From 1987 to 2020, Pat Dooley wrote about the Florida Gators for the Gainesville Sun, becoming one of the most recognizable voices for Gators sports, and especially football.
During his tenure, the football team rose to national prominence, posting a 329-116-1 record and winning three national championships. Since Dooley left the Sun in 2020, the Gators are 29-37.
We have no proof that there’s a connection between the two, but as any good, superstitious sports fan will tell you, can we really say for sure there is not a connection?
Either way, we are thrilled to put Dooley back in print, starting with this week’s edition of Mainstreet Daily News. He will write a weekly column called “The Front 9” that will publish online early in the week and go into our Wednesday print edition.
Dooley, who will continue to produce Another Dooley Noted Podcast, joins Mainstreet with not only a wealth of experience and his trademark voice, but an unparalleled network in Gators sports dating back decades. His interview list features every Gator great you can name, including each All-American and everyone with a statue. (Although his all-time favorite interview is with Jackie Gleason.)
In addition to Dooley’s weekly column, we are launching a weekly Gators sports newsletter called Gator Bites. Mike Dame, a UF grad who covered the Gators in the 1990s for the Orlando Sentinel, will curate the newsletter and write for it. He will also coordinate contributions from Mainstreet correspondents and sports director Mike Ridaught, who will continue to focus on delivering the best prep sports coverage in the market.
To get Gator Bites delivered to your inbox every Monday, visit our new Gators sports landing page at mainstreetdailynews.com/sports/gators. The newsletter is completely free, thanks to founding sponsor Gainesville Regional Utilities.
These two new offerings are just the latest way Mainstreet is growing into the go-to source of news and information in North Central Florida. Since launching in 2020, we have established a track record for trusted, robust coverage of local government news, education, business, prep sports, rural coverage and investigative reporting.
We always had an eye toward UF sports coverage, but we wanted to first establish a firm foundation and only make the move when we knew we could do it well and add unique value to the marketplace. Pat Dooley and Mike Dame certainly do that.
We hope you will subscribe today and enjoy this great new content. Go Gators!