PITTSBURGH — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, though disappointed his franchise isn’t participating in Super Bowl XLV, couldn’t have been any luckier with the Super Bowl draw.

The Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers — two of the game’s best brand names with two of the best traveling fans in all of sports — meet up in Arlington, Texas, for a chance to win the Lombardi Trophy.

The Steelers will be trying to take ownership of the Lombardi Trophy for the seventh time in franchise history. This will be their third trip in six years. The Packers are going for the fifth time (they’ve won three), but this is the first time they’ll have a chance to claim the Lombardi Trophy, named after their legendary former coach, against the team that has won it the most. It should make for great theater.

Here is the first round of questions heading into two weeks of Super Bowl hype.

Read more at ESPN

By MARK F. GRAY

Howard University is apparently headed back to the future for their next football coach. Bowie State offensive coordinator and former Bison wide receiver Gary Harrell is expected to be named head coach as early as Tuesday according to sources close to the program.

Harrell was an all-MEAC receiver and member of Howard’s 1993 Black College National Championship team and was inducted into the school’s hall of fame in 2005. He finished his playing career at Howard as the school’s all time leading receiver and began his coaching career there in 2002 as receiver coach.

“It’s a step in the right direction for the football program,” said Maryland State Delegate Jay Walker, his quarterback during their time at Howard. “There are a lot of alumni who are pulling for him to restore the glory to Bison football”.

Several of his collegiate records still sit atop Howard’s all time list. Harrell’s 184 career receptions rank number one in Bison history while his 13 receptions and four touchdown performances are tops on the single game list as well.

As a pro Harrell was signed as a free agent by the New York Giants and played for the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League. He also spent two seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes.

Harrell has experience coaching in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after serving as quarterbacks coach at Morgan State following a tour of duty at Texas Southern under his former coach Steve Wilson. For the last two years he was the offensive coordinator at Bowie State. In 2009 the Bulldogs played for the CIAA championship.

“He has a competitive drive that not too many people know about,” Walker said. “He is not only a good recruiter, he is a great recruiter also”.

Harrell will inherit a program that has won only two of their last 20 games and has not won a MEAC game over the last two years.

“ When we decided to come together our Most Valuable Player chances kind of went out the window.”

James, Wade and the Heat are thriving and both have been regulars in the top of the MVP voting for the last five years. James took the honor in 2009 and ’10. But James believes with their overall numbers down and the overall strength of the Heat that neither he nor Wade will win it this year.

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By MARK F. GRAY

School may be out for students in the metropolitan area but for several high school basketball teams this is a big week to prepare for their conference races.

There are two tournaments scheduled for the multi-court Hoop Magic facility in Chantilly, Virginia featuring high school teams from Maryland and Virginia facing counterparts from around the country. Following that event the facility will host a major AAU showcase with some of the top programs and players who will impact high school teams over the next few seasons.

Beginning Tuesday, the Hooping Through The Holiday Tournament tips off a two day round robin competition featuring 20 teams and 10 games. The games feature public, private, and charter school teams from D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. This is not a tournament that will crown a champion but each team will play two games against quality competition.

Among the teams who will play in the tournament from the DMV are Prince George’s County power Laurel who is expected contend for a state championship this year and fledgling DC Charter School powerhouse Cesar Chavez. For Chavez this represents a chance for them to bring respect to programs who haven’t been getting much as outsiders in to their counterparts in the DCIAA.

The other teams from the metro area who are scheduled to compete are: Suitland, Wheaton, Parkdale, and Washington Public Latin. Virginia will be represented by Kellam, Middleburg, and Christ Church. Traditional North Carolina power West Charlotte rounds out the field.

The action begins on Tuesday at noon with at least five games each day.

After the high school action concludes the Hoop Magic JV showcase tips off featuring AAU and junior varsity programs. Many of the players in this JV showcase will ultimately be stars on local high school teams over the next few years.

The schedule of events can be found at www.hoopmagicsa.com.

By MARK F. GRAY

Let the countdown begin to the official end of the Donovan McNabb era in the nation’s capital.

In a preemptive strike clearly designed to let the rest of the NFL teams know that his client’s skills haven’t eroded to the point where he could no longer be an effective quarterback, McNabb’s agent Fletcher Smith blasted head coach Mike Shanahan and his son/offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for a relationship gone bad and disrespecting his client. The public statement claims that McNabb’s relationship with Kyle has fallen apart because of strategy differences and dsparaging remarks made behind his back.

After he was pulled from the last drive in Detroit there were remarks by both Shanahans regarding McNabb’s knowledge of the two minute offense and his physical conditioning. In the 525 word statement Smith states that McNabb reported to camp in the best shape of his career having spent all off season in Washington after not missing a single organized team activity or mini camp practice.

Smith also alleges that a source of the friction stems from McNabb’s strategy suggestion that the team use more screen passes to slow down the pass rush against an offensive line that has yielded more sacks than any team in the league. He claims that while Kyle was reluctant to calls those types of plays with McNabb under center, those plays helped Rex Grossman to his stellar performance against the Dallas Cowboys last week.

Perhaps the most damaging allegation is that after McNabb led the Redskins to what should have been a game saving drive against the Tampa Bay Buccanneers at the end of regulation, Kyle said that “would be the last drive he ever started for him”. As of Thursday evening there had been no comment from the organization in response to the statement.

Smith’s statement seems to conflict with McNabb’s remarks during his radio show on Tuesday where he said he was open to returning to Washington next season. However, after this public attack it would appear that McNabb’s camp is hoping to jump start the release process which would pay him $3.5 million if the team cuts him. It has already cost the team a second and third round pick in the NFL draft which sets their rebuilding process back even longer.

For a team that has been attractive to free agents throughout the NFL for their penchant for overpaying, it will be interesting to see if Washington is now as attractive a destination as it once was following this very public controversy. While statistically this has been a subpar season for the six time all pro quarterback his reputation was spotless before dealing with the drama in D.C.. There are those who suggest that many talented players will now forsake the potential for an enormous payday in the nation’s capital because of the perception of how McNabb was treated by this organization.

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Current West Guard Results:

Kobe Bryant (Lakers) 722,682
Chris Paul (Hornets) 386,649
Manu Ginobili (Spurs) 230,137
Steve Nash (Suns) 190,226
Deron Williams (Jazz) 184,148
Jason Kidd (Mavericks) 141,283
Russell Westbrook (Thunder) 140,519
Eric Gordon (Clippers) 113,510
Tony Parker (Spurs) 103,238,
Derek Fisher (Lakers) 81,088

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Connecticut — No. 89 came and went as effortlessly as nearly all their previous games. This season. Last season. And the season before.

UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, never at a loss for words, was close Tuesday night.

“It’s pretty amazing. It really is,” he said.

No exaggeration there.

His No. 1-ranked Huskies topped the 88-game winning streak set by John Wooden’s UCLA men’s team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Playing with the relentlessness that has become its trademark — and would have made Wooden proud — UConn blew past the Seminoles as it has so many other teams in the last 2½ years.

“I don’t want my team to compare themselves to anyone,” Auriemma said. “I’m not John Wooden and this isn’t UCLA. This is Connecticut and that’s good enough.”

Read more at CBSSportsline

By MARK F. GRAY

On the merits of it being strictly a football decision you can understand the thought process of starting Rex Grossman ahead of Donovan McNabb in Sunday’s meaningless game at Dallas. It does reflect the due diligence that was lacking when the Shanahan regime took the helm of running the burgundy and gold franchise and didn’t properly address a dearth of talent at key positions throughout the roster. They need to use the final three weeks of the season to evaluate where the focus of the rebuilding process has to begin.

However, team Shanahan stepped out of bounds in the crass disrespectful manner which they have handled the McNabb era in Washington. While this has not been a season to remember for McNabb, you don’t leave a six time pro bowl NFC Champion quarterback twisting in the wind and then humiliate him publicly for the second time this year. This is something that should have been addressed with class. Obviously, class is something both Mike and Kyle Shanahan did not bring to Washington.

McNabb has missed receivers and has been wildly inconsistent all season. Kyle has been stabbing McNabb in the back to his father who probably has been doing the same to owner Dan Snyder since the bye week. But McNabb hasn’t been out coached in the second half of the last two home games by Leslie Frazier and Raheem Morris respectively. To make a move of this magnitude is purely personal and totally unprofessional. This is a case where the father wants to protect the reputation of his underachieving son/offensive coordinator at the expense of the credibility of a quarterback who has been facing an uphill battle all season.

Team Shanny has yet to take any responsibility for their role in coaching down a season that once had promise. When McNabb was benched against Detroit they cited his didn’t understand the terminology of the two minute offense and that “he lacked the cardiovascular conditioning“ to finish the game. Grossman understood it so well he immediately fumbled and the Lions recovered. Rex was also so fit that he was nowhere to be found as Ndamukong Suh was sealing the game with his touchdown run.

If Shanahan really had addressed McNabb and told him once they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs he would start Grossman for the rest of the season why create the drama of having the lingering question hovering over Dallas week. All that’s left to play for is to sweep the Cowboys but another Shanny distraction is set to derail that chance.

Doesn’t he get how important that is to people around here? If he makes the announcement Wednesday it’s a dead story by the weekend. However, in a year of distractions that have been instigated by Shanahan this is just par for the course. Where is taking the high road with these people?

Though revered in Denver Shanahan has not built enough honest equity with this fan base. His behavior is both derisive and polarizing. The Haynesworth fiasco could have been handled better and not so public. His decision to trade inside the division has cost them two more draft picks hampers the rebulding process as well.

This unfortunate and unnecessary episode is sure to divide the team, the fan base, and the city. The owner should know better than that!

Members of the Raw Element Dance Group along with Martial Arts Master Sensai Leon Swain and musical artist Dear Yvette visited The Skybox during The SportsGroove Radio Program and host Mark Gray Wednesday night to announce plans for DJ Fyne’s First Annual Toy Drive this weekend at the Berwyn Heights Town Center.

Join Members of the Radio One Family including: Gray, Sheila Stewart from WKYS, Bernie McCain from WOL, and emcee Lazee Lamont, by bringing a donation of a toy to the event which features performances by Raw Element and Dear Yvette beginning this Saturday at 4pm. Berwyn Heights Town Center is located at 5700 Berwyn Road and the toy drive is presented by the Okniawan Goju-Ryu Karate Club.