By Cheval John

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”

Everyone has heard this quote at one point or another. The truth of the matter is that words are powerful. It can be use to either build someone up or tear someone down.

In this case, I believe that the words of first year head mens basketball coach Pat Knight of Lamar University has destroyed the moral of the Lamar Cardinals men’s basketball team.

Knight, the son of former basketball coach and current ESPN analyst Bob Knight, bereaded his seniors after a 62-52 loss to Stephen F. Austin State Lumberjacks on Wednesday night.

He basically interrupted a question that was being answered by senior Mike James and basically said that you guys don’t know how to win.

I would understand if the team is having a bad season, but in this case, they are not because their overall record is 17-16 and are currently in second place in the East Division of the Southland Conference, with three games left in the season.

If the season was to be over with, then they would make the Southland Conference Basketball Tournament that will be held in early March at the Merrill Center in Katy, Texas.

This situation shows that he is not a true leader because of what he did. He just aired out a lot of problems to the media that should have been kept private.

For example, Sam Houston State Bearkat men’s basketball team had a rough start to the season. They played one of the toughest schedules in the country as they were 6-8 before Southland conference play.

They experienced many heartbreaking losses, but they have won the last five out of six games and are currently in seventh place in the conference. They have a good chance of making the tournament because the tournament takes the top eight teams in the conference.

They defeated Northwestern State Demons by the score of 50-37 at Northwestern State’s gym. The 37 points that their defense held Northwestern to was an NCAA record.

Sure head men’s basketball coach Jason Hooten could have done what Knight did, but he did not. In fact, he has kept the team together and that is what a true leader does.

It will be difficult for Knight to recruit quality talent in the future because a top prospect would not want to play for a coach that will embarrass him in public.

The irony of all this is that both teams will face each other on Saturday, February 25 at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum in Huntsville, Texas.

Here is the tyraid at the Lamar Post Game Press Conference:

Photo courtesy of Bing Images, a search engine of Microsoft

It boggles my mind that former National Football League (NFL) head coach Bill Parcells was not selected to the Hall of Fame this past week.

I can understand if the person did not do well in the league or coached a team to a Super Bowl to get selected after they have retired from the league.

But Parcells is different because he has turned around four teams when he took over as head coach and made them into playoff contenders.

The New York Giants had only one winning season prior to 1983 when Parcells became head coach. Under his leadership, the Giants won two Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990.

He became the head coach of the New England Patriots in 1993 after a two-year break. The Patriots made two playoff runs in the three years that Parcells was head coach including making the Super Bowl in 1996, where they lost to the Green Bay Packers.

The New York Jets had a dismall 4-28 record prior to hiring Parcells. After they hired him, the team had a 17-15 record in two seasons under Parcells.

The final team that he took over as head coach was the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys finished each of the three previous seasons with 5-11 records prior to 2003 when Parcells was hired. He led the Cowboys to a 34-32 record in three seasons and made the playoffs only once.

Parcells is a true innovator in the NFL and hopefully, he will get the nod when the NFL Hall of Fame Committeee votes again next year.

The free throw is the most overlooked stat in basketball, it is the most important part of the game.

The Bearkat women’s basketball team defeated the UTSA Roadrunners by the score of 67-55 and increase their Southland Conference record to 5-2 (10-8 overall).

The Bearkats shot 33.9% from the field and was 7-19 from three point range while the Roadrunners shot 26.4% from the field and was 3-15 in the three point department.

Free throws were a different story as the Bearkats shot 64.5% from the line. The Roadrunners on the other hand, shot 80% from the free throw line.

“It’s something that we work on everyday,” head women’s basketball coach Brenda Nichols said. “It’s a mental thing and they got to step up and make them.”

By Cheval John

The free-skying world lost one of it’s icons yesterday. Sarah Burke, a four-time winter X games champion free-skier, passed away from injuries she sustained nine days ago in a skiing accident while she was preparing for this year’s winter X games that will be held in Aspen, Colorado.

Though I did not follow this sport as much as I should, I remember back in 2003 when the first ever X Games Global Championships that was held in both the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, USA and in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. I saw a high-flying Burke representing Canada in her hometown of Whistler. She had style and grace as she competed against the best from all over the world.

She was successful in getting the Olympic Committee to add free-skying to the roster of winter sports that will be featured at the next Winter Olympic Games that will be held in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

She was a true iconic figure in her sport and will be dearly missed.

The old saying goes, “Defense Wins Championships.” That holds true for the Sam Houston State Bearkat men’s basketball team as they won a nailbiter against Texas State Bobcats by the score of 71-68. They are now 2-2 in the Southland Conference and 8-10 overall.
“It was tough down the stretch, but we made the stop that was needed to win the game,” head basketball coach Jason Hooten said.
The Bearkat defense was outstanding in the first half as the Bobcats shot 36% from the field and turned the ball over thirteen times while the Bearkats converted eleven points off of those turnovers.
“Coach Hooten really harped on defense ,” senior forward Marcus James said. “The preparation that we had for two days leading up to the game paid off for us.”
The second half was a different story as the Bobcats battled back and shot 57% from the field and had opportunities to win the game, but the Bearkat defense stood strong in the final minutes to get their second straight conference win.
The Bearkats will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders on Saturday at Johnson Coliseum. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. and for more information, visit gobearkats.com