It is always my intention to blog often when I come on road trips, something I have not been doing as much as I would like for a couple of reasons. First, I have been preoccupied with the major story breaking on my other beat (the hiring of Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coach as the new Yale football coach) and the fact that I AM IN TAMPA. Come on, it's 80 degrees, the sun is shining, it's an absolutely glorious day. Somehow the prospect of sitting inside with my computer on my lap is pretty low on my list of things to do. Hey, when I am in blustery Morgantown, West Virginia this weekend I figure to be blogging to my heart's content.

Seriously, there is some news to report.

South Florida guard Alexis Givands is no longer with the program according to a report in the Tampa Tribune. Givands started 10 games and averaged 6.9 points and 3.1 rebounds a game.

Former Rutgers freshman Jasmine Dixon landed at UCLA and will be eligible to play for the Bruins beginning in the second semester of the 2009-2010 season.

UConn commit Stefanie Dolson had 15 points, 14 rebounds and five assists in a 64-42 win over Valley Central Monday night.

Couple things that caught my eye since I have been down here.

First, couple help by noticing signs saying people could earn as much as $10,000 for letting people stay with them during the Super Bowl. I'd be curious how the dollar figures would be allotted for putting up tourists and what would be the going rate for hosting a reporter? Considering the extra stress that would be created by dealing with a member of the UConn's "Arrogant Horde" I would envision bidding would start somehwere around $250,000.

One thing I did notice is that there is a familiar face on the air down here. Lynn Carson, who used to work for Channel 30 in Hartford, is with the NBC station down here. Channel 30 used to have its New Haven bureau in the newsroom of the Register. It was actually about 20 feet from where I sat. I would put Lynn, Lisa Carberg and Lauren DeFranco as the three friendliest reporters of the bunch. I remember being on assignment doing a story on a women's pro football team and Lynn was there as well, jumping up and down trying to stay warm as we waited for practice to end at Dillon Stadium. Something tells me she doesn't have to resort to getting her blood flowing now that she resides in the Sunshine State. A friend of mine who only recently moved from Tampa told me of a Connecticut transplant who has made a splash as a television report in Tampa. So I checked the bio of Shannon Mulaire from Fox 4. I would say that between Lynn and Shannon, the Nutmeg State is being represented quite well in Tampa.