Bearkat Football Soars To New Heights Under Coach Fritz
by Cheval John
Though there is no such thing as moral victories, the Sam Houston State Bearkat football team have accomplished more under head coach Willie Fritz.
Before the arrival of coach Fritz, the Bearkats have made only four appearances in the NCAA FCS playoffs (1986, 1991, 2001, 2004) during their 26 years of competition at the Division I level.
But under Fritz, the Bearkats have made back-to-back appearances in the FCS National Championship game and brought pride to the city of Huntsville, the students and alumni of Sam Houston State.
In addition, the Bearkats have made more television appearances in the last two years either nationally or regionally and applications to the university has sky-rocketed over that same period of time.
Though they run to the FCS title game in 2011 was great, their 2012 run was even more impressive because they only had three regular season home games and had to go through three teams, who were the tri-champions in what is considered to be the toughest conference in the FCS, the Big Sky.
Ron Randleman, who was the head coach of SHSU from 1982 to 2004, is not surprised with the success of coach Fritz.
“Coach Fritz has a special way with people. Randleman said. ”
He’s put together a quality staff and these guys gave worked very hard to get to where we are today because it’s not easy to get there.”
Fritz played for Randleman while he was at Pittsburg State from 1979-82. and
He later served as a graduate assistant under Randleman in 1984-85 at SHSU and again in 1991-92 as as an assistant coach.
When he was hired as the head coach in December of 2009, the Bearkats was reeling from two consecutive losing seasons.
Many knew that coach Fritz was going to turn things around because of his reputation of turning programs that previously had losing seasons into winning teams.
After going 6-5, many believed that they were going to do better in the 2011 season by winning the SLC title.
The Bearkats exceeded their expectations and went 11-0 in the regular season and won the SLC title for the fourth time and won three straight playoffs games to make their first appearance in the FCS title game.
It seemed as they were not going to get back to the FCS title game because they only had three regular season home games and had brought in three new assistant coaches on the offensive side of the ball.
But coach Fritz and the Bearkats had other ideas as they went 8-3 and won their second consecutive SLC title and made it back to the playoffs and went through Cal Poly at home and defeated Montana State and Eastern Washington on the road to return to the title game.
Though they lost, one thing is for certain, the Bearkat football program has gone to new heights under coach Fritz.
But the most important thing is that coach Fritz is following in the footsteps of Coach Randleman because the players has conducted themselves with dignity and respect and have brought great pride to the university.
Maybe, that alone is a moral victory after all.
Dick Clark: A Pioneer In His Own Right
by Cheval John
A new year is dawning upon us.
It’s a time to reflect on what has transpired in 2012 whether it was good or bad.
Many new lives were created in 2012 that brought joy to families, friends, etc.
On the flip side, many lives were taken away that brought sadness to either the relatives, friends, acquaintances, etc. of those who were lost.
One person who come to mind is the legendary Dick Clark.
Clark passed away earlier this year at the age of 82 from a heart attack after going for his regular visit at a hospital in California.
He was a who was a pioneer who brought the genre of rock-n-roll to millions of Americans on American Bandstand during the 1950s.
Bandstand became the longest running television show in U.S. history.
Though Bandstand was his trademark, he also began a tradition in 1972 of bringing in the new year on national television from Times Square, New York called Dick Clark’s Rocking Eve that featured different recording artist performing their hit songs.
Who would have thought that the 40th anniversary of the Rocking’ Eve was Mr. Clark’s last and that he would not be apart of this year’s event.
Tonight will be a tribute the man who not only brought recording artist to prominence, but allowed to millions of Americans to take part in the tradition of bringing in the New Year from New York City.
Though Ryan Seacrest has been doing the same things as Clark with American Idol and co-hosting with Clark, this year’s Rockin’ Eve show will be different for him as he will not be able to celebrate with the man who helped him and others to get to where they needed to be in order to be successful.
That alone is why Dick Clark will be forever missed by his friends, family and the millions of people who became fans because of his “youthful” appearance and his signature line “For Now, Dick Clark, so long.”
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RG3 Proved That He Belongs In The NFL
by Cheval John
This year was supposed to have been a rebuilding year for the Washington Redskins.
But somebody forgot to tell Robert Griffith III, a.k.a. RG3 and the rest of the team that statement.
Behind the heroic play of RG3, the Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys 28-18 to claim the NFC East title and earn a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
Though RG3 didn’t have his best game today, he came through when it was needed.
Griffith III went 9 of 18 for 100 yards and rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Many thought that RG3 was not going to do well at Washington because of their failures over the past decade and the fact the Mike Shanahan was the coach.
But RG3 thrived under Shanahan’s offense and made plays that made the casual fan tune in everytime he steps onto the field.
In hindsight, RG3’s decision to go the NFL was a risky proposition, but it turned out to be the right call and the Redskins are now going to the playoffs.
On the other hand, the Cowboys ended their season with another devasting lost and are wishing that RG3 would have stayed at Baylor instead of going to the NFL.
The Real Losers Of The NHL Lockout Are The Fans
by Cheval John
It has been almost three days since the National Hockey League (NHL) and the NHL Players Union reached a deal that ended the 113-day lockout that canceled most of the season including the 2013 Winter Classic.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, issued an apology to the fans, players and sponsors today for the prolonged lockout and said that he “understand their frustration.
He added that they will now focus more on the ice because the CBA agreement is for 10 years and that will allow them to regain trust with the fans.
In reality, I don’t buy it.
The reason is because they had plenty of time to avoid the lockout because the previous one canceled the 2004-05 season and that left a void in North American sports.
If they had really understand, then they would have done everything that they can to reach a new deal and started the 2012-13 season without a hiccup.
Instead, fans, sponsors and television networks in the U.S. and Canada had to cover their gripe over and over in the last 113 days.
The NHL Players Association, led by Donald Fehr, who previously led the Major League Baseball (MLB) Players Association, didn’t want to reach a deal because he felt that the owners and the board of directors of the NHL would have budge and give in to their demands.
If the NHLPA had done their research on Mr. Fehr before they had hired him to be their representative, they would have seen that he was part of the reason why the MLB canceled the rest of the 1994 season and also was part of the steroid era in the 1990s.
Instead, they hired him and look where they are right now.
The NHLPA blamed the owners for trying to cut their salaries in order to help smaller market teams to sustain the NHL.
The owners are not without fault as well because they wanted to keep as much money as possible because of the revenue that the NHL makes from the television contracts and sponsorships.
In my opinion, I don’t feel sorry for either side because they make enough money (estimated $100,000 for the lower bench players to $20 million for the stars) playing the game they love.
You going to tell me that they are not satisified with their pay while the average “Joe” in this economy have to work at least two jobs to make ends meat and pay the bills and the most dedicated fan have to pay an estimated $400 dollars for season tickets and to pay at least $40 dollars for snacks and drinks while at the game?
That is ridiculous.
What this tells me is that these players want more money just to show off their “bling, bling” and to claim that they are the most paid athlete in the sport.
What they showed by having this lockout is that they don’t give a “flying leap” about the fans who live and die for their team.
They don’t understand that the fans needs this game to help them relax and be themselves after a hard days work or if they are unemployed.
The players and Mr. Bettman hopes that the fans will forgive them for the lockout and that they will come back in hoards.
I really hope that the majority of the fans including the die-hard fans will not return to watch a 48-game season to let these guys to show them that they will not put up with their shenanigans.
Maybe that will let them think twice and get their act together.
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