Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jimmy Smith’s Long Road

I guess I’m supposed to be mad at Jimmy Smith. I sat in his living room nearly two years ago, doing a live broadcast for Channel 4, two days after Smith was charged with DUI and, according to police, tested positive for cocaine. Smith maintained that the test was a police mistake and said he […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

USA Hockey 1980: A Different Time

It was a very different time for journalism, television and the USA. Although Watergate was still fresh in our minds and a healthy amount of skepticism was essential for every journalist, there was still innocence to news coverage. The responsibility for reporters was to the viewers and there was a real attachment between the two. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

He Said, She Said

An NBA star is accused of some sort of sex crime, and the usual “he said, she said” begins, while there’s a collective yawn from the public. Unless the star is Kobe Bryant and his hometown is Los Angeles. The instant Bryant was accused, the coverage has been nonstop. From the major networks to the […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Boselli’s Retirement

A career that seemed destined to end at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton now ends in an auditorium in Houston. Tony Boselli will announce his retirement this week from football at age 31. Rest, rehabilitation nor three surgeries have given Boselli relief from the shoulder problems that originally put him out of […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Black and White

An NBA star is accused of some sort of sex crime, and the usual “he said, she said” begins, while there’s a collective yawn from the public. Unless the star is Kobe Bryant, and his hometown is Los Angeles. The instant Bryant was accused, the coverage has been nonstop. From the major networks to the […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Proud Americans

It’s a shame Venus was injured and couldn’t perform at the top of her game in the finals at Wimbledon, but in truth, the women’s finals wasn’t about who won and who lost. The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, are far and away the best female players in the world. Yes Kim Clistjers and Justine […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

ACC SEC Moves

Now, there are eleven. Eleven being the operative word in that sentence. Eleven is a nice number, a good number for players on either side of a football. It’s about the right number on a soccer pitch for guys in the same color jersey, but it’s not the right number for teams in a conference. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

A Fish Story

About this time of year, I get to tell a fish story. You might know that I like to fish. I’m not very good at it, growing up on the concrete and asphalt streets of Baltimore wasn’t conducive to knowing anything about fishing. But my time in Charleston, S.C. and specifically in Jacksonville has given […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

NBA Finals

There’s no real flash or pizzaz to the NBA Finals this year. No Lakers, no Knicks, no Michael, no nothing. San Antonio and New Jersey aren’t major metropolitan areas (technically speaking if you actually count New Jersey as New Jersey.) They aren’t teams with a rich history; in fact, both are ABA transfers who actually […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

It’s A Girl’s Game

Now that the circus has left town, the PGA Tour can look at the “Great Annika Experiment” and decide if it was good for everybody, or good for anybody. The organizers of the Colonial look brilliant. They invited the one person on the planet who can actually play, who brought more publicity to their tournament […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Coaches Foibles

It’s been a strange week for coaches and their image. Alabama football coach Mike Price goes to a charity golf tournament in Pensacola, has a few drinks, ends up in a strip bar and a woman charges $1000 of room service to his credit card the next morning in a Holiday Inn. Larry Eustachy declares […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Del Rio’s First Draft

Jack Del Rio stepped to the podium on the day he was introduced as the Jaguars’ Head Coach, it didn’t take long to realize he was a presence. He commands attention and is a force in whatever he’s doing. He was that way as a player, as an assistant coach, and now as a Head […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Playing Augusta

I’ve always said I’ve gotten to do things throughout my career that I never would have come close to if not for the job I have. Playing Augusta National is one of those things and near the top of the list. I’ve played Augusta several times, including last Monday as an invited member of the […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Hooties Comments

Sometimes when you read the things you’ve heard said, they look very different in print. Sometimes without the impact and subtleties and sometimes more harsh than intended. Hootie Johnson, Chairman of Augusta National and the Masters golf tournament has suffered from both cases for the past ten months. He’s been characterized as a Neanderthal and […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Augusta 2003

Plenty of people have been to Augusta National. Thousands stream here every year for the practice rounds, holding their tickets as if their admission to the site of the Holy Grail. Up until about five years ago, you could just show up in Augusta, walk to the gates of Augusta National and buy a ticket […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Love Wins 2003 Players

When it happens in your town, it always seems so huge when weather stops play in the local PGA Tour event. But the guys on tour deal with weather every week. It’s no big deal to them. Sometimes we make a lot about the advantage of playing in the morning vs. playing in the afternoon, […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators Lose In 2003 NCAA

It’s not the worst-case scenario, but it’s close. Florida’s second round 68-46 loss to Michigan State in the NCAA tournament is not the kind of ending to the season that Billy Donovan, the Gator players or fans expected. While it’s been an up and down year and the team is young, the expectations were high […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Big Signing

“First off, move those microphones back some. I’d like to say first of all that the comment that was made earlier about being a little bit older and having a knee injury. I didn’t have knee injury. I had a bone bruise. I never had any knee surgeries, and I played the whole season. That […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Harrick’s Demise

After a spate of college basketball transgressions have come to light in the last couple of weeks, the big hammer dropped on Monday when Georgia suspended their Head Coach Jim Harrick and withdrew the team from the SEC and the NCAA tournaments. Harrick has been suspended pending further investigation into academic fraud at the University, […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Ephedra’s Ills

In our never ending quest to look younger, feel better, have a slimmer waist and better hair, exercise has been tabbed as one of the essential ingredients to happiness. At least that’s what the studies say and that’s what the media has bought into. Despite Oprah’s focus on feeling good about yourself, even if you’re […]