Duke's Women Fall Short

If you watched the Duke women's game last night for the chance to go to the final four then you missed one of the best games this year. Duke took on Baylor lead by Brittany Briner a six feet eight inch player who can play. Briner last night had fifteen points eleven rebounds and nine blocked shots.

This was a game of Duke trying to go inside to get Briner in foul trouble. The first eight minutes Duke couldn't get close enough to see the goal much less make a shot. Finally when Duke started hitting from beyond fifteen feet they got into a rhythm and had as big as a nine point lead. Midway in the second half Briner finally got some help from her teammates and Duke stopped making the outside shots. Baylor 51 Duke 48.

The big question is, is Briner good enough to upset Connecticut and stop their at this point seventy some game winning streak? I think she is good enough but I don't see Baylor as a team being good enough to stay with the Huskies.

Rain washed out Rocky Mount girls softball Monday. That game has been moved to Wednesday night at home. Tonight softball and baseball begin conference play with a trip to Nash Central.

Spring sports like winter has the vacation for Easter Which is next week. School is out starting Friday and all of next week. When it is over it's all conference games until early May when the seasons are over and playoffs begin.

I failed to say any thing about this yesterday but wasn't that a great picture of Mike Gainey all smiles in the paper Sunday?

There is one thing about the NCAA basketball championship tournament I really like. There is no Dick Vitale doing the games. The NCAA tournament's best announcer is Gus Johnson. I don't know how he always gets the down to the wire buzzer beaters.

The best color guy is Mike Giminski. The G man is a Raycon guy during the season and CBS picks him up during the playoffs. Vitale has for so many years been the lead ESPN color analyse. He has always been hype and high fives. Don't look now but Jay Bilas is the best at ESPN. He knows every player in the country and gives you the facts not the hype like the over the hill Vitale.

Three Pointers

Saturday night Kentucky shot 32 three pointers in their NCAA lost. They made four. Even at my old age put a blind fold on me and point me in the right direction I can make five three pointers in 32 tries.

Kentucky trailed almost all of the second half and the one thing three point shots have done to basketball is given us the mentality that the three point shot is the quick fix. They have the best big man in the country and who by the way was having a good game and you can't get him the ball.

I hear executives from CBS are jumping out of windows in New York city now that the Duke-Kentucky rematch is history. If they had of played each other in the semi's of the NCAA which would have happened if Kentucky have of held up their end of the bargain. How many times this week would we have seen the Hill to Laettner last second shot from 1992. CBS goes from their biggest ratings game ever to probably the lowest rated final four ever.

College baseball fans now that basketball is beginning to wind down you had better realize quickly that North carolina and North Carolina State are near the bottom in the ACC baseball standings.

Much like basketball when they play each other in a three game series in two weeks the loser will probably be in last place. Carolina has no pitching and State who I saw play yesterday seems to be just good enough to lose.

When the baseball game was over Brooks and I walked across the street at watch State finish up a tennis match with Georgia Tech. This was my first look ever at college tennis and let me tell you those guys are good.

This is the last week before the Easter vacations for high schools and for high school baseball it's the first week of conference play. Tuesday the Gryphons start at Nash Central both softball and baseball will be playing at the same time Tuesday night.

Next week Rocky Mount will play in an Easter tournament not played at Gryphon stadium. They will be playing in the South Johnston tournament.

Duke Makes It to Final Four

Baylor playing in Houston is like Duke playing in Greensboro, a Home game for the Bears. Despite having a home crowd against them Duke took care of business and the ACC will send Carolina to the final four of the NIT and Duke to the final four of the big dance the NCAA.

This is the eleventh trip to the final four for coach K and I would label this team #11 of best Duke teams to make the final four but they are there. They are the only surviving #1 seed left in the tournament which will have two #5 seedsfor the first time ever in the final four. Duke will match up against a #2 seeded team in West Virginia who will be going to the big dance for the first time since a guy named Jerry West lead the Mountaineers.

Duke 78 Baylor 71

The "Rocky Mount Telegram" had a good feature today on the Rocky Mount State Championship basketball team. Nick Cammarota the newest member of the sports team has done a great job since coming to Rocky Mount. Let's hope baseball will give him another shot at a second state title in his first four months in town.

I told you in my Saturday blog I was pulling for Amanda Griffin, a junior at Northern Nash to win the Rocky Mount Junior Miss and she did. I was off watching N C State lose to Miami in baseball but both of the rest of my house hold was there.

Jerry Lewis has poster children for his telethons for MD and Amanda should be the poster child for the Nash County Relay. While in junior high Amanda and her family found out that she had cancer.

Her entire fight was supported by her church Red Oak Baptist and Red Oak Middle school. Today Cancer free Amanda plays on the basketball team and Soccer team that I know of. I was told that is was every emotional for all those who were there supporting her Sunday afternoon when she was announced as the winner.

Greenfield's Victoria Vesce was first runner-up and Southern Nash's Michaela Bauer was second runner up.

I think some of you have seen the Relay for Life show on WHIG-TV which I host leading up to the relay on April 23rd. It's on at 6.00pm every Monday night and any time a cancer survivor like Amanda does well surviving cancer it can only help others when they hear that they have it.

Good going Amanda!!!!

The Elite Eight

Duke has beaten Purdue 70-57 to keep the ACC alive in the NCAA Tournament. Regardless of what color your team wears you must give it up to coach K. I have not thought Duke could go very far in the NCAA tournament but coach K inserted Brian Zoubek into the starting line up with about nine games to go in the regular season. Why would any one do that. Zoubek who has been a career five minute and five fouls player is averaging over ten points and 8.5 rebounds since he has been inserted into the lineup. All of a sudden Duke might be the best defensive team left. They will surly be tested Sunday playing Baylor in Houston.

Friday night was one of those nights that Brian Goodwin would like to forget. North Carolina playing Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill Brian struck out the first four times he went to the plate. Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth Brian comes to bat with the bases loaded and one out with a chance to be the hero. The only ball he hit fair all night was a line drive to the shortstop who doubled up the runner on second and the heels lose 2-1.

If there is one thing noticeable in the NCAA basketball tournament is in the close games the last two minutes the referees are swallowing their whistles. looks like the NHL who will not call a penalty the last two minutes of a game.

Sunday afternoon at the Dunn Center is this years Junior Miss . There are eleven girls from the area trying to follow in the foot steps of Hannah McMillan who after winning the Rocky Mount Junior Miss last year won the State title earlier this year. She will compete for the national title in June.

The eleven girls are Michaela Bauer from Southern Nash, Margaret Braswell of Northern Nash, Mary Chambliss of Faith Christian, Jenna Gardner from Nash Central, Amanda Griffin of Northern Nash, Lauren Jackson from Rocky Mount Prep, Ana Joyner from Nash Central, Heather Joyner from Nash Central, Victoria Vesce from Greenfield School, Melanie White from Nash Central and Morgan Bishop from Rocky Mount High.

I do not know any of these girls, however I will be pulling for Amanda Griffin from Northern Nash. I have never spoken to Amanda but I know she plays on the basketball team and is having a successful high school career. My reason for pulling for Amanda is she is a cancer survivor. Back when Amanda went to Red Oak middle the entire school pulled for Amanda during her fight with cancer.

Now cancer free Amanda is living proof that we can live normal lives when ever we hear the BIG C word. I only know Amanda because of the Nash County Relay For Life and what she went through while at Red Oak middle. She is a living example of the only way to live is to fight with all you have and she did and she will be on stage Sunday.

Good luck to all and especially to Amanda.

Championship Tee-Shirts Are Here

That first Monday night in April when the NCAA national champion is crowned, before the winning team cuts down the nets they will be sporting national championship caps and tee shirts. That's what happens when corporation like NIKE are involved.

The high school level there are no billion dollar corporation spending the money so that when Rocky Mount cut down the nets at Rocky Mount High School in the early hours after celebrating a championship no one had on a winner tee shirt. But, of course this is high school and the shirts are here. Mike Gainey ordered tee-shirts and they arrived yesterday and are on sale at his office for $10.00. I had to unload a bill for Morgan last night so she could wear hers in school today.

Championships are special regardless of what level they are on. My career I have called three state championship football games and rooted for the winner once. Now I have been twice in high school basketball calling the winning team both times. I have been behind the TV mic for two games in the Babe Ruth World Series, once in Wilson and once In Quincy Massachusetts. I made the call when the Babe Ruth team won the state title right here in Rocky Mount in 2004.

Even last summer I was doing the PA for Nash County American Legion when they won the east title which put them in the state tournament. Back in the 80's five times I did Junior college Regional finals and twice made the calls as Chowan advance to the national tournaments in Kansas.

It doesn't mattter what level it is when you take on all comers and when it is over you are the last team standing it is special. Even the casual fan who the only time all year they saw Rocky Mount play was in Chapel Hill walked out of the Dean Dome with their buttoms about to pop off their shirts.

Announcers whether it's radio, tv or the PA man thinks he's part of the team. We get to go behind the scenes and find out more about the kids than the average fan who couldn't recognize any of them on the street.

I think back to each championship I have been part of I remember I had the same feeling at each one. That feeling of being the best. I have never once even said to myself, boy this championship would be a lot better if it was the 4-A championship.

I just don't know how a National championship can get any better than this.

Another Shut Out

This spring the teams that play run-catch and hit at Rocky Mount High School are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Baseball, one of the top teams in the state continues to impress holding their third straight team to zero runs. Softball another ten run loss.

Parker Helms pitched the first four innings and Jeremy Trevathan the final two innings as Gryphon baseball wins 10-0 in six innings.

I think we all know that if you look at the summer recreational league in Rocky Mount, it is tilted for boys. If you were a girl and wanted to play softball then you played in Nashville. Slowly that is changing but the results needed take years to produce quality softball players.

Baseball is on the rise in Nash County in part because of funds provided by Richard Sarmeinto with the travel leagues. Babe Ruth baseball was the first result of all these kids playing all over the world on weekends. Babe Ruth teams in the last ten years have played in several World Series after winning state titles and Southeast regional titles.

High school baseball have shown the fruits of all this baseball playing with Northern Nash twice playing for the eastern titles and Rocky Mount winning a state title, all of this within the past three years. Legion baseball last year made it to the state tournament for the first time in decades while the Rocky Mount junior legion team finished third in the state.

The changeover to fast pitch a few years ago has effected the areas most who didn't take softball as serious as those that did. It is very difficult to teach a pitcher how to throw fast pitch in three weeks and when you don't see good fast pitching in practice it is hard to even learn to hit fast pitch. Pitching machines throw fast but they can't simulate the whipping action that a pitcher uses.

There is hope for softball. Their lack of experience right now has resulted in all but two games ending by ten run rule. Pitching is getting better, their hitting is improving and their is no lack of desire from this group. The score board doesn't show it yet but softball is getting better. maybe be as this year unfolds they will see a win or two.

Tashawn Mabrey was named to the AP all state basketball team Wednesday. I don't think there was any way that Tashawn wasn't going to make all state team regardless of how Rocky Mount finished in the playoffs but his last three games in the Regional and State Finals with the whole state watching made all state a no brainer.

ECU has hired former Carolina Basketball player Jeff Lebo as their new basketball coach. Basketball in Greenville is the #3 sport behind football and baseball. If Carolina continues the tradition I bet the Heels play in Greenville in the fore see able future. I wonder when was the last sellout for basketball?

Pitching Comes Through

Michael Whitehead's single drove in Hobbs Johnson and Rocky Mount had the only run they needed in beating Webb High school in Oxford Tuesday. Taylor Clontz had a double for the only other hit that the Gryphons could muster.

When hitting is non-existent who do you call for? Yesterday, Hobbs Johnson took the hill for the first four innings and Benton Moss finished up the last three as the Gryphons down Webb 1-0.

Today at 4.30 the Gryphons play their last so called tune up game before conference play begins at Nash Central next week. Roanoke Rapids is here a 19-0 loser to the Gryphons last week at the RR.

Last week I gave you and update on local players playing baseball throughout the south and of course we have so many I can't keep up with all of them without your help. Richard Sarmeinto reminded me of Edmond Gravely who is playing at Newberry College. I know that Cameron Ramsey plays at Wake Tech. One big problem for some of these schools is that don't have stats on line and Cameron falls in to this category.

I stumbled across Wesley Joyner(Northern Nash) is playing at Mount Olive. He has two hits in three at bats this season. Eric Mull from Rocky Mount Academy also is two for three for Charlie Long at NC Wesleyan. I also found Rocky Mount's Gabe Brown on the Roster at Lenoir CC and two of his teammates are Patrick and Zach Barnes from Faith Christian. By my count that is twenty one ball players from this area extending their careers at the college level. If you know of any more please feel free to let me know.

Carolina is heading to the Big Apple to play in the semi-finals of the NIT. Just looks to me like in the NIT Carolina has been aggressive and not playing to lose. just shows the pressures theses kids play under following a teams National Championship.

The Charlotte Bobcats won their thirty sixth game of the season last night which is the Bobcats franchise record. Barring a collapse the Bobcats are going to make their first NBA playoffs this year.