Ohio State Overcomes Adversity, Wins National Championship
By Cheval John
The Ohio State Buckeyes proved the doubters wrong and won the national championship after defeating the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in Arlington, Texas.
The Buckeyes won the title under the new era of the so-called, “College Football Playoff” era.
What is really amazing about this team is the fact that they were counted out before the season begin when Braxton Miller went down with an injury.
However, backup quarterback J.T. Barrett led Ohio State to an 11-1 record before going down with an season-ending injury.
That was when the doubters came in force and wondered “loudly” if the Buckeyes would be able to win the Big Ten championship with third string quarterback, Cardale Jones.
They answered the question and dominated Wisconsin 59-0 to win the conference championship and were selected for the first annual “playoff.
The questions now were “can Mr. Jones lead Ohio State to a semifinal win against Alabama, the vaunted power of the Southeastern Conference (SEC)?
They answered the questions again and defeated the Crimson Tide 42-35 in the Sugar Bowl to advance to the title game.
From there, the Buckeyes were able to overcome four turnovers to defeat Oregon despite being underdogs again.
The lesson we can learn from this team is that you always have to believe in yourself and keep on working towards your goals.
Ohio State believed in each other and Jones kept himself ready whenever his opportunity came and is now going to be remembered for producing for his team and going 3-0 in his three starts in the postseason.
The only thing now is that Urban Meyer, now the second head coach to win national championships with two schools (Florida 2006, 2008), and his coaching staff will have a tough time deciding who will be the starting quarterback for the 2015 season.
That is a problem I suspect he is very happy to have.
What will you remember about the 2014 Ohio State Buckeye team? You can leave your comment below.
Video courtesy of ABC News
When A Catch Isn’t A Catch
By Cheval John
The Dallas Cowboys was trailing the Green Bay Packers 26-21 with about five minutes left when they decided to go for it on 4th and 2.
The Cowboys were in Green Bay’s end of the field and could have decided to kick a field goal, especially with their kicker Dan Bailey being a clutch player.
Tony Romo, who had a remarkable season especially going 4-0 in December, made a pass to Dez Bryant, who leaped into the air and seemed to had catch the football for a first down completion near the goal line.
However, the officials took a look at the play on replay and then overturned the call, which led to a turnover on downs.
The Packers were able to maintain possession of the football especially when Aaron Rodgers completed a pass to Randall Cobb after the football was deflected for a crucial first down that allowed them to run out the time to secure the win and move on to face the Seattle Seahawks in the AFC Championship Game.
Maybe it was the old saying, “What goes around, comes around,” because the Cowboys had a huge break in their win against the Detroit Lions.
Too bad that break did not help them to possibly win this matchup against Green Bay.
Do you think that the officials made the correct call on Dez Bryant’s appearant catch? You can leave your comments below.
Video courtesy of TYT Sports
Make It Four Championships For North Dakota State
By Cheval John
North Dakota State and Illinois State did not face each other during the regular season.
The Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national championship game in Frisco, Texas was a perfect place for the Missouri Valley Football Conference rivals.
The game lived up to the hype as the last two minutes was filled with drama.
In the end, North Dakota State escaped with a 29-27 victory to claim their fourth consecutive FCS national championship.
It seemed as if the Bison was going to dominate this contest as they extended their lead to 20-7 with 7:33 left in the third quarter.
The Red Birds had other ideas as they outscored the Bison 13-3 to cut the lead to 24-21 with 2:22 remaining in the matchup.
That was when the excitement began after Tre Roberson, who went 11 of 23 for 157 yards, broke free for a 58 yard touchdown run to make it 27-23 with 1:30 left.
The touchdown capped a 5 play, 80 yard drive in 44 seconds.
It was a matter of if the Red Birds could hold on to win their first football championship as the Bison had enough time to retake the lead.
North Dakota State’s quarterback, Carson Wentz started the final drive with two pass completions to R.J. Urzendowski for 32 yards and 13 yards.
After two incompletions, Wentz connected another pass with Urzendowski for 33 yards that brought them to the Red Birds’ 5 yard line.
On the next play, Wentz, who finished with 237 passing yards and a score, ran the football into the endzone for a go-ahead touchdown that made it 29-27 with 33 seconds left.
With the point extra blocked, Illinois State sensed an opportunity to win the game.
Roberson started the drive with a 14 yard pass completion for a first down.
After a penalty pushed them back for 5 yards, Roberson rushed for 9 yards with 13 seconds left in the game.
Then Roberson threw an interception to Esley Thornton to allow the Bison to seal their fourth championship.
“Right when that clock hit zero, I had so many emotions I couldn’t say anything,” Wentz said to ESPN.com. “I didn’t know whether to cry or to be happy. It was just unbelievable.”
Though the Bison is the first team in FCS history to win four consecutive national championships, they became the second team to pull off the feat at all levels.
The first team to win four consecutive national championships were Augustana, who won four consecutive national championships at the Division III level from 1983-86.
Video courtesy of North Dakota State Athletics
Learning Life Lessons In Unexpected Places
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.craigmotor.wordpress.com
Sometimes life lessons can come in unexpected places.
Like if you missed your bus to go to a sporting event or you have a flat tire.
The only thing you have control over is how you react to circumstances that is out of your control.
You can choose whether to have a pity party and rain on the parade of people who are having great days or see it as a life lesson.
I had decided to go to downtown Houston to put up a blog post and participate on Twitter chats.
When I missed the bus at a “particular time,” at first, I was mad at myself.
It was freezing cold outside and had to wait about an hour before the next bus arrived.
I could have continued to wallow in self pity.
However, I decided to just enjoyed the scenery and wait patiently.
After the next bus arrived and arrived at a local coffee shop where I normally do some blogging and participate in Twitter chats, a person was at the table where they was only one place where you can plug your computer.
With the batteries running out, I decide to make the most of it and in the process, I ended up chatting with college students and later, some business people who were on their breaks.
If I had arrived earlier, I would have missed out on the opportunity to have a conversation with the people about meaningful topics.
So the next time something does not go your way, take a deep breath and relax.
That could turn out to be a lesson in disguise.
Have you ever experienced a time when things did not go your way and it ended up being a blessing in disguise? You can leave your comments below.
Organization Is The Best Way To Stay Productive
By Cheval John
Photo courtesy of www.lifehack.org
This blog post is in response to the question Natalie Sisson asked in the third day of her 15-day blog challenge, “Which One Social Media Tool Will You Use To Be Productive.
If you want to join in on Natalie’s blog challenge, you can click on the link here
When you see athletes being successful at the highest level, you might wonder how they make it look easy.
Like Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, who is now the National Football League (NFL) all-time leading passer in touchdowns.
You might wonder “how does Mr. Manning make it look so easy to dissect the defense on a mostly consistent basis?
What many might not know is that Mr. Manning prepares everyday for his opponent by watching game-film of the different defense formations, shows up early for practice and leaves late.
Peyton is super organized and that is why he really successful at the NFL.
What can we learn from elite athletes like Peyton Manning?
For starters, it is very important to be really organized because our brains can be at a million places.
Dr. Melissa Gratias explains it in this video below that was produced by MBG Organizing Solutions
In addition, the most successful people take the time out to plan out their day with to-do list the night before so that they can be laser focus on the task at hand.
The point is that with different social media tools that can help us to be really productive, there is no excuse on to why you can’t be productive.
For example, Natalie uses social media tools like Asana, Google Drive and Evernote to remain really organized with her business.
And since I want to be more organized, which has been a challenge, I will aim to use a lot of social media tools that will help me to stay productive.
As for today, I will start using Evernote again because it allows you to put reminders on important to do list like write 1,000 words or listen to a podcast.
Also, the representative from Evernote, Cristina Riesen took the time out of her busy schedule to showcase her expertise on a Twitter chat called #bizheroes a couple days ago.
That showed me Evernote’s dedication to their customers and I believed that if many businesses go out of their way to be where their fans or customers is at on social media, they will gain some new customers in the process.
So if you want to increase your productivity, you must be very organized.
Once you are organized, you will increase your chances at being successful just like Peyton Manning and Natalie Sisson.
Which social media tools do you use to be highly productive? You can leave your comments below.
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