Florida Sentinel Bulletin

The NFL fined Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard $15,250 for his illegal hit on New England Patriots receiver Wes Welker during Sunday’s AFC Championship Game.

The hit occurred on a 24-yard pass during the third quarter with the Patriots up, 13-7, resulting in a 15-yard penalty. Pollard later knocked New England running back Stevan Ridley out of the game with a vicious fourth-quarter hit that gave the Ravens a key fumble and Ridley a head injury. Pollard was not fined for the hit.

Overall, last week’s eight playoff teams averaged 35 points. Offense is the way teams are winning now. To that end, NFL owners are looking for coaches that are well versed in running high-powered offenses. Of the eight head coaching openings this off-season, seven have been filled with coaches with offensive play-calling backgrounds.

So where does that leave African-American coaches? The most common place to find an NFL coach is by looking at top coordinators. With the way the league’s headed, offensive coordinators are the applicants getting the most attention. But there’s currently only one African-American offensive coordinator in the NFL, Jim Caldwell of the Baltimore Ravens. And he only got the position after former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron was fired after Week 13.

The only other African-American offensive coordinator last season was the Buffalo Bill’s Curtis Modkins, who was also the running backs coach. He didn’t actually call the offensive plays though, and he was recently hired by the Detroit Lions to coach their running backs. The problem is most African-American coaches come from defensive backgrounds.

Another issue might be that there aren’t many African-American offensive candidates in the pipeline. NFL owners also look to hire top college coaches every year, and last year there were 15 African-American coaches heading college programs. There’s certainly been progress, as there were only three black head coaches a decade ago, but there’s still plenty of work to do. There’s a total of 125 college head coaching jobs, so 15 isn’t exactly eye opening.

There are solid candidates in Stanford’s David Shaw and Louisville’s Charlie Strong, but they both seem content at their current positions.

MELBOURNE, Australia — Victoria Azarenka had to endure some anxious moments before and after her win over American teenager Sloane Stephens. Li Na wasn’t flustered at all in an easy victory over No. 2-ranked Maria Sharapova.

The result is that Li will play for the Australian Open title against Azarenka, who ended Stephens’ unexpected run to the semifinals that included a quarterfinal upset of 15-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams. Azarenka needed six match points to finish off a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Stephens that included a medical timeout after the American broke her serve to pull within 5-3 in the second set. After leaving the court for medical attention, the Belarusian returned to break Stephens’ serve to end the match.

“Well, I almost did the choke of the year,” Azarenka told an on-court interviewer immediately after the match. “At 5-3, having so many chances I couldn’t close it out.” The 23-year-old Belarusian’s on-court comments after the match led to speculation about the timing of her medical timeout. She didn’t help herself in a second television interview after the match that suggested the pressure of trying to close out the match was getting to her.

JaMarcus Russell is planning a comeback attempt that he hopes will see him play in the league again.

The former No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft has not played a single NFL snap since the 2009 season with the Oakland Raiders. The reclamation of Russell will follow a tricky road for a quarterback who was always known more for his physical blessings than technique.

Russell, 27, who has effectively been out of football since tryouts with the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins in 2010, might find overcoming himself his biggest challenge. Currently at 308 pounds, Russell is down from the 320 pounds he weighed this past fall and has been focusing on cardio conditioning the past six weeks to lose the weight.

SAN FRANCISCO — Police are investigating a sexual assault allegation involving 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, authorities said Friday.

The alleged assault occurred in a San Francisco hotel room early Sunday, after the 49ers’ playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers, police said in a written statement. Crabtree has been interviewed with his attorney present and has cooperated with the probe, the statement said. The receiver hasn’t been detained or arrested, and he agreed to be available for more questions in the future.

The probe is being handled by the department’s special victims unit. When the investigation is done, the findings will be forwarded to the district attorney’s office, which decides if charges should be filed.

Authorities didn’t release any further details.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Two cities have hoped to host the final game in the stomping, screaming, shoulder-checking 16-year NFL career of Ray Lewis.

Two cities have been disappointed by the Baltimore Ravens and the linebacker they call “Mufasa.” Nursing a surgically repaired right triceps, Lewis collected a team-high 14 tackles with nine in the first half as the Ravens defeated the New England Patriots 28-13 in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium.

Lewis thanked God and exchanged hugs with team owner Steve Bisciotti on the field and Michael Phelps in the locker room. “For Baltimore,” Lewis and the Olympic swimming legend agreed. And it was Lewis’ teammates who did all the roaring about their “Lion King.” “There’s no better leader,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “That’s Mufasa. He said this is his last ride, so we might as well make it special for him. He’s led us here. He busted his tail to get back and make a run with us, and we still have one more win to get.”

The linebacker, who announced his retirement at the onset of these playoffs, will play but one more game – Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3 in New Orleans. After Championship Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers stand between Lewis and a second title.

ATLANTA — The clutch quarterback. The genius coach. The big-play defense. The San Francisco 49ers are ready to start a new dynasty with a familiar formula. Next stop, the Big Easy.

Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore (pictured) led San Francisco to a record comeback in the NFC championship game Sunday, overcoming an early 17-0 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 and send the 49ers to their first Super Bowl since 1995. Gore scored a pair of touchdowns, including the winner with 8:23 remaining for San Francisco’s first lead of the day, and the 49ers defense made it stand up. A fourth-down stop at the 10-yard line denied Atlanta another stirring comeback after blowing a big lead.

“Everybody does a little,’‘ 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said, ‘’and it adds up to be a lot.’‘

Ten weeks after being discarded by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Aqib Talib is flourishing in New England, where he is being treated as the second coming of Deion Sanders.

Sanders, a Hall of Fame cornerback, gained fame by backing up his bragging with a rare ability to contain the opposition’s premier wide receiver. Since the Bucs traded. New England coach Bill Belichick hasn’t stopped gushing about his new shut-down corner.

“I like him and the team likes him,’‘ Belichick said Wednesday as the Pats prepared for Sunday’s AFC title game against Baltimore. “He’s a good football player, a good teammate and he’s very well, respected because of his professionalism. He’s a good guy to be around.’‘

In the first playoff game of Talib’s five-year career, he registered a team-high 10 tackles on Sunday in a 41-28 victory against Houston while jawing incessantly with six-time Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson

 “If you’re a cornerback and you don’t want to go after their best receiver, you’re in the wrong business,’‘ Talib said after Johnson caught eight passes for 95 yards, but failed to reach the end zone. “It showed my coach has got a little confidence in me. I can’t complain about that.’‘

FAMU has informed baseball coach Willie Brown he will be fired, following allegations of sexual harassment by a walk-on infielder that he cut from the baseball team twice.

Brown was notified of the university’s decision in a letter dated Monday, Jan. 14, and signed by interim president Larry Robinson. The letter was made public on Wednesday by Brown’s attorney, Steven Andrews, who received it a day earlier. Andrews also released a letter he sent to FAMU on Wednesday requesting a hearing for Brown to state his case.

Andrews said he won’t attempt to have Brown reinstated as coach, but he wants his client’s name cleared. Andrews said he intends to take the case to court if needed. Brown remains on administrative leave with pay pending a final written decision from the university.

“An investigation has been concluded by the office of Equal Opportunity Program pursuant to a complaint that was filed against you alleging sexual harassment,” Robinson wrote to Brown.