University of Oregon Double Up

Oregon Men Celebrate after Wining National Title

With the collegiate track & field season officially over, we would like to send a huge congratulations to the University of Oregon’s men’s and women’s track teams for winning the NCAA Outdoor Championship! After catching all of the talent at the preliminaries a few weeks back, it is absolutely no surprise at the records and stats broken at the historic Hayward Field this past weekend. While we had our eyes set on the Gators taking home the big win, they still had some stellar performances. That really goes for a lot of the schools that came out to compete. Just a few weeks ago, professional sprinter Justin Gatlin set the Hayward record for the 200 meter with his 19.68 finish at the Prefontaine Classic. That record has since been broken with the University of Southern California’s Andre De Grasse took the first place win with a 19.58 finish! And he wasn’t the only sprinter to hit a sub-20 run this weekend! Baylor University’s Trayvon Bromell and Florida’s very own Dedric Dukes closed the race in 19.86, with fraction of a second between their third and second place wins respectively. De Grasse also took home the title for the 100-meter sprint, finishing in just 9.75 seconds and breaking the collegiate, NCAA meet, and Hayward Field records all at once. Jumper Marquis Dendy successfully defended both of his titles in the long and triple jump! Go Gators! And of course, we can’t forget about the most exciting events, the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see our Gators take the title, but Arkansas took home a win for the first time which helped them finish the meet in third place, just behind our Gators in second.

Andre De Grasse winner of the 100 & 200m

                Although they didn’t win the meet, University of Kentucky’s women’s squad pulled a close runner up to Oregon. Their most notable performances came from sprinter Dezerea Bryant and hurdler Kendra Harrison. Dez is one of my personal favorites on the track and definitely left all her troubles on the track as she went 22.18 in the last 200-meter sprint of her collegiate career. In the short-hurdles, Kendra Harrison finished both the indoor and outdoor seasons undefeated! An elite hurdler, Harrison’s winning time of 12.55 was just another contribution to her title as the third-fastest hurdler in NCAA history. Of course, we can’t forget about Jenna Prandini, one of Oregon’s top performers, taking the 100-meter title, securing her teams lead in the meet. Also contributing the Lady Duck, distance runner Raevyn Rogers took the win with a 1:59.71 finish in the 800-meter race. Although our Lady Gators did not come out on top in the individual events, they managed to pull of two championship wins in both the 4x1 and 4x4 relays.

Women National Champ: Oregon Ducks

                With the season now over, the NCAA’s elite athletes will prepare for their final bid at the USA Outdoor Championships back in Eugene, Oregon at end of the month. Big congratulations to all of the athletes finishing their collegiate careers and graduating from college! To the seniors, best of luck in your endeavors as we look forward to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games!

           --solementality

Norland Men’s Basketball:4 State Champions in a Row

By: Candy Man 

In high school sports, they call it boys’ basketball. But at Norland, they’re men amongst boys on the basketball team. They just made history in the state & Dade County, becoming the 1^st basketball team in the county to win 4 straight state championships after beating Gainesville to a score of 53-46 in the Class 6A final. They also become only the 6^th school ever in the whole state to win 4 straight. Head coach, Lawton Williams III, has kept the success going since his first state title with the school in 2006.  With that, they join Miami High as one of the most successful programs in Dade County.

Junior center & All-American, Dewan Huell, was the key for the Vikings this season. He carried his team in the final, scoring 18 points along with 8 boards & 6 blocks. Other key contributors are David Jean-Baptiste & Tyrik Waite. There’s a good chance Norland could be right back in the mix next year as they only have one senior on the team. Huell is one of the best players in the nation and will be the main factor in deciding if they can make it five straight. They were doubted before the beginning of this season. Critics said they were too young & inexperienced after they lost so many of their players from last years’ state title team. Coach Williams still worked his magic with a team full of underclassmen. Pretty much the whole team is returning next year. With more depth & experience, Norland should be able to make it 5 straight titles.   

Also, shout out to Browad’s Blanche Ely basketball team and head coach Melvin Randall. They finished the season undefeated (28-0) and won their 3^rd state title in the past 4 seasons, beating Kissimmee Osceola in the Class 7A final.

Best Point Guard in the NBA?

By: Candy Man 

Russell Westbrook is making his case as the best point guard in the league. He’s had to carry his team with Kevin Durant in & out of the lineup and he has been very productive doing so. People are wondering whether Westbrook might be more valuable to his team than Durant. There are also questions if he could possibly have more success if he was the leading man on his own squad. Just take a look at his numbers from this month alone & you can see why Westbrook’s name has been gaining momentum around the league…he’s been averaging about 30 points, 10 assists & 8 rebounds and has been putting up monster stats with Durant out of the lineup. The most explosive playmaker in the NBA, he’s also been more efficient, posting those numbers while only playing under 30 minutes on some nights. I’m calling it now that Westbrook will win an MVP trophy in the next few seasons.

Other names that are brought up in the best point guard conversation are Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving & John Wall. Paul has been considered the best point guard because he is the prototypical guard with a pass-first, shoot-second mentality. He puts up high assist numbers and gets his teammates involved in the game, while being one of the most efficient players in the league. The only knock against Paul is that he hasn’t gotten deep into the playoffs. His teams have been disappointing in the playoffs, coming in with high expectations but consistently getting knocked out in the first & second rounds. He has cost the Clippers late in games with dumb mistakes & turnovers and he should be more aggressive in scoring as I feel he could score more than 20 a night if he really wanted to. Steph Curry, the best 3-point shooter in the game today, probably has taken the best PG title from Paul this season. He’s elevated his game and improved on much criticized areas such as defense & passing. Curry is the most exciting player in the NBA to watch and is deadly from anywhere on the court. From pulling up for the 3 to swerving through traffic down the lane with his fancy ball handling, he can get any shot he wants and hit it with pinpoint accuracy. John Wall is one of the best finishers in the league and is having a career season. He leads the NBA in assists with over 10 a game and he’s been the key piece to the Wizards getting back into the playoffs. Kyrie Irving is another point guard with a shoot first mentality. He’s not much of a facilitator, isn’t impressive on defense but is a lethal scorer and probably has the best handles out of anybody. With LeBron James & a better supporting cast, he has the potential to be a more all-around guard in the next couple years.

The talent at the point guard position is probably the deepest it has ever been. In addition to the first five, you also have Damian Lillard, Rajon Rondo, Derrick Rose, Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Goran Dragic, Tony Parker, Kemba Walker, Brandon Knight, & Eric Bledsoe. In my opinion, Lillard has the potential to be the biggest star out of all those I just named. He’s still young (3^rd year in the league) and is far from reaching his prime. If this was a list of the top 5 offensive point guards, he would definitely be in there without a question. He’s one of the most clutch players in the NBA, hitting big shots for the Trailblazers late in games. The man hit one of the best buzzer-beaters I’ve ever seen when he sent Houston home last year in the 1^st round of the playoffs. This season, he’s averaging over 21 points, 6 assists & 4 rebounds a game.

The way Stephen Curry & Russell Westbrook are playing, they’ll be considered for the MVP trophy at the end of the season. Steph most likely is going down as the best 3 point shooter ever along with Ray Allen & Reggie Miller. It seems like Westbrook has gotten even better & more explosive since his torn meniscus injury in the 2013 playoffs and arthroscopic surgery last year. I feel like Westbrook is the player Derrick Rose was supposed to be before his knee injuries. With Steph & Westbrook in my top 2, the rest of my top 5 in no order would be Paul, Kyrie & Wall with Dame not too far behind them at 6th.

Highlights of NBA All-Star Weekend

By: CandyMan

Last weekend was one of the better weekends for the NBA All-Star weekend in recent history. Every event was fun, engaging & competitive. The weekend started with the celebrity game where Kevin Hart won his 4^th straight MVP. There were more deserving candidates though, as his East team lost to the West 57-51. Mo’ne Davis probably had the play of the night after driving down the lane with Hart in her face and hitting him with a spin move that opened up an easy layup for her. Next, there was a new format in the Rising Stars Challenge. Freshmen & sophomores from the USA & international countries would compete against each other. The World team beat the U.S. 121-112 as Andrew Wiggins (from Canada) scored 22 points and won MVP. Victor Oladipo & Zach Lavine were the leading scorers for team USA with 22 points each.

Saturday night started off with the first ever fashion show in which JR Smith, who just got traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, finished in first place. The Shooting Stars competition got off to a fast start with all 4 teams finishing und^rd straight Shooting Stars win. Next up was the Skills Challenge with a new tournament format where 8 players competed against each other 2 by 2 side by side. Patrick Beverly won the event after struggling with the chest pass in the last 2 rounds, but came from behind & hit his first 3 point shots with ease against Jeff Teague in the semifinals and Brandon Knight in the final round. 

er a minute. But only 2 could advance into the second round, Team Westbrook (Russell Westbrook, Penny Hardaway, Tamika Catchings) & Team Bosh (Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins, Swin Cash). Team Westbrook couldn’t make their half-court shot after using up the whole minute & thirty seconds. Team Bosh came out on top after a half-court shot from Wilkins with just under a minute. It was their 3

The 3-point contest itself was an All-Star roster and ended up meeting expectations as one of the best 3-points competitions ever. The roster included James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, Marco Belinelli (last year’s winner) & JJ Redick. Matthews scored 22 points in the 1^st round but it still wasn’t enough to get into the 2^nd round as Curry, Thompson & Irving all scored more. Curry finished with the title after scoring 27 points and hitting 13 straight shots at one point. Many consider Curry to be the best 3 point shooter in the game and he solidified that status with this win. The final event of the night was the dunk contest. Everybody knew Zach Lavine was going to win and he did just that. He had two perfect score dunks in the first round that brought the whole crowd on their feet. Honestly, they were his best dunks of the night and there was no competition. The Greek Freak was hyped up coming into the event but failed to finish a dunk which basically knocked him out. Victor Oladipo had an impressive first dunk and advanced to the 2^nd round but couldn’t keep up with Lavine.

Now on to the main event on Sunday night. A few stars missed the game due to injury including Kobe Bryant, Anthony Davis & Blake Griffin (all starters for the West). DeMarcus Cousins & Damian Lillard got to play in the game at last, after being snubbed when the initial roster was announced. It was the usual All-Star game: fast-paced, little defense, plenty of turnovers, many 3-pointers and a lot of highlight plays. The West’s stacked roster beat the East 163-158. Westbrook was very explosive from the start and scored 41 points for the West and won MVP. LeBron James scored 30 points for the East and finished 2 points shy of tying Kobe for most career points in an All-Star game. The West is 4-1 against the East in the last 5 All-Star games.

#AthleteTalk Recaps National Signing Day

By: Candy Man

National Signing Day came & went and Dade County sent athletes to schools all over the country. Two of the biggest football programs in Miami, Booker T. & Central, had about 30 players altogether sign with schools yesterday. Both schools are coming off three straight state championships & have sent big time athletes to college & the NFL over the years. Booker T. had 2 players sign with Miami, running back Mark Walton & linebacker James King, joining Chad Thomas & Demetrius Jackson from last year’s class. Devonaire Clarington & Davante Davis, a Homestead transfer, both signed with Texas. The 3 other Homestead transfers that played big roles for the T last season committed to FIU (Maurice Alexander), Florida (Antonio Calloway), and FAU (Ocie Rose). Two other key players that had productive seasons, Terry Jefferson signed with FAMU & Vaquan Smalls signed with Samford. Central already have 2 of their best players from this class attending Florida State, receiver Da’Vante Phillips & defensive back Calvin Brewton, continuing the Central to FSU pipeline. Fermin Silva & Anthony Jones both enrolled early at FIU. Marshall University, where former Rockets Rakeem Cato & Tommy Shuler have broken multiple records, is getting Marquis Couch & Jason Jean. Keivonnis Davis will be joining the Gators & Dade County’s leading rusher signed with Jacksonville State. I’ve seen Miller play in person & I’m surprised because he has the talent to play for a major D1 team & should’ve got more offers. 

Some of the best high school football is played in South Florida & that is illustrated on National Signing Day every year, with high schools all over Dade & Broward sending athletes to college on football scholarships.

·      NORLAND…Carlton Davis – Auburn, Rayshad Jackson – Florida, D’Andre Smart – Kent State, William Gordon – Alcorn State

·      KILLIAN…Jaquan Johnson, Sheldrick Redwine – Miami, James Bowe – Massachusetts

·      NORTHWESTERN…DeAndre Baker – Georgia, Khalid McGee – South Florida, Samuel Dervil – South Carolina State, David Vincent – Mississippi Valley State, Xavier Bailey – Florida A&M

·      CAROL CITY…Rashad Fenton – South Carolina

·      EDISON…Robert Knowles – Miami

·      GULLIVER PREP…Dominic Sheppard – Virginia, George Grimwade – Samford, Antonyo Sotolongo – Bowling Green, Jowan Watson - Georgetown

·      ST. THOMAS AQUINAS…Jordan Scarlett, Richerd Desir-Jones – Miami, Damon Arnette – Ohio State, Colin Byrne, Samuel Clausman – Syracuse, Chris Hart, Tyson Cisrow – Utah, Devante Peete – Louisville, Brandon Boyce – Duke, Rashard Causey – Central Florida, Wyatt Ray – Boston College, Jawaun Harris - Rutgers

·      MIRAMAR…Tyrek Cole, Jovon Durante – West Virginia, Kahlil Lewis – Cincinnati, Leeward Brown – Tulane, Jeffrey Hill – Northern Illinois

·      AMERICAN HERITAGE…Torrance Gibson – Ohio State, Tarvarus McFadden – Florida State, Christian Irving – Wyoming, Anthony Flory – Appalachian State, Janarvis Pough – Bowling Green

·      MONARCH…Calvin Ridley, Shawn Burgess-Becker – Alabama, Ronnie Hoggins – South Florida

·      HALLANDALE…Sh’mar Kilby-Lane – Florida State, Juwan Taylor – Georgia, Taj McGowan – Central Florida, Malik Henderson – Pittsburgh, Dana Levine – Temple, Richie Cooper – Akron

Alabama, Florida State, USC, Clemson & Tennessee all finished with top 5 recruiting classes according to Rivals & ESPN, with Alab

ama having the #1 class in the ESPN rankings & USC with the #1 class in the Rivals rankings. Florida State, by far, ended up with the best class in the state. They signed 5 5* athletes that should be able to come in & contribute right away. Florida had a horrible class a month ago but new head coach Jm McElwain & his coaching staff had a great National Signing Day & finished with a top 25 recruiting class. Headlined by Martez Ivey & Cece Jefferson, they also stole a few recruits from Miami including Jordan Scarlett, Jordan Cronkite & Antonio Callaway. Miami had a good class and ended up finishing a few spots behind Florida in the rankings. Mark Walton, Jaquan Johnson, Bar Milo & Scott Patchan are some of the key players they signed but UM also lost a lot of potential players with about 15 decommitments.

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.

Athletes & Their Business Endeavors

By: Candy Man

Michael Jordan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and also a talented businessman. It is said that his net worth is more than a billion dollars and he acquired that after decades of a Hall of Fame NBA career and a variety of business deals. He’s had sponsorships with Nike, Gatorade, McDonalds, Hanes, 2K Sports, Upper Deck & a host of other corporations. Those sponsorships included shoe deals, commercial appearances, being a spokesperson, & cover athlete of NBA 2K for a couple of years. He also has multiple business investments. He owns restaurants, car dealerships and is also the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets. He has earned millions on the court and even more millions off of it from his endorsement deals and business interests. More than anything, he made most of his earnings from Jordan Brand & his partnership with Nike. He makes more than $60 million a year from his contract with Nike. Jordan sneaker sales are still growing after all these years and generate more than $2 billion every year. Due to the massive popularity and influence his shoes have had, Jordan Brand owns more of the basketball shoe market in America than Nike itself.

MJ is the most influential example of athletes turning their career success into a profitable business of their own. There are so many NBA players today with their own shoe deals including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose & Dwayne Wade. Damian Lillard & John Wall recently joined the competition with sneakers of their own. Outside the NBA, some of the most popular athlete endorsement deals are George Foreman and his grills, and Tiger Wood’s partnership with Nike. While the highest paid athlete contracts come from baseball, some of the wealthiest athletes in terms of endorsements come from tennis, golf and soccer; Roger Federer, Phil Mickelson, Maria Sharapova, David Beckham, Rafael Nadal, Rory McIlroy, Serena & Venus Williams.

Besides endorsements, another popular option for athletes to increase their net worth is through franchising. Many athletes partner with corporations to own & operate their retail stores. Peyton Manning owns multiple Papa John’s stores in Colorado. Former NBA player, Jamal Mashburn, owns many stores across a variety of businesses including Papa John’s, Outback Steakhouse, Dunkin Donuts & a Toyota dealership in Kentucky. Junior Bridgeman, who spent most of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, owns about 160 Wendy’s & Chili’s restaurant franchises around the country. Many professional athletes are also franchisees in Wingstop restaurants. Wingstop has become more popular due to Rick Ross rapping about their lemon pepper wings and all that good stuff. He and his sister, Tawanda Roberts, opened 6 new stores across the South and Rozay heavily promotes their chicken wings in his music.

If you’ve seen the ESPN 30 for 30 “Broke” documentaries, you know how fast athletes can make money and how fast they can lose it all. Athletes like MJ realized their power and influence and took advantage of it. With so many athletes going bankrupt and blowing their money away on gambling, splurging, or domestic issues, Jordan is a role model in the business world for developing the knowledge and network to turn his name into a billion dollar company. Many of today’s athletes are following his lead and creating their own brands. I just highlighted a few athletes but there are many more that are successfully building their own companies after retirement.