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Florida Punter Chas Henry: Urban Meyer 'Looked Happier This Year'

Filed under: Florida, Coaching

ORLANDO - Florida senior punter Chas Henry missed the big team meeting in Gainesville - he was driving to Orlando for the College Football Awards media session -- when Urban Meyer told his team Wednesday he was leaving.

Instead, he got a personal audience with Meyer on the cell phone.

Henry and Meyer also exchanged several text messages during that drive that left the punter feeling good about Meyer's departure.

"He sounded like he was really at peace with everything. He just told me 'it was time,''' said Henry, one of three finalists for the Ray Guy/Best Punter Award that will be given Thursday. "But I was shocked. I had no clue. I don't think anyone (on the team) did.''

Henry also served as the Florida kicker after a back injury to starter Caleb Sturgis. Although he remained one of the nation's best punters, his kicking was erratic, costing the Gators a chance to win against Mississippi State, but he delivered the win over Georgia.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/08/florida-punter-chas-henry-urban-meyer-looked-happier-this-year/

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College Cup Preview: Loaded Akron ready to take care of unfinished business

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SoccerByIves/~3/TfqyYkp4-eQ/college-cup-preview-akron.html

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Chris Johnson: We're Stopping Ourselves

Filed under: Titans, AFC South, NFL Injuries

Chris Johnson wants the ball more.

And while that's probably true of any NFL running back, Johnson -- a third-year veteran who rushed for more than 2,000 yards last season -- said a lack of carries is a big reason for the Tennessee Titans' recent lack of a running offense. That lack of carries, he said, is a result of lack of execution.

"We are just not running it," John Glennon and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean reported Johnson saying this week. "It is easy for a defensive coordinator to stop the run when you are running the ball seven times. We need to stay on the field and execute plays.''

Johnson rushed for 58 yards on 20 carries the last two games -- a 20-0 loss to the Houston Texans and a 17-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. That's a stark contrast to last season, when he peaked down the stretch en route to one of the most productive running seasons in NFL history.

Johnson spoke extensively before the season of rushing for 2,500 yards, but he has just 1,026 yards on 236 carries through 12 games. Last season, he had rushed for 1,509 yards on 244 carries through 12 games.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/08/chris-johnson-were-stopping-ourselves/

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Why the NBA Cares About the Hornets

Filed under: Hornets, Sports Business and Media

It doesn't matter that Katrina was over five years ago. New Orleans is still trying to claw its way back, and sadly, the disaster has very nearly re-branded one of America's most vital cultural centers. Even David Simon's Treme, which looks to celebrate NOLA at its best, still ended up with a narrative of struggle -- the seemingly futile attempt of music and costume to triumph over ruin, neglect, corruption, and human failure.

That's why, no matter how great a point guard Chris Paul is, or what the economics of an NBA franchise are, the possibility of the Hornets leaving New Orleans is always going to be a visceral issue. There's simply been too much emotion invested in this city, and this franchise, for a spreadsheet to make the argument for relocation. Of course, much of it has been forced, or feigned; as Woj details today, George Shinn, David Stern, and the NBA as a brand have reaped the benefits of the post-Katrina photo-op. But that was only because the team couldn't up and move.

Can they now? When do the businessmen who run the league get to stop playing humanitarian and conduct themselves with their usual callousness? Katrina isn't going anywhere. It will always frame the discussion. The question is, when does it loosen its grip on the Hornets?

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/why-the-nba-cares-about-the-hornets/

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Denver Broncos Ready to Move Forward With New Coach Eric Studesville

Filed under: Broncos, AFC West, NFL Coaching, NFL Analysis

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Following a hastily called staff meeting Monday evening at which Josh McDaniels told his assistants he had been fired as Denver Broncos coach, running backs coach Eric Studesville retreated to his office to try to digest the organizational sea change.

Not five minutes later, Studesville's phone rang, and he was summoned into a meeting with team owner Pat Bowlen and chief operating officer Joe Ellis.

"I had no idea what was going to happen. There were a lot of thoughts going through my mind at that point," Studesville recalled with a slight smile during a news conference Tuesday, the day after being named the Broncos' interim head coach.

"When he was asked if he was interested in being the interim head coach of the Denver Broncos, I think it was like a baseball bat had him right between the eyes," Ellis said.

Studesville had the presence of mind to take a step back, think about it and even called his wife, Staci, for advice before agreeing to take on a job that he described as a "tremendous undertaking with tremendous responsibility.

"I was extremely nervous but opportunities in life like this don't come along every day," Studesville said. "I felt like I knew I had to grasp this opportunity."

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More: Josh McDaniels Fired | Coach Own Worst Enemy
Video: Rocky Run Comes to End

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/denver-broncos-ready-to-move-forward-with-new-coach-eric-studesv/

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Brad Keselowski Gets Nationwide Crew Chief Paul Wolfe for Cup Team

Filed under: Crew Chiefs, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

No driver competing in NASCAR's two top series showed greater disparity in results in 2010 than Brad Keselowski, who won the Nationwide series championship with six victories while eking out a couple of top-10 finishes in a forgettable Sprint Cup campaign.

Both cars came from Penske Racing, and when Roger Penske is involved, nonperformance won't stand.

Thus, the organization announced Tuesday that Paul Wolfe, Keselowski's championship-winning crew chief in Nationwide, has been promoted to become his Sprint Cup crew chief, replacing Jay Guy.

In addition to the six victories and the championship, Keselowski and Wolfe scored 29 top-10 finishes in 35 races. Twenty six of those were top fives -- a series single-season record. He also won five poles, led 1,147 laps and had an average finish of 5.2.

By contrast, in his Sprint Cup car, Keselowski had no victories, one pole position, no top fives and just two top 10s -- 10th-place finishes at Martinsville and Talladega late in the season. He led 41 laps and had an average finish of 22.4.

 

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Source: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/11/30/brad-keselowski-gets-nationwide-crew-chief-paul-wolfe-for-cup-te/

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NFL Partners with Athletic Trainers on Concussion Efforts

Filed under: NFL Injuries

WASHINGTON --- Kelci Stringer (right) battled the NFL for nearly a decade after the death of her husband from the complications of heat stroke.

That lawsuit was settled last year -- with much of the money used to start the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut -- and the widow of the Minnesota Vikings lineman applauds the league's response over the last several months to another threat to players' health: head injuries.

"I think they're tuned in," Kelci Stringer told FanHouse during a break at the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) Youth Sports Safety Alliance Summit on Capitol Hill Tuesday. "I give (NFL commissioner) Roger Goodell a lot of credit. He gets it. There's a higher level of concern there. Of course, there are going to be people who disagree with me, but his heart is in the right place."

After first denying a link between multiple concussions and debilitating neurological disorders, the NFL has reversed course. The league has taken initial steps to fund research into the long-term impact of concussions and has come down hard this season on hits to the head, fining several players for the dangerous hits. And on Tuesday, NATA and the NFL announced they'd team up to lobby state and federal legislatures to pass laws that set a minimum standard before young athletes are allowed to return to action after a concussion.

Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/nfl-partners-with-athletic-trainers-on-concussion-efforts/

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Jaguars Sign Safety Michael Hamlin From Practice Squad

Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South

The Jacksonville Jaguars on Tuesday signed second-year safety Michael Hamlin.

Hamlin, a fifth-round selection by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2009 NFL Draft, had been on the Jaguars' practice squad since October 15. He played in the first two games of the season for Dallas.

Hamlin, who played collegiately at Clemson, played in six games as a rookie with one special teams tackle.

The Jaguars also released offensive tackle d offensive tackle Adam Terry and signed rookie defensive back Chris Chancellor to the practice squad.

 

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Source: http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/jaguars-sign-safety-michael-hamlin-from-practice-squad/

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Terence's Take: Tiger a Changed Man?

Filed under: PGA

It's been a year since Tiger Woods' infamous car crash and subsequent fall from grace both on and off the golf course. Woods says he is now a changed man. FanHouse TV's Terence Moore is left wondering what that means and explains in the latest edition of "Terence's Take."

Click to watch:

 

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Source: http://golf.fanhouse.com/2010/11/29/terences-take-tiger-a-changed-man/

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Washington Gets Jake Locker Big Finish

Filed under: Nebraska, Washington, Pac 10, Bowl Games

In essence, Washington quarterback Jake Locker returned to Seattle for another year, put his NFL draft stock and his body on the line, for this experience.

Locker and the Huskies are headed to a bowl game.

"It's really cool just to be able to be in there and have them explain this kind of stuff and look up at a schedule that in the past has been 'OK, this is when you guys can go home and this is when the quarter starts and we start winter workouts again,'" Locker said Sunday. "To be able to look at it and go, 'We are going to have practices here, these days are going to be off, you'll get money for this, we are going to visit these places while we are down there,' it just puts a smile on my face."

Washington (6-6) rallied to win three straight games and earn the program's first bowl berth since 2002. The Huskies faced down three straight elimination games and came away each time with a win they had to have.

They ended up with a third-place finish in the Pac-10 with USC, tied at 5-4. Now they are headed for the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and a rematch with Nebraska, which came to Seattle on Sept. 18 and dominated Washington 56-21. Nebraska finished the season 10-3.

But the Huskies are the ones with something truly momentous to celebrate. Two years ago on Monday, Steve Sarkisian met his team for the first time. They were coming off an Apple Cup loss and an 0-12 season, the program's first winless record in 119 years. At 6-6, Washington is not yet a winning football program. It is, in reality, only one win better than Sarkisian's first season last year. But the Huskies have come a long way. Certainly a long way from the 3-6 hole Washington was looking at in mid-November.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/12/07/washington-gets-jake-locker-big-finish/

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