Peiffer Update (More Infomation)

A former jackson high school football stand out will play his college ball close to home next year.
Indians athletic director john martin tells kfvs 12 sports that linebacker blake peiffer has verbally committed to play at southeast missouri state.
Peiffer was jacksons leading tackler and also played some offensive line.
He expected to sign a letter of intent next week.
Peiffer is also a top rated state wrestler in the 215 pound weight class

Peiffer Gives Verbal To SEMO

Todd Richards just confirmed Jackson's Blake Peiffer has given a verbal commitment to play football at Southeast Missouri State.
Tune into Heartland News tonight at 10 for the latest.

I know this is a "Sports Blog"... but I thought I would post a few pictures
I took this morning (Wednesday) following round 2 of "Winter Storm '09".
These are from Cape Girardeau.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

Just got this e-mail from Southern Illinois University Media Relations Director Tom Weber. With the men's game moved to Thursday it creates sort of a "homecoming day" at the SIU Arena. Former Saluki great Kent Williams returns as an assistant coach with Missouri State and former women's assistant Jody Adams (now head coach with Wichita State) leads her Lady Shockers to town. After a NCAA tournament run last season with Murray State Adams has Wichita State entering Thursdays game at 10-8 over all and 2-5 in MVC play.
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Saluki Men's Basketball versus Missouri State Postponed Until Thursday at 8 p.m. Jan. 27, 2009
Wednesday's game between Southern Illinois (9-11, 4-5) and Missouri State (9-11, 2-7) has been postponed and rescheduled for 8 p.m. on Thursday due to travel difficulties for the Bears' team.
All previously purchased tickets will be valid for Thursday's game.
The arena ticket office will open from 8 a.m. until gametime on Thursday. Good seats still available. Call 1-877-SALUKIS (877-725-8547) or buy at the door.
Thursday's home women's game versus Wichita State has been moved up to 5:30 p.m.

Webcast Questions

I feel the need to write and clear-up questions concerning the upcoming showdown at the Show-Me-Center between Sikeston and Scott County Central preceded by Oran vs Saxony Lutheran.

As of (Sunday night January 25th) the games will NOT be webcast. This decision was not made by KFVS 12. We were told by Mitch Wood (Oran High School) the athletic directors of the four schools voted against webcasting the two games live.

Paul Keener, KFVS 12 Director of Marketing, tells me he will, "continue to work with school administrators to come to an agreement which allows the both game to be webcast." He says it's not the goal of KFVS to hurt attendance, "we just want to make the event available to those unable to attend....We are not giving up."

If you would like to see the games webcast on KFVS12.com contact the schools involved:
Oran
Saxony Lutheran
Scott County Central
Sikeston

You Play To Win The Game!

I'll admit I was somewhat surprised to hear the Kansas City Chiefs fired Herman Edwards Friday night with a year remaining on his $12 million dollar contract. Not surpsied because I think Herm was on his way to leading the Chiefs to the Super Bowl, I raised and eyebrow because of the timing. It took new General Manager Scott Pioli more than a week (after joining the Chiefs) to lower the boom on Herm. What did Pioli need to figure out in that span of time? I think any person could see the writing on the wall...Fire Edwards, and start your reign as General Manager by bringing in "your" coach and begin with a fresh clean slate.

The numbers on Herman Edwards at Kansas City:
2006 9-7*
2007 4-12
2008 2-14
Total: 15-33
*Lost to Indianapolis in the AFC Wildcard Game

Who will replace Edwards? The rumor mill is going strong...The leading candidate appears to be former Denver Broncos head coach Mike Shanahan. Some reports suggest he is in negotiations with the Chiefs while other reports suggest the opposite. Will Shanahan take over in KC? I have no idea, but I think it's safe to say Vince Lombardi would struggle with this team.

My two cents: If they hire a retread I would go with Mike Martz or Jon Gruden. I know both are drastically different but each can bring something to the table KC needs. Gruden fields tough teams and Martz can put together a fun offense to watch...Heck maybe Pioli should hire both.

Ready For Some (More) Football!

As we approach Super Bowl XLIII the majority of sports talk the next two weeks will no doubt focus on the NFL.
Rightfully so...the Pittsburgh Steelers may be America's 2nd favorite team (as a Bengals fan it hurt to write that) and the Arizona Cardinals represent a great story.

If you dig deep you'll find football fans soon get another outlet to feed their voracious appetites. A new pro league is in the works and set to begin late summer or early fall 2009. The United Football league is being organized by former Jacksonville Jaguar VP for personnel Michael Huyghue, now the first Commissioner of the UFL.

Currently the UFL has six cities named as a potential home for one of the inaugural franchises.

• Hartford, CT
• Las Vegas, NV
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Orlando, FL
• San Francisco, CA

UFL Commissioner Huyghue posted on his blog at the official UFL website a few differences between the UFL and the NFL.

• Games will be played exclusively on Thursday and Friday nights
• Fans can buy stock in the team
• Field goals over 50 yards are worth 4 points
• $20 million dollar salary cap

I am very skeptical of a new league, but will welcome it with open arms and hope it's not as gimmicky as the XFL (cheerleader locker room cameras and created story lines between commentators and coaches). Before we get too excited don't forget other leagues which tried to tackle the NFL beast:

• 1982-87 United State Football League
• 1973-75 World Football League

Will you support another football league? Let me know what you think.

For more information on the United Football League go to:

• http://www.ufl-football.com/
• http://www.unitedfootballleagues.com/

Heaven For Stat Geeks

I spend a lot of time on the net reading sports pages and seeking new sites for content.

As I come across sports related websites I'll pass them your way. This is a great site to start get us started. www.jacked.com
It has nothing to to with Jack Bauer or the FOX show 24.

Last week KFVS12 Meteorologist and fellow web geek John Dissauer told me about www.jacked.com.

Just log into jacked.com and experience live games on another level.

You will need to set up and account (it's free).
Once logged-in...click on the "What's On" tab then choice a sport (NHL, NBA, NFL, NCAA Basketball). A page with "Game Tickets" will appear... Pick your game and "Enter". This is not a video or audio broadcast of a game..it's a interactive live statistics and play-by-play chart.

You will get the most from the site if you log into a game you are also watching on television. It's like having you're own statistician in the room.

You can customize the game screen at jacked.com by using available "widgets". For example on the NBA game I am watching I can add Player Profile, Boxscore, Scoreboard of other games, Nothing But Net Trivia and Chat (just to name a few). Widgets are movable....click on the top bar of the one you wish to move then drag and drop it anywhere on the screen.

Have any great sports related sites? Let me know.

Polarizing Warner Returns To Super Bowl

Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl!

It's truly amazing the Cardinals will play in Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa. Their road to the "Big Game" should prove once and for all why the NFL is the best league in sports. A team can go from the back of the bus to the drivers seat in a few short months (unless you are the Cincinnati Bengals). Which team will you root for? If you follow the NFL and know the intense rivalry between the Bengals and Steelers you'll understand why I will be cheering for Arizona in two weeks, plus I want to see Cardinals QB Kurt Warner get his second Super Bowl ring which should secure him a ticket to the Hall Of Fame. Win or lose the upcoming Super Bowl...I believe he is a Hall-of-Famer (but I'll save that argument for another post).

Mentioning the name of Arizona QB Kurt Warner always conjures up a passionate response. People either cheer for him or against him... there is little gray area. I think the reaction is based more on the actions of his wife Brenda than Kurt. She was vocal and at times perceived publicly as whiny when Kurt was rolling through (what became) the final days of his tenure in St. Louis.

In 2002 she told a radio station she would welcome a trade if Kurt remained on the bench. That story got a lot of play in this part of the country. More fuel was added to the Warner vs Rams fire when it was rumored the Rams front office told (devout born again Christian) Kurt to focus more on the the playbook than the Bible.

I know a lot of people who were turned-off by what they called Kurt's "preachy" remarks. I do not want to get into a religious discussion... Kurt's comments never bothered me. He is passionate about his faith and obviously "practices what he preaches".

I fall under the category of "Kurt Warner Fan". I will proudly wear my Warner #13 (Rams) jersey Sunday, February 1st. His rise to elite status is a movie waiting to be made.