Jacksonville's new professional soccer team is getting ready to unveil it's name and logo. Melissa Ross asked Cole Pepper about it in our weekly First Coast sports wrap.
Professional soccer back in Jax
Big day on the Jacksonville sports scene tomorrow; the city’s new North American Soccer League (NASL) team will unveil the name and logo at a press conference at the Landing tomorrow morning.
We'll see the team colors, the logo and the name. The team still hasn't finalized where they will play their home games in 2015, but I understand they may be getting close to making that decision.
I'm also hearing that they will be very aggressive in bringing some name players to town and some players on the roster will also have Jacksonville ties.
Thursday, at the Landing, the team is hosting a fan fest for all soccer fans or potential soccer fans to come celebrate the team brand being launched. That will begin Thursday at 5 p.m. It will be the first place that fans can get team gear with the team logo on it.
Daytona 500
Also this week, it's Daytona 500 week. The Great American Race is Sunday.
Some nostalgia on the pole. The #3 car, once driven by Dale Earnhardt, will start first. Rookie Austen Dillon will be behind the wheel. The #3 car has not been used on the Sprint Cup circuit since Earnhardt's death at the Daytona 500 in 2001. Most of the rest of the field will be set Thursday with the qualifying races.
UNF sweeps Jacksonville University
Last Friday night, UNF completed the season sweep of JU on the basketball court with a very entertaining game at Veterans Memorial Arena.
UNF has now clinched a spot in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament. JU likely will make it in, too, but because the first round games will be played on the higher seed's home court, UNF wants to finish strong, and have a chance of hosting a first round game on campus.
Oshie stands out in Sochi with shootout win
The Olympics barrel into their second week. I think we're still waiting for the athlete who will become the signature performer in these games.
So far there have been some very good performances, of course, but nobody seems to have grabbed the public’s attention like Shaun White or Bonnie Blair may have in the past.
Maybe the top candidate is Timothy Leif “T.J.” Oshie, who just about single handedly won the shootout against Russia in the round-robin for the U.S. men's hockey team. But now the medal round begins and Team USA is the #2 seed.
Yesterday against Slovenia, the Americans wore throw-back jerseys designed to look like the 1960 Gold Medal winning team. They get a bye into the quarterfinals where they will face the winner of the Czech Republic vs. Slovakia matchup.
You can follow Melissa Ross at @MelissainJax and Cole Pepper @ColePepper.
