Black Star Athletes
USA TODAY NEWS PAPER
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
N.B.A Players Go Overseas
The market in both Europe and Asia are huge and would love to see an influx of Stars grace their courts, unlike football which is predominantly an American coveted form of entertainment. For that reason I doubt we will ever see a Kobe Bryant vs. the N.B.A lawsuit filed. The options are to vast for professional basketball players, which is the most obvious leverage that the players hold against their owners.
Seriously the communication between teams and players is no where near as crucial of importance as in the N.F.L players, and so it's only natural that the N.B.A players will take their owners somewhat less seriously.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Impressive 2011 Quarterback's
So i just watched the Under Armour All American game for high school football player's and I have so say I saw some good prospects at quarterback in the 2011 class. Sooner fans should be expecting a great future with Kendall Hunter coming in under center. Hunter showed poise under pressure and he's extremely accurate with an ability to improvise on broken plays.
Another impressive QB Max Kittek put his clutch ability on display as he drove his team down for a win within two minutes. Following the Santa Ana Mater dei tr tradition, Kittek has signed with the USC Trojans where he will tutor under former teammate Matt Barekley.
By far the most impressive QB of the day was Gator signed Jeff Driskel. The Tebow like QB broke loose for a 63 yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the game. Driskel showed impressive speed and accuracy to go along with his unique size at QB.
Another impressive QB Max Kittek put his clutch ability on display as he drove his team down for a win within two minutes. Following the Santa Ana Mater dei tr tradition, Kittek has signed with the USC Trojans where he will tutor under former teammate Matt Barekley.
By far the most impressive QB of the day was Gator signed Jeff Driskel. The Tebow like QB broke loose for a 63 yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the game. Driskel showed impressive speed and accuracy to go along with his unique size at QB.
Friday, July 8, 2011
3 Traits Of Succesful Point Guard
A point guard should be the coach on the court. He should know who his scorers are and he should know when they are hot. It is his choice to feed a player for a shot or play and he should feel the weight of that of that responsibility at all times. If senses a mismatch on the court he should take it upon himself to exploit it all times. The point guard should also know the strengths and weakness' of the opposing time and adjust his defense accordingly.
2) Scoring Ability
The ideal point guard has a clutch 3 point shooting ability. The coveted point guard not only can shoot the deep ball but can also create his own shot through whatever means. Think Allen Iverson or Deron Williams for an idea of the type of play im referring to.
3) Respect
Anyone can have talent play well, but those who exceed are the ones who the whole team recognizes as the leader. Ideally the point guard should be able to pull his team together in times where they may be falling apart due to conflict, pressure, or fatigue. Think Chauncey Billups
5 Steps to Being a Shutdown Defensiveback
1) Vision
The first step to performing as a shutdown Defensive back is training your field vision. As a DB you must have the ability to see play's develop before the ball is snapped. Only then will you be able to respond quickly enough to either jump your receiver's route or come down low to provide run support. Timing is of the absolute essence and with experience the game should "slow down" enough for you to recognize what's going behind the line of scrimmage or what route your receiver is about to run. With practice simple things like counting the quarterbacks drop steps will become more evident making it easy to jump a route and take a pick the distance.
2) Footwork
Every DB should spend the majority of their practice's perfecting their footwork in one way or another. Of course the backpedal is paramount if your a Cornerback; nothing is more embarrassing than getting your feet tangled up or falling backwards due to a lack of balance while our receiver sprints past you for an open go route. While in the backpedal you should always be aware to never turn his back to the ball especially once the ball is in the air; a smooth flip of the hips placing to DB's chest towards the QB will place you in perfect position to go for a pick.
3) Flexibility
Flexibility is often overlooked in the training of football player's, but with all of the strange and awkward positions a DB will find his body going into flexibility should be worked on everyday. Dynamic stretching will prevent rips and tears as well as boost power and overall speed. ask yourself how many hours a day does a sprinter spend stretching and the reasons for him doing so should become obvious. Good flexibility also improves balance witch is crucial to prevent being shook by a back or receiver.
4) Hands
I hear all the time that DB's are only receivers that cant catch the ball; that may have held some bearing in the past but in today's more pressure is put on DB's to create turnovers than ever. Once the ball is in the air, you as a DB must recognize that you have just as much rights to ball as the receiver next to you. Tons of money is spent on fancy gloves, but only repetition will ensure that your hand's respond when the football is thrown your way. Ideally the jugs machine is the way to go when it comes to building this skill.
5) Guts
A defensive back must never be afraid of the game and he must have a short memory. Because of the DB's isolated position in the game we more often than not find ourselves in one on one clutch situations. You may find yourself in a jump ball position with the game depending on your ability to defend that receiver alone by yourself with no help whatsoever. Or you could just as easily find yourself as the only man able to stop the hulking running back sprinting for the touchdown. It doesn't matter just make the play. If you fail, so what your team never should have let the play progress so far; but if you succeed your a star and people love you for it.
The first step to performing as a shutdown Defensive back is training your field vision. As a DB you must have the ability to see play's develop before the ball is snapped. Only then will you be able to respond quickly enough to either jump your receiver's route or come down low to provide run support. Timing is of the absolute essence and with experience the game should "slow down" enough for you to recognize what's going behind the line of scrimmage or what route your receiver is about to run. With practice simple things like counting the quarterbacks drop steps will become more evident making it easy to jump a route and take a pick the distance.
2) Footwork
Every DB should spend the majority of their practice's perfecting their footwork in one way or another. Of course the backpedal is paramount if your a Cornerback; nothing is more embarrassing than getting your feet tangled up or falling backwards due to a lack of balance while our receiver sprints past you for an open go route. While in the backpedal you should always be aware to never turn his back to the ball especially once the ball is in the air; a smooth flip of the hips placing to DB's chest towards the QB will place you in perfect position to go for a pick.
3) Flexibility
Flexibility is often overlooked in the training of football player's, but with all of the strange and awkward positions a DB will find his body going into flexibility should be worked on everyday. Dynamic stretching will prevent rips and tears as well as boost power and overall speed. ask yourself how many hours a day does a sprinter spend stretching and the reasons for him doing so should become obvious. Good flexibility also improves balance witch is crucial to prevent being shook by a back or receiver.
4) Hands
I hear all the time that DB's are only receivers that cant catch the ball; that may have held some bearing in the past but in today's more pressure is put on DB's to create turnovers than ever. Once the ball is in the air, you as a DB must recognize that you have just as much rights to ball as the receiver next to you. Tons of money is spent on fancy gloves, but only repetition will ensure that your hand's respond when the football is thrown your way. Ideally the jugs machine is the way to go when it comes to building this skill.
5) Guts
A defensive back must never be afraid of the game and he must have a short memory. Because of the DB's isolated position in the game we more often than not find ourselves in one on one clutch situations. You may find yourself in a jump ball position with the game depending on your ability to defend that receiver alone by yourself with no help whatsoever. Or you could just as easily find yourself as the only man able to stop the hulking running back sprinting for the touchdown. It doesn't matter just make the play. If you fail, so what your team never should have let the play progress so far; but if you succeed your a star and people love you for it.
Lebron James: A man for the kids
On this day where most people in the media are choosing to celebrate greed, hate, envy, and jealousy in association with LeBron James, were choosing something different to talk about. The kids all look happy to have spent time with Lebron James and we are happy for them. While the media emphasizes that Lebron James joined his trio in South Beach out of greed and selfishness, let it be known that all the revenue from the Decision , all of Lebron's revenue at least was donated to the Boys and Girls Club of America. And for that fact, and the pay cut he took we applaud Lebron James for following his heart in living out his dreams.
(shout out to ESPN for the photo)
Athlete Of the week: Floyd Mayweather
This week's Athlete of the week is none other than Floyd Money Mayweather. After a year long wait fans finally get to witness boxing's undefeated champion go back to work with death on his mind. Victor Ortiz is more than a worthy opponent and should be over looked or God forbid Floyd experience an upset; the true test we are waiting for is the bout against Manny Pacquiao. Ortiz is a southpaw with knockout power, so I can only guess that Floyd must be getting ready to take definitive action when it comes Pacquiao. Good Luck Floyd!!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
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