I’ve made this drive a hundred times. Maybe two hundred. From my first trip in 1979 from Charleston to this year from Ponte Vedra Beach, it never gets old. Driving to Atlanta is all about interstates and traffic. Driving to Augusta is about savoring the countryside, the anticipation of what the week might bring, and […]
It started off with a few guys sitting at Silver’s Drug Store talking about having a golf tournament. It’s been called the Greater Jacksonville Open, the GJO, the Tournament Players Championship, TPC, The Players Championship and The Players. It’s been known as a destination, a reunion spot, and for the Swingers Tent. And I once […]
It’s been a sport for a while, picking on the Jaguars and Jacksonville. From the time the league granted the franchise in November of ’93 in Chicago, it’s been an ongoing theme among those covering the game. “Jacksonville?” was the response when St. Louis, Baltimore and Memphis lost out for the thirtieth NFL franchise. “It’s […]
Photo by Bryan Berlin “Hey, I ‘won’ a chance to buy Ryder Cup tickets,” my friend Dirk said on the other end of the phone one spring afternoon earlier this year. “Great,” I responded. “You should get them. Even if you don’t’ go, they’re worth something.” Ten minutes after our chat, my phone rang again […]
If there were a combine report on the 2024 Jaguars, you’d think they were a lock to win the Super Bowl. They could run, they were fast, they could jump, and they could bench press forever. But could they play football? Not very well. That’s where talent evaluators differ in any sport. Are you focused […]
Watching the NCAA National Championship game in 2002, my alma mater, The University of Maryland, was locked in a tight battle in the second half. I was at my friend Peter’s house when I walked outside to grab a drink off the porch. Watching through the window, the Terps took a two-point lead as I […]
It’s almost amusing when you hear people talk about how Augusta has been “romanticized” beyond reality. Clearly, they’ve never been there. Attending my 45th Masters this week, I’ve been asked several times, “How has it changed?” While a dissertation on the litany of changes would take some time, the short answer is, “Everything isn’t just […]
I saw every play of Fred Taylor’s career, live, over the eleven years he played in Jacksonville. I didn’t think that was a big deal until I started researching his numbers and talking to people and realized, not a lot of people saw Fred play. He was on an expansion franchise that many NFL types […]
It still seems backwards. I’m trying not to let the fact that Doug Pederson is a nice guy color my thoughts about this but Jaguars Owner Shad Khan’s decision to fire Doug and retain Trent Baalke as the General Manager seems like the opposite of what was necessary. In fact, it’s the third of three […]
With so much success and so much expectation, what’s happened to the Jaguars? Winning three games to finish the regular season in 2022 put the Jaguars in the playoffs and they looked like a team on the rise. A comeback playoff win against the Chargers at home and playing the Chiefs tough in Kansas City […]
Travel has always been intriguing to me. My wife, Linda, says I have true wanderlust. So, when we were invited by our friends Pat and Kristin to go on a cruise to Greece, Croatia and Italy, it didn’t take long for us to say yes. Even though we’re not cruise people. Well, we weren’t cruise […]
It sounded funny to hear it out loud, even though the words had come out of my mouth. “I’ve covered half of these you know,” I said with a chuckle to my colleague as we sat for a chat about my memories of The Masters Tournament. “Now you’re going for the second half,” he laughed. […]
When the Jaguars were and early expansion franchise, they were competitive, but not a national draw on TV. Most of their games were what is called “point-to-point” broadcasts. Only the home market and the visiting team city received the broadcast of the game, and as many of you remember, blackouts were still a part of […]
When I asked Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu what it was like to stand on the other side of the line from Fred Taylor, he paused and said, “I think he’s the best running back I ever faced.” When I noted that was a big statement, he didn’t waver. “I think he was always the […]
It didn’t take UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock long to figure out what he wanted to do when his fighting days were over. “I probably fought longer than I should have but I just loved it,” Shamrock explained. “I just couldn’t get through the training any longer. I had to step away but I […]
No matter where you look, if they’re talking about the NFL, they’re talking about the Jaguars. In year two of Doug Pederson’s tenure as the Jaguars Head Coach, he’s taken a franchise lost in every way possible and turned the team into a contender. His steady hand, as well as some solid acquisitions through free […]
It has been a while since the Jaguars went into the roster building phase of the year without a question mark at quarterback. Last year doesn’t count, since 2021 was such a detour from potential success with Urban Meyer in charge. Yes, we knew Trevor Lawrence was going to be the quarterback, but we didn’t […]
For golf fans and sports fans alike, the 2023 Masters finish wasn’t particularly exciting, but it was memorable. John Rahm played nearly flawless golf as Brooks Koepka faltered to win his second Major and his first Green Jacket as Masters Champion. In doing so, Rahm becomes the first European player to ever win the US […]
I’d told the story so many times I thought I might have made it up. In the first year of The Players at The Stadium Course, Jerry Pate promised to throw course designer Pete Dye in the lake next to the 18th green if he won. Walking down the 18th fairway, Pate doubled-down on his […]
It’s been a while since anybody at the stadium said, “See you next week” after a game in January. But thanks to some stout defense, the Jaguars beat the Titans, 20-16 to win the AFC South Division Championship in their final regular season game. In front of a capacity crowd, perhaps the largest to see […]
It didn’t take long for Tony Boselli to fall in love with football. As a quarterback. “Oh, I thought I was a quarterback,” he recalled of his ninth-grade year in football at Fairview High School in Boulder, Colorado. “I played quarterback that year and the first day of training camp the varsity Head Coach, Sam […]
“You’ve had a big week,” my long-time friend “The Ghost” texted me on Sunday of this year’s Masters Tournament. And he was right. After a two-year delay, Augusta National and the Masters celebrated my more than four decades as a reporter at the tournament, presenting me with the Masters Major Achievement Award. I’m very grateful […]
Adam Schupak – GolfWeek AUGUSTA, Ga. – The wait is over for Sam Kouvaris to be honored at the Masters. In early 2020, Kouvaris received a letter in the mail from Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley congratulating him on his upcoming coverage of his 40th Masters and notifying him that he would be […]
Although his career on the field was full of skill, technique, power and passion, Tony Boselli’s path to the Pro Football Hall of Fame was a numbers game. This was the sixth consecutive year Boselli has made the finalists list. The last five years he’s made the first cut to the final ten. In the […]
One week to go in the Jaguars’ regular season and we’re looking at a dismal record (again) and the number one draft pick (again) in the 2022 NFL draft. Despite being the one to hire Urban Meyer, give Jaguars Owner Shad Khan credit for firing him when necessary. A captain knows when to make an […]
It’s easy to see what kind of team is taking the field in professional sports just by walking into their locker room. Professional players are just that; professionals, mercenaries that are wearing a certain team’s colors for money and their livelihood. Some got there through the draft, some came as free agents or made the […]
About every third time Jaguars Head Coach Urban Meyer meets with the media, he references how he’s learning the pro game. He admits he is surprised by some things and has hired a staff full of coaches with NFL experience to shepherd him through the process. While I admire the transparency, never Meyer’s strong suit, […]
This week, reminiscing with friends about things that happened in the thirty years I knew Bobby Bowden, there was story after story, one funnier than the next. The one common thread in all of them? Everybody talked about the man, not the coach. And everybody has a Bobby Bowden story. Rather than tell you mine, […]
Flipping through the channels the other night I came across some diving. Any other time in the last four years I’d have kept searching. But not this year. This year is the Olympic Year. And I unapologetically think the Olympics are great. I’ve been to a couple of Olympics. I took my kids to Atlanta […]
When the Jaguars took Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft last April, he became the twenty-first quarterback taken with the top pick in the last three decades. Two of those twenty-one, Peyton Manning and Troy Aikman, are in the Hall of Fame. Only one other, Eli Manning has won a […]
By the middle of this week, all thirty-two NFL teams will be in training camp. Hope springs eternal in the league this time of year. Fans are pouring over the schedule, looking at the starting lineups, the injuries, the rookies added, and the veterans traded to come up with idea about what their team could […]
There’s a familiarity when you walk onto a baseball field. You don’t even need to open your eyes to know where you are. The smell of cut grass, the feel of dirt under your cleats and the energy of a dugout the comes from baseballs and gloves in their own random, organized spaces. The familiar […]
As we celebrate the 244th anniversary of our Nation’s independence today, we’ll hear a lot of patriotic songs. It might be the only day we hear John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever.” We’ll sing along with Katherine Lee Bates’ and Samuel Ward’s “America the Beautiful.” And many of the celebrations will begin with our […]
With all the emphasis on speed, technique, culture and whatever else the Jaguars have been working on so far, it won’t be until sometime in late August when the coaching staff and the players start to find out what kind of football team they’re going to be. Everybody talks about playing fast and giving great […]
There’s a special bond between dads and their kids that only comes through sports. It’s different than almost anything else. Whether it’s being at a sporting event as spectators or as competitors, that bond is created by watching and learning. At a sporting event from the stands, dads show their kids how they act in […]
If you’ve played any golf in North Florida you’ve probably played in a charity golf tournament. Big or small, golf tournaments raising money for charity are among the biggest fundraising sources for charities in our part of the country. “Before Covid, we held as many as twenty fund-raising events every year,” Chet Stokes, General Manager […]
We’ve heard Jaguars Head Coach Urban Meyer talk a lot about how important he thinks “sports performance” is to the success of his new team. What exactly is “sports performance?” “There has been a lot of research about different tools to improve sports performance,” Dr. Kaitlyn Buss a doctor of physical therapy here in Jacksonville […]
It was easy having sports figures as childhood heroes growing up in Baltimore. At various times as a kid, depending on the season, I was Frank Robinson at the plate, Brooks Robinson at third, and Paul Blair in the outfield. I was Johnny Unitas in my front yard throwing at bushes. Playing catch, I was […]
Usually this column writes itself as the week goes along. When I’m out people want to talk sports and generally everybody wants to talk about the same thing. That’s one of the things I’ve always liked about living here. People like sports and they like to talk about it. And they have an opinion. I’ve […]
In a conversation this week, I had a couple of Jaguars fans tell me they thought that Head Coach Urban Meyer was “calculating.” “That’s a good word,” I told them. It really does seem to be part of Meyer’s personality, and one of things that, to me, is unappealing. But that calculating trait can’t be […]
