With a little under two weeks before Super Bowl XLI, there will plenty of time to dissect the X’s and O’s of the game. Right now though all eyes should be on the two head coaches, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. These two head coaches have just made history. They are now the first African American head coaches to lead their teams to a Super Bowl. And it’s only fitting that the two coaches are friends with each other. Actually it’s more than that. It’s a mentor-mentee type of relationship that first began when Dungy hired Smith way back in 1996.
That staff for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is now starting to take shape and many coaches from that staff are starting to shine. In addition to Smith, other coaches from that staff to get jobs include Herman Edwards, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs; Rod Marinelli, head coach of the Detroit Lions; and Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With such a new, young crop of coaches, it’s time to sit back and watch them shine.
In other NFL news, it’s time to once again bid adieu to Bill Parcells. Parcells retired on Monday, for the third time. All indications to a more permanent break from the sideline coaching. Never one to miss an opportunity to talk junk about someone, TO once again trashed someone, taking shots at Parcells saying “We underachieved this year………..”
Now sometimes I defend TO, hell sometimes I agree with TO, but this is out of line. Granted TO is slightly correct. The Cowboys did underachieve, however some of that has to be attributed to the league-leading 18 drops TO had during the year. I know one game personally where his drop affected the outcome (against the Redskins) and I saw numerous drives end with TO drops. TO needs to just rehab his injured finger and try not to drop so many passes next year.
The Raiders finally have a head coach now, which is good. On the other hand though, they have taken a giant risk. Lane Kiffin, though he has good pedigree as a coach and he is succeeding now, has zero NFL coaching experience which makes his hire one giant risk.
The Bumbling Bengals have returned. This time the Bengals are bumbling outside of the playing field. CB Jonathan Joseph became the 9th Bengal’s player arrested in the last nine months, when he was arrested on marijuana possession. His arrest caused Bengals QB Carson Palmer to come out and voice his displeasure about this issue. I applaud Palmer for doing this. He is setting a standard of behavior both on and off the field. What this also does is put pressure on head coach Marvin Lewis and general manager Mike Brown to get players who have good character. We shall see where this issue goes from here.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
January 24, 2007
With a little under two weeks before Super Bowl XLI, there will plenty of time to dissect the X’s and O’s of the game. Right now though all eyes should be on the two head coaches, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. These two head coaches have just made history. They are now the first African American head coaches to lead their teams to a Super Bowl. And it’s only fitting that the two coaches are friends with each other. Actually it’s more than that. It’s a mentor-mentee type of relationship that first began when Dungy hired Smith way back in 1996.
That staff for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is now starting to take shape and many coaches from that staff are starting to shine. In addition to Smith, other coaches from that staff to get jobs include Herman Edwards, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs; Rod Marinelli, head coach of the Detroit Lions; and Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With such a new, young crop of coaches, it’s time to sit back and watch them shine.
In other NFL news, it’s time to once again bid adieu to Bill Parcells. Parcells retired on Monday, for the third time. All indications to a more permanent break from the sideline coaching. Never one to miss an opportunity to talk junk about someone, TO once again trashed someone, taking shots at Parcells saying “We underachieved this year………..”
Now sometimes I defend TO, hell sometimes I agree with TO, but this is out of line. Granted TO is slightly correct. The Cowboys did underachieve, however some of that has to be attributed to the league-leading 18 drops TO had during the year. I know one game personally where his drop affected the outcome (against the Redskins) and I saw numerous drives end with TO drops. TO needs to just rehab his injured finger and try not to drop so many passes next year.
The Raiders finally have a head coach now, which is good. On the other hand though, they have taken a giant risk. Lane Kiffin, though he has good pedigree as a coach and he is succeeding now, has zero NFL coaching experience which makes his hire one giant risk.
The Bumbling Bengals have returned. This time the Bengals are bumbling outside of the playing field. CB Jonathan Joseph became the 9th Bengal’s player arrested in the last nine months, when he was arrested on marijuana possession. His arrest caused Bengals QB Carson Palmer to come out and voice his displeasure about this issue. I applaud Palmer for doing this. He is setting a standard of behavior both on and off the field. What this also does is put pressure on head coach Marvin Lewis and general manager Mike Brown to get players who have good character. We shall see where this issue goes from here.
That staff for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is now starting to take shape and many coaches from that staff are starting to shine. In addition to Smith, other coaches from that staff to get jobs include Herman Edwards, head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs; Rod Marinelli, head coach of the Detroit Lions; and Mike Tomlin, head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With such a new, young crop of coaches, it’s time to sit back and watch them shine.
In other NFL news, it’s time to once again bid adieu to Bill Parcells. Parcells retired on Monday, for the third time. All indications to a more permanent break from the sideline coaching. Never one to miss an opportunity to talk junk about someone, TO once again trashed someone, taking shots at Parcells saying “We underachieved this year………..”
Now sometimes I defend TO, hell sometimes I agree with TO, but this is out of line. Granted TO is slightly correct. The Cowboys did underachieve, however some of that has to be attributed to the league-leading 18 drops TO had during the year. I know one game personally where his drop affected the outcome (against the Redskins) and I saw numerous drives end with TO drops. TO needs to just rehab his injured finger and try not to drop so many passes next year.
The Raiders finally have a head coach now, which is good. On the other hand though, they have taken a giant risk. Lane Kiffin, though he has good pedigree as a coach and he is succeeding now, has zero NFL coaching experience which makes his hire one giant risk.
The Bumbling Bengals have returned. This time the Bengals are bumbling outside of the playing field. CB Jonathan Joseph became the 9th Bengal’s player arrested in the last nine months, when he was arrested on marijuana possession. His arrest caused Bengals QB Carson Palmer to come out and voice his displeasure about this issue. I applaud Palmer for doing this. He is setting a standard of behavior both on and off the field. What this also does is put pressure on head coach Marvin Lewis and general manager Mike Brown to get players who have good character. We shall see where this issue goes from here.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
January 23, 2007
Today I wanted to try something else with my blog. Periodically, I will put up game reports of recent games that I have covered. I always enjoy doing live coverage of a game in any sport. Without further ado, here it is:
Roller Coaster Season Continues
By:Alfons Prince
Roller Coaster Season Continues
By:Alfons Prince
As the calendar moves further in 2007, the UDC Firebirds continue to have a roller coaster season. After starting the season with 7 wins and only 1 loss, the Firebirds lost 3 of their next 5 games, before they started their current five game homestand on January 16th. Heading into their Monday, January 22nd game against West Chester University, UDC has one win against two losses, with their win coming against Felician College.
Though UDC has lost their last two games, the games have been close, and entertaining games; games that have allowed their fans to come out and be able to happily cheer for their team.
The first loss, which took place on January 18th, came against their arch rival, the Virginia Union Panthers. The Panthers first defeated the Firebirds only a week earlier on January 11th, so there was a feeling of revenge as the game began. UDC took advantage of this energy to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. They maintained this distance throughout the first half until a late spurt left UDC ahead at the half with a 33-24 lead. Even though the Firebirds got four 3-point shots from guard Charlie Smallwood, the Panthers were able to keep the game close because of their dominating rebounding edge. At the half, Virginia Union held a 15-3 advantage in 2nd-chance points.
Virginia Union came out hot to begin the second half, going on a 14-5 run to tie the game at 38 with 14:29 left in the game. The two teams then begin to battle each other as neither team took more than a six point lead. The game began to get more chippy and feisty as the referees let play become more physical. An offensive foul call on Antwon Hawkins of UDC gave Virginia Union the ball with 2:26 remaining and a six point lead. Despite a valiant effort, UDC was never able to get any closer as Virginia Union made timely free throws and go on to win 74-69. Although UDC was able to shoot 40% from the field, the Firebirds left too many opportunities at the free throw line where they missed 11 of their 26 free throw attempts. This combined with Virginia Union’s rebound advantage (48-40) provided to be too much for the Firebirds to overcome.
Since the Firebirds are in the middle of a homestand, they did not have time to be down about their previous loss. Two days after the game against Virginia Union, UDC took the court against the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Mountain Cats. The Firebirds once again displayed tremendous heart, however again they lost, this time on a jump shot by Mountain Cat guard Dwight Hines with 8 seconds left. The Firebirds allowed the Cats to shoot 42% from the field and an astonishing 54% from 3-point range.
UDC had a much harder time shooting the ball. While the Firebirds shot a comparable 41% from the field, they only shot 24% from 3-point range. In this game the Firebirds were led in scoring by guard Antwon Hawkins, who had 26 points. Other key contributors were guard Frank Petersen, who added 15 points and forward Willie Shaw, who added 14 points.
With three games left on the current homestand, the Firebirds need to season to begin another upswing. After January 29th, UDC only has two more home games before the end of their regular season. Playing on the road has been a bit of a problem for UDC, evident by the team having lost 3 of the 6 “true” (Non-tournament, holiday or classic) road games. If this team wants to continue their improbable season, they need to finish this season stronger, especially on the road.
I hope that you enjoyed the game recap that I submitted for my blog. Until next time, peace.
Monday, January 08, 2007
January 8, 2007
With the 1st week of 2007 completed, things are not only hot with the weather, but within the sports world as well. The NFL playoffs just finished their opening weekend, providing intriguing match-ups including two divisional games. The NBA has switched back to the old ball for the remainder of the 2007 season and it has interesting storylines such as Allen Iverson now playing for the Denver Nuggets, whether or not the Phoenix Suns can actually win the Western Conference, and is the Eastern Conference really that bad.
In addition to the stories that take place within the lines of play, there have been a couple of important off the field stories. First, I would like to send my heartfelt prayers to the family of Denver Broncos Cornerback (CB) Darrent Williams. Williams was murdered the morning of January 1st in Denver, the victim of a drive-by shooting. When I first heard about this, I felt a couple of different emotions. I immediately felt sadness for both of his families (the Denver Broncos and his blood relatives). Next I felt anger and despair at the fact that the New Year began with the murder of another young black athlete. When we closed 2006 talking about athletes and guns, members of the media wondered, and often asked “Why are athletes making millions of dollars out partying late at night?” Being the ripe old age of 25, I understand both sides of the argument. After a long week of working, you often want to go out and do some partying before the next work week begins. However, everyone who goes out should, actually, must be aware of their surroundings.
In the end, athletes will always be susceptible to this type of violence. A main reason is the way our society is shaped. We place a lot of emphasis on athletes, actors and other entertainers. We study their life, how much money they make, How much they spend, etc, so to me it’s, unfortunately, not really a shock to me when they sadly are attacked or involved in some form of violence. I could go on about this further, but there is more to talk about.
The next major off the field move is Nick Saban and his departure from the Miami Dolphins to the University of Alabama. If you haven’t heard, Nick Saban will be the new coach at the University of Alabama for the 2007 season. He resigned from his former job as Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins on January 3, 2007, after saying, rather emphatically, that he would not do so. There are other circumstances such as the contract ($32 million guaranteed) and Saban’s NFL record (a mediocre 15-17) but the bottom line is that: 1) Saban loved to coach college football; 2) Saban was/is better at coaching college football and 3) the contract was for $32 million dollars guaranteed. I’m sorry but there aren’t a lot of people in the world who wouldn’t switch jobs for $32 million dollars. I think there are some in the Dolphins organization who understand Saban’s decision and of course some who don’t, but if Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga can wish Saban well then the rest of us should……should being the operative word there.
While on the subject of college football, let’s talk about the bowl season. The BCS, though far from perfect, can at least say that they provide great games. The #1 game thus far has been the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma. The Broncos scored on a hook and ladder (not lateral, thanks Around the Horn © ESPN) play with seven seconds left to tie the game. This was after Oklahoma rallied from a 28-10 deficit to take a 35-28 lead. The suspenseful game continued into the overtime session as Oklahoma scored on their very first play. Boise State once again rallied to score, this time on a Wide Receiver pass on 4th and 2. This time Broncos Coach Chris Petersen decided to go for the two point conversion and the win. He called a modified version of the famed Statue of Liberty play and his players ran it to perfection which allowed Running Back Ian Johnson to run in the winning conversion. Then the storybook ending became complete when Johnson proposed to his girlfriend on the sidelines, who said yes, naturally.
Now if storybook endings aren’t your thing and you like total domination, the BCS has provided that as well. LSU and USC both followed similar blueprints as they defeated their BCS opponents; Notre Dame and Michigan, correspondingly. Both teams had dominant 2nd half performances led by juniors who are expected to leave early for the NFL. (QB JaMarcus Russell for LSU and WR Dwayne Jarrett for USC) Both teams also left themselves open to questions as to why these performances weren’t more prevalent during the season. In any event, both teams turned pre-game thrillers into laughers that tried to make you change the channel.
Wrapping up college football, I think the BCS title game, tonight at 8 PM, has a lot to live up to. I also think that it will live up to that billing. I think that Florida will shock the Buckeyes with their speed, plus the Gators will have a huge chip on their shoulder. Those two factors will allow the Gators to win 31-28.
With each passing year, one hopes to get wiser, contribute a little bit more, and leave a deeper mark. In that spirit I am trying to set this blog in a more concise manner. By the 13th of January, I would like to have a daily format to my blog so that I not only get my opinion out there, but I also touch upon a lot of subjects thus gaining knowledge about that sport and that topic. So that the beginning of my plan for this New Year. Check back later today as I talk about the first round of the NFL Playoffs, the NBA and other issues. Until then peace.
In addition to the stories that take place within the lines of play, there have been a couple of important off the field stories. First, I would like to send my heartfelt prayers to the family of Denver Broncos Cornerback (CB) Darrent Williams. Williams was murdered the morning of January 1st in Denver, the victim of a drive-by shooting. When I first heard about this, I felt a couple of different emotions. I immediately felt sadness for both of his families (the Denver Broncos and his blood relatives). Next I felt anger and despair at the fact that the New Year began with the murder of another young black athlete. When we closed 2006 talking about athletes and guns, members of the media wondered, and often asked “Why are athletes making millions of dollars out partying late at night?” Being the ripe old age of 25, I understand both sides of the argument. After a long week of working, you often want to go out and do some partying before the next work week begins. However, everyone who goes out should, actually, must be aware of their surroundings.
In the end, athletes will always be susceptible to this type of violence. A main reason is the way our society is shaped. We place a lot of emphasis on athletes, actors and other entertainers. We study their life, how much money they make, How much they spend, etc, so to me it’s, unfortunately, not really a shock to me when they sadly are attacked or involved in some form of violence. I could go on about this further, but there is more to talk about.
The next major off the field move is Nick Saban and his departure from the Miami Dolphins to the University of Alabama. If you haven’t heard, Nick Saban will be the new coach at the University of Alabama for the 2007 season. He resigned from his former job as Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins on January 3, 2007, after saying, rather emphatically, that he would not do so. There are other circumstances such as the contract ($32 million guaranteed) and Saban’s NFL record (a mediocre 15-17) but the bottom line is that: 1) Saban loved to coach college football; 2) Saban was/is better at coaching college football and 3) the contract was for $32 million dollars guaranteed. I’m sorry but there aren’t a lot of people in the world who wouldn’t switch jobs for $32 million dollars. I think there are some in the Dolphins organization who understand Saban’s decision and of course some who don’t, but if Dolphins owner Wayne Huizenga can wish Saban well then the rest of us should……should being the operative word there.
While on the subject of college football, let’s talk about the bowl season. The BCS, though far from perfect, can at least say that they provide great games. The #1 game thus far has been the Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma. The Broncos scored on a hook and ladder (not lateral, thanks Around the Horn © ESPN) play with seven seconds left to tie the game. This was after Oklahoma rallied from a 28-10 deficit to take a 35-28 lead. The suspenseful game continued into the overtime session as Oklahoma scored on their very first play. Boise State once again rallied to score, this time on a Wide Receiver pass on 4th and 2. This time Broncos Coach Chris Petersen decided to go for the two point conversion and the win. He called a modified version of the famed Statue of Liberty play and his players ran it to perfection which allowed Running Back Ian Johnson to run in the winning conversion. Then the storybook ending became complete when Johnson proposed to his girlfriend on the sidelines, who said yes, naturally.
Now if storybook endings aren’t your thing and you like total domination, the BCS has provided that as well. LSU and USC both followed similar blueprints as they defeated their BCS opponents; Notre Dame and Michigan, correspondingly. Both teams had dominant 2nd half performances led by juniors who are expected to leave early for the NFL. (QB JaMarcus Russell for LSU and WR Dwayne Jarrett for USC) Both teams also left themselves open to questions as to why these performances weren’t more prevalent during the season. In any event, both teams turned pre-game thrillers into laughers that tried to make you change the channel.
Wrapping up college football, I think the BCS title game, tonight at 8 PM, has a lot to live up to. I also think that it will live up to that billing. I think that Florida will shock the Buckeyes with their speed, plus the Gators will have a huge chip on their shoulder. Those two factors will allow the Gators to win 31-28.
With each passing year, one hopes to get wiser, contribute a little bit more, and leave a deeper mark. In that spirit I am trying to set this blog in a more concise manner. By the 13th of January, I would like to have a daily format to my blog so that I not only get my opinion out there, but I also touch upon a lot of subjects thus gaining knowledge about that sport and that topic. So that the beginning of my plan for this New Year. Check back later today as I talk about the first round of the NFL Playoffs, the NBA and other issues. Until then peace.
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