Crouch was the 2001 Heisman Trophy winner as a senior at the University of Nebraska, and ended his Cornhusker career with 3,434 rushing yards (and 59 touchdowns) and 4,481 passing yards (and 29 touchdowns). As a senior, he passed for 1,510 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for 1,115 yards and 18 scores.

A third-round pick as a wide receiver by the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 National Football League Draft, Crouch has seen professional regular-season action in NFL Europe with the Hamburg Sea Devils as a safety in 2005 and with the Toronto Argonauts as a quarterback in 2006.

Crouch answered seven questions, and those questions were about everything from the United Football League to where he keeps his Heisman Trophy.

The first question came, fittingly, from Omaha, and centered around if Crouch plans to play any other position for the Nighthawks than quarterback.

“The competition is going to be great at QB,” Crouch replied, adding that returnee D.J. Shockley has experience and rookie Jeremiah Masoli is young, talented and has a lot of potential. “They’ll hopefully make me a better QB. I have to have a vision of being the guy at QB. I don’t go in with a thought of being second or third team.”

Nighthawks can get excited by Crouch, answering a question about how things are going with the team, saying, “I think this will be a system where they like to do some different things. You’re not going to see an offense that you haven’t seen before. I like them thinking outside of the box.”

Crouch said his Heisman is kept “in a secure place” in his house. And asked of his thoughts about his alma mater joining the Big 10, Crouch said, “Nebraska will do very well in the Big 10. It was a great move. I think the biggest reason they moved was just the stability of the conference. It seemed like the best place to be.”

As for the future of the UFL, Crouch said, “I think if they keep finding talented players and coaches, I do think they’ll succeed. … There are quite a few teams that will make this league successful. They seem to be on the right track.”

For the entire chat, go to espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/39063/ufl-eric-crouch

Photo Courtesy of UFL-football.com

Source: http://www.ufl-football.com/news/nighthawks-qb-crouch-chats-fans-espncom

“I don’t know when that call (to be the starter) is going to happen,” he said. “But each day I’m just going to go out and learn something about the whole offense.”

The brief window of opportunity when the lockout was temporarily lifted allowed Newton to pick up his playbook and he has been wearing out the pages trying to get a head start for whenever the Panthers’ facility doors open for the players. The Heisman Trophy winner has been spending his days down in Florida, but being a beach bum is the furthest thing from his mind.

In place of rookie mini camp, Newton teamed up with former Panther quarterback and fellow Heisman winner Chris Weinke at the IMG Academy for four days. The two hit the books and film room hard for over three hours each day and took the field for nearly the same amount of time.

According to a report on ESPN.com, the throwing sessions are all filmed and analyzed by both Newton and Weinke. This may prove to be invaluable for the not-yet-signed rookie signal caller when things return to normal in the topsy turvy world that is labor unrest in the NFL.

Weinke, 38, was  a highly successful collegiate quarterback at Florida State University after giving professional baseball a try. After entering FSU at the age of 25, Weinke led the team to two national championships and took home three major awards in his senior year of 2000 (Heisman Trophy, Johnny Unitas Award and the Davey O’Brien Award). He also had his number 16 jersey retired by the Seminoles.

The Panthers drafted him in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2001 NFL Draft  and started for a team that finished 1-15. While that may have been a difficult pill to swallow, it certainly taught Weinke a few lessons and something that he can pass on to Newton, who may deal with a similar situation in 2011. For the next five seasons, Weinke was mostly a back-up to Jake Delhomme and spent the 2007 campaign with the San Francisco 49ers before retiring.

While his career stats are not overly impressive (3,904 yards passing, 15 touchdowns, 26 interceptions and a QB rating of 62.2), Weinke has a reputation of being a smart quarterback who had exceptional mechanics. Considering that he played on the same NFL team – and one going through a rebuilding phase – makes Weinke the perfect tutor for Newton.

Photo by Bill Menzel

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Scores were 75-75 twice and a suspension-worthy tally of 77-73 for Hatley from the third judge.

Things couldn’t have begun better for the hometown kid, unloading with a series of head shots that sent Chatman tumbling to the canvas less than a minute into the contest. Hatley didn’t let up on the pressure, continuing with power shots as Chatman spent the rest of the round regaining his legs and composure.

The second round reached a point where it was questioned whether or not Hatley punched himself out. Chatman carried the action for most of the round, while Hatley seemed befuddled by his opponent’s newfound aggression.

Chatman switched back and forth between conventional and southpaw stance in an attempt to disrupt Hatley’s rhythm. The strategy produced mixed results in a competitive third round that saw Chatman score to the body, but also briefly wobbled by Hatley midway through the round.

The next couple of rounds featured the same back and forth shifts in momentum, though not quite as action-packed as what was offered earlier in the fight.

Hatley focused more on boxing, dancing on the outside and attempting to catch Chatman coming in. Chatman effectively bobbed and weaved his way out of trouble, but rarely landed more than one punch at a time in return.

Fatigue began to set in for both fighters as things grew a bit ugly heading down the stretch. Chatman controlled the real estate in the seventh, cutting off the ring and forcing Hatley to fight in reverse. Neither fighter was scoring with very much, though Chatman managed to connect with an uppercut and a pair of left hands in the closing moments of the round.

The final round became a race against the clock for Hatley, who was running on empty while Chatman cleaned out the kitchen in his greatest effort to score yet another upset. The San Diego resident provided the locals with a nail-biting moment late in the fight, scoring a knockdown with just over a minute to go.

Hatley collected himself and did his best to stay out of harm’s way for the remainder of the fight, and even appeared to score a late knockdown of his own, though it went unnoticed and thus uncredited by the referee.

The turn of events in the final round bailed out the judges, as Chatman would’ve otherwise lost a fight in which he seemed to be in control for the majority of the night.

Instead, he earned a 10-8 score on all three cards in the final round that resulted in a draw verdict, one that had Hatley storming out of the ring mere seconds after it was announced.

It’s not a loss, but Hatley for the first time in his pro career fails to end a fight with his arm raised in victory. The former amateur standout is now 14-0-1 (11KO), having now struggled in his past two fights. His previous ring appearance saw him suffer the first knockdown of his career at the hands of career steppingstone Emanuel Augustus.

Chatman accepted this fight on less than three weeks notice after being forced upon Hatley as the opponent of choice. The risk proved to be well worth the reward. His record now stands at 9-1-1 (4KO), though chances are he lands another TV fight in the near future.

The bout was Chatman’s sixth against a previously unbeaten opponent, his record now 4-1-1 in such fights. His lone loss came against Demetrius Andrade – Hatley’s old amateur rival who went on to serve on the 2008 U.S. Olympic boxing squad.

Local junior bantamweight Ray Ximenez, Jr. (2-0, 0KO) enjoyed airtime in a televised swing bout, taking care of Houston journeyman Alfredo Berto (1-4, 0KO) en route to a lopsided four-round decision. Scores were 40-36 across the board.

Source: City Boxing

Photo Courtesy of City Boxing

For those who were lucky – or smart enough – to not see it, the former ESPN SportsCenter anchor took his liberal beliefs to a new level. How soon some people forget what was lost that fateful day and the level of patriotism we all felt soon after. Olbermann had the balls to make such statements like, “The shameful truth about our country,” when sucking Muslim dick by trying to convince us that they were more at risk as victims of terrorism since 9-11 than non-Muslims.

If it weren’t for the safety precautions put into place after 9-11 and the proactive stance our military has taken for intelligence gathering, more than a few tragedies would have followed in different cities around the country and the world. Call it whatever you want but results are results and that information saved numerous lives. Waterboarding? Torture? Too fuckin’ bad; it worked.

This bespectabled bastard then went on to say that Americans have not exactly been the nicest of people throughout their country’s history and resorted to bringing Native-Americans into it. That’s a typical and predictable left-wing point during discussions of this nature and never holds water. What occurred a long, long time ago is not relevant when discussing terrorism. If it were, then a whole shitload of people would be coming down hard on the locals in Rome.

Olbermann should have a little more decency for a person who actually worked in the World Trade Center at one time (as did I) and described the location of the planned Islamic center being two blocks from it “very generous” in an attempt to convey that it is actually further off. But then the Herman Munster look-alike stated that the landing gear of one of the airplanes that fell 90 stories fell through the roof of the building in question.

Wait a minute – one one hand he tried to convince us the Mosque-to-be is not really that close to Ground Zero but he follows that up with informing us that a piece of one of the planes damaged the roof of that same place. What the fuck???? That alone speaks volumes about this man.

His feeble attempt at the old liberal strategy of pointing elsewhere and hoping for a distraction was uncanny. Olbermann pointed out that there are two churches closer to Ground Zero than the proposed project, but no one recalls Catholic fanatics taking down the World Trade Center, do they? And does Olbermann really believe that we will be doing the terrorist’s “heavy lifting for them” by changing our country and opposing the Islamic cultural center? That’s a bit of a stretch, isn’t it? Perhaps that is a change for the better.

We also learned via the Olbermann report that there has been a similar Islamic center at 20 Warren street in downtown Manhattan for years, even before 9-11, with no issues from either side. OK, so let the people who intended on praying or playing basketball at the Ground Zero Mosque to go there then.

Perhaps the best part of this entire charade was the parting shot of, “This is America, damn it!” As if Olbermann had not made a complete asshole out of himself a hundred times over already, he took it upon himself to use a phrase that he undoubtedly said so that anyone watching would have to shake their head and think, “Was this guy totally serious or just jerking us off with this whole thing?” Unfortunately he was not kidding.

For those who use sports as an escape from the shit that goes on in the real world, you can rest easy knowing that Olbermann will not be a part of NBC’s “Football Night in America” studio show. The official reason given by the network was that they wanted the pseudo-George Mican to concentrate on his political segments and not because he was hated by the audience. His schtick doesn’t work for sports or anything else for that matter.

“We now return you to your regular scheduled programming.” Sorry for the interruption, folks. This mixing in of politics on a sports media outlet was out of necessity and we hope that you understand. When people such as Olbermann spew their rhetoric and shit on what became a unified nation of Democrats and Republicans after 9-11, we feel as if we were put in a corner. To not come out swinging would be a pussy move, so we chose to give him a few shots in the name of patriotism.

(Yeah, that’s it. We’ll jump on that ledge to legitimize our argument. If douchebags like Olbermann can forget so quickly, then we’ll can keep reminding them.)

Well, maybe the powers that be at ‘The Worldwide Leader in Sports’ has heard us and our fans because we are stunningly proud to announce that on Wednesday, August 25 at 4 PM Eastern time on ESPN2, the boys over in Bristol are featuring “The Olympia Elite” on SportsNation.

Dexter Jackson, Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Hidetada Yamagishi and Dennis Wolf will be on hand to discuss the upcoming Mr. Olympia contest and they will also touch on other sports such as football.

The hour long program is hosted by Michelle Beadle and Colin Cowherd and has been on the air since July 6, 2009. What makes it different from some of their other shows is the viewer interaction with Twitter, Skype, e-mails, live polls and calls. Needless to say, a segment featuring huge bodybuilders on a show that considers golf a true sport (it’s a skill like billiards) should elicit some interesting responses.

But at least there will be some promoting of bodybuilding, and it is long overdue.

WHAT: 2010 Mr. Olympia’s elite on ESPN2′s SportsNation
WHEN: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 4 p.m. EST
WHO: Dexter Jackson, Kai Greene, Phil Heath, Hidetada Yamagishi and Dennis Wolf
FOR MORE INFO on ESPN2′s SPORTSNATION Go here
*Catch ESPN2′s SportsNation Monday-Friday at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and midnight EST

Numerous sources around the league, including Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, have cited that James will indeed make Miami his choice. It is merely a formality at this point.

The first real clue came on Wednesday when Wade and Bosh announced live on ESPN SportsCenter that they had decided on Miami. Both were coy when asked about LeBron joining them in South Beach and said that ‘The King’ needed to make up his own mind. But it was the way they seemed extra giddy about it, their own mega-millions contracts notwithstanding.

So what does this mean for the teams that were left at the altar? It is most disastrous to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a franchise that was less than an afterthought before James came around. Things could have been much different is James was able to convince Bosh to come to Ohio, but the former Raptor did not want to play for the Cavs and his move to Miami set the wheels in motion for James to go south. Now the Cavs have to regroup with not much to show for the offseason with the exception of new head coach Byron Scott, an upgrade over the dismissed Mike James.

The Knicks have been shooting for James for the past two seasons and president Donnie Walsh’s salary cap clearing was geared for just that. Their signing of Amar’e Stoudemire does not have the same effect without James and they will once again be a team in search of a star player. Another part of this move is that Stoudemire just happens to play the same position as David Lee, who is an automatic double-double and the Knicks most consistent player the past two years.

The Bulls were a team that appeared to be in a great position only a few days ago, but it all blew up in their faces. Wade had notified the Heat that his family situation would play a part in his decision and his children reside in Chicago. If he had decided to go to his hometown, then James was said to be very attracted to the Windy City. Their consolation prize? Carlos Boozer, not exactly someone to light it up every night.

Two other teams that did get some of LeBron’s time to court him were the Nets and Clippers, but neither had a legitimate shot at the top free agent in NBA history.

How interesting is it that Bosh – and not James – became the key free agent this summer that dictated where others signed?

AMERICAN LEAGUE

EAST

1 – New York Yankees - What else is there to say? Just as Derek Jeter said in an interview on ESPN Radio two days before the season opener, this team expects to win a championship every year and nothing else is acceptable. Even Yankee haters have to admit that their formula simply works. They made a few significant changes in the offseason and remain loaded. Number 28 in the works.

2 – Boston Red Sox – Things are changing a bit in Beantown but the Sox still have the horses to make it an interesting race. They had a good rotation and added John Lackey to it over the winter. Big Papi is close to being finished and Adrian Beltre is a question mark but they should have enough offense to contend as long as the staff keeps the games close.

3 – Tampa Bay Rays - The epitome of an underdog succeeding was the Rays two years ago when they made it to the World Series. They still have a pretty good line-up and need their starters to hold the line, which may be too much to ask for. In a tough division, it will be tough to amass 90-plus wins, which is what it will take to take it to the second season.

4 – Baltimore Orioles – The Birds have struggled for what seems like forever but should start to improve, albeit so slightly. By default or not, avoiding the cellar will be a confidence boost to this bunch.

5 – Toronto Blue Jays - In a rebuilding mode, the Jays will struggle and struggle hard. Trading ace Roy Halladay was the final straw for the organization and they will have to start over again after learning some tough lessons.

CENTRAL

1 – Chicago White Sox – The Pale Hose will finish on top of a very winnable division. A full season with Jake Peavy leading the rotation will be a big help in getting a jump on the competition, and the rest of their rotation are no slouches, either. Ozzie Guillen may put his foot in his mouth at times, but is a fan favorite and gets the most out of his players.

2 – Detroit Tigers – Their monumental collapse at the end of last season can go one of two ways: they can suffer a hangover or use it as an incentive to acquire that killer instinct. One big addition will be Johnny Damon, who brings years of success with him to Motown. Will Miguel Cabrera be able to come back from all of his off-the-field troubles? How about Dontrelle Willis, who went from being a possible top pitcher in baseball to…?

3 – Minnesota Twins - Everyone wants to know if Target Field will be as much of a home field advantage as the Homer Dome. If the players are talented enough, it will not make as much of a negative impact as expected, but this group has holes. Losing closer Joe Nathan for the season is a huge blow, and their rotation is a bit on the weak side. Don’t expect magic like last season this time around.

4 – Kansas City Royals – The once-proud franchise has had quite a cold spell since the late 1970s. At least they have Zach Greinke, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, at the top of the rotation.

5 – Cleveland Indians – The Tribe keeps trading their top players because they cannot afford to resign them. This is a weak team trying to rebuild without spending any money. There is not much here in terms of offense or pitching, but they have a nice stadium.

WEST

1 – Los Angeles Angels – Manager Mike Scoscia has been a steady influence on the bench and even with all the changes this team went through, they should repeat as division champs. Some old favorites have left, but the Halos added Hideki Matsui and Joel Pineiro. Scott Kazmir can be the wild card in this race. If he can get back to his old self, the young lefty can move up and be more than a 10-9 fourth starter.

2 – Seattle Mariners – The M’s have improved some and bringing Cliff Lee on board was a huge addition, even though he is starting the season on the DL. This should be Griffey’s last hurrah, but he won’t taste the postseason.

3 – Texas Rangers - Manager Ron Washington had a rough spring with his drug admissions and how long the front office stands behind him depends on the team’s start. They have some op in the line-up, and will add to that if Vlad Guererro has anything left in the tank, but their pitching is pretty thin.

4 – Oakland Athletics - Once an overachieving small market team, the A’s are now going to be playing at their level. They cut Jack Cust on the eve of the season opener and lost a lot of their power in doing so. They took flyers on Ben Sheets and Coco Crisp and both will not pan out.

Division Winners: Yankees, White Sox, Angels

Wild Card: Red Sox

American League Champions: Yankees

World Series: Yankees over Cardinals, 6 games

Photo by Bill Menzel

The southpaw won the Heisman as a sophomore in 2007 and has been one of the most successful signal callers in recent NCAA history but has always had to deal with the critics saying he is not cut out for the NFL. At 6’3″ and 240 pounds, he certainly has the size and he also has the potential to be the most effective rushing quarterback since Michael Vick in his prime.

A four-year starter at Florida, Tebow rushed for nearly 3,000 yards and 57 touchdowns. He also threw for 83 scores against 15 picks and close to 10,000 yards. Very impressive, to say the least, but he had a disappointing performance at the Senior Bowl, which is used as a barometer by many organizations preparing for the NFL Draft.

The prospects that decide to enter the NFL Scouting Combine have the opportunity to push themselves up the board by making a good showing in Indianapolis. When you have a quarterback with arm questions, he has the opportunity to quell much of the negative talk by showing good arm strength and accuracy in a very controlled enviornment, one that goes away awfully quick on Sundays. This would seem like the perfect scenario for a guy like Tebow.

But he has decided not to throw at the Combine.

“I’m not changing who I am or how I approach football, but there are things that I can get a lot better at – my fundamentals,” Tebow said to Adam Schefter, ESPN’s top football analyst. “I’ve never been asked to shorten or quicken my release and not have a loop in it. The changes I’m making have gone very well and it’s becoming more and more natural to me.”

Tebow further stated that he hopes to have his mechanics down by the start of minicamp, but just where they may be is the $100,00 question. Even though he is going to be participating in the other categories for quarterbacks, not showing what he can do with that arm will only hurt his chances of being a first round pick. Tebow wants to prove that he can be an every-down NFL quarterback, but that will be a huge question mark if scouts do not see him throw. Even if he is making adjustments on his motion, the team officials in the stands will want to see what he can do and take that factor into consideration.

With the ‘wildcat’ offense being in vogue these days, Tebow’s chances of sticking around are better with him being able to utilize his running ability. There will be teams who could take a chance on him and a strong rumor is that the Jacksonville Jaguars are one of them. For a team that cannot even sell out their home games, drafting a hometown hero like Tebow could give them a shot in the arm.

And his left arm may just keep him off that infamous list.

While they may have went as mainstream as they could by making the well-known Brock Lesnar the subject of the story, it was a quality segment with a live interview of the injured UFC heavyweight champion and league president Dana White.

“Let’s make it clear. I’m still the UFC heavyweight champion,” Lesnar said emphatically. The 32-year-old has been out since October with ended up being diagnosed as diverticulosis, a severe case of diverticulitis. He narrowly avoided surgery that would have resulted in his colon being removed, necessitating a colostomy bag and the end of his career and a completely different quality of life.

Since then, Lesnar has put back 30 of the 40 pounds that he lost in the hospital and has dumbfounded doctors by his recovery. “Basically the doctors said he got a lottery ticket,” White added. “It’s a miracle.”

So when will we see Lesnar back in the Octagon now that he has medical clearance? Well, before that happens, an interim heavyweight champ will be named at March’s UFC 111 in New Jersey. Shane Carwin, who Lesnar was scheduled to defend the belt against in November, will face Frank Mir. The winner will then take their shot against Lesnar (4-1), most likely in Australia this August.

To the average sports fan, they may have made a trip to the bathroom during this interview. But for the rest of us, not many stories are bigger than the champ – who was cut down before his prime by a freak medical condition – coming back to kick some ass. The outspoken Lesnar may be MMA’s most recognizable face right now and his return can only be good for the growth of the sport – at least on ESPN.

Bas Rutten and Ron Kruck of HDNet’s Inside MMA sat ringside and called the fight action, as the official commentators for the Shark Fight 6 internet pay-per-view. The stacked fight card featured two title fights and was lined with several well known fighters, including two time UFC Champion Don “The Predator” Frye, and his opponent Elite XC veteran Dave “Pee Wee” Herman.  There were also  several celebrity guests in attendance such as TapouTcrew members Punkass and Skyscrape, WEC fighters Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia, WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown, and pro wrestling legend Terry Funk.

Shark Fight 6 featured non-stop action from start to finish. During the main event bout, Herman defeated Frye exactly one minute into the first round via TKO stoppage, adding another win to his impressive fight record, now (15-1-0). In the co-main event, Gerald “Hurricane” Harris was crowned the organizations first middleweight champion, defeating UFC veteran Nissen Osterneck with an explosive knock out 46 seconds into the first round. Harris, who was a competitor on season seven of the Ultimate Fighter, is now on a seven fight win streak.

In other fight highlights, Anthony “T.J.” Waldburger successfully defended his welterweight title in a grueling match against MMA veteran Pat “Bam Bam” Healy. At the end of the compelling grappling match, Waldburger was declared the winner, via unanimous decision. Texas fan favorite Marcus “Money” Sursa was also victorious on Saturday night, defeating Isaac Villanueva in the first round via guillotine choke, securing his shot at the organizations first light heavyweight title.

Shark Fight 6 – Stars & Stripes Official Fight Results:

• Dave “Pee Wee” Herman defeated Don “The Predator” Frye 1 minute into the first round via TKO stoppage
• Gerald  “Hurricane” Harris defeated Nissen Osterneck 46 seconds into the first round via KO
• Ran Weathers defeated Phil Cardella 36 seconds into the first round via TKO
• Marcus “Money” Sursa defeats Isaac Villanueva 2:06 into the first round via guillotine choke
• “TJ” Waldburger defeated Pat “Bam Bam” Heely via unanimous decision
• Brian Humes defeated Lance Friedenstein via unanimous decision
• Anselmo Martinez defeated Lorenzo Borgomeo immediately following the first round via corner stoppage
• Karin Darabedyan defeated  Estevan Payan 1:20 into the first round via TKO
• Robert Clayton Hantz defeated Tony Castillo via unanimous decision

About Shark Fight Promotions:

Shark Fight Promotions, based out of Amarillo Texas, is an up and coming Fight Promotion Company dedicated to driving the growth of mixed martial arts through the production of high quality MMA events and by effectively showcasing MMA fighters. The organization takes pride in putting the fans and fighters first; therefore they strive to make each Shark Fight event more exciting than the last.

Executives within the organization are committed to producing impressive fight cards with extremely competitive matchups. They are also very passionate about their philanthropic endeavors. Shark Fight Promotions stays very involved in charity causes by partnering with, and contributing to, non-profit organizations in each city that hosts a Shark Fight Promotions event.

Photo courtesy of Shark Fight Promotions