Thur., Jan. 24, 6 a.m. : Just a couple of items from the VHSL to pass along.

The R&R Committee met on Tuesday and took action on a couple of items involing SW VA schools. John Battle's request to return to the Hogo was denied, as was Grundy's request to join the LPD. The Wave will instead join the BDD in the Summer of 2009. A couple of changes were also approved for Region III - Staunton River will move from the Seminole to the Blue Ridge and E. C. Glass will join the Seminole as they drop from AAA. The R&R Committee will hear final appeals on April 14th, and the final plan will be voted on in May.

Also, if you haven't already heard, the state wrestling tourney at Salem has been moved to the weekend of March 7th.

See ya in mid April.

Mon., Dec. 31, 2 p.m. : Time for the end-of-the-year wrap-up ...

  Only a handful of guys from Regions IV & D made the AP sports writers all-state 1st team :
On offense : Haysi Sr. Joe Yates at TE, Clintwood Jr. Russell Hull at Tackle, Lebanon Sr. William Rutherford at Center, Bassett Jr. Andrew Miller at Guard, Blacksburg Sr. Caleb Violette as Kicker, and Richlands Sr. Austin Fuller as the Utility player.
On defense : Richlands Sr. Shane Wicks at LB, Powell Valley Sr. Christoper Fraley and Salem Sr. Patrick Pollifrone on the Line, and St. Paul Sr. Josh Brooks at Back.

  The VHSL realignment committee has released the first draft of the 2009 alignment and western VA has no changes. However, a couple of schools have requested modifications : John Battle wants back in the Hogoheegee and Grundy wants to join the Lonesome Pine. The LPD principals have already voted against this, so the VHSL will probably put the Wave in the Black Diamond unless Grundy withdraws their request and opts to stay in the SWD. The R&R Committee meets again on Jan. 22 and will have a revised plan ready by early March. Final appeals will be heard April 14th, and the final plan will be ready in May.

  Here's all you need to know about the upcoming bowl games : Kentucky plays this afternoon, both the UT & UVA games will kick off early (at or before noon) on New Year's Day (Tuesday), while the best game should be the 7:00 battle between Hawai'i & Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The only game on Wed. is WVU vs. Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl, the only game on Thur. is Va. Tech vs. Kansas in the Orange Bowl (for you pre-game entertainment, the Tech @ Richmond mens basketball game will be on CSTV at 6 p.m.), and the Ohio State-LSU title game is NEXT Monday (the 8th) at 7 p.m. Of course, the weekend is reserved for the NFL playoff openers - Heath Miller and the Steelers will host Jacksonville Sat. night at 8 on NBC. Ahmad Bradshaw and the NY Giants play at Tampa Bay Sun. at 1:00 on Fox.

  Sports Illustrated says Oklahoma tried to change the BCS bowl line-up this year, but the BCS big-wigs said no. (NOTE : Contrary to what others have said, the Sooners did NOT try to replace WVU with VPI - they didn't know who would be placed where at the time of the request.)

  Here's a couple of Michael Vick items you might find interesting:
The No Fun League fined some of the Falcons for showing off their support of Vick on MNF recently, and a unique snow globe can be found at PETA (use you mouse to shake it up & down a couple of times).

  Appalachian League baseball will be back in Pulaski this Summer after a one-year absence. NRV Sports says the Mariners will make their 2008 Appy League debut on June 17th in Princeton against the (no-longer Devil) Rays. The Bluefield Orioles won’t play until June 20, when they host the Rays.


Fri., Dec. 14, 10 a.m. : So, here's what's happenin' tonight. The Va. Tech soccer team will play #2 seed Wake Forest in an NCAA men's soccer semifinal match down near Raleigh at 5 on ESPN2 (the other semi will be on ESPNU at 7 with the title game on ESPN2 Sunday at 3. In early Oct., the 9th ranked Hokies and #1 Wake played to a 3-3 draw in da 'Burg; the Deacs were the only team to score more than 1 goal at Tech in the regular season). Then we get to take an hour break before the FCS title game between Appalachian State & Delaware (also on E2). Tomorrow, it's deja vu in Salem for the 35th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl (ESPN 4:00) : 14-0 Mount Union meets 13-1 Wisconsin-Whitewater for the 3rd straight year. How tough are the Purple Raiders this year? Their closest game was a 35-0 in-conference home win; during one 8-game stretch, they outscored their opponents 409-3; they only gave up 24 points in the regular season (all in the first 4 games); their avg. playoff game score is 54-12. Any doubt they'll win their 6th title in the last 8 years??

  Here's another small college item worth mentioning. Did you hear about Prairie View A&M? Yeah, the former laughing-stock of college football - the school that lost 80 straight games back in the 90's and gave up 194 points during one 3-game stretch. Well, guess what? The Panthers finished 7-3 this year and was just 18 points away from a perfect 10-0 mark. They never gave up.

  East Carolina U. has apparently found a way to lose less money on their bowl game this year. The Pirates KNEW they wouldn't sell their required 5,000 tickets to the Hawai'i Bowl, so they're asking fans to buy a $40 ticket then donate it to active military personnel in currently stationed there.

  The ACC has "bid" farewell to Jacksonville's Gator Bowl as host of their football championship game. Look for Hokie fans in Tampa Bay's Raymond James Stadium (which will host the 2009 Super Bowl) on 12/6/08 & 12/5/09, then Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium on 12/4/2010 & 12/3/11.

  The Washington Post just ran an article about some of the weird things in h.s. sports this season.

  Gotta say congratulations to a couple of Wise Co. schools - J.J. Kelly and Powell Valley finished 1-2 at the recent VHSL Group A theatre festival.


Sun., Dec. 9, 11:15 a.m. : It just wasn't a good weekend for area football teams. Things started off bad on Friday afternoon when Belfry, from over in Pike Co., was beaten in the KY 3A finals by (Louisville) Central. On Sat. afternoon, Richlands and Clintwood lost their title shots, then Gate City got clobbered Sat. evening. Here's some video of the games :
  Richlands : WVIR - Charlottesville and WVNS - Beckley.
  Clintwood : WVIR - Charlottesville and WHSV - Harrisonburg.
  Gate City : WDBJ - Roanoke and WSET - Lynchburg.

  Down in NC, Independence's 7-year run as 4-AA champs was finally stopped by New Bern (in their 4th attempt), and Reidsville won the 2-AA title yet again. The Rams finish 16-0 for the first time while claiming their 16th crown.

  Oh, back to KY for a minute. Lone Oak QB Corey Robinson had a pretty lackluster performance in his final game. He was ONLY 21 for 37 for 241 yards and 1 TD, well below his average. He finished the year with 91 TD passes (a national record) and 5,872 yards (a state record and 2nd nationally) and just 4 INT's in 520 attempts. He had 132 career TD passes, one shy of Tim Couch’s state record.

  Things didn't go nearly as bad for a couple of the local colleges, though. Appalachian State QB Armanti Edwards rushed for 4 TD's, set ASU & Southern Conference rushing records with 313 yards (the most by a QB in Div. I history) and was 14 for 16 passing for 182 yards and 3 more scores as the Mountaineers beat Richmond 55-35. ASU will go for an unprecedented third-straight FCS national championship Friday night in Chattanooga when they face 2003 champion Delaware. ASU has sold all of their alloted tickets, but some may be available in Tenn. for $20.

  And how 'bout dat Hokie futbol team !!! Yet ANOTHER big win for the 11th seeded kickers (now 14-3-5) - they went up north yesterday and beat top-ranked U. Conn (20-3-1) by a score of 1-0 in an NCAA quarterfinal match. Tech (14-3-5) improved to 7-0-0 in day matches and earned their first trip to the College Cup, where they'll face #2 seed Wake Forest in a semifinal at the SAS Soccer Complex in Cary, NC Friday night at either 5 or 7 p.m. (on either ESPN2 or ESPNU). The title game will be on ESPN2 Sunday at 3 p.m. (Here's the complete bracket.)


Fri., Dec. 7, 9:15 a.m. : Looks like it'll be a nice day for football tomorrow - the weather forecasts call for mostly cloudy skies, light winds and a 20% chance of rain for both Lynchburg and Salem. Temps will be around 50 at noon and around 60 for game 2.

  Appalachian State's semi-final game against Richmond, originally set for Sat. afternoon in Boone, was moved to tonight because Delaware's team got stuck in Iowa by the snow last weekend. The game will air on ESPN2 at 8:00.


Mon., Dec. 3, 2:45 p.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page. Here's a few tidbits on the 12 finalists that didn't make the cut for that page :

  Buffalo Gap is the only first-time finalist.
Buffalo Gap is the only Group A finalist that doesn't have at least 2 state titles.
  Clintwood, Gate City & Richlands have more titles between them (9) than the other 11 schools combined (5).
  Clintwood & Gate City have as many titles (7) as the other 12 schools combined.
Group AA has both defending champions playing Saturday - while A & AAA have none.
  Group AA has the only battle of unbeaten teams (Div. 4) AND the only final without an unbeaten team (Div. 3).
  Westfield could become Virginia's first 15-win team.
Potomac beat Woodbridge 17-5 in both teams' Cardinal District opener on Oct. 12th.
  Gate City had 2 games this year against other finalists - they lost at Richlands 17-0 back on Aug. 24th and won at Clintwood 28-17 on Oct. 12th.
  Richlands also had 2 games against other finalists, both at home - they beat Gate City 17-0 in Aug. and lost on a last-second FG to WV AA champion Bluefield, 16-13, on Oct. 19th.
  11 different mascots made it to the finals (there are 2 Bulldogs).

If I run across or figure out anything else, I'll add it Friday. In the meantime, here's a run-down of what's happening in our neighboring states :

  Up in WV, top-seeded Bluefield needed 2 second-half TD passes from former Graham QB Will Cole in their 20-12, come-from-behind victory over James Monroe. The Beavers have claimed 9 titles in the last 50 years, while the Mavericks were in their first championship game.

  And the WVSSAC has released thei new alignment plan than begins next Summer. It says Iaeger will drop to Class A, Tug Valley will move up AA and Logan goes up to AAA.

  Over in KY, the big battle between Belfry & Breathitt Friday night DID produce a loser - I didn't know if it would be possible, since the 2 coaches have over 500 wins and 5 state titles combined. After Breathitt made it a 1-point game in the 2nd quarter, Belfry got into gear and won by 5 TD's. They'll play for their first state title since winning back-to-back cowns in 2003 & 2004 Fri. afternoon in Louisville.

  Previously unbeaten Hazard got hit with a double-whammy. Not only had the Bulldogs defeated Lexington Christian Academy by 20 just a month ago, but LCA coach Paul Rains was the head coach of the Bulldogs' undefeated 1992 team that finished 11-1.

  Lone Oak QB Corey Robinson continues his assault on the national record book. The Purple Flash signal-caller had about 500 yards passing & threw 4 more TD passes while gaining a berth in this weekend's state finals in Louisville. He now has 90 TD passes in 14 games.

  Down in Tenn., even Wisconsin-bound QB Curt Phillips couldn't get Sullivan South (Kingsport) past Maryville and into the state title game. The Red Rebels aren't quite (Charlotte) Independence, but the Seniors are looking to finish their high school career with a perfect 60-0 mark Saturday in Murfreesboro.

  Down in NC, Reidsville improved to 15-0 and is still scoring nearly 50 points per game. The Rams will try for their 16th state title this weekend in Raleigh against the team that denied them the title in 2005 (Shelby).

  It looks like deuces are wild in the Queen City. Independence isn't letting 2 regular-season losses, a 2 game suspension of their head coach, or the loss of 2 players over the past 2 weeks due to eligibility questions, stop them from going for their 8th consecutive crown, as they picked up a 2 point win over West Charlotte Friday night.

(The Charlotte Observer has been looking into the eligibility of student-athletes thoughout the greater Charlotte area the past couple of months. Their "meddlesome probing" has led to quite a few forfeits, not just in football, and even some complaints from the public on their comment boards.)


  And how 'bout dat Hokie futbol team !!! ANOTHER big win at home Sunday puts the 11th seeded kickers (13-3-5) in the quarter-finals at #3 seed U.Conn (20-2-1) Sat. at 1 p.m. (Here's the complete bracket.)

  By the way, despite being ranked no higher than 5th overall in any of the polls, Tech's football team had the highest ranking in 3 of the 6 BCS computer polls, along with the overall #1 computer ranking. Throw in the fact that Hawai'i was ranked no higher than 10th anywhere, despite being the only undefeated major team, and you have to wonder WHEN will we see SOME kind of playoffs (even if it is just a "+1" deal). Heck, the Warriors can't help it if some big-shot like Michigan State decides to buy-out the contract or if Michigan would rather play some I-AA "cupcake".


Wed., Nov. 28, 11:30 p.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page (for, I hope, the last time) as a couple of "eastern" games had their time changed today. This really amazes me - why couldn't these ppl. get their act together LAST WEEK ?!?!?!? They knew it was a 50/50 chance they'd have a home game this week. And how about the school which, supposedly, knew last week of a location change, but no one knew about it until Monday?

Well, on the positive side, we've ALWAYS been flexible about scheduling - unlike our "West"ern neighbors. It'a a shame that fans from 2 schools right on the southern border have to drive almost to Pennsylvania (Wheeling) to see their teams vie for the title Friday night. The Bluefield - James Monroe re-match should be web-cast by The Eagle.

Speaking of Friday night, the only game in this neck of the woods is a big SE'ern KY barn-burner between a pair of 13-0 teams as Belfry hosts Breathitt Co. in a Class AAA semi-final over near Pikeville, which is available from WXCC.


Tues., Nov. 27, 8:30 p.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page to include a couple more stadium locations and admission prices.


Mon., Nov. 26, 3 p.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page yet again to include official start times and locations. I should have more directions & map posted this evening (depending on when the furnace man gets here and how long he takes).


Sun., Nov. 25, 10 a.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page again; will add some more directions late Mon. or Tues.


Sat., Nov. 24, 7:15 a.m. : Updated my playoff pairings page.       7:45 p.m. : Updated the playoff pairings page again. Will do it again tomorrow night.


Wed., Nov. 21, 8:15 a.m. : The VHSL has released the first-draft of the 2009 realignment plan, and SW VA will see NO changes. Here's the state-wide alignment, the minutes from the last meeting, and the enrollment numbers that were used (ADM's fom 9/30/07). And here's the R&R Committee Minutes from their September meeting, which lists every Region's comments on the current alignment.


A couple of quick comments - Amherst & Pulaski Co. fell about 50 students shy of moving back up to AAA; Richlands is the smallest true AA school this side of Lynchburg and missed the A cutoff by 30 students; Grundy is right at the mid-point of the Group A football-playing schools.

Remember, this is just the first draft. Schools can appeal until mid-Dec., and the final alignment will be announced in May.


Here's the official VHSL playoff pairings. My version is a little more printer-friendly and has a bit more information. By Sunday morning, it'll have a LOT more info (about the semi-finalists).


If you haven't noticed yet, the VHSL has tweaked the state finals a bit, adding an hour between the games. Instead of starting at 12:30 & 4:00 again, this year's games will start at 12:00 & 4:30, so the first game trophy ceremony won't be as rushed as last year.

Also, ALL of the "smaller" schools will play the noon game; gates will open at 11 a.m.


In coaching news, another legend is hanging up his cleats. The Northern Virginia Daily reported yesterday that Glenn Proctor has resigned as head coach of the Strasburg Rams. The 66-year-old picked up win #300 earlier this season, and wraps up a 44 year career with a record of 302-169-7 (63.9%).

A fellow with a slightly better winnning percentage, Phoebus coach Bill Dee, has joined the 200 win club, and he did it in style. The Phantoms, who are riding a 19-game winning streak, beat Hampton 21-6 last weekend, pushing Dee's overall mark to 200-62 (76.3%) in 23 seasons, just a bit behind Crabbers coach (and Lee Co. native) Mike Smith, who could get win #400 next season, which will be his 38th at Hampton (his career record is 390-58-2, or 86.89%).

Salem has joined the growing number of teams that play at multiple-named locations. When the Spartans came back out for the 2nd half of their season-ending battle with Pulaski Co., they were playing on Willis White Field ,


Let's take a look at what's happening in our neighboring states :

Over in WV, it's semi-final weekend - defending Group AA champ Wayne, currently 12-0 with a 19 game winning streak, will host #3 seed James Monroe, while #1 Bluefield will host Scott, with record-setting QB Jordan Roberts, who rushed for 399 yards and EIGHT TD's last Sat. (he had 13 carries for 312 yards & 6 TDs in the 1st half).


A new national record was set over in KY last weekend. Lone Oak QB Corey Robinson has thrown 81 TD passes this season (in 12 games), and will likely add even more. He could also break Tim Couch's record completion rate of 75.1% and finish in the top 10 for yardage (his current avg. is just shy of 400 ypg).


Down in Tennessee, Volunteer picked up their 1st-ever playoff win by upsetting Tenn. High at the Stone Castle a couple of weeks ago. And Kingsport's Dobyns-Bennett became the 1st h.s. in the state to each the 700 win mark as they avenged an earlier loss to Oak Ridge. The Indians aren't really known for football, though - last winter, they became the first high school in the nation to pick up win # 2,000 in basketball (actually, no other team at ANY level has 2,000 wins yet).


With the decision earlier this year to end the annual Kentucky-Tennessee All-Star game between h.s. Seniors from the 2 states, a new, and possibly better, idea has been formulated. The "Battle of the Border", between seniors from Eastern Kentucky & Eastern Tennessee, will be played in mid-January at the Univ. of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, KY.


Time for my "you think WE got it bad?" remarks (which will probably became an annual thing).
NC uses a system that HAS to be worse than ours. Some schools don't know if they'll be "big" or "little" until the brackets are released, and some don't know if they'll be in the East or the West. This year, there's more than a few head-scratchers on the geography side.

Purnell Swett is a 4-A school in Pembroke, which is south of Fort Bragg near the SC border. They're closer to Myrtle Beach than Greensboro. So how in the world did they get placed in the West bracket ?!?!? They're playing in Boone this weekend. Nothing like having to fight that I-77 (or I-40) traffic on Thanksgiving weekend, eh?
Next up is Princeton, located SE of Raleigh, which made the 1-A WEST bracket - with just 2 wins!
And the #1 seed in the 1-A West bracket this year is N. Duplin, which is the first county this side of Camp Lejeune (which bumps up against the Atlantic Ocean). Their opponent this week is East Wilkes, which is due south of Galax, or about 5 hours away.

And what kind of system has Independence, a team that's won 7 straight state titles and whose first in-state loss in 6 years was by 1 point, getting a #10 seed and opening ON THE ROAD against a 4-loss team ??? That's unreal!

Speaking of Indy, head coach Tom Knotts was reinstated after missing 2 games. He was back for the rematch with Butler last Friday night, which Indy won 21-7.

And I gotta say congrats to Ashe Co. The Huskies, led by former Grayson Co. coach Bill Strong, picked up their first-ever playoff win a couple of weeks back.

Speaking of messed-up systems ... how about the NAIA playoffs? UVA-Wise, ranked 14th in the nation, stays home at 9-2. Meanwhile, in KY, 5 h.s. teams that were 0-10 made the playoffs, as did another 6 that went 1-9.


Finally, here's a baseball note that probably slipped by most people - the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are history; well, the "Devil" part is, anyway. Yep, no more "D-Rays". And they've changed their colors from green & black to blue. Meanwhile, the "P-Rays" are trying to get rid of all of their now-outdated stuff by having a big sale every Sat. in Dec. @ Hunnicutt Field.


I guess I should explain why it's been a week and a half since my last update. Actually, I've posted a couple of updates since then - they just haven't been showing up. It appears that one of the computers I use on the weekends at work and I don't see eye-to-eye on things, and my updates have been posted with an "htm" extension, which isn't the same as "html". Therefore, I pretty much had to update all that stuff this morning and roll it all together, which didn't turn out too bad. I'll watch out for that this weekend.


10:45 a.m. : Forgot to mention that the out-of-state playoff games are listed with the college games on the last schedule page.


Sat., Nov. 10, 2 a.m. : Updated the standings & ratings. Seeds are listed below. I'll try and have the sheet for the entire state done sometime Sat. night. All 4 Region D games will prob. be played on Sat. next week, and Graham might also, depending on what Bluefield (WV) decides.     8 p.m. : Updated the standings & ratings. I was hoping the official pairings would have been released by now, but they haven't.


Fri., Nov. 9, 11:45 p.m. : While I spent last weekend focused on the ratings points possibilities, I missed a BIG story from down in Charlotte. Independence High, whose 109 game winning streak came to an end over Labor Day weekend in Cincinnati, had a tough 24 hour stretch. Shortly after the JV team's 70 game win streak came to an end with a 1 point loss, head coach Tom Knotts (pulling double duty) left the post-game huddle to confront a heckling fan and apparentlly shoved a chain-link fence into the face of the un-supportive parent, leading to a bloody nose. On Friday, Knotts was suspended by the CMS school system and missed the conference championship game against Butler. The Patriots suffered ANOTHER 1-point loss to their cross-town rivals, and their 114 game in-state winning streak was brought to a skidding halt. - see the Charlotte Observer.

I'll start updating the ratings and standings after I grab a bite to eat (I just got off work at 11:30, and I still have 1 score missing)), but I already have all the SW VA playoff pairings for next week determined :

Region IV, Div. 4 : #4 Pulaski Co. @ #1 Salem, #3 Blacksburg @ #2 Bassett.

Region IV, Div. 3 : #4 Patrick Co. @ #1 Richlands, #3 Marion @ #2 Graham.

Region D, Div. 2 : #4 Honaker @ #1 Powell Valley, #3 Lebanon @ #2 Gate City.

Region D, Div. 1 : #4 St. Paul @ #1 JI Burton, #3 Appalachia @ #2 Clintwood.

Region C, Div. 2 : #4 Floyd Co. @ #1 Giles, #3 Grayson Co. @ #2 George Wythe.

Region C, Div. 1 : #4 Bland Co. @ #1 Rural Retreat, #3 Bath Co. @ #2 Holston.

Sun., Nov. 4, 2 a.m. : Updated the standings & ratings, and finished tweaking the cheat sheets for Regions D & IV.         7 a.m. : Tweaked the standings & ratings pages to add info on the Region C teams; added my Region C cheat sheet.         10 p.m. : Corrected a few adding errors in the ratings - only 1 contending team (Bath Co.) was affected, so I made a small change to the Region C cheat sheet concerning the possibilities for the #3 seed in Div. 1 (it's actually a whole lot easier now).

Here's a quick run-down :

Sat., Nov. 3, 6:30 a.m. : Updated the standings, ratings and cheat sheet for Region D. Will work on Region IV this afternoon & Region D tomorrow.

Fri., Nov. 2, 3:30 p.m. : Lot's of stuff for ya today, so grab a drink (but not a slice) and settle in.

First, check those frozen pizzas. Jenos & Totinos pizzas with pepperoni toppings might need to be tossed, so check out the specifics and refund info. And don't forget about the Banquet pot pies recall from a couple of weeks back - here's their details & refund info. Thank goodness I can finally make Peter Pan pb&j's again!

Don't forget that this weekend is when we finally "Fall back", so set those clocks back an hour before you go to bed Saturday night (unless you're going to the Rocky Horror Picture [midnight] Show in Grundy - then set your clocks back anywhere from 5 to 30 years).

NRV Sports Now follows the Roanoke Times with stories that say former Radford football coach Norm Lineburg's oldest son, Robert, is the new A.D. at R.U., replacing Greig Denny. Robert is a former All-Group AA QB for his dad back in the mid-80's, and also made all-state in basketball. He's been an asst. basketball coach @ E&H, JMU, UNC-G, VPI & SMU, and his brother Mark is the principal at Radford High.

Gotta send out a belated congratulations to the Hokies on their recent National Championship. Yep, read all about at ESPN. (NOTE - the Under Armour College Bass National Championship in Little Rock is NOT to be confused with the BoatU.S. National Collegiate Bass Fishing Championship, held three weeks earlier on Lake Lewisville near Dallas and won by the "other" major-university-with-a-full-time-Corps-of-Cadets, Texas A&M. Anyone else smell something fishy about this? Or, as my friend Robert out in Roanoke might say - looks like we have a controversy in the BCS - Bass-Catching Sports.)

Ever wished that the band would just - SHUT UP !?!?! One band director should have remembered to "do what the good officer says"; here's the story from the Newport News Daily Press.

Now for some football stuff ...

I've seen lot's of forfeit news this week. East Ridge (KY) forfeited their only 2 wins, Martinsburg (WV) forfeited their first 2 wins again, and Nansemond River (Suffolk) forfeited their only 2 wins. I'll post links with more info in a few days - I'm kinda busy with ratings points stuff right now.

Here's the stat of the week from last weekend - Gretna's FROSH QB Nick Miller threw EIGHT TD passes (NOT a state record) Monday night in the Hawks 58-9 win over Appomattox. See the Lynchburg News & Advance and the Appomattox Times for more info.

Also, a player I mentioned back on Sept. 20th - Alabama-bound kicker Corey Smith from Musselman - tied the WV record of 13 FG's in a season (VA's record is 20). He won't get to try for #14, though, since the Applemen have already finished their regular season & won’t make the playoffs.

Two weeks ago, the Thomas Walker @ JI Burton game featured FOUR second-half TD's on fumble returns;     Windsor had a 44 point 3rd quarter, with 1 kid scoring 4 of the TD's;
Richlands lost partly because of a penalty on the OTHER team - Bluefield had an int.-return TD nullified with about 2:45 left, so they drove the field, ran the clock down to :04 and kicked a FG to win. If the play had stood, the Blues would have gotten the ball back and had the opportunity to try and tie the game again);     and down in NC, a team had just 23 yards offense, 1 first down, gave up 12 points, and won by 7.

Gotta send out belated congratulations to a couple of "border" coaches - both Dudley Helton at Bell Co. & Philip Haywood at Belfry picked up career win #300th recently.

Next, contrary to what the local paper/s may say, Richlands will not the "official" SWD champs if they end up tied atop the standings, because the VHSL doesn't "crown" district champs in case of a tie - 68-8-4 (1) says District champs go to the play-offs; if you have a tie, you use the tie-breakers to find the "district playoff representative" (for the automatic bid), not the "district champion", and 68-7-1 (District Champions) says . "If two or more teams are tied in their percentge standings, the district committee shall declare them cochampions."

And finally, you're probably looking for updated info on the playoff pairings, right? Well, don't hold your breath. I don't get off the air until 11:15, so don't look for anything here until after 11:30. I'll try to post what I'm 99% sure of (from my cheat sheets) at that time in the box below (it WON'T be at the top of the page). Then I'll updated my stuff for Regions IV & D and post that next - prob. no earlier than 1 a.m. Then I'll eat a bit, work on Region C and finish D & IV (since I'll prob. still be missing some out-of-state scores at 12:30) and have all that posted sometime around sun-up, IF all goes well.

Of course, you can find out what I know earlier by tuning in to my Fri. night scoreboard around 10:00, 10:30 and 11:05 on 105.5 FM, WGTH in Richlands. Or you can listen live (Winamp required) from anywhere in the world. I also record the local scores to play every half hour overnight after the weather forecast.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find something to wear to work tonight - for some reason, I'm missing part of my outfit.

Tues., Oct. 30, 6:30 a.m. : Updated the standings, ratings and cheat sheets for Regions D & IV.


Mon., Oct. 29, 8 a.m. : Added the Region IV cheat sheet, which is just getting started, since a lot of games will be played tonight; I'll update it tomorrow morning.

Sun., Oct. 28, 2:30 a.m. : Updated the standings and rating and re-worked the schedule again.
6 p.m. : Added my first ratings possibilities cheat sheet for Region IV, Div. 3 and Region D, Div. 2.     10:15 p.m. : Added the Region D cheat sheet, showing the ratings points possibilities fo all teams with a chance to make the playoffs.

My playoff scenarios will be posted periodically over the next couple of days, since a lot of games will be played Mon. night. I should have R4 D3 up this evening, and maybe Reg. D, too. Region C and the complete Region 4 details won't be up until Tues. afternoon at the very earliest.

And while I'm thinking about it, you may have noticed a problem with your computer clock. If you haven't downloaded the patch to "fix" Congress' decision last year, you'll be seeing the wrong time for the next week, since we now "Fall-back" on the first weekend of November (blame the candy-makers for this one ... they wanted more daylight on All Hallow's Eve - which isn't a bad thing).

And don't forget to grab a free crunchy beef taco if you're out on Tuesday between 2 & 5 p.m. I don't thick Jacoby Ellsbury will be getting a Christmas card from Taco Bell anytime soon.


Sat., Oct. 27, 7 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings and re-worked the schedule due to the large number of postponed games yesterday.

Tues., Oct. 23, 2 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings after Monday night's Honaker win.

Sat., Oct. 20, 11 p.m. : Updated the standings and ratings.

Fri., Oct. 19, 1:15 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings after Haysi's 50-0 win over Hurley Thur. night.

Tues., Oct. 16, 1 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings after the Monday night game.

Sat., Oct. 13, 3 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings; I'll update these again tonight since 3 games are on tap today, and again Mon. night since Galax @ Grayson Co. was postponed until then.     5 p.m. : Updated the standings and ratings after today's games.

Tues., Oct. 9, 10 a.m. : Here's the brand-new, up-to-the-minute ratings, which give Graham & Narrows 4 more base points each, due to Bluefield & James Monroe being re-classified as AA. The VHSL also bumped 3 AA schools in WV up to AAA in the past few days : Hedgesville, Martinsburg & Musselman.


The first AP Poll of the season was released last night, and SW VA didn't get much love.


I guess it's about time to take a look at who's streaking this year :

The longest active winning streaks in Va. belong to defending champs Goochland (19), Amherst Co. (18) and Phoebus (13).

The most consecutive regular season wins leaders are Salem (29), Goochland (28), Sherando (21) and Salem-Va. Beach (20).

Half of the 14 teams that went 0-10 last season have already won a game this year, with King George leading the way at 4-1.

The longest losing streaks belong to a couple of AAA schools - George Wythe-Richmond (29) and Woodrow Wilson of Portsmouth (26).

Wondering how last year's finalists are doing?
Defending champs Amherst Co. and Phoebus are 6-0, while Goochland is 5-0;
runner-up JI Burton is 6-0;
with 1 loss apiece are defending champs Richlands and Riverheads, along with runners-up Giles, Thomas Edison and Chantilly;
Rockbridge is 4-2, Osbourn is 1-4 and defending champ Louisa Co. is 0-6.

A player you should keep an eye on is Monticello's Takeem Hedgeman. "Sonic" rushed for more than 2,000 yards last season and was on the AP's All-AA 2nd team at Running Back (along with Caleb Jennings). At the mid-point of this season, he has 1,124 yards and 19 touchdowns, thanks to a couple of games of at least 290 yards & FIVE TD's. His Mustangs are on an eight-game winning streak and looking for their first post-season trip since 2003, when they lost in the state finals to Gretna and Vic Hall.

Another Div. 3 team I gotta mention is James Monroe. The two-time defending Region I champs picked up win #500 last Friday night, and you know the Yellow Jackets would love to bring a big trophy back to Fredericksburg to go with that certificate or plaque or whatever.


Sat., Oct. 6, 10:15 a.m. : Updated the standings and ratings. I'll update these again by midnight since 3 games are on tap today.       11 p.m. : Here's the updated standings and current ratings, which include all the Saturday games.

Mon., Oct. 1, 10:45 p.m. : Here's the updated standings and the first ratings for the year.

Sat., Sept. 29, 8:45 a.m. : Updated the standings. I'll get the first ratings points standings posted in a couple of days.

Congratulations to Pound native Don Mullins. The ETSU grad was recently inducted into the Gloucester High School Athletic Hall of Fame, according to an article in this week's Gloucester Gazette Journal. Mullins was an asst. football coach in the late 60's and head coach from 1971-76, then switched to basketball and track for a while before becoming AD. He retired from teaching at GHS in 2002.


Fri., Sept. 28, 10:45 a.m. : Ready or some More Really Stupid Anagarm news - 1st, Staphalachia had to postpone a game, next it was HayStaph, and now it's Staphlewood's turn, giving Staph Paul the opportunity to go scoutin' tonight. While the Bristol Herald Courier says the make-up date is TBA, other boards are saying St Paul @ Castlewood will be played on Monday night. Meanwhile, some adjustments were made on the (red?) October page of the BDD calendar ... the Honaker @ Haysi game will be played on Mon. 10/22 & the Haysi @ Hurley game has been moved up a day to Thur., 10/18, according to the Bristol Herald Courier.

Ya know, Homecoming is supposed to be fun, but it's not happenin' that way for a couple of WV schools - The Parkersburg News and Sentinel said Parkersburg High had THREE bomb threats last Friday, but still played their homecoming game (which they won 51-0), after cancelling the parade. And The Charleston Gazette says new bleachers at Nitro and Sissonville still aren't finished, which has thrown a wrench in their plans for HC games on Oct. 5th, while Herbert Hoover has scratched plans for Oct. 12th.

Hoo, Hoo - listen up, Haysi, Sandy Ridge, Dungannon, Kingsport, Elkhorn, and all points in-between... the Kingsport Times-News says The Santa Train will roll through on Nov. 17th, and my cousin from Draffin, Patty Loveless, will once again be on-board.


Sun., Sept. 23, 9:30 a.m. : Boy, I just don't know what to expect anymore. On Friday night, Richlands, Christiansburg, Harrisonburg, Chilhowie and George Wythe all suffered their first loss of the season. Yesterday, Michigan won, App. State lost, and UVA-Wise gave up over 500 yards and 50 points to a top 10 team but still managed to get that monkey (or was it a 500 pound gorilla) named Georgetown off their back. Anyway, Holston & Bassett are the only 5-0 teams in western VA, while Salem & J.I. Burton round out the list of the remaining unbeatens at 4-0. Here's the current standings.


Gotta say congratulations to Strasburg head coach Glenn Proctor. His Rams won on Friday night, making him just the 5th VHSL coach with 300 wins.


Finally, a sad note, as the world has lost another icon. Just a couple of weeks after losing Luciano Pavarotti, Marcel Marceau has passed away at the age of 84. I'm speechless. No, wait... 1 word comes to mind - "Non!" (thanks, Mel).


Fri., Sept. 21, 10:45 a.m. : Well, this is getting a little out of hand. We have another case of staph that has caused a football game to be postponed. I've been reading newspaper stories about players infected at Appy, Clintwood & Elizabethon, along with an unidentified student at Roanoke's Northside High. Now, we have a case in Haysi that has led to tonight's big game with Honaker being put on hold indefinately, according to a story online at the Bristol Herald Courier. I still haven't seen any word out of Roanoke on the status of the games at Northside or Bogle Field.


Here's a note to anyone who read today's Bluefield Daily Telegraph story about Giles' Nathan Tanner - the Spatans did NOT "win the Group AA, Division 3 state championship two years ago" ... it was the Group A, Div. 2 crown they claimed.

12:30 p.m. : WDBJ's news at noon reports that Northside will play Salem at home tonight.


Thur., Sept. 20, 2:15 p.m. : I have mixed news out of Charlottesville - First, the VHSL has granted the requests by Castlewood, Clintwood AND Coeburn to "play down" in Div. 1 this year (Honaker had 4 students too many to appeal and is now the 2nd smallest school in Div. 2... Auburn, near Christiansburg, is the smallest). They also denied a request by Clover Hill (of Midlothian, just outside of Richmond) to be placed in Div. 5 (they had the same reason as did Haysi last year - their Fall ADM numbers were lower than the ones from the Spring).     Unfortunately, they also told the R&R Committee, which will be starting work on the 2009 alignment next month, to stay with the 3 Group set-up.     And they modified the state basketball tourney due to a combination of last year's ticket fiasco and the move by Group A to Divisional champions. Next Spring, the Div. 1 semis will be played on Wednesday aft./eve., AA on Thursday aft./eve. and Div. 2 on Friday morn./aft. Saturday's finals will be divided into 3 sessions : Div. 1 at 10 a.m., Div. 2 at 2:15 p.m. and AA at 6:30. The Group AAA finals will be on Friday night.


Yesterday's Dickenson Star reported that 2 football players at Clintwood were recently treaded for staph infections, and today's Va. Mountaineer says that (a) Grundy won't have a Homecoming parade next week because of the continuing road & water line work throughout town, and (b) Hurley's field has been deemed safe to play on.


What a strange weekend last weekend was. A "little" rain (WDBJ reported over 5" at one spot in Patrick Co. before noon on Friday) led to about a dozen games being moved from Fri. night to Sat. in the Roanoke/Martinsville/New River Valley area, along with the game over in Wise. But that was nothing compared to what The Charlotte Observer says was "dumped" on the field at Garinger High a while back. At least they could see it... according to the The Arizona Republic, Anthem Boulder Creek had a little problem with their Friday night lights. (And I know what they're going through. One night last week, someone broke into one of my dad's buildings and tried to break into the other one. We were luckier than the church just up the road - they had flooding issues because someone "removed" all of their copper pipes, along with a lot of their wiring.)


Speaking of water, when did we start playing football in the shallow end of the pool? I missed that one, somehow. The new "no diving" rule is easily the most cussed and discussed topic on quite a few boards. The Charlotte Observer ran a story a few days ago about a call that even the opposing coach disagreed with (and they have a link to the video of the play).


So, will this be the season of the kicker?? A couple of weeks ago, Blacksburg's Caleb Violette became the 4th kicker in VHSL history to make 5 field goals in a game. His counter-part in the record-tying 6 OT affair, Giles' Cody Journell, booted one from 54 yards out (just 4 yards short of the state record) and missed a 57-yarder to the right. And up in NoVa, Culpeper's Carter Mills, who made a 52-yarder last season, could make his way into the record books before the season is over. But one guy who doesn't have to wait is Corey Smith, because last Friday night in Bunker Hill, WV (just a few miles up I-81 from Winchester), the Alabama-bound kicker from Musselman made a 59 yarder in the Applemen's Homecoming game against Central (Woodstock). (See stories in The (Martinsburg) Journal and The Charleston Gazette.)

Other kickers worth noting are West Springfield's Tyler Bitancurt. He already has a 50-yarder this season and could break Shayne Graham's consecutive extra points record, and Rachel Moore, who had a 21 yard game-winner a couple of weeks ago for Hanover.


Oh, yet another North Carolina team has forfeited a couple of wins, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.


Fri., Sept. 14, 2:45 p.m. : A number of tonight's games have been switched to tomorrow due to the rain: Coeburn @ J.J. Kelly (7:30), plus a number of games east of 77 - see the schedule as of 2:30; any other changes won't be posted, since I have to get ready for work. Other info : Hurley will play AT Phelps tonight. Carroll Co. schools were dismissed at 1:00, but the Tazewell game will still be played tonight. Patrick Co., which got quite a bit of rain today, is scheduled to be Staunton River's Homecoming opponent, so I think they'll play, if the roads aren't blocked.


Wed., Sept. 12, 9 a.m. : Last Friday's Clintwood @ Appalachia game was rescheduled for Nov. 9th after one of the players was hospitalized with a staph infection, according to the Kingsport Times-News. A follow-up story on Monday said an "outbreak" was the wrong word to use, since only 2 cases had been confirmed. Appalachia is expected to play this week.

Haven't heard anything yet about Hurley's game against Phelps.

Today's Bluefield Daily Telegraph says the Bluefield Barons have a new owner and will play at Mitchell Stadium on Saturday night.

Speaking of Bluefield, former G-Man "Bullet" Bill Dudley will be honored this Sunday when the Pittsburgh Steelers introduce their Legends Team. Dudley, a former #1 draft pick out of UVA, was the last Steelers RB to lead the NFL in rushing (Franco Harris, like Tony Dorsett, only finished as high as 2nd), and also led the league in punt returns & INT's in 1946 to become the NFL MVP that season.
(And if his "official" biography is right, he had a very rare feat in a 1941 college game against the Tar Heels - he scored all 3 TD's AND kicked FOUR extra points!)

Does App State belong in the college football Top 25? Div. 1-AA (now FCS) teams have had their own poll, seperate from "the big boys", for some time now. Some voters wanted to put the 'Eers in the "main" poll last week as a form of recognition for their win at Michigan, but were told by the Associated Press that ASU wasn't eligible. Well, somehow, someway, someone changed their mind, and "lower-tier" teams are now eligible to receive votes, according to the Washington Examiner. They received a few votes this week to come in at #33, and probably would have made it higher if the Spartans had won against Oregon last weekend.

I finally got all of the forfeits typed up.

Finally, this is why you don't wear your team shirt into an opponents' bar : warning - not for the squeamish.


Fri., Sept. 7, 2:30 a.m. : I wasn't expecting to post anything until Sunday, but I just ran across another forfeit and didn't want to wait... The Journal from Martinsburg, WV says the Bulldogs are forfeiting their 1st 2 games, so Potomac Falls picks up a win for the time being.


Thur., Sept. 6, 4 p.m. : Looks like the spotlight is on the BDD today.

Hurley's still having some issues with their field - this week, it concerns the dirt that was brought in for use as topsoil when the field was being worked on a while back, according to today's Virginia Mountaineer. Since they haven't gotten the test results back yet, tomorrow night's game against Montcalm has been moved to Grundy, who's open this week.

If you have a schedule that's more than a month old, you probably didn't know that Haysi has a game this weekend - they travel to Berea (KY) for a 5:00 kickoff Saturday. (Even though the Dickenson Star's story on the Clintwood game says they're open, the matchup is on the "slate" and in the contest.) The hapless Pirates have already won as many games this season (one) as they have in each of the last 5, and have scored half as many points (60) as they did all of last season (119).

Some isolated cases of forfeit fever have been popping up recently. Last week, 3 different North Carolina teams had to give up their season-opening wins due to ineligible players, and I got word from Charlottesville that Arcadia might be forfeiting last Thursday's upset win over Nandua, which would extent the Firebirds winless streak against the Warriors to 7 years. Let's hope that stuff don't spread back here to the mountains!

And another reminder that I don't post scores here, but you can tune in to my Fri. night scoreboard around 10:00, 10:30 and 11:05 on 105.5 FM, WGTH in Richlands. Or you can listen live after the Blue Tornado games... I also record the scores to play "at the top and bottom of every hour" all night (I wonder if kids today still learn how to read a clock ?!?!?!).


Tues., Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m. : Gee, somehow I forgot to mention the game of the century. "Lowly" (Cincinnati) Elder, not even picked to win their own conference, pulled out a HUGE 41-34 win in OT Sat. night, ending (Charolotte) Independence's 109 game, 7 yeat winning steak. See stories in the Charlotte Observer and Cincinnati's Enquirer. The "big" game in the "Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge" was a Sunday battle between two of the top 5 teams in the USA Today poll. St. Xavier (Cincinnati) beat DeMatha (Md.) 28-7.

You can watch the Indy-Elder game Wed. night at 7 on ESPNU.

I just read on a Cincinnati Enquirer sportswriter's blog that Herbstreit's wish-list for next year includes Hampton & Mater Dai (Cal).


Mon., Sept. 3, 1:30 p.m. : WOW, what a weekend. While things were pretty quiet west of Wytheville, the New River & Roanoke Valleys had some pre-Labor Day fireworks. Wild weather forced 3 games in the Roanoke area to be halted and resumed today. The first-ever game at Patrick Henry's new, on-campus stadium didn't even make it through the first quarter, but that was partly because one of the concessions that was made to appease the neighbors states that "lights-out" is at 10 p.m.

Thankfully, the stadium in Pearisburg has a neighbor that's open 24 hours, so they could play all night if they wanted to... and they almost did. The Giles-Blacksburg game was still in progress when I started my 11:05 scoreboard show, but it wrapped up a few minutes later after 6 OT's, which ties the state record that was set 5 years and a day earlier about an hour up 460 in Salem when Brookville overstayed their welcome. Another record that was tied was for most field goals made in a game by a player. Blacksburg's Caleb Violette put 5 through the uprights, becoming the 4th VHSL player ever to do so.

Unfortunately, whoever called the game story in to the Roanoke & Bluefield papers made a mistake and gave both teams a made FG in the scoreless 1st OT, leading me to believe that Violette had set a new state FG record. Thank goodness Ray Cox did a more accurate write-up in Sunday's Roanoke Times.

And make plans now to be at the rematch next year in B'burg. Since last year's game went to double OT, we could end up with a TEN OT thriller that won't be done until after FFE ends!


Speaking of Roanoke, I read about a weird game in the Roanoke (Rapids, NC) Daily Herald. The Weldon at NW Halifax contest featured a 15 minute 1st quarter, a blocked-punt-recovered-in-the-end-zone-for-a-TD play that took :30 at the start of the 15 minute 2nd quarter, a QB ejected for diving into the end zone (the coach said it was to avoid the defenders), an apparent mix-up on the number of time-outs called, and a last-second strange time-keeping situation that apparently stopped a game-winning field goal from being attempted. Geez! Folks, it's games like this that make me think 'high school coaches aren't paid enough'.


Speaking of Carolina, I was a little surprised by some of their college results from Saturday - UNC won, State lost, ECU was a handful for Tech, and App. State ... well, what can you say. I think it's as big of an upset as Chaminade beating UVA with Ralph Sampson. When fans tear down their goalposts following an AWAY game you know it's big (see the Watauga Democrat for the photo and story).

Here's some good preview stories I ran across last week, from WRAL-Raleigh, the Charlotte Observer and ESPN; the WRAL game story, and a post-game "info sheet" from the Battle Creek (Mich) Enquirer.

And ESPN provides this little tidbit - App. State was only given the opportunity to play Michigan after the Wolverines turned down an offer to host Hawai'i. Even stranger ... I found where Michigan upset #10 Hawai'i in Honolulu last weekend. Looks like the UM ladies have more, uhhhh, courage than the guys.

And ESPN finally made in official - College GameDay will be in Baton Rouge this weekend for the Hokies Saturday night game with #2 LSU. The last time GameDay was to be there, Hurricane Rita prompted ESPN to make a last-minute move to Blacksburg.


Finally, here's a warning to any potential pranksters.


Thur., Aug. 30, 6 p.m. : Today, the focus is on Va. Tech, with a lot of the following info coming from NRV Sports NOW.

Tomorrow is the 8th annual Hokie Pride Day, so dig out the Chicago maroon & burnt orange (if you haven't already - slacker!). And the Roanoke Valley Hokie Club will host a pep rally at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center starting at 7 p.m.

The 2-hour documentary Hokie Nation (A film about a team, a town, and the best darned fans in college football!) will be playing at The Lyric this weekend. The 7 p.m. Friday show is a "special event" and costs $50, followed by $10 shows at 9:30 Friday, and 1 & 3:30 p.m. Sunday and Monday (hey - free popcorn day!).

Saturday's pre-game events at Lane will start with the marching bands taking thr field at 11:44, then a moment of silence before the national anthem, a fly-over by four F-15 fighter jets, a $100,000 donation by ECU to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, special recognition of the first- responders, a short video tribute, a balloon release, and the playing of Tech Triumph. The teams will run out of the tunnels at high noon, and kickoff will be at 12:04. ESPN's College GameDay will will be there, starting at 10 a.m.

Also, the Tech ribbon logo has been added to the field this season, and ALL Tech athletes will be wearing a ribbon logo patch. Athletes from other ACC schools will be sporting a black patch. Tech has decided NOT to do anything special with the number 32 (because that doesn't include those who were injured). And a special card has been put in the Tech defenses' lunch pail - it lists the names of the 32 Hokies who were killed in April.

Comcast SportsNet has a LOT of Tech stuff coming up this season, so make sure you find AND remember what channel it's on.       First, they're in the midst of "ACC Kickoff Week" - Chris Miller will be live from da 'Burg on SportsNite at 6:30 and 10 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday.       The Frank Beamer show airs at noon every Sunday, immediately followed by "Hokie PlayBack" at 12:30. On Friday nights, SportsNite will include a segment called "Talkin' Beamer Ball with Frank Beamer". On Sat. morning, they'll replay the show from the previous Sunday.       "SportsNite: On Campus" debuts Sept. 22, when William & Mary drops in.

One other thing - in should be an interesting afternoon in Ferrum Saturday. Former Rockbridge Co. QB Marcus Mayo is now a WR wearing #24 for the Panthers. Teammates Tyrone Carper and Josh Broyles, both Freshmen from Graham, all get to start their collegiate career at home against Emory & Henry, whose roster includes a few former Richlands players.

Well, gotta go and work on some stuff, since I don't have a plan on what to do if a gunman sneaks up on me.



Tues., Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. : So, I took a little detour to work Friday and made my way across Swords Creek to check out the new carpet at Fuller Field. And there it was - 120 yards of green, fake grass (one shade, not alternating), complete with white lines and orange end zones. Missing were the yard numbers, the mid-field paw print, and a few tons of rubber pellets to soften the blow from the gravel underneath (but I did see what looked like new play clocks behind both end zones). I picked up a "remnent" for a closer look, and had it delivered to "The Ernie" for others to see/feel. I tell ya, if you ever had a pair of those plastic, 2-bit pom-pons that cheerleaders toss out at some games, then you know EXACTLY what that stuff feels like. Man, it's a lot slicker than grass.

Got to see what will probably be my only game of the season Sat. night, and, boy, am I ticked!! My new pet peeve - people who hang around someplace lonnnnngggg after they're done. Now, I don't mind 5-10 minutes - long enough for a pit stop or a group decision on where to go next, but AN HOUR?? Geez, people, COME ON !!!! That made me late leaving work, which made me late getting back across the mtn. to the game, which made me miss the big fight. FIVE Rebels were ejected - yep, Grundy was really hoppin' last Sat. night, AND I MISSED ALL THE EXCITEMENT !!

Are you ready for some .... wait, that's probably trademarked & patented, so let's try this... Are you ready for 28-straight-hours-worth-of-college-football-stuff??? Yep, fire up the coffee pot, Shirley, and let's learn how to use that new DVR we got last Christmas, 'cause ESPN has 25 hours of pre-game "stuff" lined up, starting Wed. at 7 p.m.

Lane Stadium - hornet's nest, or a great photo op? See East Carolina coach Skip Holtz's comments in today's Salisbury Post.



Thur., Aug. 23, 6 a.m. : Let's start things off with a WEEKEND GAME CHANGE! Today's Bristol Herald Courier reports that the Hurley - Ervinton game has been MOVED TO GRUNDY on SATURDAY NIGHT (well, at least that gives us a SECOND option of things to do). I do believe it'll be the Reb's first HOME game at Nelson since Nov. 9th, 1979, when they blanked Pocy on Homecoming night.

How old is TOO old? Apparently, it's not 59. According to Nashville's The Tennesseean (why is Tenn. hogging my news page this Summer ???) and ESPN, Michael Flynt (pictured here in his uniform), who helped Odessa Permian win their first state title in 1965, will use his final year of eligibility at (Div. III) Sul Ross State U. after a 36-year break. This would most likely make him the oldest college player since at least the 1950's (following World War II).

Saw where Baltimore lost 30-3 last night, and immediately thought "I missed the Redskins game".

And can someone please tell me why Philly now has meat-less cheesesteaks at their ballpark???


Wed., Aug. 22 : Added the NFL games in which locals are playing and some more big college games to the weekly schedules and bought back the FAQ page.


Fri., Aug. 16, 12:30 p.m. : I really hate starting off with bad news AGAIN, but .... pre-season practice has been deadly again this year, with two known deaths in western Tenn. The Knoxville News Sentinel reported the death of a Jr. during the first day of practice and The (Nashville) Tennessean reported that an official collapsed and died during a scrimmage last week in which was son was participating.


The 2007 VHSL master football schedule (Adobe required), version 4, is now up, but it still has some mistakes. It's also the first version with out-of-state schedules listed, so those ae just now being reviewed. Still, my weekly schedules are up with the remaining discrepencies noted.

Looking though the out-of-state schedules, I was a little surprised with Kentucky. They made a couple of changes that I thought would lead to more games against Va. teams - setting specific weekends for District games and delaying the opening game a week (due to heat concerns), so we both start play at the same time; but I didn't noticed much difference from before.


Here's some late breaking news - FieldTurf is behind schedule on their field installations. In a very, VERY odd set of events, the last grass field Richlands played on, Roanoke's Dwight Bogle Stadium, has lost their first 2 home games this season (one each for Hidden Valley & Cave Spring). Bluefield's Mitchell Stadium, where they play tonight, still has a few touch-ups left to do over the next few days, and one of their opponents tonight, Martinsburg, WV, may lose their 1st home game (and about $10,000 at the gate). And the site of their first road game, Honaker, hasn't completed work on their field yet (but it's not FieldTurf).


And now, the yearly reminder - I don't post scores here (because of the difficulty in getting them right), but you can get a lot of the scores from around the area (including those from neighboring states) by tuning in to my Fri. night scoreboard around 10:00, 10:30 and 11:05 on 105.5 FM, WGTH in Richlands. Or you can listen online after the Blue Tornado games... I also record the scores to play "at the top of the hour" all night.


Let's start things off the right (weird) way ... Michael Vick sold my pit bulls on E-Bay, so I want $53 quintillion (since my last suit against WKRP, the Doobie Brothers & the 2005 Phil. Eagles didn't seem to pan out).

With hurricane season upon us, what better time than now to check your emergency supplies. Make sure you've got a few gallons of water put away, along with extra batteries and canned food that doesn't need heating (ahhhhhhh, vienna weiners!). Oh, and don't forget to check the ice. You know, that stuff can go bad after 2 years. Why else would FEMA melt 85 million pounds of it ???


Well, I STILL haven't got everything done yet... the 2007 coaching changes page won't be up for a few days (it's a real mess right now), and the weekly schedules don't have the NFL games listed (I'll work on that this weekend), but there IS enough to keep y'all busy for a while. It the meantime, I'll be starting my 4th season of making sure Blue Tornado football is available to the masses.