There’s nothing like a feel good story in sports. And in American sports, the comeback, feel good story is always the best. We’ve had all kinds of winners at THE Players Championship. Household names like Jack and Tiger, hometown champions in Mark McCumber and David Duval, and unlikely names on the trophy like Stephen (Ames) […]
It’s a weird thing to talk to athletes about their top accomplishments. People who are motivated, ambitious and energetic have an easier time remembering their failures than whatever success they had. There’s a specific kind of memory that sits close to the surface, protecting them from ever making the same mistake twice. On the other […]
As a two-time champion at The Players, Tiger Woods understands the role the Stadium Course plays as part of the championship. “When you’re playing well, it seems easy,” Tiger said after playing last week in Charlotte and again after the first round of this year’s Players. “But if you’re a little off, there’s trouble on […]
I’ve always said that most of the locals who attend The Players think every PGA Tour event is like that. Of course the Players is like nothing else out there, taking the best from every PGA Tour stop all year and incorporating it into the Stadium Course. It’s not only the best run PGA Tour […]
Without the old burden of achieving status as the “Fifth Major” gone, you knew it was only a matter of time before The Players moved back to March. Earlier in the year, the PGA of America announced that the PGA Championship will be moving to May with the PGA Tour moving the Players back to […]
When my friend Alex sent me the info on George Hincapie’s first Gran Fondo in Chattanooga last January it looked like a great idea. Riding in a different city with different terrain and supporting some of the efforts George’s, charitable and otherwise I’m usually up for. From the one day 50-miler on Saturday, the trip […]
It wasn’t flashy or a big splash but rather described as a “value pick” as the Jaguars selected defensive lineman Taven Bryan with the twenty-ninth pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Bryan is listed at 6’5″ and 291 lbs and was projected to “become an instant starter” by the NFL scouts at the combine. So […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets As long as he’s been involved in the NFL and personnel decisions, Tom Coughlin has had very specific ideas. He likes big players, he believes in solidifying the run game and he wants a defense that can control the line of scrimmage. “The first round might have thirty-two selections,” he recently […]
Getting an invitation to cover the Masters when I was at Channel 2 in Charleston in late 1978 was an unexpected and welcome surprise. I took my Dad as my cameraman since it was a one-man sports department at the time. We rented a room through the Augusta Housing Bureau and were both amazed the […]
Before the traditional Green Jacket ceremony in the Butler Cabin at Augusta National, CBS ran a montage of players over the years reacting to a question about winning the Masters. The response was universal, a long exhale with a faraway look in their eyes. It’s enormous from a golf standpoint. A major championship, endorsements and […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets “Non-negotiable expectations from within. That’s all we look at. Our expectations are very high and anybody that comes on board has to understand there’s a way to accomplish what we’re trying to accomplish and it’s through team, it’s through individual improvement and it’s through a relentless drive in team success.” I’ve […]
Sometimes it’s funny, other times it’s strange, a celebration or even sad to follow an athlete’s career. In the 40 year’s I’ve been in sports journalism, I’ve experienced just about all of that. From watching Emmitt Smith and Chipper Jones in high school and seeing their careers take them to the Hall of Fame to […]
Winning Arnold Palmer’s tournament in March seemed like a rite of spring during Tiger Woods’ PGA Tour heyday. An 8-time champion, Tiger tied Sam Snead for the most wins at any tournament in Tour history. Snead won in Greensboro eight times as well. But even with that kind of success and familiarity, Tiger spend part […]
It was cool and dreary. A light rain fell all morning during the annual charity shootout during Media Day at The Players. And none of that mattered to former PGA Tour player and North Florida resident Jeff Klauk. He was back on the golf course, thinking about yardages, the wind and the shot he needed […]
With an early signing day taking away some of the big names in football, you might not think the traditional signing day of the first Wednesday in February might not be as big. Think again. It’s become a “thing” and it’s not going away anytime soon. As a celebration of all high school athletes who […]
Privileged to be in the room as the Jacksonville representative during the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame discussions, I’m annually surprised but never shocked at what happens during the selection meeting. When you get 48 people with an opinion talking about the same thing, the winds of change are always blowing. Players you figure […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets If there’s one sticking point to Tony Boselli’s inclusion as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it’s the perceived brevity of his career. The numbers are straightforward: Boselli played 91 regular season games plus six playoff games for a total of 97 games. Games played is a good […]
It’s a long process to induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. While the only eligibility for players to be retired for five years, the qualifications are stiff. But they’re not spelled out. If you were a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro player, you’ll get on the initial ballot, but pretty much any player […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets In the locker room, the pain was real. Quiet and somber, the Jaguars went about the business of breaking down the loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, speaking with the media and having small conversations among themselves. I’ve been in the losing locker room for the […]
If there was an early indication of how the AFC Championship game against the Patriots would go it was how the Jaguars would survive the original onslaught from New England. Gillette Stadium can be a tough place to play when the Patriots are rolling and the noise meter is rising. Giving New England the ball […]
It was very business like when the Jaguars departed the busses at their team hotel in Providence this afternoon. That’s not unusual. The team’s goal this week has been to keep their routine the same. “At the end of the day you just gotta play ball,” said the Jaguars Calais Campbell. “The game is the […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets There’s been a lot of talk this week about getting “respect” for the Jacksonville Jaguars. A 3-13 team in 2016, the Jaguars are on the verge of their first Super Bowl appearance, playing in their third AFC Championship game in franchise history. But the Jaguars are still suffering from what they […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets There’s a reputation in the league that follows the Jaguars defense. Tough, talking, swagger, fast and relentless. They’ve put up historic numbers this season. While that’s the exterior, the public persona, the spirit and emotion of that side of the football is embodied in Linebacker Telvin Smith. A fifth-round pick out […]
It’s almost unbelievable how they’ve turned it around from a three-win team to go the AFC Championship game. The common denominator has to be Tom Coughlin but it also has to be Doug Marrone. They’re two in the same. They are committed to winning. They’re different personalities but they see that at the end of […]
If there’s one thing that Doug Marrone has learned in his years of coaching in the NFL it’s that it takes 53 guys, not just the starting 22 to compete. Injury, slumps, whatever, not every player is playing at his best on every play. So Marrone sees the big picture when it comes to who’s […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets When it comes to the subject of leadership, perhaps no group is easier to study than football coaches. At one point, fans in Jacksonville had Steve Spurrier, Bobby Bowden, Vince Dooley and Howard Schnellenberger or Jimmy Johnson leading the major college programs they followed. All very successful, all very different in […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets I’ve been to Oviedo but I’m not sure I remember it. Apparently, that’s not unusual. “Kind of like Yulee but not that far away,” is how one Orlando native described it. They have a Target, a mall, movie theaters, all the things you’d expect of a suburb community. South of Sanford […]
It was thirty minutes of the unexpected in the first half between the Jaguars and the Steelers. Getting the ball first, the Jaguars looked like world-beaters on offense marching right down field in eight plays covering 66 yards and scoring on 4th down to take a 7-0 lead. Leonard Fournette dove in from the one […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets It should be a little colder than expected for the Jaguars/Steelers game on Sunday. Temperatures in the teens during the game could impact play; with the thought the Jaguars should get the worse of it. “It’s just a couple hours of sacrifice,” Linebacker Telvin Smith said after the team arrived in […]
They’re not sure if it’ll be week 7 or 8 but the Jaguars will face the Philadelphia Eagles in London this fall. The game will be one of three in London for the NFL in 2018 including two at Wembley and one at the new home of Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane. The exact date […]
You never know how the big stage will affect teams and athletes when they’ve never been there before. Against the Bills, the Jaguars looked like they weren’t sure they belonged in the NFL playoffs in the first half. On offense they were horrible. Between play calling and execution, they couldn’t get out of their own […]
In his five years as an owner in the NFL, Shad Khan has been surprised more than once. On and off the field he’s seen things he didn’t expect. But the business as a whole is different than the one he saw from the outside. “It’s much bigger than I expected,” Khan said on Thursday […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets It’s never an easy process but the fifteen finalists for the Class of 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame are particularly qualified this year. For the second straight year, the Jaguars Tony Boselli and Jacksonville’s Brian Dawkins are among the final fifteen. That means they’ve made it from the 108 eligible […]
For a young team that doesn’t have much playoff experience, the Jaguars will lean on their veterans who have been there and a coaching staff that has been around the league a while. Head Coach Doug Marrone doesn’t have that much postseason experience as a player or as a coach, but his staff, including Keenan […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets After a New Year’s Eve flight home and a look at the 15-10 loss to the Titans aboard the Jaguars charter, players didn’t see it much differently than when the left the field in Nashville: That’s over, it’s on to the playoffs. “It’s what you fight so hard for, it’s what […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets While the loss to the Titans might have “done it’s job” according to the Jaguars players in the locker room in Nashville, they know losing two straight going into the post season isn’t ideal. “We better bounce back,” said tight end Marcedes Lewis. No do overs next week. Too many mistakes […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets Whether they call it “a game of inches” or “on any given Sunday” or “playing above the x’s and o’s,” there’s an intangible you can feel when a team is playing winning football. It’s an edge, a little hop, a swagger in the body language that’s easily identifiable. On their run […]
It’s not that the Jaguars beat the Houston Texans easily to qualify for the post-season for the first time since 2007, not even how they dominated all over the field winning 45-7. It might be who’s making plays for the Jaguars that are the biggest surprise. Midway through the first quarter Marqise Lee left the […]
Photo by: Phillips Helmets There actually is a strategy to keeping Russell Wilson in check. The problem is Wilson is so good, so smart and such a good athlete that executing the strategy is a problem. For the Jaguars defense, a combination of straight up field, stay-in-your-lanes rush, backed by the linebackers spreading across the […]
In December, playoff teams emerge, playing their best football and beating teams they’re supposed to beat. No upsets, no cliffhangers, just a professional job on the field, getting it done and moving on. That’s what the Jaguars were doing in the first half against the Colts at home on Sunday. Opening the game on defense, […]
