JFP Blogs (http://blogs.jacksonfreepress.com/category/sportsblog/page/5/)
Most colleges and universities won’t begin the 2017 football until the weekend of Aug. 31 or Monday, Sept. 4. In fact, this is the official start of the season that just about everyone is looking forward to watching in two weeks. But what you might not know is that some college-football teams will be playing on Saturday, Aug. Continue Reading
There is one group of people that both NFL coaches and players want to have absolute trust in their dealings, and that is team doctors. Coaches need to accurately know how a player is injured and a player’s career depends on proper diagnosis of injuries. That is the exact opposite of what happened with the New Orleans Saints. Mike Triplett of ESPN reported that New Orleans has fired a pair of orthopedists that misdiagnosed an injury to cornerback Delvin Breaux. Deryk Jones and Misty Suri diagnosed the player with a contusion, but coaches later learned that he actually had a fractured fibula. Continue Reading
Here is an interesting question to ponder after the Cleveland Browns defeated the New Orleans Saints 20-14: Do you know when the last time time the Saints won a preseason game was? If you said Aug. 23, 2014, you would be a winner. Since that 23-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans has gone 0-10 in the preseason since its last victory. In the first quarter, New Orleans looked solid on defense as they held the Browns without a first down and three punts in the first quarter. Continue Reading
Starting this Thursday night, the New Orleans Saints will try to fix the 7-9 record that has plagued the team for the last three seasons. New Orleans opens the 2017 preseason on
the road against the Cleveland Browns. If the Saints are going to reverse the 7-9 trend, they have to fix the biggest albatross around their neck—defense. New Orleans has been terrible on defense for a long time now, and that has shown up in its win-loss record. Each offseason, New Orleans has tried to fix the defense but has been in salary-cap hell due to bad contracts from previous years. Continue Reading
There are certain sporting events you can remember just like they were yesterday. Many basketball fans won’t forget where they were for each game of the 1992 Olympics. If you don’t remember, that year of the Olympics, held in Barcelona, Spain, featured the original “Dream Team.” The summer of ’92 was spent watching that team crush everyone who got in its way and bring high-level basketball to the rest of the world. Many people might not remember that the U.S. finished third in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, as the country was only able to use college players. NBA players were finally allowed to play in the next Olympics. Continue Reading
The University of Alabama football team lost to the University of Clemson in last year’s
title game, but the Crimson Tide are still the No. 1 team in the Amway Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for this preseason. Alabama garnered 49 first-place votes to take the top spot. Ohio State University received five first-place votes to land in second, and Florida State University got four first-place votes for third in the poll. The University of Southern California failed to get any first-place votes but still came in fourth place. Continue Reading
ESPN will make The Ocho real on Wednesday, Aug. 8, when ESPNU becomes ESPN8 The Ocho. As Jason Bateman’s character, Pepper Brooks, would say to Gary Cole’s character, Cotton McKnight, “That is a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.”
The fictional ESPN channel was the broadcast station for the movie, “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” In the film, The Ocho shows the lovable Average Joes against Globo Gym in a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament. Released in 2004, the film stars Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor. Continue Reading
FBS and FCS conferences such as the SEC, SWAC and C-USA have already made their picks for all-conference teams and predictions on conference favorites. Division II and Division III conferences are starting to put out their preseason teams and predictions. Division II Gulf South Conference, of which Delta State University and Mississippi
College are members, released its predictions and All-Conference teams on Aug. 3. The other coaches in the conference didn’t give the Statesmen and Choctaws much love. Continue Reading
There were stars on the Dallas Cowboys helmets but not many stars on the field during the 2017 Hall of Fame Game. Quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott,
wide receiver Dez Bryant, tight end Jason Witten, linebacker Sean Lee and the starting offensive line had the night off. The Arizona Cardinals let most of their stars have the night off as well: Quarterback Carson Palmer, wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, running back David Johnson, cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Tyrann Mathieu. Arizona started the game with journeyman quarterback Blaine Gabbert behind center. Gabbert helped lead the Cardinals to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter. Continue Reading