Sam’s Commentary

Jacksonville Sports News, Sam Kouvaris - SamSportsline.com

Quarterbacks ‘R Us

It might be the most intriguing position in sports. At quarterback you have to be athletic, smart, communicate well and have a thick skin. You’re the goat when the team loses and the hero when they win. And sometimes you’re the goat when they win but never the hero when they lose. You’re legacy depends […]

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Florida/Georgia Issues

I spent part of last week in Gainesville and part in Athens putting together a show for the annual Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville. Both are great college towns and both seemed to be content that the match up between these two SEC teams won’t be coming to their stadiums anytime soon. Georgia fans do feel […]

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Gators, Present and Future

Tebow vs. the Russian Army? Tebow. Tebow vs. a nuclear blast? Tebow. Don’t get me wrong, I like Tim Tebow. Nice kid, works hard, studies hard, respects the game and the people around him but to listen to Gator fans, he can walk on water. In their only loss of the season, Florida had their […]

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A TO from T.O.

You thought it was plausible. That’s why there was a firestorm of speculation and information when it was reported that Terrell Owens had attempted suicide. Owens is wired different, is a publicity hound, loves the spotlight and appears to have a screw loose. So, taking his own life? I can see that, you thought. Or […]

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Information Management

With some of the new rules the NFL has instituted limiting the access of the media to the teams, the flow of information has been somewhat restricted. As the league moves closer to its own network and their partners, it also is moving closer to an attempt to manage the news and information that comes […]

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Gators Open

It was a big celebration in Gainesville on opening day with the return of the 1996 National Championship team and its coach Steve Spurrier. The air was full of anticipation as the Gators are ranked in the top 10 and thoughts of and SEC title and a run for the National Championship are on the […]

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Tiger vs. The World

Much has been made about the inevitability of Tiger Woods win at the PGA championship. It was a pretty sure bet that he’d win after tying the course record on Saturday and moving to the top of the leaderboard. He’s unbeaten going into the final round of a major either as the leader or tied […]

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Exhibitions Don’t Count

We’re now three weeks into training camp, four weeks for a couple of teams and we’ve now got at least one “preseason” game behind us. Hard to believe that it’ll be three more weeks of games and practices before anything happens that really counts in the standings. Already, things have happened that matter though. Clinton […]

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Saban Vision

It was just a quick little blurb when I first saw it. President Bush in South Florida, having dinner at Joe’s Stone Crabs with a bunch of well-known Floridians. Nick Saban, Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins declined the invitation because he was “too busy with training camp.” It struck me as amusing, but not […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]