All Entries Tagged With: "Football"

Football begins spring practice

By Daniel Gaona

The Pima Community College football team has begun spring practices to prepare for next season, in addition to working on strength and conditioning.

“We’ve got a long way to go but our kids have progressed and they are a lot further along than we were in the fall,” head coach Pat Nugent said. “We’re excited about the direction we’re going.”

Nugent said that around 20 new players have showed up along with the 46 returning players but he added that he hasn’t gotten a chance to see any of the recruits yet.

The practices began on March 23 and will run for five weeks. There will be three practices a week.

As of April 6, the team had scheduled only one full-contact practice in the six meetings.

The practices will conclude with the spring game on April 24 at 10 a.m.

Nugent hopes the game will be at either Salpointe Catholic High School or Cienega High School because of the turf fields.

Check for updates at AztecPressOnline.com

NFL may kill sudden-death rules for playoffs

By Austin Driscoll

The National Football League may be changing the way overtime is handled in the playoffs starting this upcoming 2010 season.

Under the new rule being proposed at the end of the month, each team would have a chance to score instead of it being a sudden death situation, but only sort of.

The winner of the coin toss would have to score a touchdown to win the game. That team could still settle for a field goal but then the opposing team would be given the chance to tie with its own field goal or it could win by scoring a touchdown.

If the score is tied, both teams do it all over again until a clear winner comes out on top. Essentially the first one to score a touchdown would win.

This rule will not be applied to regular season, just the postseason. The overtime loss that the Vikings suffered to the Saints sparked the discussion of a rule change.

I’m not so sure the Vikings loss can be blamed on the overtime rules or the fact that Brett Favre is known to throw game-losing interceptions like he did against the Saints with 12 seconds left in regulation.

Green Bay also suffered an overtime loss at Arizona in the playoffs this past year, but the Packers lost when the Cardinals scored a defensive touchdown.

Two years ago, Indianapolis lost in San Diego but the rule change wouldn’t have helped the Colts because the Chargers scored a touchdown.

Overtime was introduced to the league in 1974 but the playoffs have always used the sudden death format that is still used today, at least for now.

The NFL’s version of sudden death is exactly how it sounds. The referee flips a coin and whoever wins, gets the ball first in overtime. Whichever team scores any amount of points first automatically wins. The current rule includes field goals, which is the way a lot of overtime games are won.

Some argue that you can’t tell which is the better team unless both offenses are given the chance to score. The reality of the situation is that the losing team dug its own grave. If one team can’t manage to beat the other in regulation then it should be sudden death.

I can see why some see this to be unfair but in my opinion it is brilliant. It really makes teams battle for the win, which puts on a better show for the fans. It puts heavy pressure on both sides of the ball.

Teams that keep this in mind will battle their hardest through all four quarters of play and won’t have to worry about losing by a cheap field goal in overtime.

The rule isn’t perfect but neither is the new one. There are going to be controversies in all aspects of every sport but one thing is certain: the team who plays the hardest will win the game.

Athletic Voice: Experience will power Colts

By Daniel Gaona

After both came close to going undefeated in the regular season and both survived the playoffs as the No. 1 seeds, the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints will face off in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7.

The Saints clinched their first ever NFC Championship with a 31-28 overtime win against the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 24. New Orleans exploded to an impressive 13-0 start before losing its final three games. The disappointing finish left fans concerned but it didn’t daunt the team.

In the AFC, the Colts have found their way back to the Super Bowl for the second time in four years. The 30-17 win over the high-flying New York Jets could be deemed as revenge for ending Indianapolis’ perfect season at 14-0.

Nevertheless, first-year Colts coach Jim Caldwell was the one who decided to rest players in the final two weeks, also causing some worry.

New Orleans’ trademark is an explosive offense. In just two postseason games, the Saints have led the league with 76 points.

The offense, led by quarterback Drew Brees, was the top scoring team in the regular season as well with 510 points. It also averaged more than 400 yards a game in the regular season.

The Saints can also play defense. New Orleans survived off blitzing schemes against Arizona and Minnesota, and its defense was constantly in the quarterback’s face.

Indianapolis is loaded on both sides of the ball. Peyton Manning is arguably the best quarterback to play the game and he is the heart and soul of the team. He threw for 4,500 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark were two of his favorite targets in the regular season; both had 100 receptions and 10 touchdowns. However, Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie have been the two top receivers in the playoffs. They combined for 360 yards and three touchdowns in two games.

Combining the Colts’ lockdown defense with their powerful offense is a deadly combination, especially late in the game when the entire team is clicking.

The game might be close, but from what I see the winner is easy to pick. Experience will be a factor and only one mistake could make a difference.

The Colts won three years ago in Miami and they are going to win again. Manning was named the regular season MVP, but he won’t be happy until he hoists the Lombardi trophy once again.

Editor’s pick: Colts 34, Saints 24.