Fin-dang-ally!

The DVDs arrived today and we’re assembling the boxes, etc. and shipping them out tonight and tomorrow.

Thanks for your everlasting patience, folks.

Ray

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The bad news first…

Just got off the phone a bit ago. The DVD replication company said there’s going to be too many problems with our DVD packing four hours on a dual layer DVD and that even if they got it to work, that it would take 13 business days to run.

The good news…

Based on their recommendation and a local video expert’s as well, what we’re going to do is break the DVD into two physical single layer DVDs (the most common) and get a case that holds two DVDs. It’ll be Part I and then Part II. It’ll cost us more money - enough that we’ll end up not making any money off of this, but it’s worth it to get this out to you guys ASAP.

I’ll be doing this over the weekend and reencoding/burning everything.

One bonus to this is that they will only take 5 business days turnaround as opposed to 13, so that works out for you guys.

The DVD does look great though - especially the interviews. You’ll love it.

Thanks for your ever lasting patience.

Thanks,
Ray

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Folks,

To make a long story short…

I’m the one responsible for producing/editing the video (which is my first time, actually, since previously we outsourced it).

I don’t want to do into a litany of excuses, etc. (including being very ill for awhile), but the short of it is the production is done as of this weekend.

One of the major reasons it took doubly long is because it’s now going to be a four hour blockbuster instead of two hours. There was just too much material that was too good not to include.

Amazingly — even at four hours, we still have lots of extras that won’t fit on the DVD so we’re going to create a special website just for those of you who bought the DVD to access our “Special Features” which will include coach interviews, the complete Recruiting Roundtable (it’s 40 minutes long and goes into exhaustive detail on each recruit), and more.

Believe me, I know the delays are unacceptable and it’s been very frustrating for all of us. In the end, though, I think the results will be fantastic and I know you’ll love it.

We’re sending the master DVD to the duplication facility this Monday (for real!) — they’ll take about 3-4 days to run all the copies and then ship them back to us in another 3-4 days so I’m anticipating shipping these babies out individually to you in a week and a half.

Thanks for all your patience. I really appreciate it.

Ray

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By Hollywoob Bob

We have everything we need for it. We are busy crunching everything onto a double sided DVD or two of them. There was much more than we anticipated, but we are in the finishing touches. We will be adding leads to the videos and it should all be done in the next few days.

If we don’t have it done and sent to the production place by Monday I will beat myself in the head senselessly.

Again, we apologize for the wait, but like the 2003 DVD, we think you will understand the work we went through getting you all of the exclusive interviews and such.

Thanks,
Gator Country

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Folks,

We’ve obtained footage of some of our signees at the US Army All-American Bowl which we can include in our Signees Video, so we’ll be working on that. Due to the abundance of material and the one on one interviews we’ve conducted with each signee, there’s not going to be much room on the DVD (they hold two hours, max).

So, there’s a possibility the US Army material may not make it, but we’ll try our best and do some creative editing.

At this point, we only have one interview left (which I forgot about, my apologies), and then we’ll officially wrap and move into production.

I’d estimate that we’re about two weeks behind right now from our late March delivery date, but it’ll be well worth the wait.

Our video promises to be spectacular — unlike our competition’s recent flop on their signees video.

Ray

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On my journey this past weekend to Georgia and North Carolina I ran into three great future Gators. They are great players as well as individuals and Jermaine Cunningham, Lawrence Marsh, and Brandon Spikes are going to be great assets to the University of Florida as students and athletes. My last stop of the weekend was with Spikes and I got to spend a few moments with him and his lovely mom Sherry Allen.

Miss Sherry and Brandon invited me into their home and I was able to spend some time with them while the Gators were busy winning the SEC basketball tournament on the television in the living room.

I took some photos and we did a couple of interviews. My purpose for the trip was to get an interview with Spikes and some more of his highlights for our number one recruiting class DVD that will be out very soon. I got more than I bargained for when Miss Sherry said she would go on film. We had some fun and I am sure you will agree these are two great new Gators added to the Gator nation.

Here’s the interview with Spikes and his mother: VIDEO INTERVIEW

The quality online is nothing like you will see on the DVD, but the personalities still shine through.

I hope you enjoy it,
Hollywood Bob

(Click the thumbnail to view full size)

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By Hollywood Bob

I just got done with the two day tour of Georgia, I visited with the Peach State’s two best defensive end prospects and the sack masters for years to come at the University of Florida.

Both Jermaine Cunningham and Lawrence Marsh are nice guys off the field, but when they strap the pads on, offenses will be dialing 911. Both guys were gracious enough to meet me at their school and get a couple of photos and exclusive signee interviews for the DVD.

Cunningham was a little shy at first as you will see on the DVD, he then opened up and gave us some good stuff.

It didn’t take long for Marsh to warm up to the video. He is 6-5 and 256 and a complete monster in person. He is one scary looking dude until you get on his good side.

I hope you guys like the pics.

I am currently typing from Shelby (NC) where I will meet up with another future sacker as well as run stopper in Brandon Spikes.

Bob

Click the thumbnails to view the large size photo:

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This time it’s Hollywood Bob that’s gassed up the tanks, dusted off the tires, and headed on the road in our quest to get interviews of all the signees for our DVD…

Bob headed out early this morning on his way to Stone Mountain, Georgia to interview Jermaine Cunningham. Then later tonight, he’ll head out to Augusta, Georgia to interview Lawrence Marsh.

He’ll stay overnight and then head on over to North Carolina for the town of Shelby to interview Brandon Spikes, which ought to be a good one.

Then, tired and weary, Bob will swing around and head on back down to lovely Florida and arrive sometime Sunday evening.

Once that happens, it’s all a wrap as we start intensively editing all the footage and interviews.

Ray

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Tonight, I went to the Tampa Jesuit/Clearwater Central Catholic baseball game to get some footage of Florida football/baseball signee Riley Cooper for the video. Jesuit (8-0) defeated the Marauders 5-1. The Tigers, who are ranked 19th nationally in one poll, is an outstanding baseball team.

Jesuit wisely didn’t give Cooper any pitches in his first two at bats. They walked him both times, with the second walk intentional. He dribbled a ball to the right side of the infield and was thrown out at first in his third at bat.

The game was watched (as ususal) under the eyes of several major league baseball scouts who had their eyes on Cooper. I noticed representatives from the Reds, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Rangers standing within twenty or so feet from me at one time or another. One scout told me that you just don’t see guys that are built like him with his speed and athleticism that have those baseball skills. If Pat McMahon gets him in the Orange and Blue he’ll make Cooper the most talked about player at Florida since…Matt LaPorta.

Urban Meyer has got to love his speed and return abilities.

I’ll have more later…

Mark McLeod

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…or should I say south Florida corner day? I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Wondy Pierre-Louis and Coach Metzger at Naples Lely High School. Coach Metzger shed some light on Wondy’s strength’s and weaknesses and is extremely excited to see Wondy don the Orange and Blue. He does not stand 6-0 even, he is 6-1, maybe a shade taller. So, those of you who wish for a little taller corner have your man. Wondy couldn’t stop smiling when talking about Florida. There is no question that he is excited and would enroll tomorrow if they’d let him. He is so excited that he told me he expects the Gators to win three national championships.

The final stop of the day was at Dunbar High School in Ft. Myers. Mr. Markihe Anderson was kind enough to take a few minutes. His little brother was there as well. He has a special part in the video as well. You won’t want to miss this. Markihe repeated several times that he was one of the first to commit to Florida. He has always been a Florida guy and had no interest whatsoever in visiting other schools. Markihe pulled a groin muscle yesterday when he slipped coming out of the blocks in the 100 at a track meet. He hopes to ready for a big meet on Saturday.

Wondy and Markihe will see each other next week on the track. Wondy laid down the first challenge saying that he’ll prove who is the fastest. He finished that with a smile and gave props to Markihe, who he said can really run. Markihe said that he’ll be ready for the run, but he returned the props to Wondy when he said that he’ll compete in the long jump, but nobody outjumps Wondy.

Stay tuned for more exciting news as we wrap-up the Florida signees….

Mark McLeod

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