A Heart Divided

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

On Friday Night, The Wisconsin Badgers travel to Tampa to square off against the University of South Florida Bulls at 7 pm at Raymond James Stadium.

I have a family member that is a Wisconsin native and currently lives in the Land Of Cheese.

My sister-in-law Marie has an interesting dilemma because she graduated from USF with a Masters Degree in Communication.

It's really nice that not only are we related but we're both USF Alumni.

Add to the fact that I earned a BA Degree in Communication and the connection becomes even more enjoyable.

When we texted Marie last night, she answered that "Her Heart Is Divided" and that's where it ended. How can you not be loyal to your hometown with a team that you've followed your entire life?

When the time comes, and I have a feeling that it will whether it be a Bowl Game or a regular season matchup, USF will face the Michigan Wolverines.

Will my heart be divided as much as Marie's?

Probably not as much because when I look at My Class Ring, it resides on my right hand.

It will be with me when I'm laid to rest at Wisconsin Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Milwaukee.

One of My Media Distribution partners for the South Florida Tribune is USF.

Now I'm working diligently to add The Michigan Wolverines because I have a lot of ties to the university.

Plus, I would like to promote U-M in Southern Florida because the Wolverines have recruited heavily in this area.

Twelve years ago, I had another situation like this when I was covering the Florida Atlantic Owls Football team.

They were facing USF in Fort Lauderdale at the now demolished Lockhart Stadium.

When people at FAU asked me who I was rooting for, I was honest and said USF, however, it wouldn't disappoint me if the Owls won.

I added that I really can't lose here but it would be nice if the game was close.

USF defeated FAU 35-23 on October 6, 2007.

To date, USF does lead the series 3-1. The two universities will meet each other again in 2020 and 2022 in a home and home series.

Former FAU Baseball Coach Kevin Cooney would schedule USF and his pitching coach  was Tony Fossas in 2005, who had ties to USF.

Once again, my heart was divided and I internalized it.

But for those individuals that have this same problem, I sympathize with you.

In the end though, the words "Alma-Mater" are special to me because all of the memories that I enjoyed at a university that I SELECTED and will always be a part of what and who I stand for.

I've got the degree, hats and apparel, etc... and continue to add more when I take the four hour trek up I-75 to visit a great part of my past.

Hugs Marie!

I'm sure we'll be having more of these intriguing family discussions.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com.
He is the Founder and CEO of The South Florida Tribune.

Tribune Profile, Coach Mike Jarvis

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I've met a lot of coaches in Sports Media throughout the years.

There are some that I've maintained good friendships with.

Those include former FAU Coaches Howard Schnellenberger (Football), Kevin Cooney (Baseball), and Mike Jarvis (Men's Basketball).

Another coach that has been a big help is former University of South Florida Head Baseball Coach Eddie Cardieri.

The only situations I believe in are win-win.

If these guests come on the Sports Exchange at least once or possibly more and they're selling a book, I will promote them with my various media platforms.

The Tribune profile goes beyond selling a book. We can talk about what they're doing now and promote that or any cause they wish.

That's now the case with Coach Jarvis.

I once met Jarvis at the Festival Flea Market in Pompano Beach, FL.

In 2008, we would finally get a chance to work together as I covered the FAU Owls Men's Basketball Team for the Deerfield Beach Observer.

I've been friends with Jarvis for around 12 years.

When he appeared on the Sports Exchange, he provided answers to the simpler and tough questions.

He just released a book called "The Seven C's Of Leadership."

It's about Fulfilling Your God Given Call To Inspire, Influence & Serve.

It's written by Coach Jarvis and Chad Bonham.

It can be ordered at www.coachmikejarvis.com.

Look for Jarvis' occasional appearances on the Sports Exchange.

He's a class act who had a very successful career as a head coach in Men's College Basketball which spanned over 25 years.

In addition to his book, he serves as an adjunct professor for the South Florida Bible College in Deerfield Beach, FL.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at www.scottsports33.com. He's a co-host with Peter Wein on the Sports Exchange Radio Program, which can be found at www.weinetwork.com and Founder of The South Florida Tribune. He's also a member of Detroit Sports Media.

Meet Daytona Tortugas Pitching Coach Tony Fossas

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
PHOTO BY CANDICE EBLING

If there is ever a person that I view as a Baseball Lifer, it's former Daytona Tortugas Pitching Coach Tony Fossas.

Fossas, 57, from Havana, Cuba is a fellow USF Alumnus. I met Tony in 2005 when he was the pitching coach for the Florida Atlantic Owls. He worked for retired Manager Kevin Cooney.

It was neat seeing him again on August 29, 2015 the day after the Detroit Lions faced the Jacksonville Jaguars in North Florida. Daytona faced the Tampa Yankees on Saturday Night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

During Fossas playing career, he had a 17-24 mark with a 3.90 ERA and 329 strikeouts,.

Fossas played for the Texas Rangers (1988), Milwaukee Brewers (1989-1990), Boston Red Sox (1991-1994), St. Louis Cardinals (1995-1997, Seattle Mariners  (1998), Chicago Cubs (1998), Texas Rangers (1998) and New York Yankees in 1999.

After his playing career, Fossas moved into coaching. It was great talking to him about his post FAU job, plus he had many other interesting insights in this exclusive interview.

Q: Tony, what have you done since leaving FAU?

A: I've been coaching with Cincinnati the past seven years. I've done Extended Spring Training, have coached for the Reds Minor League clubs in Billings, MT., Ohio and in Daytona Beach. So this is a really good job place for me because I live in Fort Lauderdale. This is close to home.

Q: You talk about being at the professional level. Have you thought about going into the higher classifications such as Double AA and Triple AAA, or do you prefer the younger players in Class A?

A: I just like working in baseball. Double AA, Triple AAA and the Major Leagues is the same. The organization tries to put you in the best place you fit to help the organization. So I don't have any problems being here.

I just enjoy what I'm doing and being in the game. The part of the game isn't just where I'm at, or who I'm with. I just love the game of baseball!

Q: At our Alma-Mater USF, you had the opportunity to play for Hall of Famer Robin Roberts. What was that experience like?

A: I played my last three years for Robin. He was a Father Figure to me, and cared a great deal about me. He was a guy in my young-hood, who developed me as the pitcher I was. It was a great situation for me all the way around.

Q: What lessons from Roberts have you conveyed to your pitchers?

A: The same thing Roberts taught me, I heard from Ferguson Jenkins. When I was with the Cardinals, I heard the same message from Bob Gibson, so I figured out nothing can go wrong if I repeat the same message to my players.

Q: Last year, I had the opportunity to interview former Detroit Tigers Pitcher Joe Coleman when he was with the Jupiter Hammerheads. I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked Joe since you're both pitching coaches. Why are we seeing so many Tommy John Operations?

A: I don't really know. I do know that guys are bigger and stronger than they have been. Some players are throwing the ball harder than ever.

But if I can say a couple things about it, but I'm not an expert at it, I would say when I was younger, I played football, hockey, street hockey, basketball and some baseball. It wasn't like me playing baseball on a year-round basis. Nowadays, the parents are so infatuated from getting the kids their scholarships. Therefore, their kids play baseball at 10 years old all-year round. The kids body isn't fully developed enough to do that.

So that's one of the attributes that's in the best interests of the player is to play multiple sports, and let their arm rest, and not be full-time in one sport.

Second, I think in the era that we play, there is a lot more weight-lifting and a lot less long distance running. In the older days, we ran a lot more. The players I played with, we did a lot more long distance running. Now their is a combination of weight lifting and running.

So what's the answer to your question, I don't have the answer. But if I did have the answer, I'd be a very wealthy man right now (laughing).

Q: What are your thoughts about pitch counts being more emphasized these days?

A: Again, I'm not involved in the science of the game, but in the older days, there was no pitch count. I don't have a thought one way or the other. We try to obey orders. When people tell you what to do, there is a protocol to follow, you do it.

The science is a lot greater than it was, and there is a lot more knowledgeable people in that area than I am. It really doesn't matter. If you don't have a really good bullpen, it doesn't matter if the starter goes six innings. The key is to have a really strong bullpen at whatever level you're in to win games.

Q: Working in Daytona Beach, many of these ballparks are past and current spring training sites. Are the Major League dimensions a good way to judge the development of younger players in the Florida State League? Does a major league ballpark help in the way you judge pitchers?

A: I judge pitchers by their ability to throw strikes, keep the ball down, the ability to throw an off-speed pitch for a strike, the ability to throw a change-up, the ability to be able to pitch inside and outside effectively, attack the strike zone and attack the hitter.

It's irrelevant about where you're pitching at because some ballparks are hitters friendly or pitchers friendly. It's important that you learn how to pitch. Also, you learn the place/park that you're pitching at.

Q: Finally, let's talk about what it's like to work for the Cincinnati Reds organization. When I was covering the Tampa Tarpons from 1984-1986, Cincinnati had one of the best farm systems in baseball. What are your thoughts about the Reds farm system?

A: We have good personnel that works together really well. From the top all the way down, everybody  is on the same page and we try to work together for the benefit of the major league club. We try to find that "Diamond In The Dust" to help the major league club.

The Daytona Tortugas finished the 2015 season winning FSL North Championship. The Charlotte Stone Crabs defeated the Daytona Tortugas to win the FSL Championship.

Three pitchers to watch from Fossas' staff include starters Jackson Stephens, Amir Garrett and reliever El'Hajj Muhammad.

Stephens was 12-7 with a 2.97 ERA, 26 games, in 145.1 innings pitched with 30 walks and 97 strikeouts.

Garrett posted a 9-7 mark with a 2.44 ERA, 26 games, in a 140.1 innings pitched with 55 walks and 133 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, Muhammad was 6-6 with a 2.96 ERA, 17 saves in 52 games in 54.2 innings pitches.

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

Mission Accomplished!!!

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When I approached former Deerfield Beach Observer Editor Ric Green about the possibility of joining his staff in 2007, I couldn't have been happier that he created the FAU Football beat. 

Being reunited with Howard Schnellenberger, the former Miami Hurricanes football coach who led UM to the National Championship in 1983; now watching him build this program from scratch was special.

While I enjoyed our time during the championship season, this was a different feeling.

Despite the early stages of back problems that led to surgery two years later, I enjoyed that first training camp and watching practices in the sweltering South Florida heat. Thanks to physical therapy, I held up fine that season.

It was neat when Public Relations Assistant Dawn Elston reunited me with Schnellenberger again after 25 years at the conclusion of that first practice.

Things worked out well that season and Green awarded me by allowing us to expand the coverage into all sports.

I enjoyed the associations with former Baseball Coach Kevin Cooney and current Basketball Coach Mike Jarvis.

I also enjoyed the Christmas Party at the end of the year and the editorial staff did an outstanding editing job on the stories.

Green usually had me write as many as five stories a month, but a minimum of four. During the latter part of his tenure, due to declining advertising, it dropped to three. Green resigned from the Observer and became the CEO of the Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce.

His successor David Volz did a good job continuing covering FAU Sports. Once Volz was removed as Editor, he was replaced by Diane Emeott-Korzen.

During the past couple years, it's no secret that advertising in print media has declined drastically. The Observer has been around for 50 years which is rare especially for a weekly publication. Many newspapers have gone out of business or have merged with their competitors. 

Emeott-Korzen was limited financially as my contribution maxed out at two stories but the majority of the time was limited to one.

Gone are those full page previews with three stories and a couple photos that I took at training camp at the end of August.

On August 29, 2013, this years Observer Sports Section was limited to a few youth sports stories and the paper was 20 pages.

This will be a different football season for me. It will be my first without FAU Football as a writer for the Deerfield Beach Observer.

Due to their declining advertising and decision to cover their local teams, there was no reason to have a writer assigned to a major university in their backyard. It would be easier to publish press releases, use the FAU website or hire an intern and pay nothing, therefore eliminating concerns that payroll would be met on time.

When I began covering FAU, I had the following goals:

1. Stay on until Howard Schnellenberger retired.

2. Cover the first game at the New FAU Stadium.

3. Watch FAU compete in its first bowl game. I saw their first two and the Owls won the New Orleans and Motor City Bowls.

4. Seeing QB Rusty Smith become the first FAU player drafted by the Tennessee Titans.

5. Being at their last game in the Sun Belt Conference as they are now a member of Conference USA.
6. Former FAU running back Alfred Morris rushed for 1,613 yards in his rookie season of 2012 and was named Second-team All Pro.

Mission Accomplished!!!

Towards the end, FAU Football was limited to monthly updates. 

Gone were the weekly conference calls as space size declined and I wasn't contacted anymore. 

Those conference calls were great as Schnellenberger would open up to myself, Marcus Nelson, Ted Hutton and Tom Ryan about the good, bad and the ugly. We learned a lot about the team, and a lot about football. 

When Carl Pelini took over as football coach, media access after Schnellenberger's departure was tremendously reduced.

While my tenure of covering FAU Sports is over with the Deerfield Beach Observer, This Website and the Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association (DSBA) will provide this upstart university with some National Exposure.

My projected FAU slate is 2-3 games and I'll be watching closely as to how well the university competes in their new conference.

I still look forward to working with Katrina McCormack and Justin Johnson.

Last year, I didn't see Hutton at Football games as he went to Nursing School. Ted saw the newspaper business declining as he left the South Florida Sun Sentinel to find a new career.

I once told Green that when things aren't fun anymore, it's time to stop doing them. It was fun working with former FAU President Frank T Borgan, former FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos and Arkansas State Athletic Director Terry Mohajir.

Ironically, Angelos landed a job at My alma-mater the University of South Florida. I have a feeling that our paths will cross again. 

It was fun while it lasted and a new chapter begins.

Mission Accomplished!!!

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

Gork Hammered By A Dork

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

I have been to Fayetteville, Arkansas once to see the Razorbacks play a basketball game at the old Barnhill Arena (10,000 capacity) and I have to say that these are some of the most passionate college fans in the country.

During my hoops game, these folks had to have sore feet because they stood-up the majority of the contest and the energy is enormous.

But the Razorbacks energy took on an entire new meaning earlier this month, when in my view there was an over-reaction when an Arkansas radio personality was fired recently for wearing a Florida Gators hat to a Hogs press conference.

Two days after wearing the Gators hat, Renee Gork was fired by KAKS, a northwest Arkansas radio station that calls itself Hog Sports Radio.

Last season, Arkansas lost to the Gators 23-20 at Florida, and Hogs Coach Bobby Petrino commented on Gork's hat after answering a question she asked. He told her, "And that's the last question I will answer with that hat on."

Gork said that she grabbed the hat without thinking because it was raining outside and also sent a letter of apology to the university and Petrino. She was even going to apologize publicly on the radio but never got that chance because she was fired.

I know that the station is Hog Sports Radio, is very biased and support the Razorbacks 100%, but please, the woman made an honest mistake and owned up to it.

What bothers me about the entire decision is the man who made a big deal about the situation is anything but perfect.

In 2007, Petrino abruptly resigned from the Atlanta Falcons and didn't finish out the season. He was 3-10. Petrino quit on his players and the organization which paid him millions of dollars to try to make them a winner. He informed his players through a note of explanation in the locker-room instead of having the guts to talk to them directly that he felt more comfortable in college.

You talk about professionalism, who is Petrino to criticize anyone when he makes a boneheaded move like this?

I'll never forget the first time that I started covering FAU Sports.

I was interviewing Tennessee Titans QB Rusty Smith. He asked me where my college ring was from. I told him the University of South Florida. It just so happened that FAU was going to play USF in Fort Lauderdale that season.

Smith asked me who I was rooting for? I told him the truth. My allegiances are to USF but if you win, that won't bother me at all.

USF did win a close game in what was one of the most difficult contests that I've ever sat through. I bit my finger nails so bad that they were bleeding and my heartbeat was moving faster than open-wheel indy cars. I told Smith I wanted to see a competitive game and that's what I got.

FAU Sports Information Director Katrina McCormack and I used to joke around about my USF connections all the time and she politely asked me out of respect not to wear my alma-mater's attire around the university especially when they faced each other.

Of course, I had no problem with that, but I told her that the ring stays on my finger. She smiled and had no problems with that.

Former FAU Baseball Coach Kevin Cooney and I used to joke around about when these two teams faced each other and he would tell me that it must be a tough night for you. I admitted to him it was and yes, the finger nails took a beating.

But his pitching coach was Tony Fossas (2005-2008) who also attended USF. I did write a story on Fossas and we had a great time.

The bottom line is I understand there is a fine line to the area where you work and what your collegiate loyalties are, but Gork did try to take the high road, but the dork Petrino, who took the low road in Atlanta, should have cut her a little slack. He's anything but perfect.

Even an ESPN Sports Nation Poll asked a question as to whether Gork should have been fired for wearing a Gators hat. Of the 5,375 votes, 72% said no and 28% said yes.

As we enter another college football season, the only time these two teams could meet is if they play in the SEC Championship Game since they don't face each other during the regular season.

If they do meet in the SEC Championship Game, there is no doubt that the absurd end of the Gork situation would over shadow the game.

If anything good does come out of this, perhaps Gator Nation will give Gork a job at the university or a Gainesville radio station will hire her.

Scott Morganroth's Blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com and he can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com.