Tebow The Baseball Player?

One of the biggest problems in our lives is deciding it is time to Hang'em up.  Tim Tebow has not played baseball since high school.  Now that for sure his football career is over there are rumors being circulated by his agent that he is looking for a MLB baseball team to try him in baseball.

The last time he played baseball was in high school and I believe he signed a schlorship to play football not baseball.  It has to be his agent is just trying to keep his name in the public eye or it is another athlete that is having a hard time with life without sports.  Seems to me he could make a good   living  being a Christian speaker unless in the recent he has back sliden.

Friday is the last day in the career Alex Rodriguez.  I don't know if I want to celebrate the end of one of the greatest cheaters of all time or not.  Whether PED's extended his career or not there is that point in time that you body just cannot produce the way it use too.  I guess one of the great questions of all sports times is why would any team pay a player over thirty years old a huge sum of money for ten years. You are expecting that player to preform at a high level in the late thirties or early forties.  No player will play to the worth of their contract.

If you can't get  excited by the Olympics you just plain are not American or like sports at all.  Watching Michael Phelps the old man of the Olympics  with all those cupping rings on his body and his closest competition trying to stare him down.

There has probably been no more emotional moment than when NC State swimmer Ryan  Held became  overwhelmed on the gold metal stand when he started crying with joy over realizing a dream
  That he had worked for his life was completed.

If you haven't seen the Gryphon Football team in practice so far this year they will be scrimmaging at home Thursday night starting at 6pm.

Last night Brian Goodwin got his second at bat in the major leagues at he pitched hit in the 7th inning and he struck out.  He played the last three innings of his first day in the majors and batted once and hit a fly ball.  He never got off the bench in the Sunday game.  The Nationsls had a day off Monday and Brian started on the bench Tuesday before the pitch hit.

Both Sunday and again Tuesday the Nationals started a player in centerfield and one in right field both are hitting 210.  Now as a fan that would like to see Brian get his chance while he is up in the majors for the so called cup of coffee before they send him back to Syracuse I have to ask.  If he earned the right to get his change to get called up why don't you find out what he can do.  Surely you already have two players in the lineup that have proven that you have to get somebody better.

Last year when Trea Turner got called up in September he went 0-10 before he got his first hit and look at him now.  Give him a chance before you send him back down.  Give him a chance on the field in a complete game to get use to what it feels like to play a major league game.

Battling Bishops Picked 3rd

Rode by the practice field at North Carolina Wesleyan College today and they have installed a big tent on the side of the field so things are getting ready to start popping as Jeff Filkovski begins his fourth year as the head coach of the Battling Bishops.

August the 1st was Media Day in the USA South and the meeting took place in Montgomery Alabama.  After all the coaches had their turn in talking about the upcoming season they voted and picked Huntingdon to win the title.  Second was Maryville and the Battling Bishops take third.

Coach Filkovski will welcome back to this year's team 73 letterman from last year's team including 19 seniors who we 5-2 last year in conference play.  Last year's offensive player of the year Bishops's Malik Adams wide receiver will return and has been voted by D3football.com has listed Adams as a preseason All American.

Adams lead the conference in points scored last season scoring 130.  He also caught 72 balls collecting 1309 yards and scored 19 touchdown.  It is easy to see why he has been picked as an All American.    Can Adams produced the same kind of numbers this year may have something to do with who the quarterback is as that is a spot up for grabs.  However there are 15 starters returning on both offensive and defense for the Bishops and it is easy to see why they are picked in the upper division of USA South.

The Bishops open the season on Friday night September second when they travel to Stevenson University in Baltimore County Maryland.  September 10th the Bishops open their season at home when they will host the defending National Champions Mount Union who has won 11 DIII national championships.  You know the next week will be the Down East Viking Classic and the city of Rocky Mount always brings in extra seating just for the Classic.  There is no reason what so ever that the home opener should be the largest crowd ever in NC Wesleyan football history.  Let me tell you folks Mount Union is the Notre Dame or Alabama of Division 3 football and who knows this may be the best team to ever visit Rocky  Mount.

The remaining home games will come on October 1st when the preseason USA South number one team Huntingdon comes to Bishop Stadium.  What more can you look for during the first two home games the best team in the country and the preseason conference number one pick coming here.

There are five home games on the schedule and game three is on October 15th against Methodist and that is home coming and Hall Of Fame weekend. The fourth game will see the arrival of Averett on October 29th.  The final home game of the season they will host LaGrange on November 5th.  They will finish the regular season on November 12th making a trip to the mountains of Virginia and Ferrum College.  If you never have seen a Wesleyan Football game this is the year to see your first as the home schedule has never been better.

A Glorious Past

Growing up in Ahoskie in the 60's and about the only place you could hear or see  about high school sports was the Raleigh News and Observer.  We were just too far from Raleigh to follow our sports closely but you could count about seeing Rocky Mount covered.

The football state championship last football season for Rocky Mount High was their 13th team title. Five basketball, four baseball and  four football titles.  Several of those titles were when Rocky Mount was a 4A school but the last four as a 3A school.

My good friend the Late Charles Alston and I use to argue that to me it didn't matter what level you won you were the best in that level and you would never think, well this is only the 3A title it is not as big as the 4A title would be.  Let me ask all of you.  The baseball title in 08, basketball titles in 10 and 12 and now the football in 15 has anyone said, gee this is only the 3A state championship.

Since 1990 the Rocky Mount Parks and Rec have won several Tar Heel Little League titles.  They won everything put in front of them.  Yes there have been times folks had said wish this was Williamsport little league so  we could go beyond the state title.  Whether you were a player on any of those teams  7/8, 9/10 or 11/12 year old teams and you were parents, grandparents or just people who follow and live in Rocky Mount And support all our teams you are all beaming today in rememberance of winning a state title.  I bet you have never said this title would be better if this was the high school team.  Winning is winning whatever the age group or sport.

We can't leave out all those Babe Ruth teams when in the first few years of this century we won U 13, U14 state title and three out of four years made it to the semi finals and final in the World Series.  This area has really been a good sports  area.  There is no telling how many high school state titles this area could have won if all those all stars which won little league or Babe Ruth titles all played at the same high school.

Under the category of how lucky can you get.  Saw on Facebook Rocky Mount resident Chris Tyndall  was in Washington DC Saturday an attended the Nationals game And got to see Brian Goodwin play in his first major league game.

Last Night Rowan County won the American Legion Southeast Regional baseball championships.  They now head to the legion World Series in Shelby.  Rowan County finished the regular season 21-8 and during the the playoffs are 17-3 including winning the State tournament going 5-0 and 5-0 in the Southeast Regional.  The Legion World Series starts Thursday.

Finally That Phone Call Comes

He was the 34th player selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft and he was in the fast lane to be the starting centerfielder for the Washington Nationals in 2015 but a shoulder injury slowed down his journey.  His injury and reduction in performance had Brian  Goodwin demoted back to AA in 2015.

Finally injury free Goodwin spent the fall in Venezuela trying to find the mojo to get him back in the good graces of the Washington Nationals.  It worked as the Nationals invited Goodwin to play with the big club in Spring Training and he batted 250.  He was one of the last to be sent to AAA Syracuse in the spring and so far this season was on the International League All Star team and was hitting 284 with 11 home runs and 25 doubles.  Part of Brian's improved batting average has been the reductions of strikeouts per at bat.  His minor league career he has averaged about one strikeout per every three at bats but this season it is one in almost five at bats.

Ryan Zimmerman the Nationals first baseman was hit on the hand Sunday and has not played in any game since so Saturday the Nationals placed Zimmerman on the 15 day injury list retroactive to last Sunday.   That phone call has finally come for Brian Goodwin. The Nationals announced Goodwin will be a backup outfielder.  We have discussed in recent bweeks that Trea Turner since his call up to the Majors has played several positions including centerfield.

It will be interesting to see if Ryan Murphy the National's regular second baseman is moved to first and Turner to second and Goodwin in centerfield.  This call up will last until August 15th so whenever he gets a chance he needs to produce.

Tonight at 9:29 pm in the top of the seventh Goodwin replaced Harper in right field.  He was the fourth batter due up but in the bottom of the seventh the Nationals went in order.  The bottom of the eighth as the lead off batter at 10:03 pm Brian Goodwin first major league at bat was a fly out to right field.

Should another player  get injured for the Nationals between now and the 15th Brian just might get an extended stay.  The centerfielder that started the season Brian Taylor was demoted about three weeks ago and is not playing very well in Syracuse.  Since Taylor has been in Syracuse Goodwin has played right field and and left and has proven he can play all three outfield positions.

Goodwin is the first player from Rocky Mount High School to ever make it to the Major League Baseball and the first player from Rocky Mount since Mike Tyson retired from baseball in 1981 and is only the third player ever from Rocky Mount playing in the Majors.  The other was Chuck Hinton who retired from baseball in 1971.

One Week In The Books

The first week of football practice is over and the shorts  will be replaced by shoulder  pads and next week you will find out who loves football when the contact gets one on one.  By Thursday Rocky Mount will have enough practices under their belt and can hit somebody else as they will host a three team scrimmage at 6:00pm Thursday.  Then Saturday they take part in the Highschoolot.com football jamboree which this year is taking place at Cardinal Gibbons High School right across the street from  PNC Arena.

14 teams will take part and each will scrimmage one other team and they will have the entire field to cover as in as close to real game conditions as possible for a scrimmage.  Rocky Mount will face off with South Johnston a team that they met in the second round of the state playoffs.  Their time on the field will begin at 5:40pm.  If you plan on going park in the front parking lot in front of the school.

Those of you that can not live without NFL football there is good news in the air.  The first scrimmage, practice game what ever you want to call it, the Packers play the Colts Sunday night to start the exhibition season.  The Colts and Packers both play five practice games so I doubt there will be anybody that you have ever heard of play.

It is of course the Hall Of Fame game in Canton Ohio. Brett Farve is the headline inductee into the Hall this year and you might Check me on this but Kevin Greene former Carolina Panther linebacker  who is third on the all time sack list is heading into the Hall. He is getting in for his years as linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers and LA Rams but in 1996 joined the Carolina Panthers. Just in case you have forgotten Greene was linebacker of the year his one season in Charlotte and made the All Pro Team.  That was the second year of the Panthers and they made the playoffs for the first time and beat Dallas in the first round.  A contract dispute and Greene signed with the 49'er's in 1997.

The Olympics are officially under way.  It is for sure we live in a cell phone world now.  Just about every athlete had their cell phones out taking pictures or selfies during the introduction of nations.  You know cell phones have only been out about 24 or 25 years.  How in the world did we survive before cell phones?

Olympics Officially Start Tonight

One of the greatest spectacles in sports starts tonight with the opening ceremonies in Rio of the 2016 Olympics.  The games started Wednesday when soccer began it's competition. I remember back in 1987 when Raleigh hosted the Sports Festival. July 17 1987 the opening ceremonies were held and Carter Finley Stadium was over flowing with people who came to watch.  The festival was a national process when athletes were able to show their skills before the 1988 Olympics.

It is just something about the pageantry of the opening ceremony that attracts people to watch.  Hosting such a thing as the festival or Olympics is enormous.  The festival is dead and gone from the burden of footing the bill.

Today where the prospects of terror the security to keep the Olympics safe will cost more than the last four Olympics combined and that is just the security.  All cities who win the bid to host the Olympics find themselves spending money to improve their subways, streets and general condition of their city to make it shine for about three weeks while the worlds visits them.  I suspect that there will be a time when the cost to host the Olympics will be too much for any city to want to host it.

Despite the cost the Olympics bring the world together in peace at least the duration of the Olympics. It is however no longer games played by amateurs just with a desire to compete.  We now live in a world that winning at all cost is better that letting some country who cheated with drug enhancement beat us with our amateurs.  So we bring our highest paid professionals to win for us.

We will watch tonight and every night as swimming will headline the first few days. Track and Field will be the second week's main event.  We will watch because there is something within all of us that we all want to win.   When we hear the stories who had to overcome to be in Rio we will pull for them as they will have become our new heroes.  Most of all we will admire those who have the ability to run fast, swim,vault, jump, and throw.  We will be thrilled when someone from the USA wins an event and they stand the highest on the podium and they play the National Anthem and we all swell with pride as if that person who won was kin to us.  They really are as we are all Americans.   Let the games begin.

High Schools Sports Cranking Up

It is only the first week of August and every high school in the area is preparing in every sport to crank up the real games for August 15th start.  Football of course has scrimmages line up before the August 19th first football game.

August 10 Northern Nash has a scrimmage at Lee County.

Southern Nash will be at Rocky Mount along with a third team and will scrimmage August 11th at 6pm.

August 15th boys soccer season starts when Northern Nash visits Bunn.  Rocky Mount travels to Rose.

August 16th Southern Nash skips over to Bunn while North Pitt open soccer season at Nash Central.

Volleyball season begins August 15th when Southern Nash  visits Smithfield Selma.

Conley visits Northern Nash on the 16th

Rocky Mount has a home match with Ayden Grifton at 5pm on the 19th just before the football team on Friday at home against South Granville.

Rocky Mount Academy begins the second season under Terrell Hudgins as they host Bethel Christian from Kinston.  This is a non conference game for the Eagles.  Football being the  so called money making sport that help supplement all the other sports will not conclude the regular season until the First Friday night in November.  By that time Cross Crountry, Tennis, Volleyball and soccer wil be well into their playoffs before football even starts the playoffs.

The biggest regular season football game in the history of North Carolina Wesleyan College will be the home opener for the Battling Bishops on September 10th.  They will host the Division III defending National Champions Mount Union.  It will be the second game Of the season as the Bishops open the season September 2nd at Stevenson.