Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 11-14-17

Sports
Happy 53rd Birthday, Former Major League Superstar Dwight Gooden
Licht: Jameis Winston Could Miss Extended Time
Dwight “Doc” Gooden
was one of the MLB’s most electrifying pitchers, putting together a 1985 season where he made history. On this day at the age of 20 in 1985, Gooden was named the Na- tional League Cy Young Award winner, a year after he was named the NL Rookie of the Year and is the youngest person to do so.
Gooden, born November 16, 1964 in Tampa, Florida, was selected in the first round in 1982 and played for the New York Mets-affiliated minor league team, the Lynchburg Mets.
Spending just one season in the minors, Gooden was called up in 1984 and made his MLB debut with the Mets en route to his top rookie sea- son.
Dwight Gooden grew up in East Tampa and played lit- tle league baseball at Bel- mont Heights Little League. He went on to become the youngest person to receive Major League Baseball’s ‘Cy Young Award.’
The following year, Gooden blazed through the MLB with stellar pitching performances that still as- tound baseball fans.
Along with winning the Cy Young, Gooden recorded the “Triple Crown of Pitching” by earning 24 wins, a 1.53 ERA and 268 strikeouts. He also became the youngest player to win 20 games in a season that same year as well.
The following year, Gooden had another strong campaign. Gooden has also been named to the New York Mets Hall of Fame.
Earlier this year, he was also awarded a key to the city to make up for missing that parade ceremony in 1986 while also reconciling with his former teammate, Daryl Strawberry.
At a time when it’s widely believed that Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Win- ston may miss only a couple of weeks with an injured shoulder, the team’s General Manager says fans should be bracing for something longer than that.
Jason Licht said on the team’s pre-game radio show that “[t]his may be an ex- tended period of time” for Winston, adding that “there is no timeline on this.”
Winston initially injured the shoulder four weeks ago, and he aggravated it the fol- lowing week. He injured it again last week in a loss to the Saints, exiting at halftime. Licht said, however, that a
JAMEIS WINSTON
new injury did not occur last weekend.
The news comes at a time when the Bucs are 3-6. The question is whether any con- tinuation of the current strug- gles will be held against the coaching staff or the front of- fice, given the absence of the first overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Bucs Rely On Defense To End Five-Game Skid, Provide Hope For Turnaround
that there’s nothing else El- liott can do to have the six- game ban overturned, he has decided there is no reason for him to remain in the United States.
Elliott is leaving the country to clear his head and train in an “undisclosed loca- tion” until he is eligible to re- turn to the Dallas Cowboys.
Elliott’s next hearing won’t be until Dec. 1, so he is going to miss at least the next four games. He will in all like- lihood miss the full six, and Rapoport noted that the star running back isn’t plan- ning to return from his over- seas training until late December.
One week ago, Tampa Bay Buccaneers star line- backer Lavonte David was nearly inconsolable leaving the field against the New Or- leans Saints. On Saturday night, he stood before his teammates and delivered an emotional speech, telling them, "Do it for the family." He also said that no matter what everyone else was thinking -- the fans, the media, anyone around them -- that only people who could change their situation were right there in that room.
Sunday was a start. With no Jameis Winston, no Mike Evans and not much hope heading into the second half of their season, the Bucs were able to snap a five-game losing streak with a 15-10 win over the New York Jets, thanks to a dominant per- formance on defense. They showed that they haven't given up and that any shot of salvaging their season to some level of respectability will be because of the de- fense, the same unit that helped orchestrate last year's midseason turnaround.
"There was a lot of frus- tration [last week], because I know we're a great football team," said David, who led the Bucs with eight tackles, two tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery against the Jets. "We just beat ourselves.
Gerald McCoy brings down Jets quarterback Josh McCown for one of the Buc- caneers' six sacks.
That was the frustrating part. ... Today, everybody took that to heart [and] did their jobs. Everybody played football the way we know how to and we had fun today."
They were able to gener- ate pressure, getting a sea- son-high six sacks from newcomers Will Clarke and Darryl Tapp and Robert Ayers, Gerald McCoy, Clinton McDonald and linebacker Kendell Beck- with, whose role standing up at the line of scrimmage -- something the Bucs unveiled against theBuffalo Bills -- is starting to make an impact. Heading into Sunday's game, the Bucs had just eight sacks in eight games for the season, the fewest in the league.
“The veterans definitely emphasized bringing that en- ergy and bringing that pas- sion and I think we came out the gates swinging, especially
on defense” said defensive end Ryan Russell, who said practice this week set the tone. “We were just running to the ball. The Saints hit us with a lot of screens and guys weren’t really, really running 110 percent. I think it started with the small details in practice, everyone running to the ball, all 11 guys.”
Their coverages looked tighter. They had takeaways, with cornerback Brent Grimes picking off Josh McCown on a deep post route to get things going. Then David forced a third- quarter fumble, with Kwon Alexander recovering it. They were able to get off the field on third down, allowing the Jets to convert just 3 of 15 tries (20 percent). The last three games, they were al- lowing a combined 52.7 per- cent.
"Before we even stepped out of the locker room, our minds were made of what we were gonna do," said Alexander, who finished with four combined tackles, two quarterback hits and a pass breakup to go with the takeaway. "We were just playing. Everybody was just feeding off each other. No- body had to do too much to make a play. Everybody was just doing their job and in the right spot where they needed to be and making plays."
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT
Ezekiel Elliott’s last legal option for the time being was exhausted earlier this week when the Second Circuit Court denied an emergency injunction that would have blocked his suspension. Now
Ezekiel Elliott Reportedly Leaving Country To Train During Suspension
Miami Jumps To No. 2 In AP Poll Behind Alabama
Miami is back at No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, the Hurricanes' best ranking since 2003.
The undefeated Hurri- canes leaped five spots from No. 7 after routing Notre Dame on Saturday night. Al- abama remained No. 1, where it has been since the preseason, getting 57 first- place votes. Miami received the other four first-place votes.
Oklahoma moved up two spots to No. 3, jumping
Clemson, which remained No. 4. Unbeaten Wisconsin moved up a spot to No. 5.
Three matchups of top-10 teams on Saturday produced lopsided victories for the home teams, including Miami's win over Notre Dame. The Irish dropped six spots to No. 9.
Auburn moved up to No. 6 after beating Georgia. The Bulldogs fell from second to seventh. TCU dropped out of the top 10 after losing at Oklahoma.
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