A weekend of "madness"

Written by: stacia_doss.

Friday evening to this Monday has brought about a pretty shocking turn of events in sports. The latest being that Peyton Manning made the decision to join the Denver Broncos, dismissing the San Francisco 49ers, the Tennessee Titans, and anyone else who wanted him as their new, "seasoned" QB.

In basketball news, "March madness" truly proved to be madness this weekend. Underdogs many were rooting for like Murray State and VCU's trails ended this weekend. Who would have thought that Duke, Mizzou, or even Memphis would be knocked out of the tournament as early as they were? It was a shocker, and pretty heartbreaking (to say the least) for many fans. I know how disappointed I was watching my Memphis Tigers get to this point only to be beaten by an underestimated team (The St. Louis U. Billikens) under the leadership of a great coach. I have to give the Billikens credit, though. Even though they were eliminated in the following game against Michigan State, the team played a good, physical game in both rounds. I just hope that my alma mater Tigers can go all the way next season during their last school year in C-USA.

Peyton Manning. He's no doubt a great player, but I wasn't seeing Denver in his future. I thought, for sure, he'd join the Titans. Denver is expected to trade Tim Tebow. But what happens if 35-year-old Manning gets hurt? Tebow would seem to be a fitting back up, but time will only tell if he will move on to another team.

With Z-Bo's (Zach Randolph's) return the Memphis Grizzlies faltered against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, but were able to come back with a 97-92 win against the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

I'm anticipating the first weekend in April, because I will be returning to Memphis to watch the Grizz face the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks. Many photos will be taken and posted upon my return!

**Update: Tim Tebow was traded on March 21 to the New York Jets along with a Denver Broncos' seventh round pick player in exchange for a 4th round pick. He will be joining Mark Sanchez in New York!

Forget about the price tag?

written by: stacia_doss.
It seems nearly impossible to do so in professional sports. (Now begins my rant…) Price tags determine who will be on your “Championship-bound” team and sometimes even determine if the team will even continue to exist (in that particular city). Such is the case of the St. Louis Rams.

One. yard. short.

Before I moved to the area, I didn’t care too much about the Rams. All’s I remembered is them beating the Titans in the Superbowl years ago. (How could I forget that image to the right?) I didn’t really follow baseball, either, but I have allowed myself to be slightly sucked into the Cardinals’ news and Rams news, too. Not too long ago, I was informed that the Rams team will likely leave the city in 2014 if significant improvements are not soon made to the Edward Jones dome. In the long run, the city gains revenue from the Rams being around, but hey, they will probably be gone. From living in Greater St. Louis, I see the professional baseball fans around here far outweigh the football ones anyway.

Back to the Cardinals. I also was particularly and almost involuntarily aware of its latest Pujols fiasco. The battle to get him…who would put up the most money? It was all over the news in multiple stories. Frankly, I didn’t care, but I downloaded a local news app simply to enter an Ipad 2 contest and got a surprise “update notice” the next morning. It was Breaking News that Albert Pujols had signed a ten year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was drafted by the Cardinals in 2001, and he was ready for a change. Plus, the Angels clearly put a bigger “price tag” up for Pujols. People got a little sad around here, some even hostile, but hey, I’m happy for the guy.

Those are just two fine examples of how forgetting about the price tag is nearly impossible in sports. “Dream teams” only exist when they’re not dreamt up and pieced together on purpose. Real dreams of teams come together over time.  

I’m ecstatic that the NBA Lockout is over, but the past five days have brought my head spinning. Tyson Chandler to the (New York) Knicks, Lamar Odom to Dallas (Mavericks), Chris Paul to the…Who knows now? And Dwight Howard begging to be out of Orlando. Price tags…and dream teams. They go hand-in-hand, I suppose.

You can expect my next post to be more uniform than this, but I had to get that off my chest. It’s been a while. 

(Re-blogged) Youth league institutes TD limit to hold back 11-year-old

What is the world coming to? Little boys' TDs are limited...what are we to do! Watch video below and read article here.

History of my love affair...with football.

written by: stacia_doss.

I think it was probably sixth or seventh grade when I actually became interested in football. That’s when my dad started buying season tickets for Tennessee State football games for the family including: him, me, my mom, and my sister (until she left for college). My other sister was in college, and she occasionally would meet us. Anyway, before then, the most I really knew about the sport was the Super Bowl, because when that time of the year came around, we (the family) would always plop in front of the TV, eat chili, and laugh at the funny and fascinating commercials. That’s what I associated football with. A first down? Safety? Field goal? 2 point conversion?...I had no idea what any of these things were.

Since sixth grade, my sports focus had always been basketball. And after going to all these HBCU (FYI Historically Black College and Universities) games, what made them all so fun to me was just people watching and seeing the band. But after few years, I started asking questions. We would even travel for some of these games. I wanted to learn it, and know it. After all, not all games had the exciting halftimes and theatrical bands like HBCU’s did. By the time I was in high school, (I don’t remember the year), I had the chance to go to my first professional game. I went to see the Tennessee Titans play at what I believe was then known as the Adelphia Coliseum with my dad. I had been coming to the Coliseum for years, watching the college teams go head to head, but this time it was REAL. No band. No majorettes. No outrageously over and under-dressed people to watch. I was there to watch the game.

I don’t remember who the Titans played. I just remember being really hot, and sitting in what seemed like a really high (yet good) seat, and I KNEW the game. That was something I hadn’t been able to say for much of my short life before that game…even after years of watching football. It was pretty exciting. Since that day, I have been to two other professional games, and have sat in the domes of at least three other teams. I am still attending those games with my parents, and my sister occasionally joins us. My childhood of college football-watching made me the fan I am today. But my HBCU football watching molded me in another way, too. It introduced me to tons of old school music. I get a sense of joy when I hear songs like “Happy Feelings” and “Let’s Stay Together”…reminiscing on the band playing them. Maybe that bonding with my family brought out the Old Soul in me that never left…Who knows?

Diddy's son a football star?

(Re-blogged.)

I found this article over at scout.com. What caught my eye the most is that Sean "P-Diddy" Combs' son, Justin, has reportedly gotten offers from a few schools, including Middle Tennessee State University. Check it out below.

Justin Combs Casting his Own Shadow

His father Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ fame casts one of the biggest shadows in the entertainment industry, but after winning a national honor and securing BCS level scholarship offers, Iona Prep’s CB Justin Combs is starting to cast off some shade of his own. (Read more.)

What makes a good weekend? Great games.

written by:stacia_doss.
This weekend I ventured to a little place called Sikeston, Missouri. The nearest Target was about 30 miles away, along with any sign of a Wal-Mart (Supercenter), or any other "large store" many of us have grown accustomed to. My destination was Lambert's, "Home of the throwed rolls."



(Above) Memphis guard, Joe Jackson

After I met my Memphis pals there after the two hour drive and about an hour wait, I cuffed my hands like a football player to catch a couple of good, hot rolls...and I wasn't half bad! But enough about the arrival...what excited me was the drive and what happened before and during it.

MEMPHIS TIGERS BASKETBALL! I watched the Tigers defeat East Carolina in the C-USA tournament Friday night with a trampling score of 76-56. But Saturday's duel against UTEP in the deep southern city of  El Paso, Texas, was what made my drive to Sikeston most memorable.

I could not pull myself from the television at the beginning of the game, but I had to hit the road. It was no big surprise that after scanning my radio mulitiple times, I could not find one single station broadcasting the Memphis v. UTEP game, but I didn't give up. Thanks to CBS Interactive Sports, I downloaded a free application to my Blackberry that constantly updated the score for me! The Miners seemed to have kept cool and confident the whole game. The Tigers were somewhat underdogs because of their number of young players against UTEP's experienced seniors. However, my hope (and theirs) never faltered.

The Miners led the Tigers practically the entire game, and at one point, Memphis was down by 13 points. But with just about 15 seconds or less left on the clock, the Tigers closed the gap and broke a 66-65 deficit with a great play from Joe Jackson with game-winning free throws with  only 7.8 seconds left on the clock. I screamed and shouted with excitement in my car.

Now that is what you call a good weekend!

Memphis will open the NCAA tournament to face Arizona on Friday in Tulsa, Okla. Good luck to my Alma Mater!

My favorite moments from historic Superbowl 45

written by:stacia_doss.
Sunday night the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers to become Superbowl Forty-five champions. I was pleased..but so many other things were interesting, aside from the actual game. Christina Aguilera is all the buzz because she forgot the words to the "National Anthem." I guess she hoped that if she substituted a few words, no one would notice? Nah, we did.

Halftime was arguably the best in years..probably since the whole Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson incident in 2004. Glee! afterwards was amazing! I'm a fan..and catching the Superbowl audience was great. FOX actually made a fan out of one of my good friends!

But what really got us all were the commercials!! The ratings actually were at a record high for the game Sunday night, so a ton of people watched these. Here are a few of my favorites from last night. (Warning: The second one's pretty gross.)

New year, new game plan.

written by:stacia_doss.
Happy New Year to everyone..I can't believe it is 2011!

The Titans finished their season off Sunday night with a 23-20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The question on many people's minds at this point is whether or not the team will keep long time coach, Jeff Fisher. I believe the wise decision would be to let him go for the benefit of the team.

My focus for the next few months will be more so on basketball than football, so look out for the shift of focus on posts of that subject.

What I hope to achieve in 2011 with "The Word:Unscripted" is more posts and contacting more people. I'm going to try to reach out locally and find out what's going on in my community to share and inform with readers of this page.

I'm open to any suggestions if you may have them..Thanks for visiting!

Christmas, taxes, and punt returns

written by:stacia_doss.
I think that Desean Jackson's (Philadephia Eagles WR)punt return against the New York Giants on Sunday was one of the most phenomonal plays I've seen in a while. If you haven't seen it..here it is.

After having the lead for most of the game, the Giants faltered to the Eagles with the help of their talented quarterback, Michael Vick. Desean Jackson simply put the icing on the cake with his 77 yard punt return.

But don't worry,(if you were wondering),Giants' punter Matt Dodge is still employed. He can't be totally blamed for the team's loss.

In other news, The Tennessee Titans were somehow able to snap a six game losing streak on Sunday in their second meeting against the Houston Texans. Tennessee closed the game out with a 31-17 victory. Good for them.

Good news pertaining me, and several other Americans is that President Obama signed a 'holiday-season tax bill extending cuts for all Americans' on Friday.

This sounds like a bill that will pretty much help all Americans and I'm glad he and the GOP could finally come to a compromise. I look forward to economic progress in the future.

If, by some chance, I don't get an opportunity to post between now and Christmas, have a Merry one, or a Happy "Whatever it is you choose to celebrate" Day! :)

A weekend 'For Colored Girls' and Sports

written by:stacia_doss.
This weekend, I did the usual: watched football. I sadly saw one of my college teams get trampled with zero points on their end for the final box score.

Through my observations of the quick snippets of games that the NFL Redzone showed me, I only saw

one major pass (from Vince Young) to newly acquired Randy Moss in the only NFL game I cared about watching yesterday. The Tennessee Titans fell short with a 29-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday afternoon. 

In fact, every Tennessee football college team lost this weekend except for Tennessee Vols with a sweeping 52-14 victory over Ole Miss for their Homecoming.  

On a higher note, the Dallas Cowboys have not experienced a victory in a while, and they finally did on Sunday...against the New York Giants. Good for them, I think they needed to feel what it was like to win again.

Also, my Memphis Grizzlies held their own against the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Although they lost 116-110 in overtime, I was pretty proud of them. It's too bad I can't see them on television now that I'm not in Memphis anymore. Bummer!

One thing I did, out of the ordinary, was go to the movies to see Tyler Perry's widely talked about film "For Colored Girls"...Except, it wasn't my first time. It was my second time seeing the movie in two consecutive weekends. But it wasn't because I just loved it so much. It was because the experience of viewing something can be different based on who accompanies you..so I wanted to see it again with my mother.

I only noticed one minor detail the second time around that I hadn't the first, but that's about it..All of the buzz and debate about it that followed its premiere last weekend cluttered my mind as I watched it the second time around. It just wasn't the same...

Wednesday Update on Randy Moss

Phenomonal wide reciever, Randy Moss, was recently released from the Minnesota Vikings. I knew it wouldn't be long before he found another home.

He's going down south, after being acquired quickly by the Tennessee Titans. I'm sure he will be a great asset to the team, just as he would with nearly any other team.

Welcome to the Tennessee Titans, Randy!=)

This Weekend in Football

written by:stacia_doss.
The Biggest News:
It was only Sunday when I saw a press conference with Minnesota Vikings' wide receiver Randy Moss' complaining about being fined for not cooperating with the media...Just a day later, and he's off the team!

It's official, the Vikings have waived Moss from the team, according to the NFL network. The team has not yet confirmed, but if it's true, Moss would have only been on the team for a month. Where could he be headed next if his stop in Minnesota has ended?

The Biggest Disappointment:
The Tennessee Titans, once again, fell short to the San Diego Chargers Sunday evening with a 33-25 loss. The Titans have lost to the team eight times straight, since 1993.

They have never won against San Diego chargers neither under the name as "Tennessee Titans", nor under the coaching of Jeff Fisher.

Bummer. =(

So Tennessee is now 5-3 leading into their Bye Week, San Diego is 3-5.

The Best Experience:
I was able to attend yet another St.Louis Rams game on Saturday afternoon in St.Louis to watch them face the Carolina Panthers.

It was a great 20-10 victory for the Rams, and a moment to shine for former Rams player (and University of Memphis alumni), Isaac Bruce. As the presence of his number 80 jersey hung for display in the Edward Jones dome, the team gained an early Saturday win.

The Rams will go into their Bye Week with a win, at a standing of 4-4.

So the blog has been on hiatus for a while...

written by:stacia_doss.
I've been tediously studying for an important test, but I certainly haven't been slacking in keeping up with status of my teams.

The Memphis Grizzlies have made me very proud, winning all eight of their preseason games. But I'll never forget what Coach Lionel Hollins said in a press conference.

"Preseason means nothing..." Well..it means something, but he was referring to the preseason performance in comparison to regular season games.

I am confident that they can take the hard work and persistence that they have shown during the preseason and transfer it into their regular season performance.

The Grizzlies will play their season opener Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

Another team, The Tennessee Titans have been playing well, also. Sunday afternoon, the team defeated the Philadelphia Eagles with 37-19 victory. What, at first, seemed like a rocky game for Tennessee ended up being a night of franchise history.

The team scored 27 points in the fourth quarter alone, and played phenomenally against the Dallas Cowboys on October ninth.

I'm looking forward to more wins leading up to January for the Titans as well as the first regular season win for the Grizzlies.

Mindless reality shows...

article by:stacia_doss.

Last weekend, I attended a St. Louis Rams game...they won, too. My method of transportation to the game, though, is what started my thoughts running wild with imaginings of possibility.

A lady sitting behind me on the train I rode to and back from the Edward Jones dome on was having a conversation with the woman seated beside her about puzzles. (Sudoku, to be exact.)

She said that puzzles keep her mind fresh, and went on to say that all television does is "rot the mind". Her abstinence from TV,"mindless reality shows", etc. and total focus on doing puzzles, in her view, was what made her feel intelligent.

As everything else was said between the two women rambling on about puzzles faded out of my head, I sat and thought..is television rotting our minds?

I have become victim to having a schedule at least two days out of the week that "my shows" air on television. Tuesday nights consist of Glee and Teen Mom, while Thursday nights include Grey's Anatomy and Jersey Shore.

But can we really say that all television, including reality shows, does is rot the mind? I certainly don't think so.

We could, though, take the time and read a book or two, and live a little more instead of planning schedules around what is coming on television that we cannot bear to miss.

According to research, the happiest people spend 30% less time parked in front of the tube.

But, in defense of reality shows, some of those featured on television can show you issues, you otherwise would have never learned about.

MTV's True Life highlights issues that Americans have daily from obesity to body dysmorphia..even soldiers returning from Iraq. You can't hear those types of things and see the emotions reading a book.

When the lady's voice finally faded back into my mind after all of these thoughts, she said "I don't know very much about what's going on in the world, though, when I hear people discuss it at work."

I ask you, would you rather be clueless about issues going on in the world or puzzle-less? Find the median.

What a Weekend..for Tennessee football.

written by:stacia_doss.
This weekend, I journeyed to Nashville, Tennessee for a college football game. It was unfortunately a loss for Tennessee State University to Austin Peay State University. The APSU Governors closed it out with a close 26-23 victory against TN State's Tigers.

The opposite was happening in West Tennessee football. To my surprise, my alma mater, The University of Memphis' Tigers gained their first victory at home against the Middle Tennessee State University Blue Raiders. With a 24-17 win, the Tigers experienced their first "W" with their new coach, Larry Porter.

When I went to bed that Saturday night, I woke up with higher hopes for another Tennessee team that would also play at home on LP Field Sunday at noon, the Tennessee Titans.

The battle against the 2008 Champion Pittsburgh Steelers turned out to be an upset for another Tennessee football team. The strong Steelers defense was no match for the shaky Titans offense Sunday afternoon.

Tennessee returned to the locker room with a 19-11 loss and more yards than Pittsburgh, but a painful seven turnovers, over just one for the Steelers. Check out the boxscore.

Better luck next weekend, I hope?!

College Tigers of The U of M will head to El Paso, TX to battle UTEP and TSU will face FAMU in the Atlanta Classic in Georgia next week.

The Tennessee Titans will prepare to play the New York Giants at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

Can Vick find a Home?

article by: stacia_doss.

Former NFL star, Michael Vick,was released from home confinement 10 days ago after recently serving a nearly two year prison sentence for dog-fighting. One week later, this Monday, Vick was reinstated by the National Football League...what's next?

Since the announcement of reinstatement, Vick has been on a search/patient wait for a team to sign him. As of now, he is still a free agent, and internet users and bloggers across the nation are wondering if he will even be able to find a team.

Immediately after his termination of house arrest, the buzz across sports news was that the best option for Vick to play would be in the United Football League. Coach Jim Fassel of the the Las Vegas/Los Angeles franchise in the UFL already says he would sign him, saying "Everybody gets a chance to re-prove themselves...he deserves another chance."

Voices of spokespersons from various NFL teams, such as the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals, have said that their teams are already sufficient without Vick. So far, the only public announcement of a team with real interest in considering Vick on their team has been the Baltimore Ravens. He [Vick] told reporters early today that he was getting closer to finding a team. As of now, there is no official home team for him. Will he successfully find one by next week?