable. I know people don't come to see me - hey, I'm just a fan with a microphone - but I love being part of the spectacle.''
By the time Mondays roll around, when he's likely back in court somewhere, Johnston is back in a more subdued element. He encounters Gators - attorneys and others - all the time. Some know about his "wild and wonderful hobby.'' Others don't have a clue.
But when the voice strikes a chord, when they learn the truth, it can be jaw-dropping.
Johnston, a UF law school graduate who was a walk-on swimmer and cheerleader, got the call from the University Athletic Association in 1984. Help us get the crowd worked up, he was told. He was working for an old-line Tallahassee law firm and didn't expect its blessing.
One of the senior partners was a Gator.
"Richard, I think it's a marvelous idea,'' the senior partner said. "Do mention the firm name and telephone number when you're down there on the field, will you?''
Well, that request didn't work out.
Johnston's presence has been a constant, though. He has never missed a home game in 25 years - there was once a close call due to a hurricane off the coast - and he occasionally dreams about waking up from a long sleep and learning he missed kickoff.
"That would never happen,'' Johnston said. "I'm too excitable. I don't need a lot of coffee. I hit the floor running.''
Occasionally, there are humorous moments.
Last year, at a bankruptcy hearing, Johnston met another lawyer, a Gator. A colleague chimed in:
"Hey, don't you know who this is? Don't you know what he does?''
"Who is he?''
"He's Mr. Orange and Blue.''
"What!''
Just then, the judge entered.
"The guy was dying to ask me about it,'' said Johnston, who is married to, you guessed it, a Seminole (Tracie Carlson). "But we had to wait a few hours to pick up the conversation.''
Like everyone, there was an obvious question.
What's it like, the feeling of being down there, being at the epicenter of all that noise?
"It's a singular moment,'' Johnston said. "It overwhelms me. Picture 90,000 people behind one thing, screaming as loud as they can.
"When they get a chance to say farewell to Tim Tebow, I can't imagine what it will be like.''
But Saturday afternoon, Johnston will know the feeling. He'll be in the middle of it all.
As always.
Bennett just misses Tebow's record
Alonso High School senior quarterback C.J. Bennett had a game for the ages in Friday night's 47-37 victory against the Newsome Wolves in the Class 5A first-round state playoffs. Bennett was 24 of 39 for 286 yards and six touchdown passes.
That was five TD passes in the second half; four just in the fourth quarter.
According to the Orlando Sentinel's Buddy Collings, the state's foremost resource for prep records, Bennett fell one short of Tim Tebow's TD-pass record for a state-playoff game.
In 2004, Tebow, then a junior for Ponte Vedra Beach Nease, had seven touchdown passes in a Class 3A second-round playoff game against Inverness Citrus. Tebow completed 16 of 22 passes for 453 yards and seven touchdowns in the 76-6 victory against Citrus.
Agony (and ecstasy) in Oakland
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andre Caldwell (Jefferson) suffered the most anguishing moment of his two-year NFL career in Sunday's 20-17 loss against the Oakland Raiders. With the game tied, Caldwell fumbled away a kickoff return at the Cincinnati 18-yard line with 22 seconds remaining, leading to Sebastian Janikowski's game-winning field goal.
"I think I should've gone down,'' Caldwell told Bengals.com. "I'll learn from it now. Trying to get some extra when nothing was there. That's part of being a young guy like me. You live and you learn.''
At the same time, the game was a highlight for Raiders rookie wide receiver Louis Murphy (Lakewood), who caught the game-tying 29-yard touchdown pass from Bruce Gradkowski with 33 seconds remaining.
Arenas new SEC leader
University of Alabama senior Javier Arenas (Robinson) was named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring on a 66-yard punt return against UT-Chattanooga. It was the seventh career punt-return TD for Arenas, who broke the SEC record of six, held by Kentucky's Derek Abney (2000-03).
Morrison has monster game
George Mason University sophomore forward Mike Morrison (Lakewood) set a Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament record with seven blocked shots - the most by a George Mason player since 1999 - as the Patriots defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 69-66 on Sunday in the tournament's seventh-place game.
Morrison, a 6-foot-9, 225-pounder, also had 17 points and 13 rebounds.
Overall, Morrison is averaging 9.6 points and 8.0 rebounds in five games.
Sheffield wants more
Gary Sheffield (Hillsborough), 41, told the Boston Globe he's sticking to a new workout routine and has hired a nutritionist in hopes of returning for another major-league season. "After talking to my wife and kids, they want me to get 3,000 hits (he's at 2,689),'' Sheffield said. "I know I can go out and hit at least 25 and maybe up to 40 home runs for some team if I get the chance.''
Sheffield, while playing for the New York Mets, hit his 500th career homer last season.
Birthday wishes
Happy belated birthday to Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley, a key member of Chamberlain High School's 2001 Class 5A state runner-up team and an All-American at Florida State University. Monday, Bunkley turned 26.
The Answer Man
Here's the answer to Friday's trivia question:
Friday night, the Tampa Bay Tech Titans can reach a state playoff third-round game for the first time in program history. In a much darker era, TBT's football program once had a 38-game losing streak, longest in the nation at the time. But in 1983, the Titans defeated Tampa Catholic 34-0 to end that losing streak.
Tuesday trivia
Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.
The FSU Seminoles haven't won in Gainesville since 2003, when they defeated the Florida Gators 38-34. Who scored the game-winning touchdown with 55 seconds remaining?
Check for the answer in Wednesday's Wake-Up Call.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement