Babbling

Northern Nash has beaten Southern Nash tonight in baseball to hang close to the Gryphons at 3-1 in the conference standings.

If you remember they were rained out earlier with Fike and the makeup game will be part of a double header when Fike comes to Northern on the second round of conference games.

Northern Plays at Rocky Mount next Thursday night and then Fike on the following Tuesday. Those three games will tell us a lot in conference play for this year..

Cousin Lauren Doughtie is tied for 9th in the ACC women's Golf championship after one round. She shot a 74 Friday for the Wolfpack.

The Boston Celtics have heard the news : It looks like no Kevin Garnett on the playoffs, without him no repeat for the Celtics.

The Carolina Hurricanes have evened up their playoff series with New Jersey. Tim Gleason scored an overtime goal and the Hurricanes head home for game three tied 1-1 with the Devils. Since the Hurricanes are the lower seeded team they need one in New Jersey to get the home court advantage and they got that tonight. 2-1 over the Devils.

The Rocky Mount Gryphons continue to get unbelievable pitching. In the 14 games played so far this year only once has the opposing team had more than one run after four innings. That was the lost to Rose( 4 runs) in which the Gryphons tied it up in the seventh only to lose in the ninth.

Hobbs Johnson at this point in the season at 6-0 may be the best pitcher in the state. Since Hobbs has been so out standing Sophomore Benton Moss has has to take a back seat but he is undefeated on the year. Nick Hahula and Dillon Cockrell have been trust worthy every time they have taken to the hill.

One weakness that the Gryphons have shown so far as they have been held down by good opposing pitchers. They could only get four against Fike Thursday and only five against Tyler Joyner in the opening conference game against Northern.

If the Gryphons are to win the conference or even advance any where in the playoffs the bats have to wake up. They can't depend on a one hitter by our pitchers every time out.

One thing that has help the pitchers is they are not walking that many. Whenever you have runners on base and that puts pressure on the defense and errors occur. A good example of that was the Northern game. Joyner walked two in the fifth and an error and the Gryphons win.

Baseball has two home games next week Nash Central and Northern Nash. Tuesday's tilt with Central is the last game in cycle one. The Northern game starts the second time around. The best news is four of the last six conference games are at home.

All Alone At The Top

The Gryphons are in sole possession of first place of the NEW 6 baseball race after their 1-0 over Wilson Fike Thursday night.

Brian Goodwin, the first batter of the baseball game tonight, hit a grounder up the middle which was backhanded and bobbled by former Southern Nash - now Fike second baseman Brett Allen. It was ruled an error, but with Brian's speed, he may have beat it out for a hit anyway.

Regardless, with one out with Goodwin on third and Collins Cuthrell on first, Mr. RBI comes to the plate for the Gryphons and Ben Fish does what an RBI man is suppose to do. Get the run home.

Fish hit a soft fly ball to left field which was deep enough for Goodwin to trot home with what turned out to be the only run of the night.

Tonight's RBI is No. 67 in the career of senior catcher Fish and he becomes the all-time clutch hitter in Gryphon history. Lead-off hitters are suppose to get on base and Goodwin did that in the first. RBI men drive in runs and Ben did his job.

In three years as a starter, Ben is averaging near an rbi a game, which means his teammates are on base when he comes to bat and he has gotten them home most of the time.

Pitchers who pick colleges teams they want to play for as sophomores are suppose to keep the other team from scoring and Hobbs Johnson, the Gryphon junior lefthander, did his part pitching a gem. A one-hit, 11-strikeout night. Johnson walked three, two men reached on Gryphon errors and the lone hit could only get six Golden Demons on base and only two reached second and one got as far as third.

The Gryphons (13-1. 4-0) squandered a bases-loaded chance in the third without scoring and Goodwin reached third in the fifth. After a walk and two stolen bases, he was left stranded.

Cuthrell, Goodwin and Nick Hahula had singles while Thomas Berry banged on a double off the wall for the only hits of the night for the Gryphons.

William Prince, Fike's hurler, went the distance giving up an unearned run, struck out six, gave up four hits and walked four but he like Tyler Joyner of Northern found out that against Johnson one run is all he needs. He would like more but he will do with what he can get.

When this season is over, if Rocky Mount, Fike and Northern Nash all finish 1-2-3 in the standings there is not much difference between first and third as Rocky Mount has a 2-0 victory over Northern and a 1-0 victory over Fike. Both victories were on the road and they must face each other once more.

Up the hill from the baseball diamond, the Fike girls softball team beat the Lady Gryphons 4-0

Nash Central played host to Northern and Tyler Joyner and the Knights whipped Central 13-0 in six innings. In two conference games this week, Nash Central has been beaten 13-0 and 15-2.

The Bulldogs travel to Rocky Mount Tuesday night.

I felt like during football season when there was a Sunday night game late in the season when John Madden said he didn't want to have to ride his Madden cruiser from San Diego to Philadelphia and then turn around and go back to Denver that something was up. Today the best color man in the history of the NFL called it quits. At 73, he is the winningiest coach, percentage-wise, in NFL history.

Madden, who has made more money than Jerry Jones ever hopes to make with the Dallas Cowboys with his EA Sports Madden NFL Football, sold 4.5 million copies in 2008 alone. That was enough to pay for the Madden Cruiser, the bus John rode to all his telecasts since he is afraid to fly.

First Place On The Line

Tonight Fike will play host to the Gryphons in baseball which will be a battle for first place. Fike had a very slow start but this week they have scored 27 runs in their last two games.

Overall Fike is now 7-3 but most importantly zero losses in conference play. The Gryphons are 12-1 overall and also support a goose egg in the loss column.

As bad as the schedule has been with so much time off the last two weeks the Gryphons will have their entire pitching staff fresh while The Golden Demons have played on Monday and Tuesday this week.

The Lady Gryphon football team(soccer) took care of Northern Nash for the second time this year in conference play winning 3-nil Monday. Good going!

Those of you who read this column daily know that I am torn over the naming of the new basketball coach at N C State.

Stephanie Glance has been one of those dedicated employees that every company wish they had. Practically she has been the coach over the last five years during Kay Yow's cancer battles.

I like so many other Wolfpackers wants to be 25-5 every year just like Duke and Carolina. I don't see Stephanie being able to do that.

Today at Reynolds Coliseum on Kay Yow Court N C State is expected to names Kellie Harper the new Women's basketball coach.

Harper then Kellie Jolly before marriage lead Tennessee to three straight national Championships while the starting point guard for the Volunteers. Her five years at Western Carolina she has been 97-65. I think what pushed Harper to the top of the list that in the past two seasons Western Carolina has been ranked 25th and this year 15th on the academic honor roll for colleges.

Not only is she young and energetic but she believes in the classroom too. So in five years since she has been a head coach she has won at a school that had never before and has improved every year in the quality education her players were getting.

Lee Fowler has not set the world on fire with any of his hirings since he has been the Athletic Director for the Wolfpack. I think he got this one right.

Hopefully the only problem the Wolfpack will have with Harper is that whenever Pat Summitt retires at Tennessee they don't come after her. The good news there is Summitt is only 54 years old and as many games as she has won already she may pull a Joe Paterno and coach forever.

Harper will only be the third Women's coach in the Wolfpack women's history. Robert Doak coached the first women's team in 1974 and Yow took over in 1975. At 32 years old she has the potential to coach the Wolfpack until 2045 or so.

If that happens that means Fowler finally got one right.

Now That's A Rivalry

Growing up in Ahoskie we were members of the Albemarle conference. Starting in 1947 until 1972 the Albemarle won the state championship in 1-A or 2-A football 19 times.

Edenton's Holmes had six, Ahoskie and Williamston five titles, Perquimans two and even Gates County had a title.

Our rival game was Edenton. Back then it was always the eighth game on the schedule. Both towns literally rolled up the streets when ever they played each other. The rivalry was so intense that it spilled over even after you graduated.

In 1965 and 1966 there were alumni games played. In 65 it was in Edenton and 66 in Ahoskie. I was there and remember the scores 7-0 Edenton in 65 and 13-7 Ahoskie.

To tell you how close the series was in 1987 which was the last year of Ahoskie High school the teams had each won 24 times and there had been three ties.

They were so even, even the alumni games were tied overall.

Unfortunately like all good things either the government or insurance gets involved and ruins a good thing. It was stopped after two years because of the liability the schools had to cover to have the games.

I can finally say that I think the Rocky Mount -Northern Nash rivalry is getting close to the intensity that use to be displayed in the Ahoskie-Edenton series. Next Tuesday afternoon the faculty of both schools will square off in a basketball game to support the Nash County Relay for Life .

The game starts at 4.30 in the RMHS gym.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych was a one hit wonder back in the 70's winning 19 games for the Detroit Tigers. A sore arm brought a quick end to his career even after winning the Rookie of the year in 1979.

How many of you remember the name Greg Cooke. He lead the NFL in passing in 1970 for the Cincinnati Bengals. Hurt his shoulder in the next preseason and never played again.

Can you think of any other one hit wonders in any sport? Let me know.

There's No Routine

Pat Smith and the Gryphon baseball team are getting a taste of what Winter sports teams go through every year when the Christmas break rolls around.

These last two weeks have been routine killers for a coach who wants to see a good practice and a game. Then turn it around and do it all over again. I know last week Pat let the baseball team go to the beach or where ever they wanted after the game on Saturday against Conley and did not practice again until Wednesday.

Then Friday and Saturday played three games. Now no game until Thursday. The Gryphons travel to Fike for the first place battle Thursday night and then get back to a normal life with two games on Tuesday and Thursday of next week.

Will Johnson the middle son of Wanda and Don Johnson is putting a senior season together that will make the whole family proud, even "Baseball"Britt and little brother Grant.

Will a former Gryphon shortstop is batting 342 with three home runs in his finest season for Barton. There was a streak at one point where Will had eight straight hits.

Former Nash Central baseball player Xavier Macklin continues to star as a freshman for NC A&T. This past weekend the X-Man" had two games in a row with five rbi's. Right now he is hitting 351 five home runs and 25 rbi's. I think he is a lock for Rookie of the year in the MEAC conference.

Pro Hockey starts the long road to the Stanley Cup Wednesday. The Hurricanes start at New Jersey the same team they beat in the first round of the 2006 Stanley Cup year.

What in the world is up with Lebron James?His side show at basketball games got started when he would throw the white dust up into the air at the start of games. Now he's flexing his muscles and beating his chest. OH no this isn't the start of another Terrell Owens is it.? LeBron is doing a whole lot of show boating for a man who has not won a championship yet.

I would rather see a quiet assassin over a loud mouth TO.

The Masters- It Really Is Special

It must be because it is the official sign of spring or maybe the Dogwoods. It is just like the CBS advertisement. It's unlike any other.

The US Open and The Open in England are Majors. They play different courses every year. I have seen the Masters so many times that they can show a shot from the tee and I can tell you which hole it is.

The people of Augusta National add to the lure of the Masters by stating they don't care about advertising dollars from TV and let you watch 56 minutes of every hour of golf. There is no Thursday and Friday all day coverage like others. Even TV starts only at 3.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

There is nothing like sitting back on a Sunday afternoon and watching the Masters. The moment the TV came on the air Tiger Woods and Phil Michelson dominated the TV while the leaders plodded along in TV obscurity never giving up the lead while Woods and Michelson played.

Those of you who are too young to remember but TV has always followed the great ones regardless of where they were on the leader board.

Arnold Palmer is the reason golf is on TV today because of his charisma back in the late 50's when golf first appeared on TV. His always try to make every shot was perfect for TV. By the late 60's Jack Nicklaus was the best and TV followed every shot whether he was one back or ten which always made me mad because I wanted to watch Arnold.

You know when Arnold turned fifty there was no senior tour. But Arnold was such fan favorite that they created a senior event in which they played best ball on teams. It was such a hit that the senior tour was born.

Yesterday was a CBS dream until Tiger finally acted mortal and Phil finally realized he can't putt a lick.

It didn't matter to me that the last two and a half hours were without Tiger.

I have never been to Augusta but I know I would be shaking in my shoes on the 12th tee. My second or third shot into 13 or 15. Augusta is set up almost on every hole with reward versus disaster. If you go for it and miss you pay a dear price.

I had no favorite player yesterday but I pulled for the old guy Kenny Perry. I like Chad Campbell and it sure was fun watching Angel Cabarrea knock it behind trees and make par.

When I no longer have life on this earth. Heaven will be sitting in a recliner watching the Masters.

It's unlike any other.

Easter Schedule Messed UP

Nash County schools being out the week before Easter and practically everyone else out the week after Easter, has messed the schedules up.

This year there was no Easter Baseball tournament in Rocky Mount for the first time in years. It didn't bother the four Nash County Schools but those that could play could only play next week not last week.

So the Gryphons play three in almost a day. one on Friday and two on Saturday.

Next week baseball has a conference game on Thursday at Fike an that is it next week.

Finally the following week we have Nash Central on Tuesday April 21st and Northern on the 24th to get back on a regular schedule.

Ben Fish had a big weekend running his Career RBI totals to 66. His next RBI he will be the all time run knocker inner in Gryphon history.

Wes Bradshaw has missed the last two home days behind the microphone doing PA. Wes has found out that life performs better with a income from a job which he has just started in the last couple of weeks. I know it is killing his soul not to be there but somebody has to pay the light bill.

The Carolina Hurricanes finish in the 6th position in the eastern standings and will play New Jersey in the opening round of the hockey playoffs. I think New Jersey is a good match up for the Canes.

The Charlotte Bobcats gave it a good shot but they have been eliminated from the NBA basketball playoffs. It is the first time in their short existence that they put a scare in the playoffs.

The schedule didn't do them any favors. They have just played two in a row on the road and their last two games of the year are on the road. They will be the first NBA team in history to have to play their last four games of a season on the road.

You know I am not a fan of rankings. I don't care whether it's the AP football pole or CNN/ESPN or more locally Impact baseball's North Carolina pole. Riverside came to Rocky Mount yesterday as the #1 team in 4-A team in the Impact Baseball pole. I think what most folks saw was a team that would have a hard time making the playoffs in the NEW-6 3-A.

If next week Rocky Mount returns to the #1 spot in 3-A don't hold you breathe. Poles haven't won a game this year or any other.

I do think that today's technology that the computers rankings are very accurate I think 90%.