Final blog post: Closing points
I came to South Africa to study. In the back of my mind, I knew I would be volunteering, but I never knew it would be such an memorable experience that would have a significant impact on my life. I will forever remember my experiences with SHAWCO and it has encouraged me to consider doing more volunteering when I return back to America.
I learned more from my hands on experience volunteering than I did in any class this semester, and it is incredible how quickly everything came to an end. It felt like it was just yesterday that I was walking onto the SHAWCO bus for my first session with the kids, but it was actually several months ago.
The most important outcome from this semester is, without a doubt, the fact that I can leave SHAWCO knowing I made a difference in the lives of the students I worked with. I learned a lot about how poor the South African education system is, and these kids really needed the extra help after school. I was glad to pitch in and do my part in giving back to the community I am living in this semester.
I won’t ever know where these kids will end up in their future, but I do know one thing: I made a difference in what they know going into their future.
Thanks to everyone for reading!
In Cape Town for the semester
As I mentioned before, I am here in Cape Town, South Africa for the semester. I am keeping a blog of my experiences on the Ithaca College Sport Management and Media blog, so if you would like to follow along then just click on this link. If you simply scroll down on that page, you can find the posts I have made so far.
I probably won’t be writing too much on here this semester since I will be a bit preoccupied — but once I return to the states in June, I will be sure to catch up on all things Mets since it will be a couple months into the season. In the meantime, feel free to follow along on the IC blog.
Jeff Fisher asking for too much power?
Jeff Fisher had a very lasting 18-year career with the Oilers/Titans, in which he led his team to a Super Bowl and several playoff appearances. He is repeatedly regarded as one of the better coaches in the game, and now that he has spent some time out of the game following his last job, he is anxious to get back on the sidelines.
The news had broke a couple days ago that Fisher was interested in becoming the next head coach of either the Rams or the Dolphins. Each team has a head coaching vacancy as they try to rebuild their teams.
The update last night was that Fisher had agreed to become the coach of the Rams, specifically because there was a disagreement between Fisher and the executives of the Dolphins regarding the breakdown of power in the team. Fisher wanted full control of the roster while the Dolphins still wanted their general manager to have a part in making decisions about the team’s roster.
While I do believe Fisher is one of the best coaches alive, I do believe he might be asking for too much power. To ask for control of the entire roster minimizes the role of the general manager and other executives. I know many teams have head coaches with quite a bit of control, such as Andy Reid in Philadelphia, but sometimes I think it is important to keep the powers separated a bit in case something goes wrong. I definitely think the coach should have more power than a manager does in baseball, and I believe that he should have some significant power in deciding the roster. But if a team starts losing, having the ability to adjust some of the power isn’t as difficult when there are some separation of powers.
If Fisher wants to become a general manager, he should go ahead and look for a general managing job — but he might be asking for a bit too much as a head coach. But if this is what the Rams are looking for, maybe it will be the answer.
Red hot Giants have Super Memories as they travel to Green Bay for rematch of ’07 NFC Title Game
As I walked through MetLife Stadium to watch the Giants play the Falcons in the Wild Card Playoff game last weekend, I stood in awe as I saw an enormous painting on the wall above me — it was a photo of a noticeably freezing cold Tom Coughlin celebrating on the field in Green Bay when the Giants won the 2007 NFC Championship Game in sub-zero temperatures.
Just a few hours later, I realized the Giants would be in the same position again.
The Giants dominated the Falcons in the second half on Sunday, as Eli Manning andthe Giants offense were firing on all cylinders while the Giants defense shut out the Falcons altogether and had several key fourth and 1 stops.
The Giants running game, which ranked dead last during the regular season but had been improving in recent weeks, was rejuvenated on Sunday as Brandon Jacobs (92 yards rushing) and Ahmad Bradshaw (63 yards rushing) found holes in the defense and helped wear down the Falcons. This opened up the passing game and Eli Manning found both Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham in the endzone for a combined three scores. I predicted earlier in the week that Nicks or Manningham would have a big game because of all the hype surrounding Cruz. The Falcons shut down cruz, but the Giants just have too many weapons.
The Giants have never looked like a more complete team than I’ve seen in the last two weeks — every single aspect of their game has been solid and they have not been turning over the ball at all. The best improvement I have seen is on the defensive side, which looked shaky earlier in the season. However, they have really found their groove in recent weeks and it is quite impressive when a defense shuts out an offense in the playoffs. The key fourth and 1 stops were the most impressive part of the game by the defense, as those fourth and short plays usually decide a game more than people may think.
The Giants will look to build on this momentum as they travel to Green Bay for the Divisional Playoff matchup on Sunday at 4:30 pm. The Packers’ quest for an undefeated season was put on the line when the Giants put up a great fight against them late in the season. The Giants and Packers offenses were both moving the ball effectively, as the game was tied at 35 with under a minute to go. In shootouts like those, it is all about who has the ball last and Aaron Rodgers and the Packers had just enough time to get down into field goal range. Mason Crosby booted the field goal through for the game-winning score, but the game was so close that it could have gone either way. Regardless, it makes for a very interesting playoff matchup.
What to watch for:
- I think the Giants defensive line could make all the difference in this game, as they are finally much healthier now than they were before. New York is not afraid to put their four defensive ends on the line — Umenyiora, Tuck, Pierre-Paul, and Kiwanuka. This fierce combination has caused disruption every single time they have put them on the line this season, I don’t know why they don’t just use them exclusively.
- The Giants offense needs to make sure they don’t fall behind the powerful Packers offense. If they can run the ball effectively and spread the ball around in the air, they should be able to wear out the Packers defense enough so that they can get some scores without too much difficulty. Most importantly, they need to limit turnovers.
- The Giants core that remains from the ’07 Super Bowl squad need to continue to step up and play the way they did in that playoff run, because time is running out. They won’t be together forever and they have a prime opportunity to repeat their success if they can put together a few more wins.
My picks for Wild Card Weekends
The most exciting time of the year has arrived – when only 6 teams in each conference remain. The top two seeds in each conference will have the week off, but the rest of the teams are excited to face off in what should be an unpredictable Wild Card weekend.
I decided to make some picks for this weekend’s games, which you can see below:
Bengals at Texans
My pick: Bengals
This should be an exciting one, and it certainly fits the “Wild Card” label with two rookie quarterbacks at the helm. It could be a wild one, but in the end I have to go with the Bengals in this matchup. I attended the Bengals/Texans game last month in Cincinnati, and the Bengals definitely played like the better team. They had a lead until the very end when Texans backup quarterback T.J. Yates drove his offense down the field to score the game-winning touchdown at the very last second.
If the Texans had currently injured quarterback Matt Schaub starting, I would probably be choosing the Texans here — but T.J. Yates has only started a few games while Matt Dalton has been starting since the beginning of the season. The key for the Bengals will be to shut down both the Texans running game and the tight ends (particularly Owen Daniels) in the passing game.
Steelers at Broncos
My pick: Steelers
This is quite a lopsided matchup, but that’s what we said last season when the 7-9 Seahawks ran all over the 11-5 Saints. The Broncos do have a home field advantage here as the Steelers defense will have to be without Ryan Clark, who has a heart condition that prevents him from playing in higher elevations.
Even without Clark, the Steelers defense should prove to be too much to handle for shaky Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who has really came back down to Earth in recent weeks. Just a week ago, the Steelers had a chance to wrap up a first round bye and a home game in the divisional playoffs. Instead, they are on the road in the opening week of the playoffs and they have a huge advantage over Denver.
Falcons at Giants
My pick: Giants
The Falcons have not fared well in playoff games in recent history, as they are 0-2 under Matt Ryan. Eli Manning, on the other hand, has won a Super Bowl but he hasn’t found a way to win a home playoff game despite two chances in his career. The Giants seem to consistently fall flat in home games, but last week they had no difficulty in beating the Dallas Cowboys in their playoff-clinching victory in the Meadowlands.
I have a feeling that the Falcons will work very hard to shut down Victor Cruz in this game, so look for unexpected receivers to emerge in this game for the Giants when Eli is forced to look for other options. Last week, it was the fullback who came out of nowhere and caught passes all over the field. This week, tight end Jake Ballard is expected to return, so the Giants offense should be firing on all cylinders.
The biggest difference in this game will probably be the Giants defense. Since I have no worries about the offense, the defense has seemed to improve in recent weeks with many players (Umenyiora) finally getting healthy. If they can perform at their best, it could be a long day for Matt Ryan.
Lions at Saints
My pick: Lions
I may regret picking the Lions here because the Saints are so unstoppable in the Dome. But I have a hunch that the Lions are going to “shock the world” as everyone has been saying this week. The Lions offense scored over 40 points outdoors in Green Bay last week, so they should be in sync this week when they play in the dome. Let’s not forget the Lions are a dome team as well, so they will be comfortable playing indoors.
I wouldn’t be surprised if either team won this game, but I have a feeling the Lions will come out on top, winning their first ever wild card playoff game.
