Pat Dooley’s Back Nine: Olympic fun is over, now it’s time for football – ESPN 98.1 FM

The Back Nine comes to you after a weekend that included sudden thunderstorms and the end of 16 fun days watching the Olympics.

10. I think 16 days is perfect for the Olympics because it was fantastic and I was ready for it to be over, too. I remember the year I covered the Summer Games in Atlanta and I was so happy to be there and also to be back home. While I wasn’t a fan of the opening ceremony in Paris, everything else was great drama beautifully put together by the various broadcasting teams. Well done, NBC. Everyone take a day off, get ready and get ready for football.

11My favorite moment will have to be Grant Holloway’s win because it means more when you can text an athlete after they win a gold medal. But both gold medal basketball games and the gold medal soccer game were must-see TV, and I rarely say that about soccer. That women’s game has so many stories that I was jealous. And Steph Curry? That was ridiculous.

12In total, 41 athletes associated with the Gators won 11 medals and we’re not even counting Katie Ledecky. That’s 156 medals in total for the Gators on the world’s biggest stages. By the way, I had no idea Phoenix (the band) was from France. It was a great closing ceremony that included Tom Cruise cheating death again.

13We’re shifting our focus to football, especially college football and especially the Florida Gators. Another injury hit the Gators when Jamari Lyons left Saturday’s scrimmage with a leg brace. I like to say that roster depth is only as good as the injuries. We’ll see what happens with this team, which could really use a break or three. All we know for sure is that college football games will be played in less than two weeks. I’m excited. I’m ready for it.

14So Jim Harbaugh will be the Wolverines’ honorary captain for their first game? Boy, does Michigan think the NCAA is so ineffectual that it won’t get back at these guys? I mean, there’s another pending case that could result in a postseason ban, right?

15You know, as the season approaches, I change my feelings on a daily basis about what Florida will be like in 2024. I think Billy Napier has everything headed in the right direction and it’s his best roster. But the man has to figure out how to win some games against the toughest schedule in the country. Call me in an hour and I’ll give you a totally different feeling. This is what happens when the countdown gets real. I miss the Steve Spurrier days when you knew the Gators were going to be really good and play a lot of big games.

16I went to watch some NFL exhibition games over the weekend and some interesting things happened. The new kickoff rule doesn’t seem to be as big a deal as it was made out to be. I got to see Jeff Driskel play for his seventh team. That was the highlight. I did enjoy watching the Cowboys lose though.

17I’m not sure I’ve ever seen what Max Greyserman did on Sunday at the Wyndham. Have you ever seen ANYONE make an eagle, a snowman, a birdie or a four-jack in your life? For non-golfers, that’s a hole out of the fairway, a quadruple bogey, a two-putt birdie and a four-putt double bogey. It was painful to watch. I’ve never seen an amateur go 2-8-4-6 and blow a big lead, let alone a PGA Tour player.

18As we approach the start of another football season, I remind you that one of my principles is to enjoy it all. And so is this playlist:

WRUF.com sports columnist Pat Dooley can be heard on “The Tailgate” alongside Jeff Cardozo from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday on 98.1-FM/AM-850 WRUF.