The Florida Tuskers are holding a free Fan Day at the Citrus Bowl this Saturday morning at 9am. Come out and check out their new AstroTurf field as well as the team.

Also, single-game tickets are now on sale. They range $15-$30 each plus fees through Ticketmaster. For group sales, call 407-545-8123.

Today word came out, on ESPN first and foremost, that former Ohio State standout running back Maurice Clarett has asked permission from a judge in Ohio to leave the state so he can tryout for the United Football League‘s Omaha Nighthawks.

Clarett threw his NFL career away when he got kicked out of Ohio State after his 2002 freshman year for taking benefits from agents. He sued the NFL to enter the draft early, but failed. After that, he ran into a series of legal issues, culminating with a 2006 guilty plea for armed robbery, for which he served 3 1/2 years. He recently left a halfway house and has re-enrolled at Ohio State as a regular student.

His attorney stated he was in football shape, and had his head straight after his time behind bars. The Nighthawks made the following statement:

Maurice Clarett has paid his debt to society and through recent conversations with Maurice, his lawyer and his family, we believe he is sincerely working at turning his life around. Because we believe everyone deserves a second chance, and because Maurice wants to see whether he can still play the game he loves, we’ve agreed to work Maurice out as soon as the Ohio courts allow.  There are no commitments other than we want to help him take positive steps towards being the good citizen and solid family man that he aspires to be.

Omaha Nighthawks staff, coaches and players will not comment further on this matter.

A hearing on the matter will occur next Monday. Clarett hopes to join the team in time for next month’s season opener. If he makes the team, he would be joining former NFL players Jeff Garcia and Ahman Green.

They didn’t make it obvious in recent headlines about legendary NFL quarterback and former broadcaster Joe Theismann visiting Florida Tuskers training camp, but they should have.

Theismann is the new part-owner of the Tuskers, taking the place of Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg as the team’s local investor.

The report doesn’t make it clear whether or not the deal is finalized, but he did introduce himself to the team on Thursday morning as their new part-owner.

Theismann played in the NFL for 12 seasons, with three seasons in the CFL and a collegiate career at Notre Dame before that. He is currently co-host of Playbook on NFL Network, and does local TV broadcast for Redskins preseason. He led the Redskins to two Super Bowl titles, but is also remembered for the gruesome leg injury on Monday Night Football in 1985, suffered at the hands of Lawrence Taylor, that ended his career. (Ironically, he would appear on MNF in 2006.)

Theismann is also a first-generation American, with an Austrian father and Hungarian mother. He has three children from his first marriage, and keeps one of his three houses in Florida with his third wife.

The Florida Tuskers today announced the addition of placekicker Carlos Martinez to the roster.

The article refers to him as “formerly” of the Orlando Predators, but it is unknown if he will continue his arena football career next year, so I wouldn’t go that far yet.

But still, the addition of Martinez is a very wise one. Last year the Tuskers’ primary weakness was PKs. Matt Bryant was coming off a leg injury, which was the whole reason he was cut from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first place.

With Martinez, the Tuskers have a long and accurate leg for field goals. When I saw the Preds in action this year, I saw Martinez in practice easily hitting 50+ yarders, and this with the narrower target in the indoor game. It bodes well for translation to the outdoor game, especially with the Tuskers playing on artificial turf this year.

In-game, Martinez finished 2010 with a league-high 13 field goals, and a long of 55 yards. He also made 91% of his PAT attempts, a total of 104.

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In his column today, Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Bianchi gave a warning about practicing during the heat of the afternoon with the unusually hot summer. He used Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden as an example of a coach dealing with the heat, showing how the Tuskers practice in the morning before the worst of the afternoon heat arrives.

UCF alum and Florida Tuskers draftee WR Rocky Ross has decided today to retire from football.

Ross, who was an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American for 2009, earned a masters in sports and fitness, so it’s possible he could be looking for an office job somewhere.

The decision came as a complete surprise to Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden. Ross has been placed on waivers; it’s unknown yet who the Tuskers will sign in his place, if anybody.

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One play we won’t be getting is QB Jeff Garcia. He signed today with the Omaha Nighthawks.

The Florida Tuskers have unveiled their new personalized uniforms for the 2010 season.

Image from the UFL.

Dominic Rhodes and Chas Gessner took part in the fashion show-style unveiling today at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas. The new uniforms are largely black with sky blue highlights. Home jerseys are black with blue type, and away jerseys are white with black type. It also features a new logotype, though the original Tuskers mascot logo will be retained. In fact, the helmet itself is virtually unchanged.

A detailed PDF of the Tuskers uniform design is located here.

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The UFL also announced that New England Sports Network, NESN, will be the third broadcast partner for the UFL in 2010.

The role of NESN is actually quite exaggerated. They will be airing two of the four Hartford Colonials home games.

The announcement does carry the final schedule with airtimes, however.

Saturday 9/18 @ Las Vegas, 11pm EDT on HDNet
Saturday 9/25 @ Sacramento, 11pm EDT on Versus
Thursday 9/30 vs. Las Vegas, 6pm EDT on Versus
Saturday 10/9 @ Hartford, 3pm EDT on Versus
Thursday 10/21 vs. Sacramento, 7pm EDT on HDNet
Friday 11/5 vs. Omaha, 8pm EDT on HDNet
Thursday, 11/11 vs. Hartford, 7pm EST on HDNet
Friday, 11/19 @ Omaha, 8:30pm EST on HDNet

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As an interesting footnote, the current poll on the UFL website about the most anticipated UFL player in 2010, tied for first with 30% of the vote is UCF wide receiver Rocky Ross. Ross is playing for the Tuskers.

QB Daunte Culpepper is third with 25% of the vote. He is playing for Sacramento.

Today is my 30th birthday.

Some interesting things in sport that happened on July 14:

• In 1969, El Salvador launched bombing raids on Honduras, beginning the Football War. The war was fought over a pair of soccer games for CONCACAF qualification to the 1970 FIFA World Cup, where riots ensued following both matches in their tie as well as a tiebreaker in neutral Mexico City that June. El Salvador won the war militarily, but were sanctioned internationally for the brute force they exerted over Honduras. They ultimately qualified for the World Cup, but failed to score in their group, where they were dominated by the Soviet Union, Mexico and Belgium.
• Being the period of the MLB All-Star Game, several occured on this date. The first was 1953, at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, when the NL beat the AL, 5-1. Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves was the winning pitcher. (They didn’t name MVPs until 1962.) In 1970, again in Cincinnati but at the brand new Riverfront Stadium, the NL beat the AL, 5-4 in 12 innings. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox–yes, an AL player–was named MVP. This was the infamous game where Pete Rose careened into Ray Fosse at home plate to score the winning run. Examination of replays showed he initially wanted to slide, but stumbled and rammed directly into Fosse, injuring the catcher. Fosse, an up-and-coming star to that point, would never be the same. In 1987, at Oakland-Alameda County Stadium, the NL beat the AL, 2-0 in 13 innings. Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos was MVP. In 1992, at what is now Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, the AL beat the NL, 13-6. Ken Griffey, Jr., of the Seattle Mariners was MVP. Last year’s All-Star Game at Busch Stadium III in St. Louis was also on July 14. The AL beat the NL, 4-3. Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays was MVP.
• This date also sometimes falls in the window for the FIFA World Cup. In 1930, the first tournament, two opening round games were played on July 14 in Uruguay. Romania beat Peru, 3-1, and Yugoslavia beat Brazil, 2-1. Beyond that, the date itself has seen no action. It was a rest day in the final group stage in 1950 (the final was determined by a round robin at the time), and was a rest day between the semifinal and finals in 1994.

Among the sports birthdays are football players Roosevelt Grier and Darelle Revis; baseball players Robin Ventura, Jose Hernandez, Tim Hudson and Bernie Castro; basketball players Erick Dampier and Renaldo Balkman; soccer players Nilmar (Brazil), Billy Celeski (Australia), Adam Johnson (England) and James Vaughan (England); and professional wrestlers Jeff Jarrett and Mark Lamonica (Brother Ray in TNA).

It also would’ve been the birthday of golfer Erica Blasberg, but she died earlier this year. Her death in May was under suspicious circumstances, and is still under investigation at this time.

Before I head to the Florida Tuskers fan club meeting today, I just got a new press release.

The Tuskers have announced that their 2010 games will be aired on the radio on 740 the Game, WYGM. The broadcast team will be announced at a later date. They will also have a weekly preview show as part of The Sports Rx with the Shot Doctor, David Buffa and Scott Harris.

It will also be heard in FM on HD Radio at WTKS 104.1 HD-3, which is a WTKS simulcast.

The WYGM website has been done up in Tuskers colors, with prominent use of the Tuskers logo.

A different announcement is expected to occur at the meeting tonight, so head downtown to Ember to find out about the fan club!

Yesterday, while I was wrestling with fixing my blog, the UFL took the conditional tag off Norfolk for a 2011 UFL team.

But the story does not end there. Apparently, Virginia Beach is courting the team to host them at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The stadium there, built as a soccer-specific stadium (it claims to be the first of its kind in America, finished in 1999), holds 10,789 people.

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And just a quick reminder that the organizational meeting for the Florida Tuskers fan club is TONIGHT at 6pm at Ember bar and nightclub in Downtown Orlando, 42 W. Central Blvd. (The UFL website is WRONG. They are stating 46 N. Orange Ave.) The nearest public parking is at 55 W. Central Blvd.

Sorry I’ve been quiet the past week or so. Had some stuff to take care of in the real world.

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The Orlando Predators are currently sitting 5-7 with four games left in the regular season. That includes home games this Friday against Alabama, and on Saturday night, July 24, against Oklahoma City. The game on Friday night will air on NFL Network, and of course tickets are available. Game time is 8pm.

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The Kraze are 4-3-2 right now. Their next game is this Friday at Showalter Field in Winter Park. Game time is 7pm.

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The Florida Tuskers is planning the big kickoff for their Supporters Club. It will happen next Tuesday, July 13, at Ember, a high-end bar and grill in Downtown Orlando at 42 W. Central Blvd. There is parking right next door at 55 W. Central Blvd. (no, that’s not the 55 West… that’s a couple blocks south on Church St.)

Drink specials and complementary appetizers will be provided.

The Tuskers have not been sitting around in terms of personnel decisions. They have signed running back Dominic Rhodes. That name ought to be familiar. It’s the same guy who saved Peyton Manning’s hind quarters by rushing 113 yards with one touchdown in Super Bowl XLI. For his NFL career, he has 7,257 all-purpose yards with 32 TD.

Their provisional roster, which they will take into preseason training camp, was announced last Wednesday.

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The only recent news on the Orlando Titans is that they recently reshuffled their ownership structure. The primary owner, Gary Rosenbach, has sold some of his stake to other ownership partners.

Team president Steve Donner said there is interest in bringing in local partners. I’m certain we’ll get news when that happens.

The team stated there are no major difficulties with our NLL lacrosse team. Although not profitable their first year (what team is?), they did do better this year than during any year in New York City. Their financial goal is to break even during their third season in town.

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As for UCF… I scooped that Jeffrey Jordan would join his brother, Marcus, at UCF for men’s basketball. This was made official last week. He’ll sit out this coming season, and play his senior season, 2011-12.

Women’s basketball announced just today that assistant coach Courtney Locke has been promoted to recruiting coordinator. Locke has been an integral part of head coach Joi Williams-Felton’s staff. She played at Rutgers from 2002-2006.

It should be noted that all five starters in women’s basketball, and 4 of 5 starters in men’s basketball, return next year. So there are high hopes for improvement in 2010-11.

Season tickets for UCF football are on sale now. General season tickets are $190 on the sidelines and $130 in the end zone. Both prices are lower than the first-year prices in 2007 ($210 anywhere). Faculty/staff pricing is $156, and student pricing is $60 with valid UCF ID.

In baseball, Chris Duffy is being named first-team All-American by everybody: ABCA/Rawlings, Baseball America, NCBWA, and Yahoo! Sports, among others. Whether or not he wins the Golden Spikes Award (for which he’s one of 5 finalists) will be announced next Tuesday prior to the MLB All-Star Game.

Owen Dew signed his tender with the Cleveland Indians, and will report to Short-A Mahoning Valley in the New York-Penn League. Shane Brown signed with the Yankees, and will report to Short-A Staten Island in the same league.

Chris Duffy has been assigned to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League by the Phillies, meaning he’s playing in Clearwater. (Interestingly enough, he’s not the only Chris Duffy in the Phillies system.)