It’s Great To Be...

By: Jimbo Brown

            Sports as a whole have had something jaw dropping each month. Every time you tuned in to watch your favorite sports channel, a story on there made your heart stop. From Golden State blowing a 3-1 lead, Kevin Durant going to Golden State and Lionel Messi receiving 21 months for Tax Evasion. No matter what part of the world you live in the industry has turned your life upside down for the good/bad. Today we will quickly discuss matters that I want to revisit.

UF Men Track & Field Team: Back on Top

            "It means so much," Hall said. "We won my freshman year, and the past couple of years we've been all over the place. And we've had a great team. Just coming in here, people counted us out from the get go, and we came out on top.”

            After winning the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field national championship in 2012, the Gators had a plethora of talent that couldn’t figure it out. The team lacked belief that it could accomplish the mission once again. After the conference finals, where UF placed 7^th, Coach Holloway (Mouse) challenged himself, staff and athletes to believe that they will make amends at nationals. UF became just the third team since 1992 to win the NCAA Outdoor Championships after finishing outside the top five at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Arman Hall accomplished his goal of winning a title in the 400m. He is the first gator to accomplish this feat since Tony McQuay. 4000-meter hurdles Eric Futch and Tj Holmes finished 1-2 gathering 18 points for the team. They are second pair of teammates to take first and second place in the 400-meter hurdles since Kamani and Michael Smith of Baylor (2001).

This National Championship extends the universities streak of winning one to 7 years. Even when the expected sports, baseball and softball, didn’t live up to the hype.

Gators Olympic Run

Rachel Longfors- Women’s Discus Throw

Darrielle McQueen- Women’s Long Jump & Triple Jump

Najee Glass- Men’s 400-Meter Dash

Arman Hall- Men’s 400-Meter Dash

Tony McQuay- Men’s 400-Meter Dash

Ebony Eutsey- Women’s 400-Meter Dash

Robin Reynolds- Women’s 400-Meter Dash

Shayla Sanders- Women’s 100-Meter Dash

Jeff Demps- Men’s 100-Meter Dash

Noah Lyles- Men’s 100-Meter Dash & 200-Meter Dash

KeAndre Bates- Men’s Long Jump & Triple Jump

Marquis Dendy- Men’s Long Jump

Ciarra Brewer- Women’s Triple Jump

Mark Parrish- Men’s 3,000- Meter Steeplechase

Fawn Miller- Women’s Javelin Throw

Will Claye- Men’s Triple Jump

Omar Craddock- Men’s Triple Jump

Christian Taylor- Men’s Triple Jump

Bridgette Owens- Women’s 100-Meter Dash

Dedric Dukes- Men’s 200-Meter Dash

Ryan Clark- Men’s 200-Meter Dash

Claudia Francis- Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles

Cory McGee- Women’s 1,500 Meters

Kerron Clement- Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles

Eric Futch- Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles

TJ Holmes- Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles

Kyra Jefferson- Women’s 200-Meter Dash

To see which Gators made it to Rio click here. 

Stepping into 88 Blessings Recap

The love mothers have for their child is indescribable by words. No matter the circumstances their family is in you can count on the mother to find a way to make it happen. Over the weekend Erica Wilson held the inaugural event of her 88Blessings foundation that’s geared towards helping single moms.  Ms. Wilson is the mother of Jacksonville Jaguars newly re-signed wide receiver Allen Hurns. She is a single mom that pushed her son to follow his dreams and she’ll take care of the things he couldn’t control.

A portion of the event dedicated to honor Hurns resigning to a new 4-year/40 million dollar deal. The amount of the contract hasn’t changed the person Hurns has been his entire life. He is humbled and appreciative of the deal. “Its only the beginning” Hurns utters as fans congratulate him on the success. Special guest Drew Rosenhaus (Allen’s Agent) gave a few remarks on Erica and Hurns relationship, “I never seen a mother/son relationship like this; I wish me and my daughter grow to have a relationship like there.” The unconditional love between the two is what drove Hurns to work hard to gain this substantial amount in the contract.

An silent auction was held to raise money for the foundation. Thousands of dollars was raised for the foundation to kick-off their charitable duties. 

It was a marvelous event to honor 88 single mothers throughout the state of Florida. The mothers were showered with gifts and recognition of their hard work and dedication to their respective families. Jacksonville native and American Idol contestant Tyanna Jones added a stellar performance of Fantasia’s Lose To Win song. Her voice led many of the audience members to become emotional with tears of joy. The song empathizes what single mothers go through to make sure their family have the essentials of everyday life.

5 Things I Learned during the 2014-15 NCAA Football Season

By: Jimbo Brown

SEC Exposed

• For the first time in 8 years the best conference in the NCAA was not represented in the inaugural college football playoff championship game. Out of the 5 power conferences the Pac-12 had the best record. The SEC was second with a record of 7-5, but this record can be deceiving. Three of the five losses were by the SEC’s top teams: Alabama, Mississippi and Mississippi State. Alabama who has won national championships throughout the decade lost in the first college playoff game against The Ohio State Buckeyes. The SEC had a losing record (2-4) against ranked teams this bowl season. In my opinion, the most talented conference didn’t get exposed this bowl season. Teams throughout the NCAA just have been getting better through recruiting. 

Urban “The Greatest Ever” Meyer

• During his 15-year Head Coaching career, Urban Meyer has an awesome record of 141-26. He followed up that great success with a 9-2 bowl record. Urban Meyer has had an winning record at every school he has coached at. When he first arrives at the school he automatically turns the football program around in the first year. For example at Bowling Green University, Urban turn a 2-9 team the year before to a 8-3 record. He finished that season off with beating conference rival the University of Toledo. I believe that Urban Meyer will retire as the greatest to ever coach college football. He has already changed the culture at 4  different program and brought national championships to 2 of the 4.

Talent will be Found

• When I was growing up all the good recruits went to the national headlining schools. They wanted to play on TV each and every Saturday so that NFL scouts will have a chance to catch their talents. The growing demand for college football cause smaller schools to gain national relevancy. This has lead to recruits deciding to play at smaller schools. With schools outside the power 5 conference being shown on the EPSN networks during the week, recruits are considering these schools more often. For example, a 4-star recruit out of Miami chose to go to FIU over local rival University of Miami. In this day and age, Talent will be found no matter what school the student-athlete decide to go to. Lynden Trail, star defensive end from Norfolk State was selected to this years Senior Bowl. He has already been labeled as a sleeper in the upcoming draft. When/if Trail is drafted he will help out Norfolk state recruiting game plan by showing recruits they can make it no matter where they play. 

University of Miami is at the point of no return 

• The University of Miami hasn’t been the same since the devastating lost to Ohio State in the 2002 National Championship game. Since 2003, The U hasn’t won 10 games. It hard to believe that this program isn’t one of the national powerhouses when their is abundance of local and in-state talent. Randy Shannon had to deal with the sanctions handed down by the NCAA. I feel he wasn’t given a fair chance due to his skin color. The hire of Al Golden may be the start of this downward spiral. Former players under the Golden era feel cheated and misused during their career at UM. If you wasn’t recruited by Golden, you usually got put on the back burner for a freshman. This disgruntled the players because the more talented and experienced players wasn’t on the field. To me, the nail in the coffin was when UM signed a multi-million dollar deal with Adidas to sponsor their athletic programs. The Hurricanes was the first team to have a sponsorship deal with Nike and for them to just jump ship over money is a desperate move.

Who is the king of Florida?

• This year we seen two of the states top three programs look like their players still had the high school mentality. UM and UF used to be known as the dominant teams in the state of Florida. While FSU had some success against them and others, they still came second to the two big dogs. Each school has won multiple national championships over the years. Each school created a legendary coach. In my opinion, there will never be just one king of the state. History shows that the #1 spot has a revolving sit. We just have to wait and see who will step up and compete with the Seminoles of Tallahassee.

Should Collegiate Athletes get Compensated?

By: Candy Man 

We’ve heard the arguments hundreds of times. Student-athletes receive more than enough from a full scholarship & free education. Student-athletes enjoy perks that regular students don’t have access to. Student-athletes should be getting a cut of the revenues the athletic department earns. Student-athletes should profit off the likeness of their names. Over the last few years, this question has lead to heated debates about how universities profit off their athletes while those same athletes can’t profit off themselves until they go pro. The NCAA itself has been taking heat about the petty rules & regulations they use to govern & restrict its student-athletes off the field. “Impermissible benefits” is a phrase everyone has heard & it has affected many big time college football programs around the country such as Ohio State, Miami, Florida State, USC, North Carolina, SMU, & Auburn.

Many people argue that there are so many cases of illegal benefits in college sports because the athletes aren’t being properly compensated. Combine that with the wild wild west nature of recruiting where recruits are being offered any & everything from coaches to play for their teams. You hear stories about athletes getting free cars to play for this football team or getting paid thousands of dollars for a big play. You hear stories of star athletes that can’t even afford clothes or food, such as Shabazz Napier, who said he sometimes goes to bed starving. And then you see cases across the country where the NCAA penalizes programs over little things such as an athlete receiving some extra help here & there from a coach such as a free meal or gas money and you can see why people have been turning on the NCAA to loosen up their rulebook. Even artists such as Wale have taken notice to the hypocrisy of the NCAA, rapping about it in a song called “Varsity Blues.”

 Some student-athletes consider it a full-time job. They wake up early in the morning for practice, workouts & conditioning. Go to class late into the afternoon. Another evening practice, study hall and then spend the rest of the day finishing up on studying or homework. Some athletes desire to work part-time jobs on the side to earn a little extra income but they’re not even allowed to earn money outside of their scholarships. So it’s easy to see how they end up struggling in college. I honestly think student-athletes will be paid eventually. College football, and college sports in general have become too big of a business for the athletes not to see any of the profit. The NCAA & athletic departments make billions, not millions but billions, off television contracts, sports apparel deals, & sponsorships and some of the top coaches are getting paid more than 5 million every year. The University of Texas even have their own network channel with ESPN dedicated to their athletic program. Student-athletes should be getting more than a scholarship & free gear. I don’t believe in them being salaried employees making millions in college but they should at the least, be able to profit off jerseys being sold with their names on it. That’s another issue that rises if they do end up getting paid, how will they split the profits among revenue-generating sports like football and the lesser sports like tennis & volleyball, and how big of a paycheck should they see? But when you realize that some of the top athletic programs earn more in revenues than professional sports teams, they have more than enough to share the wealth. 

The Best High School Football Teams in South Florida of All-TIme

By: Jimbo Brown

 When it comes to high school football it has reached the highest it has ever been in its long history. High school teams and players are getting exposure from social media to shows on ESPNU. Nike and Under Armor has been a leading force in generating exposure for the talented youth by holding football camps as a platform. Florida arguably has the best athletes. Many scouts come to the tri-county to recruit for all positions.  The West (Miami Northwestern), Carol City, St. Thomas, Central, Booker T and American Heritage has produced talent at big universities and in the NFL. 

The discussion of the best high school team of all-time from the South Florida area could be heard in all circles and walks of life. The best teams always vary by generation and what type of football you like. I’m going to try not to be bias, facts are going to outweigh feelings. Here is my top 5 no specific order:

Miami Northwestern Bulls (Class of 2007 & 2008)

-This team was arguably the best in the schools history. With top prospects like Jacorey Harris and Sean Spence on both sides of the ball the Bulls were unstoppable. Averaging 50 points a game and shutting out most opponents was the formula for success. Many prospects went to D-1 universities and some found a place in the NFL. The legacy was cemented with 2 state championships.

Miami Carol City Chiefs (Class of 2003)

-Coach Frazier believed in great defense and a strong running game. Even though it was the death of his legacy, his 2003 state team was the epitome of his vision. With a host of running backs starring Chris Strothers, Carol City ran the ball down opponents throats that year. The most feared player on the team had to be Willie Williams, who broke the arm of Edgewater quarterback on the first play of the state game. Kenny Phillips 2-time NFL super bowl champion started at safety as a junior on this team.

Miami Central (Class of 2011)

-This was the year that the Roc Boys on 95th street was loaded with D-1 talent. The team was lead by the running attack of Devonta Freeman and the arm of Rakeem Cato. Unable to deliver a state championship in the previous year, the talent of the Rockets blew out a talented Dr.Phillips. Notable players on the team was Charles Gaines Jr, Thomas Finnie, Tommy Shula, Durell Eskridge and Joseph Yearby. 

Booker T Washington (Class of 2014)

-This class of football was the best team in dade county two years in a row, winning two state championships and putting a number of property stricken youth in universities across the nation. Lead by Chad Thomas on defensive and Treon Harris on offensive teams had to face the best of both worlds each week. Majority of the team was the reason the track team was able to win a state championship during that era. 

St.Thomas (Class of 2009)

-The only team in my top five that doesn’t have a championship title but has enough talent to go head to head with other teams on the list. The 2008-2009 St. Thomas Aquinas was loaded with talented players. Lamarcus Joyner and Giovanni Benard are probably the biggest names off of this team. Phillip Dorsett and Rashad Greene now at rival schools also played on this team. You will see a significant amount of these players playing on sunday.







Honorable Mention

-Miramar (Class of 2010)

-Booker T Washington (Class of 2008)

-The West (Class of 2000)

-Carol City (Class of 1996 & 1997)

-Norland (Class of 2004)
-Pahokee & Glades Central (Class 2007-2010)

Is There Such Thing as Rewards Without Risk (Throwback Wednesday)

By: Jimbo Brown

 

Growing up playing football in the South Florida Youth Football League I witnessed opponents and teammates get hit and have concussion like symptoms. We were to young to understand the damage we were causing because we emulated  what we saw on the professional level. The big hits and head on head collisions became apart of the game. 

The professional football players we grew up watching are now suing the National Football League for the affect concussions had on them. Over 4,500 athletes claimed the NFL concealed the dangers of concussions and rushed players back to the field while profited from them. The players who will receive compensation are suffering from dementia, depression or Alzheimer’s. When you're dreaming of playing in the NFL you don’t think about the negative effect it can have on your body. You think about how you're going to train hard so you can better you and your family situation. 

I feel the NFL shouldn’t have to pay out the money granted by the Supreme Court judge. When the money was good, players weren’t thinking about health concerns. It was understood that while playing the game you will be exposed to harmful possibilities. There are big name hall of famers who are eligible and are seeking compensation; Tony Dorsett and the family of Tony Dorsett. We have to prepare the future NFL stars with the proper techniques when engaging in contact. It starts with the little kid in Gainesville, Florida or the #1 prospect in the 2015 class. The future is what you make it.

When you Stay Ready...

By Jimbo Brown

Close your eyes! Now imagine you are a 3-year starter at your dream-school and a historically known NCAA college football powerhouse. You end your senior year by breaking the career receiving record that puts your name in the category with all the greats who played before you. Now its on to the “process” known as the NFL draft. With your talents and production in college anyone would expect to be drafted no later then the 3rd round. That wasn’t the case for undrafted free agent (UFA) Allen Hurns, now, 3rd string receiver of the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

The 3-day event became more grueling after each round, when Hurns didn’t hear his name called. After the 6th round he didn’t want to hear his name called at all. Becoming a UFA would give him the power to decide where he wanted to take out his frustration. He kept faith that God would lead him in the right direction. Hurns gets his Christian faith from his mother Ms. Erica Wilson. With the support of his mother, family and friends Hurns kept a positive outlook on the task ahead. Enabling him to hook up with his former Offensive Coordinator from his early years at UM.  His main focus would be on perfecting his technique since he was so familiar with the playbook. Given himself a edge on the rookies and veterans on the team. 

Determined to show all 32 teams that they made a big mistake, Hurns went into the rookie workouts with a big chip on his shoulder. He was determined to prove the “experts” wrong. Hurns would go to neighborhood parks around 1 am and run air routes. His early success in OTA's led to an invitation to the 90-man training camp. Once Hurns got into camp, his hard work was aided with quite a few injuries within the receiving group. From practicing with the 5th group to working with the 1’s and 2’s helped him catch the eye of the coaches. He caught the attention of the nation by outperforming every receiver in the NFL, especially the ones took in the 2014 draft.

Hurns has a strong case to start alongside veteran Cecil Shorts III, due to the fact that he out worked 2nd rounder Marqise Lee. Finishing the preseason with 14 catches for 232 yards has led experts to believe Allen is steal for the Jaguars. He averaged 17.7 yards per catch and has 45 yards more then any other receiver in the NFL. 

Since joining the team Hurns has found himself very hungry yet humble about the situation. Hurns has expressed his journey so far into three words: Dedication, Faith, Underrated. As stated on “A Few Good Minutes with Brian Sexton”, Hurns believe its not about how you get there, its will you seize the opportunity or not (Link Below).  Allen has began on a path that can become a true cinderella story. No matter if he starts or not “He will Stay Ready, So he don’t have to Get Ready."

A Few Good Minutes with Brian Sexton: Allen Hurns