Bucket List 2019

BY SCOTT MORGNROTH

As the year winds down, it's time to reflect and plan ahead.

During a recent visit with former College Basketball Coach Mike Jarvis at Dunkin Donuts in Deerfield Beach, FL., we had the time to talk about old times when we worked together as I was covering the FAU Owls.

We also talked about plans for promoting his upcoming book, "The Seven C's of Leadership" which I'll get into details at a later date.

As I work towards completing my comeback in radio and building my online Publication "The South Florida Tribune" as well as other future endeavors, I looked to Jarvis for guidance as I've tended to do in the past.

We talked about what events I'd like to write and talk about in the future?

Whether I pull them off is another story, but I'm certainly going to try to work on some of these this year.

The QB that gets this process started is my longtime brother from another mother and esteemed colleague George Eichorn.

What will it take to get to some of these places and events?

For one, good health, and manipulate the finances to make these happen.

In order to keep peace with my spouse, I have a feeling that on occasion, I might have to ride solo so she doesn't get upset with me so we can make our annual trips to Michigan and Wisconsin.

So here we go.

1. I've always had a burning desire to cover the Rolex 24 Hour Race in Daytona Beach, FL. That race takes place from January 26-27. To cover an event for 24 hours especially with the adrenaline rush associated with Motor Sports would be neat. This is very attainable. A few hours up I-95 North gets the job done.

2. On the Sports Exchange, we had NHRA Driver and Owner Lex Joon on the program, and we discussed the possibility of me getting involved with The Gator Nationals. This year is the 50th Anniversary of the event and it takes place from March 14-17, at the Gainesville Raceway. Lex and I talked about me getting involved in one of the NHRA Hot Rods. Very attainable! A four hour drive up I-75 North does the trick.

3. I've been talking about this one for the past few years. I've always wanted to see The Jacksonville Jaguars play an NFL Game at Wembley Stadium in England. My Great Friend Dan Edwards (in the photo) has always told me if I can get there, he'll accommodate us. We had this conversation recently and I told him that we need goals and things to shoot for in life. He's just waiting for me to let him know.

Besides, my wife would like to tour Wimbledon and explore the history of this historic area. Since I've never been overseas, this would be a great place to start.

4. In 2018, we hit eight Spring Training Venues in Arizona. There are two remaining. The Cubs have a new facility in Mesa while the San Francisco Giants play in Scottsdale. We need to finish this plus see the Milwaukee Brewers renovations in Phoenix and what would a trip to that area be like without seeing My Great Friend, Tim Mead with the Anaheim Angels in Tempe.

5. Why would I want to cover this next event, The CFL's Grey Cup? The major motivation is since I've covered four Super Bowls, a USFL Championship, this will give me an opportunity to cover North America with Pro Football Championships. We've had some CFL guests on the Sports Exchange, now it's time to meet a few.

6. Finally, there are a handful of Spring Training venues left in Florida. But since it's in state, a car trip or weekend is all it takes to get this done.

There are other events I'd like to hit as well.

I'd like to see a game at Fenway Park in Boston and attend the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. There are lots of new stadiums in all sports around the country, in addition to motor sports race tracks I'd like to hit on the trail, but for now, this is a good starting point.

Tell me what you think.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com. He's a member of Detroit Sports Media.

His radio show The Sports Exchange can be heard on the weinetwork.com with Peter Wein from 5-7 pm Tuesdays and Thursday. He's also the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune.

The Days Before Christmas

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTOS BY CANDICE EBLING

I must be totally crazy or really enjoy what I do to have undertaken this Ambitious Schedule.

It's been nearly a month, when on December 23, 2016, the Detroit Red Wings faced the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL.

The Red Wings found themselves in a very unusual situation,

They're near the bottom of the standings in both Their Division as well as in the Wild Card Race.

Before the game at dinner, I told DSBA President Trevor Thompson that My Photographer Candice Ebling and I were covering the Red Wings, then traveling over night to write about the Jacksonville Jaguars vs Tennessee Titans.

In Jacksonville, I would see my Great Friend Dan Edwards of the Jaguars.

After the Titans game, I told Trevor we were heading to Milwaukee, WI., hoping to arrive by Christmas Night. This would be a trek which would be approximately 27 hours with two sleepless nights.

Trevor and I joked around about this and we laughed when Thompson, like most normal people, knew that taking long drives especially like this, aren't his style.

As things would turn out, Ebling and I would log over 4,100 miles in a two-week span.

We had to replace two rear tires on our rental car, one of which occurred as a result of a blowout as we exited I-94 near West Allis, WI., 30 minutes after we dropped off My Cousin Cindy Cullen Spyke from the Milwaukee Airport.

On our trip back to Florida, we dealt with frozen windshield wiper fluid because our company had put a lighter and not strong enough brand in because of freezing temperatures.

But back to the Red Wings vs Panthers game.

The Red Wings 4-3 shootout win over Florida  Fueled My Adrenaline to making Part One of "The Drive" an Easy One.

Against Florida, Detroit was faced with some interesting story-lines.

With a win over the Red Wings, Panthers Goaltender Roberto Luongo was looking to move into sole possession of fifth place passing Detroit Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk with 448 wins.

But that didn't happen as Red Wings rookie net minder Jared Coreau recorded his first NHL triumph over his hero Sawchuk growing up.

I was impressed with Coreau because many young players don't follow the history of their sport as this kid did.

Luongo is one of the few goalkeepers in the NHL who still wears the No.1 as that number is retired in Detroit.

Coreau would have to earn his win the hard way in a shootout. His record improved to 1-1-0, while Luongo dropped to 11-10-3 for this season at that time.   This would go down as Coreau's 1st career win in the NHL.

Luongo would have to wait another night to surpass Sawchuk.

Since that night, Coreau has asserted himself as the back-up goalie to Petr Mrazek going 5-1-2 with a 2.79 GAA and a .904 save percentage and two shutouts, as Jimmy Howard has dealt with injuries.

If the Red Wings would have lost to Florida, it would have been the first time ever they would have been swept by the Panthers.

So Detroit indeed avoided this first in franchise history.

Florida won the season series 3-1 and trails the all-time series 15-17-5-3.

This turned out to be a painful loss for Florida as Niklas Kronwell knocked out Reilly Smith with a clean hockey hit. Smith went on concussion protocol and was out until after the holiday break.

Red Wings Coach Jeff Blashill had a successful challenge which saved Detroit from trailing 4-1 as Nick Bjugstad was standing in the crease in front of Coreau, thus that goal was disallowed.

One thing which stood out in the game was Florida had an interesting trivia question to their fans.

They asked, who was the first 50 goal scorer in Red Wings history?

Two of the choices mentioned were Red Wings Announcer Mickey Redmond and Danny Grant.

Redmond was the correct answer.

When the contest was over, Blashill's body language looked like a coach who was relieved that his team came away with a win knowing the injuries were mounting on his squad, yet refusing to use this as an excuse for Detroit's struggles.

The Red Wings passed the 200 man games lost due to injury during their 1-0 OT loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday at the Joe Louis Arena.

In this game, both Thomas Vanek (lower body) and Dylan Larkin (upper body) suffered injuries.

Blashill reiterated to me what he said earlier in the season, "Every player in the locker room has belief in one another. We'll continue to work hard towards our goal to reach the playoffs."

"We don't worry about what other people say outside the locker room. As long as we work hard, the results will take care of themselves."

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Up the Road Five Hours North on I-95 in Jacksonville, FL., the Jaguars had high expectations when they faced the Green Bay Packers during opening week on September 11, 2016.

When we came here, both teams played in tremendously hot and humid temperatures.

The Jaguars lost to Green Bay 27-23 and 16 weeks later, Coach Gus Bradley was out of a job as the team had high expectations. Bradley was ousted from his position with a 2-12 record.

He finished with a 14-48 career mark with Jacksonville.

Bradley was replaced before our game with the Tennessee Titans on an interim basis by Assistant Head Coach-Offense/Offensive Line Coach Doug Marrone.

Marrone, 52, led the Buffalo Bills to a 15-17 record as head coach from 2013-2014, and is the sixth head coach in Jaguars history.

Marrone departed Buffalo because he didn't want to work with the new ownership, consisting of Terry and Kim Pegula and the infrastructure of the front office.

As it turned out, the Titans game at home and the finale on January 1, 2017 at Indianapolis, were Marrone's audition to get the permanent job.

When we were there, former Coach Tom Coughlin was being considered a candidate to return as coach while there would be other interviews.

Marrone passed his first audition with flying colors with Owner Shad Khan watching from his suite.

Marrone hit a Grand Slam as Jacksonville thrashed Tennessee 38-17.

The Jaguars avenged a National TV 36-22 loss to Tennessee on Thursday October 27, 2016.

Jacksonville's victory on Christmas Eve over their former Coach Mike Mularkey saw the 8-7 Titans eventually get eliminated from playoff contention.

This was a costly loss for Tennessee as it lost QB Marcus Mariota to a Fractured Fibula for the season.

During the Post-Game Press Conference, Marrone did everything in his power to avoid talking about the coaching search, preferring to praise former Jaguars Coach Bradley's influence on the team instead.

Candidly speaking, Marrone had as many moves as former Detroit Lions Hall of Fame Running Back Barry Sanders pertaining to the coaching search.

However, I did manage to ask him what it was like being on the sidelines again?

"I probably felt---my wife asked me the same question. 'How do you feel?' I said, I feel great. I really do," Marrone said."I feel alive in practice and not that I wasn't before in my other position. I feel comfortable.

"I've been a head coach for six years, four in college and two in the NFL. For me, I don't want to say it's like riding a bike because that would lessen that position as a head coach, so I'm not going to go there."

Marrone added, " But I felt great. I thought the communication was outstanding. Again, the challenge for me was the communication with defense, the communication with game management, the communication with special teams.

"Trying to get coaches up to speed on how I communicate and how I want to run a game, I thought they were great."

The Jaguars lost their final game to Indianapolis 24-20 in Indiana. But there was no doubt they were a different team and played much better with Marrone at the helm.

Marrone finished his interim stint with a 1-1 mark.

The Jaguars finished the regular season with a 3-13 record.

During the off-season, Coughlin was hired as Executive VP of Football Operations.

Coughlin wasted no time hiring Marrone and gave him the full-time head coach job.

Most recently, former Michigan Wolverines running back and later running backs coach, Tyrone Wheatley Sr. was hired by Jacksonville for the same position.

The future does look bright for Jacksonville and I look forward to seeing a couple games next season and monitor their progress.

Bradley wasn't out of work long as he's now the new defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.

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Meanwhile, the Red Wings no quit demeanor has them battling to get into the playoffs.

GM Ken Holland  awaits to get his injured players back and isn't ready to give up on a 26th consecutive playoff berth as Detroit plays its Final Season in the Joe Louis Arena and moves into Little Caesars Arena next fall.

The Red Wings are currently 20-19-8 as of this post. The Weekend's All-Star Break couldn't have come at a better time for the team which wears Red and White.

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As for Myself, We arrived in Racine, WI at 1:30 pm Central Time and that 27 hour drive I told Thompson amounted to 21 hours.

Aside from gas and meal stops, the only break we had was a productive stop at the Jaguars game vs the Titans being with My Buddy Dan Edwards.

At 54-years old, I'm a Bullheaded Road Warrior with plenty of long distance driving left in me.

But I'm with you Trevor, you're still more normal than me, however, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com and is a member of the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association.

Rivalry Waiting To Develop

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

There are different rivalries on I-95 since the Interstate extends from Florida all the way to Maine.

These rivalries have long histories in all sports.

But one match-up is very intriguing in the State of Florida.

It involves two cities which are five hours apart and have hosted Super Bowl Games.

It involves two of the most veteran and personable Public Relations staffs in the NFL. It would be hard to find a pair of nicer guys than Harvey Greene of the Miami Dolphins and Dan Edwards of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Although these two guys won't be issuing post-season credentials for the upcoming playoffs, they'll have plenty to do during the off-season as each of their rosters figure to have plenty of new faces.

Going into their Dec 16, 2012 contest, these teams had met only five times. Jacksonville led the series 3-2.

The most meaningful game occurred on January 15, 2000 as Dolphins Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino played his last game in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars crushed Miami 62-7 and sent Marino into retirement Ringless after the Devastation of this Playoff Game. Dolphins Coach Jimmy Johnson returned to Fox Sports as an analyst for the pre-game show where he's been since.

On this Dec 16, 2012 day, the Dolphins honored former Defensive Coordinator Bill Arnsparger by putting him into their Ring of Honor. They also celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the 1972 Undefeated 17-0 Team.

As for the game, Miami was mathematically alive for the playoffs. The Dolphins have a bright young QB in rookie Ryan Tannehill, who faced last year's Miami starter Chad Henne.

Miami would win this game as Tannehill was 22-28-220 yards and two touchdowns. He had a QB rating of 123.2. Meanwhile, Henne's return trip to Joe Robbie Stadium saw him go 18-34-221 yards in a 24-3 loss evening the all-time series at 3-3.

Time of possession was the story of this game as Miami dominated 35:38-24:22.

Henne downplayed his return to South Florida and said it didn't affect his play.

"It was a fun experience but obviously you want to come out with a win," Henne said. "I thought our guys fought hard and they played well on the other side of the ball. Their offense moved the ball and our third quarter was the biggest problem. Overall, it was a good atmosphere.

"My attitude right now is to prove to the Jaguars that I'm going to do the best I can to help this team win."

Jaguars Coach Mike Mularkey said he has the utmost respect for Henne.

"He is as much of a competitor that I've ever been around," Mularkey said. "He's scrappy and fights his tail off to give us a chance. We knew we were going to have a fight up front with our line and their defensive line.  For the most part, we held up as well as we could. There was pressure in front.

"We had chances to make plays. We didn't. We had some drops and a number of drives were stalled."

The Jaguars currently stand at 2-13 and have set a franchise record for most losses. Although Miami is now out of the playoff hunt, the Dolphins have a 7-8 mark, but are on the right track.

A crowd of 53,667 showed up for this Florida match-up and paid tribute to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

During the past few days, there is news that Jaguars Owner Shahid Khan wants former Florida Gators Heisman Trophy Winning QB Tim Tebow.

It appears as though Tebow could be returning home in 2013 since he said he wants out of New York after being surpassed by Greg McElroy as the new Jets starting QB.

If Tebow returns to Jacksonville, it's obvious he'll put fans in the stands, generate merchandise revenue and add energy to a franchise which desperately needs it.

The Pakistani-born American Billionaire Businessman Khan knows the value of his franchise will increase. In addition to the fact that the Jaguars will be playing future home games in London, England., this figures to generate an International Fan Base for the Jaguars.

I have a feeling that my good friend Edwards will have less free time on his hands when the "Tebow Circus" comes to town.

Meanwhile, between Tebow and the high pick Jacksonville will receive in 2013 NFL Draft, perhaps things will look brighter for the franchise in North Florida.

It would be great to see this rivalry become what it can become. All it needs is some star power, wins, playoff appearances in a state that has won only three Super Bowls, but has hosted many.

There is no reason that crowds of 70,000 shouldn't become common.

I have covered sporting events in many towns that have only one team and the atmospheres have been passionate, rabid and enjoyable.

There is no reason that Jacksonville can't follow suit, just as Miami did in the 1970's and 1980's playing at the Orange Bowl then moving to Joe Robbie Stadium.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.