Lou Holz: A Legacy Of Winning
Lou Holz is a former NCAA football coach who led a very successful career, taking six different programs to bowl games and guiding four different programs to final top 20 rankings. Holtz was born in Follansbee, West Virginia on January 6, 1937, grew up in Liverpool, Ohio and graduated from Kent State University. He began his career as coaching assistant from the years1960-1968 for such schools as the University of Iowa, William and Mary, Connecticut, South Carolina and Ohio State, respectively.
He landed his first job as head coach at William and Mary where in 1970 he led the Tribe to a Southern Conference win and a chance to play in the Tangerine Bowl. Thereafter Holtz moved on to North Carolina State University in 1972, leading his team to four bowl games, winning all but two games. (Shortly thereafter Holtz spent a year with the New York Jets in 1976, but he resigned before the season ended)
The next several decades were very successful. He spent 7 years at the University of Arkansas in 1977 and led the Razorbacks to six bowl games. From 1984 to 1986 he coached at the University of Minnesota, leading the Golden Gophers to a win in 1985. His eyes were really set on Notre Dame, however, an opportunity which opened up for him in 1986. There, as a “turnaround artist”, he led the defeated Fighting Irish to an appearance in the Cotton Bowl and a 34-21 win against West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl. By 1993 the Irish earned a second place ranking in the AP poll.
Strangely, Holtz suddenly retired from his lifetime contract at Notre Dame in 1996. His wife had throat cancer at the time, and some believe this is the reason he left. After serving as commentator for CBS Sports, however, he reemerged again in 1999 to lead the South Carolina Gamecocks to two wins against Ohio State in the Outback Bowl.
Holtz finally retired for good in 2004. During his career he wrote a number of motivational books, such as The Fighting Spirit: A Championship Season at Notre Dame (1989), Winning Every Day (1999) and his autobiography Wins, Losses, and Lessons (2006). He provides football analysis for ESPN, delivers motivational talks, and of his four children, the eldest, Skip serves as head football coach at East Carolina. Holtz lives with his wife Beth Barcus, whom he married on July 22, 1961.
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University of Tennessee Athletics: Their Fans and Traditions
People either love or hate the wacky and fun athletic traditions of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. This article reviews some of the best-known traditions of the fans and the teams. You be the judge: are they fun, or over-the-top and obnoxious?
Everyone who has visited Knoxville, Tennessee knows that Knoxville and the rest of East Tennessee becomes a sea of raucous, orange-clad UT fans every time that game time rolls around. And game time rolls around quite often!
The Big Orange craze goes all the way from before the first home football game through the end of basketball season, and for many die-hard fans, it never stops! Heated debates about new recruits, how coaches are doing, and last season vs. next season keep Vol fans going while UT rests in late spring and summer.
UT football is more than a game; for many Vol fans, it’s a way of life. The energy for each game builds to the exploding point by the time more than 100,000 fans line the path for the Vol Walk on game Saturday.
When the Big Orange scores, fireworks explode from the top of Neyland Stadium, and the 100,000-strong crowd roars Rocky Top along with the Pride of the Southland Marching Band. All together, it’s an incredible experience to be a part of.
One thing’s sure: the crazy enthusiasm that is Big Orange Country means a lot of support for UT Athletics, and the players and coaches know that the fans play a big role in the overall success of athletics at UT.
Another long-standing football tradition is UT’s Pride of the Southland Marching Band. On game day, the band follows a parade sequence that takes them through the center of campus, into Neyland Stadium, onto the field, and ends with the “Opening of the T”, through which the football team runs at the beginning of the game.
Many young football players (and UT fans of all ages) dream of running through the Pride’s big T!
University of Tennessee fans have also made “Rocky Top” a tradition at Volunteer athletic events. If you don’t know the tune before you go to a UT game (not very likely - but anything’s possible!), you’ll definitely know it by the end of the game. The more good plays UT makes, the better you’ll know it!
In 1962, George Mooney, a former Tennessee broadcaster, began a UT tradition when he traveled by boat up the Tennessee River to Neyland Stadium for a UT football game. The idea caught on, and soon so many people traveled to games by boat that they began to call themselves the Volunteer Navy.
The Vol Navy has become a giant floating tailgate party for often more than 200 ski and bass boats, houseboats and yachts that arrive and drop anchor on each game day.
Here’s something that appears it may become a new UT Athletics tradition: the UT basketball Men’s coach, Bruce Pearl (who is in his much-anticipated second season at UT), had his players spread out to the exits of Thompson-Bowling arena to thank fans (both home and away fans) for supporting the team after their first home game, and invited the fans to come back. And Pearl was right there at an exit with them.
How cool is that?! It certainly stuck with a lot of the fans who were at the game, and has broght Tennessee out in larger and larger numbers.
These are just a few of the traditions that teams and fans follow at the University of Tennessee athletic events. Truly, going to see a University of Tennessee game is a unique experience that every sorts fan would enjoy!
Mac Bartine writes about business, entertainment, and the environment for his website, http://KnoxvilleBusiness.com
The Tennessee Volunteers’ 1998 National Championship
In 1998, the Tennessee Volunteers’ football team opened their season with a win against Syracuse. UT fans celebrated, but at that time, no one realized that this would be the year the Volunteers would become the “Team of Destiny”, and make history by completing the season with a perfect 13 wins and 0 losses record, winning the NCAA Division IA National Championship.
In fact, many fans were concerned. Their golden quarterback, Peyton Manning, was off to (one of the best young careers in) the NFL. How could they possibly come back from the loss of such a leader?
Head Coach Phillip Fulmer, who’s been in that position since 1993, thought he had an answer to the fans’ concerns. Fulmer believes in recruiting good players, working them hard and winning football games, and he was confident his young team could have a great season.
With the loss of quarterback Peyton Manning, Tee Martin stepped up to the role of starting quarterback. Other offensive players included Travis Henry, a.k.a. “Block of Cheese”, Travis Stephens, Peerless Price, and Cedrick Wilson.
The equally-talented defense included Al Wilson, Shaun Ellis, Eric Westmoreland, and Derrick Edmonds, among others.
During the 1998 football season, the unanimous national champ Volunteers were also the Southeastern Conference football champions, where the Vols held an 8-0 record. They won the SEC championship against the Mississippi State University Bulldogs, 24-14, which allowed the Vols to be back-to-back SEC Champions.
What set the Vols apart in 1998 was not their undefeated record, although it was quite a feat. It was that they played the game like it should be played. They were a unique team that was able to play as a whole on both sides of the ball with a fierce determination and an unstoppable attitude.
The final game was played at the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona against the Florida State University Seminoles on January 4, 1999. Offensive MVP Peerless Price made two touchdowns, a 76-yard pass and a 79-yard pass. The other Big Orange touchdown came from Dwayne Goodrich’s 54-yard interception return.
While most fans wrote off the team’s chances for an amazing season due to the loss of major players like Payton Manning, Fulmer saw it as a chance to bring up the younger players on the team and test their skills. His belief in his young team created history, and Fulmer was honored with the National and SEC Coach of the Year award.
The National Championship earned Fulmer a six year contract renewal, and many of the starting players went on to join their former team mate Payton Manning in the NFL.
Watching the University of Tennessee Volunteers play football has long been a favorite pastime of East Tennesseans, and will continue to be so long into the future. But the fall of 1998 will live long in many college football fans’ memories as the magical year of the Team of Destiny.
Mac Bartine writes about business, entertainment, and nature for his website, http://KnoxvilleBusiness.com.
The Allure of Texas High School Football
Even if you’ve never been to a Texas high school football game, you probably know that these games and the fans who follow them are somewhat different than other high school football games and fans. In Texas, football isn’t a sport and it isn’t an extra-curricular activity. No, it’s almost been elevated to the level of a religion. To say that Texas school football fans are passionate about the spot would be an understatement; a huge understatement.
Friday Night Lights may have been first a popular book and then a film but it all started with the true story of one season with the Odessa Permian Panthers. Hollywood didn’t need to pump up the real life story of this Texas school team with fabrication; the real story was already enough of a legend to carry it all the way to the silver screen.
If you think you know high school football, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen it from the Lone Star State. Even the smaller schools really get involved. It’s not uncommon to see entire caravans traveling the Texas highways on Friday nights; the football team, drill team, cheerleaders, marching band and sponsor. All of that can easily require a dozen buses or so. And that’s not even including the hordes of parents and fans that travel right along with them. In relatively few other events will you see devoted fans travel hundreds of miles for a playoff game; and keep in mind that in Texas that’s entirely possible. The border from east to west stretches almost one thousand miles.
So, what is it exactly about Texas football in particular that seems to appeal to such a mass audience? While there may be no definitive answer for that question, there is definitely one certainty: nothing else on earth has quite the same intensity and passion to it. You can feel it reverberating in the air when you step into any high school football stadium throughout the state.
Football fans in Texas are not just passionate about football; they live it and breathe it. On any given Friday night during football season in Texas you’re likely to see just about as much violence in the stands as you are on the turf if one fan happens to aggravate another.
And that’s not even mentioning the rivalry that can take place between teams in Texas. While it’s not uncommon at all for neighboring towns throughout the country to form high school football rivalries, Texans take it to a whole new level. In many cases, extra policeman have to be called out during big rival games just to keep the peace among the crowd. In a few instances, some towns had to stop even playing one another at all because of the violence that ensued between fans in the stands and on the sidelines during rival games.
The exact allure of Texas football may be somewhat difficult to describe, but one thing is certain: you feel it when you experience it.
If the rest of the world loves soccer, Texans love football.
Joe Kenny writes for his beloved soccer forum http://footballtalk.org/. Visit the UK football forum today at http://footballtalk.org/forums/ and join in the discussions!
How to Draft your Own Fantasy Football Team
If you have been considering starting your own fantasy football there are several aspects of which you should be aware. Fantasy football has significantly grown in popularity in the last few years and there are now a number of different ways you can get involved with fantasy football. If you’re interested in winning some of the larger prizes that are up for grabs, you will need to consider joining one of the fantasy football teams offered by several web sites as well as quite a few football magazines. Most people; however, opt instead to join a small informal league simply for the fun of the game. This type of league can be organized with just about anyone. Such leagues are frequently organized with relatives, co-workers or friends. If you are drafting your first league it is important to remember there is really no wrong or right way to do it because the most important thing is to have fun.
First, there will need to be teams involved in order to draft a league. Generally, a league can have anywhere from eight up to sixteen teams. The number of teams you have in your league will be up to you and what is available in your locality; however, be sure to give some strong thought to the number of teams in your league because it can be extremely important. Too few teams in your league will reduce the level of competition while too many teams will make it difficult for each owner to find enough good players. Try to keep the number of your teams equal; however, for the sake of your schedule.
Regardless of the number of teams you decide upon, those teams will need to be divided into divisions. The number of divisions may depend on the number of teams in your league. Many people; however, find that 3 divisions work fine.
You will also need to decide upon a commissioner. A lot of thought should be put into the selection of your commissioner as well, as this role is critical to the success of your league. This should be someone all of the other owners trust implicitly. He, or she, will be in charge of such things as the draft, scoring the games, setting up the league, etc. This can be a very demanding job with a lot of responsibilities. It may prove prudent to set up a co-commissioner position as well.
When setting up your regular season, try to plan for around thirteen or so games. Remember, this is excluding your playoffs, which will typically last another three weeks or so. The general rule of thumb is for your season to not last longer than a regular NFL season.
Your drafts may depend on the type of league you set up. Some leagues only hold an initial draft when first setting up the league and then for rookies after that. Regardless, when first setting up your league you will need to have a draft to select players. For this a draft order will be selected, typically before the draft itself is held. If you opt for an auction format instead, remember that each owner must be given a salary cap. Of course, this can be any amount you decide upon. The main key is that each team must have their roster filled out; generally with about 15 players per team. From this the teams will need to select their starting players, usually around 7 each. A starting lineup will usually include one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one place kicker and one defense.
Joe Kenny writes for the soccer forum http://footballtalk.org/. Visit the UK football forum today at http://footballtalk.org/forums/ and join in the discussions!
Different Types of Fantasy Football Leagues
Interest in fantasy football is growing by leaps and bounds. If you are interested in owning a fantasy football team, one of the most important decisions you will need to make will be in regards to the type of league you should join. There are many different types of fantasy football leagues and it is important to make the right decision. Read on for tips to help you understand the different types of teams and decide which one is right for you.
The most popular type of leagues are the standard draft leagues. These types of leagues are begun with teams in which the players are selected in a serpentine style of draft. Lineups can then be selected by the owners on a weekly basis. This is usually based on the number of players per position as allowed by league rules. There are actually two different types of standard draft leagues. These are total points and head to head. The difference between the two is that with a head to head league each team is matched up against a different team each week. The team that receives the most points is recorded as the winning team. Teams with the best records at the end of the season play in playoff games at the end of the season in order for a final champion to be determined. With a total points league, wins and losses are not tracked. Instead, points are accumulated on a continual basis. Standings are then determined according to the total points of the teams. At the end of the regular season, the teams with the highest number of total points meet for playoff games.
The auction draft league can also be comprised of either a total points system or a head to head system. Unlike the standard draft league; however, the auction draft league utilizes owners who have an amount of money that is predetermined that they can bid on for players to complete their rosters.
With the dynasty league, players are on the same roster from one season to the next unless they are released or they are traded. Drafts are held for rookies only after the first season.
Keeper leagues combine some of the features between dynasty leagues and standard draft leagues. A draft is held before the beginning of every regular season in order for many of the players to be drafted; however, owners can keep a select number of players from the prior season.
IDP leagues use defensive players in an individual manner rather than in defensive units. This type of league can be a bit harder to organize for the owners because it means more thought will usually need to be given to filling the other positions.
A survivor leagues uses just about any kind of draft you wish; however, they most commonly use auction or standard style drafts. The main difference between this type of league and all of the other leagues is that each week one team is eliminated based on who scores the least number of points.
Joe Kenny writes for the UK soccer site http://footballtalk.org, you can log on and have your say in the football forum at http://footballtalk.org/forums/
Throwing The Perfect Football Pass
While football is considered one of America’s greatest pastimes, few know the secrets of throwing the ball properly. A proper football pass is a perfect spiral delivered directly to the target. With that in mind, this article will attempt to explain some methods that actual football coaches use to teach their quarterbacks the right way to throw.
When trying to throw the perfect spiral, there are three things that you need to consider: the positioning of your hand, the release of the ball, and the timing of the whole pass movement. As far as gripping the football goes, many coaches recommend that you grip the ball with your ring finger placed on the first lace of the football. Your pinky should also grip the laces, and the best positioning for the pinky is between the next two laces up from the first. This usually varies from player to player, due to hand size and preference. For instance, Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles is a highly respected quarterback who keeps his fingers on laces one and four, respectively.
When it comes to the actual throw of the ball, it’s recommended that you hold the ball with as tight of a grip as possible. This tends to aid the spiral’s spin, making it easier to catch for the receiver. After pulling back for the throw, you’re going to want to make sure that you are on your last step before you take the throw is with the foot that you are throwing with. Simply put, if you are throwing with your right hand, your right foot should be forward. One little trick that many coaches use to help their players develop aim in their throws is to point at where they want to throw with the big toe of their leading foot. This helps the body to rotate properly and to ensure a throw in the right direction. When it comes to releasing the ball, you should release when your wrist is cocked at a 90 degree angle from your upper arm. Immediately after releasing the throw, flick your wrist in a downward direction. This causes the ball to spin, and when done properly can result in a perfect spiral throw.
Now that you can see some of the basics of getting a good throw down, it’s time to practice. Just be sure to watch what is going wrong when you try to make a pass so that you can better correct the problem in the future. It’s all just a process of getting your body used to doing the proper motion.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://esportssource.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://everythingaboutgames.net/ and http://totallytraveling.net/
American Football Gaining International Popularity
In most parts of the world, if you say the word “football” people assume you are referring to soccer, the most popular and most widely followed sport in the world. However, American football is starting to spark more interest overseas. The National Football League actively promotes American-style football overseas, sending players as ambassadors and holding pre-season games in Europe, Mexico and Japan. Games are broadcast in many countries and the Super Bowl is broadcast to almost every country in the world.
American football is played in almost every continent on the planet including North and South America, Asia, Europe and the Pacific Rim nations. The International Federation of American Football is the official international governing body of American Football and oversees 45 member organizations. Beginning in 1999, the International Federation of American Football has also sponsored a world cup of American football with Japan taking the honors in both 1999 and 2003.
American football has also grown in popularity in Mexico, where many households are able to watch games on American television stations. There has been such interest in American football in Mexico that the NFL opened an office in Mexico City in 1997 to supervise fan development, marketing, public relations and special events. The NFL also publishes a Spanish-language web site targeted to Mexican fans.
American football is also gaining popularity in Europe. In 1991, the National Football League backed a European league called the World League of Football. From that emerged NFL Europe, a six-team league that serves as a spring developmental league for National Football League teams in the United States. Five of NFL Europe’s teams are based in Germany and one is in the Netherlands. The National Football League not only uses the NFL Europe to develop new players, but also to develop and test new rules and regulations.
American football has always been popular in Canada although Canada does have its own Canadian Football League which plays with slightly different rules than American football. However, the National Football League continues to reach out to Canadian fans. For Super Bowl XL, held in Detroit, just across the border from the Canadian city of Windsor, the National Football League held special events specifically for Canadian fans including a special train that transported Canadian fans to Windsor to view the game at an arena there. The National Football League also publishes a website for Canadian fans that focuses on the progress and statistics of Canadian-born players.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://footballorbust.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://recreationandmore.com/ and http://igamerscorner.com/
Differences Between Canadian and American Football
American and Canadian football both descended from rugby and began in Canada as a game played between British soldiers garrisoned in Montreal. The soldiers played a series of games against students at McGill University. McGill played several games against Harvard in 1874 and a tradition was born. Despite their mutual origins, the Canadian and the American game developed differently and now have substantially different rules and regulations.
The biggest difference between Canadian and American football is the size of the playing field. In Canada, football fields are 110 yards long and 65 yards wide. In America football fields are 100 yards long and 53 and 1/3 yards wide. The goal posts in Canadian football are placed at the front, rather than the back of the end zone which is also deeper in Canadian football than American.
Canadian football teams have twelve players as opposed to the eleven on American teams. Because the same number of players is required at the line of scrimmage in both games, this results in an extra backfield player on Canadian teams. This means that the typical Canadian offensive setup has two slot backs instead of a tight end and on defense, two defensive halfbacks and one safety instead of two safeties as is typical in the American game.
Another difference between the two games is the number of downs. Instead of four as in the American game, Canadian football has three. This results in a more pass and kick oriented game since there are fewer downs available for short-yardage running plays. The kicking rules are also slightly different with the kicker being able to recover and advance his own kick. For this reason, kicking is a much more integral part of Canadian football than American.
The biggest difference between the kicking rules in the two games is that there is no fair catch rule in Canadian football. In American football, if a kick returner thinks he will not be able to advance the ball after recovery, he can signal for a fair catch and be immune from contact. In Canadian football no player on the kicking team except the kicker and any players behind him on the field may ever be within 5 yards of the ball unless it has been touched by an opponent. Also, in Canadian football any kick that goes into the end zone is a live ball, except for successful field goals.
There are other minor differences as well including scoring, motion and time rules but they are not as significant as the major differences noted here.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://footballorbust.com/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://everythingaboutgames.net/ and http://universeofentertainment.com/
A World Cup for a non American Football
Which is the greatest team sports’ event? For most US Americans the “Super Bowll” would be an easy answer. Others, mostly attracted by baseball, basketball, or hockey, would choose one of those sports’ finals or all-star games, but this is not the case for the rest of the world. Outside of the US when people say football they refer to the sport that is known as soccer in United States and which is by far the most popular sport in all of the five continents. The World Cup that takes place over a four-year period is considered as the most important athletic competition, being more widely-viewed on TV exceeding even the Olympic Games. In 2002, when North Korea and Japan co-hosted the World Cup the cumulative TV audience was estimated to be 28.8 billion, while 1.1 billion individuals watched the final match of the tournament between Brazil and Germany.
This year the World Cup takes place in Germany with the first mach between Germany and Costa Rica being scheduled on 9th of June and the last one, the final game which is going to take place one month later on the 9th of July in Berlin. Thirty-two national teams are participating in this great “party” of world soccer and they will play in a total of twelve German cities. Among the national teams, which participate 14 come from Europe, 5 from Africa, 4 from South America, 4 from Asia, 4 from North and Central America and 1 from Oceania.
Brazil is the defending Word Champion and one of the great favorites of wining the trophy this year. The Brazilians have already won the World Cup five times and are the most successful team in the competition’s history. This year, legendary coach Pareira has at his disposal some of the most talented football players of the world: Kaka, Adriano, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo and of course Ronaldinho the World Player of the Year for the last two years.
As strong contenders for the title are considered, by soccer experts and bookmakers, the team of Germany, which will play in front of its audience as the host-nation, and that of England, Argentina and Italy. In addition, the Brazilians, the French striker Thierry Henry, the Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, the English midfielder Frank Lampard, the German midfielder Michael Ballack and the new star of the Argentinean football Lionel Messi are players one will enjoy watching.
The United States’ national team is assigned in the Group E and will face Italy, Ghana and the Czech Republic in the first stage of the tournament, giving its first game in Gelsenkirchen on the 12th of June against the Czechs. Coach Bruce Arena has his team believing that their mix of young talents such as DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan and old campaigners like Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride could be enough to go further than the quarter-finals where they reached in 2002.
There are many assumptions about soccer’s low popularity in the United States, but the most convincing one seem to be the fact that the American national team didn’t have any serious accomplishments during the last years in order to attract their country’s attention and interest. The boys of Bruce Arena will have their opportunity now inside the German stadiums.
Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles for http://sportsoftheworld.net/ - In addition, Jonathon also writes articles for http://ifitnesscentral.com/ and http://igamerscorner.com/
