Archive for June, 2010

I’m breaking with format and in this week’s Kelin Johnson Sports News Direct I am going to share with you a little family pride, and try to open up to explain why role models in sports, and in life, are so important.  I feel so blessed with family pride.  Maybe after reading this, you will understand, and will also understand why giving back and being a positive influence to others is so important to me.

- KJ

KELIN JOHNSON SPORTS NEWS DIRECT

Week of 6/28/10

Football Camp Turns Sleepers into Keepers…A Story that’s All in the Family

You probably haven’t heard of my younger cousin Kendall Fullington…yet…but you definitely should recognize the name of my uncle and Kendall’s Dad Darrell Fullington, who won two national championships as free safety at the University of Miami in ’83 and ’87 and played for seven years in the NFL, for Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

Kendall Fullington sprints

When I look at Kendall now, I see someone who’s exactly where I was about seven years ago. No one had heard of Kelin Johnson when my Uncle Darrell dropped me off at the UM football camp in the Summer of 2003, partly because we had moved when I was in high school. Kendall has also moved around a lot with his family.  When I look back at that camp, I remember working so hard at every drill to turn coaches’ heads!  I’ll never forget what my Uncle Darrell told me when he dropped me off at camp that year:  No matter what, go hard, and be the best. I wanted to be just like him!

After that football camp, I started to get noticed, and the same thing is happening for Kendall after his great performances as Cornerback at both the UGA and GT Football Camps.

Kendall Fullington in the game

Kendall was profiled in an article on dawgpost.com as one of three “sleepers” who came out of Mark Richt’s camp.  Here’s what they wrote: “Fullington had the challenge of slowing down North Hall’s C.J. Curry in the middle of the week, and did fine with that challenge. Fullington can run well and cover, too. But his film shows that he’s willing to come up and make tackles. It is one thing for a corner to run around during a camp – it is another for his film to show his willingness to come and be physical.”

Kendall’s taken visits to a few different schools, including Tech and Georgia and is going to visit FIU, FSU, Boston College, and he’s had initial interest from Vanderbilt and Rice. I had a great time showing my little cousin around Athens!

Kendall. He makes me proud. KJ.

So even though Kendall has his Dad’s legacy, and me, his cousin—while I didn’t got to UM, I’m proud to say I played for one of the top teams in the nation as a Georgia Bulldog and that has led me to a lot of other great opportunities, like entering the world of sportscasting and being a mentor for young people coming up—he’s faced some initial challenges in getting on the recruiting radar.

But now he’s on his way!  Don’t know where he’ll end up, but it will be somewhere great.  When I look at where I came from and where I’m going and then look at my cousin Kendall, it makes me want to tell all of those hard-working but not-yet-known football players out there—don’t give up!  You don’t have to be a four or five star player to achieve your goals.  You just have to be yourself and have a positive attitude and be willing to learn on the go!  So for all the kids—and parents—out there who are facing challenges, on and off the field, I want to share this quote:  “Knowing where you’ve been is easy, but knowing where you’re going…that takes courage!”  As Uncle Darrell told me on that hot summer day before football camp: No matter what, go hard, and be the best! I know he instilled that in Kendall and I know that pretty soon, he’s going to get the recruiting recognition that he deserves.

So we want this website to be a place for you guys to go to get all different kinds of perspectives and opinions on sports—and not just from me!  Here’s a blog from a young writer who I think does a great job of telling it like it is.  Meet Laura Harris:

Kobe and Phil vs. The “4” Musketeers

 It’s a rivalry that’s older than Magic Johnson and Larry Bird’s basketball shorts that left nothing to the imagination.  It’s a battle that covers twelve meetings… including this year’s NBA Finals.  The score?  The Boston Celtics nine titles, the LA Lakers a modest two since 1959, when the two teams have matched up.  Together, Boston and LA have amassed 32 championship banners.  But the Celtics usually seem to usually get the upper hand when they’re dealing with the purple and gold. So, with such a lopsided record, why is the matchup still exciting?  Because it’s relevant!  Plain and simple.  This year’s sports fan wants action, wants excitement, wants to know that the series they will be watching has the potential to go the distance, leaving Celtics fans holding onto their four leaf clovers and Jack Nickolson yelling at the refs ’til the end.  Make no mistake about it, the Lakers, especially LA shooting guard Kobe Bryant, still have that lingering, bitter taste in their mouths after dropping the 2008 Finals to the Celtics, 4-2.

After the Lakers put the Phoenix Suns away to reach their third straight NBA Finals… Bryant was asked what he thought about the chance at redemption against the Celtics.  He said, “Well, it’s a very sexy matchup.”  Sexy it is, Kobe.  With Bryant averaging a little over 29 points per game during this year’s playoffs, Pau Gasol getting about 20 points to drop every game, and Ron Artest getting it done on the defensive side of the ball, plus the supporting cast known as Lamar Odom, D. Fish, and Andrew Bynum (if only his knee will hold up long enough), one has to wonder…will the Celtics be enough?

And then that same one would have to wonder, with a name like Rajon Rondo, it has to be good, right?  With his circus shots that always seem to go in and his superb ball handling… Rondo has made himself relevant; now ever present in the conversations that include the likes of Paul Pierce, KG, and Ray Allen.  Among the vets, he’s still the kid, but to Celtics fans and unfortunately for Laker fans, he is so much more than the little guy from the Kentucky Wildcats.  Rondo’s triple-double (19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) in Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday vaulted the Celtics to a steal on the road.  He gets it done game in and game out.  Period.  He has single handedly taken the reigns of a team that many speculated was “too old” to contend for another NBA Finals, a team that was too banged up to make it happen.  But with the “Big 4”, anything is possible…

However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Kobe’s 28 PPG average in the Finals, the best of any player on the floor.  And despite his seven turnovers in Game 4, undoubtedly contributing to the Lakers loss, Game 5 is shaping up to be an epic battle with the series knotted at two games a piece.

Not to mention Phil Jackson is 46-0 in the Finals when he wins the first game so…  anything is possible, but the question is, is it probable?

More Exclusive Breaking News on Former UGA QB Zach Mettenberger

Over the past few weeks I’ve been sharing the highs and lows that former UGA QB Zach Mettenberger’s been experiencing since he got in legal hot water and was removed from the Bulldogs.  I told you about visits to Troy State and Cincinnati…but now I have exclusive news about Zach’s plans. He’s making a move that I think is both surprising and smart.

Zach shared exclusively with kelinjohnson.com that is going to attend Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas in the Fall. That’s right, he’s going to a JuCo. Here’s the deal.  He’ll be there until December, for one football season. Then he’ll graduate with a degree in Science.  That’s enough time for him to learn a new D-1 system and to earn the respect of his peers on the team.

When he finishes up at Butler, Zach will still have three years left to play college ball. And here’s the kicker…when he’s done in December, any other school in the NCAA can make him an offer. Troy and Cincy have already said that their offers will still stay on the table, but now they’ll have to compete against other schools!

What do you guys think of this?  I think it’s a smart move for Zach to get his degree first and then think football next. Zach’s a young man almost just lost his dream to play football again last month, but I’m glad he’s thinking about his future now. 

Now on to the 2010 NCAA Division 1 Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships.  I attended NCAA’s all last week for the first time in my sports life. What a time I had! These men and women gave their all to every single Set! Being a football player, I never really got a chance to experience other sports.   It took almost two days for me to learn how the singles and doubles points count for a whole team score. Beside the sun beating down on my face it was a really good time. UGA and Tennessee were playing a doubles match in front of a huge crowd and it was very intense. I didn’t know tennis fans—and even tennis players–could get that mad and rowdy. I know Georgia and Tennessee fans DO NOT like each other, but at a tennis match… come on! I was sitting there with my mouth on the floor at some of the things I heard. I saw players in matches running up to the Refs and saying things that I can’t write right now, players throwing head bands  and tennis rackets all over the place. You would think that they would lose points for that kind of behavior, but not this day! The Ref just listened and kept calling the game… woo! I thought student athletes were held up to certain standards…so why would they act this way?   If this stuff happened in college football, basketball, baseball, softball or even track,  I’m telling you, they’d would be kicked out or ejected!

Where will the Super Stars Land? D-Wade of the Heat, LeBron James of the Cavs, Chris Bosh of the Raptors and Joe Johnson of the Hawks will all meet before they make a move!

These are all young men in the NBA and they are very good at what they do! Being a free agent is a good thing when your contract is up! You can search and shop around to see what the best fit is for you and where you can get the most money. That’s all good in a bag of chips but these men are on to something else right now! Let’s think!  None of them are in the playoffs and only D-Wade has a Championship, right? My point exactly!  These men are trying to make history by winning Championships! Will some of them go to the same team or will they try to win on their own? There’s been talk about D-Wade and LeBron on the same team! What will Bosh and Joe Johnson do?

Now I think it’s soooo smart for these guys to get together before they split town on their own. Sometimes to make it in this world you have to look out for your friends. Helping others is what it’s all about!