Mickey Linberger Retires

If you are a fan of the Rocky Mount Gryphon football team the name of Mickey Linberger has become a very familiar name.  The last two years the Gryphons have played Linberger and the South Point Raiders the last game of the year in the 3A state title game.

Linberger has announced at the age of 62 that he was retiring as head football coach at South Point.  Linberger 1972 graduate of South Point returned back to South Point high school in 1983 serving as a teacher from 1983 to 2006.  He coached the  baseball team from 1984-2005 winning 370 games losing 214.

He joined the coaching staff in football in 1984 serving as an assistant coach.  He became offensive coordinator from 2003-2110.  2011 was named head coach in 2011 and had a coaching record of 70-15 in his six years as head coach.

During his South Point career he has been a part of four state football titles starting in 1972 as a player,then as an offensive coordinator with titles in 2003 and 2009. Now he walks away after a title over Rocky Mount in 2016.

Trying to catch up on all those postpone games while football was playing almost to Christmas the Gryphons  played a home game Saturday afternoon against Smithfield Selma and the Gryphons head into exam week with a win 75-55 over the Spartans. 

I hope you got a chance to view the sports section of the Rocky Mount Telegram Sunday and saw the  article on the Southern Nash Foster family who endured  this fall during football season what no family wants to ever have to go through.

To review during the week out of school while eastern North Carolina recovered from Hurricane Matthew the Fosters decided to spent a weekend at the beach.  The car that oldest son Zack was driving with his mother Kim in the car ran into mechanical trouble swerved into the median on I-40 jump the guard rail and hit head on into a tractor trailer.  Both were air lifted to a Wilmington hospital where both had major injuries.

Father Brian head coach of the Firebird's stepped away from coaching for two weeks to be with the two as they struggled to survive.  Little brother Matt in order to keep up in school lived with other coaches while dad looked after Kim and Zack.

What impresses me about their ordeal is their faith in God shines through loud and clear.  Have you ever wondered for those of you that don't believe why it seems that people of faith endure  during troubled times much better than those that don't believe.  The reason those that don't believe try to make themselves happy while those that look to God try to make God Happy.  Those that believe in themselves can never be satisfied.  There is always something else needed to keep them happier.

Ethan Joyce did a great job on the article.  He is rather new at the Telegram but he showed us all what he is capable of doing.  You need to read it if you haven't.

Archie Was Right

This May will be 13 years since the 2004 NFL draft.  Let us review what went down.  If there has ever been a quarterback that is over rated throughout his life it is Eli Manning's quarterbacking career.  He is the son of Archie Manning who quarterback for 11 years for the New Orleans Saints when the Saints were the Aint's.  He was a very good quarterback who was known as a survivor scrambling every Sunday just to stay alive playing for the hapless Saints.

Peyton graduated from Tennessee and went number two in the draft to the Colts in 1997.  No time during his college career did Eli have any kind of stats to make you think he was any where close to being the quarterback his brother was in college and there was nothing to make you think he could be as good as Peyton had  done so far as a pro.

So many professional teams in all of sports look at potential and many NFL executives looked at Eli as a horse with a famous football father and brother so may be he will be like one or both of them.

Eli's senior season in college he may have been the 20th best quarterback but that pedigree Eli is being looked at as the number one quarterback in the draft.  The team with The number one pick the San Diego Chargers.

Leading up to draft day and all indications that San Diego was planning on drafting a quarterback to replace  to that point a disappointing Drew Brees who had replace a disgrace in Ryan Leif.
Knowing that since 1983 that the Chargers had only four winning seasons Archie and Eli didn't want Eli saddled with another New Orleans.

One of the most wierd photos in the history of the NFL is the picture of Eli Manning holding a Charger number one jersey standing beside  NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue with Archie and his wife Eli's mother.  Twenty minutes later a trade Eli for Philip Rivers.

Eli goes to the Giants and a stable organization who are still owned by the same people as then.  Rivers goes to a team  that fires their coach after a 14-2 season.  Now they desert the City that had been their home for 55 years to go play second fiddle to a team called the Rams.  So for the next two years they will play in a stadium that seats 30,000.  Why couldn't they just announce that they would stay in San Diego two more years.

There are plenty of people in this world who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth.  Having money doesn't mean you are smart enough to keep it.

Archie Manning through his experience with a  poor organization as the Saints back in the 70's could see that the Chargers just like the Saints back then and now he didn't want any of his sons to have to experience in their professional lives what he had to endure.

So Eli who at best is an average NFL has won two titles. Philip Rivers who if he had two titles would be considered one of the best NFL quarterbacks ever.

Fast forward 13 years and Philip Rivers had become the Archie Manning of the 21st century.  Just think if Philip Rivers had the defense that Eli had all those years in New York how many titles could the Giants have won.  Instead Philip Rivers will finish his career with 30,000  people watching.  Archie knew what he saw  Back then and he was right.

Too Much Gryphon Defense

The Lady Gryphons of Rocky Mount met The Golden Demons of Fike tonight in what was suppose to be the high light game of the night in Big East Girls play.  Rocky Mount 8-2 and Fike 11-3 was suppose to be the clash of two of the three 1-0 records and two of the best overall records in the league.  It was not to be.

Between the Gryphons defense smothering the Fike offense and Fike having no defensive answer for senior Keyanna Spivey the Lady Gryphons led by 27 at the half 45-18 cruise with ease to a 75-48 victory over the Golden Demons.  Rocky Mount 2-0 in the Big East are tied with Hunt for first. The Hunt game was the game missed this past week when the Tuesday night league game was iced out.

High school sports teams are to a certain degree are at the mercy of the players that live in their district and injuries.  There  is no red shirts for lost games lost from injury.  Those games lost forever. The Lady Knights of Northern Nash just a year ago had a 33 game conference winning streak snapped and this year they are struggling to be able to score.

Tonight Nash Central a team with a tremendous injury allows Northern Nash 7 points only in the first quarter and it will be the biggest quarter of the night for the Lady Knights at The Lady Bulldogs roll Northern Nash 48-18.

Opposite of the Lady Knights a team that has suffered the last few years have been the Knight boys.  They are  on the upswing and tonight over at Nash Central where they took on the Bulldogs one of the teams that had the 1-0 record after the first night of the conference play last week.

The Knights won the first quarter by a 19-17 score but slowly added to the lead every quarter.  They up the lead nine 28-19 up to 15 by the end of the third and by 18 at the final horn..  The Knights of Northern Nash up their conference record to  2-0 after a 72-54 victory over the Bulldogs.  The Dogs drop to 1-1.

Any coach looks for consistency.  Tonight Fike scores 20
points in the first, 22 in the second, 18 in the third and they added another 20 in the fourth. Rocky Mount scored 24 in the second, 18 in the third  quarter and 20 in the final stanza.

The last three quarters the Gryphons out scored the Golden Demons 62-60 but where victory came Fike's way was the the Gryphons had a slow start scoring only 10 in the opening quarter which led to a 80-72 defeat for the Gryphons who drop to 0-2 while Fike ties for first with Northern.

Hunt hosted Southern Nash and win their first conference game 69-54 over Southern Nash and in the girls action Hunt won their 14th game in 15 tries beating Southern Nash Lady Birds 59-23

Another One Game Week

We are approaching the end of the second week of conference play in Big East basketball and to date only one game is in the books.  This is not football where there should only be one game but all kinds of consequences have occurred keeping basketball off a two game a weeks schedule.  The first week is always just one game because due to the fact that there is always a one game week with one game because of exams. That balances the schedule to finish the season on a Friday night.  Exam weeks is always a Friday game only after Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday are exams.

Weather of course now that school has reopened  has caused a second straight one game week and next week is exam week so this season starts out three straight weeks with only one per week.  Look out for the week of January 23rd which the Big East will be in makeup mode having three games.  This is of course is in play only if we don't have more interference with weather. Since we have pushed the games that should have been played this past Tuesday to January 23rd that puts us on game three of the master schedule tonight.

Boys:

The big game of the night will send Northern Nash 13-2 1-0 all the way across highway 64 to Nash Central 9-3 1-0.  Since only one game in conference has been played to date this is the only matchup tonight of unbeaten teams in conference play.  The Knights are the highest scoring team in the league burning the nets for 70 every night.  The Bulldogs come in at 65.  Should be a high scoring affair.

The other end of the spectrum two teams that lost  their only conference games collide when Southern Nash 5-9 0-1 visits Hunt 3-11 0-1.  Nobody wants to start out 0-2.  The Firebirds score 58 every time out while Hunt pops in 55.  If averages hold out should be a close one.

The middle game featuring a one time loser against the one time winner sends Rocky Mount  3-6 0-1 to Fike 11-3 1-0.   A Fike win and they will be in a two way tie in first with either Northern or Nash Central while a Rocky Mount lost creates a two way tie in last.  Rocky Mount has their work cut out for them.

Girls:

The big matchup sends Rocky Mount 8-2 1-0 over to Wilson to tangle with Fike 11-3 1-0.  This is the only undefeated clash of the night on the girls side.  Rocky Mount scores 56 while Fike 54 so look for this one to be close.  The winner could have the outright lead after two games or tied with one other unbeaten.

The two teams that lost their openers meet as Northern Nash 5-8 0-1 takes on the Bulldogs of Nash Central 6-6 0-1.  Northern has struggled to score this year getting 29 per night while Nash Central may have lost their top player but still get 42 per night.  The winner is still  in the race the loser a lot longer road to the top.

This game looks like  the mismatch of the night.  Southern Nash 3-9 0-1 at Hunt 13-1 1-0.  Talk about a team that finds it hard to put points on the board but the Lady Birds get a scant 21 on any given night while Hunt is producing 51.   This looks like one you need to wait to the fourth quarter if you are planning to watch the boys before you get to the game.

Saturday morning after the fog has lifted we will have a better picture in the Big East of who are the real teams.

Weekend Number Two Of The NFL Playoffs

Last week went 3-1 on picks missing the Oakland/Houston game.  All four Of the home teams were winners and for those of you looking for white knuckle finishes there were none to be found last week so any NFL fan expecting better this week, what makes you think so?

The Texans won by 13 over Oakland and Pittsburgh won by 18 over Miami so there was no Clemson finish in either of those two. Over on the NFC games the differences were even worse as Green Bay won by 25 and Seattle by 20  and did not  give up a touchdown.

Those who had byes last week scouted by tv join the scuffle this week.  Houston visits England.  The glamour game of the weekend is the Packers at the Cowboys. Roll Over to Sunday and Pittsburgh heads to the plains and Kansas City.  The final game of the weekend just might have the chance to be the best.

Houston @ New England:  This game has the best chance of the four this weekend to be another double digit blowout.  Houston defense has a chance to just maybe give a challenge to Tom Brady and the Pats offense.  I just can't see that the quarterback situation in Houston is stable enough to make this a game.  New England 30 Houston 14

The Green Bay Packers @ the Dallas Cowboys:  The  intriguing game of the weekend.  The red hot offense of the Packers taking on Cowboy pass rush.  Can the Packers defense slow down the Boys enough to give Rogers a chance? My guess the loser may score 30.
Cowboys advance 34 Packers 30.

Pittsburgh @ Kansas City:  Big question in this game is will be is Big Ben playing?  If he does how effective will he be?  This game will be a defensive struggle.  The weather will play a  huge part in this game. I have liked the Chiefs all year.  I see no reason why the home team will not win this one too.  Chiefs 23 Pittsburgh 17

Seattle @ Atlanta:  Is there a more doctor Jeckel and Mr Hyde than the Seattle Seahawks.  Almost unbeatable on the northwest Pacific coast but inside a big barn in the deep south?  That  Seahawks teams flies east?.  Remember the last time Atlanta hosted a playoff game they Laid an Easter Egg.  Hawks can't handle the east coast.  Falcons 27 Seattle 20.

Last night was a double header night at North Carolina Wesleyan.  The men took to the court first and the Battling Bishops led by as many as 13 points early in the second half  led by Plymouth's Adrian Moore who poured in 41 points grabbed 13 rebounds, 5 steals and 7 assists but it was not enough as the Bishops gave up 65 second half points and lose their conference opener 104-98 to William Peace.

The nightcap former Northern Central player Timyra Station had the greatest night of her life pulling down 13 rebounds and ripping the cords for 29 points in leading the Lady Bishops to a 69-54 conference victory over Methodist.

ACC Wins The One That Mattered

The Atlantic Coast Conference backed up their great first 11 games in the Bowl games of  2016/17 by winning the one  game that justified the Bowl year for the ACC winning the National Championship game.  Clemson 35 Alabama 31

The ACC goes 9-3 in Bowl games while the Southeastern Conference went 7-7.  No other conference came close to the ACC's performance. Looking back to the NCAA College World Series the state of South Carolina has won the last two so called major titles with Coastal Carolina winning the baseball and now Clemson's football victory.

The football game didn't start very well for the Tigers as the Bama run game produced a 7-0 lead in the first quarter but the momentum shifter occurred on two non calls by officials.  Twice in the first quarter the Bama defense  should have been called for targeting on two tackles to the head of Clemson players but mysteriously no flags.  This seemed to slow the Tiger offense while they  recovered. The Tiger defense held Bama down just enough to 16-7 at the half.

Alabama led going into the fourth quarter but Clemson scored three times including the last score on the last play of the game..  This marks the second straight year that these two have played in the final game and both were memorable.  It also marks the first time in Saban's career at Bama that they gave up a lead in the fourth quarter.  He had been 96-0 before Monday night.

Even though I never officially put on this blog that I thought Clemson would win it has come down to another story of the mighty no way anybody can beat them has done it.  All of the talk since the first of December was is there anybody that can keep it close against Bama?  The Clemson defense showed in the Ohio State game that they were ready shutting out the Buckeyes.

Despite the slow first half start Clemson finished the game with over 500 yards of offense for the game.  Just in the last two championship games Deshaun Watson the Clemson quarterback has accounted for more than 800 yard passing and running and 8 touchdowns.

It is now about time that all the hoopla over the Southeastern Conference and how great they are needs to take a reality check  since 2013 the ACC has two National titles playing in three of the four title games while the SEC has won one  title and losing twice to the ACC in title games.  It is time that the ACC is be declared king of college football.

The ACC Trend

It will be vital this year for any ACC team that thinks they can make the NCAA Tournament they will have to be able to win on the road if they are looking for a high seed but most importantly this year there will be no playoff games in North Carolina.  I think we can count on our fingers the number of times when any of the Triangle teams have lost in North Carolina Arenas during the NCAA's.

Carolina's destruction of State was a game where the Tar Heels played great at home in their homeopener  but struggled on the road in their road games but they did win one. Carolina didn't play great defense in Law Vegas against Kentucky.

The Tar Heels played four true road games going 2-2. They opened with a 20 point win at Tulane who on the season is 3-11.  I do see of the three teams in the Triangle that the Heels have the best chance of making final eight.

Duke has played two true road games at UNLV 8-9 winning by 50 and Virginia Tech. Coach K is the coach that every network wants so Duke had played six games on neutral courts in some made for TV tournaments.

Most years you can count on Duke getting better as the year goes on but maybe not this year since coach is on IR for a month.  I truly have not seen to this point the Duke team that everyone is raving about having the best recruiting class in the country.

Duke has had a Mash unit on the sideline and at this point and if they lose Amile Jefferson this is the wrong time of year to have people sidelined.  Despite not looking like a top ten team Duke is 14-2.

We will really know how good Duke is tonight after their game at Florida State a team at this point who looks like the best in the league.  They have won on the road as well as they are playing great at home.

NC State now has now played what I call top 40 teams so far this year four times on the road or neutral court and they have looked like JVs in all four.  If you are a team that is suppose to be loaded with maybe a top ten recruiting class you can not lose by 50 to anyone other than the Cleveland Caviliers.


Any fan has  the right to expect when the team they support plays any game that the players give it all they have.  I can live losing any game when I feel like we gave all they had but the other team was better.

It surely looked from the first second the Pack wanted to play Saturday night and didn't want to be there Sunday. If the Pack  plays a more important game this year than one they have Wednesday at Boston College the team  that looks like the last place team in the league.  If you can't win that one you will never win all your games at home.