Position filled: Hello Bulls fans

Posted Sep 10, 2010 by Adam Adkins

Updated Sep 9, 2010 at 11:51 PM

It’s strange how things work out sometimes. I couldn’t help but think that when I left my office Tuesday evening after learning I’d landed the job as the new USF beat writer for The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com.

First, I thought back to the first USF football game I covered as a journalist. It was a November 2002 Bulls matchup against a nationally-ranked Bowling Green squad at Raymond James Stadium.

Then I thought back to when I landed my first job as a staff writer here at Mother Trib. It was March 2006, and I was hired to cover high school sports in Hillsborough County. It was in the thick of the high school baseball season, and I quickly took the reigns from a respected staff member named Scott Carter. He would soon leave for Tallahassee to become the new FSU beat writer for the Tribune.

I’m sure most readers following this blog can pick up on where I’m going, but I’ll go ahead and lay it out anyways.

My first game as the new USF beat writer will be Saturday when the Bulls travel to Gainesville to face a nationally-ranked Florida squad, which happens to be coached by Urban Meyer, the same coach who led that Bowling Green squad to Tampa in 2002. And, I am once again taking the reigns, in-season, from Scott, who has moved on to cover the Gators (good luck with the new gig buddy).

I’m still kind of shaking my head over how everything shook out.

Anyways, without further delay, my name is Adam Adkins (in case you didn’t notice the name at the top of the post), and I will be your new source for USF athletics news.

Without bogging you down too much, I thought I’d offer a little bit of information about myself.

On the personal side, I’m happily married, a stepfather to two boys (ages 8 and soon-to-be 6) and soon-to-be father of two more boys (twins due Oct. 11). Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: why not convince the wife to go for one more so you can have your own offensive line or basketball team? I decided to cut her some slack and settle for my own infield. Besides, we’re baseball junkies. And we honestly don’t have any more room in the house.

On the professional side, I’ve been affiliated with the Tribune for my entire journalism career, which began in 2002. I started out as a correspondent while a student at USF (2003 graduate), landed a job on the copy desk right out of school and eventually was hired as a staff writer, as noted earlier. While my main duties the past four-plus years have been covering local high school sports, I’ve spent time helping out with just about everything – from Bucs to Rays to Bulls.

Now that we’ve taken care of the introduction, it’s on to the million dollar question I’m sure you, the readers, are thinking: what kind of coverage do I plan to provide?

My mission with my new gig is simple: to flood you with information about USF athletics. I recognize that is what you want, and I aim to please.

I’ve done my best to get an early jump on things while still fulfilling my duties with high school sports coverage. I’ve been out to meet football coach Skip Holtz and some of the USF sports information staff, and I’m looking forward to making the rounds with everyone else as quickly as possible. Friday night is my final prep assignment: the Hillsborough-Plant football game. Beginning Saturday, I am full-bore in my new gig.

In closing, I know there has been a loyal following here for USF athletics, and I’d like to keep it that way. This blog is nothing without you, the readers. Feel free to interact with comments, questions, suggestions, anything.

I’ll now leave you with my email address .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)and a simple promise that you won’t be reading another one of these introductions for quite a while.