Playoff time in Cleveland County

How about Cleveland County high school football? Can you believe that three of the four teams are representing as a #2 seed as the NCHSAA playoffs begin this weekend? You gotta love that.

Burns got off to a slow start, but with a seeding record of 8-2 the Bulldogs have a chance to go a long way in the 3AA. A first-round match with Trinity looks like an easy opener for Coach Ron Greene's bunch.

Crest had a couple shots of adversity during the season - an early lost to archrival Shelby and a late defeat to Hunter Huss could have had the Chargers in a bind, but they bounced back with two wins in the final week to roll into the 4A playoffs. The win over East Gaston last Monday night was HUGE and the big offensive effort on Friday night against South Point has the Charger faithful in high gear. Crest was seeded #2 at 9-1 and will open at home against JM Robinson. No problems for Crest as they will move on to Round 2.

Shelby lost a coin flip for the #1 seed in 2AA, but will host three rounds of playoffs just like Burns and Crest if everything goes well. Shelby, 10-0 for playoff purposes, gets an old Southern Piedmont foe in West Lincoln in the opener. It should be an easy win for the Golden Lions and a ticket to the second round.

Basketball is getting cranked up in the county as well and two new coaches join the ranks. John Wall will be at the helm of the Crest ship this season in boys' varsity, while Aubrey Hollifield takes over at Shelby. Bill Ellis and Ken Napier each decided to step down into retirement after last season and I wish them both the best.

That's it for now. I'll try and keep up through the playoffs.

Slack?

I guess you hadn't seen slack until you started reading this blog, huh? I mean, it's only been three months since I posted. I wish I had an excuse, but me being busy just doesn't seem to be a legitimate excuse. Here are a few of my thoughts on some things in the world of sports.

My Braves finally broke a 10-game losing streak over the weekend. I read with interest Randy Capps' and Alan Ford's comments in the newspaper the other day. I don't know that I agree with Randy at all. The Braves could indeed trade Chipper or Andruw Jones or even John Smoltz, but I don't see them doing it and in the long run I don't know that it would help the franchise. The Braves would have a tough time drawing a crowd if they up and gave up on the season. Trading one of the Joneses or Smoltz would indicate a giving up on more than the season. They could mess around and really get themselves in a bind if they did that. The move of Jorge Sosa to the bullpen might be the answer to the closer position and maybe if some of their injuries heal, they'll be able to put something together in the second half. The run may be over, but there's no reason to sell out at this point.

How about my Tar Heels? They could win the NCAA title tonight in Omaha with another win over Oregon State. It would be the first ACC team to win it all since 1955. Of course Miami has won a title since '55, but not as a member of the ACC. Good luck to the Heels.

Staying with baseball, Post 82 has been red-hot this summer. Coach Mike Grayson's bunch got cooled off a bit this past week in FLA, but that was a tournament with some of the top teams in the Southeast. They should still be poised to make quite a run in the state tournament.

Speaking of Coach Grayson, congrats to Coach Suzanne Grayson and her KM softball squad. The Lady Mountaineers pulled out another thrilling state championship a couple weekends back. Seven seniors played their last game in a KM uniform, but with a lot of talent returning, Coach Grayson's bunch should be in good shape again next year.

I'll be losing six players off my Pee Wee League team this year, so I know what Coach Grayson will be going through. None of my kids will read this, but I'm going to miss Kris Evans, Hayden Hojnacki, Brett Hendrick, Grayson McKee, Forrest Roberts and David Allen, Jr. Five of those six have been with me for three seasons. It'll be tough moving on next year without them. Good luck in Little League, guys.

Hey, football season is just around the corner. Coach Chris Norman's defending state champs will have a surprise for everyone when they travel to Ashbrook the second week of the season. I know what it is, but I'll keep it too myself. I know the oldtimers will love it.

I'll try and do better with this thing. Ya'll be good.

Slack

That's a good word to describe me about this blog of late. My bad.

It took me a couple of days to get over Shelby getting beat in the state finals on Saturday. Great game. Golden Lions came up three short in a game that, unbelievably, Shelby couldn't hit the broad side of the barn from the field or the free-throw line. Shelby picked the worst possible time to go cold as a team. Despite the loss, it was an outstanding season for the Golden Lions. Congratulations!

Wish I had a video link to a dunk Shelby had in the first quarter. Holy Cow. Danny Sanders threw a ball off the backboard for Ed Gullatte. Gullatte caught it and slammed it in true NBA All-Star-like fashion. It was unbelievable.

Congrats also to Shelby Coach Ken Napier. After 33 years on the bench, Coach is retiring. Best of luck in the future, Ken. You are a class act.

Anyone watching the World Baseball Classic? My 10-year-old and I are. There have been some good games. Hope the USA can muster enough intensity to pull it out. The Latin teams seem to be taking the whole thing a lot more seriously.

Interesting stuff out of the NFL. Duante Culpepper (one of the league's best QBs in 2004) was traded for a second-round pick? Go figure. Edgerin James signed with the Arizona Cardinals. What? Dallas cut Keyshawn Johnson the same day Philadelphia turned Terrell Owens loose. A coincidence? I was a Dallas fan until the Panthers came to town, but I've got to question the Cowboys' interest in TO. Of course anyone signing Owens has got to be willing to take on some serious issues.

Spring sports are in full swing in the county. Seems like the county baseball squads are trading a lot of paint early. Should be fun to watch as the days get longer. Keep an eye on Shelby's girls' soccer team, though. Through seven games the ladies have not been scored on in going 7-0.

March Madness is upon us. What's up with the brackets this year? Tennessee is a 2 seed and Boston College a 4? Someone on the selection committee was smoking something. And how about the women's side? North Carolina gets champs from the Big East, SEC and PAC-10 all in their bracket? Makes no sense at all.

David Ray (my 10-year-old) has Bucknell over Arkansas as his upset special in the first round. As he and the Hawk like to say, "You can put it on the boooooaaaarrrddd."

Good luck as you fill out your brackets, but you can't go wrong with Duke and UConn. I think both of those heavyweights will still be standing on the first Monday night in April. We'll see.

See ya.

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.