College Magazine: Cam Newton Spotlight

University of Auburn junior quarterback Cam Newton had an incredible week.

On Monday, Newton led the Tigers against the University of Oregon Ducks in the BCS National Championship game. In a surprisingly low-scoring contest, Newton passed for 265 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in the first half as the Tigers took a 16-11 lead into halftime.

The second half was an offensive struggle. Both teams combined for only 14 points, 11 of which came in the final three minutes. A field goal by Auburn senior kicker Wes Bynum in the third quarter gave the Tigers a 19-11 lead going into the fourth quarter.

After two unsuccessful possessions, Oregon got the ball back, down eight points, with just under five minutes to play. Oregon sophomore quarterback Darron Thomas orchestrated a two-minute, fifty-five yard drive before throwing a touchdown pass to sophomore running back LaMichael James. The crucial two-point conversion was successful on a Thomas pass to senior wide receiver Jeff Maehl.

With two minutes and thirty-three seconds remaining in the national championship game, the score was tied and Auburn was getting the ball back with a chance to win the game.

Auburn’s drive started at their own twenty-three yard line. They needed 75 yards to score a touchdown and around 50 yards to get into field goal range for Bynum.

It was Newton’s time to shine.

Newton led a drive into Oregon territory that was capped off by a dramatic thirty-seven yard run to the Oregon twenty-three yard line by freshman running back Michael Dyer. The Tigers were already in field goal range for Bynum, so the Newton-led offense methodically ran out the clock as they moved the ball to the Oregon one-yard line before calling a time-out with just two seconds left on the clock.

Bynum came in, executed the chip shot, game-winning field goal, and Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers were national champions.

The championship capped off an historic and tumultuous season for Newton. He compiled a resume of 2854 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns to go along with 1473 rushing yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. He also won the Heisman trophy in December amidst speculation that he and/or his father had violated NCAA regulations.

Newton announced Thursday that he will be eligible for the NFL draft this April, and is projected to be a first-round pick. If the past has taught us anything, it is that no matter where Newton ends up, his future will certainly be exciting and unforgettable.

Flyers Look to Get Upshall Back

Flyers GM Paul Holmgren is looking to acquire forward Scottie Upshall, several sources close to the team have reported.

After playing with the Flyers from 2006-08, Upshall was traded to the Phoenix Coyotes after the 2008 season for a second round draft pick and winger Dan Carcillo.

With the Flyers set at center, it appears that Holmgren wants to add depth to wing. It was reported that Holmgren also pursued longtime New Jersey Devil Jamie Langenbruner before he was traded to Dallas.

Ironically, the addition of Upshall might be least beneficial to the man he was traded for. Carcillo or forward Andreas Nodl would likely be moved if the Holmgren can sign the former Flyer.

Expectations for 2011

PBR-Professional baseball in Philadelphia is experiencing an unprecedented run of success.

The Phillies have won 371 games over the past four seasons, collected four consecutive National League Eastern division pennants, played in three straight National League Championships and made a pair of World Series appearances. Toss in 2008’s World Series win and you are looking arguably at the best run in Phillies’ franchise history.

The club set attendance records last season, in total (3,777,322) and average per game (44,968), and will enter the 2011 season with a streak of 123 consecutive sell-outs, second only to the Boston Red Sox.

Things couldn't be going much better.

The record-setting attendance figures has generated additional revenue and given Ruben Amaro Jr. and Co. an opportunity to increase the payroll, which now stands as the highest in the National League, and just behind Boston and  the New York Yankees as the highest in baseball.

After being a second-division organization for so long, the Philies are widely considered the class of the National League. And that was true even before the club went out and signed Cliff Lee last month.

The Phillies starting rotation for 2011, with Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, is already being heralded as one of the best in baseball’s rich history. The foursome is being compared by pundits to some of the greatest pitching staffs the game has ever seen; including the Baltimore Orioles staff of the late 1970’s, the New York Mets staff of the late 1980’s and the Atlanta Braves staff of the 1990’s.

The mantra of “pitching is everything” has been proven to be true time and time again, and these three staffs support it; all three teams won championships during their respective pitching tenures.
However, there is a sense of urgency. Halladay and Lee are signed until 2013 and beyond, but Oswalt’s contract will expire after this season and Hamels will be eligible for arbitration.
The idea that this season could be the team’s only year with all four of these pitchers together only magnifies the expectations for 2011.

S ince the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 fans have demanded nothing less than another championship. This season won’t be any different, and if anything, the postseason disappointments of the previous two years has created an anxiety amongst some of the Phillies’ most ardent fans.

A World Series victory in 2011 will turn this golden age into a dynasty, and Philadelphia has been waiting for a team like this for quite some time.

The fans will fill Citizens Bank Park, and the Phillies’ front office has hired the talent to succeed, so now the onus falls on the players.

And expectations couldn’t be higher.

Lee's Decision Not About Money

PBR - How many times have you seen it? A highly competitive offseason battle for the market’s top pitching arm that ultimately ends with the New York Yankees overpowering the other teams involved with their unchallengeable payroll and aggressiveness. It’s what makes so many people hate the Yankees and what has created their evil empire. That’s what makes the Cliff Lee deal so special. 

Based on the reported contract he will sign with the Phillies, Lee will have turned down approximately $30 million to play in Philadelphia over New York. You just don’t see that anymore. Regardless of all the reports from last December when the Phillies said they couldn’t resign Lee because of the money he was reportedly expecting, regardless of the mindset that the Yankees and Texas Rangers had going into free agency that they each had to pay the maximum price; it seems as though this is one of those rare occurrences where money simply wasn't a deciding factor.

Lee first came to Philadelphia in 2009 via a trade with Cleveland. He established an excellent rapport with his teammates and the organization during the organization's run and finished the postseason 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA. 

When the organization traded him to Seattle last December to make room for Roy Halladay he was stunned.

“I was devastated,” Lee said. “I wanted to spend the rest of my career there.”

Despite the fact that Lee pitched for two different teams in 2010, including a Texas club that he led to the World Series, his heart was always in Philadelphia.

Lee apparently was willing to stay in Texas if the Rangers accepted the terms of a deal that he and his agent proposed to them that included a contract of seven years. However, the Rangers organization did not feel comfortable signing Lee for a seven-year tenure; the most substantial offer they made him was six years, $138 million.

"In this instance, it was simply a matter of us saying yes," Rangers managing general partner Chuck Greenberg said. "But it would have been us saying yes on terms we weren't comfortable with. This wasn't about Cliff not coming to Texas. He was willing to remain a Ranger, but it was on terms we felt went beyond the aggressive parameters we were operating under. Had we been willing to go beyond the parameters we were willing to go, he'd be here. We needed to act aggressively, but responsibly and we did so."

So while it is true that Lee was willing to stay in Texas if the price was right, it’s obvious that his desire to come back to Philadelphia trumped all other circumstances. 

"In the back of our minds, thinking that experience was something that was going to be meaningful to him,” Greenberg said. “We realized the Phillies had made a positive impression on him."

It is also obvious that Lee just flat-out did not want to go to New York. 

Reports earlier in the free agency season that Yankees’ fans poured beer on Lee’s wife during a Rangers/Yankees game last season likely had an impact on him.

Lee's decision came down to comfort. He enjoyed his time in Philadelphia and developed some strong relationships, and those benefits trumped the extra money tossed at him from Texas and New York.

Lee has emerged a hero of some sorts from this deal. He turned down one of the largest contracts ever offered to a pitcher to follow his heart and return to a city where he felt he was at home. 

It is this kind of attitude that Phillies fans admire, and it’s time for the Phillies’ faithful to embrace him with open arms. 

Again.

TTN Blog: Conlin Receives Spink Award

Temple Alum and former Editor of the Temple News Bill Conlin received the J.G Taylor Spink Award from the MLB Hall of Fame for his work as a baseball writer.

The award, which was announced on Tuesday at the baseball winter meetings, is awarded annually to a sportswriter for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing.”

Conlin has been writing for the Philadelphia Daily News for 45 years. He became a columnist in 1987 and has also written numerous baseball articles for the Sporting News.

Conlin graduated from Temple in 1961, where he won the Sigma Delti Chi Award as Outstanding Graduate in Journalism. He was the first Editor of the TTN so be appointed to successive terms and he won the Sword Award in 1960 for service to the university.

Conlin said that in 1960, he worked “longer and harder this year than at any time in my career, including double shifts as editor, then as composing room and darkroom worker. The hands-on experience gave me a real sense of how a newspaper is put together, the teamwork it takes and the rush of pride when you hold the finished product.”

Conlin is the second Temple sports journalist to make national news in the past week. Longtime Philly basketball writer and Temple alum Phil Jasner passed away this Friday. Coincidentally enough, the man that gave Jasner his first byline was none other than Bill Conlin.