The Statue Comes Down.

It was 50-50.  There were those who supported Joe Paterno and wanted everything to do with football to stay in place.  The other half wanted everything related to Joe Paterno  gone from Penn State.  Today before sunlight the statue of the man with the most wins in the history of college football was taken down and put in a warehouse until they can figure out what to do with it.  Tomorrow regardless of what might come down it will be the first time in the history of the NCAA that they dole out punishment that has nothing to do with a sports program under the direction of the NCAA.

My personal opinion is since this is a criminal case punish those who helped cover up but I see no reason to punish football players in 2012 for something that has been going on at Happy Valley since 1998.   Just seems the wrong people will be punished.   Maybe make everyone who pays to go see a Penn State football game this year pay and extra $10 per ticket and that money goes in a fund  much like the cigarette industry  makes people who smoke pay into the fund for Golden Leaf Foundation.

There is an old NASCAR saying that if you run up front enough you will win one every now and then.  Today Ernie Els ran second all day but stayed close and when Adam Scott started leaking oil the last four holes of the British Open Ernie was there waiting to take the tournament handed to him.  I don't care what sport you play you want to be able to say you won it but when it is handed to you, you are not going to give it back.

Pitt County Post 39 is on the verge of making their second trip to the State American Legion Tournament in three  years.  Remember they hosted the first year that Post 58 made it (2009) when it was played at ECU and Guy Smith in Greenville.  Post 39 beat Wayne County Friday night 18-4 in seven innings.  Saturday was rained out but this afternoon they took care of business beat Wayne County 9-2.

This series is a three out of five so Pitt could end it in Wayne County Monday night.  The winner of this the third round is an automatic qualifier for the State Tournament in Lenoir.  There is still one more series left when Area One East Division and West play each other but both would have already qualified for the state tournament.

The Power of the MIC

I have over the years had an opportunity to meet many people who when you hear their name you eye brow raises just a little.  The US Olympic Basketball is in London this week and Nate McMillan former product from Broughton High and Chowan College is one of the assistant coaches on that team.  He became famous when he played for Jim Valvano and N C State after he left Murfreesboro.  He played pro ball in Seattle and if they still had a team his jersey would hang in the rafters but they are now in OKC.  Just this year he was fired after coaching both Seattle and Portland in the NBA.

I had the pleasure as the play by play man for Chowan College to cover his two years playing for the Braves.  His senior year in Raleigh one of the civic clubs in Murfreesboro got the Traveling ACC All Stars to come to Murfreesboro.  This was 1986 which was Coach K's first final four team at Duke and he had four seniors who graduated that year.  Jay Bilas, Mark Allarie, Johnnie Dawkins and David Henderson.

This just happened to be the Thursday night after the Duke boys lost in the championship game on Monday.  The gym at Murfreesboro held about 800 folks and it was packed.  Nate was the one player that everyone came to see since he was back home at Chowan.  Just to come along for the ride was another State player who had nothing else to do that night so he came with Nate.  Derrick Whittenburg.

I was asked to play in the game representing the news media.  I really know the reason they needed some shooters and I was neighborhood famous even then at about 33 years old for being a great h-o-r-s-e player.  If you could compare me to an NBA player when we played two on two in the back yard I was Steve Nash, all offense no defense.  Don't leave me open just because I was short I could drill it.  But guard somebody four or five inches taller than me and they would score all game long.

The game started and it wasn't before long I am standing alone about 20 feet from the basket so I fire up my first shot of the night.  Out of no where I feel this whirl wind slap at the ball and it is heading right straight back at the bridge of my nose.  Mark Allarie  has swatted it away.  I still have a dent in my nose today.  The news media guys hung tough for a while.   Finally late in the game I think I am 0-3 shooting  I have now backed away from the basket far enough nobody is going to block my next shot.  B I N G O a three pointer  which cuts into the ACC All Stars 70 point lead.  I think the final score is something like 119-49.

As they say in the song when CBS signs off after the National Championship game my shining moment to be on the court at the same time as Nate McMillan who I have a feeling is going to be working in Charlotte before long.  Jay Bilas  who is all over the TV during college basketball season.  Johnnie Dawkins who just might be the next Duke basketball coach. Derrick Whittenburg who is seen every year during the NCAA tournament when ever the 83 Pack team is talked about.  David Henderson and Mark Allarie two legends of Duke and college basketball.

I was there right on the same court with them.  I know if I didn't talk on the radio I would have never been there.  That's just the power of the MIC.

Acting Like the Jeffersons (Moving On UP)

Brian Goodwin is doing just like George and Weezie as he has  received the news that all baseball players want to hear.  The big club wants to send you to the next level.  Brian who has spent the spring in A ball in Hagerstown Maryland  will now head north to Harrisburg PA and start all over in AA.

The object for every player is to impress at one level and move up start all over and impress again.  Brian certainly did his part in Hagerstown as he hit 324 belted  nine home runs drove in 38 rbi.  Walked 43 times and stole 14 bases.  I know as a 14 year old Babe Ruth player Brian Belted a home run in the state championship clinching game that just about went out of sight but I never thought of him as a power hitter.  His high school coach Pat Smith has said all along that Brian would hit homers in the pros and that has proven to be right.

Harrisburg is called the Senators  and for those that would love to see him play Richmond will be as close as he will get while in AA.  If the idea is he now has to prove to the Washington Nationals that he wants to move to Syracuse which is the Nats AAA affiliate then he must almost have the same numbers again in Harrisburg.   His first game didn't quite go all that well as he went 0-4 and struck out three times.  One game doesn't make a career as he will have rest of the summer to prove to the Nationals that the best place next spring for Brian Goodwin will be in Syracuse.

This week daughter Morgan is off with other youth of Sunset Avenue Baptist Church participating in World Changers in Columbia South Carolina.  She has teamed up with  Alexander from Nash County and she is in a group of eight others from other parts of the world working on repairing a 85 year old woman's home.  Wednesday afternoon the CBS station  WLXT  in Columbia was on site  and interviewed Morgan  and Alexander  and a couple of the others in the group.

If you are interested you can go to WLXT.com and look for World Changers in the Midlands.  You can bet if you are on Facebook you can go to Morgan's page and of course it is up there.  There is probably no better reason for being proud than knowing one of your own is out in the world spreading the word of Jesus Christ.

The Writing Was On The Wall

Coleman Pitt American Legion team for the second year in a row is knocked out of the playoffs in the second round.  If you look back just a couple of weeks I made reference that our division was very weak and rolling through our division was not getting us ready for the playoffs.  Yes, we took care of New Bern in two straight in the first round.  New Bern of course was the weak sister in the Southern Division that won only twice all year.

P 58 was 14-1 during conference play.  Wilson was the only member who had a winning record during the regular season.  The only game P 58 lost during the regular season in conference occurred as a second game of a double header which was the sixth game played played in seven days.  Then lost by only one run.

I can assure you that this years team was a good ball club.  They played every game on the schedule and gave it all they had in trying to win everyone.  The quality of our conference this year just did not prepare this team for the road ahead.  It was almost like the regular season conference games were JV games and the second round of the playoffs we moved up to the varsity level.   If we use that same analogy in our eight non-conference games we were 3-5  so when we played varsity level competition we didn't run through those games like Patton's tanks ran through France in World War Two ( Using a little American Legion Reference here).

This year there were ten teams  in the Area One North and South Divisions.  North was Albemarle, Edenton, Windsor, Ahoskie, Rocky Mount and Wilson.  The Southern Division was Pitt County, Wayne County, Kinston and New Bern.

I suggest that next year Rocky Mount and Wilson move in the division with Pitt, Wayne, Kinston and New Bern.  This in no way guarantees that the Southern won't have a down year next but what it would do is put both P 58 and P13 in with a division when we would have more rival games.

Wayne County and Wilson would be a big Conference game where Rocky Mount and Greenville have always been rivals.  It surely would put Albemarle, Edenton, Windsor and Ahoskie  where the longest conference travel would be Elizabeth City to Ahoskie of about fifty miles.  Our trip to play a double header in Elizabeth City was over a 100.  We live in economic times when a penny saved  means something these days.

All you have to do is look at who shows up when we played Albemarle and who showed up when we played Pitt County.  Here we go again saving pennies and there were more people from Greenville at our regular season game with them than any two conference games we had with Albemarle or Edenton put together.

We all hope next year that every team is better including Rocky Mount but I think we just plain are suited more to be in the Southern Division.  Who cares if six teams in the league only four make the playoffs.  All that does it makes every conference game whether you finish first or last worth something every time you play.  When the game has more meaning more people are interested in watching.  It helps put people in the seats when the team coming to your place has a few people added to your crowd.  The only people from Rocky Mount  who went to Elizabeth city was  a couple of parents.  The big EC is simple too far for the person who just loves to go watch baseball to ride but he might ride to Greenville.

I hope next year all the teams get together and do what is good for all and they realign the leagues.  It's better that way for everybody.

The Cover Up

Have you ever heard the statement that life is 10% action and 90% reaction.  That statement could never be any truer than it is in the fiasco call the sex scandal at Penn State.  Last week the report was   released on the findings of the committee put together to find out what went on for the last fifteen years or so at Penn State and the report does not paint a pretty picture for anyone who was in authority.

Only if when the first hint of a scandal was going on had someone , anyone spoke up this story would be fifteen years in the past  instead in is headline news  almost every day.  Yes if action had of been taken one coach would have lost his job and probably swept under the rug.  Resign and get out of Dodge and we will never tell what you did or  why you quit.  No, Penn State chose to ask him to resign but gave him the key to the University complex to do as he pleased.

Joe Paterno looked the other way because the coach in question was his best friend.  Paterno made a decision to protect his friend, but he also made a decision to protect the University, and even went a step further  to protect the image of Joe Paterno which had reach GOD like status in Happy Valley.  All of the others  the University President, the Athletic Director  all tried to protect  the University and Joe Paterno's  image and yes themselves too..

He who has no sin may cast the first stone. There is always something within all of us that we hope the general public never knows.  The only thing that I am sure of nothing in my closet will require jail time should it ever be exposed.  The Penn State Case everyone who took an active part in the coverup are criminals because while they were protecting  Penn State and Joe Paterno's  image not one ever thought about the victims.

What is it in our nature  when we do something that might not be up and up the first thing we do is deny it.  We lost a president who had to resign from office just because he helped cover up and not tell the truth.  One political party was stealing secrets from the other and got caught.  Fess up get probation and move on with life but instead a coverup lead to a month of national investigation right in our living rooms which eventually lead to a Nixon Resignation.

Lying isn't just from one political party but another president told us he never had sex with that girl.  The lying and coverup is the most remembered  thing of eight years of Bill Clinton.  I don't think there is one person in this country who remembers Clinton as a bad president but they sure do remember the name Monica Lewinsky.

Even closer to home more information keeps dribbling out every day about the University of North Carolina  and the academic coverup and athletic fraud that went on just to protect  "The University Of North Carolina" image.  Nixon, Clinton or Carolina  the coverup was worse that the initial infraction.  That is not the case at Penn State.  Federal and  State  laws were broken.   Everyone who took part in covering up a crime should go to jail.

You know back when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of Life God Punished all of us with sin.  All sin is, is a submission to self.  These coverups were protecting self.  Make sure I don't get into trouble.  Joe Paterno thought about himself, the University President, the athletic director all thought to protect themselves .  Not once did any of them while protecting themselves thought about the victims.  They who covered up to protect themselves is just as guilty as the acts committed.

The Fat Lady Sings

 Coleman Pitt Post 58 down one game to none in a two out of three series with Pitt County needed a victory tonight in Winterville and Post 58 comes up short losing 12-3. Jeremy Sloop took to the mount for Post 58 and P 58 bats gave him a 2-0 in the first.  PC responded with three in the second to take their first lead of the night. Coleman Pitt tied the game in the fourth at 3. PC retook the lead in the bottom of the fourth and lead 4-3 when CP58 had the bases loaded with only one out in the sixth.  A wild pitch strike out had the P58 runner on third trying to score but was tagged out at home to end  the Rocky Mount threat and with it a chance to either tie or take the lead.  From that point on it's all Pitt County

Post 58 needing to keep it close were not able to do it as Pitt County added four more runs to lead 8-3 after seven innings.They added four more in the eighth as for the night P58 had 8 errors  and Coleman Pitt Post 58 is knocked out of the State Playoffs 12-3.  PC outhit RM 10-7 so it is pretty easy to see defense failed to make the season continue.

This is coaches clinic week in Greensboro as the North Carolina High School Athletic Association prepares for the upcoming athletic season for 2012-13.  Part of the entertainment each night is the all-star games and last night basketball was front and center in the Greensboro Coliseum.  Rocky Mount high School had three players in both games and none of the three were able to say they played for the winning team as West dominated both the boys and the girls game.

The West girls beat the East 82-65 as Alexus Cooper was the second leading scorer for the East.  Tia Hudgins played for the East squad  but the East fell behind early and almost caught up late in the third quarter until the West stretched  the lead again in the fourth.

The boys game saw the East squad couldn't hit anything from the outside in the first half as they fell way behind  and were never able to catch up.  Terrill Hilliard scored 16 for the East as he also was the second leading scorer for the East.

One Foot In The Grave

There are those nights when the other team does wrong and it turns out right and that was tonight for Post 58.  Pitt County Post 39 banged out 17 hits in which only three could be considered solid hits the other 14 had eyes and went where Post 58 players were not.  Ten never even  left the infield. Then their pitcher  probably never threw a pitch all night that hit 80 miles an hour but in seven inning he never struck out one P58 player,  he only gave up four bleeding hits and when he left after pitching seven innings he was ahead 8-0.  Jarrett Ozimek was a pitcher P 58 was glad didn't come out in the eighth inning.

P39 used a three pitchers to finish up the game and they surrendered four walks two hit batters and only two hits a Coleman Pitt scored 6 runs to make it a respectable score but let me assure you this was never close  as Pitt County wins 11-6.  P58 now must win Tuesday at Pitt CC or the season is over.  Should they win Tuesday they then get another shot at home Wednesday night.

Jordan Taylor got two hits for P58 and Matthew Berry's Base loaded double in the ninth brought home three runs,  Speirs Miller, TylerWooten and Kyle Pratt found the other three P 58 hits.  P39 had two players with four hits Dalton Britt and Aaron Clark. Charlie Herring collect three while Austin Chang and Gray Dixon had two each.

Jeremy Lucas was the hard luck loser as he gave up seven runs but he pitched into the seventh inning scattering 12 hits but only two were hit in the air to the outfield. Spenser Ramsey, Chase Johnson and Aaron Crum finished up on the mound for P58 but they had about the same luck Lucas had.

There is no doubt about it P39 was the best team on the field tonight and Post 58 has to hope that they get their share of hits and can draw even in the series Tuesday night or the 2012 Legion season finishes Tuesday with a lost.  The lost drops Post 58 to 20-7 on the season