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. 

University of Florida Women Gymnastics: Dynasty, Dynasty!

By Jimbo Brown

Coach Faehn Giving Some Pointers To A Young Athlete

Athlete Talk normally supply its readers with articles about the more traditional sports; football, basketball, track & field, etc. So today we wanted to show some love to the University of Florida Women’s gymnastics team. The team is being coached by a great women that believes in talent, persistence and talent. Coach Rhonda Faehn has been the coach for the past 13 years and has brought nothing but success to the university. During her time UF has won 4 sec titles, 10 NCAA regional titles, 10 super six appearances and 3 back to back to back national titles. The only other sports program to win three consecutive national titles is UF men’s track & field team. The women’s team has tons of talent on it.

2015 NCAA Gymnastics Champions

On every team championship team there are individuals that the underclassmen look up to and those two are Kytra Hunter and Bridget Sloans. These two set the tone for the other athletes on the team, especially Hunter. Hunter is a 15-time All American and is a 3x NCAA champion. Like most teams, the Gators had an up and down regular season. Through the good and bad times the whole roster delivered at clutch moments. For example, Bridgette Gaquatto’s career-best-tying floor routine gave UF a share of the 2014 title. This year freshman Alex McMurty came through and delivered the 3^rd consecutive national title by putting up a career best 9.95 to close UF’s bar rotation. Three freshman competed with the team for the national title, this establishes a good foundation for the slight rebuild Coach Faehn has to do.

Losing Hunter and fellow seniors Rachel Spicer, Jamie Shisler and Kierten Wang would be devastating for most teams. These seniors have contributed to the team in so many ways. The squad is already returning 9 people from their national championship team. 7 of the 9 actually competed this past weekend. The incoming freshmen will have plenty of leadership to follow because the retuning athletes have never experience a season that didn’t end with a national title. Freshman Kennedy Baker is the only African American on the team right now and she had a very good beginning to her career. The Gators have a bright future ahead of them. To be successful you have to emulate the greats.

The Bigger Picture: Jackson Robinson West striped of Little League World Series Title

By: Jimbo Brown 

Life has shown us that if you are in a position of power (race, money, title) you are somewhat above the rest of society. You are more than likely will go through life without any major hiccups. Growing up in the 90’s when most of the MLB stars were using PED’s while the people in charge turned the blind eye. Alex Rodriguez, arguably one of the greatest Yankee players admitted to the DEA that he used Performance Enhancement Drugs for a two-year period. Even though the MLB has since tightened their polices, the actions of the 90’s probably played a part in A-Rod decision making. Kids easily can see that if you are in a position of power the rules of life are beneath you. This got me to thinking about the Jackie Robinson West little leaguers.

If your not familiar with the situation, an all black team of little league baseball players from the inner city of Chicago had some players out of their region on the team. This was against the rules of the Little League World Series and had their 2 championship titles vacated. The players of Jackie Robinson West will be hurt because they are not the Little League World Series Champions. The memories created can never be destroyed. I believe the committee did make a impact on the future athletes of the world. 

I believe that this can be an example for future generations to learn from. With great success it can be great failure. The adults in the situation failed the kids. The committee could have slapped them on the wrist and punish them for the next year, instead extreme measures was took and the title was striped from the team. We may prevent the next Josh Gordon or Johnny Manziel from happening once they get success. 

The Best in Florida: Gators, Hurricanes or Seminoles?

By: Candy Man

            Who can lay claim as the best football program in the state of Florida? College football in the Sunshine State took off in the 80’s when Miami won their first national championship in ’83. The U went on to win 3 more titles before UF or FSU won their first. FSU got on board in 1993 with Heisman Trophy winner, Charlie Ward. Soon after, the Gators joined the club in 1996 when they beat the Seminoles in the title game. Since the 1980’s, the rivalries between the U, FSU & UF have grown into the national spotlight and these 3 programs combined to win 11 national championships, about 1/3^rd of all the championships in that time period. That is a great accomplishment and a testament to the quality of football being played in this state at the college and high school level. But who can say they have the best football program out of the three?

The team that invented swagger makes a good case as they have the most national championships with 5. The U was the most dominant and most hated team in the 80’s when head coaches Schnellenberger, Johnson & Erickson led them to 3 championships. They spoiled many teams’ shots at winning a title including Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma & Notre Dame. That success carried over into the 90’s until a Pell grant scandal knocked them off for a few years. They came back strong with Larry Coker and won another title in 2001 with the “greatest team in college football history.” Their cocky & flashy style created a brand & a legacy that is recognized throughout the college football landscape. You can say they produced the most talent in the state also. 2 Heisman Trophy winners have played for the Canes, quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde & Gino Torretta. They have set multiple NFL draft records & they could field a complete NFL team, 2^nd string and all, with just their own players. Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Edgerrin James, Willis McGahee, Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, Devin Hester, Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss, the Blades brothers, Jonathan Vilma, Jim Kelly, Jerome Brown, Bernie Kosar and many other stars at every position.

The Florida Gators are the oldest team in the state but didn’t reach consistent success until the 60’s when they had Steve Spurrier, 1966 Heisman winner, at quarterback and Ray Graves as head coach. This is also the time when Gatorade was first invented. The 70’s were so-so with head coach, Doug Dickey, and the 80’s were more successful but tarnished with major infractions that resulted in severe penalties from the NCAA. The Gators rebounded in the 90’s & reached national prominence with multiple SEC titles and a national championship in 1996 under head coach, Steve Spurrier. They won 2 more championships with Urban Meyer & arguably the best college football player ever, Tim Tebow. Some of the Gator greats include Heisman Trophy winners, Danny Wuerffel & Steve Spurrier, Emmitt Smith, Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard, Jevon Kearse, Brandon Spikes, Percy Harvin, Joe Haden, the Pouncey Twins, Kevin Carter, Rex Grossman, Jack Youngblood & Wilbur Marshall.

           

The Florida State Seminoles, the former all-girls school & the youngest team out of the 3, started playing D1 football in the 1950’s. It’s impressive what they’ve done in a short amount of time when there are schools that have been playing D1 since the 1800’s. One of the greatest coaches in college football history, Bobby Bowden, took over in the 70’s and led the program to great heights. FSU ran the 90’s, fell off in the late 2000’s at the end of the Bobby Bowden era and have rose back to the top under Jimbo Fisher. Now you can say they are on the same level as UF with both having 3 national titles and 3 Heisman winners. No question, the best team right now are the Seminoles. Jameis Winston led them to a championship last year & he is on his way to becoming the 1^st overall pick in this year’s draft. They’ve racked up on a lot of talent with top 5 recruiting classes and are sending them to the league more than any other school besides Alabama. Their most impressive accomplishment, in my opinion, are the 14 straight years they finished in the top 5 beginning in the late 80’s to the end of the 90’s. That’s consistency and they could’ve added a few more championships if it wasn’t for Miami & Florida. Some of the greatest athletes to come through Tallahassee are “Primetime” Deion Sanders, Heisman Trophy winners, Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke & Jameis Winston, Warrick Dunn, Peter Warrick, Terrell Buckley, state of Florida legend Derrick Brooks, Marvin Jones, Ron Simmons, Peter Boulware, Anquan Boldin, & Fred Biletnikoff..

            

One thing for sure, each one of them had successful runs. It’s like a power cycle where one program is on top for a few years then comes back down to Earth while the others catch up & take over that top spot. Miami ran the 80’s, all three programs dominated the 90’s, UM was scary in the early 2000’s & the Gators were on top a few years later while FSU struggled. Now FSU is one of the best teams in the nation while the U & UF are struggling. Miami hasn’t done much in more than 10 years after losing their last title game to Ohio State & moving to the ACC. The Gators were in a great position just a few years ago but all that got derailed when Urban Meyer left & Will Muschamp was hired. It’s been years since Miami & Florida beat Florida State and both are trying to place themselves in the best position to knock off FSU & return to their glory days. Factoring in the history & present day of all three programs, who would you say is the best in the state of Florida?

Carol City Football was Everything: The Dynasty that Never Happened

By:Jimbo Brown 

It's the 1st day of summer practice at Miami Carol City High School and your a freshman trying to find your way on a talented JV roster. The year is 2005 and I was that freshman in high school who didn't know nothing about Carol City football besides they won state a few years earlier. If it wasn't for my mom I would have been at Miami Northwestern. Schools outside of Carol City was the landing spots for most of its talent from 2005-2012. Due to the old school mentality of legendary coach Walt Frazier and the dictatorship of his predecessor Harold Barnswell,  the football program at CC hasn't returned back to their once elite status. 

From the class of 2009 and up Carol City has seen talent come in and out of the school and having success in other programs. NFL stars such as Kayvon Webster and Stedman Bailey both were freshmans with me. Webster who later became a dual threat for Pace was tricked into helping the team by being stuck in a position he didn't want to play. This lead to him transferring to neighborhood rival Miami Norland. Norland that year and helping them end our 6-year streak of undefeated seasons. Stedman on the other stayed at CC until the end of his incredible sophomore year. He left to join Geno Smith at Miramar High School, a school that inherited a lot of the talent from Carol City. The youth had a bad stigma about CC that made them run away and find homes elsewhere.

If I told you guys that we had Teddy Bridgewater for a hot minute, would y'all believe me? Yeah he was practicing but because of an executive decision from moms he headed to Northwestern where he became arguably the greatest quarterback in their history. That happened a lot with the talent at Carol City. Either the off-season workout was too much for them, the philosophy was to demanding or other schools was a better destination. A big part of the problem was that Carol City wasn't putting their players in college. Even the talented ones who stayed was looked over because the coaches didn't do their jobs. 

For the pass decade Carol City football program has been in the middle of the pack. How potent of an offense we would have had with Teddy at QB with Sted and Allen at receiver. Or think about how many shutouts we would have had with Kayvon and Robert Sands on our defense. Class of 2009 had the best chance to make some noise but was oust from the playoffs by one of the luckiest catches in football history. Carol City is heading back in the right direction. With the help of the flakey business with Miramar head coach. Talent will be returning back to its home and hopefully we can get back to a national powerhouse. Chief Pride! 

Will Muschamp: The Destruction of Greatness

By: Jimbo Brown

Will Larry Muschamp the head coach of the GREAT University of Florida was chosen as the successor to the GREAT Urban Meyer in 2011. Over three years Muschamp as the Head Coach he lead the Gators to a 25-19 record. Once his dream job, has become a nightmare for the head coach. The record can be very misleading because most of his success came while majority of the starters on his team wasn’t his recruits. The performance on the field has led gator alumni and fans to urge for Muschamp to be fired. 

I was skeptical of him being hired in the first place because he doesn’t develop the players as a head coach should. You would tailor your team to the strengths of your players. Tyler Murphy and Jacoby Brissett are prime examples.

Murphy and Brissett, who both started for UF  has seen time playing a support role to the best worst quarterback in our history, Jeff Driskel. Tyler Murphy transferred to Boston College after completing his senior year with the Gators. Brissett on the other hand decided to transfer after his sophomore season to North Carolina State, where he sat out the entire 2013. These two didn’t succeed during their time at UF because they didn’t fit into the scheme of the offense. They are dual-threat QB’s that need to have the option to pass or run.

Muschamp was persistent with running the pro-style. Even Driskel is lack-luster in the offense due to the frequent change of offensive coordinators. As talented as the Gators are, the production level hasn’t met the expectations of the great teams in the past. The Gator Nation wish for Muschamp to be fired and a new coach is brought in to build with Treon Harris. 

Every Saturday has been a Nightmare at Ben Hill Griffin with Muschamp playing the role of Freddy Cougar. 

America is Changing, the NFL should too

By: Jimbo Brown

The same day “Athlete Talk” debuted, two Pittsburgh Steelers running backs were cited for a misdemeanor marijuana possession. The NFL is more than likely to issue out suspensions but for now the situation is under investigation. I first, want to express my opinion on how dumb it is to drive around in a car with 20 grams of Weed (Stephen A. Voice). This is a prime example to show that marijuana is affecting the NFL culture everyday. On the other hand, this allows me to introduce a new perspective. The NFL should adapt to the times as America has and become more “understandable” when it comes to marijuana use. 

Opening up to using medical reasons should be the 1st step the NFL should take when tackling the marijuana issues in the locker room. The NFL has two law suits there’re currently dealing with: concussions and painkillers. Marijuana has showed to help with concussion-like symptoms without the side effects of the painkillers that the NFL has pushed on players throughout decades.

In a Huffington Post article by Eddie Pellis, retired defensive lineman Marvin Washington states that players don’t smoke because its something to do. Washington reveals its more of an “What if you could take something that helps you heal faster from a concussion, that prevents your equilibrium from being off for two weeks and your eyesight for being off for four weeks?” 

Did you know that 6 players who have tested positive for marijuana use have been suspended longer then Ray Rice (Domestic Violence)? After doing research I discovered that Josh Gordon  (2014 season), Daryl Washington (2014 season), Von Miller (4 games in 2013), Walter Thurmond (4 games in 2013 season), Brandon Browner (2013 season and 4 games in 2014 season) and Will Hill (6 games in 2014 season) have been suspended more harshly then Rice. Rice will only have to serve a 2 game suspension after knocking his then fiancé unconscious and dragging her out an Atlantic City hotel elevator. 

The penalties are to severe when you consider that marijuana legality is expanding and it has a potential use as relief for chronic pain. We see this in everyday life when a drug dealer is convicted for 20 plus years, but people who commit violent-crimes are in prison for minimum years. The conservativeness of the NFL will not allow marijuana to get a past just yet but they are allowing this harmless drug to ruin young men careers and franchise seasons. 

Winning Your Fantasy Football League

By: @WOLFcandyman

Less than 2 weeks away from the opening kickoff in the NFL, which means fantasy football season, is in full swing. For the veterans & for those in their first year, I’ll be providing a few simple guidelines that I follow that have helped me finish in the top 3 for the last 3 years. For you all in the CTA fantasy league, take notes.

Before anything else, my main goal is to draft the most consistent & balanced team all the way from the quarterback to the kicker. So that means no weak spots. This requires you to know who to draft, when to draft them, & how many of each position to draft. In a regular 10 team league, my roster always consists of 1 quarterback, 1 tight end, 1 defense, & 1 kicker. The rest is straight running backs & wide receivers. If you have Peyton Manning or Jimmy Graham, there’s no need to draft a backup. As for defense, unl ess you have 1 of the top defenses, I prefer to pick up a different defense every week that’s going up against a weak offense.

So now, you want to jump on the Seahawks defense but it’s only the 5^th round…bad move. It’s a general rule that you wait until your last 2 picks to draft your defense & kicker because those positions are so unpredictable regarding fantasy production. The Kansas City Chiefs were one of the top defenses last year & they weren’t even drafted in most leagues. For this guide, I’ll focus on the first 4 picks. You could really go any way…it’s been years where I didn’t draft a running back until the 5^th round & others where my first 2 picks were running backs. But since the NFL in recent years has been relying less & less on the running game & more on wide open spread offenses with 4 receiver sets, many people choose to go with quarterback & wide receiver with their first picks. I say that only increases the demand & value for running backs because they are so scarce. The talent at quarterback & receiver is so deep this year that you can wait until later to draft one. However, once you get past the first 10 or 15 backs, there is a big drop off in production at the position. So that means you should attack running back first so you won’t be stuck with Mark Ingram as your starting back later on. Focus on getting 2 or 3 running backs with your first 4 picks. Analysts like ESPN’s Matthew Berry say there are 3 elite quarterbacks & 1 or 2 elite tight ends which means their fantasy production will be far above the rest of the pack. Berry suggests that you draft them early or wait until the later rounds to get one. His reasoning is that after those elites, the fantasy production (total fantasy points for season or average points a game) is about equal for the next 8 or so players in that position. You can get about the same production from the 9^th player as you can from the 3^rd. As for wide receivers, stack up on them. The position is deep & there are about 6 elite ones such as Megatron, AJ Green, & Dez Bryant.

So now who do you draft? I won’t go into specifics but I prefer players from high scoring offenses. The more points the team scores, the more points your player scores. I also go for players that will be on the field a majority of the time; you can’t score sitting on the bench. Avoid players 3 or 4 spots deep on the depth chart until you have drafted players that will put up enough points to start on a weekly basis. Remember the goal is consistency & balance. With each pick, you can go with the best player available or attack a need to address that weak spot on your team. Moving on to weekly matchups & free agency. Keep your eyes on the free agent market because there will be guys who didn’t get drafted but blow up later in the season. Questions on who to start really depend on matchups. If you’re undecided between 2 players, start the one with the better matchup. Either it’s a quarterback going up against a weak defense or a receiver lining up against a corner that allowed 4 touchdowns last week. If you still can’t decide, GO WITH YOUR GUT. All in all, if you know your football you should be good. Just remember the goal, be wise about who you put on your team & who to start on a weekly basis.