Rumors Due

So far this end of the high school year we have seen one coaching change.  B W Holt's resignation as football at RMA and Terrell Hudgins being named at his replacement.  Since the Holt announcement  the rumor mill has been working overtime with this coach going here and this one switching to this school.  If any of the rumors are true July one will be the day we find out  whether it was gossip or where there was smoke there is fire.

The three players from Nash County playing Legion  ball in Wilson has been reduced to two. Derrick Carter pitcher from Northern Nash who was 1-0 for Post 13 who going in to last night's game  was 14-1 and winners of Eleven straight games which is the all time Post 13 record.   The Legion playoffs start next Tuesday and even without Carter Post 13 seems primed for a deep playoff run.  RMA's MJ Jones on the mound is 1-0 and Rocky Mount's  Blake Helms leads all Post 13 pitchers at 4-0.

Collins Cuthrell now 14 games into his professional career is  is still hitting at a rate of 370.  He has 20 hits in 54 at bats.  He has one homer.   After hitting 25 in college this spring it would really help if Collins could put a few more over the fence.  Batting average only will not get him picked up by major league team.

Benton Moss pitching in New York for Hudson Valley in the New York Penn Rookie League has now been to the mound twice.  He has pitched 3.1 innings and struck out 4 batters.  He has yet to give up a  hit or run in in his two appearances .

Hobbs Johnson in AA baseball pitching in Biloxi MS for the Milwaukee Brewers is now 5-4 on the Season having started. 14 games and pitched 67 innings.  His ERA is 3.36 with 55 strikeouts and he has allowed 55 hits.

Brian Goodwin is batting 234 at Harrisburg PA in AA ball for the Washington Nationals.  Brian is showing signs of getting his bat going.  So far he has hit two dingers, three triples, and ten doubles.  He has 22 RBI.

It Takes Three To Win A Championship

LeBron James put together just maybe the best six games ever played in the NBA finals.  When all is said and done he lost another NBA finals.  Don't see how anybody can blame him or even suggest he is a loser for being 2-4 in the finals.  Just how does any one know when a player has carried his team as far as one player can?

If Cleveland can go six games in the NBA finals with only one star player what could they have done if the two starters they lost to injury had of been healthy?  Seems as if LeBron making his move to Miami found the answer to how to win championships in the modern NBA.  It takes three  to win a title.  Cleveland since their trades around Christmas had one of the best records since then.

Golden State fell into a gold mine in this year's playoffs. Not many teams win 60 games in a season so Golden State earned their chance to get the seeding they got to start the playoffs.  The one constant for them all year was that they were healthy.  Seems everyone they played had somebody on the injured list and that's their good fortune.  It also lends credence to the theory it is better to be lucky and good.

It also shows a trend in the NBA that right at this moment long range shooting and defense win games over big men.  It begs the question is the NBA a better game without big men dominating?  I think it is only a trend because the college game is not producing an abundance of great shooters.  They have plenty shooting but I tell you a secret it only counts when you make it.

Steph Curry put Davidson College on the map and he is an exception to the rule.  He was a long range bomber in college and his skills have gotten better every year in the NBA.  Will Golden State be as lucky next year with their own injuries?  Can they stay healthy all year or be healthy when playoffs get rolling?  Will they make the big shots when they needed to make them next year?

The Odds say no that somebody else will win it next year.  If you look at the past winners just like last year, San Antone  when the playoffs this year started they were everyone's pick again this year.  Even with three players who can make a difference there is no guarantee that any team will win.

NBA Draft A Gamble For Most

The NBA has a two round draft where 60 players names are called out.  If you are one of the first 30 names you are guaranteed at least a three year million a year contract.  The top picks get much more. Thursday night Montrezl Harrell missed the big big money by two names.

Houston called his name as the 32nd pick.  A trip to Houston on Friday to be introduced to the Houston media what Harrell gets for all this is a 13,000 dollar contract to play in the summer league. When preseason practices starts if he plays well he will be invited to training camp to try to make the Rockets.

Since April 60 players declared for the draft.  If there are only 60 spots that declared got drafted right?  Sorry but no foreign player had to declare.  10 that declared never heard their name including Trevor Lacy from NC State.  Saturday Lacy signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers  which will send him to that 13,000 dollar contract just like Montrezl Harrell in the summer league.  

Every  player  that is a second rounder or free agent basically will be interviewing for every team just in case for Harrell the Rockets say no thanks don't come to preseason camp or Lacy Cleveland says no we don't think you fit our system.  Other teams that have watched them play could call or basketball in a foreign country  is next.

So picked 32nd Harrell will start with  $13,000 for the summer with $40 meal money.  A far cry of Almost all NBA players.  There are 55 NBA players who make at least ten million a year led by Kobe Bryant who had to have extra pockets to haul around his 23.5 million for less than ten games played.  A total of 335 players make a million and the lowest paid player who sat on the bench for at least 80 per cent of the games made $379 thousand.

Having watched Montrezl play games at North Edgecombe I think the reason he didn't go in the top 30 was his height.  He is listed at 6 feet 8 inches.  If he is a power forward in the NBA he will need more weight to push some of those 275 pounds big men around.  If he going to make it as a swing forward he needs to improve his jump shot from at least 15-20 feet.  It is almost as if he is a tweener not big enough to be a power player and not a jump shooter enough to play outside.
There was only one players named called out during the draft and that was the number one pick.  Everyone says there is no doubt he will be a great pro.  Everybody else had a part of their game that they had to do better.  So there is not much difference in ability from number  2 player to 32.

The difference is the money.  If Montrezl wants some of it then his road is Much  harder to make  it.  He is not costing Houston any money so if they drop him they lose only  pocket change.  Between now and the opening of the NBA season he has to play better than he ever has in his life just to Make it to Houston's preseason camp.  If he survives the camp and signs a NBA contact he could sit  the bench all year and make 507 thousand a year.  

The Controversy Continues

Now that a couple of 4-A leagues have ban  their schools from playing the Private schools there is plenty of talk for an against schools like Cardinal Gibbons.  Let's see when and how all of this got to this point.

Way back in the 70's Cardinal Gibbons joined the NCHSAA but after about 20 years they went back to the private school league only to ask to rejoin the NCHSAA again in 2005.  The question to beg would be, why would any member  that plays only public schools want to let a private school in.  I think the answer way back in the 70's and again in 2005 is little bitty old Cardinal Gibbons will be easy pickings for every member of our conference to get a win and it would count as part of your eligible playoff record to qualify.

What has happened Cardinal Gibbons has grown into a huge private school that can beat any other school in North Carolina.  Back 30 years ago Ravenscroft was the juggernaut of private schools you didn't see them get invited to join anybody's conference.

 I have no problem what so ever as long as their pool of available athletes is no bigger than other teams they play.  What is the radius of Green Hope  where their pool of students come from.  Three miles?  It just happens that certain schools are in upper class neighbor hoods and most of their students come from there  How many students that go to Gibbons  live within a mile of the school?
Cardinal Gibbons says that no athlete outside of a 25 mile radius of Cardinal Gibbons is allowed to play sports.  Get out a map and look and see how far 25 miles is  as the crow flies and you will see any athlete as far west as Hillsbourgh, east to Knightdale, north almost half way to Hederson and south  to almost Lillington.  Don't you think they might find enough players from that area to beat up on everybody.  Northern Nash who gets students from Battleboro what is it at most seven miles from the school.

Let's put this thing into some perspective.  The four public schools in Nash County are pretty much all equal in size as it relates to number of students.  Southern Nash is bigger area wise in order to have the same number of students as the rest.  Let's say that we are going to allow Southern Nash to have athletes within that 25 mile radius of Stanhope and you will see that Southern Nash could pull in students from all most all of Nash, parts of Edgecombe, Wilson, Johnston and almost all of Wake County.  Do you think Northern Nash, Nash Central  and Rocky Mount would want to be in the same league with them?
Many years Pitt County had open enrollment go to the school of your choice.  North Pitt and D H Conley suffered. Once South Central was created Pitt County went back to the district system  But Rose supporters have ever since wanted to go back to open enrollment.  Just this week Rose was changed to a Magnet School in order they can have open enrollment while the others must observe their districts.

This thing right now is based on the three parochial schools but this is sooner or later going to include Charter and Prep schools who also have no athletic boundaries.  Here is another factor effecting public schools.  If you are a football school and we will Say Hunt High in Wilson.  I would bet if you looked at the money spent on all sports for every sport at Hunt over the last five years 50 percent comes from three and four football playoff games every year.  How would you like to have to face Cardinal Gibbons in the opening round and lose, there goes your athletic budget for this year.

Why has the NCHSAA gone with Eight football playoffs  champions for several years?  MONEY!  Why does it take as many as ten baseball playoff games to win the baseball title? MONEY!  What money has done has caused many teams to qualify for playoffs that are not deserving.  If they thought they could make money off it they would take the worse 16 teams in each division and play a loser advances bracket and play to see who is the worse team. Right now there is no money in that.  What the Cardinal Gibbons of the world are doing to the public schools strapped for athletic funds is taking away their money when in the public school eye Cardinal Gibbons is rolling in it.

Disappointing Night For Montrezl Harrell

Scuttle Butt had Montrezl Harrell going in the first round of the NBA  somewhere between the 22nd and 28th pick.  If you are a first rounder you are guaranteed a contract and big time money.  Eleven PM came and Harrell never got on stage.  If you do make the first round say in that 25th  pick area that means you are heading to a playoff quality team.

The early thirties normally are reserved by the bottom feeders  but the Houston Rockets the 32nd  picked called out Montrezl  Harrell.  So now Montrezl is a pro basketball player.

Harrell spent three years as big man on campus at North Edgecombe High School but chose to finish out his high school career at Hargrave Military Academy where in his senior season Hargrave lost once in 39 games.

Harrell chose to attend Virginia Tech  and committed before his high school senior year ended.  Shortly after the end of the college basketball season Tech fired Their coach Seth Greenberg and Harrell asked for and was granted his release of his committment  to Virginia Tech.  Now open to more recruitment Harrell chose Louisville and head coach Rick Pitino.

A backup big man his freshman year Harrell was part of the 2013 Louisville National Championship team.  He gave up his college eligibility in April that he would declare for the NBA and his three years in Louisville brought an 11.9 scoring average, 6.9 rebounds and .9 assist per game.  Once he signs his contract he will give the Twin Counties a Tri-vector  of professional sports athletes.

Three play professional football Julius Peppers from Southern Nash who is a defensive end for the Chicago Bears.  Shaun Draughn who has resigned with the Cleveland Browns and is a special team player.  Todd Gurley Who was the top draft pick of the St Louis Rams who today declared he would be ready when the Rams begin training camp in late July.  Gurley was picked first by the Rams despite having knee surgery in November while playing at Georgia. Both Draughn and Gurley graduated from Tarboro.

Baseball is covered by four Rocky Mount Gryphons who are all climbing the ladder in the minor leagues. Brian Goodwin who has been as high as  AAA Syracuse but due to injuries in on the recovery trail at Harrisburg Pa the AA home for the Washington Nationals. Brian is rated as the Nationals 14th best prospect.

 Hobbs Johnson moved up to AA ball for the Milwaukee Brewers just this spring.  He is rated as a top 30 prospect for the Brewers.

Just this week Benton Moss pitched in his first professional game for the Hudson Valley Renegades  of the New York Penn short season league.  He was the sixth pick this month of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Collins Cuthrell is finishing up his second week as a professional baseball player.  His summer is being spent in Florence Kentucky a suburb of Cincinnati where is is playing in an independent league hoping that his stats will impress a major league team to sign him.

Right now he is on the outside looking in but Nash Central grad Xavier Macklin  cut earlier this spring by Florence Ky is checking out any other possible baseball moves.  To say the least the Twin Counties with  a population between the two counties of 150,000 gives you a one in 18,000 are professional athletes.  I think that stacks pretty high with any place in the country.

ACC ACC ACC

Yes Chicago Cubs fans there is hope.  There is a chance that one day the Cubs will be more than the team who doesn't have  a fan living that saw their last title they are all dead.  Wednesday night and early Thursday morning the team with the worse record ever to win the College World Series the Virginia Cavaliers 44-24 a member of the ACC beat the defending National Champions  Vanderbilt  4-2!

1955 national baseball power Wake Forest won the title.  Since that time almost 30 teams wearing the ACC Moniker on their sleeve have played in Omaha and everyone of them were better than this year's Virginia team but Yahoo for the Wahoos.  They removed the monkey from the ACC's back.  I would suspect this is the opening of the door for the ACC much like when Duke finally won their first basketball title.  They will now come in bunches for the ACC.

Both games Tuesday and Wednesday were hard to watch as both took near four hours to complete.  Too many batters staring at their bats in the batters box.  The Virginia catcher stared into his dugout looking for the pitch call more than he watched his pitcher.  The pace was mighty slow.  However there was enough spectacular defense to keep you awake by both sides.  If it wasn't for the defense the Championship game may have taken five hours.  Regardless of how tire I am it's worth it to see the ACC win it all.  How good of a year was this for the ACC?  Third in football first in basketball and first in baseball.

Virginia went 15-15 during conference play and at one time was 10-14. Won their play in game and then lost three straight games in bracket play in Durham.  Went west and maybe the weakest regional in the entire tournament and played as a three seed.  Saw two major top eight teams in their bracket lose and hosted the Super Regional after Maryland who was an upset winner  in their bracket never made a bid during the season to host a Super Regional.  Omaha saw the Whoos beat the top seed Florida twice and then knocked off the defending champs twice after being down by losing the first game of championship series.

Virginia was a patsy in baseball until coach Brian Conner arrived.  Conner play his college ball in Omaha for Creighton and pitched in the World Series  in 1991. His home town of Council Bluffs Iowa is just across the state line from Omaha.  Some times the stars just line up right.

Virginia is  a prime example of when coaches tell players never give up.  They got many breaks along the way.  Today They  have come from the dead to be National a Champions.

Moss Sees First Action

Benton Moss just newly signed minor league player for the Tampa Bay Rays went to the hill for the first time Monday night for his summer team the Hudson Valley Renegades.  He threw his first professional pitch out of the bullpen in the sixth inning of game four on the season. One inning he walked one and struck out one batter.

Hudson Valley is a team in the New York Penn League and the season just started last Friday. Playing their home opener after starting with three wins on the road  Moss took over in the sixth inning with his team ahead 1-0.  The next pitchers after Benton gave up six runs in their first loss.

Collins Cuthrell now more than a week into his professional baseball career playing for the Florence Ky Freedom is hitting 387 in his first eight games.  He has 12 hits in 31 at bats and a 387 average would be leading the league in hitting if he had enough at bats to qualify.   A player in the Frontier League needs to bat 2.7 times per game to have enough bats.  They have already played 32 games this season so Collins  would need to have batted almost 80 times.  He has hit a homer and driven in five RBI so far in his young professional career.

Brian Goodwin is on the upswing playing for the Harrisburg Pa Senators.  His low point this season his batting average had dipped to 206 but a hot streak his average is up to 240.  He has hit two home runs and with his speed now has three triples and nine doubles.
Brian started the season in AA coming off shoulder surgery which derailed his season in AAA Syracuse in July last year.  He is listed as the 13th top prospect in theWashington National organization.  If this hot streak continues Brian just might be heading back to Syracuse shortly.

Brian has a new teammate in Harrisburg in the name of Trea Turner former number one draft pick of the San Diego Padres who was acquired by Washington June 15th.  Sine he has been in Harrisburg he has played short stop and is hitting 313.

Finally Hobbs Johnson is now 4-4 pitching in Buloxi Ms.  His era is up to 3.68 and his sixty innings pitched he has walked 25 which is a high number for Hobbs. All during his high school days at Rocky Mount  and college at Carolina his walks per nine inning were under three.  Right now he is near five per nine innings and those extra men on base is keeping him at a five hundred pitcher.

Former Carolina pitcher Matt Harvey us making a nice comeback after having missed all of the 2014 season for the New York Mets after Tommy John surgery.  Harvey is 8-5 with an ERA of 3.18.  Harvey who has been known to toss the ball to the plate some times at 100 miles and hour has hit 100 since his co back.