Local Connection to Superbowl

Superbowl 44 (you see I didn't make you read the Roman Numerals... ha ha) happens this Sunday on CBS. Of course all of us in the sports department are excited, I'm sure you are too. I mean the night is like a national holiday with great commercials, piles of food that rival only Thanksgiving on the old gastric scale, and oh yeah, some what we hope will be gritty down to the wire football.

If you're still on the fence on who to root for, let me tell you about one of our Central Georgia connections. Travis Jones is a defensive line coach with the Saints. I met him last summer at the Bibb County Sports Complex. The last couple of years he's run a camp for kids that has them running plays and drills all over the field. Jones told me back then that the Saints would make a statement with their D-Line and I guess his predictions came to fruition. Now his guys only have to shut down Peyton Manning to make "Who Dat" nation ecstatic!!

No matter what happens Jones will have his fans cheering on the boys from NOrleans in Irwinton. That's where Jones grew up. He then went on to have a successful career at Georgia. He's found more success coaching than playing in the pros. According to his biography with the New Orleans Saints he played a short stint with the Canadian Football League and the Arena League. But as a guy on the other side of the ball he's earned a good bit of respect as a man that emphasizes fundamentals. The basics will go under scrutiny when they face Indianapolis who has dismantled most teams they've faced this season.

So root for whoever makes you happy. But I'm going to pull for the guy that we'll probably see working with kids again this summer!

Suzanne Lawler