GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Grambing's not trying to duplicate its 2011 SWAC championship performance. The Tigers are trying to pick up where they left off. Big difference.
No one in black and gold wants to relive the 1-4 start. Everyone wants to keep clicking the way they were during a redemptive seven-game win streak that reclaimed the crown.
"What I try to convey to those guys is, 'Last year we started rough, but we ended well,'" coach Doug Williams said. "The most important thing is to continue where we ended.
"If we can continue to play the kind of football we played down the stretch, this could be a pretty good year for us if we can understand where we are, and I think we've got the leaders to convey that to the younger guys and pull it out of 'em. And I think we've got guys that are gonna push each other because of what they accomplished last year."
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Former B-CU standout signs with NFL Baltimore Ravens
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida - Former Bethune-Cookman standout linebacker Stevie Baggs Jr. is back in the NFL. Baggs, 30, a pass-rush specialist, has signed with the Baltimore Ravens, the team announced.
Baggs is a Canadian Football League veteran who has played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was a CFL All-Star with the Roughriders in 2009.
The Tiger-Cats cut Baggs in March after a reported contract dispute. He had made 50 tackles and five sacks in 18 games in 2011.
The 6-foot-1, 241-pound defender has been in NFL camps before with the Detroit Lions (2004-05) and Arizona Cardinals (2010).
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Baggs is a Canadian Football League veteran who has played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Edmonton Eskimos and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was a CFL All-Star with the Roughriders in 2009.
The Tiger-Cats cut Baggs in March after a reported contract dispute. He had made 50 tackles and five sacks in 18 games in 2011.
The 6-foot-1, 241-pound defender has been in NFL camps before with the Detroit Lions (2004-05) and Arizona Cardinals (2010).
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Female MEAC official to make NFL history Thursday
SAN DIEGO, California - Shannon Eastin will become the first female to officiate an NFL game when she works as a line judge for the Green Bay at San Diego preseason match Thursday night.
The regular NFL officials have been locked out by the league.
Eastin is a college referee who has worked in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, in which Norfolk State and Hampton compete. She is one of the replacement officials hired by the NFL and has 16 years of experience.
A resident of Tempe, Arizona, Eastin also has won six national judo championships. She was the youngest judo athlete ever to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, doing so when she was 11.
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Female ref to work NFL preseason game
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin — For the first time in league history, a female referee will officiate an NFL game Thursday night. Shannon Eastin, a referee from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, will wear the officiating stripes when the Green Bay Packers travel to San Diego to play the Chargers for each team's preseason opener.
When that news hit the Packers' locker room Monday afternoon, the players were surprised but supportive that a female would be given such an opportunity.
"Female, male, dog, cat, as long as they're calling the right calls and they know what they're doing out there, it really doesn't matter," tight end Jermichael Finley told FOXSportsWisconsin.com in an exclusive interview. "It's a person. She'll see the same things as a man. She knows how to blow the whistle the same way. "It's going to be something weird to see, but you deal with it and just roll."
With the league and NFL Referees Association currently in contract negotiations, the NFL has been training replacements since June.
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The regular NFL officials have been locked out by the league.
Eastin is a college referee who has worked in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, in which Norfolk State and Hampton compete. She is one of the replacement officials hired by the NFL and has 16 years of experience.
A resident of Tempe, Arizona, Eastin also has won six national judo championships. She was the youngest judo athlete ever to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, doing so when she was 11.
READ MORE
Female ref to work NFL preseason game
GREEN BAY, Wisconsin — For the first time in league history, a female referee will officiate an NFL game Thursday night. Shannon Eastin, a referee from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, will wear the officiating stripes when the Green Bay Packers travel to San Diego to play the Chargers for each team's preseason opener.
When that news hit the Packers' locker room Monday afternoon, the players were surprised but supportive that a female would be given such an opportunity.
"Female, male, dog, cat, as long as they're calling the right calls and they know what they're doing out there, it really doesn't matter," tight end Jermichael Finley told FOXSportsWisconsin.com in an exclusive interview. "It's a person. She'll see the same things as a man. She knows how to blow the whistle the same way. "It's going to be something weird to see, but you deal with it and just roll."
With the league and NFL Referees Association currently in contract negotiations, the NFL has been training replacements since June.
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Monday, August 6, 2012
Trifonov anticipates a ready FAMU volleyball team
TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Tony Trifonov will learn on Tuesday just how well his Florida A&M volleyball team adhered to its offseason workout plan. The Rattlers coach was actually anxious to find out last week, mentioning one major incentive why players needed to remain committed — they were stopped short of winning the MEAC title for a second straight season last year.
FAMU opens practice on Tuesday, three weeks before its first match in the University of Florida Tournament.
“I will see on the first day of practice how much they have done over the summer and how much time they’ve spent in the weight room,” said Trifonov, whose team won nine consecutive conference titles before hitting its recent dry spell.
“You would think that coming off a second-place finish in the conference tournament they would try to do a little bit extra so that we could return to the tradition of winning championships.”
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FAMU opens practice on Tuesday, three weeks before its first match in the University of Florida Tournament.
“I will see on the first day of practice how much they have done over the summer and how much time they’ve spent in the weight room,” said Trifonov, whose team won nine consecutive conference titles before hitting its recent dry spell.
“You would think that coming off a second-place finish in the conference tournament they would try to do a little bit extra so that we could return to the tradition of winning championships.”
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New Norfolk State receivers coach has NFL experience
NORFOLK, Virginia - The Norfolk State football team rounded out its coaching staff less than a week before training camp begins, bringing in Quintin Smith to coach wide receivers.
Smith, who signed with the Chicago Bears as an unsigned free agent out of Kansas and played in the 1990 and '91 seasons, becomes the only NSU coach with NFL playing experience and the first since quarterbacks coach Jeff Parker in 2009. He has coached high school and college football, been a professional scout and taught high-level social studies.
"I think I bring a unique skill set," Smith said Thursday. "There's not a lot of scouts that get into coaching. There's not a lot of teachers that were players. I was undrafted out of college, but I was at the next level.
"Guys that play in college, they all have that dream to play professionally. I think it brings some automatic credibility."
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Smith, who signed with the Chicago Bears as an unsigned free agent out of Kansas and played in the 1990 and '91 seasons, becomes the only NSU coach with NFL playing experience and the first since quarterbacks coach Jeff Parker in 2009. He has coached high school and college football, been a professional scout and taught high-level social studies.
"I think I bring a unique skill set," Smith said Thursday. "There's not a lot of scouts that get into coaching. There's not a lot of teachers that were players. I was undrafted out of college, but I was at the next level.
"Guys that play in college, they all have that dream to play professionally. I think it brings some automatic credibility."
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NSU football | Five questions as practice kicks off
NORFOLK, Virginia - Norfolk State won its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in 14 tries last season. The Spartans, the favorites to repeat in a poll of coaches and sports information directors, have much to address first.1. Who will replace Chris Walley?
Walley was NSU's first MEAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year and the most accurate passer the Spartans have had. Backup Nico Flores was 9 for 17 and fumble-prone. Norfolk State brought in two junior college quarterbacks this season, but head coach Pete Adrian has named Flores the starter heading into training camp - but not his starting quarterback for the opener. None of that screams confidence. Flores' early performance will likely dictate whether there's a true quarterback competition during the fall, or whether the Spartans maintain the natural line of succession.
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Alabama A&M's Davies welcomes 17 players to "The Hill"
NORMAL, Alabama – Head coach Frank Davies welcomed 17 women soccer players to “The Hill” today for the start of their 2012 preseason camp. Opening his 12th season at Alabama A&M, coach Davies introduced two newcomers to the athletic department and 15 returnees.
One of the newcomers is Miss Marissa Oehler a goalkeeper from Deltona, Florida. She participated with the Omega Soccer Club where she was the starting goalkeeper, when the team played in the Humanitarian Games.
The other signee is Miss Maria Farella who played defender at Baker High school in Cape Coral, Florida.
The women’s soccer team will begin camp on Friday, August 3rd with a full day of meetings then assessments and physical training. Opening practice begins on Saturday morning.
The Maroon and White are slated to play its home opener against Belmont University at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 12th at the women’s soccer field.
Admission is free.
COURTESY ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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