Despite signing a five-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts prior to the 2011 season, Peyton Manning finds himself with a new team heading into 2012. Manning signed a new five-year deal with the Denver Broncos, ending one of the most interesting free agency sagas since Brett Favre came out of retirement.
The field for this weekend’s Final Four in New Orleans has been set after some entertaining games in this past weekend’s Elite Eight. In the West Regional Final Louisville (30-9) knocked off Florida to advance to the Final Four for the ninth time in school history and its first since 2005. The Big East champions have now won eight games in a row with their last loss coming Mar. 3 against Syracuse. Rick Pitino’s squad beat No. 1 seed Michigan State on Mar. 22 to advance to the Elite Eight, then beat the No. 7 seed Florida Gators to earn their trip to the Final Four. The Cardinals will face off against in-state rival Kentucky in the national semi-finals on Mar. 31. The two teams did play each other in Lexington back in December and the Wildcats got the better of that game beating Louisville 69-62.
How did the Tampa Bay Lightning go from playoff contender, and what many viewed as a Stanley Cup contender this pre-season, to a team nine points out of the last playoff spot on March 26? The answer has a few parts: first the Lightning do not have a goaltender in the top 30 Goals Against Average Leaders or GAA but St. Louis, Boston, Minnesota, Colorado, Vancouver, and New Jersey all have two goalies in the top 30 GAA. The Lightning’s two goalies this year rank at 39 (Mathieu Garon) and dead last at 46 (Dwayne Roloson).
The Saint Leo University men’s basketball team earned a berth in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament for the first time in school history on Sunday, March 5th. Despite losing in the championship of the Sunshine State Conference tournament earlier in the day, the Lions third-place regular-season finish and a deep run in the conference tournament were enough to earn Head Men’s Basketball Coach Lance Randall and his team a spot in the field of 64. The Lions enter the NCAA tournament as a No. 5 seed and winners of nine of their last ten, having their only loss come in the finale of the Sunshine State Conference tournament.
The Saint Leo men’s basketball team (13-10, 7-6 SSC) trounced the Sharks of Nova Southeastern (11-12, 5-8 SSC) on Saturday afternoon to secure a winning record for the first time in 14 years. The 5th straight win for the squad came in a 61-49 victory at home in which the Lions dominated from the opening tip.
Women’s lacrosse may be new at Saint Leo, but the fan support is not lacking. With the advertising of free food and the first home game in the program’s history, over 600 supporters showed up to the new University Field to cheer on the team on Friday, Feb. 17, only to witness a 5-23 drubbing at the hands of the Lindenwood University Lions of Missouri.
Week 10 of the 2012-13 National Football League season arrives with the majority of the teams still theoretically in the playoff hunt. This week’s slate of games features some key divisional match-ups, as well as some intriguing AFC-NFC games. Here are my predictions:
On Oct. 27 the NCAA Division I Board of Directors voted on a few proposals that will allow each conference to make the decision on whether or not its member institutions can increase the student-athlete scholarship package to include the full cost of attendance. The proposal also includes the possibilities of multi-year scholarships as well as making the academic standards tougher on student-athletes. After the proposals were accepted NCAA president Mark Emmert said, “It was one of the most aggressive and fullest agendas the board has ever faced.” They moved with dispatch on it, and I think they’re taking positive steps for schools and student-athletes” (Associated Press).
The most successful season in Saint Leo women’s soccer history ended Sunday Nov. 13 in the second round of the NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament, when the top seeded Lions dropped a 2-1 decision to the fifth seeded Lynn University Fighting Knights. Saint Leo (15-3-1) came into the game fresh off a loss to Tampa in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament, after winning their first SSC regular season title in program history. Lynn (11-6-1) advanced to play the Lions in the second round of the NCAA after beating Florida Tech 1-0 in the first round.
The legendary Joe Paterno was fired as the coach of Penn State in the middle of his 62 years with the program and 44 as head coach. Paterno was relieved of his duties by the Penn State Board of Trustees on Nov. 9 a day after he had announced his retirement for the end of the season.
