Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Doping Woes

I was all set to pay homage to Floyd Landis, Tour de France winner. Bad hip and all, Landis did what seemed to be the improbable if not the impossible, losing eight minutes one day and getting almost all if it back the next. Then winning back the yellow jersey in the time trial and […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

World Cup Aftermath

It’s not going to change anybody’s mind about soccer. If you hated it going in, you still hate it. If you tolerated it, maybe you saw the pros and cons of it, and came away feeling about the same. And if you’re a fan, you thought it was part what’s good about the game and […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Tuscany – The Journey Home

It’s always good to come home after being out of the country. And at least this time I did get a “Welcome Back” from the Immigration (now Homeland Security) agent while clearing customs through Atlanta. After the seven days in Tuscany, I headed to what’s called the “Amalfi Coast” south of Naples on the southwestern […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Reports From Tuscany, Italy

TUSCANY, ITALY DAY 1 (The Journey & Arrival) I was hoping it would be an adventure, and it certainly, inadvertently, started out as one. I lined up my ticket to Italy in March and for some reason I didn’t have a seat from Atlanta to Rome assigned. “No problem,” everybody with Delta assured me, from […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

World Cup Disappointment

It was appointment television for me. I could have recorded it, but instead I wanted to see it live. The U.S. National team had high expectations going into the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Then they actually played a game that counted. The opener against the Czech Republic was about everything that American’s hate in […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Miami Project

I spent the weekend in Atlantic City at the Roger King Invitational golf tournament. King is the premier syndicater in commercial television, handling shows like Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Oprah. He’s a big supporter of the Miami Project for the Cure for Paralysis and the Buonoconti Fund and the proceeds from his tournament go […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Jimmy Smith: Original Jaguar

You can look at Jimmy Smith’s career and follow the success of the Jaguars along with it. When he was great, the team was great, when he was down, the team tended to be down as well. There was a time when Jimmy Smith was the best receiver in the game. His five straight Pro […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Hey Barry, You’re No Babe

I haven’t been a Barry Bonds fan from the beginning. I thought he was a great player, and continue to think that, but I’ve never been a fan. His years with the Pirates were punctuated with the occasional tirade, the most celebrated was one directed at then Manager Jim Leyland. Bonds didn’t like PR department’s […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Houston, You Have A Problem

It’s hard to believe that Charley Casserly has enough sway and enough juice inside the organization to make the kind of moves he has over the last year, but he must. From getting rid of Dom Capers to switching tracks at the top of the draft, Casserly has his imprint on the Texans franchise. The […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators: National Champs

It could be more exciting, but I doubt it. The first half of the Championship game had everything you could ask for in a basketball game. Up and down play, physical match ups, unparalleled intensity and a packed, enthusiastic house. The only thing it didn’t have was good shooting. UCLA hit 29% while Florida was […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Billy Donovan’s World

“It’s not about me,” is how Florida Head Coach Billy Donovan began his answer. One of the hundreds of scribes covering the Final Four in Indianapolis wanted to know just what it would mean to him to win the National Championship. “That’s something I want to make very clear,” Donovan continued. “It’s not about me, […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Gators In Indy

Having seen Florida play a couple of times during the regular season, when they showed up in Jacksonville for the first and second round I wondered, “what’d they do with the Gators?” They played OK during the regular season, starting with seventeen straight wins but going 7-6 in the next thirteen games to become an […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

No Basketball Jones Here

Good stuff for the past five days in Jacksonville for the NCAA first and second round games. Hard to imagine a better setting for four days of basketball and some R and R for fans. If you’re on the NCAA site selection committee, there are not too many better places for a visit in early […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

They Made A Deal

As much as the NFL owners are portrayed as a fraternity of like-minded, chummy associates, when it comes to money, their relationship is about business. That was very apparent in the final day of the meeting/negotiating session in Dallas as the owners were trying to hash out revenue sharing among themselves and a deal with […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

It’s The Goose, Stupid!

It seems almost unheard of that the NFL could some how screw things up, but from the rhetoric surrounding the labor talks, we know that anything is possible. The owner and the players are apparently far apart on the issues and that in itself, even if they ever make a deal, seems ludicrous. I’m well […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Changing Daytona

From the Super Bowl to the Daytona 500 is a big jump, but since the NFL moved their big game back a week, the two biggest events in football and auto racing now follow each other just two weeks apart. Detroit was miserable and everybody knows it. They got a free pass from most of […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Detroit’s XL

You could only chuckle when the reports about Detroit hosting the Super Bowl started coming in. The game was awarded to the Motor City as a nod to the car manufacturers, William Clay Ford the owner of the Lions, Roger Penske and as a reward for building a new stadium. Detroit’s like any other “Old […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Hall Of Fame Choices

As a voter for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I get a chance each year to hear the pros and cons debated about each of the eligible players the day before the Super Bowl. There are 39 electors on the Hall of Fame committee, writers and broadcasters representing the 32 NFL cities, the Pro […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

The Season

“The season?” Mike Peterson asked in response to a question about his reflections of the year. “The season was great, 12-4 but we didn’t get it done tonight. I’m not into making excuses. If I’m on the field, I’m supposed to make tackles. I didn’t. We lost.” That was the general theme in a quiet […]

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Tebow’s Choice

More than anything I was glad that decision day finally came for Tim Tebow of Nease High School. Both he and his parents looked frazzled at the announcement in St. John’s County on Tuesday. Tebow picked Florida and the auditorium erupted with applause. I couldn’t help but think what the reaction would have been if […]