20 Years

JACKSONVILLE – You might have seen on Channel 4 this week that I'm celebrating my 20th year at WJXT. It also marks the 20th year Tom Wills, Deborah Gianoulis, George Winterling and I have been the anchors at Channel 4, the longest running four person anchor team in television history.

There are many people to thank starting with my family for the sacrifices they've made, the management at the station and Post-Newsweek for creating an environment where we can flourish, and Tom, Deborah, and George for their professionalism and friendship over the years.

They've been running a couple of highlight clips of my career over the past 20 years on the air, and when I see them, there's no wonder I think I have the best job in the world. Covering all kinds of fantastic competitions, from the Super Bowl to the World Series, The Masters and seemingly every other major sporting event in America, what's not to like?

There have been exciting times, like when the city was awarded the Jaguars and the Super Bowl, the national championship seasons of the Gators and Seminoles, the great basketball runs by both schools and many others. And there have been difficult times as well, bringing news about sports figures who have lost their way, or tragically, lost their lives either in or outside of competition.

I've learned a lot from the people I've reported on and there is a common thread that runs through all of the successful people I've covered. They all have a desire to find out just how good they can be. They're never really satisfied with their final effort, figuring out just how much better they could have been by tweaking this and refining that. They don't compete against some rules in a book or against the other team, but rather against a standard of excellence they knows exists. They know what's good and what's not, and they don't need somebody to tell them when they haven't performed at their best.

And they're passionate.

Passionate about what they do, about life, and about their own achievements. When you're around people like that all the time, it inspires you. I know it inspires me every day to perform a little bit better, to try a little harder, to not come up with an excuse for why not, but rather to figure out a way to make things happen.

I've been honored to have breakfast with Muhammad Ali, lunch with Richard Petty, beers with Arnold Palmer and spend time with a whole myriad of other famous stars in and out of the sports world. I even had a chance to sing with Huey Lewis once at a post-concert party!

What has always impressed me isn't their money, or fame, but when they're nice. Without being schmaltzy, it's true. And with most of the really successful, that's the case. They're talent is usually only outweighed by their kindness and understanding.

Outside of sports, easily the most exciting and interesting things I've done at Channel 4 are the stories on fighter pilots and other Navy aviators. To have the chance to fly with the Blue Angels, then go through enough training to be "back seat" rated in the FA-18, getting a trap and a launch off an aircraft carrier are things I can never match. Being a Navy town, Jacksonville has given me a chance to get to know the pilots, the surface warriors at Mayport and the submariners at King's Bay. Any time I think I'm working hard, I only have to remember the things they're asked to do, and it makes my job look like a snap. Commander Pat Rainey asking me to be the keynote speaker at his change of command ceremony remains one of the highlights of the last 20 years.

Most importantly, thanks to all of you. Doing this job in a vacuum would be no fun. Getting to share your joys and disappointments is a rare privilege, and I'm glad you've let me along for the ride.

For more of Sam Kouvaris' weekly commentary, you can click here or go to Samsportsline.com.

Veteran players finished up the off-season conditioning program on the 15th of June, and the rookie and first year players left a week later. They?ll have a month off before returning the final Thursday in July to begin training camp at Ferrell Fields. While most players will be vacationing of sorts, they?ll all still be working out rather than let their fitness levels fall before coming back to begin two-a-days.

Jimmy Smith is gaining weight and strength rapidly and is confident he?ll return to the lineup by opening day. Smith has confided in friends that he?s coming along more quickly than even he expected and wants to be ready to play. They?ll give him a lot of latitude in training camp before asking Smith to get into the mix full time. Jimmy apparently feels pretty good about the addition of Sean Dawkins possibly leading to more single coverage, and consequently catches for Smith.

?Flexibility,? that?s what Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin answered when I asked him what John Wade was doing working out at right guard. ?We?ll work a lot of combinations,? Coughlin added. Yesterday those combinations and the flexibility became very limited as Wade had surgery on his foot and might miss the season. It?s a stress fracture, similar to the one that kept him out of 14 games last year and means the Jaguars don?t have a backup offensive lineman that?s ever played in a regular season game. It also means that Maurice Williams, the team?s second round pick, will now be counted on to step in and start at right guard.

Originally, Coughlin wanted to keep his options open, allowing Williams to figure the pro game out, and possibly use Zach Weigert at that right tackle position. Now, Weigert, if he?s healthy enough coming off his own knee injury, will be at right guard, and Williams at right tackle. Jeff Smith, last year?s starting center, will stay in the middle with Brad Meester and Tony Boselli on the left side. Mark Baniewicz and Gannon Shepard will both get looks, and sixth round pick Chad Ward will also be in the mix.

What we found out last year, is there are capable players around, and you can find them in all kinds of places, but on the offensive line its, as the players like to say ?fingers in a glove.? They don?t make a fist until they?re all working together.

Friday - June 29, 2001

Today marks my 20th anniversary at Channel 4, you might have seen some promotions regarding that on TV. It also celebrates the 20th year that Tom Wills, Deborah Gianoulis, George Winterling and I have been together, the longest running 4 person anchor team in the history of television.

There are a lot of people to thank for that, not the least of which are Tom, Deborah and George, all professionals I have been privileged to work with. My family for the sacrifices they?ve made, the management at Channel 4 and Post-Newsweek and the sports staff, people like Kevin Talley who I call ?my ace? because he does so many things well, and makes me look good.

But the people who keep coming to mind in this time of reflection are the sports fans I?ve had the chance to meet and spend time with over the last 20 years here. Jacksonville has always gotten somewhat of a bad rap, an afterthought among American cities. The people here have ignored that, and gone about their business.

Our town has always been a place where if you?re willing to work hard, you can make it. Where you went to school or who your Dad is doesn?t matter, what you do is what makes the difference. I?m asked often why I haven?t left and my answer is always the same, ?because I like it here.? I like the people here, the fans ability to identify phonies and root for people and teams who deserve their support.

So I?d like to say thanks to you for making mine the best job I could imagine. We?ll celebrate a little today, have some laughs, and then do what people in Jacksonville do. We?ll go back to work.

All of my Commentaries have been archived on Samsportsline. Just click on the commentary tab, read this week?s and go through the archive of articles over the last two years.

Thanks again.

Perhaps it?s fitting that Tony Gwynn will soon announce that he?ll retire at the end of this season. It means that five years from now, he?ll go into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in the same class with Cal Ripken.

Gwynn is the best hitter of the last 40 years, with a career .338 average, second only to Ted Williams since WWII. But it?s not only his skill at the plate that has made him a great baseball player, it?s what he?s done all over the field, in the clubhouse, and with the fans that sets him apart from many of the modern day players.

No question Gwynn has great natural talent, like Ripken, but rather than lean on that, he worked on his game, took extra batting practice, and sought advice from other great hitters, including Ted Williams. If he was two for three, you could count on Gwynn to grind it out, and finish the game 3 for 4, and sign autographs afterwards.

He studied pitchers, studied himself, and like Ripken, did it all with an easy going manner, doing his job. He wasn?t flashy, didn?t attract a lot of attention to himself with false bravado, and decided that staying with one team to have an impact on that community was more important than a few extra dollars.

Gwynn and Ripken are parts of the history of the game, but in many ways, they are the game as people want it to be. If you have a chance, even if you?re not a baseball fan, take a minute to see them play, just to be able to say you did. Looking for more of Tony Gwynn?s stats? Just Click on the baseball tab when you log onto Samsportsline.com.

Tonight?s NBA draft will either be the start of a regular trend in the NBA or the end of an overall silly move by the league. Three of the first four picks could be high school seniors. Eddie Curry, Kwame Brown and Tyson Chandler are names you?ll hear a lot about, either as the wave of the future or the last of the brand.

Good for those guys. As lottery picks, they?ll have money for life. Not so good for us, the fans, or the NBA. The league knows that drafting right out of high school isn?t going to help their product. H.S. players like Brown, who might be the number one pick, can be fabulously talented and have unlimited potential. Players like Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett have shown that. But sitting on the end of the bench for one or two seasons isn?t going to make the team any better now and putting them on the floor would make the team worse.

Shaquille O?Neal vs. a high school senior, no matter how good? Come on. The NBA is exploring the possibility of having a minimum age to enter the league of 20 years old. Other sports, baseball and hockey especially, take players from high school and groom them in a minor league system, getting their bodies and their minds ready for major league competition. Basketball doesn?t have that in place, instead they?ve used the colleges for that in the past.

For all the talk about looking for a player with intangibles and smarts on the court, the draft this year will be all about potential. For coaches, potential does one thing. It gets them fired. And it doesn?t sell tickets either.

?Flexibility,? that?s what Jaguars Head Coach Tom Coughlin answered when I asked him what John Wade was doing working out at right guard. ?We?ll work a lot of combinations,? Coughlin added. Yesterday those combinations and the flexibility became very limited as Wade had surgery on his foot and might miss the season. It?s a stress fracture, similar to the one that kept him out of 14 games last year and means the Jaguars don?t have a backup offensive lineman that?s ever played in a regular season game. It also means that Maurice Williams, the team?s second round pick, will now be counted on to step in and start at right guard.

Originally, Coughlin wanted to keep his options open, allowing Williams to figure the pro game out, and possibly use Zach Weigert at that right tackle position. Now, Weigert, if he?s healthy enough coming off his own knee injury, will be at right guard, and Williams at right tackle. Jeff Smith, last year?s starting center, will stay in the middle with Brad Meester and Tony Boselli on the left side. Mark Baniewicz and Gannon Shepard will both get looks, and sixth round pick Chad Ward will also be in the mix.

What we found out last year, is there are capable players around, and you can find them in all kinds of places, but on the offensive line its, as the players like to say ?fingers in a glove.? They don?t make a fist until they?re all working together.