Sports Briefs: Rough season ends for Glendale Community College product
Jackson mulls over responsibilities, winning with Cleveland
A dreadfully historic season for the Cleveland Browns and head coach Hue Jackson, a former Glendale Community College player, ended Sunday afternoon with a 28-24 loss to the host Pittsburgh Steelers.
The defeat clinched only the second-ever 0-16 season in NFL history for Jackson and Cleveland, which tied them with the 2008 Detroit Lions.
While disgruntled Cleveland fans are preparing for a parade on Saturday at Cleveland’s First Energy Stadium to commemorate the season, Jackson is busy pondering how to get back to winning.
“Nothing I say is going to make a difference,” Jackson said at Monday’s press conference. “I get that. I think the only way we change the things that are said is to get to winning.”
In two seasons at the helm of Cleveland, Jackson’s Browns have posted a 1-31 record.
Jackson, the team’s offensive play-caller the last two seasons, hinted that he may hire a coordinator for the upcoming season.
Reid heads into postseason with steam
Only four weeks ago, the Kansas City Chiefs and head coach Andy Reid, a Glendale Community College product, were in deep trouble.
Kansas City had blown a huge lead over AFC West division rivals Oakland and the Los Angeles and found itself tied for first place at 6-6.
Since then, though, the Chiefs defeated both the Raiders and Chargers, and on Sunday, clinched an outright AFC West crown after a 27-24 triumph over the rival Denver Broncos.
The victory wrapped up a 10-6 regular season for Kansas City and some history as the Chiefs won AFC West crowns in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
For Reid, Kansas City has now advanced to the playoffs in four of his five seasons in charge.
Kansas City is seeded fourth in the six-team playoff and will host the No. 5 Tennessee Titans on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
Reid is looking to improve upon his 1-3 postseason mark with Kansas City and hopes to return to the divisional round of the playoffs for a third straight season.
Davis, Chargers miss out on playoffs
A season that included a few highs for former Glendale High star Michael Davis concluded Sunday for Davis and his Los Angeles Chargers sooner than they would have liked.
With playoff aspirations still alive, the Chargers blitzed the archrival Oakland Raiders, 30-10, at StubHub Center in the season finale.
Davis totaled one tackle to finish his rookie campaign in which he played special teams and a limited number of snaps on defense, with 18 tackles and one pass defended in 15 games.
Los Angeles finished with a 9-7 record and needed help to get into the playoffs, which consisted of a Baltimore Ravens’ victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and a Jacksonville Jaguars’ triumph over the Tennessee Titans.
The Chargers received help in neither game and missed the postseason for a fourth straight season.
Volleyball league in Glendale
The United States Youth Volleyball League will hold registration for the 2018 spring season in Glendale. The program is geared for boys and girls, ages 7-15.
The eight-week developmental league will run twice a week and will cover basic skills. The league will run April 4 through June 2 at Maple Park, 820 E. Maple St., Glendale.
Practices will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and games will take place from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturdays.
Registration is available online at www.usyvl.org. The registration price includes a volleyball, T-shirt and participation award.
For information on registration, visit www.usyvl.org, call (888) 988-7985 or email at info@usyvl.org.