I am diverting from my usual format this week to offer some brief thoughts:

We’re in that time of the year when energy in the sports world is low, relatively speaking — NCAA college football bowl games, mercifully, ended, the NFL Super Bowl is already just a memory, Major League Baseball pitchers and catchers are just beginning to report to spring training this weekend (the other players will follow soon), NASCAR’s new season is just revving up, Tiger (Woods), just can’t seem to stage the big comeback we are all hoping for, tennis is bereft of American champions save Serena Williams who has not played well lately, the masses won’t focus on the NHL until the playoffs start and, in spite of the New York Knicks “Linsanity,” which is great, the same is true for the NBA (in a thankfully shortened season).

Only college hoops – men’s and women’s — is giving us the thrills we constantly seek as sports fans. And, thank goodness, “March Madness” is just down the road. It is the best post-season in all of sports, bar none, and it will amply feed the insatiable beast.

This is our harsh reality, sports fans, but let’s give our football gladiators a few months to rest. The boys of summer will entertain us with baseball’s seemingly endless magic making through the warm days. Then, they will both reward us in due time with the intersection of football season kick-off and baseball post-season — a sports fan’s nirvana.

Wow, this turned out to be a good news post after all.

Note: At the end of this feature article, read how to participate in the
“My Team Mom Story” national campaign, and share your experience
with others by having it published on SportsPie.com!

The National Youth Football Tournament Championships (NYFC) competition in Las Vegas was sponsored by Sports Network International, Inc. It is one of the oldest organizations of its kind and has a reputation among youth coaches as one of the most prominent involved in the sponsorship of national sports competitions for youth. On the long trip home, Lisa and Rebecca had to contend with a broken collarbone, suffered by Lisa’s son, but the Panther Black team won their age category in the Tournament — a cause for celebration among the boys.

Lisa is married; she and her husband, Manny, have two sons, George 17, and Brevin 13. She holds a bachelors degree and is employed at Blue Heron Elementary School in Littleton. During her limited spare time, Lisa enjoys running, swimming, cycling, and skiing. Rebecca is also married, and she and her husband, Dion, have five children in their blended family, Marcus 20, Lanae 19, Alicia 15, Jordyn 15, and Christian 13. Rebecca has enjoyed a successful career with the Denver Housing Authority. She enjoys photography and event planning. Lisa and Rebecca are high-energy, busy, professional women with full lives.

In preparation for the trip, Lisa and Rebecca had to organize registrations, fees, birth certificates, waiver forms, transportation, accommodations, and meals, as well as other critical details, which involved four months of planning, communication, and execution for their sons’ 8th grade AYL team. After returning from Las Vegas, they immediately had to pivot their focus to the team’s awards ceremony, which as Team Moms around the country know, requires another long list of organizational tasks to tackle. Then, on to other sports. A Team Mom’s work is never done!

Last year, Lisa and Rebecca took the initiative to assume the additional responsibility of managing a youth football program in Littleton, the 7on7 Primetime Pass League, which targets 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys. 7on7 is a summer program with games scheduled in June, July and August, and their planning process started in March. The competition focuses on the “skill positions” in football — quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, and center. Many of the boys play regular, tackle football in the fall season, as well. There are dozens of 7on7 passing leagues around the country. Their experience as Team Moms for AYL teams, as well as their planning expertise and familiarity with local resources that can assist the program, gave Lisa and Rebecca the confidence to take on the challenge of running a 7on7 league. They acknowledge that their confidence comes from the significant Team Mom experiences they have accumulated together.

There are literally millions of youth teams around the country in a wide variety of sports including, among others, football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, as well as extracurricular “team” activities like band, cheerleading, and dance. Lisa and Rebecca noted three other boys’ and girls’ tournaments taking place in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving weekend. All these teams would surely exist, but they would not prosper, without the critical and vital role — Team Mom — in the organization and all the visible and not-so-visible responsibilities to which they continually commit.

I spoke with Lisa and Rebecca, and their observations are illuminating and insightful about the importance of Team Moms to youth sports.

SportsPie.com: Tell me more about the 7on7 Primetime Pass League. How did the two of you get involved in it?

Lisa Fields and Rebecca Reisbeck: Well, we were both involved because we had sons who played youth football. The gentleman who ran the League had to quit because of commitments to a new job. At the time, we looked at each other and said: “We can do this better.” We wanted to run the League in a more organized way. We had built relationships with a lot of resources over the years, and we were confident we could match our organization skills with local resources, and run a great League.

SportsPie.com: How do you feel you improved the League?

Fields and Reisbeck: We added weekly photos to the website to keep parents and other supporters updated on League activities, we sponsored two teams from inner-city neighborhoods through the Police Athletic League to participate in our 7on7 Primetime Pass League, we sponsored a Father’s Day cookout, and we had a physical therapist who volunteered at the games when she could. We added a heavy dose of care and concern to the League — that’s why we are there.

SportsPie.com: Why do you think the role of Team Moms — yours in particular and Moms like yourselves around the country — are not more recognized and celebrated?

Fields and Reisbeck: Our primary focus is on the children, as it should be. We are involved because of the kids, and the coaches do incredible work with them, as well. However, Team Moms are viewed in a support role, and it is not always a recognized role. The tremendous amount of work that is actually accomplished by Team Moms is not always understood. There is often no awareness of the wide variety of tasks that are done to make the team’s organization and activities successful.

SportsPie.com: How do you feel your roles as Team Moms impact your children, both short-term and long-term?

Fields and Reisbeck: Short-term, we think they’re blessed to have us (laughter). We are always there — they can depend on us. We know all the parents care about their children, but some are “drop-off” parents and others we don’t see at all until the banquet. Long-term, we think the coaches do a lot to build the boys’ confidence and character, and we think, as Team Moms, we model commitment and perseverance to them.

SportsPie.com: The two of you are Team Moms in other sports, as well. Do these sports require the same time and effort as football?

Fields and Reisbeck: Yes! Basketball has already started. And, often the seasons for two or more sports can overlap. My daughter (Reisbeck) participates in competitive cheerleading, and I will be accompanying her to a national competition in Florida in February. It’s a never-ending, year-round commitment. In the past, sports didn’t overlap as much, but now it’s common. In the end, it all gets down to time management.

SportsPie.com: With all the professional and personal responsibilities in your lives, do your Team Mom duties become overwhelming at times?

Fields and Reisbeck: Occasionally they do. Housework, grocery shopping, and other everyday tasks can sometimes get delayed. We might take a team-related phone call while at work, though don’t tell anyone we said that!

SportsPie.com: How are the roles of Team Dads different than yours? Is there the same level of commitment, and are their roles more or less challenging, or just different?

Fields and Reisbeck: We have never come across a Team Dad. Men are either coaches or spectators. The role of Team Mom involves a lot of multi-tasking, and women are just better at handling a lot of things at once. We have more practice.

SportsPie.com: Are you tapped into any of the Team Mom websites or message boards around the country, or are you involved in a local group of women who are active Team Moms?

Fields and Reisbeck: No. We talk informally with other local Team Moms and when we travel with the teams, but there is nothing formal. It would be nice to have something formal we could tap into. It would be great to have clinics, conferences, or webinars. A good example is the Tournament in Las Vegas; it would have been great if they had planned a networking event or happy hour for the hundreds of Team Moms who were there; maybe even a seminar featuring a panel of Team Moms who could discuss topics like event planning, securing resources, and working with difficult family situations that some of the players may be coping with. We think beginning coaches would find our expertise and advice helpful, as well.

SportsPie.com: How would you like to see Team Moms around the country recognized and celebrated? What would you want the key messages to be?

Fields and Reisbeck: That we are the support squad for the teams. We’re always there. We help make things happen. We contribute to the development of many children. We don’t do what we do to seek personal recognition or celebration, but we think it is important to recognize and support our fellow Team Moms across the country. We think we play a critical role in the overall success of sports teams. We know that Team Moms have great stories to tell. America should hear them. It’s more than a commitment for us. We do it with enthusiasm — and with love.

We worship at the altar of sports in this country, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It starts for boys (and girls) with participation in youth sports. There are many well-known league organizations in all areas of youth sports for boys and girls ages 6-13, among them Pee Wee, Pop Warner, Little League, Police Athletic League (PAL), USA Football, to name just a few. We hold youth sports in high esteem in America. Statistics show that 75% of boys and 69% of girls participate in organized and team sports, and participation continues to rise. (Women’s Sports Foundation, 2008). Typically, approximately 75-80% opt out between the ages 12-14. Coaching and the “fun factor” are cited as the primary reasons. (Indiana University, 2010). And, for better or worse, Lisa and Rebecca tell us that youth sports have become more competitive, and at an earlier age. Boys know that if they want to play on a high school team, they need to participate in youth sports. So, it becomes highly competitive in middle school, the competition increases in high school, and we now have a televised “National Signing Day” for top high school players to announce the college of their choice. Finally, it takes a big leap in college in preparation for the tiny percentage who become professional athletes. “It is not unusual to see high school coaches at our 8th grade games,” Lisa and Rebecca commented.

Team Moms like Lisa and Rebecca, along with coaches, work tremendously hard to positively impact kids by devoting their commitment and time to them. The results are the valuable and lasting life lessons they learn: teamwork, building bonds, responsibility, winning and losing with class, perseverance, character, and commitment.

Lisa and Rebecca are particularly proud of this.

Team Moms: We invite you to submit your Team Mom story of 200-300 words to:
sportspie.teammom@gmail.com.

We will publish selected stories on SportsPie.com as part of our ongoing
“My Team Mom Story” national campaign.

All submissions become the property of SportsPie.com and may be edited
for space considerations. We welcome you to be part of our effort
to recognize and honor Team Moms around the country!

Linda Saulsby
Editor-in-Chief
SportsPie.com

These are the tough, dog days of the college basketball season. The days are short, the nights are long, the weather is cold, and the gyms are on fire. There isn’t a team in the country that can’t use a conference road win. Ask any team in the
Pac-12.

Except for a few random games, most teams are mired in their conference schedules where upsets, close games, and old rivalries lurk every night and in every gym. This is the toughest time of the season. Need proof? Just look at the results from the last few weeks: #2 Syracuse, #6 Baylor, and #9 Duke all dropped in rank as they lost to conference foes. Some schools, however, have used this time to improve their standing and their chances of being invited to the Big Dance next month. Such is the case for #21 Florida State, #18 Saint Mary’s, #16 Virginia, and #12 Florida. Also, sitting at #10 is Murray State — still undefeated — but getting no respect from pollsters due to their weak strength of schedule.

The final run for conference championships and seeding is the key for the conferences tournaments. Unlike college football, conference tournaments give every team a chance to make the national tourney by giving winners automatic bids. Because of performance or weak schedule, this is the only chance some teams have. That makes for some meaningful and exciting basketball. The next 8 weeks of college basketball are going to be great. Unlike other sports, basketball has a quality match-up every night. That means just about every night there will be a chance for some team, somewhere, in some small cracker-box gym, to get hot and beat Goliath.

Games to watch over this week: Feb 1: #20 Indiana at #23 Michigan and Connecticut at #14 Georgetown; Feb 4: #8 Kansas at #4 Missouri and #3 Ohio State at #19 Wisconsin.

Well, football fans, the Super Bowl has been played, and the NFL season is over. The 2012 NFL Champions are the New York Football Giants. The Giants were able to pull out another victory (21-17) in a close, low-scoring game against the New England Patriots. I felt the entire game from beginning to end was played at a pace that suited the Giants and not the Patriots. The Patriots needed to come into this game and make it a high scoring affair, but that did not happen. Tom Brady had a good day with 276 yards 2 TD passes, but it was not the monster day he needed to have. Give credit where credit is due to the Giants defense. In this game, as in the Super Bowl in 2007, the Giants defense really shut down the Patriots high-flying offense. This allowed Eli Manning and the offense to balance rushing and passing in their attack and kept Brady and the offense off the field. It was not a flashy day for Eli, but it usually never is. The guy just wins.

In my blog last week, I predicted a Giants victory because the difference in this game was defense. The Giants have played with this defensive- minded, low-scoring philosophy (do just enough to win) throughout the playoffs, and it paid off in a Super Bowl victory.

This has to be especially sweet for head coach, Tom Coughlin, as there was talk of him being fired earlier this season. For Manning, this will increase the talk how he ranks in as one of the great quarterbacks in the NFL. This is his second Super Bowl victory, which is one more than his famous brother, Peyton Manning, who many have anointed as a sure-fire Hall of Famer when his career is finally over.

With the season now complete, football fans now begins the long months of the off-season. We all will be forced to wait out the next six months until the NFL kicks off again in pre-season, but there will be NFL news to talk about. With the off-season offers other important NFL activities. NFL free agency will begin in March 2012, and then the jewel of the off-season will be the NFL Draft in April 2012. Tune in to these events, as this is when your favorite team will be able to add players and begin their run at a possible Super Bowl championship next year.

It has been my privilege to share this past season with you, the fans, and I hope to be back next season — and I hope you will be back next season. Until then, enjoy the spring and summer, and I will see you next fall (my favorite time of year) when football returns. See you next season football FANS!!!

Pro Football (NFL) . . . A (Reluctant) Ode to the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants
There is primarily one SportsPie Wire topic this week . . . Last week, I called it the “I-95″ Super Bowl, and it was. . . . I called it the “East Coast Super Bowl,” and it was. . . . I stated that it had no compelling story lines, and it didn’t. . . . Eli Manning is a good, even great, quarterback, but he is not a compelling character no matter how hard sports media tries to make it so. . . . Some of my attitude was a result of the Giants defeat of my hometown San Francisco Forty Niners in the NFC Championship game, particularly because the Niners beat up the Giants, but then served up 10 points as gifts to the G-Men as a result of two turnovers — both exquisitely ill-timed and located deep in Niners’ territory. . . . On the other hand, SportsPie.com came into being because of a passion for sports and athletes, and the winners must be saluted and given their due props. . . . Seven weeks ago, the New York Giants had a record of 7-7. . . . Then, what did they do? . . . They played six consecutive games in “playoff” mode — and found a way to win them all. They were not favored in most of these games. . . . They apparently didn’t care about the prognosticators — in response, they marched through Atlanta, Green Bay, San Francisco, and New England (in Indianapolis) and marched away the 2012 Super Bowl champions. . . . As the team rides down the Boulevard of Champions in Manhattan tomorrow, and the crowd roars while the confetti is raining down, I can already hear the musical strains of Frank Sinatra, Billy Joel, and Jay-Z and Alicia Keys rising on the air in the Big Apple. . . .

College Basketball (NCAA) . . . The Duke haters (and there are many) had a particularly sweet sports day on Sunday. . . . The unranked Miami Hurricanes upset the #7 ranked Blue Devils, on Duke’s home court, 78-74 in overtime. . . . The score is not really indicative of the game — the Hurricanes played hard, tough basketball, and Duke struggled to keep up with them throughout the game. . . . College hoops never fails to give us thrills. . . .

Ok, NFL fans, we are less than one week away from the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. It was strange this past weekend to not have any football on after the past few months of NFL and college football. I guess technically that is incorrect, as the NFL Pro Bowl was played this weekend; I gotta tell you, I watched maybe two minutes of that game. The Pro Bowl does not interest me, it never has, and it most likely never will. But, to keep my readers in the loop on ALL games, the AFC Stars defeated the NFC Stars 59-41.

Now, let’s talk about the New England Patriots and the New York Giants — a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl in Phoenix, AZ. That was a great game won by New York (17-14). The thing that most people overlooked in that game was the great defense played by the Giants. That was the key to the game. Everyone will remember the throw and catch from Eli Manning to David Tyree to keep the last Giants offensive drive alive and the eventual touchdown pass from Eli to Plaxico Buress. What most people don’t remember is that the Patriots came into the 2007 Super Bowl averaging 30 points per game that season, and they arrived in Phoenix undefeated. The Patriots offense that year was led by Tom Brady and big play receiver Randy Moss. The Giants defense kept Tom Brady and Randy Moss in check that night and allowed Eli Manning and his offense to do just enough to win. If the Giants defense did not play tough and allowed the Patriots to score their average that season, the final score in the Super Bowl would have been 30-14 Patriots.

The most important question of this week is who do I think will win this game? Most everyone, including the majority of the media, will be on the side of the Patriots and Tom Brady. Why not? Tom has had a great year, as he has played at an elite level all season long. The Patriots are very balanced on offense; they no longer have Randy Moss but they have Wes Welker at wide receiver and Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski make up a great tight end combination. The Patriots fall short on defense, though, as they have not been special at all on that side of the ball. The Patriots are a pass first, pass second, and pass third team dependent on Brady and the offense to outscore everyone they play.

That is why I am going to go with the Giants to win. “Defense wins championships” is the motto I believe in. New York is the much more balanced team in this game, especially defensively. The Giants can stuff the run, which will not be a factor against the Patriots, but they can also pressure Brady and should be able to slow the Patriots offense down. On offense, the Giants are balanced with a solid running game between Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs, and the passing game led by Manning and a solid group of receivers led by Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham. If you’ve been reading my blogs, I have been saying that here is not hotter team in the playoffs than the Giants. I think, as long as the Giants keep this score of this game relatively low (less than 28 points), they will be in this game and will find a way to win in the end. The Patriots will want to score fast and often, so the Giants will not be able to use their balanced offence to confuse and grind down a weak New England defense. Enough talk; enjoy the Super Bowl!

See you next week.

Pro Football (NFL) . . . It’s time for the NFL to figure out the Pro Bowl for a new time and a new generation. . . . The long tradition of playing it a week after the Super Bowl seemed to lose popularity. . . . Now that the Super Bowl has been hyped up into the equivalent of a national holiday, anything that comes after is anti-climatic. . . . Holding the Pro Bowl the weekend between the Championship games and the Super Bowl reduces its impact to almost nothing — I can’t count the sports fans who have expressed no interest in it, and the half empty stadium in Honolulu provided the image to go along with the problem. . . . Mid-season would be great — coming at a time when the NFL season is starting to peak and giving most players a week’s rest — but the risk of player injuries that could impact the balance of the season is too high. . . . Maybe move it back to after the Super Bowl, but with a BIG-money reward in the range of $20 million (the NFL can afford it) that is split between the players and community-based charities of all sizes that are nominated by the public for the grant of the funds. . . . Make it a structured, high-visibility process like the successful CNN Heroes program — everyone involved will benefit. . . .

Pro Tennis (ATP) . . . The Australian Open finals match featuring Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic was an epic in Melbourne — a six-hour, five-set battle that ended with Djokovic as the victor. . . . Nadal is in Federer’s head, and Djkovic is in Nadal’s head. . . . At least for now, Djokovic appears to be unbeatable. . . . On the other hand, Maria Sharapova’s stay at the top of women’s tennis was fleeting. . . . She was beat down by Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the women’s final, 6-3, 6-0. . . .

Pro Golf (PGA) . . . Speaking of fleeting, golf fans had their expectations dashed again. . . . Tiger Woods stumbled again over the weekend and finished tied for third place, behind winner Robert Rock (England) and current U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy (Ireland), at the Abu Dhabi Championship. . . . Maybe the triumphant return to glory everyone is waiting for will happen at the beautiful Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Tournament next month. . . .

Pro Football (NFL) . . . The I-95 East Coast Super Bowl continues to be hyped on the East Coast in spite of the absence of any compelling story lines and lack of interest west of the Alleghenys and south of the Appalachians. . . . Oh well, next year.

This weekend we saw the NFL’s final four trimmed down to two. The New York Giants will face off against the New England Patriots in a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl. The NFC and AFC Championship games lived up to the hype, as neither game was a blowout and both games went down to the end. I was glad to see that both games were so competitive.

The New England Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens (23-20) in Foxboro. The Ravens defense was as good as advertised as they played Tom Brady well and did not allow the Patriots to put up a ton of points, which kept the Ravens in the game until the very end. I really felt that the Ravens lost this game more than the Patriots won the game. The Ravens and QB Joe Flacco very badly wanted to win this game. They had the ball late and were in position to win or tie the game. Flacco played well, but a dropped pass in the end zone kept the Ravens from taking control of the game. It was a heartbreaking end for Baltimore, as Kicker, Billy Cundiff, missed a 32-yard, game-tying field goal as time expired. Up until that missed kick by Cundiff, I felt the Ravens had all the momentum and were in position to win the game. If the Ravens had more playmakers on offense, hey win that game.

The wild ride in San Francisco is over, as the New York Giants pulled out a victory in overtime (20-17). This was the second game of the day, and it no less exciting than the AFC Championship. Both teams really played things pretty close to the vest, and the Giants were able to pull out the win with a couple of crushing mistakes by wide receiver/kick returner Kyle Williams. This game was close throughout, and the Niners defense really held Eli Manning in check the entire game and kept the scoring low. Alex Smith managed the game well and did throw two TD passes to TE Vernon Davis, but did little else the rest of the game. Both teams were in position to win the game as it went into overtime. The difference in this game, unfortunately, was the Kyle Williams muffed punt in the 4th quarter and his fumble in overtime. You have to feel for the young man, but those two mistakes on special teams turned the game in the Giants favor — especially the fumble in overtime. The Niners have no reason to hang their heads, though; sometimes mistakes happen and you lose the game. The Niners had a great season that no one outside (or inside) San Francisco expected. I was hoping for a Harbaugh Super Bowl, but neither Harbaugh brother was able to make it to the big game.

NFL fans, I will see you in Indianapolis for the Super Bowl in two weeks. Next week we will break down the Giants and Patriots, talk about their strengths and weaknesses, and make a prediction on who should win the game.