One-handed Florida player scores first points of his career (VIDEO)

It was basically a routine spin-move, under-handed floater that Zach Hodskins put through a basketball net Tuesday night — one that normally wouldn’t make any highlight reels. But if you are a fan of Florida basketball, or just a fan of inspiration anywhere, it was a bucket that deserves recognition.

You see, Hodskins is the one-handed sophomore guard for the Gators, a player with dreams of playing D-1 ball long before Billy Donovan offered him a chance to wear a Florida uniform. 

Hodskins, by way of Alpharetta, Georgia, has been playing one-handed basketball all his life. He was born without a left hand, but this basket against Jacksonville were the first points the walk-on scored in a Gators uniform.

.@dabreu91 @dustinhart_ @GatorsMBK Here's Zach at full speed! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/I4J6ESYJG0

— Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) December 23, 2015

The skilled Hodskins made his debut in a UF uniform last season, but that first score is always the sweetest.

And it deserves another look:

@notthefakesvp this has to be the best thing you'll see today https://t.co/NNVcyfJ6eL #scSVP

— Jon Brokman (@JBrok420) December 23, 2015

Florida is now 8-3 and plays at home against Florida State next Tuesday.

Gators ‘coach’ Emmitt Smith wants an explanation about call from ref (VIDEO)

Former Gators star Emmitt Smith was back in The Swamp Saturday night with a sideline pass for the Florida-Mississippi game.

And the Gators legend took his current position on the team up just a notch.

Florida was ahead 25-3 in the third quarter when wide receiver Chris Thompson was called for kick catching interference on the Rebels’ Carlos Davis. A TV camera caught Smith right at the edge of the field wondering, “What’s that?!”

Emmitt Smith is confused, can you speak into his good ear? pic.twitter.com/UfbWoKiauX

— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) October 4, 2015

Here is video of the sequence, via ESPN:

ICYMI: Florida got a 15-yard penalty, and Emmitt Smith wanted a word with the ref: http://t.co/jnJO0tLddZ

— ESPN (@espn) October 4, 2015

Florida Gators band told to stop playing penalty tune due to 'you suck' fan chant (VIDEO)

The Florida Gators marching band has been instructed to stop playing its "You Can't Do That" penalty tune after the athletic department received complaints of inappropriate language stemming from the chant.

Over the last decade, students have changed the "You Can't Do That" chant, which originated during basketball games, into "Move Back You Suck" for football games.

Jay Watkins, the associate director of bands at Florida, told WUFT the band decided to stop playing the tune after the athletic department received several emails calling the chant too yucky for The Swamp.

"The reason why it's been stopped is because there have been too many complaints from fans to the athletic department that the student section was saying something else that the fans thought was vulgar and inappropriate," said Watkins, according to WUFT.

Some fans were upset that student section was chanting something "vulgar and unsportsmanlike." - Jay Watkins

— WUFT News (@WUFTNews) September 28, 2015

Several fans told WUFT they want the 10-year tradition to continue and will do their own acapella version of the chant if they can't have the music.

The real problem is the few whiny fans who ruin some harmless college fun for everyone else. Welcome to these PC times.

Florida Gators pull off hidden ball trick in NCAA postseason game (VIDEO)

The Florida Gators perfectly executed the ol' hidden ball trick against the College Of Charleston on the opening day of NCAA regional play Friday.

Gators pitcher Logan Shore was pretending to tie his shoe in the first inning while shortstop Richie Martin secretly still had the ball in his glove.

As the Cougars' Nick Pappas stepped off second base, Martin quickly tagged him out.

Unfortunately, it did not help the No. 2 seeded Gators too much. Charleston upset them 3-2 in their own building, then Florida lost 5-2 to UNC on Saturday to send them packing.

Man offers date with step-daughter on Craigslist complete with free tickets to Vols-Gators game

A compassionate dad has offered a date with his step-daughter on Craigslist after she was stood up and is even throwing in 40-yard tickets to an upcoming prime-time college football game to sweeten the deal.

This is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime package deal Gary Yates offered on the Gainesville, Florida Craigslist, when he gave readers the chance to take his step-daughter to see the Tennessee Volunteers take on the Florida Gators this Saturday.

Yates explained that 27-year-old Jessica Flanagan's date had suddenly backed out of their arrangement to go the Vols' Sept. 21 away clash with the Gators in Gainesville and he decided to play Cupid —with the enticement of the free seats.

But the ad lays down some strict ground rules:

My step-daughter's date has backed out (his loss your gain) for the game...

1 Free ticket for the Tennessee-Florida Football game this Saturday (cost to me, $150) on the 40 for the right gentleman. You must be an attractive, professional, single well educated gentleman, with a good sense of humor, 25-33. You also must not be threatened by an attractive, professional, single well educated lady, (as she is). If you do not qualify, please pass this ad to a friend.

The fine print: I lied! (Sorry...not totally free). Your cost will be a modest dinner, drinks and delightful conversation with her before or after the game.

P.S. (Being a Tennessee Vols fan is not required but is highly desirable)

Only those that respond with pictures and resume will be considered! Be creative!

The lifelong Volunteers fan said his inbox had been inundated with offers since the ad — now removed  — was posted on Monday night.

"I've had a couple of lighthearted responses, one of them was hilarious, but yeah, it's been mostly serious responses — I would guess, I don't know, 30 or 40," he said.

And Yates added that he had run the idea by the fair-haired Flanagan before posting the advertisement and she would have the final say over who would be her date.

"I wouldn't do something like that without her permission," said Yates.

There ad doesn't specify if Yates will be tagging along as well. After all, this is Tennessee football — and a $150 ticket —  we're talking about.

Tebow's 'savior' photo in upcoming GQ is altered

Tim Tebow's shirtless body is featured in GQ's September cover story to kick off the 2012 NFL season.  But that's not such a surprise.

In an article titled "Have You Accepted Tim Tebow as Your QB and Sunday Savior," a photo spread of the New York Jets quarterback features a shot of the devout Christian with his arms outstretched and legs crossed— similar to Jesus on the cross.

Eagle-eyed readers will probably notice that the photo looks like it's a resurrection of shot that appeared in the magazine before.  And they're right.  It's actually a digitally-altered version of the original photo which appeared in a previous GQ issue, when Tebow was a quarterback for the Florida Gators.

The color photo which originally appeared in the magazine was changed to black and white and the Gator's signage removed and put into the upcoming issue.

The article goes on to paint a portrait of an always smiling young man who is one game fail by Mark Sanchez from running the Jets offense.

Asked what he would say to Jets fans who are anti-Tebow, the faithful  Christian said,  "I think if they're a Jets fans, they'll be rooting for me.  Hopefully, I'll do whatever I can to help the team win football games.  I'll give my heart and soul whenever I step on the field and even when I'm on the sidelines.  And at the end of the day, that's really all you can ask of someone."

Keeping the faith.

Brittney Griner becomes second woman to dunk in NCAA tournament Game

Brittney Griner took a pass from a teammate under the basket, took a step to the basket and jammed the ball through the rim— becoming only the second woman in history to dunk in an NCAA tournament game Tuesday night.

The 6-foor-8 junior phenom's rare feat highlighted top-seeded Baylor's 76-57 win against ninth-seeded Florida in the second round game.

Tennessee's Candace Parker— who holds the career record with seven dunks— had dunked twice in an NCAA tournament game against Army in 2006.

The second half jam was Griner's first dunk of the season and helped erase the memory of going scoreless for nearly 12 minutes in the first half of the second round game.



Griner took the reaction of the fans and teammates in stride— and without showboating.

"I think my team got fired up a little bit more than me," she modestly said.  "I got a little more fired up, I think, on the blocks I had.  But it definitely felt good throwing it down."

The Bearcats head coach Kim Mulkey was a little more enthused.

"That wasn't just a barely-over-the-rim type of dunk.  That was a monster dunk," she said.  I think Brittney is so conscious about people writing good or bad about the dunk, that she's scared to get excited sometimes and celebrate a dunk, because she's been written about in a negative way.  I said, 'Honey, if could dunk it, I'd do backflips down the floor."

Griner wowed the crowd before the game by tossing down dunks and hanging on the rim in warmups.  She finished the game by going 8 of 14 from the field with 9 rebounds and six blocks.

Baylor (36-0) moves on to the Sweet 16 to face fourth-seeded Georgia Tech.