By Cheval John

Sam Houston State Bearkats pummeled the Lamar Cardinals 84-70 on Saturday night at Johnson Coliseum.

With the win, Sam Houston hold sole possession of second place in the Southland Conference with a 9-2 record and are 17-6 overall.

The Bearkats shot 48.2 percent from the field and went 47.1 percent from the arc.

Though Sam Houston had strong showings throughout their games, it has always been difficult for them to keep the intensity going.

It wasn’t that long ago when Sam Houston had built a 48-31 lead against the McNeese State Cowboys.

The Cowboys kept themselves in the matchup and chipped away at the lead.

It got to the point that McNeese State almost stole that game away from the Bearkats.

However, Sam Houston was able to hold on for the 86-81 win over the Cowboys.

Though this wasn’t as dramatic, it helped that Sam Houston had built a 48-27 lead at halftime.

The reason was because Sam Houston was outscored by Lamar 43-36 in the second half.

Bearkat coach Jason Hooten understands that his team still have to make improvements, especially with finishing out opponents.

“That part is kind of disappointing,” Hooten said. “We talked about it at halftime of not getting sloppy and not doing the things we need to do. You just hope that kind of stuff don’t come back to bite you.”

I definitely agree with coach Hooten because with seven games remaining that includes a re-match with league leader and arch-rival, Stephen F. Austin, they got to play their best basketball if they want to keep their momentum going before the Southland Conference Tournament begins.

By Cheval John

If someone would have told me that the Seattle Seahawks would have destroyed the Denver Broncos 43-8 to win Super Bowl XLVIII, I would have laugh.

But in reality, that was the case because of the defensive play of the “Legion of Boom” featuring Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, etc.

It seemed as if this would have been a great match-up because the Broncos came into this game as the No.1 offense in the National Football League (NFL), led by Peyton Manning, who had a record 55 touchdowns.

However, the Seahawks defense set the tone with a safety after a bad snap by the Broncos went into the endzone on the very first play of the game.

It got worse for the Broncos as they committed two costly turnovers courtesy of interceptions by Manning that resulted in Seahawks touchdowns by Marshawn Lynch and a pick-6 by Malcolm Smith.

To put an exclamation point, Percy Harvin, who didn’t play much in the regular season, returned a kickoff 87 yards for the touchdown to open the second half.

The Broncos finally got on the board with no time left in the third quarter after Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas for the touchdown.

One thing we learn after this epic route is that no matter how good the offense is, defense will always find a way to shut you down.

The Seahawks proved it and they are now the Super Bowl Champions.

By Cheval John

In less than a week, SuperBowl XLVIII will commence at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

This SuperBowl is different because it will be the very first held in a cold geographic area since the merger of what is now the National Football League (NFL).

Normally, this type of event would not have taken place in an area that has all the elements like snow, etc.

But because it’s in the New York City area, the committee made the exception because it’s the center of major events.

For the players of both the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks, this game will definitely be a whole new level.

Sure, it’s the biggest game of the year in the NFL and everyone who played in it can say that there is no other feeling like it.

However, this game will be even more special because the bright lights will be focused on the major media market in the United States.

Which beg to question, what if the SuperBowl was held in the South during this time and all of a sudden, with the unexpected winter weather hitting at the very moment of the game?

What I know for sure is that it would have been canceled only because of only one to two inches of “snow”

The reason is that for the second time in as many days, schools and colleges are canceled because of this type of weather.

For many of us who live in this part of the United States, it’s understandable because it is a rarity for us to see this type of weather and the roads become a hazard for the drivers because they don’t know how to handle the situation.

As for the people in the north, this is common and it is not a big deal to them.

So thank God that the SuperBowl is being held in the New York City area because if it was held anywhere in the “warm” weather climate during this unexpected weather, the big game would have been remembered as the very first to have been canceled because of “snow.”

Do you like the idea of the SuperBowl being held in the New York City area?