Andy Roddick on NASCAR

Andy Roddick, who is in Winston-Salem for Davis Cup play, had this to say about NASCAR being a bigger draw than professional tennis:

Q. Still like page five after NASCAR and football. Do you wish it was better?
ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, it’s a little disappointing we’re behind a sport that you turn left for four hours. You also have to realize that a big part of it is, you know, most of what I see is upcoming American players, upcoming American players. It’s pretty easy to have American superstars in sports that only Americans play.
So we’re not concerned. I mean, around the world it’s probably just behind soccer as far as the biggest sport in the world. Why do I think? I’m not sure.

Check out the complete interview at the tennis-x Web Site here. 

My take: It’s almost hilarious to me that one participant in a boring sport (tennis) has the gall to take a shot at NASCAR. Yes, I’m in a hate-hate relationship with NASCAR right now, but c’mon — it’s better than tennis, right?

Right?

Stackhouse might be headed to New Jersey

Lots of trade talk hopping around Dallas — and some of it involves Kinston’s Jerry Stackhouse. According to Marc Stein of ESPN, Stackhouse might be headed to New Jersey in a trade that would bring Jason Kidd back to Dallas — the team he started his career with in 1994.

Check out the ESPN report here.

My take: That would essentially end Stackhouse’s last chance at an NBA title. I really hope he isn’t included in the trade, because I’d like to see him get one shot at a title. It’s not going to happen in New Jersey.

Pick the Super Bowl final score, win prizes!

We did it last year — and surprisingly, JWade didn’t win! Just post the final score of Sunday’s Super Bowl and the closest one to the final score will win fabulous prizes from the ol’ Free Press (which will probably include ECU basketball or baseball tickets).

Greg Melvin took home the prize last year. I’ll post my prediction later this week.

The ballot for top Kinston sports stories of 2007

Here is the same ballot that I am sending to our sports writers and publisher at The Free Press. If you want your vote to count in the readers’ poll, I need to have your votes for the top 10 stories NO LATER THAN 9 a.m. on Friday. You can either post your votes in the comments section or e-mail them to me at bhanks@freedomenc.com.

Top stories of 2007 ballot

East Carolina extends Athletics Director Terry Holland’s contract to 2011 and gave him a raise, pushing his annual salary to $324,000

Former Greene Central basketball coach Kevin Hart, then an assistant to GC’s Robert Browning, dies on Jan. 14, his 36th birthday

Ayden-Grifton basketball coach Bob Murphrey becomes North Carolina’s winningest active coach with 650th victory on Jan. 18

Rochelle Middle School completes a double-double of winning county championships in football and basketball

Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge inducted into the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame

Jones Senior beats Pamlico in 3 OTs in the semifinals of the Coastal Plains 1A boys’ basketball tournament. The Trojans overcame an eight-point deficit in the second OT to force the third OT

Kinston’s boys win Eastern Carolina 3A basketball tournament

Greene Central’s boys win Eastern Plains 2A basketball tournament

North Lenoir’s girls win Eastern Plains 2A basketball tournament

Jones Senior’s boys win Coastal Plains 1A basketball tournament

Ayden-Grifton’s boys win Carolina 1A basketball tournament

Greene Central football coach Jim Bob Bryant named as an assistant for the Shrine Bowl, becomes the youngest coach in the all-star game’s 71-year history

Donovan Davis and Ethan Mills represent South Lenoir in the NCHSAA 2A wrestling championships in Winston-Salem

South Lenoir’s baseball team upsets two-time defending 2A champ North Lenoir in the season-opener for both teams

The Ayden-Grifton boys’ basketball team advances to the 1A Eastern Regional, but loses to North Edgecombe

The Kinston boys’ basketball team plays for the 3A state championship, losing to Concord

The Parrott Academy boys’ swim team finishes second in the state

Former Kinston star Herbert Hill is named to All-Big East first team at Providence College

Greene Central boys’ basketball coach Robert Browning resigns after two seasons; is replaced by veteran coach David Laton

The Kinston baseball team upsets No. 7 C.B. Aycock, 10-9, on March 23

North Lenoir forms sports hall of fame; inducts three – including Wayne Floyd – in first class

The Lenoir Community College baseball team rises to No. 1 in the NJCAA D-II poll for the second consecutive year

The Kinston/Lenoir County Sports Hall of Fame inducts its second class, including George Whitfield and Donna Horton White

The North Lenoir baseball team completes its second straight undefeated run through the Eastern Plains 2A to win its third consecutive conference championship

The LCC baseball team wins the Region 10 championship for third straight season, advance to NJCAA District Tournament, where the Lancers (42-14) lose in three games

South Lenoir’s baseball team loses in the NCHSAA 2A Eastern semifinals to Whiteville

The East Carolina baseball team advances to the championship game of the Conference USA tournament before losing to Rice

The North Lenoir baseball team finishes second in the 2A title game to East Rutherford, breaking a two-year championship streak

North Lenoir’s Sthil Sowers drafted in the 22nd round of the MLB draft by the Cleveland Indians

The Kinston Indians win both halves of the Carolina League Southern Division race

Chris Gimenez of the Kinston Indians wins the home run derby at the Carolina League-California League All-Star Game in Stockton, Calif.

Former Kinston star Herbert Hill drafted in the second round by Utah, but it is later traded to Philadelphia

Former Kinston star Jerry Stackhouse signs a three-year contract extension with the Dallas Mavericks, which pays him more than $6 million a year

South Lenoir basketball coach Jimmy Smith coaches in the East-West basketball game in Greensboro

The Kinston boys’ basketball team wins the prestigious East Coast Invitational in Jacksonville on July 15

Former Greene Central star Brandon Sutton is named MVP of the East-West football game in Greensboro

Ricky Stokes resigns to take position in ECU athletic office, but later leaves the school altogether. Mack McCarthy is named the interim head coach

Baseball and basketball coach Bert Potter resigns at Bethel Christian Academy; is replaced by veteran coach Gerald Garner

Nationally-recruited defensive end Quinton Coples transfers from Kinston High School to Hargrave Academy in Virginia

Longtime Greene Central Athletics Director James “Rabbit” Fulghum is promoted to the Greene County AD position; Fulghum had been in the position since 1969; he is replaced by B.J. Bass

Russell Brann resigns as the GC baseball coach; is replaced by Scott Jones

ECU quarterback Rob Kass gets a DWI on the eve of team’s first game; suspended for one game

The Kinston Indians season ends in the first round of the Carolina League playoffs

Former North Lenoir star and recently-graduated Mount Olive star Elijah Rouse signs a pro contract with a Danish team

The Kinston football team wins the second straight Freedom Cup by defeating North Lenoir, 21-7

Ben Hartman’s 39-yard FG leads ECU past UNC, 34-31

North Lenoir football team finishes 0-11 and finishes season with school-record 13-game losing streak

Kinston volleyball team finishes with most wins (10) and first playoff appearance

North Lenoir’s volleyball team loses for the first time in 23 games in the second round of the NCHSAA 2A playoffs to Hillsborough Orange

Jones Senior wins nine straight games – including an undefeated run through the Coastal Plains 1A – to advance to the third round of the 1A playoffs. The nine wins ties a school record that was set in 2006

The Parrott Academy football team advances to the 8-man semifinals for the eighth straight season

The ECU football team lets a chance at the C-USA title slip through its fingers with a loss at one-win Marshall

Kinston sophomore forward Reggie Bullock ranked second in nation by scout.com for the class of 2010

ECU’s Chris Johnson named C-USA’s special teams player of the year

Kinston High School, which was a 4A school as late as 1996, drops to the 2A ranks in the 2009-10 academic year. North Lenoir, which has been 2A for the past eight seasons, rises back to the 3A ranks

Kinston fires football coach Tony Edwards after only two seasons

ECU AD Terry Holland admits to giving his brother more than $16,000 in academic aid through the athletic office; later writes a check covering the amount

The ECU basketball team defeats N.C. State for the first ACC win for the Pirates in 58 attempts

Former Kinston football star Quinton Coples named to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 5, 2008

The Kinston basketball team plays USA Today’s No. 1 team, Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s in the first round of the Bank of America City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., losing 72-44. The Vikings finish seventh in the tournament

Kinston baseball coach Eddie Loesner resigns to accept similar position at Northern Nash

The ECU football team defeats Boise State, 41-38, in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl, for its first postseason victory since 2000. The Pirates finished 8-5

Kinston Indians manager Mike Sarbaugh is promoted to Double-A Akron after two seasons in Kinston

 

Durham on WTBS, the Braves … and life

Our good friend, Paul Durham of the Wilson Daily Times, posted this well-written blog entry about the Atlanta Braves leaving WTBS.

My take: Like Paul, I grew up a Braves fan, primarily because of Skip Caray and TBS bringing us the games. Unlike Paul, we didn’t have cable in my hometown of Thurmond, N.C. Every chance I could get to see the Braves on TBS, though, I did.

Paul’s entry is another in a long line from a guy who takes the time to put well-written blog entries up on a regular basis. Go check it out.

Czaban on “reverse” racism

Longtime bloggees know how much I love the writing and air-time of Steve Czaban, a former Charlotte sports talk dude who now plies his trade in D.C. and on a national radio network.

Check out his post on the “reverse” racism (my words, not his) in the Isiah Thomas and Willie Randolph situations. And yes, I know racism is racism, whether it’s black vs. white, white vs. black, etc.

My take: Again, Czaban nails it on the head. If Thomas or Randolph were white, do you think there’d be much said if either were fired? I’d love to see your opinions…

Pick these games, Week 8

I’m in the process of updating the standings now; here are your games to pick —

Prep

Kinston at Wilson Hunt

Farmville Central at North Lenoir

South Lenoir at Jax Northside

Parrott Academy at Raleigh St. David’s

North Pitt at Greene Central

Goldsboro Rosewood at Ayden-Grifton

Lejeune at Jones Senior

College

UCF at East Carolina

Georgia at Tennessee

Georgia Tech at Maryland

Florida at LSU

Pro

Carolina at New Orleans

Detroit at Washington

San Diego at Denver

Chicago at Green Bay

New Bern River Rats won’t return for 2008

A press release from the River Rats:

New Bern, NC—The New Bern River Rats will not field a team during the 2008 season, owners Sabrina and Steve Bengel announced today. The organization will continue its membership in the Coastal Plain League and will review its options for the 2009 season.

The River Rats, a summer collegiate baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League, completed their third season in August. The team played its home games at New Bern High School’s Boykin Field.

“This decision was a very difficult and disappointing one for us to make,” said Sabrina Bengel. “Unfortunately, at this time it just wasn’t feasible for us to continue without a facility that better met our needs and the expectations of the Coastal Plain League.  We want to sincerely thank all of our sponsors, season ticket holders, host families, and fans for their support over the past three years.”

“We are very proud of the River Rats’ contributions to the community, including our reading program for more than 7,000 students, the community service of our players for non-profit groups throughout each summer, the annual Hot Stove Banquet that brought baseball legends to New Bern, and safe, family-friendly entertainment at the ballpark,” Bengel said. 

“So many members of the community stepped forward during our three seasons to help welcome young men from across the country to the New Bern area. Truly, those individuals showed New Bern at its best. Many life long relationships were made by our players and the wonderful people of our community they encountered. We know for some that will go on to play Major League Baseball, they will always remember their summer spent in New Bern.”

The team has not made any determination about its future beyond 2008, Bengel said. 

My take: This is sad news for the New Bern baseball community. Although I didn’t get a chance to go to a River Rats game this year, it was a good value for the baseball dollar for fans in New Bern. Additionally, NL’s (and Appalachian State’s) Brandon Sutton was going to play for the Rats in ’08 and I was looking forward to getting down there and covering him. Hopefully, they’ll be back in ’09.

My picks, Week 5

Prep

Greene Central at Kinston: KHS

Jones Senior at South Lenoir: SL

Parrott Academy at Lawrence Academy: APA

D.H. Conley at Ayden-Grifton: A-G

James Kenan at East Duplin: JK

College

Southern Miss at East Carolina: ECU

Virginia at North Carolina: UNC (the spread is 3. Take the money and run as the Tar Holes, errr, Heels win by 14+. Yes, Virginia sucks)

Arkansas at Alabama: Alabama

Ohio State at Washington: OSU

Florida State at Colorado: FSU

Pro

Houston at Carolina: Car

Washington at Philadelphia: Philly (Go ‘Skins!)

Dallas at Miami: Dallas

New Orleans at Tampa Bay: NO

Minnesota at Detroit: Det

My take on Belichick WITH UPDATES (AT BOTTOM)

My good friend Paul Thompson (Jax Daily News) challenged me with this in an e-mail:

“Just wanted to let you know I fully expect a couple of blogs entries at the very least from you in the near future. I want to see you blast Bill Belichick as harshly as you do Barry Bonds, because cheating is cheating, right?

 

Just keepin’ ya on your toes bud.”

Paul is right — If these allegations are true (and Belichick apologized for SOMETHING yesterday) — there should be some serious repercussions for New England.

From listening to sports talk radio all day and reading guys who write a hell of a lot better than me (specifically, Steve Czaban’s take), I think Belichick will be suspended no less than a game or two, the Pats will lose some draft picks and there’ll be some kind of cash penalty ($1 million or more? Who knows).

As much as I bitch at NASCAR for the way they change their rules on a whim, you have to hand it to the pseudo-sport for the way it punishes its cheaters. Remember, the top two programs (Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon) were fined substantial amounts of money and had their coaches/crew chiefs suspended for four weeks. I can’t believe these words are going to come out of my keyboard, but the NFL needs to follow NASCAR’s example in punishment.

Cheating at Belichick’s level is worse than a single player (Bonds, Giambi, et. al) pumping his arms with performance-enhancing drugs. Belichick not only affected himself, he affected his coaches, his players and — this is not overstating it — the integrity of the NFL itself. The only thing that is worse than this story, to me, is the pending NBA officials controversy, where the disgraced official who threw games is going to rat out more referees who were betting.

So we now have two sports — the NFL and the NBA — that have had their integrity questioned in the past few months. Who thought that MLB (which has its own problems with steroids and HGH controversies) would be the “shinier” of the three sports at the moment?

A lot of people ask me what I love so much about covering high school sports. Well, folks, THIS is why. Prep sports are so much purer than this junk.

UPDATE: Here are a few other people’s views on the Belichick situation (I REFUSE to call it something-gate like everyone else is) —

• Paul Thompson says that perhaps the Panthers should have been the Super Bowl champs
• Christmas Ape at Kissing Suzy Kolber posted a possible Belichick presser
• Deadspin’s “Who’s Sorry Now” takes a shot
• Of course, here’s the best sports commentator in the world today: Steve Czaban’s take

ANOTHER UPDATE: Belichick has been fined $500,000 and the Patriots will lose their 2008 first round draft pick (a second or third rounder if they don’t make the playoffs). I still think the coach should’ve been suspended for a couple of games.