Kids work with former MVP Steve McNair

A chance to learn some life lessons and brush up on some football skills, all while brushing shoulders with a local legend, brought some 700 youngsters out on a scorching-hot morning. The 10th annual Steve Air McNair Football Camp drew a large, enthusiastic crowd Friday to the University of Southern Mississippi campus, where the focus was on more than just football.

"We have a lot of people here talking about alcohol, drugs and crime," McNair said. "We touch a little of everything to try to get kids on the right track. It's about life. You can't succeed on the field if your life is not on track. Football comes second to that."

This is the first year the camp, which was free of charge, has come to the USM campus, after previously being held at Gulf Coast Community College, Alcorn State and in Nashville, Tenn., where McNair played for the Tennessee Titans.

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Sneak Peek: Clemson vs S.C. State Football

Photo: Running back Will Ford will be tough to stop by opponents in 2008, including Clemson and Central Florida.

S.C. State offense vs. Clemson defense

The Bulldogs have put up some impressive offensive numbers under sixth-year coach Buddy Pough. A big reason this team is knocking on the door to its first playoff trip in over two decades is an offense that's considered among the best in the MEAC. The Bulldogs finished second in scoring offense last year, averaging 26.7 points per game. They averaged 264 yards rushing per game, and all-conference tailback Will Ford returns.

At quarterback, S.C. State will enter the season with a quarterback battle between Malcolm Long and DeWain Clark. Long was Cleve McCoy's backup last season, but Clark's performance in the spring game (21-of-27 passing, 160 yards, two touchdowns) demonstrated that Long won't secure the starting spot easily. Ford will have some company — and competition — in the backfield. Tailback Anthony Campbell, a transfer from Auburn, had 15 carries for 133 yards in the spring game.

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Teacher, artist, coach, Mann

Excerpts:

Alvis Mann, who warned a generation of Hampton High football players not to get "snuck on," was explaining how one day you look up and three-and-a-half decades have whizzed past and suddenly you're bearing down on 60. Next thing you know, it's a long and happy marriage and two grown daughters. It's double-figure state championships and more Peninsula District titles and playoff appearances than you can count. It's an immense role in the bonafide dynasty that is Hampton Crabbers football.

Mann, who graduated from Hampton University with a degree in art education, will tell you that he loves color. The almost caricature-like figures of Ernie Barnes, the "Porch People" series by A.B. Jackson, the scenes of Barclay Sheaks. He has a long list of influences and artists he admires. How much time do you have?

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Langford signed, Favre-to-Miami rumors escalate

Photo: Former Hampton University All-American Kendall Langford inks multi-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. (Mark's Digital Photography)

Seven down, two to go for the Dolphins’ 2008 rookie class. While many teams are struggling to sign any of their draft picks, the Dolphins moved one step closer on Friday to having all of theirs under contract by the opening of training camp on July 26.

The Dolphins inked defensive end Kendall Langford, the team’s third-round pick, to a multi-year contract today, the team announced. The 6-foot-6, 287-pound Langford was the No. 66 pick in April’s draft out of Hampton University and is expected to fit the Dolphins’ 3-4 defensive scheme. With two weeks to go before players are expected to report, the Dolphins are hoping to sign their two second-round picks, defensive end Phillip Merling and quarterback Chad Henne.


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SCSU players say happy early birthday to Willie Jeffries this weekend

SANTEE - By sheer coincidence, Willie Jeffries shares the same January 6 birthdate with another coaching legend, Lou Holtz. Over the next two days, however, the South Carolina State coaching great will celebrate his “birthday” six months in advance. Along with former players, close friends and his wife, Mary, Jeffries will be feted as part of a birthday party weekend taking place at Santee Resort.

Following brunch and a round of golf Saturday morning, the celebration kicks off at 3 p.m. where Jeffries will get roasted by his former players, including Greg Holden and team captains from the two periods he coached at SCSU (1973-78; 1989-2001), and receive special recognition. For event co-organizer John Alford, who played on the 1976 Bulldog team which won the Black College National Championship, Jeffries remains more than just a head coach.

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Lakewood hires B-CU alumnus Cory Moore as football coach

Cory Moore is going home. Returning to his alma mater, Moore was named head football coach at St. Petersburg, Florida
Lakewood High School, the school where he first found success as a running back from 1991 to 1994, athletic director Javan Turner announced Friday.

"It's a dream come true," said Moore, 32. "The opportunity to come back to the school where I played and to be the head coach. It's a great school with so much history." Moore beat out 15 other finalists. He replaces Otis Dixon, who resigned last month to take a job in the insurance business. The decision came down to Moore, Gibbs assistant Dave Cleppe and Largo assistant Jeremy Frioud, according to Turner.

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Jackson State's Shasta Averyhardt ousted in semis of Michigan Women's Amateur Golf Championship

EAST LANSING, Michigan — For the first time in four years, the championship match of the Michigan Women's Amateur Golf Championship doesn't include a Flint-area player. Flint's Shasta Averyhardt and Grand Blanc's Ashley Bauer both bowed out of the state's premier amateur event for women in today's semifinals at Walnut Hills Country Club.

Averyhardt, who finished second a year ago, was beaten 1 up in 21 holes by Stephany Fleet of DeWitt while defending champion Laura Bavaird of Grosse Ile eliminated Bauer 1 up. Averyhardt and Bauer were both making their second appearance in the final four. Bauer lost in last year's semifinals to Averyhardt, who fell in the championship match when Bavaird rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

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ASU's Bosh joins NBA summer league team

Alabama State senior forward Joel Bosh has been named to the Toronto Raptors' summer league team. Bosh, a two-year starter, played an integral role as the Hornets ran away with the SWAC regular season title last season. "This is a well-deserved opportunity for Joel," said Lewis Jackson, ASU's head basketball coach. "He spent a lot of time in the offseason working on ball handling and shooting. And now it's paying off."

Bosh averaged 6.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, while also leading ASU in steals. It was that defensive prowess that Jackson pointed to as one of Bosh's greatest assets. Bosh's older brother Chris is an NBA All-Star with the Raptors and a member of the United States Olympic basketball team that will be competing in Bejing, China, next month.



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TSU, Southern renew rivalry at Merritt Classic

Tennessee State fans and alumni are finally getting the game they want to see. The Tigers will take on old rival Southern University in the John Merritt Classic on Sept. 6 at LP Field. And make no mistake, it will be a battle — during the game and at halftime.

The schools’ competition between the football teams and the marching bands was a point of emphasis on Thursday at the annual news conference promoting the John Merritt Classic. “I don’t know who’s going to win the game, but I know who’s going to have the best halftime show,” said Southern athletic director Greg LaFleur to the good-natured jeers of the TSU fans and alums in attendance.

TSU athletic director Teresa Phillips then grabbed the microphone, saying, “We’re going to have to get a police escort for him.” This is the 10th year of the game that honors the legendary TSU coach, but it is the first game the Tigers will take on the Jaguars in the classic. The game will also be the teams’ first meeting since 1991.



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Stepping Up: Highly touted JSU QB recruit ready for fall challenge

Calvin Britt calls it the "man-step." It's the moment a teenager makes a life-changing decision based on his own belief in what's best for himself. It's that first time he steps out of the comfort zone provided by parents or friends and accepts the risks and rewards of making an adult decision all on his own.

"We all have got to take that man-step," Calvin said.

Calvin watched his son, Domonick, step forward on Feb. 6 when he signed a letter of intent to play football at Jackson State. Domonick (pronounced Dom-oh-neek) was the star quarterback for Ohio powerhouse Trotwood-Madison and was offered scholarships by West Virginia, Illinois and Pittsburgh - and that was before things got interesting.

QB Domonick Britt, #2--2007 Trotwood-Madison Rams Highlights


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Justin Higgins ready to continue quarterbacking dominance at Grambling

Any football fan that saw Justin Higgins in a Rayville uniform over the past three years knows he is a playmaker. Whether Higgins was throwing the ball downfield to the Hornets’ prized receivers or taking the ball and barreling through the line, the three and a half-year high school starter could change the momentum of any game.

Grambling — where Higgins signed a national letter of intent in February — has no doubt Higgins can continue that dominance on the field. There is just one gray area hanging overhead. Higgins finished his immaculate high school career with a torn ACL in the second round playoff loss to E.D. White last November.

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Southern University adds RV site near stadium

NEW ORLEANS — In addition to the ongoing expansion of A.W. Mumford Stadium, Southern University President Ralph Slaughter said Thursday, construction also has begun for a new recreational vehicle parking area.

The lot would add 62 RV spots to more than make up for the loss of some parking from the stadium expansion, Slaughter said. The new lot will be across the street from Mumford near the school of nursing.

“We have to have that lot ready before football season starts,” Slaughter said, when asked why parking construction began before notifying the Southern Board of Supervisors on Thursday.

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Less uncertainty at Southern University now

A year has made plenty of difference for Southern football program. At this time a year ago, there was so much to feel uneasy about:

• The project to enclose the north end zone and give the program direly-needed facilities had yet to begin. …
• The team had suffered back-to-back losing seasons for the first time under Pete Richardson. …
• Richardson, in turn, was entering the final year of his contract and the pressure was on to get the program back on track. …
• And a rash of academically ineligible players, particularly to the offensive line, made the prospect of a turnaround even harder.
  
  
  
  

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Hardin-Simmons basketball coach named MVSU assistant

ABILENE, TEXAS — Hardin-Simmons basketball coach Dylan Howard has resigned to become an assistant coach at Mississippi Valley State. Howard had a 78-103 record in seven seasons at Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys had winning seasons each of the past four years and went to the American Southwest Conference tournament three of the past four years, reaching the finals in 2007.

The move was announced Monday.

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Black schools winning more Fulbright awards

Parents who want to send a child to a black college know they have to look south, but if they prefer one that will also offer a good opportunity for international exposure, the right school may not be as far away as they might think.

The black college that has produced the most students who win a Fulbright fellowship, the prestige program of international exchanges, is not Howard, or Hampton University in Virginia, or Morehouse College or Spelman College in Atlanta, or any other private school.

The top producer is Morgan State University, a state school in Baltimore. Since the Fulbright program began in 1946, 120 Morgan students have won awards to conduct research or teach English in 30 different countries from Jamaica to New Zealand.

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Leon's Patterson, Miami native Joseph seek second chances at FAMU

They use summer workouts to angle for spot on Rattlers

Anytime during the upcoming football season that coach Joe Taylor decides to show living examples of perseverance, he might just call Darrius Patterson and Marcus Joseph to the head of the line.

Like the other walk-ons who have been toiling through the offseason, they've got their stories. Patterson had to shed the demon of academic ineligibility. Joseph just refused to take no for an answer in pursuit of his dream to play college football.

Their journey had similar beginnings. Patterson played well enough to earn a starting role at linebacker on Leon High School team, and Joseph was a better-than-average cornerback at Miami Columbus. Neither drew interest from major college scouts.

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Robbery charges against NSU's Monroe are dropped

Charges of armed robbery against Norfolk State University basketball player Brandon Monroe were withdrawn Wednesday, a little over two months after his arrest following an incident on Old Dominion University's campus.

Monroe's attorney, Michael Fasanaro, described the case against his client as simple mistaken identity. "The description by witnesses was of a guy being about 6-foot-2," Fasanaro said. "We're talking about a basketball player who is 6-7 or 6-8."

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Former WSSU Wedlock comes clean about DVD

I have been talking with former WSSU football player Jonathan Wedlock via e-mail and myspace for about two months now. I’ve been looking forward to doing an interview with him because I knew quite a few people wanted to hear about from him.

I ran a story (by Steven Gaither) about his professional football career taking off in the American Indoor Football Association and quite a few readers hit me up about that piece. Some wanted to know if his “So Hard To Be A Ram” DVD was still available. Yes, it’s still available. And he’s still willing to give out a copy or two.

I wanted to ask him about that infamous Youtube classic, as well as his football career. Wedlock is one of the leading running backs for the Florence (South Carolina) Phantoms. We also discussed a number of other things like Division I, differences in arena leagues, homecoming and late night partying.

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FAMU Taylor will lean on Lee at backup QB

Rattlers' coach likes freshman athleticism

A second look was all it took for Tobias Lee to return to playing quarterback for Florida A&M. After all of the film-watching and performance evaluations from spring practice, coach Joe Taylor was impressed with Lee's athleticism.

Taylor was even more impressed with the 3.5 GPA Lee maintained while carrying 18 hours in the classroom during the spring. "He has not only got it physically, but he has it mentally," Taylor said Monday. "That's the kind of kid you want at quarterback because he's very intelligent." So Lee will go into the fall practice as the primary backup to Eddie Battle. The move reverses Taylor's decision after spring practice to shift Lee, a redshirt freshman, to tight end.

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Throwbacks: Grambling 80 list honored best football players over program's first eight decades

The News-Star selected the top 80 players from Grambling as the storied program celebrated eight decades of football in 2006.

GRAMBLING — Grambling resident Ray Higgins' grandfather, Milton "Twenty" Douglas, was on the local college's first football team, organized 80 years ago. No, Eddie Robinson wasn't Grambling's first head football coach — a common mistake, Higgins notes, chuckling. It might seem that way since Robinson coached nearly 60 of those years.

Higgins is celebrating that long history of football at Grambling — both by highlighting its storied accomplishments and adjusting a few misconceptions — on a fan-operated Web site called http://www.gramblingstateuniversity.com/. There, he's informally polling fans across the nation to assemble a list of the program's Top 80 all-time players. "The great thing has been talking with people from different eras about Grambling's history," said Higgins, a booster who graduated from Grambling Lab and then GSU.

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Howard Bison Oliver blazes to 110 hurdles crown

David Oliver ran the fastest time in every round on the way to his first U.S. outdoor championship

When he found her on his victory lap, the former Denver East athlete and newly crowned Olympic trials champion gripped his mother in a long, tight hug. "I'm just glad to be able to share this moment with her," said Oliver, who blazed to the finish line Sunday in 12.95 seconds to win the 110-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. "She's my inspiration. Without her guidance, especially when I was younger, I wouldn't be able to do the things I'm doing now."

David Oliver's 12.95 wind-aided Olympic Trials Final race in the 110 meter hurdles.


Oliver's mother, Brenda Chambers, was an All-American at Colorado in 1981 in the 400 hurdles. She competed in the 1980 Olympic trials at the same stadium as Oliver but never had a chance to compete in those Olympics because of an American boycott. Her son only recently emerged as a track star. He played football and ran track at Howard University but wasn't a standout until after college. He was the lowest seed in the 110 hurdles in the 2004 Olympic trials but now has the second-fastest time in the world.

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Nicole C. Mullen - Music of My Heart

Printers and Hamilton Ticats have claws after all

Video Highlights: http://watch.tsn.ca/cfl-news-and-highlights/clip64416#clip64416

Excerpt from article:

Led by Jesse Lumsden's 189-yard, two-touchdown rushing night and Casey Printers' smooth-and-patient quarterbacking, the sadsack Ticats looked like a different kind of team: a suddenly dangerous one. The Argos, in contrast, who drew 30,822 for the biggest home-opener head count since 1992, were stunningly ineffective for much of the night. Kerry Joseph, the starting quarterback coming off a championship season in Saskatchewan in which he ran for about 43 yards a game, looked only slightly more mobile than Michael Bishop, the backup QB, and Bishop spent the entire evening standing on the sideline.
















Photo: Former Florida A&M University quarterback Casey Printers lead the Tiger-Cats to a 32-13 victory over the Toronto Argonauts on the road (photo courtesy JOHN SOKOLOWSKI).

The Ticats, meanwhile, attacked with an efficient use of both ground and air, Printers making good on 16 of 23 for 171 yards passing. And it made one wonder how a team that looked positively disorganized a week before – turning it over three times in ceding Montreal the early momentum – could look so estimable. Printers and Lumsden ran zone-read fakes with convincing precision. Lumsden, held to 36 yards on nine carries in the opening-week loss, rushed for 86 yards in last night's first half alone, and the Ticats – who got 75 rushing yards from Tre Smith – tallied 313 yards on the run all told. Lumsden leant two hands on another key play, helping to push Printers into the end zone after Printers – in a quarterback sneak not far from the goal line – hit the wall and needed a little more oomph on his second-effort thrust for six points.

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Payton Award to be presented prior to MEAC/SWAC Challenge Football Game

The Game: MEAC/SWAC Challenge, Jackson State University vs. Hampton University.

Former Jackson State and NFL star Walter Payton will have another award presented in his honor when JSU and Hampton play in the fourth annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge in Orlando, Florida, on Aug. 31. The two teams kick off at 1 p.m. inside the Citrus Bowl. The challenge will present the Walter Payton Achievement Award for the first time this year to players who stand out in the classroom and on the playing field.

JSU linebacker Marcus Smith and Hampton wide out Kevin Teel have been selected to receive the award at a kickoff banquet Aug. 29. Payton's son, Jarrett, a former University of Miami and current Montreal Alouettes running back, will present the award and former Grambling and Super Bowl-winning quarterback Doug Williams will serve as the keynote speaker.

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Walter Payton Documentary


Read: Never Die Easy: The Autobiography of Walter Payton by Walter Payton and Don Yaeger

JSU prized three-star QB reports to campus

Prized football recruit Dominick Britt has been on campus for two weeks and is enrolled in two summer classes. He took a short break this weekend to go home for the holiday. Some rumors had swirled whether the 6-foot-4, 175-pound three-star quarterback from Trotwood-Madison (Ohio) HS would make it down due to academic concerns.

Since arriving in Jackson, Britt said he has been working out with strength and conditioning coach Derek Scott at 5 a.m., taking music and history classes, studying the playbook and watching Hampton film in preparation for the season opener.

Dominick Britt is #2 in White


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