The History of the AFL on SHOWTIME

SHOWTIME Sports and the National Football League celebrate the 50th season of the maverick American Football League, from its tumultuous beginnings to its unlikely merger with the rival NFL, through an insightful NFL Films-produced five-part documentary entitled Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League, premiering on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on SHOWTIME.

The return of Pat Patriot - EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

The return of Pat Patriot - EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA

Posted using ShareThis

Blue Devil Blunder

The Duke University graduate who wrote the following statement was applying for an internet writing position. After getting turned down, he claimed to have been offered a column in the Charlotte Observer:

“I have s tsudent point of view being a recent graduater and nothing can be claerer to the sense of young Duke fansd everywhere than hearing it from someone who is in the same age range as the students who attend the university.”

Aren’t people from Duke supposed to be smart? To be fair, this fellow might be smart, and he might be a good writer, but he is incredibly sloppy at typing and lousy at proofreading his own work.

What a Gyp!

Thanks to a questionable call with 13.9 seconds left in regulation, the University of Denver women's basketball team eventually lost 70-60 in double overtime to Arkansas-Little Rock in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. The Pioneers held a 54-51 lead at the time, but even though DU's Brianna Culberson appeared to have established her position in the lane, she was assessed with a foul when UALR's Kim Sitzmann crashed into her. Sitzmann's field goal counted, and she tied the score on her subsequent free throw. The Trojans advance to meet Middle Tennessee in the championship game.



This was a heartbreaking way for the Pioneers season to end, but DU still has an outside shot at a bid to the Women's NIT. The WNIT selection committee awards an automatic bid to each team that finishes the highest in the regular-season conference standings but does not advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers will get that bid if the NCAA selection committee decides to take both UALR and Middle Tennessee.

Based on CollegeRPI.com, Middle Tennessee's current rating of 31 virtually guarantees an at-large NCAA bid even if the Blue Raiders lose in the Sun Belt Championship Game. However, UALR's current rating of 72 probably means the Trojans will not get an at-large NCAA bid in the event of a loss. Thus, if UALR wins, the Pioneers will likely get the Sun Belt's automatic WNIT bid by virtue of their 3rd-place regular season finish.

Photo of Brianna Culberson courtesy of DenverPioneers.com.

A Prayer for Sara

The Denver Pioneers women's basketball team experienced a frightening moment at Magness Arena Wednesday night when senior forward Sara Bents went down with an apparent neck injury. The incident occurred at 15:19 of the second half Of Denver's 77-49 loss to Middle Tennessee. Bent fell to the floor after attempting to block a shot and never got back up. The DU training staff had to keep her head and neck immobilized until paramedics arrived at the arena.

As paramedics prepared to put Bents on a stretcher, the Middle Tennessee players jogged over to the Denver bench where both teams joined hands and engaged in a brief prayer. Bents was on the floor for nearly 20 minutes before being transported to a nearby hospital (probably Porter Adventist, which is the official hospital of the Pioneers), so both teams were allowed to warm up again before play resumed.

By beating Denver, Middle Tennessee reaches 20 wins for the sixth consecutive season and remains undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play with a 12-0 record. Denver drops to 7-4 in the conference, 12-10 overall. The schedule doesn't get any easier for Denver this weekend, as the Pioneers travel Sunday to Arkansas-Little Rock which leads the Sun Belt West Division with a 10-1 record.