Triathlons, Golf, Football, etc.

I have to start off tonight with a little chest pumping!

Brooks, my only son, participated in a triathlon today in Pinehurst. This event had a one-mile swim, a 25-mile bike ride and a six-mile run. Why anyone would want to do such a ridiculous thing I just don't know, but he did.

More than 900 people struggled through the sandhills of Moore County and as soon as he finished up, he jumped in his car and rode to Raleigh to watch his beloved Wolfpack fight hard, but lose again.

His time was under three hours. His goal was 3 1/2 hours, so the pasta worked today.

Brooks left so fast that he didn't stick around for the totals, but he thinks he finished somewhere around 90th position. This is either his second or third attempt and he has a lot of potential, if he stays committed. He tells me his bike time was the ninth best of everyone there.

You may see Brooks riding his bike through the streets and countryside of Nash County whenever he is home from his job of working as a contractor for NOAA.

He goes out on fishing boats and makes sure fisherman don't over fish the oceans. When they catch loggerhead turtles, he tags them and releases them back to the ocean. About a month ago, he was on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico that was fishing for bull sharks and through his measurements, it proved to be the largest bull shark ever caught.

This weekend, my cousin Lauren Doughtie is playing golf for N.C. State a women's golf tournament in Chapel Hill. She is a senior and is a preseason All-America choice when women's golf gets cranked up in the spring.

This past golf season, she became the first N.C. State women's golfer to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and she qualified for the U.S. Women's Open. She won the Virgina State Amateur Championship and made the top 32 players in the U.S. Women's Public Links Championship.

Turning to football...

Why have replays in college football if when a play is called wrong on the field, the replay booth lets a mistake stand anyway.

N.C. State had a call today that clearly the replay could change, but didn't. Even tonight during Carolina's rout of Connecticut (38-12), the Tar Heels stripped a ball away in the field of play and clearly recovered it, but replay let the mistake on the field stand.

Duke has come down from Cloud Nine after being shutout today by Georgia Tech (27-0).

State continues to play hard and inspired, but lose a heartbreaker (38-31). Tonight, Carolina has taken the step up for at least this week joining Virginia Tech as the best in the ACC.

I guess I insulted Virginia asking what was wrong with them as they embarrassed Maryland. What happened to Maryland? Virginia 31, Turtles Zero.

Today, Elon took a major step to putting its name in the NCAA FCS playoffs, if they don't fall apart as the season keeps going. It's next major test is App State.

And finally tonight....

I have not talked to him, but I would bet my failing 401K plan that B.W. Holt was in Blacksburg, Va. today.

You know he and wife Barbara had to be there to watch his former player Stephan Virgil play for the Hokies. Today was a special day as new D-I member Western Kentucky was on the field in Blacksburg and the Holts' only child Stu happened to be the running backs coach for WKU.

The Hokies won, but it was a ball game: 27-13.

T-minus six days and counting to the Northern-Rocky Mount football game!