SPORTS
- Inside the Huddle
- Dolphins drown Ospreys in men's 16th consecutive loss Ryan Clarke
- Women dominate free-throw contest Lori Bero
- 13 season-bests not enough to keep swimming afloat Sarah Diener
- UNF Sports Club spotlight
- Rabbits vs. Rhinos John Weidner
Inside the Huddle
 Matt Coleman Editor in Chief |
 Josh Salman Assistant News Editor |
 Ross Brooks Discourse Editor |
 Sarah Diener Sports Editor |
| Question 1: What should fans expect from the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby team playing at UNF? | |||
| Fighting, definitely. Drinking, certainly. Rugby, maybe. | You can bank the Rabbitohs will bring some excitement, heavy hitting and funny accents to UNF. | A good, hard fought rugby match with athletes of a caliber rarely seen in U.S. professional sports. | Hot Russell Crowe, hot muscular players, hot Austrailian accents ... who needs a football team? |
| Question 2: The Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman recently said the best way to beat Tiger Woods is to "lynch him in a back alley." Where does this statement rank among the all-time dumbest sports commentary? | |||
| A little higher than anything that comes out of Stephen A. Smith's mouth. | It's a good one, but it can't match up with some of Woody Paige, John Madden or Bryant Gumbel's comments. | Right above Don Imus' comments and just below everything John Madden has said in the last five seasons. There are people with Alzheimer's who speak more clearly than that man. | Right next to this golf gem: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father," said pro golfer Greg Norman. |
| Question 3: With two weeks before Super Bowl Sunday, what piece of over-analysis are you most looking forward to? | |||
| John Madden posing as Captain Obvious: "When your arm gets hit, the ball is not going to go where you want it to." Thanks for that pearl of wisdom, buddy. | I can't wait to see "Jaws" breakdown the weaknesses of the New England offense 19 times only to see them put up 50 against New York. | I always love Michael Irvin's comments. He shows all the kids out there that becoming a renowned drug abuser and poor sport holds no limitations to what you can acheive in the future. | I'm usually too distracted by Jimmy Johnson's hair to listen to what he's saying. |
| Question 4: The game time temperature during the NFC Championship Game in Green Bay was -1 degrees with a wind chill of -23 degrees. Is there any sporting match-up you would sit through those conditions to watch? | |||
| A steel-cage match between John Madden and Stephen A. Smith. | Only the 1-15 Dolphins vs. the 3-13 Rams. That would be a good one. | Absolutely not. | Well, with global warming it might not to be too long before we see a beach volleyball game in those conditions. |
Compiled by Brett Morgan PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Dolphins drown Ospreys in men's 16th consecutive loss
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Top: The Ospreys' shooting average decreased to below 30 percent in the second half of the Jan. 19 game, while JU shot 40 percent. The Ospreys lost 56-67 to the Dolphns. Bottom: Freshman forward Justin Cecil posts up against a Dolphins defender. |
In front of a record crowd of more than 3,000 people, the UNF Ospreys lost 56-67 to the top-ranked team in the Atlantic Sun Conference - the Jacksonville University Dolphins.
JU snatched its fifth victory of 2008, equaling the school's best-ever start in conference play. The win left behind any chance of an Osprey victory with UNF shooting 29 percent in the second half.
Both teams shot better than 40 percent from the field, leading to a 29-25 halftime advantage for JU. But the second half saw JU increase their shooting percentage from 40 to 45 percent, while UNF's decreased to below 30.
The game was tough for UNF without shooting guard sophomore Stan Januska, who was out serving a one-game suspension after being ejected during the team's last outing against Kennesaw State University.
Januska was averaging nine points per game, while his replacements, sophomore guard Germaine Sparkes and walk-on junior guard Jonson Yousefzadeh, had a combined three points per game. The duo went 1-14 from behind the arc.
"It came down to who executed best and we didn't," head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "Our kids fought hard, but you've got to be able to make plays."
The Ospreys became the first team in six games to out-rebound JU, who, coming into Saturday night's contest, had out-rebounded its conference foes by more than 10 boards per game.
The Dolphins ran a full-court press through the duration of the game causing problems for the Ospreys who committed 18 turnovers and had nine assists.
Senior guard Chris Timberlake added another achievement to his long list of accomplishments at UNF, becoming the fifth player in school history to move past the 1,000-point mark.
Timberlake spent the evening guarding and being guarded by one of the conference's top point-guards, JU's Ben Smith.
"Chris is a great point guard," Smith said.
During the second half, Smith, along with teammates Lehmon Colbert and Marcus Allen, scored 31 of JU's 38 second-half points. Allen also scored 11 rebounds, giving him his third double-double of the season.
Tom Hammonds led UNF
scoring 17 points.
"In the second half, there's something we have to get over," Hammonds said. "I don't know what it is. We have a couple turnovers in a row, and then they get a big lead and you're looking up at the scoreboard and we're down by 14 or 15 and saying 'how'd they get up so fast?'"
UNF returns to the Arena Jan. 25 to take on South Carolina Upstate at 7 p.m.
Contact Ryan Clarke at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
Women dominate free-throw contest
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Freshman Harrison Springer attempts a 3-pointer during the Jan. 18 contest. |
An intramural basketball free-throw and three-point contest brought out a few of UNF's sharp shooters Jan. 18.
Junior Amy Lewis won both the free throw and 3-point contest for the women. Senior J.T. Tynan won the free-throw contest and freshman Joe Largura won the 3-point contest in the men's competition.
"For the men, we had 10 contestants who shot 10 shots in each of three rounds for both the 3-point and free-throw contests," senior Intramural Supervisor Kelly
Veley said.
The women each had 10 shots, but only participated in one round because there were only two contestants.
Lewis won with five of 10 3-pointers, the same amount Largura scored for the men's competition in the final round. Lewis also matched Tynan's nine of 10 free throws.
"The girls shot amazingly," Veley said. "They did much better than the guys, which isn't surprising."
Each of the winners received an intramural championship shirt.
The next one-day intramural event is dodgeball Jan. 25.
Contact Lori Bero at staff2@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
13 season-bests not enough to keep swimming afloat
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The Ospreys lost 134-107 to the FGCU Eagles Jan. 18. However, more than six swimmers recorded season-best times. |
During it's last home meet of the season, UNF's swimming and diving team recorded 13 season-best times, but this was not enough to keep the Ospreys from falling to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles in a 134-107 loss Jan. 18.
Sophomore Krissy Harms scored a career best of 4 minutes, 42.2 seconds in the 400-IM. Junior Caroline Poling had a season-best of 58.23 seconds in the 100-butterfly and the 200-medly relay where she locked in two first-place finishes.
During the 100-freestyle, freshman LynAnn Nelson scored first place with a season-best time of 53.68 seconds. Juniors Emily Eisenhower and Debbie Rapoza shared first place in 1- and 3-meter diving with scores of 249.74 and 262.42, respectively.
UNF will take on Georgia Southern at noon
Jan. 26.
Contact Sarah Diener at sports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE
UNF Sports Club spotlight
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UNF TRIATHALON CLUB
"Whether someone is a serious athlete or just wants to get in shape while having fun ... This club has a great group of people willing to help anybody out." -Valeria Nolla, Club President
What: Train for triathalons in Florida by biking, swimming and running
Last Event: "The Horrible 100." A 100-mile bike ride in Clermont, Fla.
Next Event: Feb. 15. "12 Hours of Sebring." A 12-hour bike ride in Sebring, Fla.
How you can join: Send an e-mail to Club President Valeria Nolla at valerianolla@hotmail.com
Rabbits vs. Rhinos
South Sydney Rabbitohs slated to play first U.S. game at Hodges Stadium
Two International Rugby League teams will face off at 1 p.m. Jan. 26 at Hodges Stadium.
Students might have noticed the teams training over the last several days at UNF.
These groups are the Leeds Rhinos and the South Sydney Rabbitohs - highly respected English and Australian rugby teams. A sport wildly popular in Europe but
little-known in the United States.
They have been using UNF as their warm-weather training camp the last few weeks to prepare for their upcoming season.
The Rhinos will end their winter training at UNF by facing off against the Rabbitohs, in what will be the first international league Rugby match ever played in Jacksonville.
Jacksonville's very own American National Rugby League team, the Jacksonville Axemen, are helping host the teams and are organizing all ticket sales.
Rich Alleger, a senior public relations major, is a member of both the Jacksonville Axemen and the UNF rugby club and has been allowed to train with the Rabbitohs during the past few weeks hoping they will ask him to play during the Austraila Day Challenge. Alleger said he has been training every day at 8 a.m. doing conditioning and weight
training.
"These guys are really hard to keep up with," Alleger said. "They [Rabbitohs] are some of the best players in the world."
Alleger, who plays the hooker and halfback position, said he won't find out until the day of the game if he and two other teammates will be asked to join in for play.
The Rabbitohs, also known as the Souths, are partially owned by Academy Award-winning Austrailian actor Russell Crowe.
Founded in 1908, the Rabbitohs got their name during the 20th century when players sold rabbits in town markets for extra money. In 2007 the Rabbitohs earned a 12-25 record.
The Rhinos are champions of the European Super League. They have won the title in the Grand Final - the equivalent of our Super Bowl - in October 2007 at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United soccer club, in front of more than 70,000 fans.
Tickets for the match can still be purchased online from jaxaxe.com and at the Fine Arts Center box
office for $12.
Contact John Weidner at ports@unfspinnaker.com -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE