BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
It’s hard to believe that a month has passed since the death of legendary Penn State Coach Joe Paterno.
During that entire weekend, I felt extremely connected to this story because of the significant people that I saw throughout.
It began on Saturday, January 21, at FAU Stadium during a College Football All-Star Game "The Battle Of Florida" which was an opportunity for players to showcase their skills for Pro Scouts. The contest featured legendary coaches Bobby Bowden and FAU’s recently retired Howard Schnellenberger, who was making his final appearance on the Owls Sidelines.
During the post-game joint press conference with the two coaches Bowden and Schnellenberger, they wondered if Paterno had passed away earlier as earlier reports pre-maturely indicated.
Throughout the evening, writers kept checking with the media outlets on their computers, cell phones, Twitter as CBS Sports and the Penn State Newspaper had to retract their stories. An editor and writer lost their jobs.
Schnellenberger was 2-1 versus Paterno when he was at the University of Miami. Meanwhile, Bowden and Paterno battled for the all-time Division I FBS wins total.
Paterno owns the record with 409 while Bowden finished second with 377. Bowden’s total would have been 389, but FSU had to vacate 12 victories due to a March 6, 2009 NCAA ruling requiring Florida State to forfeit the wins "for any games in which an ineligible player participated."
Nevertheless, "The Battle Of Florida" was overshadowed by Paterno’s pre-mature death.
Both Schnellenberger and Bowden weren’t concerned about Paterno’s handling of the Jerry Sandusky Sex Scandal. In the end, they knew college football was far better with Paterno than it would be without him. On this night, positive comments were all you were going to hear from these two legendary coaches.
To this day, I still believe Paterno should have coached Penn State the entire season. There were mistakes made with the university’s administrators because he informed them of what transpired and the incident was pushed aside. Seemed like a cover-up that nobody thought would ever explode like it has. Paterno was being punished for something that happened years ago.
Hours later, I drove up I-75 North and saw My former colleague at WXYZ Radio in Detroit, Dick Vitale at The Broken Egg Restaurant in Sarasota (Lakewood Ranch) Florida. The Hall Of Fame ESPN Announcer arrived home during the early morning hours after covering a college game in Pittsburgh and sat in his usual spot at 10:30 am.
Vitale felt Paterno received a "Raw Deal" and his longstanding relationship with Penn State ended poorly. Dick Vitale’s facial expressions and body language said it all.
Vitale is currently working diligently to raise $1 Million for the seventh straight year on behalf of the Jimmy V Foundation For Cancer Research in honor of his late close friend Jim Valvano.
When I told Dick about My Grandfather Sidney Morganroth, who passed away at 55 because of Lung Cancer in 1973, we shared a somber moment. I told Dick that I’ve kept my promise 40-years later to honor My grandfather’s memory to not smoke and he smiled. I also told Dick that from this point on that I will promote the Jimmy V Foundation anytime I can.
Like my grandfather, Paterno died of Lung Cancer but at the age of 85. Vitale and I were just hoping that this Sandusky situation doesn’t overshadow Paterno’s legacy.
But I came away from that weekend proud to be with Bowden, Schnellenberger and Vitale. Yet, I wish the subject matter would have been more pleasant.
The Battle Of Florida saw Bowden’s North team crush Schnellenberger’s South squad 51-3. During the course of the weeks events, there were 140 scouts, 29 NFL teams, four Canadian Football League representatives and one from the Arena Football League.
Yet, in the end, once again it was overshadowed by Joe Paterno’s declining health that resulted in his death Sunday Morning.
Former ABC News Anchor, the late Frank Reynolds was a guy that I idolized growing up. Just because my specialty is sports doesn’t mean that you don’t learn from those doing the news.
Reynolds would have had a field day with this pre-mature death of Paterno’s fiasco.
On March 31, 1981, during the coverage of the Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt, White House Press Secretary James Brady was erroneously reported by all three networks as having died from a head wound. Another report arrived that Reagan had died.
Reynolds looked at his staffers and angrily told them to get the information straight and accurate.
I know that if Reynolds was on the air, if he lost his composure again that Paterno had pre-maturely been announced as dead, I’d hide for cover if I were his staffers. Frank defines professionalism in every sense of the word.
I’ve learned a lot of lessons from Frank in 33-years of Journalism and when I visited his grave site at the Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, I made sure Reynolds heard my words loud and clear.
All I can say is God Bless to Howard Schnellenberger, Bobby Bowden and Dick Vitale!
Rest in Peace to Joe Paterno, Frank Reynolds, Sidney Morganroth and Jim Valvano!
Scott Morganroth’s blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com and he can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.
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BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
The New York Giants 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots sent shock waves to the rest
of the NFL.
Just get in the playoffs and play your best football in December and January, as they became the first team in NFL history to lose seven games and win a Super Bowl.
The Giants were 7-7 in December and made it to the playoffs by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 31-14 to win the NFC East Title in the final week of the season, finishing 9-7.
By winning the division title, New York earned a home game and dispatched the Atlanta Falcons 24-2 in the opening round. Atlanta’s only points came off a safety.
The Giants took their act on the road as they defeated 15-1 Green Bay 37-20 in the second game of the tournament in frigid Lambeau Field. They prevented Packers MVP QB Aaron Rogers from leading Green Bay to its second straight Super Bowl Championship.
The NFC Championship Game would be hosted by the 13-3 San Francisco 49′ers. But the Giants wouldn’t be affected by the three hour time difference as they earned a 20-17 overtime victory.
What would it take for New York to win the Super Bowl over the 13-3 New England Patriots? It would take an MVP Performance by Giants QB Eli Manning as he threw for 296 yards and one touchdown. Manning became the fifth player in Super Bowl History to win two MVP Awards and he accomplished that twice against the New England Patriots.
This MVP came in the stadium that his brother Peyton built—Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The Giants played good defense. They sacked Patriots QB Tom Brady twice and forced him to throw one interception. Brady had a safety on the Patriots first possession of the game.
Ironically, my good friend Eddy Alvarez, who is my AT&T Dealer in Deerfield Beach, Florida, asked me an hour before kickoff as I was buying my new tablet, if there was going to be interesting play to watch out for.
I told him that there would be a two-point play of some sort. When Brady had that safety, Alvarez sent me a complimentary e-mail after it happened.
In the end, this Super Bowl rematch of four years ago would be decided in the final minute as the Giants got a late touchdown by Ahmad Bradshaw, a play designed to set up a field goal. However, he inadvertently backed in and scored. This play will go down as one of the classic endings in Super Bowl History.
Eli Manning’s legacy has now been cemented as a two-time Super Bowl Champion. With two Super Bowl rings, he owns family bragging rights over Peyton and his father Archie.
Following the Super Bowl, the Giants have defeated the Patriots three consecutive times—including two Super Bowl triumphs and a 24-20 regular season win in New England on Sunday, November 6, 2011.
More importantly, the Giants Super Bowl victory sends a message to the entire "Sports World."
"Don’t worry about the win-loss regular season record. Just qualify for the post-season."
As long as a team peaks in the playoffs, that’s all that matters. You can bet every coach in every sport on all levels will use the Giants improbable underdog ride as motivation to inspire players to win a championship.
That’s what will make Super Bowl XLVI stand out for years to come.
Finally, the Green Bay Packers won last years title with a 10-6 record and add the Giants 9-7 mark, and the combined record for both squads is 19-13.
That’s incredible.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.
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Four weeks ago, the college football world lost a coaching icon in former Penn State Football Head Coach Joe Paterno at the age of 85.
A lot of good things can be said about Paterno or JoePa as most people like to refer to him as.
I’ve been a critic of Joe Pa for a long time. One of my biggest criticisms was that Paul "Bear" Bryant was always a better head coach than Paterno was, based on
head-to-head battles between Joe Pa and the Bear, and what the Bear achieved. Joe Pa should’ve quit coaching football sometime before it eventually ended. I thought he should’ve called it a career after the 2003 season when Penn State got back to losing from 2003-04. When the Nittany Lions got back on top of things in 2005 – his 40th season of being Penn State’s head coach – and won a share of the Big Ten title (with Ohio State) and beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl, Joe Pa should’ve ended his career right there. There was nothing more he could accomplish while Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconisn were among the top teams in the Big Ten. When Paterno was fired this past November for his involvement in the scandal about former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky molesting little children, I said to myself, "Joe, you should’ve quit when you were on top and weren’t gonna accomplish anything big like you did in 2008."
Among the undefeated seasons the Nittany Lions went unblemished under Paterno in 1969 and 1994. The 1969 team went undefeated for the second straight season and had great players such as Maxwell Award winning DL Mike Reid. Who knows what would’ve happened had undefeated Penn State played undefeated #1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl? The 1994 Nittany Lions had a lot of top offensive players and played tougher competition in their second season of Big Ten play. Penn State beat Michigan in the Big House and had a 35-31 comeback road win over Illinois after being down, 21-0. Its too bad there wasn’t a BCS system that could’ve made Big Ten champion Penn State play against Big Eight (and eventual national champions) Nebraska in a bowl game to determine the undisputed national champions of college football.
A lot of college football teams have their own all-time greatest head coach that have shoes that will never be filled. Joe Paterno at Penn State is no exception. Paterno was to Penn State what Knute Rockne was to Notre Dame, Bill Snyder to Kansas State, Frank Beamer to Virginia Tech, Bobby Bowden to Florida State and Bear Bryant to Alabama. That NCAA Division 1 FBS record of career victories (409) will never be matched or surpassed. In college football, that record will be right up there with Rockne’s winning percentage of .881, Oklahoma’s 47-game winning streak (1953-57), Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne’s career rushing yards record (6,397) and more to name.
As the landscape of college football goes forward, there will never be another head coach like Joe Paterno.
-Rich Eldridge, DSBA Associate Member
Football and Pro Wrestling Historian
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By Bill Axtell of the DSBA
It would not surprise me if New England wins Super Bowl XLVI. The biggest crock in all of pro sports is how awful the Patriots’ defense is. Their record, counting play-off games, is 15-3. I don’t care how many points they allowed, nor how much yardage they gave up. Their defense was good enough to win all but three games.
The Patriots have a lot of good players. They are superbly coached by Bill Belichik, well-disciplined and have as good a field general in Tom Brady as anyone could ask for. (It does not help that tight end Rob Gronkowski will be less than 100%. He has been scary good — the highest praise I can muster for any athlete.)
Why I am taking the Giants, in spite of the aforementioned…
While the Patriots’ regular-season record was better than New York’s (with six games on the schedule vs. Buffalo, Miami and the New York Jets), the Giants have come on strong in recent weeks, and beat much better competition en route to the Super Bowl. They topped a good Atlanta team in the first round of the play-offs, 24-2. They drubbed the defending Super Bowl champs, the Green Bay Packers, handily on the frozen tundra. (Only a pair of questionable calls by officials made the final score look respectable.) In the NFC Championship game, they outdueled a spirited San Francisco 49ers team laden with defense stalwarts on the 49ers’ home turf.
The Giants had to win some big games just to qualify for the post-season.
Eli Manning is unflappable. He’s younger than his New England counterpart. Manning has a troika of dangerous wide receivers – Hakeem Nicks, Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz. (Cruz also qualifies as scary good.) The Giants have a punishing ground game good enough to help New York in terms of time of possession. While New England’s defense is under-rated, New York’s is championship-caliber, led by Jean-Pierre Paul and Osi Umenyiora.
Finally, I hearken back to a comment I heard a while back from former Giants coach — and former Patriots coach — Bill Parcells. According to Parcells, the most overrated factor in pro football is game plan. And the most underrrated factor is execution.
I am sure the Pats will have an excellent game plan (they thoroughly flummoxed the Denver Broncos in the post-season with ingenious offensive schemes) but they’re not going up against Tim Tebow or Joe Flacco this week. I think the Tom Coughlin-coached Giants will out-execute ‘em. New York 27-New England 20.
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By George Eichorn
To quote former major league announcer Mel Allen: "How about that!" The Detroit Tigers signing of first baseman Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers (and his 230 career home runs) is as stunning as headlines come in the world of sports.
The slugger’s nine-year $214 million contract costs owner Mike Ilitch dearly yet the payoff could be a trip to the World Series and a home gate of more than 3 million at Comerica Park in 2012.
Crain’s Detroit Business reports the Tigers can afford the slugger. They stated the team is actually saving the $23 million Fielder will cost this season by not re-signing right-fielder Magglio Ordoneza and second-baseman/designated hitter Carlos Guillen. A boost in season-ticket sales, suite sales, new corporate sponsorships, merchandise and others revenue generators, Crain’s says, will also benefit Ilitch. Look for the Tigers to raise ticket prices in time for the 2013 season especially if they happen to win the Fall Classic.
Fans are giddy about the prospects of Fielder replacing the injured Victor Martinez in manager Jim Leyland’s lineup. A powerhouse 1-2 punch of Fielder and Miguel Cabrera has pitchers around the major leagues shuddering this winter. Add in the bats of catcher Alex Avila, shortstop Jhonny Peralta, right fielder Brennan Boesch and left fielder/DH Delmon Young, and you have Detroit’s version of the famed New York Yankees’ "Murderer’s Row."
Fielder is coming home. Most of us remember his father, Cecil Fielder, and his 1990-1996 run with the Tigers. His 245 home runs here included 51 in 1990, the most in one year for a Tiger since Hank Greenberg’s 58 home runs in 1938.
Cecil Fielder brought his robust son Prince to many games at old Tiger Stadium and the youngster even clubbed a home run at age 12 at Michigan and Trumbull. Ah, shades of Willie Horton hitting one out of that same park as a teenage hitting sensation for Detroit Northwestern High School in the early 1960′s.
The fact that Ilitch opened up his wallet and president/general manager Dave Dombrowski was able to sign a free agent of this magnitude demonstrates how hungry the two are for the taste of champagne in a world champion’s locker room. The Tigers got to the World Series in 2006 but lost in five games to the St. Louis Cardinals. This past season, it was a trip to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) only to lose in six games to the Texas Rangers.
Now, the table is set for the Tigers to make it back to the Series and to finish the job and bring home a championship flag.
My question entering spring training will be the Tigers defense. By moving Cabrera to third base and plunking Fielder at first base, the Tigers have two less-than-desirable gloves out there. Add in the short-range of Peralta at short and middle-of-the-road defense of Ryan Raburn at second and you have the making of a potential shaky infield defense.
In the outfield, you have a so-so fielder in Young (left) and getting-better Boesch in right. Only Austin Jackson has Gold Glove potential in center field. Avila is above average behind the plate. Tiger pitchers like Rick Porcello and Doug Fister, who rely on ground outs, had better be ready to expect a few more base-runners in 2012 as the result of Cabrera at third and the other fielders we mentioned.
One solution would be rotating Fielder and Cabrera between first base and DH, leaving Young in left full-time (instead of DH) and platooning Brandon Inge and Don Kelly at third base. Leyland has plenty of options even though Cabrera says he is ready to go at it full time at third base.
Prince’s wife Chanel, at the introductory press conference last week at Comerica Park, summed up her husband this way: "He’s a big teddy bear. You want that fire on the field."
And fiery is what Prince Fielder is – and will be – as a Detroit Tiger. It’s a move with plenty of risks for Ilitch and Dombrowski yet it’s a wildly aggressive move that stoked the flames of the Winter Stove League in baseball. Detroit, as a team and a city, should be better off because of this special homecoming. Prince is back home – where he belongs.
Buy George Eichorn’s book, "Detroit Sports Broadcasters On the Air" at amazon.com and reach him at geichorn@yahoo.com.
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