It was over forty years ago when Mayor Jake Godbold decided that Jacksonville’s image needed burnishing and the local citizenry needed their spirits lifted. He chose sports as a vehicle to promote city pride and invited Baltimore Colts’ owner Robert Irsay to town for the now-famous “Colt Fever.” Godbold was unfairly dubbed “Mayor Jock” because he was right: Sports can lift the spirit of a town and a professional sports team helps put a city on the map. His dream was realized in 1993 with the NFL awarding a franchise to Jacksonville and the city has flourished ever since.

Along with getting rid of tolls and the stench from the paper mills (once dubbed “The Smell of Money”) sports has been an integral part of North Florida’s growth from less than 500,000 people in 1980 to more than 1 ½ million residents.

Current Mayor Lenny Curry, now starting his second term, sees sports as a big driver for economic growth and creating a positive quality of life in North Florida

“The economic piece is important, these events drive bed tax, sales tax, they’re huge economic engines,” Curry said this week.

“But for me, sports is part of my ‘One City, One Jacksonville’ effort in the next four years,” he added. .

Curry’s not naïve about the deep divisions on either side of different roads and rivers in Jacksonville. He calls ‘One City, One Jacksonville’ “a fragile idea” that needs to be cultivated.

“We have a lot of work to do be one city as a people,” he explained. “But where we’ve come together is around a crisis like the hurricanes or around sports. Regardless of background or where you live, we all get together behind sports in town.”

On that he’s right.

A high school baseball and football player who was also on the weightlifting squad, Curry has run “The Gate” nearly 20 times and most mornings can be found in the Y before heading to City Hall.

He was eight years old when Colt Fever happened, “But I remember the USFL,” he said with a laugh. He famously watches the NFL Network’s morning show religiously and that network is regularly on one of the TV’s in his office.

He coached his son’s peewee football team before he went to middle school this year. Sports, fitness and recreation are not just a political platform: They’re a part of his life. And he wants it to be a part of yours as well.

“We put $150 million in the budget for infrastructure,” he noted. “And a lot of that is for sports and recreation.”

Curry would like to see bike trails expanded and more parks as part of everyday life in Jacksonville.

“When I coached my son, we practiced on city fields,” he explained.

The Mayor was there last Tuesday night when the city hosted the annual Florida/FSU baseball game at Bragan Field and helped celebrate Mike Martin’s 79th and final game in Jacksonville.

“FSU’s (football) is coming back here in late August, Georgia/Florida brings in $30 million to economy each year,” he said. “Anything where the numbers work, anytime we can do anything around sports an entertainment. It comes back to people being together.”

There’s a sense of urgency in Curry’s voice, knowing he only has four more years as Mayor to get things done. With sports, he’s focused on “leveraging” what’s already here and bringing in new events with broad-based appeal.

“We feel a sense of urgency,” he said. “You’ll see some pretty aggressive stuff. My first year in office we got Daily’s place done right away.”

Curry says his office is “aligned” with the Jaguars and owner Shad Khan. He’s been instrumental in acquiring the funding to take down the Hart Bridge ramps near the stadium to help facilitate Khan’s vision of the Shipyards and the Lot J entertainment complex.

“Shad’s relationships as an international businessman bring a lot to the table,” Curry explained. “And he loves Jacksonville.”

As Mayor, Curry is on board with Khan’s desire to bring the NFL Draft to Jacksonville and Daily’s Place. He went to the draft last year in Dallas and was asked to spend some time with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“So we’re on their radar,” he explained.

One bonus for Curry’s time in office is his relationship with the PGA Tour and The Players Championship.

“They heavily supported my re-election,” Curry said of the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan. “I know it’s in St. Johns County but I think of it as a ‘City of Jacksonville’ event. The city and The Players have had a better relationship in the last four years. All I see from them is an intention to be unified and branded.”

As with any term-limited politician, Curry’s first four years were part feeling-out process, part accomplishments. In his next four years, he hopes to take steps toward downtown to make it presentable residents and visitors alike. Khan’s plans for the area around the stadium and a Four Seasons Hotel on the river are part of that vision.

“We have opportunities to leverage what we have,” he said of the future. “There’s so much we can expand on”

“The first four years have been a turnaround,” he explained. “We’ve solved the pension, we’re financially stable. We have the financial wherewithal to do things around sports. So stay tuned.”

It took nearly an extra week but USA Soccer Hall of Famer Tony Meola has his first win as the head coach of the Jacksonville Armada. In their home opener, the Armada defeated the expansion Miami FC 2-1 at the Baseball Grounds on Friday night.

Earlier in the week, Meola said the Armada needed a fast start. They got that in the 20th minute with Junior Sandoval beating the Miami keeper in the upper 90 to take a 1-nil lead. Six minutes later, Miami tied it on a header from close range and it was 1-1..

Just 10 minutes later a low shot by Pascal Millien from distance didn’t have much on it but keeper Daniel Vega couldn’t control it for a 2-1 Armada lead. The two teams played a scoreless second half.

“We were at home and that was the idea. Nothing short of 3 points. It wasn’t the prettiest but they’re not all pretty,” Meola said on the field after the victory. “We did what we needed to to get the win tonight,”

Taking 17 shots, the Armada didn’t have a problem firing from outside the box, taking 12 long shots in the process. Miami FC took 13 shots but only 5 were on target.

Scoring the first goal of the game, Sandoval said afterwards he called it all week. “We got the win we were looking for, especially at home,” the Armada midfielder said. In his first start he told his teammates all week they were going to win the game and he was going to score a goal. “My teammates knew it, I told them all week.”

With the win the Armada pull to 1-1 and gain three points in the standings. Next Saturday the team faces the Strikers in Ft. Lauderdale. On Wednesday May 4th they’ll be home vs. FC Edmonton at 6:30.

It’s not going to change anybody’s mind about soccer. If you hated it going in, you still hate it. If you tolerated it, maybe you saw the pros and cons of it, and came away feeling about the same. And if you’re a fan, you thought it was part what’s good about the game and part what’s wrong about the game.

Italy won on penalty kicks, taking their fourth World Cup and playing to their strengths. I thought the referee did a pretty good job after the first five minutes, letting the play on the field get physical enough but not out of hand. If there’s one thing people who don’t like the game can point to it’s the acting that goes on after every play with contact. They don’t necessarily flop as much in England or in Germany, but most of the rest of Europe and all of South America have the flop as part of the culture of the game.

And Americans hate that.

Until the game is allowed to be “played” on the pitch instead of “acted” out there, it’ll always be a passing fancy among fans. Too subjective.

Every time Marcelo Balboa said “he really sold that one” it made me cringe, thinking “is selling the contact to the ref really a part of the competition?” Sure, players flop in the NBA, but with three officials on the court, a guy who’s acting soon gets a reputation and play goes on.

The ref in the World Cup final got the game under control and let just enough physical play dictate the flow of the game. The penalty in the box called against Italy was totally a phantom call, “sold” by the French and converted by Zinedine Zidane. The Italian goal on the corner kick was textbook and allowed the Italians to go back into their defensive posture, exactly what they did to get to the final.

France played the more aggressive game in the second half, and was nearly rewarded by a beautiful header by Zidane, but a spectacular save by the Italian goalkeeper kept the score tied. That’s when things started to go sideways for both teams, especially the French.

It was apparent that, barring something-strange happening, the outcome was going to penalty kicks. Totti was out of the game for Italy, replaced for a sub, even though he is one of their best free kickers. Theirry Henry came out of the game after regulation, one of the free kickers the French could have used. Then Zidane head butted Marco Materazzi for something he said about his sister and was red carded out of the game, denying the French of another of their best free-kickers.

Nobody wants to see a game determined by penalty kicks, but that’s all they’ve got right now, and the Italians finally won one, having gone 0-3 in World Cup play in games decided by pk’s.

When Zidane head butted Materazzi, I was amazed and still think it might be the strangest thing I’ve ever seen in big time sports. This is truly the world’s biggest stage. 1.5 Billion people were watching or about one of every six people on the planet. And many of those don’t know anything about the game or about Zidane’s career, which means that their only memory of Zidane will be as “the head butt guy.”

But that’s OK as well.

I’ve heard more “cooler talk” about the World Cup this week than at any other time thanks to Zidane’s actions. He apologized to the kids who might have been watching, but said “I would have rather taking a fist to the jaw than heard what was said about my family.” I don’t know, trash talk is a part of all sports these days, and Zidane should have had some retorts of his own. Or just let it go away.

Long time Jacksonville television personality and social pioneer Dick Stratton died on Sunday 11/06/05 after a lengthy illness. He Was 78. Sam remembers his long-time friend and mentor below.

Dick Stratton: 1927-2005 Jacksonville’s First “Star”

Dick Stratton There’s a plaque on the wall in the press box of the stadium that reads:

“Dick’s career spanned thirty-five years as a television and radio sports pioneer and personality in Jacksonville. An innovator of the college football coach’s Sunday highlights show, he started the concept with Florida Head Coach Ray Graves (1969-1979). Stratton also stepped away from sports, hosting the first daytime talk show on television. He was Chairman of the Greater Jacksonville Open and President of the Gator Bowl in the same year, 1972. His unselfish dedication extended well beyond sports and made Jacksonville a better place to live.”

I know that’s how Dick thought of himself. Tidy, neat, simple accomplishments. I know because he wrote those words in 2004 when I told him we needed a bio to put on the plaque. “That’s enough,” he told me. “The rest is just stuff.” But we know he was much more than ordinary, or simple. In fact, Dick was extraordinary. Full of energy, always upbeat, glad to see you with a firm handshake and a booming voice that let everybody know that you, and he were in the room.

He was, through his many parts, what we all aspire to be. He was good. He was kind. He was gentle. He was generous. He was loyal. He made you feel better about yourself.

As a professional he brought his best, and expected the same of you. As a friend he was unfailingly on your side. Cajoling, prodding, expecting you to be as good as you could be.

He always was larger than life. A celebrity in a time when it meant something to be a celebrity. In fact, you could call him Jacksonville’s first celebrity. And he took that seriously. Always a gentleman, neatly turned out with his hair and clothes classicly stylish. He could tell a story, and loved to be the storyteller.

When I first started in Jacksonville I was fortunate that Dick took a shine to me. He litteraly took me under his wing and introduced me around town. We spent hours together as he filled me in on who was who and how they got there. He regailed me with stories about Van Fletcher’s Green Derby, and the comings and goings and the shennanigans at the Roosevelt Hotel. He talked about the early days of sports broadcasting when he would hold up a still picture two days after the fact and consider it a “news flash.”

He talked often of his days as the host of the “Midday” show and his time with Virginia Atter-Keys. “Boy can she sing, she’s a songbird,” he would always add when talking about Virginia. His relationship with Virginia was typical of Dick. It didn’t end when he walked out of the door of the television station. It didn’t even end when their show went off the air. It stayed. If you were Dick’s friend, you were his friend for life.

Sometimes when we think of Dick, we think of him as the host, as the facilitator of other people’s notions. But Dick was full of ideas. He had ideas in his head constantly, roaming around like a composer has tunes trying to get out. We were fortunate that Dick had a canvas for his ideas, a way to express himself that always made those around him and the place he lived, better.

Being on television and being “a star” Dick was in demand. Always asked to host a luncheon or MC a dinner, having Dick Stratton at your get together made it an “event.” I never heard him say “no” to any request, big or small except for two reasons: His mother and His church. Dick was available as long as he didn’t have a commitment to his Mother, who he took care of and loved deeply. And he was committed to his church. He had strong faith, and often when we’d talk in recent times I’d ask him what was he doing and he’d usually say, “Reading the Bible. Job, pretty inspiring.”

I always found it facinating that a man who’d life was tied to the clock in television and who’s calendar was filled with commiitments to the minute, not days, read about patience and it’s virtues when looking for guidance.

Dick’s long time foil, Rex Edmonson, was, in many ways his counterpart in the print media. Rex years ago told me that he thought his career was complete one day at a luncheon where they honored him for his contributions. Rex was asked to the podium where he said, “I’ve reached just about all of my goals, I was introduced by the Mayor to Dawtry Towers and nodded to in public by Dick Stratton.” I told Dick that story a few years back and he said, “Rex said that? That crusty so and so.” And he paused for a few seconds and added. “That Rex, he’s a really good friend of mine. ”

Among his two most tangible achievments were when he was President of the Gator Bowl and Chairman of the GJO, the two crown jewel events of the time in town, both in the same year. Dick had a life-long committment to both events, reminding me early in my career how important they were to the city and the people who lived here. For many years after his presidency of the Gator Bowl he stayed close to the game, organizing the thousands of high school musicians who would fill the field at halftime. “You outta put that on TV,” he’d say to me, “That’s where the real action is.”

He reminded me that he helped put together the framework for the GJO sitting at the lunch counter at Silver’s Drug Store at the beach with John Tucker and other friends. John confirmed that to me once, saying “We had a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of energy and could probably put some money together but we were amatuers. Dick brought it all together and put a professional face on it. He made it happen.”

As we know, much of the culture of Jacksonville is woven around the sporting events we attend. Dick formed and molded the culture of the town around the events he was involved in. They were sporting contests, but Dick saw them as much more. They were events, celebrations. Thousands of people who have moved to North Florida in the last 20 years might not know who Dick Stratton is, but if they attend any event around here, Dick Stratton’s fingerprints are on it.

Many can say, “I’m better for having known him.” A few of us can say “I am able to be who I am because of him.”

Dick litterly invented the job of sportscaster. There was no template, no guideline, he figured it out as he went along. He started the coaches show with Florida Coach Ray Graves. Shot the film, brought it back to Channel 4 and slept on the couch in the lobby while it was being processed. Stayed up all night splicing the plays together for the live broadcast of the highlights the next day.

He was never prouder then when he would tell me “We never had a broken splice. Ever. Not once in all the shows we did.”

He and Graves would then travel back to Gainesville for the second showing of the show, locally in the Gators home town. He was funny, witty, with the perfect blend of bravado and kindnes to those who knew him. I do have this lasting image of how he could turn on the charm as his back would straighten while he smoothed out his tie and buttoned his coat.

Dick was proud of his friends and proud of the people he knew. A picture hung on his wall for the last 40 years, where ever he lived of Jack Dempsey, Joe DiMaggio and Dick. I asked about it and he nonchalantly told me, “Oh, we did a telethon together once.” It seemd huge to me, but I finally realized that in Jacksonville, with Dempsey, Dimaggio and Stratton smiling together, Dick was the celebrity in the picture.

I thought he was pulling my leg as a young reporter when he told me about his friendship with so many of the famous and influential people of the time. Until I saw Gary Player at the Masters in the early ’80’s and he immediately asked me how “Randy” was doing. Dick was especially pleased that Player had a “pet” nickname for him.

I’d call him up with a question and he’d say, “Call John Tucker and ask him or I’ll just call George Olsen and get the answer.” My head would spin. The calls would be made and the job would get done.

I’d hear this alot when I answered the phone, “It’s your Uncle Dick,” the voice on the other end would say whenever he was on the line. He’d call and critique my performance regularly, “You did good,” he’d add, mocking the language he so carefully crafted everyday. Then he’d add, “Don’t ever wear that tie again, it doesn’t look right.”

In the last five years, he ended our conversations the same way each time:
“I love ya Sam”
he’d always make sure I heard before he hung up.

Don’t worry Dick, we loved you too.

RIP: Dick Stratton: 1927-2005

Just drive around town, and it’s evident, something’s coming to Jacksonville. You could imagine a big convention is in town. Or it’s some kind of massive city spruce up project, lines on the streets, potholes fixed and shrubs planted. But the world is coming to visit for a week and the place has to look good.

And it does.

The Super Bowl has an impact on a city in many ways, some obvious and some subtle. Sure, a couple of hundred thousand people will be in town for three or four days, spending money and rendering opinions about everything from the river to the weather to who’s actually going to win the game. It’s a complete NFL run production. They have the town dialed in: from parties to the participating teams’ hotels, the league has a handle on just about every detail you can think of.

They’ve got an entire entertainment area set up downtown for the locals and the visitors to mingle. They’re transforming burnt out warehouses into bars and gathering areas. The Commissioner’s party is at Cecil Commerce Center. The Media party is at the 17th hole at TPC. Playboy is at River City Brewing and Maxim is having the party everybody wants to go to.

And it’s all happening in our back yard.

People keep asking me “Are we ready?” The answer is yes, and if anything isn’t ready, fear not. The NFL will fix it. They have unlimited resourses and they’ll paint it or rebuild it or pave it or put some sod over it in order to make it right.

The Super Bowl Host Committee has been way ahead of the game, gathering money and people to make the game feel at home in a new venue. It’s a new concept for the NFL. The Super Bowl is a big celebration that envelopes an entire region. This year, the league is hosting the whole thing within a two mile area. They usually don’t do that. In Miami it’s spread out over three counties. In New Orleans, people are all over the place. In Jacksonville, once you get to town, you won’t need a car. Everything will be within walking distance or a shuttle will take you there.

The logistics of the Super Bowl are amazing. The league has teams of people just in charge of making sure people are transported around the host city without a hitch. Lanes are blocked off just to accommodate the shuttle buses. So prepare to be enveloped by the game and the things that surround it.

And prepare to embrace it.

It could be the only time it’s ever here.

So we can think it’s either a big pain or a big party. It won’t take twice as long to get around, it’ll probably take four times as long.

Media from around the world will be here, and many of they writers and broadcasters will rip us. Rip us as people, as hosts and as a city. But that’s OK. Last year the Los Angeles Times NFL beat writer filed a story from Houston with the dateline “Yahooville.” I laughed when I read that thinking that Houston is the 4th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. and he thinks it’s Yahooville? What’s he going to think about Jacksonville?

So I’m going to put on my most hospitable face and enjoy the week.

I’m still going to live here when they all leave, and I already know what a great place this is. If they want to discover that, great. If not, that’s fine too.

I’m not too worried about whether the United States wins or loses in the World Cup. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled that we (about the only time anybody in sports can use the word “we” is when referring to their own national team) beat Portugal. Nobody thought the US had a chance against the 5th ranked team in the world and easily the best team in the group. I was thrilled, and would like to see us get through to the next round. But the World Cup for the US isn’t about winning, it’s about being on a world stage where sport is the focus. And it’s a sport we’re still novices at.

We compete globally in a few things, mostly individual sports. Lance Armstrong rules the world of cycling. Tiger Woods is the best golfer on the planet. People pay to see Michael Johnson run. They play baseball and basketball around the world but we invented baseball and basketball, exported them, and beat everybody. Even as a kid I thought it was funny that we called it the “World Series” but didn’t play anybody from Japan or Latin America. But soccer is the world’s sport, played everywhere because in essence, all you need is a ball. And if you don’t have a ball, something you can kick will do.

I was on a beach in Central America once where about 40 kids were playing soccer, 20 to a side. The goals were two reeds stuck in the sand, the ball an unidentifiable sphere. Could have been a soccer ball. Could have been a basketball or volleyball. Who knows? But the playing of the game was the thing. Shorts no shoes, no shirts and a ball. Everybody was enthralled.

Soccer has never grabbed the sporting attention of America. Despite the predictions that the last 1 1/2 generations would spawn the next Pele in America, it hasn’t happened. Those 6 and 7 year olds on the soccer fields 20 years ago didn’t become big soccer fans. Perhaps the game doesn’t have enough scoring, isn’t physical enough, or one of twenty reasons it isn’t popular in America. But that doesn’t matter. It is popular everywhere else. It’s known as “the beautiful game.”

Watching it at the highest level, the skills of the players are fantastic. And to watch players wearing our country’s colors compete is great. Just getting to the World Cup is a feat for the US. Consider this: if Michael Jordan grows up in America, he has several sports to choose from. He picks basketball, and becomes the best player ever. If Michael Jordan grows up just about anywhere else, he’s a soccer player. Any great athlete in any other country first has to decide between soccer and every other sport. And most choose soccer.

Imagine if the best athletes in this country chose soccer over other sports. Cal Ripken, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan in midfield, Deion and Barry Sanders as strikers. Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Herschel Walker controlling our turf. With somebody quick, fast and great hands like Kevin Garnett in goal. How good would we be then? But there are other options here in America, other options that have two things going for them: more money and most girls don’t think soccer is cool. I know you’re laughing about that right now. But when was the last time you heard about a glamorous couple in the US made up of a supermodel and a soccer player? Everywhere else, that’s the norm.

David Beckham, England’s premier player, is married to Posh Spice. They’re the glam couple of the UK. Here, the soccer players are considered the nerds, the guys who couldn’t make the football team. Not true, but that’s the perception. And the money. We were all aghast over A-Rod’s $25 million a year with the Rangers. That’s about the going rate for soccer players around the world.

Argentina used two substitutes in today’s match with England whose combined salaries are $88 million! Here in the US, there’s also a chasm between the soccer fans and the non-fans. Both share the blame. The fans, especially the ones who have been with the game a long time, look down their noses at the non-fans like they’re the unwashed masses. Heathens. Mongrels. They don’t try to bring anybody new to the game. If fact, their noses are so far up in the air, they don’t see anybody else. And the non-fans are just as bad. They constantly deride the game as a non-sport. A sport for sissies.

Hey, just relax both of you. If they can race NASCAR at Indy, a little soccer here isn’t going to hurt anybody.

I was watching the Closing Ceremonies the other night from the Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games, trying to figure out why I like the games so much. The XIX Winter Games had special appeal because they were held in the United States. It was a chance to wave the flag and host people from all over the world, from countries that are our allies, and from countries that hate us. It was seventeen days when we saw competition at it’s highest level. Yes, there is a payoff for Olympic Gold, Silver or Bronze, but only if you actually win a medal. And winning a medal takes an all-out performance. Nobody gets paid in advance.

The Olympic culture of competition only allows for each athlete giving his or her best. Anything less gets you beat, leaves you off the podium, and out of the potential payoff. We don’t always see that in the highest profile competitions we see everyday in professional sports.

There’s no such thing as “tanking” in the Olympics. This is the one chance every four years to get the job done, so nobody mails it in. That’s why the highs are so high, and the lows are devastating. But through it all, the athletes were as amazing outside of the competition as they were in it. They were humble in victory and gracious in defeat. They cried when the flag was raised and the National Anthem played. They took their hats off in honor of other countries’ anthems and reveled in each other’s success.

I guess that’s why I like the games so much; they’re real.

Jacques Rogge will be the man who saves the Olympic movement. The current President of the International Olympic Committee, a former Olympian himself, understands many things his predecessor didn’t have a clue about. Rogge is media savvy and handles himself like a polished politician. He understands how the U.S. fits in to the Olympic movement. Americans will always be a big presence in both the Winter and Summer Games, and the USOC hopes to win the bid for the 2012 games, possibly in New York City.

Rogge doesn’t dismiss the US as a splinter under his finger, but rather embraces American wealth as an aspect that can promote the games. At the same time, he hopes to move the Games around the world, to South America and Africa incorporating new venues into the regular rotation between Europe, Asia and North America.

The IOC President has to know how the games affect the athletes as well as the economies of the host cities. Rogge has his finger in both pots. “Light the fire within,” was the theme of the Salt Lake Games but Rogge’s comments at the opening ceremonies perhaps summed up the Games’ spirit. “When you finish first you are the winner,” Rogge said, “but to understand the principles of fair play and competition makes you a champion.” Rogge later repeated that statement when he was asked to comment on the doping allegations in cross-country skiing.

It’s not old school to think playing within the rules is OK. I’ve never seen two games played with more grit and passion than the two final games of the hockey tournament where the Americans were involved. The US/Russia game and the US/Canada game involved three teams of big-time professional hockey players with nothing on the line but national pride. Have you ever seen guys play harder? Every minute was like the last seconds of a tied overtime in game seven in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s what fans are looking for, that’s what people will buy tickets to see. If the NHL can capture that, they’ll explode much like the NBA and the NFL have in the last twenty years. If the NBA, Major League Baseball and the NFL don’t pay attention to it, the public will look elsewhere.

It’s been a week since Steve Spurrier resigned at Florida and the domino effect is still taking place. Ron Zook has replaced Spurrier, but the rest of the jobs that were real possibilities last week are still possibilities. The Vikings have a coach, the Chargers still do not. The front-runner for Steve’s services is Carolina. He has connections to the state, sees it as a big challenge and his friend Ken Heroc, a former personnel guy from Atlanta would sign on as GM of the Panthers.

Washington seems to be out of the picture. The Redskins are supposed to name Bobby Beathard as their General Manager this week. That would push Marty Schottenheimer out of the picture and Beathard would hand pick his head coach.

The Glazers want Bill Parcells as their head coach in Tampa Bay. If the Bucs lose this weekend in Philadelphia, look for Tony Dungy to be fired and Parcells to take over the underachieving Bucs.

Spurrier said yesterday that he’s already talked with one NFL team and has two more meetings set up. Is one of those with Jacksonville? And if not, why not? There’s not a single person who has talked to me this week about Spurrier who hasn’t wondered about the possibility of him coaching the Jaguars. It seems like such a no-brainer, but Wayne Weaver has been acting as if he’s oblivious to all of the talk.

Tom Coughlin was the right guy at the right time to build the Jaguars and with the talk of a contract extension; Weaver seems to think Coughlin is also the guy for the future. He must know something the rest of us don’t. Spurrier would create a new excitement for a new era of Jaguars football. He’d win games and sell tickets. And if Spurrier’s looking for a challenge, the Jaguars are certainly going to be that. It all makes too much sense. If there’s a change, we’ll have the latest on the Internet when you log on to samsportsline.com