Western Michigans rise under P. Gary Payton Jersey .J. Fleck has been underscored by his popular row the boat mantra. Within the walls of his program, another saying carries as much or more gravitas: The ball is the program.The Broncos are living it so far this season. Theyre the only Bowl Subdivision team that has not committed a turnover.As far as Fleck is concerned, that statistic best explains how his team has won six straight games for its best start since 1941 and entered the Top 25 for the first time, at No. 24.You come to one of our practices, quarterback Zach Terrell said Wednesday, youre going to hear `the ball is the program at least 10 times.Flipping the fortunes of the program has been predicated on improving the turnover margin, Fleck said. His first WMU team, in 2013, tied for 104th in the FBS and went 1-11. The Broncos were 49th and 58th while going 8-5 each of the last two years.The 2016 Broncos are the first team in at least 20 years to commit no turnovers through its first six games, according to WMU and ESPN research. The record for fewest turnovers in a season is eight, shared by four teams.Terrell has not been intercepted in 143 pass attempts. The Broncos have fumbled seven times and recovered each one. Considering their opponents have lost five of six fumbles, how big a role has luck played in Western Michigan staying turnover-free?Youve got to be able to catch some breaks, Fleck said. But were big on believing you can create your own breaks.That starts with the programs culture.Rather than hanging a board in the locker room displaying the Mid-American Conference standings, Fleck allows only a chart that runs down MAC teams turnover margins. On their way from the locker room to the practice field, players tap a sign in all capital letters reading -- what else? -- THE BALL IS THE PROGRAM.And every practice, with no exception, includes a 15-minute period for ball security and ball disruption drills. Wet footballs are used every Thursday and frozen balls come out occasionally as the weather turns colder.Fleck and his staff came up with a rotation of 12 drills that address almost any situation a turnover or takeaway could occur.We teach everything here in incredible detail, he said.A player is schooled on how to pick a ball off the ground depending on whether hes in a cluster of bodies or in the open field. In close quarters, its jump on the ball and squeeze it. In the open field, the player is to surround the ball with his feet, bend at the hips and knees, scrape his knuckles on the ground with his pinkies together, scoop up the ball and put it in the chin.Chin is the Broncos way of saying to hold the ball high and tight. Theres more to it than that, though. Coaches talk about five pressure points for cradling the ball. Even the direction the point of the ball faces is scrutinized.And then theres effort, which is part of Flecks row the boat theme for how the program operates. No one has shown more effort than tight end Donnie Ernsberger, who has recovered four of the Broncos seven fumbles.He doesnt get a lot of touches as a receiver, but hell put his body on the line, star receiver Corey Davis said. Hes sacrificing a lot for this team, and he means a lot to us.Fleck said Ernsbergers fumble recoveries are not by chance.He always finds a way to be around a fumble and get in the pile, or to be on the ball when that ball comes out, he said. If he were jogging and not finishing the play, he wouldnt recover those. But we have about 95 Donnie Ernsbergers on our football team.Terrell said he had never been around a coach so obsessed with preventing turnovers and credited Fleck with making him think about ball security in a different way.Its not just the person who has it in his hands, he said. Its everybody that determines whether the ball is taken care of. One small detail missed can lead to a catastrophic error, and thats losing the ball and turning it over.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org Enes Kanter Jersey . -- The goal posts lying flat on the field, Arizonas fans lingered on the field, congregating around the locker room entrance nearly 30 minutes after rushing out of the stands. Russell Westbrook Jersey . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. http://www.authenticthunderauthority.com/dj-augustin-thunder-jersey-c-13/ . -- Mike Smith never saw his first NHL goal go in. The mission was clear: Go to the NBA. Take over. Do so in a way that told the basketball world a new era had arrived.If you were not a part of his inner circle, Allen Iverson didnt give a damn about you. The thing is, he was atypical in that he wanted you to know it, specifically because it was his way of saying he knew you would never give a damn about him anyway, no matter how much you smiled in his face.His talent would make you care.His performance would make you salivate.His achievements would make you kneel.All the way to the Hall of Fame, someday.Iversons story is not foreign, of course. Its similar to that of many players in todays NBA. Most are African-Americans. Most come from impoverished backgrounds. Almost all strive to elevate themselves to a level of greatness that has forced a global audience to pay attention, to emulate, then join.Yet very few have ever impacted basketball like Iverson. No matter how hard they try.I always tell folks I played every game like its my last, Iverson said earlier this week, in advance of his Hall of Fame induction on Friday. And I meant that. But sometimes I dont think people realize what I mean when I say that. Its not just about playing so hard; its why I played so hard. You know what I mean? Its what I wondered would happen to me if I didnt do it.Youve got to know my history and how I truly feel to realize where Im coming from.But few will ever know. No matter how hard they try.During to a career that would culminate with Iverson averaging 26.7 points per game, winning four scoring titles and one MVP -- at 6 feet, 165 pounds -- folks witnessed his heroics but barely knew the intimate challenges he faced.Iverson knew being incarcerated, then granted clemency, wasnt a likable trait for Madison Avenue; that he wasnt the ideal spokesman for the NBA. Iverson knew a visibly polished Kobe Bryant was preferable to the tattoos, cornrows and street persona proudly worn on the sleeves, neck and elsewhere on this former All-American out of Georgetown.But Iverson also knew everyone couldnt be Bryant or Michael Jordan. He knew that if MJ and Kobe -- and no one else -- were the standard, society wouldnt have a true depiction of NBA stars to come.I was 6 feet, so folks could relate to that, he once told me. I was 165 pounds, so folks could relate to that. But I was also someone who wanted to be me, judged for what I do and who I am, instead of what you say Im suppose to be. Its true that some [people] dont want to play the game, but a lot of dudes dont know how to. And even the ones that do, most aint going to be accepted. So what about them?Even today that is still a legitimate question.LeBron James has helped provide answers by showing you he can be a champion, pre-eminent role model and global icon, even if tattoos are draped all over his body. Steph Curry has proven as much, as well, by being a baby-faced, long-range assassin who, at 6-foot-3, looks like a regular dude instead of a Goliath of a man.From Carmelo Anthonny to Chris Paul to Dwyane Wade and beyond, players are speaking not just with their play on the court, but with their willingness to address issues off the court. Enes Kanter Thunder Jersey. . And although Iverson is no innovator in that department, his willingness to express himself certainly made it easier for athletes to open up more in a day and age thats demanding it, not asking.What few knew is that Iverson wasnt this way because he couldnt help himself. He was that way because he could be, because he wanted the world to look beyond the veneer, forcing everyone to acknowledge that you didnt have to look, act or Be Like Mike to be immensely popular to basketball and the world.In the midst of all of that, there were personal challenges.There were friends and family who always wanted money and time. There was a loving wife, Tawanna, whom he fully admits he should have appreciated more. There were many days when charity was expected instead of appreciated. There was even a time, according to close confidants, when a member of his inner circle forgot where they parked a Bentley, a ride Iverson had purchased for them, at Philadelphia International Airport -- and instead of continuing to look for it, they simply went to the dealership and bought another one because, well, they could.I didnt know anything about that, Iverson once told me. Maybe because I didnt want to know, honestly!The challenges were relentless. And this was before Twitter, Facebook and the like became so entrenched. But Iverson still marched on.He rose. He fell. He crumbled. Then rose again. Financially. Ethically. Morally at times. Letting critics talk, cynics swell and allowing his life to become far more difficult than it needed to be.There were many occasions when it wasnt even Allen who had done anything, former Sixers president Billy King once told me. It couldve been someone in [Iversons] crew. But it didnt matter. You might as well blame him because the last thing he was going to do was tell on anyone. No matter the reason. Not matter the consequences. Hed take the heat himself for anyone he cared about, and simply say he wasnt perfect.The Answer will tell anyone he was a mess at times. That he couldve been better, but wasnt. But along the way, while talking of his trials and tribulations, hell ask that you remember his triumphs. Hell ask that while saying what you want, dont forget to tell the end of the story.Iverson will ask that you dont omit how he performed under adverse circumstances. How he never cheated fans with his effort, even when tempted to do otherwise. And how, in the end, that is the reason hes so proud hell be in the same building as the all-time greats.Perhaps Iverson gave a damn, after all. He just had to act like he didnt to be considered one of the best ever.Nobody truly knows the road I traveled, he said.Chances are, they will by this weekend. Cheap NFL JerseysCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaCheap Jerseys From ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys AuthenticWholesale Jerseys ChinaCheap NFL Jerseys ChinaNFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
The Wall