The Longest Short Week

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

I saw Joe Montana play his last game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA., against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football and he won 24-3.

I saw John Elway defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII at Joe Robbie Stadium in 1999 as the signal caller went out on top in Miami.

Tonight, it appears that I've seen another player play in his last game, but this one is forcing his way out of town and he got a lot of attention on Thursday Night Football.

There were no shortage of storylines by NFL Network Commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman.

After tonight's game it looks like another player down the road will be wearing the No.20 jersey that Jalen Ramsey occupies.

I would highly doubt it that Ramsey will ever make Jacksonville's Ring of Honor and will never have his number retired.

When I grew up as a kid, Marcel Dionne wanted out of Detroit and he moved to Los Angeles to play for the Kings. When Dionne returned to Detroit to play at Olympia Stadium, he was pelted with debris. The Red Wings would eventually put a protective tunnel to protect him.

Despite winning Stanley Cups for the Red Wings, Sergei Federov burned his bridges and despite getting inducted into The Hockey Hall Of Fame, the No.91 is still not retired.

Time hasn't healed this wound but with Steve Yzerman in charge of Hockey Operations, we'll see if Federov's number goes to the rafters.

But back to Ramsey.

Last year, he made derogatory comments towards opposing quarterbacks and had a bullseye on his chest. The Jaguars had a disappointing season finishing 5-11 and failed to make the playoffs.

This was a team that came minutes away from reaching the Super Bowl losing to the New England Patriots.

Ramsey came into training camp driving a money truck. Time will tell if he gets his cash.

On Sunday, he committed a cardinal sin by getting into a heated argument on the sideline with Head Coach Doug Marrone that led to more controversy resulting in a trade demand.

If this wasn't a Thursday Night Game, I think Ramsey would be wearing another uniform.

But it's not.

If indeed this is Ramsey's last game with Jacksonville, he had five tackles, four assists for a combined total of nine to go along with a forced fumble.

The Jaguars defeated the Tennessee Titans 20-7 on a rainy night.

QB Gardner Minshew II  recorded his first NFL win and was quite efficient by going 20-30 for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

One of those touchdowns was to DJ Chark for 22 yards. He has a TD pass in each of Jacksonville's first three games.

When this game, which took 3:01 to complete was over, Coach Doug Marrone was happy that his squad got a much needed win especially after a tough 13-12 loss Sunday to the Houston Texans in Texas.

"This was a good win, the longest short week in the NFL," Marrone said. "We did a heck of a job in the protection game. Our QB is playing remarkable and the team played with a chip on their shoulder. We do have to do a better job protecting the QB and the offensive line will continue to get better. We also have to do a better job running the ball.

"DJ Chark is playing at a high level and this will open up a lot of things for us."

Chark finished the game with four receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Minshew II said he was extremely excited that he got his first win on National TV but had higher praises for his new favorite target, Chark Jr.

"DJ has been awesome and he's been playing with a lot of confidence," Minshew II said. "I have confidence in him. If I see him one-on-one, I'll throw it to him."

With tonight's win on Thursday, the Jaguars improved to 3-0 versus the Titans at TIAA Bank Field. Jacksonville has now won four of it's last six games on Thursday Night and four straight at home.

The Jaguars improved their record to 63-46 in games which they wore teal jerseys.

The nicest part of winning on Thursday Night is the team can decompress and get ready for it's next opponent. It won't hear about the negativity around the building.

Whether Ramsey is on the field on September 29 when the Jaguars (1-2) face the Denver Broncos in Colorado remains to be seen.

But you can rest assure that this drama doesn't figure to continue much longer and Jacksonville will get a lofty return to part ways with their defensive playmaker, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Florida State just 2.5 hours down the road in Tallahassee off I-10 West.

If this is his last game with the franchise it will at least end with a win.

But it won't compare to the high roads of Montana and Elway.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.

No Repeat Of History at Marlins Park

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

The last time we came to the Orange Bowl Location, history was made.

Henderson Alverez threw the 282nd No-Hitter in MLB History and the fifth since the Marlins were formed in 1993.

This was the first no-hitter that I've ever seen in person.

Miami swept the Detroit Tigers in this three-game series from Sept 27-29 culminating with the season ending finale by Henderson Alverez, photographed celebrating.

Miami would finish the season with a 62-100 record and were 34 games behind first place Atlanta (96-66) in the National League East.

Miami's payroll for this dismal season was $36 Million which was 29th in MLB. This averaged to $1.1 Million per-player.

As I researched this statistic, it was interesting to note that the Detroit Tigers have connections to three of these no-hitters.

On June 10, 1997, the Jim Leyland piloted Florida Marlins, saw pitcher Kevin Brown throw a 9-0 gem defeating the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park.

To win on the road in windy San Francisco should count as two no-hitters.

Current Tiger Anibal Sanchez defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 in the Marlins former home, Joe Robbie Stadium on September 6, 2006.

Leyland was once again a part of a no-hitter, but on the wrong end of it as Alverez defeated Detroit 1-0 on September 29, 2014 at Marlins Park in his last regular season game as Tigers skipper.

Here on May 24, 2014, another former Tiger was on the hill for Miami against the Milwaukee Brewers.

His name is Jacob Turner and he entered the game with an 0-2 mark with a 6.59 ERA.

His no hitter ended in the top of the second inning as Carlos Gomez, photographed twice, doubled to deep right field.

Turner pitched 6.1 innings, gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out two.

His ERA dropped to 5.35 with the outing, leaving the game with a 1-0 lead. Turner threw 89 pitches, 57 for strikes.

Turner would go on and get the win and improved his record to 1-2.

On Friday Night, the Marlins began their Memorial Day Weekend three-game series and with Miami deciding to leave the retractable roof open.

Giancarlo Stanton and Garrett Jones put on a power display by each hitting two homers, all were solo shots but that wasn't enough as Milwaukee pounded Miami 9-5. The paid attendance was 18,989.

Going into Saturday's game, Milwaukee battered the Marlins 20-6 in their last 26 meetings and had a five-game winning streak.

In 2013, Milwaukee was 5-1 against Miami and shutout the Marlins three straight games from July 19-21 in Wisconsin.

The Marlins game on Saturday would be a 4:10 p.m. start by no means a conflict with the Miami Heat vs Indiana Pacers just a handful of miles downtown that would begin at 8:30 p.m. at the American Airlines Arena.

There would definitely be no parking issues for this inner city double-header.

There would be No Repeat of what would happen in September. With the temperature 87 degrees on the outside, the only air was the air conditioning.

The Marlins (26-24) defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1. The paid attendance was 25,819. The Brewers dropped to 29-21. Miami snapped it's five-game losing streak to Milwaukee.

Milwaukee still leads the all-time series with the Marlins 60-57, but is 29-34 in South Florida.

On Sunday, Milwaukee ripped Miami 7-1 to improve the all-time series against the Marlins 61-57, and 30-34 in South Florida.

Ryan Braun led the way in this contest by amassing four hits, scoring two runs with one RBI, in front of a paid attendance of 21,897.

The three game series drew a total paid attendance of 66,705 which Milwaukee took two of three.

The only difference between the last time these teams met in South Florida was both were struggling squads.

In 2013, Milwaukee finished 74-88 and dealt with the 65-game suspension of star player Ryan Braun which originated in Miami 7.13 miles and 15 minutes away at the Biogenesis Clinic of America.

He missed a total 86 games, 21 due to a right thumb contusion.

In 2014, Braun, photographed, has quietly put some respectable numbers on the board with a .315 average, seven homers and 23 RBI in 36 games.

In 2014, Milwaukee is currently in first place in the National League Central with a 32-22 record while Miami is close to halfway towards it's win total of 2013 with 28.

The Marlins are 28-25 and they've slightly raised their payroll to 47.5 Million which is still 29th in MLB.

Before the game, I had a chance to speak with Hall of Famer Tony Perez, photographed with me to the left, while former Tigers Pitching Coach Chuck Hernandez holds the same title for Miami.

The former Cincinnati Red legend, Perez looks fantastic at the age of 72 and is a part of the Marlins front office.

This is a young staff that has an ERA of 3.78 and is in contention in the National League East .5 games behind division leading Atlanta 29-25 at the time of this post.

It will be interesting how this young squad progresses and whether the fans fill Marlins Park.

There is still a lot of backlash aimed at Miami Owner Jeffrey Loria who has a new expensive stadium, but has yet to field a competitive team.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.