2B - Wednesday, August 11, 2010 * Jackson County Floridan SPORTS www.JCFLORI]DAN-com Shaq's plan: 6 teams, 6 titles Grand Ridge Athletics Athletic physical for Grand Ridge Middle School will be conducted on Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the new gym. Cost is $20. For more information, call 482-9835, ext. 221. Malone Soccer Malone City Soccer League will have three signup days in August. The first will be Saturday at Malone Town Hall from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The second signup will be on Aug. 20 at Malone School was 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., with the third com- ing on Aug. 28 at Malone Town Hall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more informa- tion, contact Phil Winget at 850-557-3417. Hudson Golf Tournament The Fourth Annual Coach John "Hud" Hudson Golf Tournament will be Aug. 21-22 at Caverns Golf Course. Morning or afternoon tee times are available in the three-man scramble format. Cost is $80 per person and includes free range balls and lunch on Sunday. Cash prizes will be paid for the top three teams in each flight. Long Drive and Closest to Pin prizes will be awarded each day. For more information on the tournament, con- tact Hunter Nolen at 573- 6474, John Dondaldson at 573-0806, Brian McKeithan at 482-4257, Nora Mayo at- 209-4743, or Tommy Lassman at 718-794. . Marianna QB Club The Marianna Quarterback Club is hav- ing a membership drive for the upcoming school year. The Club, which funds the Marianna High School football program, is selling Century Club seats at $150 per set. That allows for two tickets to all home varsi- ty and junior varsity .football games, as well as an invitation to tail- gate under the Bulldog Barn in the South Endzone before varsity games. Those interested can contact Club treasur- er Rex Torbett at 573- 0247, or Bulldogs coach Steve DeWitt at 482- 9605. Sports Items Send all sports items to editorial @jcfloridan. co m, or fax them to 850- 482-4478. The mailing address for the paper is Jackson County Floridan P.O. Box 520 Marianna, FL 32447. By JIMMY GOLEN Tm, ~AssoclATED FO PiSS WALTHAM, Mass. - When Shaquille O'Neal was much, much younger and a good deal smaller, too, he chose as a role model one of the most successful big men in NBA history. "When I came into the league, I' wanted to compete with Bill Russell for titles," O'Neal said Tuesday, with Russell's 11 cham- pionship banners hanging above him at a news conference to mark his signing with the Boston Celtics. "That's not going to hap- pen, but I'd like to almost get half of what he got." With four titles and a Hall of Fame career already on his resume, newly christened "Big Shamrock" signed a two-year deal 'with the Celtics at veteran's minimum, for- going more lucrative offers to join the defending Eastern Conference champions for a run at another championship or two. A crossover celebrity who has appeared in feature films and his own TV show, O'Neal joked about his new nickname, his fear that his kids will develop a Boston accent and trying to beat new teammate Glen "Big Baby" Davis in a chow- der-eating contest. But he was serious when he talked about his legacy. "Do I have the same hunger? Yes. If I didn't, I wouldn't be here," O'Neal said. "I don't like wasting my time. I don't like wast- ing anybody's time. At the end of the day, when I close the book, it's all about winning." The news conference to intro- duce O'Neal wasn't the usual type for a backup, 38-year-old center job in life, you have to make adjustments. You have to make changes, and we're making some changes in how we practice and look at things. I think it's going to benefit us." DeWitt said the Bulldogs, who spent the first two days of prac- tice in shorts going through two- a-days, will utilize more film study this season than it has in, the past. Perhaps the biggest change that will need to be evident if the Bulldogs are to have a better 2010 season, is a defense capa- ble of getting consistent stops. Marianna surrendered. 31 points per game in its last eight games of the season, a trend that DeWitt said must not repeat itself in 2010. "Defense was our focal point in the spring, and I think we got better there. Now it's about car- rying it bver into the fall," the coach said. The Bulldogs' defense had a solid showing in a 34-14 spring jamboree against Northview. DeWitt believes his defense .is on the right path to improvement this season. "I think the difference is that we're a little ahead of the game as far as our offense, so there's not a whole lot more to teach," he said. "(The players) are famil- iar with the language of the offense and that sort of thing, so who will be paid about $1.3 mil- lion a year. There were.a dozen TV cameras, perhaps 50 reporters in all and a couple hundred beaming schoolchildren in the bleachers, taking a break from their basket- ball camp next door. Also in the gym: Kevin Garnett, who promised O'Neal he would fly back from Hawaii to be there. "To me this is a very exclusive event," said O'Neal, who wore a gray pinstriped suit and a black bow tie. "It's my last (introducto- ry) press conference. I just wanted to be very, very sharp." The crowd was all there to see O'Neal the superstar, the former NBA MVP and four-time champi- on who is certain to be enshrined in the Hall of Famne down the road in Springfield whenever he decides he's had enough. But the O'Neal the Celtics have signed is a much different 'player than the one who accumulated those credentials. Now weighing in at 345 pounds - he was 294 at LSU - O'Neal averaged 12 points and 6.7 rebounds for the Cavaliers last sea- son, when he was brought to Cleveland in the hopes that he would be the missing piece that would help LeBron James win his elusive NBA title. He also missed almost two months of the regular season after injuring his thumb against the Celtics, "I told him theie won't be 30 minutes (for him) on this team; there-will be 20-25," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I asked him if that would be OK, because that's the only way it's going to work." And it was OK with O'Neal, who hit the free agent market seek- ing a two-year deal worth a report- that allows us to spend more time on the defense. "We move the football pretty' well, but we've got to figure out how to stop some folks." On offense, speedy senior wingback Tre Jackson will be counted on to provide the big plays in the running game. Junior fullback Chris Bowers will give the Bulldogs some inside punch. The quarterback position is less clear for the Bulldogs, with juniors Hakeem Holmes and Michael Mader vying to replace Montgomery. Holmes, who backed up Montgomery as a sophomore, is the speedier of the two, while the lefty Mader is the better passer. DeWitt said he's not sure what he's going to do with the posi- tion, nor is he positive when he'll decide. "It's a great question because I don't know the answer to it," he said. "I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate both of them. It may be a week-to-week thing. -I liked what I saw from both of them in the spring, so I don't know that we'll have just one quarterback this year." Marianna will play a presea- son jamboree against Mosley on , Aug. 27 in Lynn Haven, before opening the regular season Sept. 2 in Cottondale against the Hornets. Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, right, presents newly signed basketball player Shaquille O'Neal his new jersey at a news confer- ence on Tuesday in Waltham, Mass. - Greg M. Cooper/Associated Press ed $8 million to $10 million a sea- son. The Celtics expressed an interest - though not at that price - and general manager Danny Ainge moved on to pursue other options. As the summer wore on, though, O'Neal came around. Ainge said O'Neal's agent called and said, "Shaq would like to play there, and he's willing to come on your terms." "I think Shaq's a guy who can still make a difference," Ainge told reporters in a conference call after the news conference. "When he was in his prime, he was consid- ered one of the best who has ever played. Shaq coming to our team right now, our expectations won't be that. We expect him to con- tribute to our team and play a role off our bench." But that can be a major contribu- tion for a team that is without cen- ter Kendrick Perkins for at least half the season while he recovers from the knee injury he sustained during Game 6 of the NBA finals. Backup Rasheed Wallace has said he will retire, though there is a chance the. Celtics could do some- thing with his contract. Boston signed Jermaine O'Neal, another reclamation project, and then added his more illustrious namesake. There won't be a prob- lem with playing time until Perkins returns. "Shaq still can do things that no other big man can," Rivers said. "You need size to win. We think we filled that void pretty well today." Florida Continued From Page 1B coordinator, Teryl Austin. Sure,.Florida has plenty of expe- rience on the defensive line. But the Gators also have concerns, espe- cially with Lawrence Marsh (ankle), Terron Sanders (knee), Justin Trattou (biceps), Jaye Howard (knee) and Brandon Antwine (shoulder) coming off injuries. The biggest challenge fac- ing Floyd, Powell and Easley is get- ting accustomed to the speed of the college game and the size and ath- leticism of the guys blocking them. "There aren't any 5-foot-2, 250- pound linemen like in high school," Floyd said. Floyd and Powell found that out in a hurry, when Meyer matched them against bigger linemen during one-on-one "circle" drills during the first full-pads practice Monday. "Guys kind of wait sometimes for guys that have those 15 stars behind their name to come here and see if they can humble them a little bit," defensive line coach Dan McCamey said. "That's just human nature. ... But it's the best group of young defensive linemen I've ever been around. They're all going to be really good players. It's just a mat- ter of when, not if." Floyd had reason 't6 be ready for this opportunity. He grew up poor and remembers wearing the same clothes to elementary school every day for months at a time. His bio- logical father died when he was 3 years old, and the man he thought was his father over the next 12 years "didn't treat me right growing up." Floyd left home at 15, moved in with grandmother and then bounced around from coaches to friends to other relatives. "Football turned out to be the best thing that ever happened for me," Floyd said. Floyd had made up his mind to sign with Ohio State until he met Powell at the Army All-American Bowl. That's where they decided to stick together, Floyd spurning the Buckeyes and Powell snubbing Southern California. Easley made a similarly surpris- ing decision a week earlier, when he de-committed from Penn State in favor of Florida. All three expect to make an immediate impact, but Powell has the biggest plans. "I do have expectations for myself," he said. "I want to be the best defensive end in America. I want to be that. My expectations are a lot higher than everyone else's.". Maybe not Easley. He compared the trio to something happening in Miami, where James, Wade and Bosh joined forces to make the Heat a favorite in the NBA's Eastern Conference. "Just like them, we've still got.to earn our respect," Easley said. "We made a pact to keep pushing each and never let each other go down. If we do that, we'll live up to the hype." Revis Continued From Page 1B SUNY Cortland. He's scheduled to make $1 mil- lion in the fourth year of his six-year rookie deal, but wants to become the league's highest-paid cor- nerback. The Jets turned down the latest contract proposal from Revis' agents after a sit-down meeting last Friday, and general manag- er Mike Tannenbaum said it was "hard to say" when the sides would talk again. Owner Woody Johnson said Monday he was not opti- mistic a deal could get done before the season, and told 1050 ESPN New York on Tuesday that the gap between the sides is "insur- mountable." Johnson also. told the radio station that he was "rebuffed" by Revis' agents when he asked to be part of that meeting. Agent' Neil Schwartz told The Associated Press: "That's a blatant lie. Whoever gave him that information is incorrect. I wanted Mr. Johnson's thoughts on the proposal, so why would I not want him there?" Schwartz added that he would meet with Johnson "any time, any place." * Meanwhile, Ryan indicat- ed he probably wouldn't reach out to Revis. "I don't know what I would tell him," Ryan said. "I don't know if he'd take my call. ... We'd say hello to each other, I guess." SEC Continued From Page 1B Florida State (as an assistant), that wasn't always the case. It didn't seem like every game we played was a big monster game, but every game we play now feels like a monster. It's very difficult to stay at that peak performance week in and week out. But if you don't, you're going to be in trouble." What makes the SEC the nation's top col- lege football conference? Here are a few theo- ries: .- Tradition. Everyone knows that success tends to breed more success, and no league has a deeper group of teams that have been to the mountaintop. Half of the SEC's 12 members have captured at least one Associated Press national title, led by Alabama with seven. In fact, four different schools (Alabama, Florida, LSU and Tennessee) have finished No. 1 in the AP poll over the last 12 years. No other league can match that depth - or the urgency among the rank-and-file to keep winning titles. Fans get a little greedy once they've seen their team hoist the biggest trophy of all. - Coaching. The best are drawn to the SEC like moths to light, spurred by the chance to win championships and the willingness of schools to dole out big money in hopes of keeping up with their neighbors. Nick Saban left the NFL for a $4 million-a-year job at Alabama and needed all of three seasons to lead the Crimson Tide back to the top. Urban Meyer is an offensive mastermind who restored the tradition established at Florida by Steve Spurrier. Les Miles picked up where Saban left off at LSU, Richt has guided Georgia to a pair of SEC titles, and Bobby Petrino appears on the verge of taking Arkansas to national prominence. - Big money. The SEC is rolling in dough, thanks to huge television packages (a $2.25 billion contract with ESPN, a $55 million-a'- year deal with CBS) and some of the largest stadiums in the country, which are generally filled to capacity. Tennessee's Neyland Stadium and Alabama's Bryant-Denny hold more than 100,000, Georgia's Sanford Stadium and LSU's Tiger Stadium seat more than 92,000, while Florida, Auburn and South Carolina all have facilities that can accommo- date at least 80,000. Only two stadiums in the conference seat fewer than 60,000. - Talent, talent and more talent. Some of the best high school football in the country is played right in the SEC's backyard. Florida has a bountiful recruiting base in the Sunshine State, while Georgia rarely has to venture out-' side of its boundaries to put together one of the nation's top teams. Alabama and Louisiana also chum out plenty of top prospects each year, many of whom choose to play close to home. - Leadership at the top. The last two guys running the conference office - former com- missioner Roy Kramer, current commish Mike Slive - are wily administrators who've used their power and influence to keep the SEC at the head of the pack. Think expansion is some- thing new? Way back in the early 1990s, Kramer sought out Arkansas and South Carolina as new members, giving the league the 12 schools it needed to launch college foot- ball's first conference championship game. Slive wisely followed in Kramer's footsteps, aggressively taking the SEC into a brave new multimedia world. - Passion. The Deep South certainly does- n't hold a monopoly when it comes to loving football, but one could make a pretty com- pelling argument that no other region has such an affection for the college game. The sport cemented its hold during the civil rights era - first as a source of segregated pride for white- only teams, then as an inevitable tool for breaking down racial barriers. Also, major league sports were a relatively late arrival, allowing the fan base to remain monolithic in its affections. Even now, a city such as Atlanta, with teams in all four major professional leagues, is still viewed by many as a college town at heart. Five of the nine states within the SEC's footprint - Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Kentucky and T Arkansas - have never had a major profes- sional franchise. "Growing up in the South, everybody is a huge SEC football fan," said Georgia's Hutson Mason, a freshman quarterback. "You're almost forced into it." While offense wows the fans, it's defense that wins championships. And the SEC appears to put special emphasis on that side of the ball. Last season, Alabama gave up the sec- ond-fewest points in the country (11.7 per game), Florida ranked fourth and LSU was 11th. At NFL draft time, seven of the first 26 picks came from the SEC - five of those were defensive players, more than any other confer- ence in the opening round. "The SEC has great defenses," LSU center T-Bob Hebert said. "Defense is the key to every championship team. Some of the defen- sive linemen and linebackers in the SEC are really special players. A lot of them end up in the NFL. I don't know what it is, but the SEC teams can recruit some defensive studs." Maybe it's the climate. There can be some sweltering, un-football-like conditions on game day, but Richt believes those long stretches of warm, sunny days contributes to the SEC's success. "The weather in this part of the country allows kid; to do things outside more than inside most of the year as they're growing up," Richt said. Over the past few months, the SEC appeared caught off guard when other conferences, most notably the Pac-10 and Big Ten, moved boldly to add new members. When the dust settled, the shake-up wasn't as dramatic as some thought it might be - the Big Ten added Nebraska, the Pac-10 picked off Utah and Colorado. Each of those leagues can now set up their own conference championship game, which might help narrow the gap on the SEC. But for now, one league stands alone. The SEC - SECond to none. Bulldogs Continued From Page 1B