Evans receives Stafford backing, Non-league football

LEE Evans will have another opportunity to stake his claim as Stafford Rangers' first choice goalkeeper when he faces Northwich Victoria at Marston Road tomorrow (3pm).
Injuries have hindered the former Chasetown stopper following his move to the Blue Square North side in the summer.
But Stafford boss Chris Brindley believes supporters have yet to see the best of Evans and hopes the midweek 3-2 defeat of high-flying Ilkeston Town will be a much needed boost.
"When you are not winning games, everything and everyone gets questioned," said Brindley.
"Lee has not been at his best, but he has had a broken nose and a broken metatarsal, and because he has been struggling, his confidence is low.
"But the more he plays, the better he will be. It's like with everyone, he just needs a bit of confidence at the moment."
Defender Andy Owens and midfielder Levi Reid missed the Ilkeston match with flu and remain doubtful. Skipper Bobby Wilson picked up an injury in midweek, but should be fit.

Evans' resurgence is an inside job, Bills notebook

Lee Evans had a big game, and a milestone-setting one, on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
The Buffalo Bills wide receiver had five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in a 20-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
Evans has been quiet for long stretches of games this season, but he has made a lot of noise the last two games. One week after his 37-yard touchdown highlighted a come-from-behind road win over the New York Jets, Evans found the end zone again with a 2-yard score.
Both throws were from backup quarterback-turned-starter Ryan Fitzpatrick, who obviously has developed some chemistry with the Bills' star wideout.
"Lee's been my guy when I've been in there," Fitzpatrick said. "I enjoy throwing to Terrell [Owens] and Lee and Josh [Reed] as well. Lee's done a good job."
One difference in Evans' performance the last two weeks as opposed to the first four games is the number of inside routes he's running. He usually catches most of his passes outside the numbers, but he's had a lot of success on slant patterns.
Both of his touchdowns the past two games came on that route.
"It's one of those things where [Fitzpatrick] likes to throw certain routes, so we've got to work on them," Evans said. "We were able to get one today at a crucial point.
"He just kind of makes it work and when he sees something he likes to take advantage of it."
Evans' touchdown gave him 35 for his career, which ties him with Elbert Dubenion for third place on the Bills' all-time list. Evans had shared the fourth spot with Bob Chandler.
Evans also became the fourth receiver to reach 5,000 career yards with the Bills. He trails only Andre Reed (12,095), Eric Moulds (9,096) and Dubenion (5,294).
Evans and Dubenion reached the 5,000-yard plateau in 87 games. Only Reed (81 games) did it faster.
"It certainly feels good to have your name up there with some of the best that have played here," said Evans, who has 5,046 yards. "Just to be mentioned with them is certainly an honor. But I think as we continue through this season it's about winning for me. In addition to what those guys did they were winners. Whenever I leave this game I want to be remembered as a winner, too."
. . .
Defensive tackle Kyle Williams made a surprise start Sunday, but left after one series with a knee injury.
Coach Dick Jauron didn't know how serious the injury was.
"The fact that he didn't return was not good," Jauron said. "Bud [Carpenter, the Bills' head trainer] told me right away he wasn't coming back."
Williams was questionable all week because of a dislocated acromioclavicular joint in his shoulder. The injury, which is where the collarbone and the shoulder blade meet, occurred a week ago against the New York Jets.
Fullback Corey McIntyre suffered a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter and didn't return.
Jauron said he'll have an update on both players today.
. . .
Jairus Byrd's interception hot streak continues. With his fourth and fifth interceptions on Sunday he became the first Bills rookie with at least four in a season since Jeff Nixon had six in 1979.
Byrd is the third Bills rookie to record an interception in three consecutive games. The last was Butch Byrd in 1964.
Jairus Byrd also became the fifth player in Bills history with back-to-back multiple interception games and the first since Kurt Schulz in 1996.
Safety George Wilson added an interception (his second in as many weeks), giving the Bills nine in the past two games. The last time the team pulled that off was 1967.
. . .
There was a sight on the field that we haven't seen in a while: Terrence McGee returning a kickoff.
The Bills' all-time leader with 5,450 return yards had a 30-yard return in the fourth quarter.
Fred Jackson handled that duty the last two games.
"It was good to be back there," said McGee, who hasn't returned kickoffs full time since 2007. "I grabbed it and was just ready to roll."
McGee said he'd like to have more return opportunities, provided he can talk the Bills into it.
"I'm kind of politicking for it, but they keep telling me no," he said with a smile. "I might keep going to [particular teams coach Bobby April's] office and bugging him about it. I keep telling them, "Just give me one game." Hopefully they'll do that."
. . .
Wide receiver Roscoe Parrish was inactive for the second straight week, but was listed as the third quarterback. That means he was able to dress, but could only play in an emergency situation.
Other inactives were safeties Donte Whitner (thumb) and Bryan Scott (ankle), right tackle Jonathan Scott (ankle) and tight end Shawn Nelson (concussion). Running back Xavier Omon and defensive end Chris Ellis were healthy scratches.

Pink Floyd, Lee Evans and Sir Richard Dannatt get honorary degrees

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, Army general Sir Richard Dannatt and comedian Lee Evans are all to receive honorary degrees.
Will acknowledge Anglia Ruskin University, the trio's outstanding achievements in their respective fields at degree ceremonies in Cambridge and Chelmsford, Essex, in November.
The Vice Chancellor said he hoped the university's 2,200 other graduates "will be inspired by the stories of our distinguished honorary graduates to go on to achieve great things".

Leroy N. Evans Sr

Leroy N. "Lee" Evans Sr., of Levittown, passed away on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, at his daughter's home. He was 83.
A native of Steelton, Pa., he was a graduate of Steelton High School and Lebanon Valley College Music School.
Mr. Evans taught implemental music at Philadelphia's Germantown and George Washington high schools, for 34 years. He was responsible for many outstanding bands and orchestras as well as many well known music professionals.
Mr. Evans was a veteran of World War II, having served as an marcher, sharp shooter and bandsman with the 36th Division and the 3rd Infantry Division in the European Theatre and was the receiver of a number of combat citations.
He was an avid golfer at the Langhorne Country Club and directed several golf pairs.
Mr. Evans was the beloved husband of the late Genevieve L. (Welsh) Evans and was the father of the late Leroy N. Evans Jr.
He was the loving father of Richard L. and his wife, Sherry., of Stillwater, Pa., and Michael S. and his wife, Karen, Jacqueline V. and her husband, Terry Malloy, and Brian A. and his wife, Patty, all of Levittown.
He will also be unhappily missed by 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and his brothers, Richard of Steelton, and Bernard of Baltimore, Md. He was preceded in death by his sister, Muriel.
Family and friends are invited to attend his memorial service at 3 p.m. on Sunday at James J. Dougherty Funeral Home, 2200 Trenton Road, Levittown, where the family will receive friends from 1:30 p.m. until the time of the service. Burial of ashes will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery. James J. Dougherty Funeral Home,

Evans sat a second day,Why

Lee Evans sat for a second heterosexual practice, but is not injured. Head coach Dick Jauron explained why.
“It was kind of planned after the game particularly,” said Jauron. ”Just sore. Lee did a lot of running in camp because we had an unfortunate (injury) positionwith our receivers all through camp.”
The Bills were down in numbers in camp from the first week to the end of camp with guys like Terrell Owens, Felton Huggins, C.J. Hawthorne and James Hardy all missing time this summer. That put more strain on Evans and others. Evans did not miss a single practice from the beginning of camp until these two rest days Monday and Tuesday.

Lee Evans Edward

Edward “Rock” Evans, 81, a native of New Orleans and resident of Houma, died at 8:25 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009.

Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. to burial time Friday at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Mass will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at the church, with burial in the church cemetery.
He is come through by one son, Lee Evans Jr. and wife, Lori, of Mooresville, N.C.; one sister, June Curtis of Pasadena, Calif.; and two grandsons, Jordan and Cameron Evans.
He was antecede in death by his wife, Bess Evans; and his parents, Walter and Helen Evans.
He was a retired salesman for Valley Supply Company, a parishioner of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church and he served in the U.S. Army for 37 years in World War II and the Korean Conflict.

Chauvin Funeral Home is in charge of accommodation.

Nigeria: Lee Evans the Nation's Athletes Can Do More

Abuja — As Nigerian athletes fall like a pack of cards at the 12th IAAF World Championship in Berlin, Germany, national athletics coach, American ace, Lee Evans has authorited out suggestions that Nigeria a need for the talents to beat at the world's biggest stage.

The former 400 meters world champion, however, told brilafm.net that there is wonder need for athletes to put more effort and hard work into representing Nigeria, while also charging chief to give the reasons for the nation's challenger in every way possible.
"Nigeria is a coach's paradise and our job will be to promote the athletes to work hard. It takes hard work for the athletes to be motivated. He noted, "So, we have to motivate them and make them perform very well for their country Nigeria and make them run faster. I believe that, if they receive the right type of training, they will succeed,"

Lee Evans: Fantasy Sleepers 2009

Matt Ryan, Falcons: Ryan had a huge rookie season where he not only bypassed the rookie learning curve, he also brought honor and he was best leadership back to a city and franchise that had been Vicktimized by his predecessor.
David Garrard, Jaguars: Don’t plan on snagging Garrard to be a QB1, but he has everything it takes to be an excellent second option.
Donovan McNabb, Eagles: For the first time in McNabb’s career he has a plethora of wideouts with big-play ability (Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson) and a franchise left tackle (Jason Peters).
Jamaal Charles, Chiefs: Charles proved to be a steal in the third round of the real 2008 draft and played well filling in for an oft-injured Larry Johnson.
Lee Evans, Bills: Evans’ value is high again after a dip in fantasy production over the past couple of seasons. And he can thank T.O. for the fantasy upgrade.

31 years and lee evans

ONE of the reasons I believed Lee Evans was human was that he coached in Nigeria and the evidence if his efforts still abound.I would speak of some of them, just some. Evans was ahead of his time, 41 years ago, when he won the Mexico Olympic 400m gold in 43.86 seconds. The record stood for almost 20 years (Butch Reynolds broke it in August 1988). The other world record when he anchored the 4×400m for his second Olympic gold, held sway for 24 years!

Some uncharitable folks said the performance was possible because of the rarefied air of Mexico City. They spent two decades trying to break the mark in Mexico City and the USA Olympic facility in Colorado Springs, which had the similar conditions.Evans with his colleagues, Ron Davies, and Don Coleman, thanks to the foresight of Isaac Akioye turned Nigerians athletics around. They were gone by 1978.

The fulcrum of that programme was the schools. Not many of today’s athletics buffs knew of a young man straight from Ishan Grammar School called Felix Imadiyi, also known as Beautiful Legs, Nigeria’s most sensational 400m runner in 1977.He ran the first sub-46 secs on Nigerian soil (in Kaduna in 1977) while still based in Nigeria. He was an Evans protégé. Kehinde Vaughan was in secondary school in Yaba in 1978 when she won the 400m gold at the All Africa Games in Algiers. The list of the Evans success includes Dele Udoh, who a policeman’s bullet fell in Ojuelegba in 1981 (accidental discharge has a long history) and the one many would remember Innocent Egbunike.

Egbunike, a former volleyball player, become one of the country’s most successful athletes and its most successful indigenous coach, with his own Olympic relay medal in 1984 (with Sunday Uti, Moses Ugbesie and Rotimi Peters), a bronze. He was coach of Nigerian Olympic teams in 1996, 2000 and 2008. His most successful outing was with the men’s 2000 Olympic 4×400m relay team, which won silver, but was eight years after upgraded to gold after some USA team members confessed to doping.Evans’ successes hit the consistent note about KNOWLEDGE power, though it was not expressed in those terms then. Evans knew his act and worked with people who were passionate about athletics.

Akioye was remarkable. He was a footballer, a goalkeeper, yet as the Director of Sports of the National Sports Commission, he catered for all sports. The setting was conducive for a professional like Akioye to act.The National Sports Commission was a legal entity.The law specified qualifications for its professional cadre. The Commission had enough resources to retain the services of world-class coaches with Olympic pedigree like Evans.Akioye was not an Olympic athlete by any stretch of the imagination. He was educated in sports, earning university qualifications in sports, practised it from primary school as competitor and teacher, promoted it all the way to University of Ife, where he was Director of Sports, and used the resources for sports to produce generations of sports people who became coaches or administrative staff. His attention to sports was total.

He could dismiss the programmes of any coach, in any sports, if he felt it was short of standards, of course, there were standards.After he left Nigeria, Evans coached in five other African countries. He always hungered to return to Nigeria.I ran into him at the All Africa Games in Nairobi 22 years ago, he came with the Camerounian team. His best wish that year was that Egbunike would break the 400m record. Egbunike’s best in 1987 was 44.17 seconds in Zurich and a silver medal at the World Championships in Rome.

When I read Evans’ enthusiasm to return, I fail to share the optimism of those who want to see Evans pulling off the successes from the skies. Where are the indigenous coaches he would work with? Where are the schools that would produce the athletes he would hone their raw talent?
Do Nigerians know the present Director of Sports (not to be confused with the Director General) of the National Sports Commission knows nothing about sports. I would not be surprised if he wonders why four people (actually six, two reserves) must run the relay. Are these the people to work with Evans?

Lee Evan Comedy King

Comedy King - which involves a lot of falling over, laughing inanely and sweating - earnt him acclaim as the Norman Wisdom of the 90s. Evans has had some success on the big screen - a lead role in the under-rated Mouse Hunt, and supporting parts in The Fifth Element .

Lee Evans Trio

A trademark of Lee Evans is The Lee Evans Trio, which consists of him on a bare stage, in a spotlight, miming to a recording of instrumental sound; the spotlight goes out, only to reappear in another location, to which Evans has moved during the blackout, and where he is now miming playing a different instrument. He mimes in three locations, with an imaginary drum kit, double bass and piano.