USA Rugby Sevens falls short in Moscow

June of 2013, was the time of the Rugby Sevens World Cup in Moscow, Russia. After working the USA Rugby sevens event in Las Vegas for the past 2 years, I have grown interested more in sevens rugby and have been following it online. The USA Eagles sevens team was put in the Pool with New Zealand, Canada and Georgia. Every team in the pool had the athletes to win the whole tournament. USA showed a great effort, but again were fallen short and left the fans disappointed.

One game in particular I wanted to bring up was the third match with USA v. New Zealand. USA showed signs of brilliance with scoring right out of the gate and giving the New Zealand offense consistent pressure on the defensive side. Especially on kick-offs, the United States were fighting to get the ball back every time it was kicked in the air. At half the score was 19 - 5, USA. The second half did not even look like the same team. Costly knocks and fumbling the ball led the way for New Zealand's comeback. The rest is history, because USA did not show any offense in the second half, and New Zealand capitalized on our mistakes. New Zealand wins the match and ends up winning the whole tournament. Also, Canada would go on to win the Plate. Thats a good sign for the Eagles after having really close games with both well-respected teams.

Rugby Sevens is being introduced back into the Olympics in 2016. The USA Eagles still have time to groom some cross-over athletes into rugby players. Players like Zach Test (former Oregon WR) & Carlin Isles (former football/track star) have made the leap into sevens for a chance to represent their country in the biggest stage.

Think you got what it takes? You can even apply for the Eagles on their website http://www.usarugby.org/

As far as the competition, we will just have to wait; but for now it seems we are heading in the right direction. Just need some fine tuning.

Jaguars heading in a new direction

Under new management, new coaching and basically a whole new scheme, the Jacksonville Jaguars had alot of holes to fill for their team. During the start of free agency, the Jaguars picked up some mid-tier FA's such as RB Justin Forsett, DB Alan Ball, DTs Sen'Derrick Marks and Roy Miller. The most dominant name on that list is Forsett who most recently was backing up Marshawn Lynch (Seahawks) & Arian Foster (Texans). Caldwell kept saying he would continue to build this time and set the foundation during the draft. He kept to that word.

With the 2nd pick of the 2013 draft, the Jaguars select OT Luke Joeckel from Texas A&M. Joeckel was widely considered the #1 prospect coming out of college, but with the Cheifs taking a chance on OT Eric Fisher, Joeckel fell into the laps of the Jaguars. He feels a HUGE need for the Jaguars with already having LT Eugene Monroe going into his prime, Luke will move to RT and secure the strong-side. With the second round pick, the Jaguars pick up SS Jonathan Cyprien, a huge, thumping safety. Currently the Jaguars did not have a SS on their roster, so Cyprien will come in and give them a quality starter. The Jaguars would round out the draft with multiple DBs (which they desperately needed) to give them depth at the position. Two really exciting pick-ups during their draft would have to be WR/KR Ace Sanders and ATH Denard Robinson. Both of these players bring, as Gus Bradley says, the "juice"; speaking of both of their ability to get around defenders and avoid contact.

Its apparent that the Jaguars did not fill every need on their team; mainly at QB and DE/OLB (pass-rushers). But the management and coaching staff feel they got the best available players with the most value with their picks. Now its on to training camp to see of their "scheme" will work in the Bold City.

Tobias Harris gives Magic confidence.

The Dwight Howard saga is over. J.J Reddick is traded to the Bucks. What are Magic fans to think of this transition? New GM and Coach moving players around and starting multiple rookies and still losing games. With a few more games left in the NBA regular season, the Magic are looking to be the number 2 lottery pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. With these few games, multiple players on the roster are just fighting for a spot on next years roster, as the Magic are expected to do a full overhaul of the team. One player in particular that is going no where is newly-acquired SF Tobia Harris, although the Magic also play him at the power.

Since being traded from the Bucks in the J.J. Reddick deal, Harris has displayed some sleek and accurate skill on the court. Having reported "not getting much of a chance" in Milwalkee, Harris is apprecaitive of the opportunity he is getting in Orlando. Harris has All Star potential written all over him. I say look at him as a shorter Kevin Durant. He still has alot he can improve on but he seems to gel very well in Jacque Vaughn's system.

Orlando will have plently of cap room to play with next year. Think back to 2000 when we signed both Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill to big contacts. Expect Orlando to make a BIG move to acquire a Center and possibly draft a replace for aging Jameer Nelson.

GO Magic!

Jaguars fire Gene Smith, Shad Khan takes over

The long anticipated wait is over. The Jacksonville Jaguars have fired GM Gene Smith after multiple years of failed drafts picks and unproductive free agents. The move was inevitable after the worst season in franchise history. Shad Khan vowed to the city of Jacksonville, that he would hire someone to take them to the next level.

On January 8th, 2013, the Jaguars annouced the hiring of David Caldwell, asst. GM of the Atlanta Falcons. Caldwell brings a different mind set to the Jaguars than Smith. Through the early years, Caldwell specialized in college scouting and free agent pick ups. Some of the notable picks for Caldwell include Matt Ryan & Julio Jones, both who have blossemed with the Falcons. Now the Jaguars have (another) opportunity to start a clean slate. Especially with multiple set-to-be free agents on the team, they have hard decisions coming up. But with the number two overall pick in the draft this year, they have leverage. Moving drafts picks and exchanging players in the offseason, as well as signing free agents is the key to the Jaguars success.

Prediction:

With Caldwell running the show, I predict coaching and player personel changes. First off, Mike Murlarkey is out...period. 2-14 season is not going to cut it. The fans deserve better and Khan is going to give it to them. Jones-Drew is going to be traded and we are drafting a young buck. He has some value left and is clearly done in Jacksonville. Quarterback and O-Line are still an issue. Most likely addressed in free agency. Jacksonville is going to draft alot of defensive talent and some offensive weapons. Count on it.

New looking Jaguars

Th e future of the Jacksonville Jaguars is starting to manifest, minus Blaine Gabbert and Maurice Jones Drew. Who I am talking about is the emergence of Cecil Shorts III and Justin Blackmon. Both recievers have been having huge games and are consistently getting better every game they play together. It really started to be seen more once Chad Henne was prompted to starter when Blaine Gabbert go put on IR. But maybe thats all they needed, was just a change at QB

I cannot remember when I have been so excited watching a Jaguars game. I was watching the future of this club start to work. The game I am takling about is the Houston Texans away game when Justin Blackmon and Cecil Shorts III put up big numbers. First with Blackmon, making big catches and tons of YAC. And then Cecil Shorts III was getting his groove on, beating defenders and giving them the stiff arm. Blackmon had a record-breaking game with over 250 yards and a touchdown. Cecil Shorts put up over 150 yards as well as a touchdown. Man...that was a fun game.

Lets just hope we can keep this momentum going for the rest of the season. Screw a high draft pick.

Jacksonville Axemen Win USARL National Championship

The Jacksonville Axemen are the 2012 USARL National Champions after defeating the Boston 13's on Saturday, August 25th. It was the perfect was the round out an undefeated season where the Axemen beat every single competition that was thrown their way. Just by the look of the picture (above), I can tell these gentlemen (who most I call friends) are so freakin happy and proud of this championship. I know first hand how hard these guys worked, on and off the pitch in order to come out with one of the most memorable season up to date. All the fans got to witness the showdown in Boston, from a livestream feed that we played for them at the Axemen's pub, Timeout Sports Grill. Here is how the game went down.

Boston got the opening kick-off and score within the first minutes of the game. But a failed conversion made the game 4-0, Boston. Then after a few good drives by the Axemen that were lost by bad penalties, which drove Boston to score once again. Conversion is good and now the score is 10-0 Boston. This is just what the Axemen needed though. They are normally known for coming out strong during the 1st Half and racking up points. But the tables were turned at this moment. The Axemen would use their quick-ball set to drive down the field, forcing offsides calls by Boston, who couldnt keep up. It would put the Axemen in scoring range and they would put their first try in. After that the Axemen kept scoring and scoring.By the the final minutes, the score was 28-22 Axemen. After those first points by Boston, the Axemen never stopped working hard in order to retain possession and keeping the game alive. The final whistle blew and the Axemen were National Champions.

So now they come back home, to their normal jobs and get to spend some quality family time. Until next summer when the Axemen come back as the champions to beat, and everyone will be wanting an piece of them. And trust me, they will be ready!

Deja Vu All Over Again

Dwightmare is finally over. The drama has finally come to an end. And all of the fans can do is remember over a decade ago when another All-Star center we had did the exact same thing, minus all the buzz.

Dwight Howard was recently traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team trade. The Magic recieved Arron Afflalo and veteran big man Al Harrington from the Denver Nuggets; rookie combo forward Maurice Harkless and second-year center Nikola Vucevic from Philadelphia; and veteran power forward Josh McRoberts and third-year swingman Christian Eyenga from Los Angeles. Magic also receive draft picks from all of the trading teams.

To most people, it would seem that the Magic basically got a bunch of garbage in exchange for the best big-man in the league, but that is simply not the case. Yes, the Magic picked up some sub-par reserve players but they also got some starting potential in Arron Afflalo and Nikola Vucevic. Players like Al Harrington and Josh McRoberts and bound to be released or only stick around for a year. But the main thing the Magic got is some young talent to build around as well as loading up on draft picks. So what is in store for the future of the Magic?

This is where we see the true Magic fans. We had our chance and we blew it, both in 96' and 09'. Those were are years and they are now behind us. Now it is time for a "New Era" With a new head coach in Jacque Vaughan, there seems to be a new, rejuvenated feeling around Orlando. The regular season is still months away so there still might be some moves that Magic will make before hand. But for now, it is Heart & Hustle II.

MY PROJECTED STARTING LINE-UP FOR THE 2012-2013 SEASON\

PG- Jameer Nelson
SG- JJ Reddick
SF- Hedo Turkoglu
PF- Glen Davis
C- Gustavo Ayon

But you never know. Maybe some of these rookies will impress! Go Magic!