NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, NC

As a birthday present, yours truely and two friends were able to secure tickets to the NCAA 1st and 2nd Rounds in Greensboro.

Here's our seats - mid-court, upper level, three rows from the top, last three seats on the row closest to the isle -


(photo - N. Phillips)

Due to the wording on the NCAA's handout, which stated no cameras or video cameracorders, the three of us decided against trying to take in a camera and have to walk all the way back to the car to put it back.

Thus, I have no picture evidence showing that I was in the building when Tyler Hansbourgh broke the ACC's all-time scoring record with a made free throw against Radford on Thursday. But I have the ticket and the picture in my mind and the sound of the moment in my ears.

In other Thursday action, LSU vs. Butler, the #8 vs. #9 matchup, proved to be the closest, with LSU icing the game with free throws with under 10 seconds remaining.

Carolina had no trouble disposing of #16 seeded Radford, without Ty Lawson. I will say one thing about Radford. Their fans traveled and showed great support to a team that had slim odds of pulling an upset. Fans dressed in red filled the team's designated section in the lower level, while the section directly above them in the upper level was filled with red shirts as well.

Texas and Minnesota played a close game to the half, but Texas pulled away in the second half to set up a second round matchup with Duke.

Duke had little trouble disposing of Binghamton, where the most fun might have come from watching the Binghamton band leader's antics as he fired up the Bearcats faithful and let the band. Chuckles come to me as I write this.

Saturday brought the Carolina-LSU matchup, followed by Texas-Duke.

Ty Lawson played for Carolina, as seen here -


(photo - N. Phillips)
UNC's Ty Lawson shots a free throw against LSU in 2nd Round action.

Carolina pulled away from a scrappy Tiger team that didn't go down without a fight, but the Heels moved on with a 84-70 win.

In the nightcap, Texas gained several new fans, most if not all of them wearing Carolina blue, for their game against Duke.

Here's a picture of the Carolina band, who stuck around to watch the game, holding up the Hook 'em Horns sign as the Texas cheerleaders pump up the crowd -


(photo - N. Phillips)

What? you didn't think the Heels would cheer for their ACC counterparts, did you? Rivalries run deep, regardless if your team is playing your rival or not. In Carolina's case, they are all for whoever plays Duke, and I'm sure it's vice-versa for Duke fans regarding Carolina.

Texas's AJ Abrams is a player. People from these parts are in deep with the ACC, and we don't always see players across the country as often. But I will attest that Abrams is good, and he kept the Longhorns in the game against Duke in the second half.

A Texas 3-point attempt went seemingly all the way through the basket and back out, breaking the hearts of Texas (and Carolina) fans as the Devils iced the game in the final seconds with free throws.

All in all, a great two days of basketball, complete with a Carolina t-shirt free thanks to my friend as a form of payment for driving to Greensboro.

Hopefully, the tourny will be back in Raleigh, Greensboro, or Charlotte in the coming years, as I would love to be able to become a part of March Madness again.

Doug Flutie visits UNC-Pembroke

March 17th was a night to remember for sports fans at UNC-Pembroke.


Former NFL QB Doug Flutie came to the campus as part of the school's Distinguished Speaker Series, which brings 'famous' or 'notable' people in their profession to UNC-P. Other speakers in the 2008-2009 series included Patch Adams, Hugh Johnson of Pepsi, actor Lou Gossett, and Adreana Huffington.

As a member of the Honors College, I was able to have dinner with Mr. Flutie (sorry - Doug) before his speach. Doug Flutie preferred not to be called Mr., because he said it made him feel old.

Before the dinner, all Distinguished Speakers do an interview at the school's tv station, WNCP. As a memeber of the Mass Communications department, I was able to sit in the audience as Flutie talked about growing up, sports, and family in the hour taping.

Off to the dinner, where myself, along with a member of the school's wrestling team and softball team, were placed at the head table with Flutie himself along with the school's Chancellor and his family. An hour and a half long meal followed, where again the topic of Flutie's life and different aspects were discussed.

Moving over to GPAC, students and other guest of the dinner were placed center stage in the first rows as Flutie came out and spoke for about two hours before opening up a question and answer session. Where the best question arose -

"Ahh, Mr. Flutie, we play a little pickup football on Tuesday nights, and the Orange team is lacking in the quarterback department. We were wondering if you would like to play QB for us tonight?" asked a student.

Flutie's reply - "I would, but I don't have any clothes."

Problem solved. A few minutes later, the student who asked the question exited GPAC, only to return a few minutes later, placing a pair of warm-up pants and t-shirt on the edge of the stage.

Laughter erupted, but according to the students, when they aproached Flutie for his autograph duriong his autograph session a little while later, Flutie said "give me 5 minutes" and he's be out there to play.

As a member of the press (UNC-P's The Pine Needle) I recieved the call that Flutie was actually playing. I ran over to the intramural field, where I snapped pics of Flutie tossing the pigskin and playing a little defensive back on the opposite side of the ball. He even threw two picks (yes, as in INT's) during the touch football game.

But Flutie was a little hungry, after all he had given a speech, signed autographs, and played about an hour's worth of football.


About five hours removed from dinner, Flutie called up Domino's and ordered 10 pizzas, following the students to the University's Student Center, where he stayed for another hour or so, before finally leaving around 11:30 pm.

Flutie was one of the coolest people, or should I say percieved celebrities, that I have ever been around. Granted the list is short, but what other celebrity figures (movies, tv, sports, music, etc.) would spend their night hanging out and telling stories with college kids? Any others come to mind?

And I can personally say I have met someone like this, complete with an autographed pic and a photo with myself and Flutie. (Tragically, the picture was not taken on my camera, and I have not been able to aquire a copy yet.)




(picture - Nick Phillips, UNC-P's The Pine Needle)

Wow, it's been a while...

I can't believe that it has been eleven days since my last posting on the blog.

A lot has happened in the world of sports. NCAA Tourny, men's and women's have begun, the World Baseball Classic has finished up, and MLB baseball is just around the corner.

A few thoughts on the tournys -

MEN'S - Wake Forest was a major letdown. Few people, including myself, thought that they could put a run together and move through the rounds of March Madness. But as one Wake fan told me, the Deacs are either good or bad, and there is no in between. Obviously, we saw the bad Deacs in the first round. Most of the other higher seeds move on, and no other standout games are coming to mind at the moment.

WOMEN'S - The first few rounds of the women's tourny take place at individual schools, until the Sweet 16, or Regional, round. So can anyone tell me why the lower seeds are somehow hosting some of these games? It happened multiple times, most notably with the Duke women, ranked 1st in their region, having to travel to Michigan State. The Devils lost, and thus the controversy has begun. Also, if the lower sseeds are going to play at home, at least let them wear the home whites. If no one else saw it, trust me, it was awkward to see Michigan State running up a court bearing the Spartan's name, logo, and colors in the road unis.

Tournament Time

Even though the Big Dance doesn't start until next Thursday, March Madness has begun. Mid-majors finished up their conference tournaments last weekend and the big schools are going at it right now.

Every team is fighting for seeding in the tourney, whose field will be announced Sunday afternoon.

Thursday produced some good games, give or take what side you were rooting for.

Arguably the Big 12 Tourney had the best upsets of the afternoon, while the Big East had the best overall day of any conference.

In the Big 12, the Baylor upset #11 ranked Kansas, the #1 seed for the conference tourny. Kansas, the defending national champion, became only the second Big 12 top seed to lose in the opening round.

Staying in the Big 12, #7 Oklahoma took on Oklahoma State. Always a good battle between the two, this one also proved to be. It didn't hurt that the tournament is being played in Oklahoma City which helped draw the crowd in for Thursday action.

A foul by star Blake Griffin of OU with 2.3 seconds left put a 81% free throw shooter on the line for Oklahoma State. OSU knocked two down to go up one. And then things got interesting.

I guess the guy working the clock wanted Oklahoma to win. Griffin had cought the inbounds, shot, missed, and another OU player put up a missed shot before the clock started. The officials conferred and decided the 2.3 had run off, giving OSU the win.

Sportscenter clocked it this morning, and got over five seconds of play before the whistles blew. Good job by the officials. But Big 12 teams should watch that clock operator for the rest of the weekend. Let's hope it doesn't come up again.

Off to New York City, where Madison Square Garden hosted the Big East tourny.

Marquette came back from 16 down at halftime before losing on a layup at the buzzer to Villanova. The comeback would have been the largest come-from-behind win in Big East Tourny history.

But what happened to the Marquette defender that fell asleep as the Nova player drove to the hoop with under ten seconds to go? He lost his man, who made a back-door cut and recieved a bounce pass that he laid in for the win.

Big East #1 seed Lousville (#5 AP Poll) moved past Providence to meet Villanova tonight.

Pitt, the #2 seed in the Big East tourny, and the #2 team nationally, fell to West Virgina 74-60.

But the game of the night, if not the year so far, was UConn (#3 Big East tourny, #3 AP) and Syracuse (#7 Big East).

The game went six overtimes (yes, six!) and I doubt many people stayed up to watch it. I was personally glued to it and couldn't turn it off as the OT's progressed.

After UConn tied the game with seconds remaining in regulation, it appeared Syracuse got off a game winning three at the buzzer. But replay concluded that the ball was still on the fingertips as the lights went off.

Six overtimes later, Syracuse prevails, 127-117.

Johnny Flynn of Syracuse played a total of 67 minutes and led the team in scoring with 34 points. Let's commend all these guys for a great game, as well as the officials. Many of the bench players for each teams played major roles I doubt they thought they would going into the start of the game.

What a game, and what a day of games. And the weekend is only heating up.

Season Ending Accolades Begin for Gryphon Wrestlers

Two weeks after the NCHSAA Individual Wrestling Championships were held at Winston-Salem's Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum February 20 and 21, marking the end of the high school wrestling season, several publications are beginning to finalize rankings and putting together their "all-star" teams. Several Rocky Mount wrestlers have been included already.

The Gryphons were NEW-6 Regular Season Co-Champions for the second consecutive year. They placed 6th in team points in the 23 team Individual Regional held February 13 and 14 at South Central High School. Six members of the team advanced to the State Tournament, which is thought to be the largest contingent of Rocky Mount wrestlers to compete in one year.

Three members of the team surpassed the 100-career win mark during the season. Of these, Francisco Alfaro qualified for Individual States for the 3rd consecutive year. Dedrick Silver became a 2-time State Qualifier and Guy Williamson also advanced to the biggest stage for high school wrestling.

Although NCMAT has not finalized their list of top 12 wrestlers in each weight class on the Super 32 page, the six Gryphons who competed in Winston-Salem are on the list. In addition to Alfaro, Silver and Williamson, Ahmir Scott, Chandler Phillips and Jenicento (JK) Williamson all appear as wrestlers ranked in the top 12 in the state in their weight classifications.

Sunday night, March 3, The Takedown Report, which ranks wrestlers competing in the eastern half of the state, announced their All-Area Team for Nash, Edgecombe and Wilson counties live on local television station WHIG-TV. I had the opportunity to introduce each member of the team and add in some interesting information as they were interviewed. The show was dedicated to the memory of Gryphon Grant Wilson by WHIG and the TDR folks.

Scott, Alfaro, Phillips and JK Williamson were named to the TDR First Team. Silver, Guy Williamson, Daryl Cross and Johnny Stewart were named to the Second Team.

The TDR also posted their "Preliminary Final" rankings last week. (I am assuming the preliminary tag was put there in case of an oversight or error in criteria for rankings, and can be corrected before putting a "final final" tag on them.) Most of the members of the "All-Area" team were listed on the "Best of the East" list.

As a team, the Gryphons ended with a solid #13 ranking overall. This includes all 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A schools in the East. The TDR bestowed a #7 ranking on the Gryphs in 3A. Both of these rankings are the highest positions given to a Rocky Mount team in the 10 or so years of TDR rankings.

Individually, seven members of the team were ranked in the top 10 overall in the East. Ahmir Scott (#4 overall, #2 3A), Francisco Alfaro (#6; #3), Chandler Phillips (#7; #3), JK Williamson (#7; #3), Dedrick Silver (#6; #3), Daryl Cross (#9; #5) and Guy Williamson (#8; #4).

The Rocky Mount Evening Telegram is expected to pick their version of All-Area teams soon. Some of these wrestlers will no doubt again be recognized. A couple of them may move into top 10 status on the State rankings as well, when NCMAT posts their season final listing.

If you missed these guys on the mat this year, it may not be too late to catch them in action. Several members of the squad plan to compete this Saturday, March 7, at a tournament sponsored by, and held at, Rosewood High School in Goldsboro. The guys will start wrestling around 9 in the morning.