They’re not Catalan, or even Spanish. Still, one youth soccer team featuring 11 and 12-year-olds from Giannina, Greece (pronounced Yahnenna) has earned the nickname “Baby Barcelona” for it’s fluid style and complete team effort while scoring goals.

After earning international attention with a goal that coursed through all 11 Giannina players on the pitch after an opening kick off, AO Giannina outdid itself recently, topping its own prior exemplary scoring effort with a 25-pass scoring sequence that eventually concluded with a remarkable over-the-head goal that was remarkably close to a full-on scorpion kick.

Like the team’s prior immaculate goal, AO Giannina’s latest effort saw the team work the ball around with such precision that the opposing squad, Asteras Ioanninon, was left chasing shadows all over the field. Eventually the ball ended up in the back of the net, with one Giannina player so shocked at the complete team goal that he stood at the side holding his head in his hands.

The goal was just one of seven during Giannina's 7-0 rout.

In fact, the goal is so good it’s hard to even pick out a favorite pass. While the shot for the goal may have served as the team’s crowning moment, there were remarkable passes from the Giannina goalie, a pair of midfielders on the right wing and, eventually, a fabulous clean first shot on goal, which just happened to strike the Asteras goalie.

Of course, rather than rob the world of remembering a beautiful passing sequence, that save instead set the stage for one of the goals of the season, via the aforementioned over-the-head kick.

Who knows whether Giannina will be able to continue playing the way it has. The team’s achievements and viral YouTube clips have earned it international acclaim, no small matter for a team of 11 and 12-year-olds in a country that doesn’t even use the English alphabet. The team’s first fantastic goal led to an invite and scrimmage from Barcelona’s youth team at the club’s famed La Masia academy.

Now the second great goal may earn it even more attention and acclaim. It’s already competed against the Barcelona youth squad, perhaps the full team is next.

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Raekwon Long is considered one of the nation’s most promising freshmen basketball prospects. There’s a good reason for that: He’s very, very tall.

Long, who plays for Charlotte (N.C.) Garinger High, stands 7-foot tall and weighs in at 250 pounds. He’s an impressive athlete for his size, too, and made a major impact during his first season at Garinger, averaging 15 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks per game. And those came against much of North Carolina’s top competition.

Still, there’s one potential roadblock in the way to a major college scholarship for Long: The swimming pool.

Long, who could emerge as the top big man recruit in the Class of 2106, really wants to be a competitive swimmer. According to MaxPreps, it’s what he loves to do, and he is desperate to compete on the Garinger swim team at weekend meets in the future.

“The problem is, swimming is at the same time as basketball,” Garinger boys basketball coach Joshua Coley told MaxPreps. “We've talked about letting him compete on the weekends. The meets are usually on Saturdays, but I'm not too sure about that yet.

"He's very proud about being a swimmer. You can tell him that he can't dunk, but if you tell him he can't swim you've got an argument on your hands."

Perhaps Coley just needs to put in a call to Tim Duncan. The Spurs star and surefire future NBA Hall of Famer was a competitive swimming in the Virgin Islands before he was handed a basketball for the first time.

With Duncan, as soon as he got on the court, the rest was history. That’s what many are hoping will happen with Long as well, particularly now that he has one impressive season under his belt.

As it is, Long has made great strides on the court in a very short time, as profiled here by the Charlotte Observer.

The center has also already taken unofficial recruiting visits to major programs like North Carolina, Duke and Kentucky, though it’s clear that he isn’t completely wrapped up in the recruiting process yet.

"He's super humble and I think people forget that he is a ninth grader," Coley said. "We were driving down to Wake Forest and explaining to him about the recruiting process and telling him that when he releases his top five things will start to get crazy. He pulls me aside afterward and says, 'Coach, what's a top five?'"

Hey, who has time for a top-5 when the pool is calling?

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It’s a classic case of “Gotcha!” gone "Up in the Air".

A Dallas area cheer and dance coach was arrested for the disturbing and disgusting charges of sexual assault connected with three counts of continuous sexual assault of a child under the age of 14, and was caught during the most dramatic scenarios possible: trying to board a flight to Paris in Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

As reported by Dallas NBC affiliate NBCDFW.com, 30-year-old Kyle Ware was arrested at the airport and charged with the aforementioned violations, which allegedly occurred while he served as a coach at a cheerleading and dance center called Express Cheer and Dance in Frisco, Texas.

"We're very fortunate that the customs officials were able to see his name and make the arrest before he was able to get on the plane and get out of the country," Frisco Police Officer Greg Barnett told NBCDFW. "It would have been very difficult once he was out of the country to get him back to the United States to face the charges."

While Ware is innocent until proven guilty like all who are charged, Barnett issued a statement that made it clear the Frisco police have a strong case against him.

"The gym did the background checks, they did everything they needed to do to ensure to themselves and to the parents and the children that it was a safe environment to be. Unfortunately, Mr. Ware was a predator - he took advantage of his position of trust with the children," said Barnett.

Ware is being held behind bars on $300,000 bond, a total which is unlikely to be posted for his temporary release. If he is convincted the 30-year-old is likely to face between 25 and 99 years in prison.

Whatever he faces, he’ll be facing justice thanks to the quick thinking and screening of U.S. Customs officials who kept Ware in the U.S. before he could escape to the Champs D’ Elysses.

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Let's hope this story doesn't inspire another awful Hollywood vampire plot.

Four New Jersey high school baseball ballplayers have been suspended for a hazing ritual two weeks ago that involved pinning a junior varsity schoolmate down and biting him until they broke the skin, sources told the Times of Trenton.

Until further notice, the Florence (N.J.) High foursome will not be allowed to take the field for a Flashes team that has started the season 3-0. The alleged hazing incident, dubbed by one Times source as "a ritual that has gone on for years," is under investigation by Florence Township School District officials.

“The players have not been with the team since they were pulled when the incident was reported,” FTSD Superintendent Donna Ambrosius told the paper. “We'd like to try and get the team back together and move forward, but only if we know the students are safe.”

Florence head baseball skipper Joseph Frappoli Jr. faces "possible" disciplinary action but will continue to coach the team during the investigation, according to the report.

“We played a great game despite all the garbage,” Frappolli told the Times after his depleted team's 9-7 victory against rival Pennsauken (N.J.) High on Tuesday. “Every time there’s an incident there are a thousand stories out there. It’s tough enough to come down here and win a rivalry game like this one without the other stuff going on. We are trying to move forward and win some games.”

While the superintendent did not disclose any of the names involved in the incident or exactly how many junior varsity players were involved, there is one positive in all of this: A friend of the victim reported the hazing issue to the proper authorities, the Times said.

Perhaps some progress is being made on the recent bullying epidemic. Now if only Hollywood can put an end to this tired teen vampire awfulness.

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Kids may say the darndest things, but it's parents who often do the dumbest things.

Upset about his son's lack of playing time in a Pee-Wee baseball game, an Alabama man allegedly attempted to pull a gun on the coach before being disarmed by a pair of fellow spectators, according to multiple reports.

It took all of a few innings on Saturday for Charles Moshier to turn on the coach this season. When Moshier was told to return to his bleacher seat on opening day for a baseball league full of 7- and 8-year-olds in Moody, Ala., he grabbed for a .45-caliber handgun, according to the al.com report.

Thankfully, another man grabbed the gun from Moshier and a city employee subdued the Father of the Year candidate until Moody Police arrived, the local ABC affiliate reported.

"He was arguing with the coach over his son not getting enough playing time on the field," Moody Police Chief Thomas Hunt told ABC 33/40. "That was very good on the citizen's part, a very brave action that he did that, because if he had not done that, we don't know what would have happened."

Moody Youth Association president Mike Davis told the news outlet that his organization has always kept a keen eye on Moshier, who has reportedly displayed his overzealous parental problems before, often screaming obscenities from the sidelines.

Moshier has been released from jail on $1,500 bond and faces charges of menacing, disorderly conduct and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the reports. His gun permit is being revoked, and he will not be allowed near the park.

Meanwhile, the Moody Police Department will elevate its presence at youth baseball games in the future. File under: How did it come to this?

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In honor of the National Spelling Bee, and it's impending format changes, let's start this story this way:

Flying squirrel; n: 1) a woodlands rodent that leaps between trees at a distance that makes it appear to fly; 2) U.S. Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas; 3) U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler Ellis Coleman; 4) The incredible, awe-inspiring wrestling move you see above.

That flip turn, ladies and gentlemen, is one fantastic 'Flying Squirrel'. Even more incredibly, it came in the most dramatic circumstances possible: During the final 10 seconds of a national championship match, with the successful wrestler -- Cheektowaga (N.Y.) High star Renaldo Rodriguez-Spencer -- needing the points he scored with the move to escape with a national title.

As reported by the Buffalo News, Rodriguez-Spencer was in the third period of a junior 138-pound class bout against a Maryland wrestler named Alfred Bannister and was trailing by a score of 4-3. He needed two points to earn a victory which would land him a National Junior Class title in his weight class, and he was running out of time.

Finally, as the timekeeper called out the 10-second warning, Rodriguez-Spencer was forced into action. He launched into the forward-flipping move, executed it to perfection and left Bannister completely stunned by the sudden turn of events (all puns intended).

As one might expect, the plaudits for Rodriguez-Spencer's bravery for even trying the move and his execution of it came in fast and furious, and he was eventually honored as the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the junior meet at the National High School Coaches Association wrestling championships.

Given that move, it's no wonder.

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In case you haven’t noticed yet, Jahlil Okafor is wildly entertaining.

The top junior boys basketball prospect in the nation, Okafor is a constant source of honest and unexpected feedback. The junior, who stars for Chicago (Il.) Whitney Young writes a blog for USA Today that is a legitimate must-read.

One week, he’s telling the world that no coaches know how to pronounce his name, the next unwittingly instructing the world about the unseen underbelly of recruiting … like the fact that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is among basketball’s slowest texters.

Or the fact that an Ohio State assistant coach has named a dog after Okafor (if that isn’t some kind of a recruiting violation, it probably should be).

That’s very good info, and it’s clear that it’s only offered up because Okafor just doesn’t care about recruiting as much as other things. Like his favorite show, "Pretty Little Liars."

Yes, that "Pretty Little Liars." The WB sitcom aimed at teenage girls. The show is full of melodrama and character manipulation. And Okafor is right along for the ride.

Throughout the 2012-13 season, Okafor has breathlessly kept his fans up to date on the show as a cap to his relatively frequent blog posts. When the season finale finally came, Okafor was even more excited about the outcome than usual, though such analysis of his comments seems outright banal when compared with Okafor's more enthusiastic reaction.

OK, so you know I’ve gotta give y’all the rundown on my show, Pretty Little Liars.

The season finale was last week and it was crazy!

I just can’t believe what happened. Some girl was supposed to have been dead for the last three years and they ended up seeing her rescuing them out of the fire. It was crazy. It really left me hanging too.

It’s so hard to wait for the next season. Eventually, my thirst for the show will die down, but right now I just can’t wait.

Naturally, that kind of emotional response is the sign of a true fan. And while most teens who admit to being a Pretty Little Liars fan – in writing no less – would be sure to receive plenty of ribbing, Okafor may very well be the exception. Okafor is so much more talented than most other recruits, he can watch whatever he wants and assistant coaches will probably even tune in to connect with Okafor.

It’s all part of what makes Okafor so entertaining off the court. Given what he pulls off on the court, he’s awfully likely to be one heck of a star at the next level, too.

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Prep Rally can only hope that this headline will not serve as the Sports Illustrated curse for what may be the greatest girls lacrosse team of all time. Still, the way that the Owing Mills (Md.) McDonogh High girls lacrosse program is rolling along, no curse in the sports universe may be powerful enough to bring it down.

The McDonogh girls lacrosse team has now won 80 consecutive games. Within two weeks of setting a new national record for consecutive girls lacrosse victories, McDonogh has already won six more games.

The Eagles now stand at 11-0 in 2013, and show no signs of letting up having captured the Fight for 5 Tournament title by routing powerful Ellicott City (Md.) Mt. Hebron Academy, 11-5.

Typically, McDonogh won the tournament with a very balanced attack, getting goals from nine different players in the victory.

Even more impressively, the victory over Mt. Hebron was McDonogh's second of the day; the Eagles had earlier knocked off Manchester (Md.) Manchester Valley, 21-6.

The two victories capped a run of five wins in five days, all in a long weekends work for the best girls lacrosse program in the country, perhaps ever.

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The Illinois High School Association penalized both coaches on Wednesday for their conduct during and after a Class 2A boys basketball state title game marred by accusations of racism last month, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Despite South Holland (Ill.) Seton Academy assistant coach Art Kimber's insistence that members of the state champion Harrisburg (Ill.) squad used the N-word "so many times that I wasn't keeping track anymore," the IHSA cleared the players of any wrongdoing.

"We certainly don't dispute what the players from Seton Academy reported they heard," IHSA Executive Director Marty Hickman told the Tribune. "However, after discussions with those on and closest to the action on the floor, we were unable to substantiate those claims. Harrisburg admits that an inappropriate comment was made by one of its players, but that it was not of a racial nature, and it was punished with a technical foul at the time it occurred."

Harrisburg Community School District superintendent Dennis Smith vehemently defended his school's players after their 50-44 state title win in March. Meanwhile, Seton Academy head coach Brandon Thomas raised his concern about the alleged racial slurs at halftime, and then boycotted the trophy presentation in the aftermath of his team's loss.

As a result, the IHSA has placed Thomas on probation for next season and banned him from coaching in the playoffs for the next two years, according to the Tribune.

“Coach Thomas delivered an obscenity-laced tirade in the presence of student-athletes in the tunnel following the first half,” Hickman said in a statement issued to the Tribune. “The tournament staff then attempted to bring the coaches and administrators together to change the climate of the game. Coach Thomas initially refused to participate and when he eventually appeared, his demeanor made it clear that he would not be a conduit for positive change. There is no place for that type of behavior in high school athletics and no outcome of a high school sporting event warrants it.”

As detailed in a report by local ABC affiliate WSIL, Thomas ignored IHSA officials and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, leaving his second-place medal with an assistant coach as he exchanged words with a fan while police restrained him from entering the crowd.

The IHSA also placed Harrisburg head coach Randy Smithpeters on probation and suspended him from coaching his team during the playoffs next season, pending a behavioral training course, the Tribune reported. Hickman's statement also scolded Smithpeters for his contributions to "a hostile environment" during the title game.

"I'm very disappointed because that basketball game looked like any other game all year," superintendent Smith told WSIL. "He acted like he did at every other game. In my opinion, I think the IHSA has to do something to us because they had to do something to Seton Academy. I don't think Harrisburg should receive any sanctions. This is a make-up call."

Referees also received reprimands for losing control of the game, according to reports.

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Tragedy struck San Diego when a 16-year-old died in his school gym class on his birthday after a freak incident in which he was struck in the chest with a softball.

As reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune and Ramona Sentinel, among other sources, Ramona (Ca.) High sophomore Taylor Dorman was struck in the chest with a softball while competing in a game of "Over the Line," a competition which is apparently a sort of modified version of baseball or softball.

Roughly 20 minutes after Dorman was hit with the ball he collapsed while walking across the school's football field. While he was quickly treated on the site, the teen was stabilized but couldn't be completely revived, eventually passing away hours later after being airlifted to a nearby medical center.

The accident was made all the more tragic in that it occurred on the same day that Dorman was celebrating his 16th birthday, and that his collapse apparently came out of nowhere. While the teen was apparently taken aback by the initial impact of the softball, he showed no signs of being in serious injury in the immediate aftermath of the strike.

The Union-Tribune reported that he even joked with the student who hit the ball that struck him in the chest only minutes before he collapsed for the final time.

Dorman was remembered as one of Ramona's most beloved students by peers who held a candlelight vigil in his memory after word of his death spread. As one might expect, those on site to remember the teen were still struggling to come to grips with his sudden passing.

“He’s just been like everyone’s brother and best friend, caring and thoughtful," fellow 16-year-old Ramona student Ella Evans told the Union-Tribune. "Just being around him was the best part. The way he’d flip his long hair.”

Added another schoolmate, Shay Huntsman:

“... he was funny, sweet. ... He loved to help everybody. He’s like a big bear. Everyone loved to hug him.”

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The idea that a perfect game cannot be topped is flawed. In fact, it can ... unless it was the one hurled by Sussex (N.J.) High Point High pitcher Ally Frei.

As reported by the New Jersey Herald, Frei tossed the incredibly elusive "perfect perfect game" in a 5-0 victory against Vernon (N.J.) High. More specifically, Frei faced 21 Vernon batters and struck out each one.

Want more proof of just how untouchable Frei was? According to her assistant coach, High Point statistics noted only two foul balls off the pitcher all night. That means that of Frei's 63 strikes, 61 either came while looking or via swings and misses.

"She was on her A-game," High point assistant coach Jim Fasano told the Herald.

"On her A-game" is an understatement. At the same time, Frei had to be untouchable to top her own prior bests.

En route to earning 2012 Player of the Year honors from the Newark Star-Ledger, Frei tossed three perfect games as a sophomore. Needless to say, those three victories alone were more than enough to earn Frei plenty of attention from opposing squads, the regional media and college coaches.

Still, none of those perfect games were comprised of strikeouts alone. Now that the junior has reached the pitching pinnacle, there is just one thing left to do: Lead her team to a second-straight Group 3 state title.

So long as she's on the mound, such an achievement seems like an incredibly likely eventual outcome.

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Some high school pitchers are also great hitters. The best players on either side of the ball, they can dominate games from the mound and the plate.

Travis Dohr is not one of those pitchers. The Bothell (Wa.) High ace is the kind of pitcher who can dominate a game when his location is on and can definitely make contact, but he is hardly a slugger. In fact, heading into the 2013 season, the senior hadn’t hit a home run in a game since he was in the eighth grade.

That all changed when Dohr started the most meaningful game of the season, against Seattle (Wa.) O’Dea High, a squad which had previously featured his best friend, Josh Dickerson. According to the Bothell Reporter, Dickerson passed away in 2012 after battling cancer for three years.

Dohr entered the season determined to make the most of it in memory of his late friend. Then, against Dickerson’s old squad, Dohr pitched four shutout innings and also connected on his first home run in four years. He did it pitching against one of Dickerson’s other closest friends, O’Dea starter Dylan Wade, and both agreed afterward that there was something special carrying Dohr’s ball toward the fence and over.

“I don’t hit home runs at all,” Dohr told the Reporter. “I was really surprised.

“I know [Wade] felt it too, Josh’s presence."

While Dohr is focused on the season, he makes it clear that baseball is only part of his life, a realization that was put firmly in perspective by the passing of his best friend.

Now, he can live on in his memory.

“I am just happy to wake up and get to play every day,” said Dohr.

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Following his son's senior season, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) High boys basketball coach Mark Dubach reportedly planned on stepping down from the post he's held for the past 11 years, but he never foresaw having to resign from his teaching position, too.

Dubach, who led the Miners to a state title in 2006, left both Bingham roles following accusations of verbal abuse and financial improprieties, according to multiple reports.

Jordan School District director of communications Sandy Riesgraf told The Salt Lake Tribune that the school learned of the allegations on a Friday in early March, Dubach resigned the following Monday and the school alerted the Jordan Police Department.

A dozen parents confronted Dubach regarding verbal abuse of their sons and asked him to resign during the season that resulted in a 14-10 record and ended on Feb. 25, according to a Deseret News report. Eight parents who spoke to the publication on the condition of anonymity mentioned the following reasons for confronting the coach:

• He called them names and told them their teammates didn’t like them.
• He told them to keep quiet out of loyalty to the team.
• He blamed them individually for losses.
• He told one boy "he doesn't understand why any of his teammates want to be his friend."
• He told another boy poor play was the reason his father didn't come to games.

“I did not swear,” Dubach told the Deseret News. “Now I’ve slipped before in my life, but I was not aggressive with this group of kids. Society has changed, and I’ve tried to change, too. I was tougher on them. That’s really what it was, not abuse.”

Dubach remained as coach, for the time being. Three days after the season, Shawn and Annette Morley -- parents of one of the varsity players -- brought evidence of an alleged financial impropriety to Bingham principal Tom Hicks, according to the reports.

While the school opted not to share details, Dubach explained his side of the story to both newspapers. Shawn Morley wrote the coach an $800 check to rent the high school gymnasium for his daughter's youth basketball team, and the money was deposited into a club basketball team account to be used on meals for his players, Dubach explained.

However, teachers and coaches aren't suppose to handle money on behalf of the school. All financial issues are to be dealt with at the school's front office, Hicks told the papers. Dubach's explanation? He thought it was a donation. Still, he resigned.

“We don’t want to destroy anybody’s livelihood or destroy anybody’s family," Annette Morley told the Deseret News. "But in the same sense, we’re not responsible for his actions. His actions caused this. He cashed the check. We thought it was going into a Bingham account, but it didn’t go into a Bingham account. He did all of that, not us.”

Meanwhile, Bingham sophomore football coach Andy Evans, whose son played for Dubach this past season, claims Hicks didn't renew his own coaching contract because of his role in confronting Dubach with other parents during the season, the News reported.

The Morleys also claimed Hicks said, "You may not want to go any further with this," when they made the financial accusations -- a claim the principal denied to the News.

Dubach is the fourth Utah prep coach since 2011 to resign amid financial accusations. His resignation came prior to Rutgers University men's basketball coach Mike Rice's departure over verbal abuse of his players, which brought national attention to the issue.

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The use of Spanish in public schools remains a hot button issue across America, yet it seems to burn brightest in states with very high Hispanic populations like Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico. Now some of those tensions may be boiling over to the playing fields in at least one of those aforementioned states.

As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, the Gadsden (N.M.) High baseball team was threatened with widescale ejections by an umpire when it communicated in Spanish during a game at Alamogordo (N.M.) High. According to the Journal, the incident started when the first base umpire told the Gadsden first -- who remains unnamed in all reporting on the issue to date -- to stop speaking Spanish to his teammates.

“Anyone who speaks Spanish -- coaches or players -- will be ejected,” said first base referee Corey Jones, sources at the game told the Journal.

Naturally, the Gadsden coaching staff didn’t take kindly to having one of their key players called out for something that, in their view, was perfectly legal. One coach, Gadsden assistant Emmanuel Burciaga, immediately challenged the umpire to defend his player. The interchange was a testy one, as chronicled by the New Mexico newspaper.

Burciaga said he told Jones, “Our players will not stop speaking Spanish, and they will not be ejected.”

He said Jones then “came walking toward me and said, ‘Another word from you, Coach, and you will be ejected.’ ”

The home plate umpire, who is bilingual, intervened in the mid-game conflict and told Jones there was no rule prohibiting players from speaking Spanish on the field, Burciaga said.

While the umpire may have taken umbrage to not understanding what the players were saying, the home plate umpire said that he would stop any foul language between the teams.

Meanwhile, there are clear reasons why the foreign language communication is necessary, none more obvious than the demographic makeup of the Gadsden School District, which is near the Mexico border and counts a student population that is literally 97 percent Hispanic. To help defend their and other schools’ opportunity to feature teams that communicate in Spanish, Gadsden plans to file a complaint with the New Mexico Athletic Association about the incident involving Jones and Burciaga.

For his part, Burciaga said that he isn’t attempting to get Jones fired, but hopes to educate the umpire to keep other teams from being affected by his decisions in an area where many feature students who speak Spanish first at home.

“Things like this shouldn’t happen on the baseball field,” the assistant coach told the Journal. “If we don’t say anything, it’s bound to happen again, and that’s what we want to prevent.”

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Ricky Watters is back in football, just not at the level that most associate him with.

As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, and brought to Prep Rally’s attention by USA Today, the former 49ers Super Bowl champion running back was named the new head football coach at Orlando (Fl.) Oak Ridge High. Watters doesn’t have any prep football coaching experience, so he will be jumping directly into the deep end by attempting to lead a competitive program in Florida from Day One.

Of course, Watters has plenty of experience in football in general. The former running back starred for the 49ers, Eagles and Seahawks over the course of a 10-year career in which he averaged more than 1,000 yards per season.

Interestingly, Watters will be replacing another former NFL player who made his name at Oak Ridge. Former coach Elijah Williams served admirably at the Orlando school before leaving to take an assistant coaching position at Florida A&M during the 2013 offseason. Oak Ridge won six or more games in five of Williams' six seasons leading the program.

Since finishing his professional career and re-settling in Central Florida, Watters has reportedly served as a motivational speaker for at-risk youth in Central Florida, efforts that earned Watters a spot in the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

Now he’ll be trying to achieve results that could justify his position there as a coach as well, all while overseeing a son who hopes to become a rap star rather than a running back.

How times have changed for a running back.

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A former Colorado prep football player who suffered severe brain damage and paralyzation from a concussion during a practice five years ago won an $11.5 million lawsuit against the nation's largest football helmet manufacturer and several high school officials over the weekend, according to an Associated Press report.

The ruling could open up Riddell Sports Inc. and other helmet makers to countless lawsuits from athletes at all levels. Similar litigation has already been brought against Riddell in Los Angeles and by thousands of former NFL players, the AP reported.

After deliberating until 2 a.m. on Saturday morning, a Denver jury ordered Riddell -- makers of the Official Helmet of the NFL -- to pay 27 percent of the damages ($3.1 million) to former Trinidad (Colo.) High football player Rhett Ridolfi for failing to sufficiently warn its customers of concussion dangers.

Ridolfi suffered a concussion in an August 2008 football practice and was not rushed to a hospital. When he was later diagnosed with severe brain damage and paralyzation on his left side, the family sued Riddell as well as several Trinidad coaches and administrators.

While three defendants previously settled in court prior to this weekend's ruling, two coaches remained as defendants in the trial, according to the AP. The family's lawyer, Frank Azar, will reportedly seek all $11.5 million from Riddell in a judge's ruling.

Naturally, Riddell attempted to put a positive spin on a decision that could potentially lead to its demise. The company issued the following statement to the AP: "While disappointed in the jury's decision not to fully exonerate Riddell, we are pleased the jury determined that Riddell's helmet was not defective in any way.''

While Riddell insists it manufactures the most protective equipment around, the company has marketed its helmets as effective in reducing the risk of concussions. Azar, who also represents a number of NFL veterans in lawsuits against Riddell, expects the company to appeal the jury's decision, he told The Denver Post.

Following the suicides of multiple former NFL players in recent years, including 12-time Pro Bowler Junior Seau in 2012, concussions have become the most hotly debated issue at football games across the country. Most of those games feature Riddell helmets.

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Most professional athletes use their day off to sit and relax, whether they focus their attention on movies, video games or other more productive efforts. Rays outfield Sam Fuld takes those productive efforts to a new level.

As noticed by USA Today, Fuld spent his day off before Tampa’s series in Boston practicing with his former high school squad at Phillips Exeter. Fuld tweeted a photo of himself with the Phillips Exeter squad, which you can see above.

Before anyone worries that Fuld was jet hopping on a single day off just to get in more batting practice with a bunch of high school kids, Exeter’s location made the impromptu practice appearance an easy feat. Phillips Exeter is located in Exeter, N.H., approximately one hour from Boston.

Fuld’s hometown of Durham, N.H. is even closer, sitting just 23 minutes away, so it’s likely that the Rays outfielder grouped a trip home with his trip to his former baseball stomping grounds.

Of course, Fuld has come a long way since then, to a starting outfield role via the Cubs farm system. Apparently the Exeter facilities have improved in like fashion, as Fuld made clear in his tweet.

“Practicing with the @PhillipsExeter squad, dugouts are looking nice!”

If anyone had doubts about whether Fuld really attended Phillps Exeter, just check out the flawless punctuation on that tweet. No one does that on social media, except those who can’t help themselves. Much like Fuld can’t help but keep playing baseball, even on his day off with a squad that helps jog his happy memories.

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Much has been made about recruiting young athletes for high school football and basketball programs at successively younger ages. Still, what Tyreke Johnson is on the verge of may be a new threshold.

As reported by MaxPreps, Johnson is the younger brother of DeAndre Johnson, a top quarterback prospect out of Jacksonville (Fl.) First Coast School. Johnson earned national acclaim in both of his first two seasons, has started each and every game of his high school career and already holds a host of Division I scholarship offers. DeAndre Johnson has already committed to Florida State and stands as the coup of the Seminoles’ current recruiting class of 2015.

DeAndre Johnson’s younger brother Tyreke is still in seventh grade, but according to coaches, he’s already on the verge of receiving many of the offers that DeAndre Johnson began receiving two years later.

It would be a stretch for any school to offer a scholarship to a seventh grader, even if they had a dominant skill or starred at a position like quarterback. That’s what makes the younger Johnson’s rise all the more remarkable: He doesn’t even know where he’ll end up playing in high school.

So far, Tyreke has played at quarterback, running back or in the defensive backfield. He could even be a wide receiver. He’s a great athlete, but that’s about all anyone can confirm at this point.

Still, MaxPreps reported that Tyeke Johnson is truly on the precipice of a monumental recruiting breakthrough. No position player has ever received a Division I scholarship offer while in the seventh grade, with quarterback David Sills the lone seventh grader to receive scholarship attention.

That could all change with Tyreke, who is reportedly already receiving major recruiting interest from the likes of Florida State, LSU, Miami, Ohio State and Clemson.

Those are big names for a player as young as Tyreke, though his middle school coach is confident that he will eventually more than reach the high acclaim he’s already attracting.

"He's just a good kid. He's a kid that, honestly, you could see this kid in the Heisman Trophy race,” Trinity Christian football coach Verlon Dorminey told MaxPreps. “He's that type of kid. He's somebody's poster child for a program. He's somebody you want out front, portraying what your program really is.

"If he doesn't come out of the spring with an offer, I'll be surprised."

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Much has been written about the threat that social media poses to young athletes. When they are feted at a party, they tend to tweet about it. Those tweets then tend to get noticed by coaches and, big surprise, the athletes suddenly look a lot less driven and promising than they did before those tweets and photos surfaced.

Yet some coaches are now speaking up about high school athletes tweeting and the hidden dangers of the practice, namely that perpetual social media involvement is a sign that athletes aren’t spending any time studying or doing other worthwhile things with their time.

As noted by longtime Rivals.com analyst and columnist Edgy Tim, who writes a column for the Chicago Tribune, a number of unnamed coaches were all too happy to speak up about their issues with the social media revolution and its invasion of the high school sports space.

First, athletes need to know that coaches see everything that they’re posting … and yes, they are keeping track.

"We see everything from Twitter conversations to friend requests on Facebook to pictures from last night's party on Instagram," a Big East assistant football coach told Edgy Tim. "We see it all and we share that information back and forth in a moment's notice."

Yet they are also keeping an extremely close eye on how often their prospective athletes are tweeting, too, a concern which is emerging as just as pressing as what the athletes are focused on.

"It's really honestly as disturbing seeing how often a kid will post/tweet out messages than the actual content," a Big Ten recruiting coordinator said. "Some kids, I swear never put their phones down. I know you have different programs where you can load up posts, but we know the difference right away.

"Does this kid ever study?"

It’s worth noting that these officials also said that what they see is having a direct impact on their decisions on how to handle athletes. A Big Ten coach told Edgy Tim that his school stopped recruiting a number of players who had made in person visits to the school because of what they had posted online.

Hear that high school studs? Cut back on the tweeting, and make sure to keep it private, at the very least. Your collegiate sports future may depend on it.

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A high school baseball coach resigned rather than face more devastating punishment after stepping over the line on social media, where he reportedly sent text messages to a student.

As reported by the Tennessee Valley NBC affiliate WHNT, Marshall County (Al.) Brindlee Mountain High head baseball coach Nick Garner resigned after accusations emerged that he had sent text messages to a student. While one might assume that the messages sent were broadly inappropriate, there’s no firm indication that’s the case. Rather, officials investigated both Garner’s phone and that of the unnamed student involved and reportedly found no inappropriate texts whatsoever.

Still, Brindlee Mountain has a strict no cell phone policy, which led the Marshall County Superintendent to confront Garner about the messages. Rather than face a longer investigation and potential punishment from the Marshall County School Board, Garner sent in his letter of resignation.

“We just got a report that he had been texting, and then it just kind of filtered in that it was a student involved. We just told him that we weren’t going to put up with that, and he resigned,” Marshall County Superintendent Tim Nabors told WHNT.

“If there is what we feel like is a desperate need [for a deeper investigation] then we’ll pursue it further … Anything like that we turn into the state department and then if there’s anything further investigation that goes on, they’ll do that.”

Those vagaries clear up little when it comes to the nature and frequency of Garner’s texts, but that matters little now. The immediate aftermath of the coach’s actions leave the school short a head baseball coach and assistant football coach in the middle of the 2013 season, with little time to find a full replacement for either post.

And all because of the use of a cell phone on school grounds by a teacher.

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