Rodon Maybe The Next Nolan Ryan

If case you have not been keeping up with USA Baseball this summer but the USA Team has just finished 20-3 summer and N C States Carlos Rodon was off the charts once again.

Rodon pitched 17 innings this summer for USA not giving up one run.  Now you must remember that USA played the all star teams of Cuba and Japan and others so these teams were not the Sisters of the Poor University  he was pitching against. He went 3-0 and in those 17 innings gave up five hits, walked four and struck out 21.

If Rodon stays healthy between now and next June when the next MLB draft is conducted there will be no reason he is not going to be the top pick.  His two years at State he has a 93-97 mile and hour fast ball and a slider that can top out a 93 or so.  This summer he has added a change up to his repertoire.  Twenty years from now and of course health has a lot to do with any athlete he just might be the next person to come close to Nolan Ryan's Strikeout record.

College football has a new rule that will be in place this season that any player who makes contact with another head first will be ejected from the game.  I hope this is a good rule but I hope every play doesn't have to be reviewed  to see where the contact initiated from.


High school football practice begins next Thursday as August 1st is just around the corner.  Most everyone will have played at least one high school football game and most two by four weeks from tonight.

Richardson Named All Star MVP

Nash Central football player Jerod Richardson was named the Defensive MVP of the East/West All Star High School football game after leading the night with 11 tackles on defense, four of the 11 were behind the line of scrimmage.  His defensive effort was not enough to help the East squad win as the West wins the annual All-Star game 14-7
Tuesday night at the East West All Star soccer match the East won 2-1.  Over all the east squad won three of the four all star games played this week during the High school coaches clinics going on in Greensboro.  They won both basketball games and soccer while the west wins the football game.

Looks as if The Milwaukee Brewers have a relief pitcher in mind for Hobbs Johnson.  Once again this week Hobbs pitched two innings of middle relief and he gave up no runs.  Since going to Helena Montana he has pitched three times all three times he pitch two inning and his ERA is down to 1.50.

Right now Brian Goodwin is hovering between 250 and 260 batting average.  He still remains as the #1 prospect for the Washington Nationals.  The one item I find hard to believe about Brian is he has hit seven home runs.  I think of Brian as a speed merchant and not as a home run hitter.  I do remember in 2005 during the State Babe Ruth State Championships played in Rocky Mount Brian led off the State Championship game off by hitting a towering home run at Stith Park that I think landed in the Tar River.

The X man Xavier Macklin continues to hover just above the Mendoza line as he is hitting 213 in Vermont.  Trying to return after major shoulder surgery X is struggling in the NewYork Penn league.

The State American Legion Baseball tournament starts Friday in Wilson.  The host team Post 13 from Wilson begins play Friday night at 7:30 or as close to that as possible.  That will be the 4th game of the day and depending on weather and extra innings the last game may not start anywhere close to 7:30.  Four games will be played at Fleming starting at 9:30am.

This is just a rumor remind you but I am hearing from Tarboro way that Jeff Craddock says that this years squad is the fastest team he has ever had in Viking Land.  I pity those conference schools in 1-A that have to play the Vikings.

Drugs In Sports

It doesn't matter whether it is the Tour De France, NFL football or  Major League baseball there is one common theme among all of them.  There are cheaters every where.  Some say it helps them come back from injury other will tell you they were not good enough until the drug.  Regardless of the excuse professional athletes get huge contracts  and when they are caught they only have to pay pennies as a punishment.

Ryan Braun of the Milwakee Brewers  went to great lengths to say the system cheated him when he failed a drug test.  After all the lies he has accepted a 65 game suspension for the rest of the season.  It will cost him about 3.8 million of a 120 million dollar contract.  Sounds to me like he got off with a slap on the wrist and hurry back next year.

There is only one way to stop drugs in sports and that is of course ban a player for one year when he fails a drug test.  When it happens again ban him for life.  I understand that the players unions of all sports will not let that happen but isn't it a funny thing when the clean baseball players started to openly call Braun a cheater the union help suspend Braun and who knows who else will go down in the next month.

The US government along with all professional sports teams should take notice that the city of Detroit went bankrupt.  Our government can't continue to throw money away unless they get something back in return.  Professional sports teams can't expect TV and fans who attend the games to continue to pay extravagant fees to attend games.  One day the well is going to run dry and the river of money is going to quit flowing.

Why should any sports team pay a player a multi million dollar contract after he has just come off drug suspension..  The people in Washington who spent our money not theirs have no control of themselves and yet we give them free reign  to control to lose our money.  Professional sports teams act as if money flows like a river.

One day it will all come to an end because the people spending the money will one day wake up and there is no more.  It will be no more because government gave it all away and can't pay the interest back.  Professional teams will have given it all to the cheaters and those who truly play for the love of the game will play for the love of the game and not money.  I bet those days are within our life time.

J's final High school Game

J'Kyra Brown playing in her last high school game representing Rocky Mount High school Brown scored with 40 seconds to play on a rebound at the defensive end and took it all the way for a lay up and in doing so helped to secure a 67-60 East victory over the west in the annual East/West High school girls basketball game play in the Greensboro Coliseum Monday night.  J'Kyra along with two east teammates each had 12 points in the game to lead the way.  Kelsey Daniels scored two points in the game giving the Gryphons a total of 14 for the night.

There have been some players dropping out of the East/West All Star football  game Wednesday night and  Justin Ferrell from Southwest Edgecombe has been added to the roster. Players from this area that are playing besides Ferrell are Travonne Marshall Tarboro High and Jerod Richardson from Nash Central.

Tuesday night belongs to the soccer as two players and a coach from the Twin County area are in Greensboro taking part in the all star festivities this week during the NC High School Coaches Association meetings being held this week in Greensboro.  Southern Nash will have Carlos Levin on the east squad along with Tarboro's Travis Martin.  The East will be coached by Tarboro's Leshaun Jenkins.

Friday begins the State American Legion State Tournament in Wilson.  It all begins at 9:30 Friday Morning when Kernersville open play against the area four winner which is being played tonight.  The 12:30 will have Randolph County taking on the runner up in area four.  The opening ceremonies will be held at 3:30 Friday afternoon and then at 4:30 Garner will go up against Jacksonville.  The finale of the night will Have Post 13 from Wilson who has a losing record on the year play Wilmington Post 10 at 7:30.

Like to congratulate Nash County Babe Ruth 13U team winning the eastern State Championship and by doing so has earned a spot in the Southeast Regional in Tennessee August 1st.  I know in the last 10 years Nash County has made it all the way to the World Series at least  three times.  Twice it was held in Wilson with the last year being 2006 and 2005 making it to the World series finishing second in Quincy Ma. I have no connections with anyone on this team at all and sure would love to get someone to advise me how I can keep up with their progress as they continue their adventure.

Lefty Has All The Right Shots

I don't know if you are like me or not but if I happen to have had any contact with a professional athlete at all I tend to like them and pull for them.  If they went to a school in North Carolina is the second way that I pull for athletes regardless of the sport.  I have never met Phil Mickelson and when he came up and joined the tour he was maybe third on on list of people I like and didn't know.  I liked David Duval and Justin Leonard and then Lefty.  So this probably makes them 10th on my list of players I pull for.  Davis Love, Curtis Strange those guys all went to school here so they are ahead of Duval, Leonard and Mickelson.

Time passes and you have to admire the way life has unfolded for Lefty.  He  left practice at the US Open this year to fly home to see one of his daughters graduate middle school and fly back all night and led the Open after the first day.  His wife had breast cancer and he took time off from the tour to be with her.He just seems to have life figured out that golf pays the bills but the most important thing in life his his family.

It was one of the U S Opens played at Pinehurst where Mickelson's wife was about to give birth and he had a beeper set the second it went off to drop out of the U S Open and fly home.  Mickelson just seems to understand there is more to life than hitting that itty bitty ball.

Sunday watching as Lefty's caddy "Bones" Mackay break down and cry  for his boss winning the British Open.  This is Michelson 5th major not his first  but MacKay cried as if it was the first.  There just has to be something special about Phil Michelson that the people who are around him every day feel that the way they do for him.

How many times after a big one like Sunday has Phil's family been there to enjoy it with him.  I think we all have moments in our life when it is even better to have someone you love  there to share the moment with you.  The way he has conducted himself Phil Mickelson has moved up my list to just behind Webb Simpson(Wake) golfer as my favorite.  I wish more athletes understood there is more to life than winning at all cost.

Garner wrapped up the Area One Legion Championship last night beating Pitt County 12-2.  Garner will represent eastern North Carolina along with Wilson when the State American Legion Baseball Tournament begins this weekend at fleming Stadium.

When Is it Time To Hang'um Up

Derek Jeter has been Mr New York since 1995.  For the most part his career has been injury free and then he hit that over 35 years old and a broken ankle has turned into a pulled muscle.  What will be next for  one of the only players in the last 20 years that has never had a hint of the word steroid mentioned.  The Yankees are old and need to clean house.  It is hard to do to a person that has been the face of the Yankees for almost 20 years.

NFL  training camps are starting today for some but by the end of the week football will be back.  I think it is 13 more days for those glorious preseason games get started.  Colleges  start football around Aug 1st through 5th.  Labor Day weekend is six weeks away.

Garner Saturday afternoon beat Pitt County 5-4  to take a two games to none lead in the Area One American Legion Title.  They can punch their ticket to Wilson Today at Garner High.  PC has to win three in a row to continue their season.

J'Kyra Brown plays her last high school basketball game Monday night at the Greensboro Coliseum.  another Gryphon Kelsey Daniels is a replacement and this gives the Lady Gryphons two players in the girls game.  Soccer is Tuesday and the football East West game is Wednesday night.  The North Carolina Coaches clinics  start Monday in Greensboro.

Don't care whether he is no longer the Tiger Woods of ten years ago or not the final round of the British Open will probably be the most watched Open of all time.  Tiger may win Sunday but he has lost that aura he once had that players look over their shoulder to see where he is.  Would not shock me if his partner Adam Scott Sunday wins it all. I like watching all the majors.  The Open looks like it is played in a pasture that they moved the cows or sheep last week and dug some holes in the ground and hollered FORE.

Big Time Money And Social Media

I think I can solve a lot of this world's problem with people who win lotteries and athlete who get millions of dollars just because they run fast.   First of all let's do away with the lottery winner can take cash.  If all lottery winners had to wait one year to get the next check they might not spend it all in one weekend. They would have something to look forward to knowing another check comes in eleven months since I have spent the last one already.

If I won 10 million I just can't buy but so many houses and cars and there is still plenty more. I don't think people understand how much 10 million is. What do all these people do with all that money?  As far as pro athletes are concern if they sign a contract for millions I say let them have say as a rookie $50,000 and put the rest where they have to get a monthly check for the rest of their lives.  70% of all NFL players are broke three years after they get out of football.  What do they do with their money?

 Since this country is so into letting the government give me a check every month I think any person who makes more than the President of the United States ought to have to put his money in a government savings account and by the time he is retired he can live off his money the government has been sitting on. I understand that this method is a trust in the government that they will not steal it from you. 

This blog is social media and I give my opinions sometimes that people don't agree with.  I try to keep this as positive as possible so people who agree with you tend to not comment. The ones that don't tend to be the first to hit the send button.  The new wave of social media is tweeting where everyone who can afford a cell phone can now be followed by signing up and getting accepted by the person tweeting.  I have to much to say to say it in 50 words or less.

Kids have twitter accounts now  that I know they have nothing worth waiting for them to tell me so please don't count on me to view your twitter.   I can't stand to watch a sports show on TV and I have to watch all the comments coming in on twitter.  Please start a channel just for Tweets only.  I can see it now a channel right next to the Discovery Channel.  The tweet channel the only way to get on is to tweet a comment and see it on national TV.

I bet the average person doesn't know the laws regarding cell phones, tweeting or any other method of reaching the masses.  I am of the opinion that when the day comes that a blog on the internet is old fashion and nobody goes there any more it will be time to stop this any way.  The way this world changes that might be next week.

Garner Beat Pitt County in the first game of the Area One Championships in Garner last night by scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The final was 6-5, game two is at noon today at LeClair Stadium at ECU.  Garner is up 1-0 in this series where the winner gets a spot in the State American Legion Baseball tournament which starts July 25th in Wilson