My AP Top 25 Vote And This Week’s HS Playoff Schedule

My AP Top 25 Vote And This Week’s HS Playoff Schedule Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 11/4/2007 11:10 AM

Looks as if it’s all coming down to the Buckeyes-Michigan game to decide if OSU will play for the national championship.  1. OHIO STATE

2. LSU

3. OREGON

4. OKLAHOMA

5. MISSOURI

6. KANSAS

7. WEST VIRGINIA

8. ARIZONA STATE

9. GEORGIA

10. SOUTHERN CAL

11. VIRGINIA TECH

12. BOSTON COLLEGE

13. UCONN

14. BOISE STATE

15. AUBURN

16. FLORIDA

17. CALIFORNIA

18. CLEMSON

19. MICHIGAN

20. ALABAMA

21. HAWAII

22. TENNESSEE

23. CINCINNATI

24. TEXAS

25. SOUTH FLORIDA

Here is Friday’s schedule for local teams in the first round of high school football playoffs (an error was found in the 2-A bracket.  That will be posted later):

1-A:

S. Stanly at Elkin

Alleghany at Robbinsville

Bp. McGuinness at N. Stokes

E. Wilkes at Hayesville

1-AA:

Jordan-Matthews at W. Wilkes

S. Stokes at Thomasville

Murphy at W. Montgomery

N. Moore at Mt. Airy

E. Surry at Cherryville

E. Montgomery at Albemarle

 

2-A:

 

2-AA:

Ledford at E. Davidson

Orange at Reidsville

E. Guilford at S. Guilford

C. Davidson at St. Paul’s

N. Surry at W. Henderson

S. Iredell at Ashe

3-A:

Morehead at W. Alamance

W. Craven at E. Alamance

W. Iredell at HP Andrews

Waddell at Carver

3-AA:

Currituck at Dudley

E. Wayne at NE Guilford

Triton at SE Guilford

W. Guilford at Harnett

Asheboro at E. Randolph

Parkland at Ragsdale

Sun Valley at Glenn

4-A:

Crest at East Forsyth

HP Central at Mt. Tabor

N.  Davidson at AC Reynolds

4-AA:

Independence at Page

Hopewell at Grimsley

E. Mecklenburg at Davie

W. Forsyth at Richmond Co.

Here’s This Week’s AP Top 25 Vote

Here’s This Week’s AP Top 25 Vote Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 10/29/2007 11:44 AM

1. Ohio State

2. Boston College

3. LSU

4. Oklahoma

5. Oregon

6. Arizona State

7. West Virginia

8. Kansas

9. Missouri

10. Georgia

11. Southern Cal

12. Virginia Tech

13. UConn

14. S. Florida

15. S. Carolina

16. Wake Forest

17. California

18. Alabama

19. Auburn

20. Boise State

21. Hawaii

22. Florida

23. Michigan

24. Wisconsin

25. Texas

Aaron To Appear At Groundbreaking

Aaron To Appear At Groundbreaking Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 10/29/2007 11:08 AM

   The Winston-Salem Warthogs promised a special baseball guest for their new stadium groundbreaking tomorrow.  And boy have they delivered!

   I was informed just a little while ago that Henry Aaron will appear at the site of the new ballpark for its groundbreaking ceremony between 5 and 7pm Tuesday.

  Aaron, number two on baseball’s alltime homerun list is baseball’s leader in RBI.  He was in Denver Sunday to present the awards named after him to each league’s batting champ.  He then watched the Red Sox beat the Rockies to complete their second World Series sweep in four seasons.

That Time Of Year

That Time Of Year Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 10/25/2007 9:58 PM

  It’s the problem we in my business like to have.  Too many things to cover and neither the time nor resources to cover them all.  It’s better than having plenty of people to cover things and nothing to cover.

   Starting today, I went over to Joel Coliseum.  We shot the last few minutes of New Orleans Hornets’ practice, then interviewed Chris Paul and Byron Scott about Friday night’s pre-season game against the Charlotte Bobcats.  Technically, this is the Hornets’ home game, though even more technically, it’s Chris Paul’s home game.  Hope the ticket prices don’t keep people away.  Even though it is only a pre-season game, it’s a way to help raise money for the CP3 Foundation.  And that money goes back to this community.  Paul has given back to Winston-Salem from the get-go and it’s always nice to recognize one of our own when we get the chance.

   After we left the Joel, we went across the parking lot to check out our area’s newest minor league hockey team, the Twin City Cyclones.  We’ve heard all the jokes about the seven others franchises who eventually (or rather quickly) left town.  But the Cyclones’ organization says they’re here for the long run.  How long will depend on how many people go to see the team.  Tickets are prcied down from the $15 seats along the glass.  No seat at the Annex is so far away that you have trouble seeing.  And what I saw in the first period plus was that this should be an entertaining hockey team.  Whether they’re a winner will depend on how much their defense improves.  I know General Manager and Coach Mark Richards and his staff have worked their buns off to make this team a success.  I hope all that works pays off.

   And then, it was back to the ranch, where I am now simultaneously watching the end of the Boston College/Virginia Tech game and Game 2 of the World Series.

  Then there’s high school football Friday night, college football Saturday and the NFL on Sunday (and Monday), plus more baseball…. and more hockey, and the NBA starts, and…

   This may be my favorite time of the year.

Wake Forest Back In My AP Top 25

Wake Forest Back In My AP Top 25 Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 10/21/2007 8:48 AM

1. Ohio State
2. Boston College
3. LSU
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Florida
7. West Virginia
8. Arizona State
9. Southern Cal
10. Virginia Tech
11. South Florida
12. Kansas
13. California
14. Missouri
15. South Carolina
16. Kentucky
17. Penn State
18. Georgia
19. Rutgers
20. Alabama
21. Auburn
22. Hawaii
23. Virginia
24. Wake Forest
25. Oklahoma State

Sorry I’m Late… This Week’s AP Top 25 Vote

Sorry I’m Late… This Week’s AP Top 25 Vote Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 10/16/2007 2:36 PM

   It gets tougher by the week.  Would everyone please stop losing?!?!?!

1. Ohio State

2. Boston College

3. South Florida

4. LSU

5. Oklahoma

6. California

7. South Carolina

8. Oregon

9. Florida

10. West Virginia

11. Arizona State

12. Southern Cal

13. Virginia Tech

14. Kansas

15. Missouri

16. Kentucky

17. Penn State

18. Georgia

19. Cincinnati

20. Illinois

21. Kansas State

22. Hawaii

23. Rutgers

24. Texas Tech

25. Auburn

Upset Saturday, My Top 25 And More Stuff

Upset Saturday, My Top 25 And More Stuff Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 9/30/2007 7:22 PM

Days such as Saturday are days I wish I had never given up gambling. When fellow blogger Tyler Collins asked me last Thursday which upsets I liked in college football, I told him, Kansas State over Texas, Colorado over Oklahoma (he told me I was crazy) and Georgia Tech over Clemson( that was an upset in ranking only). That would’ve made a nice three-team parlay win. Oh well.

With so many Top-25 teams losing, my Excel matrix nearly blew out my computer Saturday night. So, here’s this week’s AP vote:

1. Southern Cal. Sure, LSU won more impressively, but the Trojans won at Husky Stadium, while LSU had more of their fans in New Orleans than Tulane did. Next three games: Stanford, Arizona, at Notre Dame. Trojans will be 7-0 headed to October 27^th game at Oregon.

2. LSU. If the Bayou Bengals take care of business against Florida this week and at Kentucky next week, all they have to do is beat Auburn and Alabama back-to-back and beat Arkansas at home the last game of the season. Barring something wacky, like an upset, they should finish the regular season unbeaten.

3. California. The Bears earned this week off with their win at Autzen. Their Southern Cal showdown comes November 3^rd at Berkeley.

4. Ohio State. I’m not sure if this OSU team is underrated or underpublicized, but the Buckeyes might be getting less attention than in any season I can remember. And they’re unbeaten! Possible trap game at Purdue this week.

5. Oklahoma. I only move the Sooners down two spots because they lost to a Big 12 opponent on the road on the game’s final play. After crushing North Texas, Miami, Utah State and Tulsa before their loss in Boulder, we’ll see just how good OU is the next weeks when they play at Texas and then Missouri at home.

6. Florida. Could’ve moved the Gators down farther, but they lost at the very end of the game too, even though it was at home. Chance to move back up if they can knock off the Tigers in Baton Rouge this week.

7. Boston College. OK, so the Eagles struggled with UMass, the defending I-AA runnerup. But as I’ve said before, the top 6 or 8 teams in I-AA can hang with the I-A big boys. Bowling Green will pay the price this week, then a trip to Notre Dame is next.

8. South Florida. So the Golden Bulls have West Virginia’s number and thus far, are the class of the Big East. Does this say more about USF or about the Big East? Stay tuned.

9. Wisconsin. As I said last week, all the Badgers do is keep winning. One week, it’s their defense; the next, their offense. Road games at Illinois and Penn State the next two weeks will tell us if they’re going to stay at or near the top of the Big 10.

10. West Virginia. Now that they’ve been knocked out of the national title hunt, the Mountaineers can it out on my alma mater in the Carrier Dome this week. Joy!

11. South Carolina. Another test for the Gamecocks Thursday night, when Kentucky visits Williams-Bryce. They’ll then have ten days to rest up for their to Chapel Hill.

12. Georgia. This week will be tough for the Bulldogs. They play the Vols in Knoxville. Then a trip to Vandy before their October 27^thshowdown with the Gators in Athens.

13. Oregon. Despite the near-tie against Cal, this team is still very dangerous. They’re off this week, then get the Washington schools the next two weeks, before their showdown with USC.

14. Kentucky. As I wrote above, the Cats travel to Columbia Thursday night to play South Carolina. Bet they don’t hit their 46 point average against the Cocks.

15. Arizona State. The Wildcats’ quarterbacks have a combined rating of better than 164. That’s not too shabby for a team averaging 40 points-a-game that’s already 2-0 in the Pac 10. Up next a trip to Pullman, then the Huskies, Cal and Oregon. That should shake out the league race.

16. Cincinnati. Benny and the Bearcats keep rolling along. Mauk’s passer rating is better than 183! That’s’s why the Cats are averaging more than 46 points-a-game. They will give Rutgers fits this weekend.

17. Rutgers. A week off after three cupcakes, then the Knights had to face a Maryland team that was ticked off it hadn’t finished off Wake. Now, the Knights get Cincinnati, which goes from coast (San Diego State) to coast (the Garden State) with plenty of optimism.

18. Virginia Tech. How is this team not the juggernaut we all thought it would be? An LSU spanking and struggles to beat ECU and UNC are not the way to dominate your league. Still, the Hokies are 1-0 in the ACC as they head to Death Valley for their showdown with Clemson.

19. Kansas State. This is a team that was a left tackle away from beating Auburn in their opener. That would have made the Wildcats unbeaten off their 20-point win at Texas, headed to their in-state rivalry game against Kansas.

20. Clemson. The Tigers couldn’t get their offense going against Georgia Tech. At least they’re back home to play the Hokies Saturday.

21. Illinois. The Illini have a cake schedule the rest of the way, except for Saturday’s home game against Wisconsin and November 10^th against Ohio State.

22. Penn State. After this week’s home game against Iowa, the Nittany Lions have their three games against ranked opponents all at home, and play Indiana and Michigan State on the road.

23. Missouri. The Tigers had this past weekend off, now get Nebraska and Oklahoma back-to-back. If they’re as good as they’ve played, they should win at least one of those.

24. Purdue. After this week’s home game against the Buckeyes, the Boilermakers have nary a Top-25 team left on their schedule.

25. Hawaii. So Colt Brennan threw five interceptions and the Bows still scored 48 points at Idaho. Brennan’s passer rating is now 14 points below Ben Mauk’s. Just wait til Hawaii ends with Boise State and Washington, also known as losses one and two.

DROPPED ‘EM OUT: Texas (haven’t been impressed all season), Alabama.

Another reason I never should have given up gambling. While on the subject of bets I should’ve made, I have several witnesses in the WXII-TV newsroom who heard me proclaim about two months ago that the Philadelphia Phillies would win the NL East. Just a hunch. Love that lineup.

College Football Announcer Pet Peeve #1: “He made that catch in space.” As opposed to with absolutely no freakin’ room?

Best Food You May Never Have Heard Of (Or Tried): Unless you’re an Emeril Lagasse fan, you probably don’t know what linguica or chourico are. They’re Portuguese sausages (chourico is a little spicier), which have lost of garlic and paprika. And boy are they good on the grill! I recently noticed that Harris Teeter stocks linguica, while Lowe’s Foods has chourico. Do yourself a favor and try them. Even better, impress your friends at Saturday’s tailgate.

Since Everyone Disagrees With Me…

Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 9/24/2007 9:39 PM

   I said on our 6pm sportscast Monday that I thought Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy was “unprofessional” in his postgame tirade directed at Daily Oklahoman newspaper columnist Jenni Carlson.  Several people called to disagree and still others e-mailed their disagreements.

    As I said, Gundy was certainly within his rights to call out the columnist, though I disagreed with the way he went about it.  If people don’t think what she wrote was right in a mass medium, then they shouldn’t like the coach screaming at her in public.  After all, didn’t we learn as children that two wrongs don’t make a right?

   And that’s saying that what Carlson wrote is wrong.  I was struck by how many people took Gundy’s side just because he said that three-quarters of the column was inaccurate.  When he was asked the next day what exactly the inaccuracies were, he said, “I don’t have to answer that.”  Why not?  If you’re going to accuse someone of something, show them the proof.

   The other nerve that Gundy struck was the coverage of college athletes, saying they are “amateurs.”  I would submit that receiving a free four- or five-year college education worth anywhere from $40,000-to-$225,000 is anything but amateur.  Others have argued that these athletes work for their free education.  But if you’re working for it, doesn’t that make you a professional?

   I’m not saying I agree with everything Carlson wrote in her column, but I do think she has the right to write it.  She also should not have to put up with being berated in a press conference setting.  The purpose of those is for the coach to inform the fans through the media of what he thought about the game.  If he wanted to talk about a newspaper column, he should’ve taken it up with the writer privately.  The argument that the column is public so therefore the rant should be public doesn’t hold water for me.

   We all applaud a coach for defending one of his players, but it only served to bring more attention to the column.  And I doubt that’s what Gundy wanted to accomplish.

   To see Gundy’s rant, his Sunday news conference when he was asked about the inaccuracies and Jenni Carlson and her editor talking about the situation, click on the link below:

http://www.newsok.com/video/brightcove/?bctid=1201929146&bclid=1078545323

Let’s Try Again… My Week Four AP Vote

Let’s Try Again… My Week Four AP Vote Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 9/23/2007 9:18 PM

   Since some are convinced I’ve had no idea what I was doing with my AP vote the first three weeks, I divert your attention to this week’s USA Today coaches’ poll.  Coaches obviously know what they’re doing, which explains why Louisville got 18 points worth of votes this week.  That’s the Louisville that lost to my alma mater, Syracuse on Saturday.  As in the worst Syracuse team since, well since, ever!  What I’m saying is, at least I’m not alone in my cluelessness.

    Actually this is getting easier as the weeks pass by.  Game by game, the wheat is separated from the chaff.  We are almost to the point where there aren’t 25 teams good enough to be included.

  In addition to Syracuse’s win, Appalachian lost at Wofford and Virginia beat Georgia Tech.  I finally believe Clemson is worthy of inclusion.  In fact, I debuted them at #14 this week.  Someone in the ACC has to be good besides Boston College.  Actually, there’s a lot of good in the ACC, just not a whole lot of great.  It’s not top heavy, it’s middle heavy.  I think that makes for good ballgames (see Maryland at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech at Virginia).

   And now….

1. Southern Cal.  Til they prove otherwise.

2. LSU.  Til they prove otherwise.

3. Oklahoma.  Can this bunch score points by the boatload or what?

4. Florida.  They get half a pass for finally playing, albeit struggling, on the road.

5. West Virginia.  This team produces an interesting dichotomy:  those who say, “Why isn’t this team ranked above Florida and Oklahoma,” and those who say, “Why is this team this high?”  As one coach told me this weekend, “There just like a lotta teams… except for those three guys (White, Slaton and Devine).’

6. Ohio State.  Didn’t expect the Buckeyes to be this high after all they lost from last year’s team.  But here they are.

7. Boston College.  The team with the ACC quarterback wins.  And their defense isn’t bad either.

8. Rutgers.  Had the week off, but now the Knights get an angry Maryland team at home.  If the Terps can control Ray Rice, I think they win.

9. California.  Will move up after or down after this week’s game at Oregon.

10. Oregon.  See above.

11. Texas.  OK, now I believe they can score points, but it ws only against Rice.

12. Wisconsin.  OK, so they can’t scoe points, even if it was against a team that couldn’t beat Iowa State.

13. South Carolina.  Call me crazy, I moved the Gamecocks up a notch, even though they lost at LSU.  But LSU is up there (imagine hand held above head) and South Carolina is down here (hand held about chest level).  Trust me, there’s a big difference between #2 and #13,

14. Clemson.  The Tiger offense rolled through the Wolfpack defense like it wasn’t there Saturday.  When I asked my Wolfpack fan neighbor if he went to the game Saturday, he said, “I was in Raleigh, but there was no game.”

15. Virginia Tech.  Why do I get the feeling the Hokies could be looking past this weekend’s game against UNC and toward next weekend’s game at Death Valley.  Wait, they couldn’t look past that much, could they?

16. Penn State.  Hey Joe, even Appalachian beat Michigan.

17. Georgia.  If you missed the Dawgs win at Bryant-Denny Saturday, you missed a great one.  Georgia’s offensive coordinator and I think alike.  Just after Alabama’s OT field goal, I said, “Go for it on first down.”  I love when that ESPN thing works (that’s ESP for us sports folk).

18. Alabama.  Only a three-spot drop for an overtime loss… at home.

19. Arizona State.  After opening with four straight home games, we’ll see if the Sun Devils are for real when they visit Stanford and Washington State the next two weeks.  Then we’ll find out if they’re any good when they play Cal, Oregon, UCLA and Southern Cal back-to-back-to-back-to-back later in the season.

20. Cincinnati.  After a week off to rest his throwing arm, Ben Mauk came back during Cincy’s win over Marshall on Saturday.  He went 6-for-7 and threw a TD paass.  Now Bennie and the Cats go coast-to-coast the next weekends, at San Diego State then at Rutgers.

21. South Florida.  OK, they dominated the Tare Heels.  I have a feeling they won;t be alone.  They get West Virginia at home on Friday.

22. Kentucky.  Rich Brooks’s team is fun to watch and scores a lot of popints.  The good news:  the Wildcats will be 5-0 after their win over Florida Atlantic Saturday.  The bad news:  they’ll be 5-3 after their next three games against South Carolina, LSU and Florida.

23. Missouri.  Unbeaten Tigers will need to rest up during their off-week this week.  The  next two weeks, they get Nebrask and Oklahoma.

24. Purdue.  Boilermakers crack my poll for the first time this week.  They’ve beaten teams ranked 77, 113, 115, 164 so far.  They play #114 Notre Dame thbis week.

25. Hawaii.  I swear I wasn’t going to put the team that struggled to Beat Louisiana Tech back in the poll.  But they did score 66 points without Colt Brennan at QB.  I’ll give em one more week.

Friday High School Football Schedule Updates

Posted by wxii12.com blogs at 9/14/2007 3:26 PM

As of 4:25pm EDT Friday, this is the list of High School Playbook postponements:

West Davidson at Surry Central Monday 7:30pm

Carver at N. Forsyth  Monday 7pm

Atkins at Reagan   Saturday 7pm

Page at Dudley    on

Ragsdale at Grimsley  on

S. Stokes at E. Surry  Monday 7pm

E. Wilkes at N. Stokes  Saturday 7:30pm

Lexington at N. Davidson  on

Glenn at RJ Reynolds  Monday 7pm

Alleghany at Mt. Airy  Monday 7pm

Watauga at Ashe  Monday 7pm

Elkin at Bp. McGuinness  on

W. Alamance at Cummings on

Berry Academy at Davie  on

Orange at E. Alamance  on

E. Forsyth at Mt. Tabor  Monday 7pm

Red Springs at E. Montgomery  Monday 6:30pm

E. Randolph at Salisbury  on

North Lincoln at Forbush  Saturday 1pm

FCDS at S. Davidson  on

Graham at Williams  on

HPC at HPA   on

Trinity at Ledford   on

McMichael at Rockingham Co. Monday 7pm

Martinsville at Morehead Saturday 6pm

W. Stokes at N. Surry  Saturday 7:30pm

N. Wilkes at W. Lincoln  on

NE Guilford at Reidsville  Monday 7:30pm

SE Guilford at NW Guilford on

Parkland at W. Forsyth  Monday 7pm

Randleman at Jordan-Matthews  on

Chapel Hill at S. Alamance  on

S. Guilford at SW Randolph on

East Burke at Starmount  Saturday 7:30pm

SW Guilford at W. Guilford  on

North Rowan at Thomasville  on

Wilkes Central at Alexander Central  Saturday 4pm

Auburn at Galax  Saturday 7:30pm

Radford at Grayson  Saturday 1:30pm