Here are my bracket predictions for theEast Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship. Where there are parentheses it simply indicates I predict the team I want to see win will be defeated.
Here is my prediction for the Midwest Region of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Championship. Where there are parentheses it indicates the team I wanted to see win but I predict will be defeated.
Who knows where such nonsense gets started? But whoever it was that first suggested Tim Tebow’s throwing flaws are the fault of Florida Coach Urban Meyer is, to say it kindly, misguided.
It was reported that, at a recent press conference, Tebow explained he had a lot of work to do and acknowledged that his years at Florida had not prepared him for the NFL. Some quickly took Tebow’s words as a slap at Coach Meyer, or at least that Tebow’s words reveal that he had somehow been slighted by Meyer.
Pundits suggested Tebow flaws provide recruiting fodder for Alabama’s Nick Saban.
It is reasoned, if Florida did not get Tebow NFL ready who could they get ready? Then, adding the fact that Tebow’s highly touted predecessor, Chris Leak, failed to make an NFL roster after his college career, these self acclaimed experts point the finger at Florida’s spread offense, and declare that Urban Meyer’s system is to blame. And thus, if Meyer can’t prepare QB’s, even of the calibur of Tebow & Leak, for the NFL, why should any prospect who has aspirations of playing on Sundays even consider Florida, if he has the opportunity to play elsewhere – especially, say, Alabama?
I don’t know if Tebow will make himself into an NFL star or not. But fortunately Tebow know that the NFL is not the real measure of success in life.
Second, those who are blaming Meyer have no idea what it takes to be an NFL QB. They seem to assume that good coaches can just crank them out. Or maybe they just grow on trees. But the truth is that there are many, many reasons that some great college QB’s never cut it in the NFL, while other merely adequate college QB’s thrive. (See Tom Brady for example.)
Finally, while I have my doubts that Nick Saban is involved in this stuff at all, I would suggest he – and any coach – look at his own legacy before he take aim at Urban Meyer. Who was the last successful QB Alabama sent to the NFL? Richard Todd? How about Saban himself? Did any of his LSU QB’s shine at the next level? I’d hate to claim that I can make a kid into the next Jamarcus Russell, if I were Saban. That’s a sure way to get a kid to go elsewhere.
With a head coach and three assistants with ties to the Northeast Tennessee area, Brevard College has made serious in-roads acquiring local talent for their 2010 football recruiting class.
The latest is Sullivan Central wide receiver/defensive back, Andrew Griffith, who inked with the Tornados in ceremonies at school on Friday.
Griffith joins Sullivan North place-kicker Arrick Blevins, Daniel Boone lineman Isaac Bowman, and Science Hill lineman Joel Shrum as local signees with Brevard. Like Blevins, Griffith said Brevard came on strong late in the recruiting process.
“I really wasn’t considering them at first, but I went for a visit and I just kept getting more and more interested,” said Griffith.
Griffith was recruited by Marshall Doss, a former player at Emory & Henry. In addition to Doss, Brevard has on staff former ETSU lineman Jim Beverly and defensive backs coach Teddy Gaines, a former player at Dobyns-Bennett and the University of Tennessee. All are under the direction of former ETSU head coach Paul Hamilton.
“He thinks I can come right in and contribute,” said Griffith of Doss who recruited the former Cougar as a wide receiver. “Hopefully I can make an immediate impact.”
“Since Brevard was a Division II school, I chose them,” added Griffith. “I just decided I would rather play Division II than Division III.”
Griffith has plans to major in elementary education while at Brevard.
***
This article first appeared in Tri-Cities Sports.com on February 20. Tri Cities Sports.com is a subscripton based publication that covers colege, high school and middle school sports around the Mountain Empire. This article is published here in whole with thank to Steve Wilmoth. Links have been added.
Actually I am glad McGwire finally came clean. But I don’t think I believe he has offered complete disclosure. For instance:
I am not sure I can buy as fact that his sole motive was the medicinal value. McGwire stated that he began using steroids during a stint on the DL, hoping that they would help him recover more quickly. Ostensibly he continued to use them both to recover from the nicks and pains of the long seasons and as a preventative measure against further injuries.
Even if that was the initial motive, Mark, at no time during usage did you ever consider the competitive advantages? PLEASE!
Secondly, when asked if he thought he would have hit the requisite number of homers to break Roger Maris’ single season record had he not been on steroids, McGwire offered a lame, indefinite response. In effect, he said: “I had good seasons and bad seasons when I used steroids. I had good seasons and bad seasons when I did not use steroids.”
One way to measure the effect, Mark, might be to take your 3 best HR seasons into consideration, and tell us if you were on the juice during those seasons. If the answer is “Yes”, then I think you might safely surmise that your performance was supplemented.
My questions aside, I am glad McGwire has made the admission. He has apparently got the point (needle pun intended) that American sports fans are often more willing to overlook the indiscretions of those they believe are forthcoming. Maybe Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will soon follow.
Now, go ahead, put McGwire in the Hall of Fame. Let’s put this all behind us and move on.
There is a real sense I am not sure I care that he was on steroids. At least not from a baseball standpoint. The fact is, while people talk about his “cheating”, there was no rule against using steroids in Major League Baseball.
I am not being soft on steroids. I am glad that professional sports are cracking down on these synthetic performance enhancers. But, in short, if he didn’t break the rules, he should not be excluded from the fraternity.
While it is questionable that he would have had HOF numbers apart from the drugs, let’s get real: It is a Hall of FAME, not sacred post. And few players have ever been as famous for their play – legal play, mind you – as McGwire was during the late ’90’s.
If someone needs to be hung in effigy, it seems to me it ought to be Baseball Commish Bud Selig. He knew full well what was going on around the league, but chose to look the other way AND keep the performance enhancers legal. And more recently he has violated promised immunity to players who willingly submitted to drug tests so that MLB could ascertain the extent of the steroid epidemic.
Hats off to Alabama’s Crimson Tide. A dominating defense carried them to their eighth NCAA Football Championship – the first in nearly 20 years. Two 100 yard rushers on offense not only drained the clock, but in the end also drained what was left of the spirit of the out manned Texas Longhorns. Texas played a commendable second half, but the outcome was almost completely in the books before the first quarter ended.
Despite the Tide’s dominating performance Thursday night, more than one headline I have seen since has declared Alabama’s undisputed National Championship “mysterious”. What was the mystery? People can only wonder what would have been had Texas All American QB Colt McCoy not suffered a game ending shoulder injury during the first drive.
I think specualtion is good, though. Taking nothing away from Alabama, this game will be far longer remembered because of the “What If” than for any other reason. It lends an element of specualtion to non-Alabama supporters. It promotes enjoyable arguments about who was really best that will go on until the ball is teed-up next September – and maybe longer than that for Longhorns left wanting.
It also shows that college football does NOT need a playoff.
Despite the TV commentators and executives who are crying for a championship, what would that prove? If the argument is that the championship should be settled on the field because any other way leaves a shred of doubt as to who is the actual champ, this game shows that even if a game is played the outcome can still be shrouded in doubts. What will a series of such games prove – other than the networks can make a few more dollars?
But I think this “controversy” is good for the game, and for the sports fan. It gives people something to talk about. I don’t think a playoff would add anything. In fact I will hate to see it when it eventually comes to be.
For the first time in years there is no clear cut candidate who will win the Heisman Trophy. For that reason alone the race is interesting. And for the first time in years I may be seeing glimmers of hope restored in my attitude.
Like other sports fans, I have my opinions each year. Sometimes my opinion matches that of the “experts”. But even then it is not enough to override the disappoitments of years when the results seem to be a sham; when it appears the fix is in; when networks like ESPN have more to do with choosing the winner than players’ performances on the field do.
But I am hopeful this year will be different.
Below are my top 5 picks, with number 1 being who I would have voted for had I been given a vote. I know that some of my choices can’t win – not all were even invited to the party in New York. But that doesn’t matter. These are my slections:
A dominant player in the trenches; the best player in the country this year. PERIOD. And in this year when there is no clear cut QB or RB, a defensive lineman can win. (I know a defensive player was once given the trophy, but this time Suh should legitimately “win” it.)
It is hard to believe no Tide player has ever won the Heisman. Ingram may go home with it. If he does, there is no injustice, he is a great back. But I wouldn’t give it to him this year.
While it is over used hyperbole, Pike is the driving force behind the Bearcats’ undefeated season. His backup played well in periods Pike was injured, but without Pike Cincinnati would be good but not great.
The Maxwell Award winner should have won the Heisman last year. His numbers were down a little, but McCoy’s performances still shined. He has Texas playing again for the National Championship.
“There’s no crying in football.” That paraphrase of a Tom Hanks movie line is the apparent sentiment of many in the world of sports media today.
Are you kidding me? It makes me wonder how many of these guys ever played the game – or played any game.
Tim Tebow is taking a pounding from pundits because he shed some tears as the 2009 SEC Championship Game came to a close with his Florida Gators on the short end of the scoreboard. These sportwriters, and sports radio hosts, seem to think Tebow’s reaction was somehow sub-manly. Granted,this is not a universal attitude among those in sports journalism – and maybe not even the majority opinion, but I’ve heard enough to realize this perspective does not belong just to a few isolated idiots.
Much has already been written about Tebow’s exploits and exceptional character. There is nothing I can add to that. There is no need to re-make those cases. But I do want to chime-in on this conversation with a couple simple points.
1. Absolutely there are tears shed on football fields. It is almost as much part of the game as is sweat. It is physically demanding game. It is also mentally and emotionally exhausting – perhaps especially for a quarterback. Players prepare for hours upon hours for 60 minutes of competition. At the end of the competition a player who has give all he has to give, physically, mentally, and emotonally, is drained. He is reduced to raw emotion. Tears are often shed on both sides, especially in a championship game – tears of joy for the victors; tears of frustration for the one whose all was not quite enough.
Frankly, as an ex-player and former coach, it is the guys who are not on the verge of tears at the end of a hard fought game who always bothered me most.
2. Tebow demonstrated the epitome of character and sportsmanship. Having been reduced to raw emotion; having watched year-long – if not life-long – dreams coming to an end, Tebow was nothing but gracious and effusive in his compliments and congratulations to his opponents. No excuses. No finger pointing. No sour grapes. Tebow just said: “Alabama was better than us today”.
Impressive. Which is more than I can say for Tebow’s naysayers.
Two young men who have experienced what I onced dreamed of, and who have priorities I now pray for my sons (and daughter) to experience.
These are the testimones of Texas QB Colt McCoy and Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford – two young men who have the world at their feet, but who know that gaining the world while forfeiting their soul would be the greatest loss any man can exprience. (See Mt 16.26)
The NFL Draft commences in a little more than an hour from the time I write this post. Not surprising, the pre-draft headlines are focused on Matt Stafford, out of the University of Georgia, and Marc Sanchez, out of Southern Cal, two high profile quarterbacks. But the real story of this draft, no matter where he ends up, is Ole Miss Offensive Lineman Michael Oher.
The video above gives an overview. The best video I’ve seen, giving much more of the whole story, was on ESPN earlier this afternoon, which you can watch by clicking: Adopted Family Helps Oher.
Oher grew up on the streets of Memphis. His mother was a crack addict. His father had been murdered. Oher was homeless and left fending for himself by age 6. He didn’t know his correct birthday or his own real name. Because of his size and athleticism someone sent him to Briarcrest Christian School to see if he might help out the athletic program. Briarcrest officials recognized that Oher was completely unprepared for the academic rigors of the school, but also knew that he had no place to turn. So they allowed him in school, on academic probation and inelligible for any athletic competition until he was caught up in school.
As amazing as that part of the story is, there is more. While enrolled at Briarcrest Oher was still largely on his own. That is until one cold Thanksgiving night, a school classmate driving with her family spotted Michael on the street wearing shorts and a thin T-shirt. The Tuohy family turned their car around picked Oher up and took him to their home. Over time the Tuohy family bought Michael clothes and food, and allowed him to stay with them – until they finally adopted him into their family. Loved for the first time in his life Oher progressed in the classroom and on the football field. He enrolled at Ole Miss and became an All American. Today he will become a first round draft choice – and a millionaire. But I suspect Michael Oher will be the one man drafted who understands that love far outvalues cash.
The story has already been made a book, The Blind Side, which has been on the New York Times Bestseller list. It has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. And a motion picture is in the works. But it is the story that may not be told that also fascinates me. It is the story of those whose faith was expressed through tangible love. It is the story of the Tuohy family and the folks at Briarcrest Christian School.
Think about it. The Tuohy’s were a well-to-do Memphis family. They had children, including an attractive teenage daughter, who I’m sure they were concerned to protect. And here is this big, huge, black guy, from the streets, that they invited into their home. I know race should not matter, but it is Memphis. But even apart from race, this is a huge, undisciplined, teenager off the streets. Most people would have just kept driving. Some kind folks may have bought food and clothes. Others may have gone so far as to make sure he found a home. But risk the unknown, and with children in the home? I imagine few would have done that. But the Tuohy’s did. They were compelled by love. And their love transformed a life.
I also have to commend the headmaster at Briarcrest. Not many administrators would have done the same thing. Some may have admitted Oher because of his athletic prowess. But how many would admit him simply to help him? Briarcrest had no reasonable reason to expect that Oher would ever succeed in the classroom. When he got to the school he carried a 0.4 gpa. But these people cared. They lived out their faith, and helped this helpless young giant, even when they had little hope to benefit from it. They reflect what Christian Education ought to be about.
This story makes you feel-good, no matter how it is told. But I stand in awe as I see the Apostle Paul’s words come to life on ESPN: “The only thing that matters is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5.6)
What an amazing story of triumph over tragedy, forgiveness, reconciliation, and grace.
The name Bouniconti will ring a bell for sports fans over 40. Nick Bouniconti was a Hall of Fame Middle Linebacker for the Miami Dolphins during their dynasty years of the ’70’s. But this story is not about Nick, nor is it really about football. The story is about Nick’s son, Marc Bouniconti, who, while following in his fathers football footstseps, was tragically parlyzed while making a tackle during a game in 1985.
The above video from ESPN tells the story of how the paralysis caused a subsequent 20 year alienation with his alma mater, The Citadel, and how that relationship has now been healed.
As nice as that story is, it is not the story I have in mind. I think it pales in comparison to another reconciliation in Marc Bouniconti’s life.
The story I have in mind is one I heard just this morning on the radio. It is the story of Bouniconti reuniting with the player who caused the paralysis, Herman Jacobs of East Tennessee State University. It is a wonderful story of grace: how one man gave “life” to the one who had hurt him. After more than 20 years of separation, Bouniconti and Jacobs reconnected, and Bouniconti reached out to help Jacobs realize his life dream.
Click the link to watch the news clip of this uplifitng story: Bouniconti & Jacobs.
A day after Tea Parties were held across our land, I learn that our money is not the only thing our elected officials in Washington are concerned about afterall. With wars looming, pirates pestering American freighters, and our economy still in the gallows, apparently Congress has its eyes on college football. They want to fix the BCS.
According to ESPN, this is Jimmy V Week. It is a week when ESPN, in conjunction with the V Foundation, remember former North Carolina State Basketball Coach Jim Valvano, and raise funds for Cancer Research.
Watch Coach V’s powerful message that kicked off this foundation shortly before his passing in ’93:
I don’t comment about it often, but because I am a cancer survivor, and because I see how many people are struck by this awful disease, this cause is one I wholeheartedly endorse.
The final game of my sons’ 2008 football season has come and gone. While in most respects it was a disappointing season for their teams, both of them accounted for themselves fairly well.
This picture above was taken after the final game – a “W”. It was special because our younger son, Matthew, a Freshman, who plays TE and DE, was invited to dress out with the varsity. This is the first time our boys have been on the same team, so we thought we would take a picture. Also somewhat unique is that Matthew was given #1, while Andrew, a Junior, wears #2.
GRACE & PEACE 