WVUE Sports Features

International Soccer Exhibition set for Saturday

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:29:19 -0600

New Orleans -- One of the premier soccer clubs of Honduras is set to play the Chicago Fire Saturday at Tad Gormley Stadium in the International Soccer Exhibition.

"Real España has won 10 Liga Nacional titles, with the most recent championship coming during the 2010-11 campaign," reads a news release on the Exhibition. "Featuring former LA Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon, Real España will enter the match after finishing as runner's up during the 2011 Honduran Apertura season.

"The match with the Chicago Fire is set for 5 p.m. on Saturday at Gormley. The day begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and will include photo opportunities and autograph signings with major players. There will be live music, food and other exhibition matches throughout the day-long festival which concludes at 10 p.m. with a game after party.

"Tickets for the international friendly start at just $10 for children and $20 for adults and are available at http://www.chicagofirejuniorslouisiana.com."

Loyola Hall of Fame Induction Tickets

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:19:51 -0600

Click Here for more information.

Free special events surround Final Four

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:57:27 -0600

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Organizers of the 2012 Final Four say fans and families throughout the region don't need tickets to the big games to take part in many of the events New Orleans will host that weekend.

Jeff Hathaway, who chairs the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee, stresses that several events are free. Those include admission to the Superdome for all four team's practices and a college all-star game on March 30. There is also a "Big Dance" concert series at Woldenberg Park on the city's river front on March 30 and April 1.

Championship director Jacqie Carpenter says there will be community service initiatives including educational programs and free basketball clinics for up to 800 youth.

The semifinal games are on March 31 and the championship game is April 2.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Long lines to bid farewell to Paterno

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:41:29 -0600

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Decked out in Penn State hats and jackets, students and townspeople stood in a line more than a quarter-mile long Tuesday to pay their respects to Joe Paterno, the coach who for nearly a half century was the face of their university.

Mourners stood in a line along a main campus artery for the chance to file past Paterno's closed casket at the campus spiritual center during a 10-hour public viewing session.

They were preceded by Paterno family members - the coach's son, Scott, was seen going in and out of the event - and the Penn State football team, both present and past.

Players wore dark suits and filed out of three blue Penn State buses, the same buses that once carried Paterno and the team to games at Beaver Stadium on fall Saturdays.

Among that group was Mike McQueary. As a graduate assistant to Paterno in 2002, he went to the coach saying he had witnessed former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky assaulting a boy in the shower at the Penn State football building. Paterno relayed that to his bosses - including the head of campus police - but university trustees felt he should have done more, and it played into their decision to fire the longtime coach on Nov. 9. That came four days after Sandusky was arrested on multiple child sex-abuse counts.

Dressed in a blue coat and tie with a white shirt, the school colors, McQueary was among thousands of expected mourners at an event that was to stretch late into Tuesday night.

One current and one former team member will stand guard over the casket for the duration of the public viewing, athletic department spokesman Jeff Nelson said.

"He left us too early and I think about the impact he could have made once he retired from coaching," Nelson said.

The 85-year-old Paterno, the winningest coach in major college football, died Sunday. The cause, lung cancer, was disclosed in November, just days after he was fired.

Earlier Tuesday, a line of ex-players stretched around the corner and down the block. Among the mourners were former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers great Franco Harris.

Others there included NFL receivers Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood, Norwood's father and Baylor assistant coach Brian Norwood and former quarterback Daryll Clark.

The event marked the start of three days of public mourning as the Penn State community in State College and beyond said goodbye to the man who led the Nittany Lions to 409 wins over 46 years and raised the national profile of the school.

There is another public viewing Wednesday at Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, and after that Paterno's family will hold a private funeral and procession through State College.

On Thursday, the school's basketball arena will be the site of a public service called "A Memorial for Joe." Tickets were quickly snapped up for the event, even though there was a two-per-person limit for those ordering.

Former players began arriving shortly after members of Paterno's last team filed in. Some players hugged, and new Penn State coach Bill O'Brien shook hands with others at the curb outside the center.

Penn State linebacker Khairi Fortt recalled his coach's lessons.

"He said the most important thing for us was to keep the Penn State tradition going," the sophomore from Stamford, Conn., said after leaving the viewing.

Scott Paterno has said that despite the turmoil surrounding his termination from the school, Joe Paterno remained peaceful and upbeat in his final days and still loved Penn State.

Bitterness over Paterno's firing has turned up in many forms, from online postings to a rewritten newspaper headline placed next to Paterno's statue at the football stadium blaming the trustees for his death.

A headline that read "FIRED" was crossed out and made to read, "Killed by Trustees." Lanny Davis, lawyer for the school's board, said threats have been made against the trustees.

Scott Paterno, however, stressed his father did not die with a broken heart and did not harbor resentment toward Penn State.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Final Play: Fred Hickman's Final Word

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:04:00 -0600

I was told once that when a person loses a loved one, a spouse, a child or a parent, there's a certain feeling one gets. I can't explain it. There's the loss, yes, but there's also a sense of grief which goes beyond description.

I feel that way tonight about Joe Paterno, the former head coach at Penn State University "Joe Pa"...the winningest coach in Division 1 college football history. He passed away this morning at the age of 85 due to complications of lung cancer. That's the 'medical' explanation.

But, somehow, somewhere deep in my soul, I believe Joe Paterno died of a broken heart.

The man won 409 football games as a head coach. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

He won two national championships and produced great men ...not just players...such as Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell... the latter got to spend a few moments with the coach in his last days, and said "Joe's legacy will always be intact because we won't let Joe's legacy die," and i think that's 100% right.

This is not about Jerry Sanduscky and the child molestation charges he faces. I hope Sanduscky pays, but today is not about a twisted guy who has allegedly done unspeakable damage to countless unknown numbers of young men over the years. That's for the courts to decide.

I believe the unbelievable controversy, which cost Paterno his job and his legacy, hastened his demise. Paterno lost the one thing he loved more than anything else, his team.

Should he have been more proactive in stopping his assistant from allegedly harming young men in the program? Yes.

Should he have understood things and standards have changed since the good old days of 1966 when he took the job and such things, as sexual molestaion, simply weren't discussed in public? Yes.

Is this the day we should throw a man, whom I believe to have been, essentially a good man under the bus? Absolutely not.

I grieve for Paterno's widow and family.

I grieve for Penn State football.

I grieve for the game.

And, I think that the sports landscape is better because Paterno was here for a season, in God's time.

That's my final word.

Odom, West lead Mavs to 83-81 win over Hornets

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:23:52 -0600

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Lamar Odom scored 16 points in his first start of the season and the Dallas Mavericks overcame the absence of Dirk Nowitzki to send the New Orleans Hornets to a seventh-straight loss, 83-81 on Saturday night.

Delonte West scored 16, while Shawn Marion had 14 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for the Mavs. Jason Terry added 12 points, including two free throws in the final seconds that made it 83-80 before Jason Kidd made sure to foul Jarrett Jack before he could attempt a game-tying 3.

The foul gave Jack two free throws. He missed the second on purpose, but could not convert a quick putback for the tie.

Emeka Okafor tied a season high with 16 points and grabbed a season-best 17 rebounds for New Orleans.

Final Play: Fred Hickman's Final Word

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:05:00 -0600

Since football is over in our area for the season, we decided to hit you with a double Final Word. Here is mine.

Thank, and you.

I want to thank the saints for a spirited record-filled season and for giving me the privilege of covering a group of men who represent their team, the sport and our city in an inspiring way.

Believe me, I've covered a lot of teams over the years, and none have been a bigger pleasure.

Sean Payton is the consummate head coach.

I’ve never seen a coach work on a blown out knee...the one he suffered in tampa week six, and never miss a beat.

Drew Brees, who's my personal MVP, broke all kinds of records. But, more important, he made all the players around him including Jimmy Graham, Lance Moore, Darren Sproles, Marques Colston and the list goes on...better.

That's what leaders do.

Jonathan Vilma, my regular partner on the Final Play program every Sunday night, show up even when he didn't feel like being here. This guy played the season on one leg, and never once whined about it. He raised up his defense to a level the unit never got proper credit for.

But, I guess most of all; I have a great appreciation for what the team does off the field.

The Brees Dream Foundation to fight cancer.

Zach Strief's foundation promotes education.

Roman Harper’s Hope 41 Foundation strengthens families.

That’s just a few.

So, I tip my cap to the Saints.

Mini camps open in June.

Can't get here soon enough!

Gay, Gasol help Grizzlies overwhelm Hornets 108-99

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 21:53:50 -0600

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Rudy Gay scored 23 points, Marc Gasol added 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the New Orleans Hornets 108-99 Saturday night.

Mike Conley had 17 points and seven assists, while Marreese Speights and Tony Allen finished with 12 points apiece.

Jarrett Jack led New Orleans with 23 points, while Jason Smith had 15, including 10 in the fourth quarter as the Hornets cut into the lead. Greivis Vasquez scored 14 points and handed out six assists. Marco Belinelli contributed 10 points.

Memphis built a comfortable lead against the New Orleans starters. But the Hornets bench players used a much more aggressive style on both ends of the floor to threaten the Grizzlies' lead.

New Orleans has lost three straight and nine of its last 10.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Stingy 49ers hold down Drew Brees, Saints 36-32

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:34:05 -0600

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Alex Smith completed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with 9 seconds left just after Drew Brees had put the high-powered Saints ahead, and the resurgent San Francisco 49ers capitalized on five New Orleans turnovers for a thrilling 36-32 playoff victory Saturday.

Smith ran for a 28-yard TD with 2:11 left and threw another scoring pass to Davis. Coach Jim Harbaugh's NFC West champions (14-3) proved that a hard-hitting, stingy defense can still win in the modern, wide-open NFL by holding off one of league's most dynamic offenses.

San Francisco triumphed in its first playoff game in nine years, moving within one win of returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since capturing the proud franchise's fifth championship after the 1994 season. The Saints finish at 14-4.

Next up for the 49ers is the NFC title game against the winner of Sunday's New York Giants-Green Bay Packers matchup.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Head injury sidelines Saints RB Thomas vs. 49ers

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:10:50 -0600

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas has left in the first quarter after taking a hit to the head against the San Francisco 49ers in their NFC divisional round playoff.

Thomas caught a pass from Drew Brees on the Saints' opening drive Saturday and absorbed a vicious blow from Donte Whitner just short of the goal line. Whitner jarred the ball loose, and Patrick Willis recovered for the 49ers at their own 2-yard line.

The Saints didn't immediately have an update on Thomas' status. The 49ers lost center Jonathan Goodwin with a lower left leg injury. Goodwin appeared to get tangled up blocking in front of screen pass to Frank Gore, leaving with 7:33 left in the second quarter.

Goodwin returned after Adam Snyder replaced him for one series. Among the key offseason acquisitions for San Francisco, Goodwin is one of the few playoff-tested players in the locker room. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Saints two years ago, anchoring a much-improved 49ers line this season.

The hard hits piled up early in San Francisco's first home playoff game in nine years.

Saints tight end Jimmy Graham also limped off the field after getting tangled up with Whitner earlier in the first quarter.

Officials called a 23-yard pass interference penalty on Whitner on the play.

Graham returned for New Orleans' next possession and caught a 14-yard TD pass from Brees in the second quarter.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)