Posts Tagged ‘trophies’

Hull Legacy

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

barmby 200x300 Hull LegacyNICK BARMBY picked up five trophies in one season at Liverpool but leaving hometown club Hull in the Premier League will match anything he has achieved in an 18-year career.

Barmby, 36, plans to play on for at least another season before moving into junior development and he said: “I want to leave a lasting legacy here by being in the Premier League.

“To do that would be right up there with the best of the things that have happened in my career. It is just the same as the five trophies or the 23 England caps I won. The achievement the club has made in the last three or four years is immense.

“If you stay in this league for three years you’ve really set your foundations and you can bring in even better players.

“This was a dream, to get in the Premier League, but it was realistic when you looked at your Readings and your Fulhams.

“The kids in the streets all wear Hull strips but when I was young it used to be Liverpool and Manchester United. My sole aim is to keep us up but I’d love to finish here and be involved with the young lads.”

First the former Everton forward, who famously crossed Stanley Park, must face the wrath of a set of supporters who have never forgiven him.

“Fans chant whatever they want to chant, but it’s never really bothered me,” he added.

“I never took the move lightly, I knew what it meant. But then I won all those trophies in the first season.

“Whether you get jeered or not, you should be giving your all so it’s never bothered me throughout my career. Everyone gets stick, it’s just the way it is.”

Hull will welcome back star midfielder Jimmy Bullard as they look for their first away win in the Premier League for 12 months, although Anthony Gardner is out for six weeks.

New Orleans Saints and thier Trophy

Monday, March 8th, 2010

New Orleans Saints 300x300 New Orleans Saints and thier TrophyIt’s safe to assume now that New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton has had a few weeks to digest the franchise’s Super Bowl title and has returned to work, he has finally let the shiny Lombardi trophy out of his grasp.

The last the public saw of the Lombardi trophy, awarded to the Saints for their 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, Payton was still clutching the coveted prize during the Orpheus parade.

The big question now is: Where does the Lombardi trophy go next? Will it reside in a trophy case at the team’s Metairie facility? Will it tour the state? Will it be on display somewhere for locals to view?

At the moment, even the Saints aren’t sure.

Following a whirlwind of touring and a little vacation time for several members of the Saints’ front office, the Saints brass hasn’t had much time to contemplate the future of the trophy.

There won’t be a shortage of ideas, however.

Already Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis, in an interview with Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, has suggested that the Saints might take the trophy on a state tour.

Payton also reportedly has said he’d consider doing something like the NHL does with the Stanley Cup, and allow his players to take it for a day.

But that decision will be left up to Saints owner Tom Benson, Loomis said.

Saints spokesman Greg Bensel said a decision could come soon.

If the Saints decide to take the trophy to all 64 parishes in Louisiana, they’ll be following a pattern set by the Colts, who took the Lombardi trophy to nearly 100 towns in Indiana after their victory in Super Bowl XLI.

Colts senior executive vice president Pete Ward said their organization came up with the idea when the team reachedsuperbowltrophy New Orleans Saints and thier Trophy the AFC championship game in 1995, before finally getting to implement the plan when the team won the Super Bowl in 2007.

“Like New Orleans, we are a small market and we need to be a regional team, ” Ward said. “And if we are going to be a regional team then we have to have fans in all corners of the state. And our state has responded.

“It was a basketball state when we moved here; now it’s a football state in every corner. And we felt that it was without question that we needed to take that trophy to all corners of our state and let the fans appreciate it, because it was as much their trophy as it was ours.”

The Colts, however, are one of the few NFL franchises to take such measures.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who won Super Bowl titles in 2006 and 2009, haven’t displayed their trophies much publicly. All of their NFL-best six Lombardi trophies are displayed at the team’s headquarters, according to a Steelers official.

After the New York Giants won Super Bowl XLII in 2008, the Giants didn’t follow the lead of the Colts and travel with the trophy around the state, a Giants official said. But they did bring the trophy along to many of the organization’s charity events. And the trophy, along with the franchise’s other two championship trophies, is now stored in a glass case in the lobby of the Giants’ front office.

Meanwhile, the Colts’ Lombardi Trophy still hasn’t found a home. Colts officials said rarely does a week go by that the trophy is in the same place. Since winning the award, the Colts have loaned out the Lombardi to many community organizers wishing to allow fans to get an up-close look at the prestigious award.

“We don’t know of any other organization that has done it, ” Ward said. “It’s something that when we did it, it was almost like the second coming of the Beatles in every little town that it went to. It went to nearly 100 towns in Indiana and it was incredibly well-received.

“The feedback that we got back was so exciting I can just imagine in Louisiana you’d need the National Guard for security. I think that would be an awesome thing to do in Louisiana.”

Barcelona players struggle for Trophy

Monday, March 8th, 2010

barca 300x229 Barcelona players struggle for TrophyHaving won six trophies in 2009, Barca have endured a difficult start to 2010, losing to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey in January and then producing a string of poor performances in recent weeks, most recently Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Almeria.

Catalonia manager Cruyff, who played for Barca from 1973 to 1978 and managed the side from 1988 to 1996, believes a number of players have now abandoned the footballing philosophy that made the team so successful and has urged the underperforming stars to examine their own performances.

“The players were warned and they do not learn,” he wrote in El Periodico. “Atletico, Racing, Stuttgart… after three bad games, they put in a good performance against Malaga.

“On that day, they were all willing to run. They all were all willing to hold onto the ball and to play in our traditional way. Their positional work was good in that game and they moved the ball around quickly, and all this work created a lot of space on the pitch.

“If they want to, they can play one or two levels higher than they are at present. As things stand, there are a few players who are not giving their all. I would invite them to look in the mirror and to examine what they have been doing and what they are doing now.

“It is a question of individuals but it impacts on the whole team. There is time to return to the top, but everything depends on the players looking at their own performances. If they do not recover their original philosophy and apply it on the pitch, there will be more performances like Saturday.”

Jostens Trophy Finalist

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

The Josten Trophy is a national award created by the Rotary Club of Salem, Virginia, to honor the most outstanding men’s Division III basketball player of the year.  The award takes into account three vital parts: basketball ability, academic prowess and community service.  The trophy models the Rotary International motto of “Service above Self” by recognizing those who truly fit the ideal of the well-rounded Division III student-athlete.  This year’s trophy marks the 13th year the ward has been presented.

McKeehan helped lead his team to a 21-7 record and a share of its second straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season title.  He played in all 28 games for the Saints, including 26 starts and led the team in scoring with a 15.6 points per game average.  McKeehan also had a team-leading .632 field goal percentage while averaging 4.9 rebounds per game.  A solid all-around player, he also was the team leader with 64 assists and 63 steals.

In the classroom, McKeehan carries a perfect 4.00 grade point average with a double major in Economics and Business Finance.  Last week he was named the College Division ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men’s Basketball Player of the Year by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

NASCAR technology helps bobsled team

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Geoff Bodine is a retired NASCAR driver with more than memories and trophies. The racing family of Bodines, Geoff, Brett and Todd are from upstate New York and perhaps it was his familiarity with snow and fast cars that caused him to look to the U.S. Bobsled team with a helpful eye. He pondered the technology of old, used sleds from European teams after watching U.S. teams struggle in them.

In 1992 he conceived the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project and contracted race car designer Bob Cuneo of Chassis Dynamics in Oxford, Conn., to create “Made-in-America” bobsleds for U.S. men’s and women’s teams. Since switching to Bo-Dyn sleds, U.S. athletes have excelled, winning multiple Olympic and World Cup medals in both two-man and four-man competition. During the recent Winter Olympics in British Columbia, the men’s team raced for the gold.

USA-1 driver Steve Holcomb, pushers Justin Olsen and Steve Mesler,and brakeman Curt Tomasevicz took the tallest stage to receive their gold medals.

Just like NASCAR and NHRA in the US, the team needed sponsors to compete. The Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge presented by Whelen Engineering and sponsored by Lucas Oil Products and JEGS Mail Order helps raise funds through a charity event held every January in Lake Placid, N.Y. The bobsled race is comprised of motorsports drivers, this year: NASCAR’s Joey Logano, Boris Said, Todd Bodine and NHRA’s Jeg Coughlin Jr., Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, and Melanie Troxel competing for bragging rights and a medal too. It may be the only fast thing they do without engines.

NASCAR drivers could not accept the offer to be a guest of the U.S. team as they had a race to run in Las Vegas, but NHRA drivers, Lucas, Coughlin, Langdon, and Troxel had an off week and joined NASCAR sponsor Phil Kurrs with Whelen Industries for the Olympic competition.

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Winning trophies is about being a winner, not a loser

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

anchester United coach-cum-manager Alex Ferguson has said that winning trophies is not just about collecting trophies, but indicative of separating the winners from the losers over a sustained period of time.

“From a personal point of view, I don’t add up all the trophies and think about how many I have won. For me, winning these trophies is about thinking of yourself as a winner and not a loser, so I look at it that way,” News of The World quoted Fergie, as saying.

“Once you get to a final you want to win it. It’s important for the players. There’s no way we want to come away from Wembley without the trophy,” he added.

“We are a successful club with a winning tradition and we look on every trophy we win as a vital experience for the young players. It’s a learning curve for them and another rung on the ladder in terms of getting to the peak of their United career. We want to take it back on the team bus. We showed that desire against Tottenham when we played them in the final season,” he said.

With One Goal

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Team Canada 2010 300x209  With One GoalWith one shot, it was over.

Yes, Sidney Crosby’s overtime goal lifted Canada past the United States in one of the most thrilling hockey games ever played, Olympic or otherwise. It also allowed every Canadian to breathe a sigh of relief, their national pride on the line in a climax of epic proportions.

But Crosby’s goal did something else, something much more than just securing the gold medal for his native country in perhaps the most buzzed about, and compelling, tournament in hockey history. It put an end to one of life’s most gripping questions.

Crosby or Ovechkin?

Much like the Olympic flame that was extinguished soon after this thriller of a gold medal game, so too was the debate between these two hockey greats.

Game, set and match, Crosby.

For nearly five years now, people have been split over one of the biggest debates in all of sports. And for the most part, both sides have had compelling arguments, with Crosby and Ovechkin each supplying their respective sides with plenty of ammunition to make a case for them.

Their rivalry has put hockey back into the public eye, but it’s their play that has made it relevant.

Ovechkin grabbed the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year after the 2005-2006 season, edging out Crosby for the distinction. He’s also got two Maurice Richards Trophies (most goals) to his name, an Art Ross Trophy (most points), and two Hart Memorial Trophies (MVP) on his resume. With three All-Star appearances, and one of the most jaw-dropping personal highlight-reels, it’s easy to see why many give Ovechkin the distinction as the world’s premier player.

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PBA Brings World Series Trophy to Village Hall

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

worldseriestrophy PBA Brings World Series Trophy to Village HallThe Larchmont Police Benevolent Association is bringing the World Series trophy to Larchmont on Wednesday, February 24 from 3-5 pm – and holding Mayor Liz Feld to her promise of impartiality, at least when it comes to displaying major league baseball trophies in Village Hall.

Larchmont Police Detective James Cristiano an ardent Yankee fan and past president of the Larchmont PBA has orchestrated the trophies display in the courtroom at Village Hall, 120 Larchmont Avenue. He said he was motivated by a Larchmont Gazette article from 2008 which announced the mayor’s effort to bring the 2007 World Series trophy to Larchmont after the Red Sox beat the Mets.

Mayor Feld’s husband works for the Red Sox organization, but in 2008, she told the Gazette, “If the Mets had won, I’d have asked them.”

Since then, though, the trophy has not returned to Larchmont.

Until now – thanks to Detective Cristiano and the PBA.

The detective wrote to an acquaintance with the Yankee organization requesting that the trophy come to Larchmont. In his letter, he explained about the mayor’s pledge of impartiality and how having the trophy come to Village Hall would be a fitting sendoff for the mayor’s last month in office. (Mayor Feld‘s term ends in March and she is not running again.)

Last Friday, Detective Cristiano got the good news from the Yankees.

“Of course, being a former DARE officer, I’ll be going over to the schools to invite the children,” said Detective Cristiano. “Because, of course, that’s what this is all about.”

An honor guard of officers has volunteered to provide security for the trophy during its visit, at no cost to the taxpayers, explained Detective Cristiano.

28th Lambert Meadowlands Trophy

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

For the record 28th time Penn State has been crowned the top football program in the east by the ECAC and were awarded the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy to mark the occasion. The Lambert Meadowland Trophy is awarded annually to the top FBS college football team in the east by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. According to a Penn State press release no four teams can combine to equal the number of Lambert Meadowlands Trophies won by the Nittany Lions, a testament to the power of Penn State football historically in the east.

The 2009 season marked the second consecutive season in which Penn State was named the top team in the East. It is the third time in the past decade that Penn State won the award, second most only to Miami (2000-2004). The Nittany Lions were named the best in the east five times in the 1990’s and 1980’s. No team has matched Penn State’s five year run from 1971 to 1975 as the winners of the trophy.

In addition to team awards there are individual awards bestowed upon the east’s top players. This year five Penn State players were named ECAC All-Stars at the FBS level. Quarterback Daryll Clark, linebacker Navorro Bowman, tackle Dennis Landolt, center Stefen Wisniewski, and defensive tackle Jared Odrick were the all-stars representing Penn State. Clark was tabbed the ECAC Player of the Year for the FBS level.

The FCS National champion Villanova Wildcats were awarded the FCS equivalent to the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy, the Lambert Cup. This is Villanova’s third Lambert Cup (1992, 2002, 2009). California University of Pennsylvania took the Division 2 Lambert Cup for the second time in three years. Wesley College, from Delaware, won the Division 3 Lambert Cup. Pennsylvania clearly looks to be a football power in the east region.

The FBS program with the second most number of Lambert Trophies is Army, believe it or not. Army though has not received a trophy since 1958, and Pitt and Syracuse are creeping up on the service academy. It remains unlikely that any team will catch Penn State, who has at least a 21 trophy lead on the east rivals. When the Nittany Lions made a jump to the Big Ten it was thought that the Lambert Meadowlands Trophy competition would become more wide open. Though it took a few seasons for that to happen (Penn State won the 1994, 1996, 1997, and 1998 trophies) the teams from the Big East began a run of six straight seasons winning the trophy, highlighted by Miami’s four year run. Before that stretch Penn State had not gone more than two seasons without winning the award since 1961.

Looking ahead I think there is a good chance that Pittsburgh takes the 2010 Lambert Trophy, as I expect a bit of a down season with young talent leading the way for Penn State. Pitt also has a good nucleus that could lead to a Big East championship run in 2010, which could put them in the lead for the Lambert Trophy next season. But in 2011 Penn State could easily be back in front.

Arsenal has pride but no trophies

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Arsene Wenger in an interview with Arsenal’s official magazine has told the fans that they should be very proud of the club and what they have achieved.

The only problem is that they have heard it all before and if they end up yet another season without a trophy then the fans may not be as proud as what he hopes they will be.

Comparing the finances with Chelsea and Man Utd Wenger spoke up Arsenals position saying

“There are three clubs in the fight for the championship – when you see how much money the others have invested, we have not to be ashamed,”

“There are two main trophies in our job – the Champions League and the Premier League; today, we can still win them both.

“In addition, the club is in a healthy situation and we have a fantastic young side.”

Wenger though forgets that he has been saying they have a fantastic young side for years without any tangible success.

He also dismissed what other people are say

“What other people think is less important – what happens here is the deciding factor, along with how much belief we put into our game,” he said.

“We are in a fantastic position and it is now about how we turn it our way.

“In the position we are in, we do not need to calculate – the best way is to win one game, and then win the next one.

“I believe Arsenal fans can be very proud of their club, and that is at least what we try to give them – pride.”
Pride is a good thing and Wenger has done a tremendous job and is rightly classed as an elite manager but you know what? Even the patient Arsenal fans want a trophy now and one can be forgiven for thinking that they wont accept too many more excuses if they end trophy-less again.