Monthly Archives: October 2008

Oct. 31 scores: Congratulations to Kinston for first conference title since 1982!

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Come back all night for scores from area and all over the state.

Kinston 33, Wilson Beddingfield 32 — The Vikings scored with 38 seconds left and went for two and the victory. It wasn’t over though — Beddingfield drove down the field and attempted a 25-yard field goal that missed. Kinston’s win gives them at least a share of their first conference title since 1982; if the Vikings beat Eastern Wayne next week at home (and does anyone doubt they will?), they’ll win the title outright. SPECIAL THANKS to my boy Steve Lovick for giving me the (screaming!) play-by-play over the final couple of minutes while I was driving!

Goldsboro 53, North Lenoir 0 — Hawks fall to 3-7, 0-4 and have to win next week’s home game with Greene Central to become playoff-eligible

Croatan 39, South Lenoir 28 — Blue Devils fall to 2-8, 1-5 and are eliminated from playoff consideration

Fayetteville Trinity Christian 52, Parrott Academy 12 — Bill Rowe ends career with 169 victories and as the winningest 8-man head coach in N.C. history

Greene Central 18, Farmville Central 7 — The Rams improve to 3-7, 1-3 and can become playoff-eligible with a win at North Lenoir next week

Ayden-Grifton 60, Princeton 0 — The Chargers roll again and set up a Carolina 1A championship game against North Johnston next week

Jones Senior 45, Topsail 21 (thanks, ECPirates11!) – The Trojans roll to their second straight Coastal Plains 1A title.

Scores from around the state, courtesy of the Associated Press:

Albemarle 31, Marshville Forest Hills 14

Alexander Central 35, McDowell County 25

Apex Middle Creek 25, Raleigh Athens Drive 20

Ashe County 30, Wilkes Central 28

Asheboro 60, Randleman 17

Asheville 27, Franklin 15

Asheville Reynolds 37, South Caldwell 0

Belmont South Point 65, North Gaston 7

Bessemer City 35, South Iredell 33

Boonville Starmount 40, North Surry 13

Brevard 38, North Henderson 21

Burlington Cummings 22, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons 8

Burnsville Mountain Heritage 42, Avery County 0

Camden County 36, Perquimans County 20

Charlotte Garinger 21, Charlotte Harding 17

Charlotte Independence 35, East Mecklenburg 14

Charlotte Latin 30, Charlotte Country Day 10

Charlotte Providence 28, Charlotte Myers Park 21

Charlotte Providence Day 14, Charlotte Christian 10

Cherokee 42, Andrews 20

Clayton 14, Knightdale 13

Croatan 39, South Lenoir 28

Davie County 27, North Forsyth 0

Dunn Midway 33, Wallace-Rose Hill 7

Durham Hillside 33, Northern Durham 19

East Duplin 20, Clinton 19, OT

East Forsyth 38, Greensboro Grimsley 31, OT

East Henderson 36, Canton Pisgah 35

East Rutherford 36, Lawndale Burns 27

East Surry 24, West Wilkes 13

East Wilkes 39, Alleghany County 22

Edenton Holmes 15, Currituck County 14

Elizabeth City Northeastern 41, Pasquotank County 0

Erwin Triton 33, Hope Mills Gray’s Creek 12

Fairmont 8, St. Pauls 6

Fayetteville Britt 39, Fayetteville Byrd 20

Fayetteville Westover 21, Southern Pines Pinecrest 7

Fuquay-Varina 28, Apex 21

Garner 24, East Wake 12

Gastonia Forestview 30, Gastonia Huss 6

Gates County 38, North Edgecombe 14

Goldsboro 53, North Lenoir 0

Greene Central 18, Farmville Central 7

Greensboro Dudley 48, Western Alamance 0

Greensboro Page 45, High Point Central 14

Greenville Rose 28, South Central Pitt 0

Hayesville 63, Murphy 14

Hertford County 42, Kill Devil Hills First Flight 14

Hickory 35, West Caldwell 20

High Point Andrews 20, Southwest Guilford 13

Huntersville Hopewell 26, Charlotte Vance 19, 2OT

Jacksonville Northside 45, Richlands 7

Jacksonville White Oak 28, Wilmington Laney 7

Jones County 45, Topsail 21

Kannapolis Brown 52, Indian Trail Porter Ridge 0

Kernersville Glenn 6, Pfafftown Reagan 3

Kernersville McGuinness 17, North Stokes 8

Kings Mountain 28, R-S Central 21

Kinston 33, Wilson Beddingfield 32

Lee County 21, Morrisville Green Hope 19

Lejeune 21, Dixon 19

Lexington 61, Central Davidson 28

Lincolnton 42, Cherryville 14

Lumberton 48, Cape Fear 44

Maiden 35, Hickory St. Stephens 30

Matthews Butler 57, Weddington 14

Mayodan McMichael 27, Winston-Salem Atkins 20

Monroe Parkwood 14, Concord 0

Mooresville 44, West Iredell 14

Mt. Airy 50, Elkin 6

Mt. Pleasant 35, West Stanly 14

New Bern 63, West Carteret 16

New Hanover County 38, West Brunswick 7

Newton Foard 35, Catawba Bandys 28

Newton-Conover 47, Claremont Bunker Hill 0

North Brunswick 21, Whiteville 14

North Duplin 49, Rosewood 21

North Lincoln 45, West Lincoln 19

Northern Vance 52, Southern Alamance 12

Northwest Cabarrus 34, East Rowan 7

Oxford Webb 34, Eastern Alamance 20

Pembroke Swett 56, Fayetteville Pine Forest 36

Pikeville Aycock 32, Eastern Wayne 24

Plymouth 32, Manteo 26, 2OT

Polk County 27, Black Mountain Owen 14

Raleigh Millbrook 16, Wake Forest-Rolesville 15

Raleigh Ravenscroft 65, Harrells Christian Academy 34

Raleigh Sanderson 12, Raleigh Enloe 6

Raleigh Wakefield 41, Raleigh Broughton 24

Reidsville 51, Southern Guilford 6

Robbinsville 53, Towns County, Ga. 28

Rocky Mount 35, Nash Central 7

Salisbury 52, North Rowan 8

Scotland County 20, Hoke County 13

Shelby 31, Forest City Chase 14

Shelby Crest 42, East Gaston 0

South Brunswick 43, East Columbus 28

South Columbus 35, Rocky Point Trask 12

South Granville 10, Burlington Williams 0

South Johnston 24, Cameron Union Pines 20

South Stanly 41, Monroe Central 0

Southeast Raleigh 35, Holly Springs 14

Southern Durham 39, East Chapel Hill 0

Southern Vance 40, Warren County 34, OT

SouthWest Edgecombe 46, Northern Nash 28

Southwest Onslow 55, Swansboro 0

Spring Lake Overhills 14, Western Harnett 7

St. David’s 39, Rocky Mount Academy 18

Statesville 20, China Grove Carson 17

Surry Central 53, East Bend Forbush 45

Swain County 33, Rosman 7

Sylva Smoky Mountain 42, West Henderson 21

Tarboro 55, North Pitt 29

Thomasville Ledford 14, Providence Grove 7

Trinity 15, Southwestern Randolph 12

Waynesville Tuscola 59, Enka 14

Weldon 20, Southeast Halifax 14

West Columbus 22, South Robeson 8

West Craven 42, Greenville Conley 7

West Davidson 29, East Davidson 0

West Mecklenburg 24, Charlotte Waddell 14

West Rowan 56, South Rowan 7

West Stokes 28, Eastern Guilford 27

Wilmington Hoggard 52, Jacksonville 14

Wilson Fike 33, Southern Nash 14

Wilson Hunt 43, Southern Wayne 26

Winston-Salem Carver 31, Winston-Salem Parkland 20

Winston-Salem Mt. Tabor 20, North Davidson 3

Winston-Salem Reynolds 37, West Forsyth 34

My picks, Week 11

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To make our good friend TwinFan happy, you can click here to go to the picks page (instead of going through three pages of other stuff).

Now, to my picks:

Prep

Kinston at Wilson Beddingfield: KHS

Goldsboro at North Lenoir: GHS

South Lenoir at Croatan: CHS

Farmville Central at Greene Central: GC

Topsail at Jones Senior: JS

College

East Carolina at Central Florida: ECU

Miami at Virginia: UVa

Florida State at Georgia Tech: GaT

Florida vs. Georgia: UF

Texas at Texas Tech: UT

Pro

Baltimore at Cleveland: Bal

Atlanta at Oakland: Atl

Arizona at St. Louis: Ari

New England at Indianapolis: Indy

Pittsburgh at Washington: Wash

UNC fans, you can now panic

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North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough has suffered a stress reaction condition and is out indefinitely. The condition is not quite a stress fracture, but if he doesn’t rest it, it could turn into a worse situation.

My take: Carolina is the consensus No. 1 pick in the nation — and the frontrunner to win the national championship. But it only takes something like this to gum up the works and knock them off the pedestal.

A lot of things have to go right for a team to win a national championship — and avoiding injuries is one of the most important parts.

NCHSAA releases ADMs

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The NCHSAA released its annual Average Daily Membership numbers; here’s where our area shakes out (and my projections in parentheses of where the schools will play in the football playoffs, if they qualify):

3A

Kinston — 946 (small 3A; 87th out of 93 3A schools)

2A

North Lenoir — 1,063 (big 2A; 9th out of 94 2A schools)

South Lenoir — 849 (small 2A; 55th out of 94 2A schools)

Greene Central — 831 (small 2A; 62nd out of 94 2A schools)

1A

Ayden-Grifton — 666 (big 1A; 17th out of 74 1A schools)

Jones Senior — 375 (small 1A; 64th out of 74 1A schools)

My take(s): The gap between NL and KHS continues to grow; now NL has 117 more students than KHS? Wow.

Remember, these numbers are moot if you don’t get the requisite four wins to qualify for the playoffs; that is, unless you’re 1A and nearly EVERYONE gets in, since there are 64 berths. The four win-plateau will hurt North Lenoir (3-6), South Lenoir (2-7) and Greene Central (2-7). Kinston (7-2), Ayden-Grifton (6-3) and Jones Senior (8-1) have already clinched playoff spots.

Topsail, which is the highest 1A school in this final year of this realignment, actually has 1,037 — 91 more than Kinston, who is 3A this year. Again, wow.

How does Jones Senior stay competitive, with only 375 students? And remember, JS has Topsail tonight — a school with two-and-a-half times more students in it. It’s either good coaching or a run of good athletes coming through Jones County right now (I’m voting for both).

Morning News Report; Oct. 31, 2008

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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

EXXON MOBIL MAKES $14.83 BILLION (WITH A B) LAST QUARTER

And you thought they made a ton of money last time? Exxon Mobil had a net income of $14.83 billion last quarter, easily eclipsing the profits it turned over the previous three months.

My take: I’m for free markets and all, but for a company to clear that much money while gas was approaching $4 a gallon (and eclipsing it) is ridiculous.

The profits shouldn’t be so high next quarter, though, with oil prices dropping and the economy souring.

OBAMA’S INFOMERCIAL DRAWS 33 MILLION VIEWERS

If Barack Obama doesn’t win the presidency, he can always go into TV. His infomercial drew 33 million viewers Wednesday night, making it the most-viewed “show” that night.

His appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart drew 3.6 million viewers, the most ever for a show on Comedy Central.

My take: I didn’t see the infomercial, but from what I’ve read, he focused on the economy in it. Do you think it was money well-spent?

SINGLETARY DROPS TROU TO MAKE A POINT

As if Mike Singletary’s post-game rant wasn’t awesome enough (right, Flagan?), the news has now come out of San Francisco that he dropped his pants at halftime, exposing his butt to his 49ers to show them how they were playing.

The 49ers trailed 20-3 at halftime to Seattle — prompting Singletary to pull his pants down and talk to his team with them around his ankles for 3 to 4 minutes.

Why did he do it? According to a blog on the team’s site, he said, “I used my pants to illustrate that we were getting our tails whipped on Sunday and how humiliating that should feel for all of us.”

My take: Obviously, it didn’t work — they lost 34-13 — but he’s pulling all his cards (and butt) out early, isn’t he?

The iPod shuffle

Against The Wind — Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

Made You Look — NaS

Mystify — INXS

Heartland — U2

Why — Annie Lennox

Shrine Bowl team announced; no area players AGAIN

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The 2008 N.C.-S.C. Shrine Bowl team has been announced and — for (at least) the seventh year in a row, there aren’t any Free Press players on the list.

My take: Frankly, I’m not surprised any longer. I would’ve thought North Lenoir’s Marquez Powell or Jones Senior’s Covair Frost would’ve had a shot at it, but I wasn’t shocked when I didn’t see their names.

This is my seventh season in this area and there hasn’t been one — not one — player selected to the Shrine Bowl. I’m not saying it’s not fair — everyone knows football is not the first priority around here — but you figure there’d be one to slip through the cracks in seven years.

Of course, if Quinton Coples would’ve stayed at Kinston for his senior year in 2007, he probably would’ve been selected. And Greene Central’s Brandon Sutton should’ve been picked in 2006. Other than that, there’s no argument.

Morning News, errr, Sports Report; Oct. 30, 2008

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PHILLIES WIN FIRST WORLD SERIES IN 28 YEARS

The Philadelphia Phillies won Wednesday’s rain-delayed resumption game, 4-3, to down the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and win the World Series, four games to one.

My take: Although they’re not my team now (I was and remain an Atlanta Braves bandwagon jumper), the Phillies were my first favorite MLB team. Congratulations to the Phillies and their long-suffering fans on a great title.

JOHN DALY SPENDS NIGHT IN WINSTON-SALEM JAIL

Pro golfer John Daly spent a night in a Winston-Salem jail to sober up after police determined he was too drunk to drive or leave a Hooter’s Restaurant.

My take: How much is all this our (and when I say “our”, I mean our society’s) fault? We glorify and praise this guy for being “everyman” because he gets out there and drinks, smokes and “has fun” all the time.

I know this much: He needs to clean up his act, and soon. He’s already lost his PGA card and he’s just a shell of his former talented self. I don’t want to read (what seems to be) the inevitable story about his death from drunk driving or suicide — and that seems to be where he’s heading.

UNC NO. 1 IN ESPN/USA TODAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL POLL

Surprise, surprise — North Carolina is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today college basketball poll. The Tar Holes Heels received all 31 first-place votes.

ACC-wise, Duke is No. 5, Miami is No. 16 and Wake Forest is No. 24. Davidson is No. 20.

For the complete poll (the above link goes to the story), click here.

My take: There’s no reason UNC shouldn’t be No. 1; heck, if I had a vote in the AP poll (I don’t), I’d vote the Heels No. 1.

You have to play a whole season, though. Let’s see where they stand in April.

And no, Virginia didn’t receive any votes.

Morning News Report; Oct. 30, 2008

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OBAMA TAKES OVER YOUR TV

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama didn’t only have his pricey multi-million dollar infomercial run simultaneously on seven networks (CBS, NBC, Foxlast night, he also appeared on ABC’s World News Tonight with Charles Gibson, his informercial, an appearance on The Daily Show on Comedy Central.

He wrapped up his day with an appearance with former president Bill Clinton in Florida, which was carried live by every 24-hour news channel.

My take: I don’t care if you’re for him or against him (and we have plenty of the latter in this forum), but this is TOO DAMNED MUCH! Is this what the final five days of this campaign is going to be like?

My money (and Obama’s $600 million warchest) says yes. Get ready for wall-to-wall Obama, whether you like it or not.

The next logical question is whether there will be fallout from this. Too much is too much.

PALIN EFFIGY TAKEN DOWN

Showing there is some poetic justice in the world, the Sarah Palin effigy that was hanging in West Hollywood has been taken down after the owner of the house met with the mayor of his city.

My take: I’ll say the same thing I did originally — what if someone had hung an effigy of Obama at their house? It would’ve lasted 10 minutes before Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton would’ve started their march at the house, screaming about lynching.

Freedom of speech only applies in certain situations, no?

BEATLES IN “ROCK BAND” VIDEO GAME?

Apparently, yes, but not under the Rock Band title, but a completely separate entity (although still created by Rock Band’s company, Harmonix). It’s set to hit shelves by Christmas, 2009.

My take: I am a huge Guitar Hero and Rock Band fan, so, of course, I think this is going to be AWESOME.

The iPod shuffle

Free Your Mind — En Vogue

I’ll Be Alright Without You — Journey

Social Disease — Bon Jovi

Before You Accuse Me — Eric Clapton

Heart Shaped Box — Nirvana