Midgets Advance in Hickory

The Tar Heel Midget 10U team from Rocky Mount has advanced to the third round in the winners bracket after they won their 10am game Friday Morning 15-6.  This will send them to a noon time game on Saturday where they will play West Raleigh.  The winner of that game will automatically make it to the championship series which will be a 2.00pm Sunday and if they lose the 2.00pm game play again at four for the title.If the Saturday winner wins the 2.00pm game Sunday they will win the Midget State Title.

The news is not quite as good for the Little league 12U team from Rocky Mount as they lost their 10.00am game Friday morning   and played Shelby in a losers bracket game  at 2.00pm Friday and won that game 7-1.  They now must play at noon Saturday against Williamston and if they win that meet the loser of the winner's bracket game which will also be at noon Saturday.  If they can win twice Saturday they would be down to the top two teams and they would have to win twice Sunday to win state title.

Just to show you the difference in a losers bracket compared to being undefeated all the way in an eight team tournament.  The Rocky Mount Midgets if they were to go undefeated in this tournament they can win the title in four games.  The Rocky Mount Little League team will have to play a total of seven games to win the title.  Big advantage to  the winners bracket team as they can save pitching while in the losers bracket you can't save any pitching for the next game cause there just might not be one.

Like to say congratulations to Greg Clifton who was named the new head baseball coach at Faith Christian School this week.  I have head the pleasure to know Greg and his family as their daughter is in the Tar River Childrens Chorus along with Morgan.   I think this is a good hire for Faith as they try to replace Joe Morrow.

 I have scoured the internet and can not find any evidence  where any NFL team has signed Terrell Hudgins, Stephan Virgil or JJ Arrington.  All three are free agents and can be picked up by any team that invites them to camp.  Travis Cobb the 2005 Gryphon graduate has signed a free agent deal with the Chicago Bears and as a 2010 Receiver/ kick specialist for University of Arizona I think Travis has an excellent chance of making the team.  Any time you can do more than one thing like be a receiver or kick returner and you are good at it he just might make the Bears despite having Devin Hester as their kick returner.

I reported yesterday than Greenville was playing for the Williamsport Little League State title Friday night and they beat Kernersville 7-1 to earn a trip to the Southeastern Regional with a 7-1 victory.

Something Did Go On Thursday besides Carolina

Thursday night the Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation crowned their softball Co-Rec champs as Southside Baptist Church beat Twin County Motor Sports to take the tournament crown and went through the tournament with out a loss.  If you don't know what Co-Rec it's the mixed league ladies and gentleman.

Both sides played good enough defense and neither side hit the ball early and it took the fourth inning before Southside could  put together a four run inning high lighted by a two rbi at bat by the oldest player on the field 57 year old Danny Reams.  Danny pitches for Southside but his first time at bat pull a hamstring running to first.  He struggled running the bases for the rest of the game but still got three hits and drove in two more runs in the sixth inning.  Twin County Motor sports finally cracked the score board in the bottom of the sixth with three runs but by the seventh inning they still needed three more to force a second game Thursday night..  Southside Baptist takes the title 6-3 over Twin County Motor Sports.

Across the State in Hickory the Rocky Mount National League Midget (9/10) All Stars  opened play in the Tar Heel Little League Tournament and find out that the field they will play on is a larger than regulation field than the 200 foot fence of a normal Tar Heel Little league games.  So what do they do?   The lead off batter knocks the first pitch of the game off the 250 foot wall and RM coast to a 15-3 four inning  victory over Caldwell County.  Not much time to celebrate for Johnny Ramsey's squad as they will be in the winner's bracket game at 10.00am this morning against host Hickory.

The National League Senior Little league (11/12) opened up their play in the State Tar Heel Tournament also in Hickory by playing the host team in the opener.  I don't have a score but was told that they did beat Hickory last night and they also play in a winners bracket game at 10.00am.

I know this really is of no interest to many of you but the Greenville Little League team is undefeated in the Williamsport North Carolina  State title and plays tonight and will have to lose twice in order not to make it to the Southeast Regional. The State tournament is being played in Cherryville about 30 miles where Rocky Mount two teams are playing in Hickory. Should they make it to the Regional Final ESPN carries that on TV where the winner gets invited to Williamsport Pennsylvania.

Butch Davis Out At UNC

I know as a Carolina fan this is one of those times when it feels like the world is falling in on top of you.  More than a year now there has been an NCAA investigation into all kinds of wrong doing in Chapel Hill.  One of the big problems during all of this  troubled times has been the bill of goods that Carolina fans have been sold and and each and every Carolina fan from Joe likes Carolina but does not give any financial support, to  I give what I can to support my school and even throughout the UNC Board of Governors and Trustees.  They all have fallen for the We are Carolina and we don't do that.

Washington has sold itself as the only way to improve life is let government do it.  Slavery still exist today in this country.  No it's not the cotton farmers but the US Government who sponsors slavery in the form of a monthly check. If all you have in life is your government check you have been sold a bill of goods that the government can save you when  when they have put a chain around your neck.  Even the government thinks they are the answer because they now believe the bill of goods they have been selling.

Carolina fans have been sold on the bill of goods that their integrity was beyond reproach and there  was no way that they could do any thing wrong.  All along the Athletic Director  Baddour had been saying that they were investigating deep into what was going on.  It took a blog called Pack Pride( supporters of N C State ) to show the NCAA that Carolina was covering up more than investigating including the honor code at Carolina.

I think it is time for a complete over haul of the NCAA.  I am not in favor of players being paid any more than what they receive now in a full scholarship.  My fear is if they pay  players $200 a week there will still be somebody getting $1000 from some supporter.

I am in favor of a ten page rule book instead of 6,000 pages of rules.  If you are caught cheating you give back every dime  your school made from cheating. and you don't play at all in that sport next year. Lose any rewards from cheating championships and so forth.  Coaches who cheat  need to find work in professional sports not college.  Ban them for life.

The bottom line is this, Carolina sold itself to everyone as being a clean institution beyond reproach.  All of the ABC (Anybody but Carolina) fans out there were sick of Carolina fans before the scandal and having to listen to all this but we couldn't possibly do that  here the last year has only made the ABC folks  cry for joy at what is happening now.

I don't cry for joy because  regardless of who you pull for there is somebody at your place getting $100 in a hand shake some where.  I think Butch Davis is only the first on the dominoes to fall in Chapel Hill.  Carolina thought they had the fire under control until Pack Pride's uncovering  of the cover up of the  cheating  in academia as well as the player perks.

The firing of Butch Davis is a token to the NCAA trying to show that Carolina is doing the right thing.  Sorry the right thing would have been to dismiss him before last year but you were caught up in that "We Don't do that kind of stuff at Carolina." I am afraid that Carolina in the know people know the NCAA is coming with a sledge hammer and this was a token to only bring a hammer.  Davis is only the first to go.  Carolina will have to clean house if they are serious  about  Academic integrity.  The AD must go and I suspect some of the Academic heads will roll too.

I am in no way an ABC person but Carolina people like to think of themselves as the pride of the UNC system. I would like to remind them that the greatest person in the history of UNC  System William Friday graduated from State College not Chapel Hill.  I know he has a law degree from Chapel Hill but he got his education in Raleigh.