by despotmj | Jul 25, 2011 | Opinion, Sports
Time to buckle your chinstraps NFL fans, after 132 days the NFL lockout is officially over. The NFL Players Executive Committee voted this morning unanimously to accept the proposal previously voted on last Thursday by NFL owners, beginning what will be the greatest flood of player transactions and club business in sport’s history. Imagine this, it is the night before you have five finals the next morning, and you have not been able to study the entire semester. For NFL teams, it’s cram time. Over the next two weeks, NFL general managers must do five months of NFL business including: signing rookies, signing undrafted free agents, signing restricted free agents, trading players and cutting players. As part of the new 10-year deal, free-agency begins tomorrow (Tuesday), teams will begin reporting to training camp Wednesday, and the regular season will begin as scheduled Aug. 11. For the Tennessee Titans, this means making some very quick decisions, that could easily determine whether this team is playoff bound or on track for another sub .500 season. Over the next several days, the Titans must make some difficult decisions on several key players. Here they are: Vince Young– The Titans have until 4:00 p.m. ET July 29 to decide whether to cut or trade the troubled Titans’ quarterback. If not, the Titans will owe him a $4.5 million bonus they have already said they will not pay. Stephen Tulloch/Jason Babin– Both players are unrestricted free agents, and the Titans will have roughly 24 hours from today to decide whether the Titans should retain these players or allow them to hit the open-market where...
by despotmj | Jul 13, 2011 | Sports
Amid the sweltering summer heat, Lipscomb’s campus is buzzing with freshman in attendance for advance, construction workers renovating Fanning and students trying to squeeze in a few hours towards graduation. With so much happening on campus, one cannot forget that Lipscomb University’s Dugan Field has a new tenant this summer, although they’re not wearing purple and gold. The tenant is the Nashville Outlaws, a baseball team which is playing all of their home games this summer on Lipscomb’s campus. The Outlaws are a member of the western division of the Prospect League, a 14 team, two-division league, which offers college players the opportunity to play summer baseball while transitioning from aluminum to wooden bats. The Outlaws previously played their home games at Vanderbilt, but moved to Lipscomb University this summer. When asked why the team decided to begin playing their three month season at Lipscomb, general manager Luke Collier said Lipscomb offered the team a much better location than what they had at Vanderbilt. “The team likes Lipscomb. People are friendly and help out,” said Collier. “Game turnouts have been around 100 people.” The turnout is much-appreciated by the Outlaws players and front office, as the team plays a rigorous 56-game summer season. The Nashville fans are certainly having an impact on the team, and as of July 11, the Outlaws are in second place in the western division, three and a half games behind the Quincy Gems. Many well-known Major League Baseball players have spent time in the Prospect League including Mike Schmidt, Kirby Puckett, Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon and Joe Girardi. Two familiar faces from Nashville are...
by despotmj | Jun 29, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
As June is coming to a close, many football fans are growing increasingly anxious to know when a new Collective Bargaining Agreement will be agreed on by the NFL Players Association and NFL owners. On March 11, at 11:59 p.m., the previous CBA expired, leaving fans to wonder if a new deal would be agreed on over the summer, or if a lengthy lockout would ensue. With the lockout nearly three months in place, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, but one must also ask if that could be an oncoming train. The most pointed issues which must be resolved in order for a new CBA to be reached include how to divide the nearly $10 billion in revenues the NFL generates every year, while determining how to split the revenue in future seasons, as revenue is expected to reach $20 billion per season before 2020. Other issues include putting a rookie wage-scale in place to combat rookie deals which have reached $50 million in guaranteed money, better benefits for retired players and increasing the NFL season from 16 to 18 games. The NFL and NFLPA have met multiple times over the last few months, but have been highly criticized for making little progress. In recent weeks, hope has emerged that progress is being made at more than an anemic pace and many believe a deal could be reached by the end of July. That is a crucial date for NFL teams due to the fact that if a deal is reached by then little or no training camp would be missed, allowing for...
by Hunter Patterson | Jun 24, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
Last month it was announced that Belmont would be the leaving the A-Sun and becoming 12th member of the Ohio Valley Conference. While it was announced on the 13th of May, Belmont will not officially join the OVC until July 1, 2012. Belmont president Robert Fisher was intentional in explaining that the move was a strategic one that was made for the student-athletes and the budget of the university. Belmont will have to pay $200,000 to leave the Atlantic Sun Conference, however, the school’s travel costs will drop immensely. “You don’t have to get on a plane to go anywhere,” Dr. Fisher said. “And the students won’t have to miss as many classes.” Missing classes is something that Belmont and Lipscomb have dealt with in the past because of the long travels the two schools make to Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. This bodes even worse for Lipscomb now, since their travel partner will no longer be making the trips. Usually, Lipscomb and Belmont would share a plane when traveling to Florida to play teams like North Florida and Jacksonville. Now, Belmont’s longest road trip will be a six hour bus ride to Edwardsville, Ill. to play Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. All of Belmont’s current teams – other than men’s soccer – will be recognized by the OVC in 2012. And despite reports, Belmont does not plan to add football anytime soon. With the addition of the Bruins, the OVC now has five teams in Tennessee: Austin Peay State, the University of Tennessee at Martin, Tennessee Tech, Tennessee State and now, Belmont. Think of it this way; TSU...
by Tim Ghianni | May 17, 2011 | News Slider, Sports
With the season said and done and exams winding down, the Lady Bisons bid farewell to two influential seniors, Kara Jackson and Julianne McMeen. “We are graduating two seniors who have laid a great foundation for our team,” women’s assistant coach Jamie Aid said. “I appreciate all the hard work they have put in for their teammates and for this program. I wish these two ladies all the success in the world.” Jackson spent four years as a Lady Bison, playing consistently at positions 1-4 throughout her career. Aid said Jackson’s willingness to compete and heart for the game were greatly respected by her coaches and teammates. “Kara is a strong-willed, determined individual,” Aid said. “Kara always did two things for me that I respected as a coach” 1) when it was time to play, she was out there on that court to compete; and 2) her heart was always in the right place. “She will be missed next year as a part of the Lady Bison tennis team; however, I am so happy for her as she is starting a new chapter in her life with marrying another Lipscomb grad and pursuing her passion for teaching. I have no doubt that she will be very successful” After graduation, Jackson, an education major from Dayton, Ohio, said she has big plans for the summer. “I’m getting married May 21st and have already begun the process of moving to our new home in Ohio and looking for a teaching position,” Jackson said. When looking back on her career as a Lady Bison, Jackson said she knows Lipscomb was where God...
