Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Miami’s Nice-Super Bowl Preview

It’s a very different Super Bowl week for a lot of reasons. The two teams, Indianapolis and Chicago are just 200 miles from each other in the Midwest. While the Bears have a national following, one player, Peyton Manning, defines the Colts. Can he win the big one? Can he take the Colts to the […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Dinner with Jim Furyk

I’m a member of a small business group that meets once a month to discuss trends and happenings in Jacksonville. We get together for dinner and usually have a speaker from a charity, a business or a portion of government. And sometimes we step away from our “mission” to have some fun. This was one […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators Swamp Buckeyes

It was supposed to be a coronation. It seems like the entire state of Ohio had transplanted itself to Arizona to witness Ohio State’s crowning as the National Champion. Florida was only the cannon fodder for the game. The Buckeyes were supposed to be having a rematch with Michigan according to everybody who was supposedly […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Five Days in Glendale

I’ve been in Arizona for the past four days covering the run-up to the National Championship game between Florida and Ohio State. With the game set for Monday night, the fans have started flowing into the “Valley of the Sun” this weekend. I’ve been to Phoenix a few times, but this is the first when […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gerald R. Ford 38th President

I was watching the State funeral for President Gerald Ford and was surprised at how much his short presidency has influenced the US today. Ford was a dealmaker with his biggest aspiration being to one day be the Speaker of the House. Difficult to do for a Republican during a Democrat dominated era in congressional […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Aloha Rashean

Looking at Rashean Mathis’ short NFL career, it seems that, as he has said, he was destined to be here. Being elected to the Pro Bowl for the first time in 2006, Mathis joins another Jacksonville area athlete, Champ Bailey, as the starting corners for the AFC in this year’s game in Hawaii. Mathis is […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Ankle-gate

Ankle-gate took another turn on Saturday when the Jaguars announced that Quarterback Byron Leftwich would have surgery on his injured ankle and would return when his recovery was complete. Very unusual to make any kind of announcement on a Saturday and certainly not one a major as the quarterback was out indefinitely. If you remember, […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Quarterbacks ‘R Us

It might be the most intriguing position in sports. At quarterback you have to be athletic, smart, communicate well and have a thick skin. You’re the goat when the team loses and the hero when they win. And sometimes you’re the goat when they win but never the hero when they lose. You’re legacy depends […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Florida/Georgia Issues

I spent part of last week in Gainesville and part in Athens putting together a show for the annual Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville. Both are great college towns and both seemed to be content that the match up between these two SEC teams won’t be coming to their stadiums anytime soon. Georgia fans do feel […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators, Present and Future

Tebow vs. the Russian Army? Tebow. Tebow vs. a nuclear blast? Tebow. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tim Tebow. Nice kid, works hard, studies hard, respects the game and the people around him but to listen to Gator fans, he can walk on water. In their only loss of the season, Florida had their […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

A TO from T.O.

You thought it was plausible. That’s why there was a firestorm of speculation and information when it was reported that Terrell Owens had attempted suicide. Owens is wired different, is a publicity hound, loves the spotlight and appears to have a screw loose. So, taking his own life? I can see that, you thought. Or […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Information Management

With some of the new rules the NFL has instituted limiting the access of the media to the teams, the flow of information has been somewhat restricted. As the league moves closer to its own network and their partners, it also is moving closer to an attempt to manage the news and information that comes […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators Open

It was a big celebration in Gainesville on opening day with the return of the 1996 National Championship team and its coach Steve Spurrier. The air was full of anticipation as the Gators are ranked in the top 10 and thoughts of and SEC title and a run for the National Championship are on the […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Tiger vs. The World

Much has been made about the inevitability of Tiger Woods win at the PGA championship. It was a pretty sure bet that he’d win after tying the course record on Saturday and moving to the top of the leaderboard. He’s unbeaten going into the final round of a major either as the leader or tied […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Exhibitions Don’t Count

We’re now three weeks into training camp, four weeks for a couple of teams and we’ve now got at least one “preseason” game behind us. Hard to believe that it’ll be three more weeks of games and practices before anything happens that really counts in the standings. Already, things have happened that matter though. Clinton […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Saban Vision

It was just a quick little blurb when I first saw it. President Bush in South Florida, having dinner at Joe’s Stone Crabs with a bunch of well-known Floridians. Nick Saban, Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins declined the invitation because he was “too busy with training camp.” It struck me as amusing, but not […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Doping Woes

I was all set to pay homage to Floyd Landis, Tour de France winner. Bad hip and all, Landis did what seemed to be the improbable if not the impossible, losing eight minutes one day and getting almost all if it back the next. Then winning back the yellow jersey in the time trial and […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

World Cup Aftermath

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 […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Tuscany – The Journey Home

It’s always good to come home after being out of the country. And at least this time I did get a “Welcome Back” from the Immigration (now Homeland Security) agent while clearing customs through Atlanta. After the seven days in Tuscany, I headed to what’s called the “Amalfi Coast” south of Naples on the southwestern […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Reports From Tuscany, Italy

TUSCANY, ITALY DAY 1 (The Journey & Arrival) I was hoping it would be an adventure, and it certainly, inadvertently, started out as one. I lined up my ticket to Italy in March and for some reason I didn’t have a seat from Atlanta to Rome assigned. “No problem,” everybody with Delta assured me, from […]