Blogging with Bryan C. Hanks

That’s right — I’ve procured THREE more tickets to tomorrow’s ECU-UAB game; if you’d like them, I’ll draw for them at 4:45 p.m. (about an hour from now). You can either come by the paper by 5:30 p.m. or if you’re going to the Kinston-East Duplin game, I’ll bring the tickets to you there.

E-mail me at bhanks@freedomenc.com with ECU TICKETS in the subject line.

See what you get for checking out my blog on a late Friday afternoon?

UPDATE 5:40 P.M.: Congrats to PantherFan (Floyd Reardon) for winning the tickets. See you in Beulaville, dude!

Make your own picks by going here…

Prep playoffs

Kinston 23, East Duplin 21

Pender 48, Ayden-Grifton 8

Jones Senior 24, Weldon 20

Southern Pines Pinecrest 34, Fuquay-Varina 31

Lumberton 28, Wilmington Hoggard 27

College

East Carolina 

Boston College

Penn State

Mississippi

Purdue

NFL

Detroit

Baltimore

N.Y. Giants

San Diego

Philadelphia

P.S.: I’ll be giving live updates from Beulaville at my Twitter account, located at BCHanks. Feel free to tweet me back throughout the game.

Welcome to today’s cheerleader of the day feature.

Every day, we’ll celebrate our favorite sports seasons, teams and school spirit with tasteful views of those student cheerleaders or professional cheerleaders who represent their respective teams.

Today, the nation’s leading cheerleader expert, Darren Becton, presents us with these nuggets (OK, literally one of them is a Denver Nugget, while the other picture is of the L.A. Clippers):

For a better view of the photos, click on the pictures themselves. To make a suggestion for a future COTD, leave it in the comments or send me an e-mail to bhanks@freedomenc.com. 

From ECU Director of Media Relations Tom McClellan (who, incidentally, is a hell of a guy):

Getting a lot of buzz in my e-mail about tonight’s big game, so here’s your very own thread to talk about it.

I’ll kick it off: I’ve seen Kinston twice (vs. Southern Wayne, 48-16 win; vs. Greene Central, 33-7 win) and East Duplin twice (vs. North Lenoir, 70-13 win; vs. South Lenoir, 49-21 win), so I have a pretty good read on both teams, though neither played a team in their caliber in any of the four contests.

Tonight’s game will be a classic speed (KHS) vs. size (ED) contest. This year’s Kinston team is as speedy as any I’ve ever seen, especially at the 2A level, since at least the 1992 Lincolnton Wolves team. And while East Duplin isn’t overly huge on its lines, they’re much bigger than Kinston’s. But ED’s O-line — under the direction of former North Lenoir head coach Wayne Jackson — is schematically as good as I’ve seen in a long, long time.

KINSTON WINS if the Vikings can stop East Duplin’s rushing attack. And yes, ED has a pretty potent attack with one of the most disciplined offensive lines and set of backs I’ve seen in a couple of years. Led by Wiley Jackson (remember him?) at quarterback, the ED offense is succinct, powerful and merciless. Those big kids will kick your butt on one play … then, kick your butt again on the next play.

EAST DUPLIN WINS if they can get to KHS QB Dory Hines. ED has a huge size advantage on its D-line over KHS’ O-line; if the Panthers’ linemen and linebackers can get to Hines, they’ll make short work of Kinston tonight. But if Hines is given any sort of time to get a pass off (when the Vikings aren’t rushing the ball), ED will be in trouble.

My official prediction: Kinston 23, East Duplin 21 — I think Kinston has a little too much speed for East Duplin.

I’d love to see your predictions. In fact, let’s have a little competition here; whoever gets the closest to the final amount of points scored will win a prize from The Free Press prize closet. You have to pick the correct winner and get closer to the final amount of points without going over.

For example: I pick Kinston and 44, because I think KHS wins and the final total of points will be 44. If you want to add your final score prediction, we’ll all laugh at it check it out.

Congrats to Christie Rouse (RouseHouse) for winning two tickets to tomorrow’s ECU-UAB football game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium! Christie, you will need to come by The Free Press office by 5 p.m. today or be at the Kinston-East Duplin game tonight to pick up your tickets.

There were 19 entrants for the tickets — thanks!

I’m trying to track down more tickets and it’s possible there might be another giveaway this afternoon. Stay tuned.

Congrats, RouseHouse!

OPRAH ENDING SHOW, BEGINNING NETWORK

Talk show giant Oprah Winfrey will end her show at the end of the 2011 season, her 25th on the air. She’ll be focusing her attention on starting her own cable network, which ironically will be called the OWN — Oprah Winfrey Network.

My take: Say what you want — she’s a horrible interviewer, she’s narcissistic and she’s more irritating than Carrot Top on Red Bull — but she draws the ratings and the viewers. The HB’s mom is hopelessly addicted to Oprah, and she’s one of millions in America (and around the world) with the same addiction.

She’s able to sell books for ANYONE with her book club. Additionally, she always gets the best guests; everyone who is anyone would sell their souls to be on her couch.

The downside to this announcement coming this soon is that we’re going to hear about it for the next two years. Boo.

SEX ALLEGATIONS MOUNT AGAINST MISSOURI FAMILY

In yet another disturbing story this week, a group of men from a Missouri family have been charged with a multitude of sex charges against their own sisters and daughters, including rape, bestiality and many others.

My take: If this is true, my faith in human beings just continues to drop further and further. How could you do some of the things alleged? Good grief.

Did this stuff happen 50, 75 or 100 years ago? Or have all the freaks and perverts just come out in the past decade or so?

And one of the accused looks JUST LIKE Wilford Brimley. Check out the link.

KINSTON, ED FACE OFF TONIGHT IN BEULAVILLE

It’s going down tonight in Beulaville as Kinston and East Duplin take on each other in the second round of the NCHSAA 2A football playoffs.

My take: It’s going to be a hell of a game and I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world. As I said in my Sunday column, if you’re a prep football fan — or want to support Lenoir County — you MUST be at the game tonight.

I’ll post my prediction for the game later when I post the rest of my picks.

A quick note, though, before I’m accused of being a traitor: Chris Miller of the Jacksonville Daily News will unable to make the game (he’s covering SOCCER!!!), so I’m picking up the ED angle for the JDN tonight, since the JDN is our esteemed sister paper. So when you see me on the ED sideline, don’t yell or throw things at me.

The iPod shuffle

Without Love — Bon Jovi

Lust For Life — Iggy Pop

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — The Beatles

In Da Club — 50 Cent

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear — Elvis Presley

P.S.: It’s about an hour or so until I draw for the ECU-UAB ticket winners. There are 17 entrants right now, which is awesome! If you want to get in at the last minute, send me an e-mail to bhanks@freedomenc.com. I’ll announce the winners a little after 10 a.m.

Several nuggets that don’t need their own blog entry; call this a blog mishmash:

• Our good friend and self-declared goat fetishist Jon Dawson has a funny YouTube link up over at his blog; check it out by clicking here. Of course, it’s a little PG-13, so if you’re going to call our bosses, whining and crying about innuendo and such, do us both a favor and don’t check it out. HOWEVER, if you want to laugh your butt off and get a new respect for Johnson outboard motors, be sure to head on over…
• Don’t forget, I’m giving away a pair of UAB-ECU football tickets tomorrow at 10 a.m. Send me an e-mail to bhanks@freedomenc.com with ECU tickets in the subject line and you’re in the running. I’ve had seven entries, but I’d love to see more folks enter. I might even have an extra pair, so get your name in the pot! Remember, you have to be able to come by The Free Press office by 5 p.m. Friday or be at the Kinston-East Duplin game Friday night to collect your tickets.
• Our good friend and my predecessor, Charlie Kraebel, has re-started his “Krabcakes and Football” blog. Although most of it deals with some Yankee town named Amsterdam, N.Y., or something like that, he still delves into interesting material, including Sarah Palin on Newsweek (yes, I’m fighting the temptation to post that cover again), the NFL and blogging about blogging. Check it out.

Welcome to today’s cheerleader of the day feature.

Every day, we’ll celebrate our favorite sports seasons, teams and school spirit with tasteful views of those student cheerleaders or professional cheerleaders who represent their respective teams.

With No. 4 North Carolina (how can they they be ranked THAT high?) taking on No. 15 Ohio State today at 9 p.m., the country’s leading cheerleading expert, Darren Becton, introduces us to representatives from each university:

For a better view of the photos, click on the pictures themselves. To make a suggestion for a future COTD, leave it in the comments or send me an e-mail to bhanks@freedomenc.com. 

DAD ARRESTED FOR KILLING SON FOR HAVING SEX WITH 3-YEAR-OLD

In a story that seems like it comes straight out of the Old Testament, a Michigan father took his 15-year-old son to a vacant parking lot, made the teenager strip and shot him to death after the son told his mother that he had sexual contact with a 3-year-old girl.

My take: Like everyone else, my first reaction was … “wow, how could that happen?”

But there are a lot of fathers on this blog. How would you react if you heard that? I doubt you’d grab your 9-mm and blow your son away, but wouldn’t you want to beat the crap out of him?

As the linked story implies, the father’s lawyer is probably going to use an temporary insanity defense, but … wow. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a story like this.

‘TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON’ OPENS TONIGHT

It’s one of the most eagerly-anticipated movies of the year and it opens tonight at midnight: “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” hits theaters. Evidently, the movie is about vampires, teen angst and stuff.

My take: Whatever. I do know that Jon Dawson already got his tickets for the movie and said he wants to sit down in front. OK, that’s a joke, but …

The funniest Facebook status update about the movie I’ve seen comes from our very own Heelsfan (Jonathan Davis): “I’m so pumped up about the New Moon movie tonight at midnight!!!! Why you might ask? Cause I will have the house to myself from atleast 11:30pm-3:15am!!!”

Awesome.

JETS COACH SHOWS UP TO PRESSER WITH KLEENEX

N.Y. Jets coach Rex Ryan came to his Wednesday press conference with a box of Kleenex. Why? Evidently, he broke down and cried at a Monday meeting with his team.

My take: First off — as the N.Y. Post story above states — that was a funny move by the coach at Wednesday’s presser. Cryin’ Ryan seems to have a great sense of humor.

Secondly — as much as I bash Betty Fav-ruh for her constant tears — I have no problem with this. While I feel Betty turns on the tears like a spigot to make his sheep followers (yes, Lee Raynor, I’m looking at you) try to love him more, from all accounts, this was a spontaneous event … not pre-planned like that junk Fav-ruh does.

Lastly, since when did the locker room lose its sanctity? A story like that should NEVER come out. I know there are 500 newspapers in the Big Apple, but there is no way a player should go to the press about his coach crying. That’s a player that — in the old days, at least — would get his ass kicked by his teammates.

The iPod shuffle

Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good — Nickelback

America The Beautiful — Frank Sinatra

Just Don’t Give A F*** — Eminem

The First Time — U2

Legs (Remix) — ZZ Top