Out of it

Went to Florida last Thursday as a chaperon for a high school trip, so for the last four days, I have been out of it in terms of news from the sports world. With that being the case, here are a few comments from the week that was:

Shelby's boys are still in the playoffs - Congrats to Coach Ken Napier and his senior-laden team. The Golden Lions finally dispatched Pisgah after two straight years of playoff frustration. The Bears were 74-4 over the last three seasons including a 51-game win streak and a 2A state championship. Good luck to the Golden Lions as they travel to Winston-Salem this weekend for the Regional semis and, hopefully, finals. Shelby plays West Caldwell in the semis on Friday night at 8:30 and Lawrence Joel Coliseum. If the Lions win, they'll play Saturday night for the right to go to the state championship.

Olympics come to an end - I was disappointed in the US overall with 25 total medals. I guess I should be happy that we were second in the world in that category, but it just seemed to be a down year for the US. Fourteen of the medals came in two sports - speed skating and snowboarding. I'm fine with the skating, but I still can't get too excited about a X-Games sport turned Olympic event. Throw in the Lindsey Jacobellis mess, the Bode Miller fiasco and the US hockey team's abysmal showing and the whole thing was a disappointment. Before I get away from the Olympics though, let me go on record as saying that if the NHL players can only win one game in hockey, it's time for the US to go back to an all-amateur team. We may never see another "miracle on ice" but at least the kids will have their heart in it.

Dancing with the Stars - I guess this topic doesn't deserve space here, but Jerry Rice was involved. Jerry didn't deserve a slot in the finals, but "America voted" and there he was. Thank goodness he didn't win. Jerry, the greatest wide receiver of all-time, looked about as graceful as me and that's not very graceful. By the way, before you guys start slamming me about watching this ABC show, take a gander at some of the photos of the WWE's Stacy Keibler. Holy cow.

Next Week - I'll try and be "with it." See ya.

What's up with that?

Most everyone who knows me, knows that one of my "catchphrases" is What's up with that? I don't pretend to be the person who coined the term, but I've been using it for a long time. In the world of sports these days it seems that more and more I'm asking myself and others, What's up with that? This will probably show up in my blog over and over again.

What's up with Lindsey Jacobellis? My girl had a gold medal all but around her neck and... I would have felt a whole lot better about it if she had come clean, admitted to showboating and apologized. Taking the other road, where she denied hot-dogging left me a little down on the blond beauty.

What's up with Bode Miller? This guy is all we heard about leading up to the games and he has been a complete bust. Except for Dan Jansen falling Olympics after Olympics in speed skating, I can't think of a bigger disappointment.

What's up with Jimmie Johnson and his crew chief? NASCAR sends the chief home for cheating and Jimmie still wins the big one. Reckon NASCAR pulled out that fine-tooth comb for the post-race inspection?

What's up with Barry Bonds? He's quoted in USA Today saying that 2006 will be his last year record or not. Then today he says he may play in '07 if he feels good. Gimme a break.

What's up with Ricky Williams? His mom and agent says there's no way he smoked marijuana again. I'm not going to pass judgement, but that's a "What's up with that?" within a "What's up with that?"

What's up with the NCHSAA and these basketball playoff pairings? The Kings Mountain girls win the SWC 2A/3A tourney and doesn't even get a bid, while the Burns boys get a bye and a home game after finishing third in the league. I know the Bulldogs got a break based on the split league, but come on. The NCHSAA needs to get a grip.

What's up with Sasha Cohen? The US skater soared into first place after round one of the figure skating competition Tuesday in Torino. Did someone say Michelle Kwan?

What's up with the US hockey team? The team made up of NHL all-stars lost again today and somehow still advanced to the quarterfinals. The next loss, and it will probably be to Group A leader Finland, will be the last for this underachieving bunch.

What's up with Tony Stewart? The Home Depot hothead lashed out at NASCAR earlier in the week about bump-drafting and then acting as if he was driving a bumper car at Daytona on Sunday. That rascal was involved in a half a dozen paint-swapping incidents and had Matt Kennseth fuming when the 500 was over.

Well, let me run. I'm heading to FLA with the pitchers and catchers. Maybe I'll have a tan to report next week?

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you out there that care about that sort of thing. I think it's just another way for department stores to make a killing off us. I will say this, I refuse to pay $60+ for a dozen roses. What's up with that anyway? Let's get on with the sports for this week. Anybody watching the Olympics? Read something today that NBC is worried because the US team is struggling at the outset of these games. Yeah. Apolo Ohno slipped the other night trying to move from second to first in a qualifying heat. No need for the risk in a race that meant nothing as long as you finish second or better. Why take the risk then? Hey, I guess you can't fault a guy who lays it all on the line every time out. It wasn't the smartest move, but you gotta love him from the competitor's point of view. The losing continued Monday and Tuesday with Nike's boy Bode Miller. Boy, talk about a bust. Nike has run Bode commercials enough to drive a sane man crazy and for what? Miller finished fifth in the downhill and today was disqualified from the men's combined. Will he pull at least one medal out in the men's Super-G? Good question. The snowboarders have ruled for the U.S. Figures. We're dominating in the crazy stuff and getting drilled in the more traditional events. At least Michelle Kwan did the right thing and pulled out of the Games. I may be on an island, but I didn't think she deserved the spot in the first place. Gold medalist Sarah Hughes will send her sister, Emily, to defend her title from the Salt Lake City Games. Finishing third at the nationals should have earned her the spot in the first place, but justice is served by allowing her to compete now. I just hope all her travel problems don't hurt her in the long run.

The high school basketball teams are in full swing this week. Not sure that winning a conference tournament title will do any of them any good, but they are playing anyway. Three of the four county squads will be in action at Shelby High on Wednesday night in the Southwestern 2A/3A tourney. Burns faces East Rutherford at 6:30 with Shelby hosting Kings Mountain at 8:00. If nothing else, it makes for a fun evening of hoops rivalry.

Did anyone watch the Pro Bowl? Well, anyone besides my 9-year-old? He kept me up to date on the score, but that's about all I know. Football is the one sport that's all-star game should be done away with. One of these days a major star is going to get hurt in Hawaii and that's going to be it. Unlike the other major sports' all-star games, they have it so far away that the "average" fan can't get there AND they have it after the season. Baseball has the home run derby, basketball has the slam dunk contest and football has...? That's just another reason to name the all-pro team and leave it at that. Besides, after all the guys pull out due to phantom injuries (Tom Brady, etc.) they really aren't left with an all-pro game.

Man, am I negative or what?

A bit of good news on the sports front and I'll leave it with you. Classic Country 1390 AM has become FOX Sports 1390. Andy Foster and Jeff Champion host a two-hour local show each weekday morning from 7-9:00 and the rest of the day is syndicated sports radio from FOX. Good luck to those guys.

That will do it for this week. Shoot me an email or post a comment.

Posting Premier

So I’m going to be writing a blog now for Cleveland Headline Sports. What is a blog anyway? Sounds like some kind of monster from an old Godzilla movie or something. Anyway, I was going to get started last week, but decided to wait until after the Super Bowl to begin. I’m glad I did because there is plenty to talk about after Sunday night’s game. Maybe it’s just me and my becoming more impatient as the years go by and my kids getting older, but I thought the officiating in the game was terrible. Earlier in the year, I thought the Crest-Shelby football game was as bad as I’ve seen in a big game (and the Super Bowl is almost as big as Crest-Shelby), but last night might have beat it. In the Crest-Shelby game, I thought the officiating was bad on both sides. Sunday night, the officials seemed to be clearly in favor of the Steelers. I counted at least five calls that went against the Seahawks that played a huge part in the outcome of the game. Sure, you have to overcome those kinds of things and the Seahawks did not do that, but at some point you just have to wonder if there isn’t a conspiracy. I mean, did we all not hear about Jerome “the Bus” Bettis and his return to his hometown of Detroit about 800 times? I like the Bus. He’s been a heck of a fantasy player in my league over the years and is 5th all time on the NFL career-rushing list, but do you think the other 52 men on the Steelers roster had any desire to win that game for themselves? To hear the media tell it, the Steelers were there to win for Bettis. Gimme a break. As far as the game goes, I thought it was boring. If not for the déjà vu early in the third quarter when Willie Parker broke the 75-yard run (he had an 80-yarder against Shelby in the 1997 state championship game), there would have been little to get me excited. Sure Pittsburgh had the end-around pass from Antwan Randel El to Hines Ward for a TD, but fans have come to expect those kinds of plays from Bill Cowher. Remember Mike Stewart, the former coach at Crest? That rascal called a trick play every week. You knew it was coming (I’m sure Seattle was prepared), but sometimes it’s still hard to stop. The key for calling trick plays is the timing. Cowher, and Stewart for that matter, seem to have the knack for calling those plays at the right time. I biggest problem with Seattle was the lack of plays for Shaun Alexander. The guy is a beast (1,880 yards and 28 TDs) yet he only had 20 carries. You might argue that the Seahawks had to go to the air exclusively down the stretch because they were behind, and I agree, but if Alexander had gotten another 10 touches early, they wouldn’t have been in that catch-up situation. That’s a lot of writing about a dud of a game, but this country is crazy about “Super Sunday.” Well, let me get out of here for this week. Shoot me an email at sports@cable33.com and let me know your thoughts or ideas for future blog topics.