Life Changing Opportunity

Friday night made the trek to Buies Creek for another conference Volleyball game and which Campbell came back from the dead in the fifth set down 8-13 to win 16-14 to win their second conference game of the year to go 2-0.

I'm working on Saturday so wife Pat drove and I came back after the game while she is staying at the Lillington Hilton.  While heading down I'm thinking only got three football games tonight what am I going to fill space with  only three games and I am not at any of them?

I started playing in organized sports when I was eight years old and after high school have spent another 43 being a part time/full time broadcaster of sports.  I guess God has blessed my family as having a cousin Lauren playing minor league golf, a son Brooks  even though he graduated from N C State in a field related to Coastal Enviroment has been a coach for more than six years in the Tri Athlon field.  The final daughter  Morgan the manager of the Campbell Volleyball team has decided that coaching is where she wants to be.  The apples have not fallen far from the old tree.

Tonight while in the middle of the second set  at 7:40pm received a text from son Brooks. "Dad, Just got game changer of my life.  Have been selected as a developing coach for the USA  Triathon Oympic Team"  WOW I sat stunned for a few seconds.  In six short years Brooks has gone from  a kid still trying to figure where he wanted to be in life  to maybe the fifth top USA Tri coach in the country. I've been broadcasting for all this time and ESPN never called me.

The USA is not a major contender in the Olympics as of yet but the National Tri Association thinks Brooks is one of those that can help get us there.  He will help with those contenders to make the Olympic team in 2016 but the realism is 2020.

This may require a move to Scottsdale Arizona where the Tri training Center is located but Tri Athletes train and race  all over the world so this will not be a stay at home every night job.   Boy I won't sleep for a week after this news.

Ok, lets talk ball:  As expected RMA crushed Northeast Academy 58-0.  SouthWest Edgecombe punished East Carteret 49-16 and the Big game in the area Southern Nash out scores Tarboro 46-27.  I don't think any team at any level has played the quality schedule that the Vikings have and record wise you would say "not very good this year" Look they have not played a 1A school yet this year and this is what happens when you don't have D1 players on your squad.  They will be alright starting next week as long as they are healthy.

Heading to bed to thank the Good Lord for a wonderful day..  All days are great but some are just more special. 

Big Four Schools Need A Win

Had another 6-4 week in college picks having gotten three of the four Big Four right.  Jump to 42-14 on the year.

Virginia Tech @ North Carolina.  VT upset Ohio State and their offense has stunk ever since.  What does that tell you about Ohio State.  Heels will get plenty of points and they just might hold the Gobblers under 30.  NC 44 VA Tech 28

Pack @ Clemson.  This game will go along way in letting us know if the Pack is better this year.  Don't think they will win but I bet it is a barn burner.  If they get blown out not many wins left for Raleigh.  38-35 Tigers

Wake Forest @ FSU.  Deacs offense probably will not score 10.  You know Tallahassee will get 50.  FSU 56 WF 10

SMU @ECU Here is a tester for the Pirates.  Pirates should will by 50.  Two weeks off after one of the greatest slaughters in Pirate history. The Pirates need to crush the horses from opening whistle.  ECU. 48-3

Averitt @ North Carolina Wesleyan.  The Battling Bishops win their second in a row 31-20.

Pitt @ Virginia  The Whoos are a good team this year.  Pitt is not, Virginia 38 Pitt 28

Louisville @ Syracuse. The Cards take down the Cuse 35-20

Miami @ Georgia Tech. Rambling Wreck is undefeated, Miami should have beat Duke badly but didn't.   The wreck remains undefeated 27-23

You may not heard about this but last Saturday night  Todd Gurley was accused of assault in a bar in Athens Georgia.  Here we go again another athlete  trying to get away with any thing they want.

Turns out the accuser had been taking selfies all night with Todd in the background pictures. Some time during the night  the accuser dropped his hat but he thought Gurley had grab it and started cursing Gurley.  Some white dude cold cocked the accuser and the next day the accuser  went to the police thinking Gurley had hit him  and filed charges on Gurley.

The police looked at security film in the bar and Gurley was cleared of any miss doings.   You know when you are famous there are plenty of people looking to benefit  from your fame and young kids get caught up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  This was a case of mistaken idenity since the accuser never saw the punch.

Gurley gets 200 yards again as we have reach the point where Georgia will force feed Todd Gurley the ball in the Heisman Trophy Race.  Georgia 45 Vanderbilt 28.

Slack High School Week For Games

There is always a debate about off weeks.  If you are rocking and rolling you hate to break the momentum that your team has  going.  Fike sits in that position as they are the only unbeaten team in the league.

If you sit at the opposite end of the the spectrum like Nash Central and have no wins there are just not enough days of practice left before conference.  You look for the magic potion that will turn you around over night.

The next level is Northern Nash, Hunt, Rocky Mount.  All three have shown signs of greatness and all three have looked bad at times.  Those in the middle win games they shouldn't and lose one that give away.  If you sit in this category you have shown potential and just maybe a week off you discover what you have been striving for.

Southern Nash the lone team in the league playing Friday fits in the Northern, Hunt and Rocky Mount.  They could if all the parts finally fit  make a run for the title.  Funny thing about all the parts sometimes teams never find the right parts.

Will Fike keep rolling or will somebody in the middle and jump up and grab everybody else by the throat and win the league? Those that have injuries are hoping a week off cures all to full health. Next week the playoffs begin and the bottom line is who wants it the most will win it.  It will help along the way if a fumble bounces your way or you get a ref's call and of course you have to stay healthy.

Only seven games to pick last week and went 7-0 which runs my high school record for the season to 42-10.

Tarboro @ Southern Nash:  Neither team has followed the GPS route to solid football.  Both need this one to get from making a U turn to get back on course.  This is going to be low scoring for somebody.  The Firebirds win a close on 16-14.

East Carteret @Southwest Edgecombe:  I doubt this one is close.  The Cougars warm up for the Eastern Plains with a romp.   Cougars 42 East Carteret 13

Northeast Academy @ Rocky Mount Academy:  Another pick the score game for the Eagles.  68-8 sounds about right to me.

NFL Season Is To The Make Or Break Point

Almost all NFL teams have hit the quarter mile pole in the NFL season and we are beginning to see the cream of the NFL.  The season is too long 12 more games to go for most to count any one in the playoffs yet.  Last week went 8-5 to run my guess record to 41-20.  Here we go with week five.

Minn @ Green Bay:  Picked the Vikes beating Atlanta but won't even think about them this week.  There is no doubt career quarterbacking numbers  State Farm man is best ever.  Especially when he has time Aaron Rogers and company 38-31 over  Vikes.

Chicago @ Carolina: Cams not 100%.  He is not that good a quarterback when they don't rush for anything to help him in the passing game taking pressure off.  Panthers need this one but so do the Bears.  I think Panthers win in a close one   24-22

Cleveland @ Tennessee: Here is the game of the week in Cleveland and Nashville only.  Browns win 26-17.

St Louis @ Philadelphia:  I think the NFL has seen the Eagles passing game now and everyone realizes you beat the Eagles by out scoring them.  The Rams are not the team to do it.  34-14 The City of brotherly Love.

Tampa Bay @ New Orleans:  TB beat a bad Steelers team so what,  now they get a shot to beat the Saints under Drew Brees almost unbeatable in the Super Doom.   They sure couldn't beat Dallas in the Jerry Dome. 36-24 Saintshandle the Bucks.

Houston@ Dallas:  This has the makings of a really good one because the Texans have a defense and maybe the best defensive player in football in Watts.     The Cowboys have a running game which means Tony Romo doesn't have to mess the game up in the clutch.   Houston 35 Dallas 31

Buffalo @ Detroit:  Who would ever have thought that Coach Caldwell was the man to calm the Lions down.  Once again Buffalo starts 2-0 and fails to make playoffs  Lions 34-Buff 20

Baltimore @Indy:  I just don't know why I like Indy in this one.  I think Ravens have let down after making sure they beat Steve Smith's old team the Panthers   Indy 38-Bal 28

Pittsburgh @ Jacksonville: Could this be a win Jaxsonville?  I'm thinking, I'm thinking hard.  No way  Steelers regroup at their embarrassing finish at home to Tampa Bay.  31-17

Jets@ Chargers:  Jets need one badly.  Since Mike McCoy  Has been head coach at San Diego  Philip Rivers has  a QB rating of 107.  Jets secondary is spotty at best.  If Chargers stay healthy in all the right places they are trouble for somebody this year.  Way too much trouble for the floundering Jets.  31-13 Super Chargers

Arizona @ Denver:  Talk about game of the week.  Everybody that thinks they have playoff hopes still in both the AFC and NFC will be watching this one.  I like Zona a lot but not in Denver.  31-26

Kansas City@ San Fransico:  I think the Niners found something against the Eagles.  You don't win by just showing up plus look at their schedule so far toughie.  SF  26-KC 21

Cincinnati @ New England:  Here is a chance for the Bengals to make a statement on Sunday night football.  Tigers 27- New England 24

Seattle @ Washington:  Seattle is great at home but 50-50 on the road under Russell Wilson.  If the Giants can dominate the Redskins then it's the Seahawks.  35 -23.

History Of The Ryder Cup

We have a history in this country when we have sporting events and compete against the world we want to win everything.  Just let us lose a Olympic Basketball Gold Metal with a bunch of college players and we will send Michael Jordan and company the next time to show you.

The Ryder Cup was started in 1927 when America hosted the best Golfers from Great Britian and up until WWII we won every time.  By 1973 we dominated the Ryder Cup so much that it was be decided  to add European players to at least give us a challenge.  There was one unexpected event that happen from the Ryder Cup adding Europe was the European  Golf Tour pick up in quality and now may have better players than the PGA tour. One reason in the last 20 years European golf has improved is coverage by the Golf Channel, letting more people see it in Europe and if you are young a want to be a golfer.

The PGA has more money available but there are more great players in Europe than in the US.  So one of the reasons we not longer dominant the Ryder Cup is we no longer only have to beat Great Britian but all of Europe.  That's almost like Greenville Rose playing North Edgecome but now Rose  has to beat both DH Conley  and South Central all on the same team.

Here is another failure of US Golf.  There is no longer a go for broke player like Arnold Palmer or Tiger Woods who played to make every shot.  There is so much money on tour these days that players settle for hitting the ball in the middle of the green instead of trying to hit the ball in the hole. In other words there is so much money to finish fourth in a tournament why do I risk a bad shot which might drop me to tenth.  Most tournaments these days fourth makes 200,000 which ain't a bad week of work. I know a gulp and a great shot might make you a winner and win a million this week but a bad shot I will only win 50,000 for tenth.

So the bottom line is we have better competition to win the cup and PGA players aren't use to playing in competition where every shot could get you in the losers column.  The PGA tour is you have to make shots to shoot about 275 shots in a weekend to win where the Ryder Cup every shot either you win this hole or fall behind.

Quite frankly I like it when there is a challenge and it means you had to work your butt off to win.  Not a whole lot of challenge  to just show up and be guaranteed a win.  Our only problem we can't send Michael Jordan and company  to fix this losing.  We need to improve our golfers we send.  Europe sure has.

Mr. Yankee Calls It Quits

The  20 year baseball career of Derek Jeter is over.  If you look at his career numbers he has over 3,400 hits which should be enough by itself to make the Hall Of Fame.  His career 310 batting average  is pretty good too.

If there was ever a player who could deliver when the spotlight was on it is Derek Jeter.  He was steady but never a great defensive shortstop. He did however win five Gold Gloves.   He always seemed to do the right thing.  Remember the World Series game when Jeter flipped the ball to home to cut down a runner when he was in foul territory on the first base side ten feet from home plate.  What in the world is the short stop doing there?  He just knew where the ball was going to be on a throw from the outfield.

Despite being a Hall of Famer in waiting the Yankees will be a better team next year because they have become old.  If you look at New York City teams and I say that as the Giants, Knicks and Yankees the news media if you play for those teams make you great and those sports organization hold on to players too long because of media pressure and fans expectations from media hype.

The Dallas Cowboys need to keep Demarco Murray Healthy.  This newly discovered running game made them look like world beaters last night.  We all know the Cowboys will finish 8-8.  Isn't this the way the NFC East goes.  Every four games another team looks unbeatable and the team that was 2-6 wins the division.

In case you haven't heard the Packers and the Bears did not punt in their game yesterday.  It is only the second time in NFL history  that there were no punts in a game.  The last time that happened was 1990 when Buffalo and San Fransico met and the quarterbacks were Jim Kelly and Steve Young.  They both passed for over 400 yards   And 1100 total yards.  The score was 34-31.

Sunday the San Diego Chargers rushed for 42 yards on 20 attempts which is awful.  No problem as Philip Rivers throws for 377 yards  and three touchdowns .  His top two rushers out with injury, he was sacked twice and hit on several other attempts Rivers manages to avoid the rush and for the 24th straight game throws a touchdown pass which is a San Diego a Charger Franchise record .

Gurley Continues To Be A Monster

Todd Gurley goes over 200 yards rushing for the first time in his college career but unless Georgia comes up with a defense Georgia will not win enough games to help Todd win the Heisman even though he has shown through four games he is the best player in college  football.  Gurley had over 100 yards rushing in the fourth quarter alone.
Those of you that thought N C State wasn't that good after   the so called poor schedule had better take notice now.  They showed today with good quarterback play  they can play with anyone.  The first time this year Florida State's offense looked like last year's national championship team.  However  The Pack rushed for way too many yards on Florida State for them to make it to the National Championship game. As much improvement as the Wolfpack has shown you could just see they didn't have enough speed to play with FSU.


The Battling Bishops went on the road Saturday and won at Ferrum  34-30.  Jacque Alston rushed for more yards than Todd Gurley 218 and lead they way.  NCW now stands at 2-2 on the 2014 football season.  They are home next Saturday at 1pm.  If you have been by the Sports Complex lately you will notice there are signs calling the Football stadium at the sports Complex as Bishops Stadium.


Just about everyone in the area has completed their non-conference schedule, there will be a big game next Friday as Tarboro travels to Southern Nash.  Big East fans probably can look and see the top three being Fike, Hunt and Northern Nash.  The bottom tier looks like Southern Nash, Rocky Mount and Nash Central.  What order is up for debate.
North Carolina has scored 76 points the last two games but were outscored by 44.  You know ECU had a defense like this in Ruffin McNeil's first season in Greeenville.  This is not the first year for Larry Fedora in Chapel Hill.
Wake Forest and Duke both had no offense at all in their losses on Saturday.  Duke offense the fourth quarter was throw into double coverage and hope.
Finally this fall Pat and I have followed Campbell volleyball as we have passed through Texas, California, Arizona, Virginia and Maryland. Friday night the Lady Camels in front of about 700 fans at home in Buies Creek won their conference opener beating their top rival High Point in four sets. Morgan's freshman year the Lady Camels lost all 14 conference games and last year under new coach Greg Goral were 6-8 in the Big South. That did not get a top eight spot in and a conference tournament invite. The Lady Camels look as if they will be middle of the Big South and if they are in the conference Tournament we will add South Carolina to our road travels as the conference tournament is at Coastal Carolina in Conway. Look out Mytrle Beach here we come.