Florida Sports Wire

By FRED SEELY Jacksonville Golf News A few thoughts on attending The Open at St. Andrews: • The greatest seat in sports is in the grandstand next to the 17 th green. Even though you can't see the tee, you're looking down the fairway and can easily follow the ball. The green complex looks different that you think from television, as it wraps around the deep bunker that everyone goes to every length to avoid. • Here's how well organized the Royal and Ancient had transportation. St. Andrews isn't easy to find and it doesn't even have a train station, so many come from cities at least 40 miles away such as Edinburgh or Aberdeen. It's a train ride to Leuthers, then a five-mile bus ride from that station. It took us exactly 1:15 from the Edinburgh train station to the grandstands at the 17 th tee.  At this year's Players in Ponte Vedra Beach, it took my neighbor exactly 1:15 to go the final three miles to the parking lot and the 20-minute walk to th

JACKSONVILLE  – The Jacksonville Sharks put forth a dominant overall team effort on Saturday night, scoring on each of their first nine offensive possessions and forcing seven defensive stops en route to a 63-16 victory over the Tampa Bay Storm in front of 13,092 at Sea Best Field at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.  With the win, the Sharks have secured a spot in the 2015 Arena Football League postseason. Jacksonville (9-7) set the tone from the opening snap, as Tommy Grady connected with Joe Hills for a six-yard touchdown on the game’s opening drive. On the ensuing Tampa Bay (6-10) drive, the Storm offense faced a fourth-and-11 from the Sharks’ 13-yard line. As Jason Boltus dropped back to pass, Joe Sykes drilled him from behind, forcing an incompletion and a turnover on downs. Three plays later, Derrick Ross powered in for the first of his three rushing touchdowns, putting the Sharks ahead by a 14-0 count. That trend continued through the first half. After Tampa Bay answe

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Jacksonville Suns (9-16, 38-56) would drop the series finale with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (15-10, 40-53) 6-5 Tuesday night from Pensacola Bayfront Stadium. Barret Astin (W, 2-1) generated seven innings in his start for Pensacola and surrendered four runs (all earned) on seven hits while walking two and striking out four. Craig Stem (L, 1-4) worked an inning and a third for the Suns out of the bullpen and surrendered two runs (both earned) while walking one and striking out a solo batter. Zack Weiss (S, 12) nailed down his 12th save of the year after working a scoreless inning and two-thirds. Jacksonville got on the board in the top of the third, when Zack Cox led off with a double and reached third after a wild pitch, to then see Austin Brice drive him home courtesy of his RBI single to center leaping the Suns in front 1-0. In the last of the third it was Zach Vincej’s (HR, 3) solo home run that tied the score at one. Then after a Marquez Smith single, Jua

NEW YORK- FC Edmonton has earned the title of "Road Warriors" after Week 3 of the North American Soccer League's Fall Season. The Eddies defeated the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 1-0, at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night, capping off a long road trip that took them to Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio, and back to Florida again. With a roster depleted by injuries and international call-ups, the Eddies drew the first two games before taking all three points at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla. Across the Florida peninsula, a professional team from Jacksonville hosted the New York Cosmos for the first time since 1982. The Armada FC, which had not scored a goal in its first three matches of the Fall Season, received a second-half tally from Tommy Krizanovic to hand the Cosmos their first league loss of the year. New York, which won the Spring Season title, entered the match unbeaten in 11 league games, but could not solve Jacksonville goalkeeper David Sierra at Community First P

The Philadelphia Soul (13-3) had two late costly turnovers and couldn't hold off the Jacksonville Sharks (8-7) in the second half as they fell 74-67 in front of 9,475 fans at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday night. "This is not the way we wanted to go into a Bye Week," Soul head coach Clint Dolezel said. "Late turnovers will always kill you, but more importantly, it is about finishing a game. This needs to be playoff mode for us. We can't make the mental mistakes this time of year. Jacksonville is a playoff-quality team and we will need to learn from the mistakes we made and get healthy."  Jacksonville's Tommy Grady completed 18-of-29 passes for 301 yards, seven touchdowns and no interception. Tiger Jones led the Sharks receivers with eight receptions for 148 yards and three touchdowns, while Joe Hills added six catches for 115 yards and three touchdown. Offensive Player: Jacksonville's Tommy Grady Defensive Player: Jackson

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The Jacksonville Armada FC return to Community First Park at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday for their North American Soccer League Fall Season home opener against the Spring Season Champions New York Cosmos. The Armada are coming off a 4-0 loss at Minnesota United FC on Wednesday. Jacksonville played without two of its key offensive players for the majority of the game - Marcos Flores and Alhassane Keita, and played with only 10 men for the entire second half.  Flores went down with a hamstring injury in the 35th minute and was subbed out for Tommy Krizanovic, and Keita was shown a red card in the 45th minute when his leg went high and collided with Minnesota goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock's face when going for the ball.  The Armada were also without regular starting right back Matt Bahner, who sat out the game with a knee injury, and regular starting left midfielder Lucas Scaglia, who served a one-match suspension for receiving two yellow cards against Atlanta on July

LAS VEGAS – The San Jose SaberCats (14-1) remained in the top spot of the AFL Media Poll for the eighth straight week following a 56-35 victory over the New Orleans VooDoo (2-12) in Week 16. The two-time defending Pacific Division champions garnered 13-of-16 first place votes in the latest Media Poll after recording their 14th win of the year, the most in a single season by any SaberCats team in franchise history.  San Jose will continue on its quest to clinch home field advantage in the National Conference this weekend when they host the Portland Thunder (4-10). Kickoff is set for 10:30 p.m. ET Saturday night. Earning three first place votes and coming in at No. 2 once again in the AFL Media Poll are the Arizona Rattlers (12-2), who recorded their eighth consecutive win with a 57-43 victory over the Las Vegas Outlaws (5-9) in Week 16. The three-time defending ArenaBowl champs square off with the Spokane Shock (4-10) this Friday. Kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN3. The E

PEARL, Miss. – The Miami Marlins announced pair of transactions that impact their Double-A affiliate Jacksonville Suns roster prior to tonight’s game against the Mississippi Braves at 8 p.m. ET at Trustmark Park. Right-handed starting pitcher Jake Esch has been transferred to Jacksonville’s disabled list. Esch, a midseason Southern League All-Star, is 6-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 15 starts for the Suns. In a corresponding move, right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Higgins has joined the Suns from High-A Jupiter. Higgins has pitched in 16 games in relief for the Hammerheads this season, with no wins or losses and a 3.00 ERA, allowing only nine earned runs in 27 innings pitched. Higgins also has one save, plus 21 strikeouts compared to only two walks. Higgins pitched for the Suns in 2014, going 2-0 with a 4.97 ERA in 15 relief appearances. His season was cut short due to Tommy John surgery that he underwent in June 2014. Higgins was originally selected by the Marlins in the 23rd round of t

PORTLAND, OR – The Jacksonville Sharks trailed by just five points at halftime on Saturday night, but mistakes put the team in a third-quarter hole from which it could not recover, as the Sharks fell to the Portland Thunder by a 72-48 count at Moda Center. Jacksonville (7-7) entered the second half with a chance to take the lead, as the team received the opening kicoff of the third quarter trailing Portland (4-10) by a 33-28 count. But on the ensuing drive, Joe Hills lost the handle after making a catch along the wall, resulting in a fumble that Portland recovered in Shark territory. Five plays later, Thunder quarterback Kyle Rowley hit fullback John Martinez for a 12-yard touchdown pass, pulling Portland ahead by two scores. From that point forward, Jacksonville never had the ball with a one-score deficit for the remainder of the game. Though the Sharks got back on the board midway through the third quarter on Derrick Ross’ second rushing touchdown of the night, Portland responde

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.,    — Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk and Jacksonville Sports Council President & CEO Rick Catlett announced that the 2016 Navy-Notre Dame game will be played in Jacksonville at EverBank Field on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 and will be nationally televised.  "My sincerest gratitude to everyone in Jacksonville for the wonderful support extended in making this historic college football match-up happen in the great state of Florida,” said Gladchuk.  “I can't imagine more energy, enthusiasm, and community involvement taking place anywhere else in the country.  The Academy and the Navy are "all in" for what should be a fan experience never to be forgotten.  Thanks to the Mayor, Rick Catlett, and the City of Jacksonville for their leadership in delivering a first … Navy versus Notre Dame in one of our nation's greatest cities in one of our nation's greatest venues." The JAXSPORTS Council  is focused on bringing toget