The Gators are formally looking their third males’s basketball nationwide championship.
With a win over Auburn Saturday night time, their second victory over the Tigers this season, the College of Florida (UF) is heading to the championship recreation in San Antonio.
The Gators received 79-73 Saturday night time, a a lot decrease scoring recreation than their 90-81 win over the Tigers in early February.
UF overcame an 8-point halftime deficit and pulled away late within the second half because of a stellar efficiency from Walter Clayton Jr., who completed the sport with 34 factors. The Gators held Auburn’s prime participant, Johni Broome, to only 15 factors.
The Gators need to revive their 2006-07 golden period, after they received back-to-back nationwide championships with a traditionally nice roster that includes Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Taurean Inexperienced.
Followers complained about how chalky March Insanity has been this 12 months. And we love upsets as a lot as the subsequent man. However each now and again, it’s enjoyable seeing the nation’s greatest groups duke it out with all the things on the road. And from the Elite Eight onward, we bought probably the most talent-packed matchups we’ve seen in current reminiscence.
Now, the Gators may have an opportunity to etch their names within the historical past books. It must be a enjoyable one.
Now, it’s onto our weekly recreation of winners and losers.
Winners
Honorable point out: Tom Leek, Shevrin Jones, Ben Albritton. The Course of may be irritating at instances, each for partisans who don’t get their manner and for on a regular basis Floridians who at instances really feel left behind by the back-and-forth in Tallahassee.
However this week, we noticed a pitch good instance of The Course of working the precise manner.
Sen. Leek, an Ormond Seashore Republican, was pushing laws creating harsher penalties for manslaughter circumstances the place a police officer is killed after a controversial case from just a few years again. However that pro-law enforcement invoice additionally contained language eradicating a requirement that law enforcement officials act in “good religion.”
Republican backers stated the transfer was essential to keep away from confusion by a jury and additional assure unhealthy actors are punished if an interplay results in a cop being killed. However a number of Black Senators, led by Jones, raised critical considerations about axing that provision and its repercussions, resulting in a heated trade adopted by Leek pulling the invoice from being voted on.
This week, all was resolved. The “good religion” language was inserted back into the bill, per an modification posed by Jones, together with definitional language, and the laws handed unanimously within the Senate. Senate President Albritton and Senate management had been key to permitting the modification to undergo.
A whole lot of us who simply need to see this state be the most effective model it could actually are actually uninterested in the tradition conflict hysteria and fatigued by fights within the Capitol over these points. This simply might have been one other instance if Leek and different Republicans demanded to remain agency. In spite of everything, Republicans have a supermajority in each chambers. They will do no matter they need.
As an alternative, Leek listened. The invoice bought higher for it. And what might have served as a legislative meals combat as an alternative is an instance of lawmakers placing apart their partisan hats and dealing collectively to return to consensus.
That is the place most Floridians are, regardless of how loud the fringes get. And this week reveals that when you cease, hear and take up prompt language to make a invoice higher (even from a Democrat), you will get unanimous assist. Thanks to all of those Senators for displaying the way it’s executed.
Virtually (however not fairly) the most important winner: Byron Donalds. Donalds does it once more.
This week continued to point out Donalds building his case to be the front-runner within the 2026 Governor’s race.
First, he introduced elevating $12 million in his first month as a candidate. That’s an enormous haul and an indication that Donalds has tapped right into a community to closely fund his marketing campaign into subsequent August, when the GOP Major will happen.
Nonetheless have considerations he could not have sufficient sources? Nicely, Donalds later within the week added U.S. Home Speaker Mike Johnson’s endorsement. That’s a direct line into the nationwide GOP donor community.
All of this doesn’t lock something up 16 months away from any votes being forged.
However it does function instance after instance that extra massive strikes — endorsements, main donations, and so forth. — are coming Donalds’ manner down the road.
In the meantime, Gov. Ron DeSantis says that if First Girl Casey DeSantis declares her personal bid for Governor, she’s going to wait till after this year’s Legislative Session — one other month-plus away — to take action.
Nice thought. Ready till after Session to announce a marketing campaign whereas a rival candidate freely builds up huge momentum has never hurt the DeSantises before.
The most important winner: Randy Positive, Jimmy Patronis. Scoreboard.
They had been outspent massive time. Democrats honed in on these seats to point out their anger on the Donald Trump administration. Critics — even Florida’s Republican Governor, in Positive’s case — hammered them over residency questions.
And none of it mattered. Each received by 14 proportion factors.
Now in fact, margins matter. These districts had been each Trump +30 districts in November. The truth that Democrats minimize the margins by a minimum of half reveals one thing — perhaps simply the weirdness of Particular Elections, or perhaps an indication, mixed with the Wisconsin outcomes, that Democrats have some successes forward in additional aggressive districts.
So down the road, perhaps Democrats in different states can construct on these outcomes.
However for now? They bought nothing. No chopping into the GOP’s skinny Home benefit. No stunning the world and dunking on Trump.
Positive and Patronis will now doubtless be capable to serve in Congress for so long as they like.
We hate to say we told you so.
Losers
Dishonorable point out: Donna Deegan. Deegan confronted an admittedly robust determination this week relating to a Jacksonville regulation seeking to crack down on unlawful immigrants by requiring jail time: signal a regulation she vocally disapproves of, or veto it and invite the wrath of the DeSantis administration, which warned her and others to not intervene with the state’s push on this challenge.
And with that selection forward of her, Deegan made the robust determination … to do neither.
She as an alternative simply let the measure grow to be regulation with out her signature.
Speak about a cop out.
Deegan couldn’t signal the invoice and invite the wrath of her supporters. However make no mistake: simply letting this factor grow to be regulation with out a signature is identical actual factor. Sure, she might placed on a performative show by refusing to signal it, nevertheless it modified completely nothing right here.
If she was so opposed, and if she thought she was on agency authorized floor in her opposition, she might have vetoed it. Sure, there would have been a backlash, but when that’s her place, then isn’t it incumbent on her to make use of each means vital to withstand?
And if she knew she was boxed right into a nook legally and was basically pressured to simply accept this at regulation, then simply signal it and clarify to her supporters that her palms had been tied.
As an alternative, Deegan tried to string a needle and ended up taking the squishiest path doable. That’s not management.
Virtually (however not fairly) the most important loser: Tampa Bay. It seems the Tampa Bay space is getting the brief finish of the stick in some important methods in relation to federal and state budgeting priorities.
Congress seems to be the large villain right here. After Representatives from the world pushed for thousands and thousands to fund water tasks to assist recuperate from devastating storms final 12 months, Republicans within the Home voted to cancel each single venture. That features pushes from Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, in addition to Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor.
“A few of these had been fairly modest congressional appropriations, however they fill large wants again residence,” Castor stated.
There’s extra. An op-ed within the Tampa Bay Times from Rick Garrity, who used to guide Hillsborough’s Environmental Safety Fee, argued that cuts to the Environmental Safety Company are going to hurt the area’s water high quality.
And meals banks are warning {that a} funding slash focusing on the U.S. Division of Agriculture will hammer food purchasing programs in Tampa Bay and the power to distribute meals to these in want.
On that latter level, the Florida Senate price range seems to make up a number of the distinction within the lack of federal funds. However to date, the Florida Home isn’t going along.
Issues just like the Division of Authorities Effectivity cuts and Trump’s tariff program could result in some long-term achieve. Some imagine they’re completely vital, even with the short-term ache they bring about.
However these potential advantages solely come if our leaders execute these plans, nicely, effectively. And to date, the massive screw-ups we’ve seen in these areas the first few months of Trump’s administration are making lots of people fear.
And within the meantime, these numerous silos in Tampa Bay are getting left behind.
The most important loser: Jackson McMillan. This man …
“Unethical.” “Laborious to justify.” “Donor abuse.” These had been simply a few of the phrases from Democratic consultants used to explain the fundraising technique for the 2 Democratic congressional candidates who bought blown out by Positive and Patronis Tuesday.
That cash was basically lit on fireplace right here isn’t solely the fault of McMillan and his agency, Key Lime Methods. Democrats nationwide had been wanting to see an indication of hope, and these had been the primary two congressional Particular Elections within the nation since Trump took workplace. Many donors in all probability didn’t understand how ruby pink they had been; they only needed a spot to vent. So cash poured in.
However as Homosexual Valimont and Josh Weil raised round $16 million as of March 12, McMillan pocketed round $4.7 million throughout that point span.
Not unhealthy for 2 elections the place your candidates misplaced by almost 30 factors mixed.
McMillan told Florida Politics that all the things he charged, he displayed upfront.
Honest sufficient. However let’s pull again for one second.
As hype as these fundraising numbers had been for Democrats, the possibilities they had been ever profitable these seats was all the time close to zero, regardless of a number of the breathless media protection from retailers seeking to gin up drama.
So with out a win, what might Democrats realistically get from hauling in all of this cash? They may have used it to construct up infrastructure. They may have transferred a few of it to a bigger occasion equipment that might use it for extra aggressive races.
You understand what doesn’t assist the Democratic Social gathering? A marketing consultant pocketing a couple of third of this huge haul for, once more, delivering two 14-point losses.
To date, nobody’s alleging something unlawful right here. McMillan in his protection argued, partially, that that is simply how the sport is performed. And to some extent, he’s right.
However as he pointed to different consultants hauling in massive paychecks, we’d wish to level out one factor: A lot of these corporations have truly received a whole lot of massive races. That’s why Democrats rent them.
McMillan did nothing right here and siphoned cash that might have been spent higher elsewhere. That’s nice for him, and everybody ought to get a bag the place they will.
However for Democrats truly seeking to compete on this more and more pink state, we’re simply unsure what McMillan is providing going ahead.
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