Sports Today

Will Clay High and Fleming Island deliver?

Horace Davis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:03:49 +0000

With Orange Park’s season coming to an abrupt halt in the opening round of the playoffs leaving Clay High and Fleming Island as the final two county teams moving on, the question now becomes can the Blue Devils and Golden Eagles post wins to move on to the regional finals.
I would venture to say that since Fleming Island easily handled Seabreeze in week 6 with a 42-21 thrashing which the final score wasn’t as close as it appears, the Golden Eagles should do it again unless they have an uncharacteristic off night just as the Raiders did last week – but I don’t see that happening, Eagles roll.
Meanwhile the Blue Devils will be paid a visit by the Class 3A, sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets who are 11-0 and have posted consecutive undefeated regular seasons.
In 2007, St. Augustine beat Clay 37-7; however, Ulysses Tobler, Teddy Monroe, Rodney Perry, and Gabe Burden were all sophomores, while Shane Coleman and Zack Kay was just freshman.
Although the task will be tall, I believe these Blue Devils are ready to grow up starting with Friday night.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Will Clay High and Fleming Island deliver?

Horace Davis — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:03:24 +0000

Will Clay High and Fleming Island deliver?
With Orange Park’s season coming to an abrupt halt in the opening round of the playoffs leaving Clay High and Fleming Island as the final two county teams moving on, the question now becomes can the Blue Devils and Golden Eagles post wins to move on to the regional finals.
I would venture to say that since Fleming Island easily handled Seabreeze in week 6 with a 42-21 thrashing which the final score wasn’t as close as it appears, the Golden Eagles should do it again unless they have an uncharacteristic off night just as the Raiders did last week – but I don’t see that happening, Eagles roll.
Meanwhile the Blue Devils will be paid a visit by the Class 3A, sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets who are 11-0 and have posted consecutive undefeated regular seasons.
In 2007, St. Augustine beat Clay 37-7; however, Ulysses Tobler, Teddy Monroe, Rodney Perry, and Gabe Burden were all sophomores, while Shane Coleman and Zack Kay was just freshman.
Although the task will be tall, I believe these Blue Devils are ready to grow up starting with Friday night.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Who wins Fleming Island or Orange Park?

Horace Davis — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:55:42 +0000

Here we are at the final regular season game of the season and what better way to end it than with a rivalry game featuring the top two teams in the county.
We almost had two undefeated teams playing this game but we all know what happened at Middleburg a few weeks ago when the Golden Eagles took their first loss.
Still, that doesn’t knock the luster off this contest as Orange Park tries to prove last seasons 41-3 rout was no fluke, whereas Fleming Island would like nothing more than to knock the Raiders from the ranks of the unbeaten.
It should be a test of Fleming Island’s speed with Malcolm Jones and Robert Boswell going against the athleticism of Orange Park’s defense led by Demetre Baker.
However, my take is, the Golden Eagles defense will be tested by the running attack of Orange Park’s stable of backs, while their (Orange Park) defense which is the best in the county will stop the soaring Eagles.
I won’t make the same mistake as last season when I picked Fleming Island, this time the Raiders roll 35-24.
Who do you have?

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

High School football season begins

Horace Davis — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:35:17 +0000

Here we go football fans, the start of another season which should prove to be another good one in Clay County.
Of course the season begins with local teams' Orange Park/Ridgeview and Clay/Fleming Island knocking heads tonight (9/4), while Middleburg travels to Creekside and Keystone to Bradford.
St. Johns Country Day got the season started with a 34-0 win over FSDB for head coach Merlins Smith's first win - Congratulations.
Who do you believe will make it to the state playoffs from Clay County?
My preseason picks are Orange Park (1-6A), Fleming Island (2-5A) and my sleeper this year is Matt Toblin and Clay High in District 3-3A.
Keystone, Middleburg, St. Johns and my sleeper last year Ridgeview will need good fortunes to make it out of their respective districts.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Mike Vick and the Jaguars

Horace Davis — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:06:59 +0000

Upon his release from the federal prison sentence incurred from the dog fighting ring he led, former Atlanta Falcons QB Mike Vick is eligible for reinstatement to the NFL recently granted by commissioner Roger Goodell, but no teams are stepping forward to sign the maligned quarterback.
Citing preseason blackouts to be followed by possible regular season blackouts, several national media sources have reported that our Jacksonville Jaguars would be a good fit for the elusive QB, however, according to profootballtalk.com, Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio said no to the Vick proposition.
If the report is true that Del Rio said no when posed the question he’s not alone, according to NFL sources, 17 other teams have also said they have no interest in Vick.
As far as the Jaguars are concerned, they are coming off of a disastrous 5-11 season, seats are still covered, the two preseason games are already blacked out and media pundits are predicting the possibility that all eight regular season games will follow that trend.
Can Vick generate ticket sales if he were signed?
Personally, I believe winning solves ticket sale issues, however, with the roster set the prospects of another losing season may be realistic.
I do not condone what Mike Vick has done off the football field, he should have been punished and he has – now someone will have to take a chance on him or possibly watch one of their rivals beat them to the punch.
What can Vick do for the Jags?
First off I understand that David Garrard is the starting QB and have no qualms with that, but with more and more teams showing the new offensive fad called the wildcat formation, he would fit perfectly into a backup role getting 8 to 10 snaps a game in a variety of ways.
No disrespect to backups QB’s Todd Bouman or Todd Boeckman but I’d have to say Vick is a better quarterback, although some will argue he isn’t, however, he has run an offensive system before and led the Falcons to a stunning playoff road win over the Packers and Brett Favre in historic Lambeau Field - something that doesn’t happen with regularity in December or January.
Okay, so we believe he could help the Jaguars or some other NFL team on the field, but what about off the field?
Sure their will be a firestorm of backlash aimed at the team that inks him to a deal and the media attention will be unmerciful.
But with the prospects of blackouts, declining attendance and not much interest on a national level, the signing of Mike Vick will do wonders on both those fronts and possibly lead to one or two more wins.
Sometimes bad media can be good media for teams in need of a jumpstart.
Would you go, renew, or purchase tickets to the Jags if they signed Mike Vick?

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

The most overrated statistic in baseball

Horace Davis — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:21:11 +0000

This weekend we had another major league baseball player reach the 500 save plateau when Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera joined the elite club with all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman (571) to become the only two that have reached that milestone.
I beg to ask, is it really such an unbelievable landmark with the way the game of baseball is now played?
Relief pitchers in today’s era including Lee Smith (478) and John Franco (424) have no earthy idea of what the real ‘Firemen’ of days gone had to endure to record a save.
With how baseball has become so compartmentalized, with short relievers, setup men and the so-called closers, Rivera, Hoffman, Franco and Smith for the most part will never endure the fires Tug McGraw, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage or Rollie Fingers (just to name a few) had to extinguish.
I can remember watching games in the 70’s or 80’s where McGraw, Sutter, Gossage or Fingers would enter the contest as early as the 8th inning and sometimes in the 7th depending of the severity of the fire on the field.
Nowadays, whether it’s Francisco Rodriguez (Mets), Troy Percival (Rays) or Rivera, the closer generally will not enter the game until he needs to record the last three outs to pick up the save.
If he does enter the game in the 8th inning to get one out, announcers go crazy that the closer is called on for a four-out save – as seen on Sunday night when Rivera did just that against the Mets to notch his 500th.
Another misdeed noticed - even if the setup man entered the game in the 8th and recorded each out without a misstep, 29 of 30 managers will bring in the closer for the final inning even with a three-run lead in some cases….And this still goes down as a save for the closer.
The closers or firemen I remember were not called into the game to start an inning they were called in to end the inning or the game.
Typically McGraw, Sutter, Gossage or Fingers entered the game with runners on base, sometimes the bases loaded with no outs and protecting a one-run lead.
Sure they failed sometimes, but when they put out the fire they really earned a save.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

McMahon, Fawcett and Jackson...The end of an era

Horace Davis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:15:12 +0000

The untimely deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson got me thinking about the decades they covered in my life, much of my early years of the 60’s, 70’s, and my early twenty’s in the 80’s.
We’ve all heard of the ‘old wives tale’ that death comes in three’s, I’ve never really bought into that but I must say it was right on this time with McMahon’s demise coming first, followed by Fawcett and Jackson, better known as the King of Pop several hours after the beauty queen of 70’s stardom.
McMahon and Jackson brought me through my early years in the mid to late 60’s and of course it had me thinking about sports which was a major part of my early life and still is.
The most memorable thing to me about McMahon was him as the sidekick to Johnny Carson, not that I watched Carson that much but my parents did, and who could ever forget his memorable voice crooning of “Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny,” to open the show.
Jackson also hit the big time in the late 60’s more specifically 1969 with his brothers and their early hits like, I’ll Be There, I Want You Back and The Love You Save.
I remember 1969 so well because that was the year of the Miracle Mets who came into that memorable season as huge underdogs but went on to win the World Series by beating the overwhelming favorite Baltimore Orioles.
What a year!
McMahon and Jackson were with us through the 70’s and then the beautiful Farrah Fawcett appeared on the scene in 1976 as Jill Munroe in Charlie’s Angels.
I must say I never missed an episode of her with Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd, I could not choose between her and Ladd as to who was better looking so I settled for both.
Those years of the mid-70’s cannot be forgotten sports wise either because those were the years the hated New York Yankees were holding off the Kansas City Royals and dominating baseball.
Of course you could not live in New York City and be a Mets and Yankee fan at the same time, so I loved the Mets and hated the Yankees.
Those were tough years!
The superstar trio was with us into the 80’s as Jackson shook the world with his Thriller album, McMahon was the host of Star Search which I watched, and Fawcett was in a ground breaking movie at the time called the Burning Bed.
The 80’s was better for me sports wise as well with the Mets beating the Boston Red Sox in another miracle finish that some could not believe Bill Buckner missed the infamous ground ball.
Sure, Jackson, McMahon and Fawcett went through their personal struggles in the 90’s and beyond until their deaths, however, this is how I will choose to remember the trio.
Those great sports moments when each was in the prime of their respective careers.

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Skip to my Lou, skipped over in finals

Horace Davis — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 21:50:08 +0000

Can someone explain to me Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy’s rationale for burying Rafer Alston aka 'Skip to my Lou' on the bench during the Lakers four games to one NBA Finals victory?
The New York City street ball legend showed up in Game 3 to score 21 points and was the missing piece that helped the Magic win that game.
Who thought that would be the only one they’d win?
Okay, I understand Van Gundy had to figure out how to stop Kobe, I mean slow Kobe.
No one has effectively stopped Kobe all season, slow him down and force others to beat you and you may have a shot.
I’m not knocking Van Gundy and his coaching prowess, can anyone after Orlando won 59 regular season games before dispatching of the 76ers, Celtics and the Cavaliers with their King Lebron.
But one thing caught my attention, why did Alston spend so much time on the bench?
Not only was the 21 point performance big, but his play in the previous series’ especially against the veteran laden Celtics was just as huge.
Rafer played 36 minutes in the game 3 win, but then in the game 4 overtime loss, Alston sat on the bench for final two minutes of the 3rd quarter, 12 minutes of the 4th and four more minutes in overtime.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe Jameer Nelson is a very good point guard, but he missed more than half the season and only came back because the Magic made it to the finals.
Sure Nelson could have helped but just in spurts, his rust showed in every aspect of the game and Van Gundy stayed with him too long at critical junctures.
It had me wondering, was Nelson whining behind the scenes? Was van Gundy showing loyalty to Nelson and not the trade deadline acquisition (Alston)?
Or was I just pulling for Skip to my Lou because he’s from New York City?

Original post blogged on b2evolution.