Sam’s Commentary

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Of Family and Friends

I usually don’t write much personal stuff in this space but my Uncle Angelo died on Sunday and I just wanted to give you a sense of him and family in general. Barely five feet tall, my Uncle Angelo is 18-months older than my Dad and perhaps two brothers couldn’t have been more different. My […]

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Bobby Bowden Stays

I’ve been around Bobby Bowden since 1978. I’ve seen him skinny and not-so-skinny. Happy and sad, after wins and losses. I’ve been with him after “Wide Right” (I and II) and “Wide Left.” Big wins, and big losses. “Echo of the whistle” and all the rest. He’s consistent, kind, thoughtful and honest. He’s everything you’d […]

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Arnold Palmer… More Than a Name

There are certain invitations you don’t turn down. A chance to have lunch and spend a good part of the day with Arnold Palmer is one of those. Palmer’s Bay Hill golf course went through a major renovation this summer. As is customary, the Palmer Course Design Company invited some media from around the country […]

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Florida/Georgia Ideas

I couldn’t be happier that the Florida/Georgia game has been renewed through 2016. I really thought it might be going away after nearly 80 years in Jacksonville. The drumbeat from the Georgia fans and boosters was loud as they talked about moving the game. Where? There were several options. With big stadiums in both Athens […]

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Jaguars Change Afoot?

Right now, it’s bad. I’ve been around this team since their first day of practice in 1995 and it’s bad. Maybe worse than their first expansion team. As much as I liked what I saw last week, this week was a step backwards. As in back in time. They were listless and unfocused. They couldn’t […]

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A Plan Comes Together

Sometimes in radio and TV things get crazy. You know, the best laid plans and all that. And sometimes, rarely, it all comes together. Yesterday on the radio show was one of those “all comes together” days. I had asked my friend, tennis legend Tony Trabert to come on the show to talk about the […]

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Tiger Doesn’t Lose

Nearly flawless in the first round. Brilliant in the second. Solid in the third, Tiger Woods had a lead at the PGA at Hazeltine and just about everybody was handing him the Wannamaker Trophy for the 5th time. Except Y.E. Yang. The Korean was solid throughout the day and the chip in eagle at 14 […]

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Bob Hayes in the HOF…

I’ve written about Bob Hayes’ nomination, rejection and subsequent selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame a few times in this space. And as I’ve said, and written, many times, I always feel honored and privileged to be one of the selectors on the HOF committee. When I first joined the committee in 1994 […]

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Vick and Favre: Tale of Two QB’s

Who would have thought that Michael Vick might be playing football in 2009 in the NFL and Brett Favre might not? Both are sagas, albeit very different ones involving very talented players. Vick’s journey has been well documented. From the highest paid player in the NFL to the subject of a federal investigation for dog […]

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Lance and Tom State Their Case…

In one day, the two guys who I was rooting for in the two events I love to watch both imploded. I’ve learned not to get to emotionally invested in what’s going on at a sporting event. I did that as a kid, and experienced both euphoria and despair following what my teams did. In […]

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Nearly Perfect Day Fishing

Any chance I have a chance to go fishing, I usually jump at it. After about a five-year hiatus, the Greater Jacksonville Kingfish Tournament resurrected the “media” fishing day leaving from Sister’s Creek Marina just off the St. Johns River. Luckily I drew my friend Randy Nader as the boat captain so with Matt Kingston […]

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Armstrong’s Already a Winner

I don’t care if Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France. Honest. I’m happy with what he’s already done and if he falls apart and doesn’t finish, (which won’t happen by the way) I won’t care. Armstrong’s performance, both on and off the bike in the first third of the tour has be nothing short […]

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USA Soccer: Play American!

I read that some of the American players were crying when they accepted their silver medals at the Confederations Cup in South Africa on Sunday. And they should have been. Leading 2-0 at half, I don’t know what coach Bob Bradley said to the team, but it was completely backwards. Now all of you soccer […]

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US Open Proving Ground

I wasn’t sure who to root for, or against for that matter. I like to get behind somebody in major golf championships. Sometimes it’s actually Tiger but othertimes it’s just somebody who looks like they need the win or they just got struck by lightning. At this year’s US Open I was somewhere down in […]

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That Certain Something

The French have a phrase for it “je ne sai quoi” that certain something I can’t put my finger on. It’s one way you can describe all championship teams. There’s something about them that you can’t quite quantify. You can’t say they have more of something you can’t identify, but you know they have it. […]

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Tiger Weekend Rant

It’s not often that I sit around and watch sports on television on the weekend. I like to get out and do stuff, use the DVR, check in on the highlights, go to the Internet and see what’s going on. But rarely do I sit down for a few hours and just watch stuff. Except […]

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LeBron: Worth Twice the Price

By the time you read this, game 3 of the Eastern Conference championships will probably have been played. It might even be over. The Lakers might be the NBA champions. But this playoff season for the NBA will be known for one shot: The 3-pointer LeBron James hit in game 2 in Cleveland against the […]

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The Players, Stenson & A Little Tiger

Just about anybody in the top 15 who shot 66 in the final round of The Players was going to walk away with the trophy and the $1.7 million that goes with the title. Alex Cejka seemed a likely candidate to not get the job done based on his past. Tiger Woods usually scares off […]

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Halfway at The Players

It looks more like a law firm than a PGA Tour leader board: Mallinger, Crane and Johnson sounds like somebody you’d hire rather than go to watch make birdies. But they’re among the players contenting for The Players title in 2009. Does that mean Tiger, Phil and company are out of the picture? Not necessarily […]

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Gene Smith’s Team

There’s a lot you can say about the Jaguars draft. You can complain they don’t know what they’re doing. You can say it’s not “sexy.” But you can’t say they didn’t follow exactly what they said they were going to do. New General Manager Gene Smith told us all along that he was going to […]