Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-30-18

Sports
Bucs' Kwon Alexander
Super Bowl 52 National Anthem Business As Usual For NFL
For what will be the most watched rendition of the na- tional anthem at an NFL game during a season that has fea- tured unprecedented protest- ing during the singing or playing of the "Star Spangled Banner," the NFL will not do or say anything out of the or- dinary ahead of Super Bowl 52 in Minneapolis.
The national anthem, to be performed by P!nk before the Eagles and Patriots play, will be business as usual, the league says.
"We have always encour- aged everyone — players, coaches and fans — at our games to stand for the na- tional anthem,” NFL spokesperson Brian Mc- Carthy told Sporting News. “The standard (public ad- dress) announcement will be made encouraging everyone to 'please rise.’
The NFL during the 2017 season has seen many players across several teams use the national anthem as a stage to protest social issues in Amer- ica.
2018 Pro Bowl: AFC Rallies For Rain-Soaked Win Over NFC
Not Listening To 'Outside
Noise' From Warren Sapp
Heavy rain fell Sunday in Orlando.
The steady rain was a fac- tor in the first of four AFC turnovers in the 2018 Pro Bowl, but the AFC rallied for a 24-23 victory over the NFC at Camping World Stadium.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr hit Titans tight end Delanie Walker for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:31 remaining to lift the AFC to the one-point lead after trail- ing the entire game.
Walker was the game's of- fensive MVP after catching four passes for 29 yards and two scores. Broncos linebacker Von Miller was the defensive MVP with three tackles and a game-sealing strip sack with
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pro Bowl picks Gerald McCoy and Kwon Alexan- der responded to some scathing criticism from Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp this week, when he called the Bucs' 2017 defensive performance "dis- graceful."
“I don’t listen to the out- side noise," said Alexander, who was in Orlando, Florida, last week taking part in his first Pro Bowl. "I don’t care who’s talking about our team. He had his run and we’ve got ours. This is on me, my de- fense. We’re gonna get to where we need to be. They weren’t perfect when they first got here. We’re gonna get the job done. So he can just stay over there...”
In an interview with Spec- trum Sports, Sapp said, "I'm lost. I'm as lost as any fan. And I know defense when I'm looking at it. It just doesn't make sense."
"It really does not make sense what they're doing on a play-in, play-out basis," Sapp said. "But, hey, some- body is making a lot more money than me doing it. So I'm gonna hope that they can fix it because what we saw this year was disgraceful, ab- solutely disgraceful."
KWON ALEXANDER
Alexander's point about the Bucs' defense when Sapp first arrived in Tampa in 1995 is valid. Sapp had three sacks in his rookie season and didn't reach double dig- its until Year 3. Linebacker Derrick Brooks, who was drafted that same year, was playing out of position as a strongside linebacker and struggled at times. The Bucs went 7-9 and finished fifth in the NFC Central. It was an experience Sapp has re- ferred to as a "three-ring cir- cus" under coach Sam Wyche. That was the year before Tony Dungy arrived.
“It’s tough, but we’ve been hearing it," Alexander said of the criticism. "We’ve just gotta overcome it and just do our job. Then when we do our job, they’re gonna be all on us. You know how that goes.”
AFC linebacker Von Miller (58), of the Denver Broncos and tight end Delanie Walker (82), of the Tennessee Titans, pose with the NFL Pro Bowl trophy after defeating the NFC 24-23.
36 seconds remaining.
Saints quarterback Drew
Brees led the NFC downfield on the opening possession for a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with an 8-yard pass to Vikings receiver Adam Thie- len.
ESPN Anchor Jemele Hill Leaving ‘SportsCenter’
Jets' Bart Scott Recalls Ridiculing Aaron Hernandez About 'Finding A Body'
Jemele Hill will no longer host ESPN’s flagship “SportsCenter,” ESPN an- nounced on Friday. She will be re-assigned to a new role at The Undefeated, the com- pany’s site that covers the in- tersections of sports and race.
Hill famously called Pres- ident Trump a “white su- premacist” on Twitter last year and was not initially punished by ESPN, but was then side- lined for two weeks in October when she violated the com- pany’s social media guidelines a second time by calling on fans to boycott the Dallas Cow- boys’ advertisers after owner Jerry Jones told players they would be benched if they did
JEMELE HILL
not stand up during the na- tional anthem.
ESPN has said the move was Hill’s choice, but sports talk radio host Clay Travis tweeted that she was “booted” due to “collapsing ratings.”
She is expected to depart SC6 the first week of February. Hill has three years remaining on her ESPN deal.”
Bart Scott said he and his Jets teammates used to try and unnerve Aaron Her- nandez during games by telling him they heard police "found a body."
The former Jets line- backer said the taunts were made to get under Hernan- dez's skin during his time with the Patriots because they knew he was a "bad guy," but it was before Hernandez was accused — and eventually convicted — of murder.
"Let me tell you what the running joke was with Her- nandez — as players, we used to always mess with Hernandez when we were on the field and say, 'Hey man, I heard they found the body.' We thought it was a joke, because we knew some- thing had happened in Florida," Scott said on "The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie" on Friday.
BART SCOTT
"So the whole running joke was 'I heard they found the body.' We all knew he was a bad guy. There had been sto- ries floating with this guy for years."
Hernandez was with New England from 2010-12 before his crimes caught up with him. Scott said the comments weren't because they thought Hernandez was actually a murderer, but because he was playing well and they wanted to fluster him.
"This was when he was playing and thriving. No, we
used to say, 'We heard he found the body.' It was a run- ning joke," Scott said. "We didn't think it was serious. We knew he was a bad guy."
Scott also explained that Jets players knew of Her- nandez's ties to gang activ- ity, which is why they thought of him as a "bad guy." Scott said he thinks because Her- nandez wasn't able to re- move himself from that company that he ended up going down a dangerous path.
"Weknewhewasina gang. A lot of players are in gangs. A lot of us grow up in gangs, and what happens is it's hard to remove yourself," Scott said. "But what hap- pens is you're removed by distance. The people in my neighborhood are 10 hours away. The hardest thing for Hernandez is they are right there.
WILLIE O’REE
A special celebration of Willie O'Ree, hockey's Jackie Robinson, unfolded in Boston on Wednesday, the eve of the 60th anniversary of the breaking of the NHL's color barrier.
O'Ree, the Bruins trail- blazer, became the first black player to compete in an NHL game on Jan. 18, 1958, when he took the ice at the Montreal Forum. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh declared the day Willie O’Ree Day forevermore in the city and announced plans to refurbish a suburban street hockey rink in O'Ree's name.
The Bruins also honored
O'Ree with a ceremonial puck drop before Wednesday's game against the Canadiens and commemorative patches worn by both teams.
O'Ree played two games with the Bruins in 1958 before being sent to the minors. He rejoined the team during the 1960-61 season, scoring four goals and 14 points in 43 games, before being traded to the Canadiens. O'Ree never dressed for Montreal and spent the remainder of his professional career in the Western Hockey League until retiring in 1979.
The NHL often touts diver- sity and inclusion through its partnership with You Can Play and initiatives to grow the game of hockey in inner cities, but it still has much progress to make on both fronts. In 2018, only 47 active NHL play- ers identify as non-white (4.5 percent), per league statistics.
Willie O'Ree Honored By NHL On 60th Anniversary Of First Game
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2018