Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 9 January 2004 — Page 28
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David Thornton
Six quesHons with the Colts' leading tackier By ERICKA P. THOMPSON Staff Wrlttr This season, Colts outside line backer David Thornton has made a name for himself. He came in needing to fill a huge hole left by Mike Peterson and many will say he’s done that and much more. This season, Thornton started every game and led the team in tackles during the regular season with 158,104 of those tackles were solo and 54 assists. Fans, coaches and teammates alike admire Thornton’s explosiveness and with only two ypars of NFL experience*, his ability to tackle with the big boys. Thornton recently took a quick break and spoke with The Recorder about the upcoming Kansas City game and what kind of game he would like to • have if the Colts made it to the Super Bowl. How was it filling in the shoes left by Mike Peterson? Thornton: It was just a great opportunity to come into my second year and step in the big shoes of Mike Peterson, it has been a blessing. I’ve been real excited about coming in and playing more and I think this year has been pretty good for me, not the best, but I think the future is very bright for David Thornton. Do you have any pre-qame rituals? (Laughing) No, I don't have any pre-game rituals that I go through. What is your mindset going into the Kansas City game on Sunday? I think the mindset of the whole team is to remain focused and to continue to prepare each day in practice. We have to be focused on the goals and keep practicing very hard. Kansas City is a very tough team and we know we have a tough opponent on Sunday. Do you think the Colts will make it to the Super Bowl? That is the ultimate goal, but we have to take it one game at a time. I think we’re content with the win we had against the Denver Broncos, but we’re not satisfied at all because we know that the best is yet to come as long as we continue to stay focused and keep pressing on tow ards the ultimate prize. If the Colts were to make It the Super Bowl what would be the ultimate game for David Thornton? A win. How many tackles, sacks or forced fumbles would you like to see on your stat sheet? It really doesn’t matter. I’m not a big statistician on many how* many tackles I'm pushing for or sacks or interceptions, I just want to win. And whatever my coaches need for me to do, I’m willing to do it. As long as we win the game that will be the ultimate satisfaction for me.
Business • Classifieds Sports
D SECTION FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2004
COLTS ROUT BRONCOS FOR NOME PLAYOFF WIN Kansas City chief concern this week
By BARATO BRITT Recorder Correspondent Two weeks ago, the Indianapolis Colts left doubt in the hearts of Hoosier faithful as to their chances of beating the Denver Broncos in the playoffs. The Broncos came, saw and conquered Indianapolis to the tune of a 31-17 dismantling in week 16 of the regular season. Indianapolis was not about to let that happen again. Irf a collectively spectacular effort, the Colts dominated the Broncos Sunday ina41-10 playoff rout, highlighted by Peyton Manning’s stellar five-touch-down performance. The league’s Co-MVP threw for 377 yards, completing 22 of 26 attempts, en route to a perfect 158.3 QB rating, only the fourth such rating in playoff history. So efficient was the Colts offense that Hunter Smith may have had the easiest day of his career. With the Colts scoring on every possession until the fourth quarter, the Colts’ punter was relegated to the sidelines without a punt all afternoon. On the other side of the ball, the Broncos were plagued by penalties along with a stingy Colts defense ready to silence critics who questioned their ability to stop the run. The Colts held Denver back Clinton Portis to 68 yards and Quentin Griffin, w’ho burned them only two weeks before, to only 60 yards. Their heavy pressure on quarterback Jake Plummer led to three turnovers, including two David Macklin interceptions. Head coachTony Dungy said the performance was one of those occasions that one team does everything right, while the other struggled throughout. He particularly praised the effort of his Most Valuable quarterback. “We played very well, we got off to a great start, but really our players were just determined to go,” Dungy said. “I’m very happy for Peyton, to play like that in a playoffsetting was exceptional. He was one of 56 guys that were
Bronco safety Sam Brandon (No. 42) and linebacker Donnie Spragan (No. 59) tackle Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison. Harrison ended the regular season with 1,272 yards on 94 pass receptions. this time by switching center Jeff Saturday with guard Tupe Peko. The subtle change not only gained Manning more time to find open receivers, but also kept the Broncos defense guessing. Two weeks ago, Manning was barely able to get off’ against Denver’s aggressive blitz package. With Manning so dominating this week, Edgerrin James w;ts limited to 78 rushing yards on just 17 carries, but the treat of his attack kept the Broncos defense stacked up front, providing Manning the spacing to pick Denver
apart.
Controlling, the game from start to finish, the Colts exorcized several of their playoff demons in a single win, and in a big way. Manning’s proverbial "monkey" is unquestionably off of his back. While Colts fans had to wait a while for their first playoff victoryin Indianapolis, the wait was well worth watching a Colts' team gain confidence with each snap on Sunday. li the Colts’ defense con- ► See COLTS, Page D5
Running back Edgerrin James finished the regular season with 1,259 rushing yards. (Photos/W. Thomas) ready to go. It’s a good feeling. Going up against a defense of that caliber, it was a great perfor-
mance.”
It may actually have been a coaching strategy that led to the Colts ability to push the ball on the offensive end. The Colts were able to stop the Broncos front four
Indiana makes strong showing at Challenge of Champions
By JOSHUA COHEN Staff Writer For the second year in a row, Indiana high school basketball teams showed they could hang with some of the best teams in the nation, and even beat them. The Circle City Classic Challenge of Champions Basketball Showcase presented by Radio One was held at Hinkle Fieldhouse Saturday. Four teams from Indianapolis played top ranked teams from other states, some even nationally ranked. Indianapolis Cathedral played Lexington Catholic High School in the first game of the night. Cathedral made a strong effort but were outscored in the fourth quarter and lost the contest 60-53. Guard Tyke Cockerham lead Cathedral with 17 points. In game two, the North Central Panthers, ranked Nd. 4 in Indiana Class 4A, took on Mason County, Kentucky’s defending state champions with a national ranking of 10 in the USA Today Top 25 poll. The game was only close in the second quarter when Mason tried to make a run at the Panthers. North Central held them off and clobbered Kentucky 92-75. Panther forward/center Anthony Passlev had his way with Mason, scoring 36 pointson 17 for 23 shooting, and added 8 rebounds and 3 assists to earn
► See INDIANA, Page D5
Peoria Central defenders try to stop Pike guard Courntey Lee from scoring. Central was unsuccessful in stopping Lee who scored a game high 24 points in the Red Devil’s 57-50 victory over nationally ranked Peoria. (Photo/J. Hurst)
GAME POINTS
Development 40 begins in high school By ERICKA THOMPSON Staff Writer *
Little’ league, big importance By JOSHUA COHEN Staff Writer
I like youth leagues. They’re cool. When I watch little kids run up and down the court, throw a football or run bases, it’s cute. Youth league is w*hen kids first learn about team. They learn the basics of whatever sport they’re playing and the only audience is their parents, siblings, and possibly a grandparent and on rare occasions if a kid is really good, a scout for middle school and maybe even high school. But when you think of an athlete’s development, in terms of game, maturity, growth, sportsmanship, the will to win and strength I think of high school. I think of high school athletes as finally coming into their own and realizing that they can take their talent to that next level. I think of high school athletes as developing their jump shot or running game. I think of high school athletes as finally growing those extra inches needed to develop into a great power forward or a leaping wide receiver. I think high school is critical to an athlete’s development because it is when they realize if they really have the talent to play the sport. It’s when they develop those needed tools that can earn them into professional sports. II is when they are chosen by a group of coaches to play the sport they love, depending on if the coaches think they can help the team win. In youth league anybody can play. Many athletes will agree that their game hit its spurt in high school. It sort of has to because yourgamedetermines what college you will attend and if you'll be a star at that school. Most athletes mature in high school because their level of responsibility grows. They have to go to school, practice, study and maybe even work part time. Athletes enter high school as immature boys and girls, and leave mature young adults be-, cause of their development. Youth league is where you learn, and high school is where you develop. It is very possible that a child may have a different coach every year while playing a youth league sport and it’s usually a kid’s parent who has little or no experience in the given sport. And what sometimes ends up happening is the “coach” parents the kids more than coaches them. The key word in this point is “development." The argument is what is the most important stage of an athlete’s development f honestly believe that high school is where most athletes decali/.e how good they are and I believe that is when they.start to IWcjop their game. Youth' leagues are for beginners. The purpose is for a child tAT)egin to learn how to play, to decide if they want to play. High school is for those al-ready-playing. It isaboutskill. It is about development.
I n today’s sports world, many athletes put so much into showboating and individual accomplishments instead of focusing on what they can do to make their team better. These things aren’t learned by an athlete after they make it into the professional ranks. No, kids start early developing their good, and bad habits that many carry* with them their entire careers. This is why a coach at the youth league level (Little League baseball, Pop Warner football and AAU basketball which range from about ages 8-13) is the most important person in the development of an athlete. The legendary coach John Wooden once said, “A player that makes a team great is better than a great player.” Players learn teamwork very early in their careers. The best players to ever have played basketball such as Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan, illustrated the need for quality teammates to w in their championships. Another important aspect of sports is fundamentals. Every athlete develops their understanding of fundamentals in the youth leagues. There are many flashy athletes w r ho look good when they play, but without the fundamentals they will continue to fall short of greatness. In the 2003 MLB playoffs, the Chicago Cubs shortstop, Alex Rodriguez, couldn’t catch an easy, routine groundball to make a double play that probably w ould have meant a trip to the World Series. Instead he hobbled it and allowed the Florida Marlins to come back into the game and w in. The 2003 NBA Champions, the San Antonio Spurs, won with the basics. Tim Duncan, whose nickname is Big Fundamentals, led that team to victory. Ericka even named them the best story in sports for 2003 because of the way they won. Let me say it again: Fundamentals. Finally, we can’t forget about sportsmanship. Good sportsmanship is taught right along with fundamentals and is just as important. If an athlete doesn’t know how to treat the people they play with, they won’t even be allowed to play. The NFL has a penalty called unsportsman-like conduct specifically for an action that doesn’t fit into how players should conduct themselves during a game. All of these things and more are learned before a player ever sets foot on a high school gym floor or field. And if they haven’t, chances are lower that they will learn them on the high school or college level. By that stage, a talented athlete is usually given free rein, because unlike the pros, one player can have much more of an impact on a high school team. So don’t forget that almost every athlete that broke records in high school and college and won championships in the big leagues started out as a little kid who looked up to his youth league coach.