Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Signing Day is now HUGE!

Plenty of things have changed when it comes to National Signing Day. First of all, there wasn’t even a National Signing Day and nobody knew anything about recruiting except for a couple of reporters and every college coach in the country. Most fans didn’t know and didn’t much care either. Up until about 50 years […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Patriots: Probably Deflated for a While

I believe Tom Brady. When he stood up there and said, “I had no knowledge of this at all,” I think he’s telling the truth. And when he said he goes over the footballs “Five hours before halftime and doesn’t want anybody touching them after that,” I think he’s also telling the truth. And his […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

For Jameis, More Questions Await

I think he wanted to stay in school. After his father let everybody know that Jameis Winston would let his decision be known after the National Championship game next week, less than 24 hours later, word got out that Winston had made up his mind to turn professional. Winston’s statement, published by his agent, had […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

FSU Beaten By Oregon In The Semi

For a game on New Year’s Day, the Rose Bowl is at least tied for the top spot to play a college football game. This one between FSU and Oregon was somewhat historic since it was the first semi-final in the new system to determine a National Champion. Since FSU was here just last year […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Off-Season Underway

Cleaning out lockers, going through exit interviews and physicals, and saying good-bye to teammates is all part of the process of ending the season in the NFL. Only one of the thirty-two teams finishes happy, the rest lament “what could have been.” Most teams finish when the regular season is over. Now known as “Black […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

FSU “The Most Hated Team”: Why?

Having never played there before, in a quirk of luck, the FSU Seminoles will play in the Rose Bowl for the second straight year. While last year was for the National Championship against a familiar Auburn team, this year the ‘Noles are in the semi-final against an unknown in Oregon. Sure they’ll have seen plenty […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Fall To Texans, Finish 3-13

On a cold, dreary and rainy day in Houston, the Jaguars were finishing out the season against a division opponent with not much motivation but pride to fuel them. Former Jaguar (and Texan) Tony Boselli said prior to the game that he wasn’t worried about the fight in the Jaguars but that they would have […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Top 20 Stories to Cover

For our final Top 20 of the year recognizing the 20th anniversary of the Jaguars, we’re being a bit self-indulgent. Our topic is “Top 20 Stories to Cover” fun or not, newsworthy or just small anecdotes. While a majority of the list was compiled by Sports Director Sam Kouvaris, Senior Photographer/Producer Matt Kingston and Senior […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars/Titans Preview: Worth it?

While the question today is “Will Blake Bortles play?” Perhaps the real question is “Should he?” Suffering a mid-foot sprain against Baltimore last week, Bortles finished the game but afterwards was in the locker room and in his press conference wearing a protective boot. He didn’t practice early in the week but was “limited” in […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars beat Titans, Show 2nd Half Spark

Sometimes I’m perplexed by the Jaguars play calling and lack of offense. When you see them prepare, they seem to get it. But in games, it becomes a different story. Opening the game down 7-0 after giving up an game starting drive of 84 yards (to Charlie Whitehurst) the Jaguars ran the ball a couple […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Top 20 Road Trips

Recognizing the Jaguars 20th anniversary, this week’s top twenty is Top 20 road trips. This top twenty is about what road trips to take to see the Jaguars play taking into account ease of travel, stadiums, hotels, proximity and things to do. While it’s easy to name some great things about all of the cities […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Ravens Preview: Still Learning?

At 2-11 most NFL teams are already making plans for the future. Players are lining up vacation time, golf trips and how quickly they can get away after the final game. For the Jaguars, that doesn’t appear to be the case. With three games to play, it was business as usual for the team this […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Second Half Woes (again), Jaguars lose to Ravens

Sometimes things crystalize right in front of your eyes when you’re watching the Jaguars play. In their opening drive against the Ravens, they drove the ball to midfield with a good blend of Toby Gerhart running and Blake Bortles passing. Gerhart’s healthy and running hard while Bortles looks confident. Then things fall apart. A wide-open […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Top 20 Individual Performances

This week’s Top 20 in recognition of the Jaguars 20th anniversary is the Top 20 individual performances in Jaguars history. What brought this list to life was Josh Scobee’s two field goals last week putting him over 1000 points in his career, the first Jaguars player to accomplish that. Scobee makes this list for his […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars/Texans preview: Keep the Momentum?

Everybody talks about the “eye test” in sports. Looking at the Jaguars early in the year, the “eye test” showed them as a young, flawed team with a long way to go before they scared anybody in the NFL. As the year has progressed, the “eye test” didn’t change any opinions as the losses mounted. […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Falter in 2nd Half, Lose to Texans

Having swept the Texans last year for two of their four wins, the Jaguars were fairly confident this week at home against Houston. Coming off a last-second win against the Giants they could see improvement and how “the process” was taking hold. Not that Houston was any kind of pushover. With JJ Watt playing at […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

McElwain Introduced at Florida: Wins the Press Conference

Starting his public Gator career at his introductory press conference, Head Coach Jim McElwain approached the podium without any prepared remarks and said, “How you doin?” It’s that kind of folksy, human connection that the Gator Nation has longed for since the departure of Steve Spurrier. McElwain was glib, funny, a good storyteller, and seemingly […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Top 20 Comebacks

Here’s our top 20 for this week in recognition of the Jaguars 20th anniversary. To mark their comeback win over the Giants last Sunday, it’s the top 20 comebacks in Jaguars history. They’re all not actual comebacks in games, but all represent a comeback of sorts surrounding the Jaguars. At number 1, the city of […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Defense Shines, Jaguars beat Giants

You know anytime you’re going to face a Tom Coughlin coached football team they’re going to run the football. A lot. Former Jaguar Rashad Jennings is Coughlin’s workhorse in the backfield (another one of those guys like Montel Owens, Justin Forsett and Daryl Smith that I can’t figure out why they’re not on this team) […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jaguars Giants Preview: It’s About Bortles

In the NFL, it all comes down to the quarterback. Bad teams with good quarterbacks have a chance. Good teams with bad quarterbacks usually don’t. Great running backs don’t take you to the Super Bowl. Walter Payton needed an historic defense to carry his bears to the championship game. Barry Sanders never got there. Quarterbacks […]