August - Play by Play

INSIDE
Vol.
Vol. 7,
7, No.
No. 12,
12, August
August 29,
29, 2011
2011
3Comeback
Route
Through
sports, Ray
Bare turns
his life
around
12
3Summertime
Celebrities
John Daly and
J.J. Redick make
appearances at
area golf outings
9
2
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
Dave Sarmadi has an important message for his
many Southwest Virginia customers…
“Come see me in
Leesburg; I’ll make
it worth the drive!”
S
ince closing his Roanoke dealership last year, Dave has become affiliated with Dulles
Motorcars, a superior automobile dealership based in Northern Virginia. He has joined
forces with his two longtime friends, Senior Saghafi and Kevin Saghafi, who handle six outstanding franchises — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Kia and Subaru.
Dulles has been voted the No. 1 dealership in Loudoun County, and is proud to have served
more than 21,000 happy customers since opening in 1990. Dave’s goal is to make Dulles
Motorcars the No. 1 dealership of its kind in the state of Virginia, just as he accomplished
previously with Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi.
“I want to thank all of my Roanoke Valley customers over the past 30 years who have put me
where I am today,” Dave says. “I haven’t let you down in the past; if I can help you, please
give me a call.”
Dave Sarmadi and Dulles Motorcars make a perfect match — both are committed to impeccable customer service and both understand the importance of wide selection, attractive pricing, easy financing and a capable sales, support and service staff. We have 800 cars on site,
the area’s best selection — and we’re open seven days a week!
Dulles Motorcars is located less than 3½ hours from Roanoke, not far off Interstate 81. As
Dave Sarmadi says, “Come see me; I’ll make it worth the drive!”
107 Catoctin Circle, SE, Leesburg, VA 20175 • 703-777-7077 • Kia, Subaru
211 Catoctin Circle, SE, Leesburg, VA 20175 • 703-777-5055 • Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram
dullesmotorcar.com
PLAYMAKER
AUGUST 29, 2011
3
Play By Play
late summer 2009, even
before he officially started
his freshman year at JR,
Watts fired a one-under
71 to capture medalist
honors at the 24-team
Heritage Invitational
played at London Downs
in Forest. Watts finished
second in the state in
Group A competition that
fall.
This past spring, Watts
won the 36-hole Roanoke
Valley Junior Hall of Fame
Championship with a
150 total, finishing three
shots ahead of Hidden
Valley’s Alex Taylor.
In late June, Watts shot
a 7-under par 65 at Midlothian’s Salisbury Country
Club, to lead junior qualifying for a Virginia team
that played against a Maryland contingent in the MAPGA Capital Cup
in Mitchellville, Md., in late August, just after press time.
Spotlight
Korey Watts
T
he James River High
School junior was the
individual winner of the Bob
McLelland Metro Invitational golf tournament played
Aug. 10-11 at Westlake and
Blue Hills golf clubs. Watts
and Cave Spring’s Nick
Brediger were tied at 144
after 36 holes, but as darkness was setting in, Watts
prevailed with a par on the
second playoff hole, the 168yard par-3 No. 2 at BHGC.
Brediger, who led Watts by
four strokes heading into the
back nine, struggled with his
putter and took a 5 on the
last hole.
Watts continues to distinguish himself in area high
school golf competition. In
Brian Hoffman photos
Heiker Meneses
Playbook
Opinions
Brian Hoffman
Todd Marcum........................................... 4
Mike Stevens........................................... 5
Gene Marrano.......................................... 7
Mike Ashley............................................ 19
Page 7
Articles
Summertime Golf Features Celebrities, Drama................................9
ODAC Needs J.J. Nekoloff’s Know-How...........................................10
Averett’s Ray Bare Returns from the Edge......................................12
Red Sox Struggle but Develop Big-Time Talent..............................14
Hidden Valley Captures Wachovia Cup Again..................................15
Brian Hoffman
Page 6
Extras
Playmaker Spotlight.......................3
Ask A Ref...........................................6
From the Bookshelf.......................8
Snapshots of the Season.............11
Brian Hoffman
Christian Moody ..................................... 6
A
t press time, Meneses had played just 11 games for the Salem Red
Sox, but what a stretch! In 44 at-bats, the Venezuelan shortstop-second baseman was batting .455 with five doubles, three triples and five
RBIs. In no game had he gone hitless and in eight of the games, he had at
least two hits. He also had stolen two bases.
Meneses just turned 20 in July, but has turned heads everywhere he
has played. Meneses was promoted from low-A Greenville to double-A
Portland directly in July, filling in due to an injury. But because he batted over .300 during his Portland substitution stint, Meneses stayed two
weeks longer than planned. He certainly seems comfortable in Salem.
Could we have another Luis Aparicio or Omar Vizquel, two of the
best Venezuelan-born shortstops in the past 60 years, in our midst?
Sponsored by:
4
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
A football fan’s guide to the River City
TODDS
AND ENDS
by Todd
Marcum
The Ohio River is a wonder…
and best viewed from the Frank
“Gunner” Gatski Bridge (named
for the former Marshall player and
NFL Hall-of-Famer) which crosses
over to Ohio at Proctorville, just
about five minutes’ drive from
campus.
The city just finished an art
and entertainment area called
Pullman Square which is right
in the middle of downtown. It
would be nice if the Roanoke
City fathers would visit and steal
this idea.
Leave time to walk the campus.
The Memorial Fountain, which
commemorates the 75 lives lost in
the 1970 plane crash, is stirring.
The new Alumni Center and Foundation Hall is worth visiting…it
has a number of props from the
“We Are Marshall” movie.
A few of my personal favorites
are Camden Park, which is the sister theme park to the former Lake-
Players in this Issue
Publisher/Editor John A. Montgomery
Graphic Designer Donna Earwood
Contributors
Mike Ashley
Rod Carter
Leslie Coty
Donald Earwood
Tommy Firebaugh
Brian Hoffman
Sam Lazzaro
Todd Marcum
Gene Marrano
Joyce Montgomery
Christian Moody
Mike Stevens
Bill Turner
Primary cover photograph by Brian Hoffman
P.O. Box 3285, Roanoke, VA 24015
(540) 761-6751 • E-mail: [email protected]
On the Web: www.playbyplayonline.net
©Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. No part of Play by Play may be reproduced
by any means or in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Play by Play is published every fourth Monday. Deadline for submissions
for the September 26 issue is September 12.
The Mick and The Freak
I just finished Jane Leavy’s
book, The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle
and the End of America’s Childhood. It was a really good read.
I also recently heard of Randy
Moss’ retirement. I have appreciated Moss’ talents since he was a
high school star in Rand, W.Va.
It strikes me that Mantle and
Moss have a few things in common. Both did great things but
teased us with even greater potential. It’s amazing to think of two
iconic players who did so much
could have done even more. Both
had self-destructive traits that limited their careers. I have to wonder if the media had employed the
same diligence in following sports
celebrities in Mickey’s day as they
did in Randy’s, how the public persona of No. 7 might have changed.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Randy
un-retired before this column
makes it to print. When his head is
right…well…he’s the Mickey Mantle of football.
side (open 11-7:30 on gamedays),
and St. Clouds Field, which is a
little run down but one of the oldest wood grandstand ballparks in
America.
The Herd is still a year away
from fielding a squad that can be
competitive with the likes of this
Virginia Tech team. Although
Marshall has some pretty good
players and Huntington is a tough
place to play, I think VT will probably come away with a comfortable victory, but don’t be shocked
it if is a nail-biter until fairly late in
the game.
As pennant races heat up,
Salem has a say
Salem Red Sox media whizzes
Kevin Burke and Dave Cawley
recently sent a release my way that
opened my eyes.
Through the years, more than
a fair number of future all-stars
have played for the Salem Pirates/
Redbirds/Buccaneers/Avalanche/
Red Sox. As the major league trade
deadline approaches and the big
league pennant contenders shop
for a big bat or a strong arm for a
run at the World Series, could the
ingredient needed to consummate a blockbuster deal reside at
LewisGale Field?
Over the last three seasons,
former Salem players have been
involved in trades that included
four-time all-stars Adrian Gonzalez and Victor Martinez, and
major league starters Justin Masterson and Erik Bedard.
This year, the most notable
move was the trade of pitcher
Kendal Volz, who was dealt by
Boston to the Kansas City organization along with 2009 Salem Red
Sox alum Yamaico Navarro in
exchange for the Royals’ infielder
Mike Aviles.
Navarro played briefly for Salem in 2009, batting .319 with
four homers in 23 games. The
Dominican infielder became the
third Salem player to make his
debut with Boston last season,
joining the big club on Aug. 20,
2010.
The other big acquisition for
the Red Sox was former Mariner
pitcher Bedard. The deal was consummated thanks to Boston sending three former Salem Sox to two
separate organizations. Stephen
Fife (2009) and Tim Federowicz
(2009-10) were sent to the Dodgers
organization, while Chih-Hsien
Chiang (2009) was sent to the
Mariners farm system.
For Trip Ison, college is a
snap
Former William Byrd star Trip
Ison, son of my friend Lisa Ison, is
entering his third season as a longsnapper for the Kent State Golden
Flashes. Coached by Jeff Highfill,
Trip didn’t have a punt blocked in
his three years at Byrd. I hope to
have an interview with Trip later
this year. Kent State opens at Alabama.
2006 file photo
M
any Virginia Tech
fans will be taking the fourhour trek to Huntington,
W. Va. as the Hokies take on the
Marshall Thundering Herd Sept.
24. As a Marshall graduate and a
native of the Huntington area, I
can promise you that you will have
an excellent experience (unlike
some of the fan reports from the
school further north).
Here are a few “don’t miss” attractions in Huntington.
Get a dog. Huntington might be
the hot dog capital of the world.
Stewart’s Hot Dogs are excellent,
but Frost Top has a great dog and
root beer that is made on site.
Hillbilly Hot Dogs has the Home
Wrecker…15 inches of frankfurter
that has been featured on national
television. Git-r-done in under 12
minutes and get you a free Home
Wrecker T-shirt. I have a personal
preference for Lavalette’s Triple H
dog.
The Herd Hall of Fame Café is
my favorite restaurant because of
its impressive display of MU memorabilia. Fat Patty’s, Ginos Pub,
MacReedos, and Jim’s Steakhouse
are a few other winners.
Ritter Park is a terrific park with
lots of walking paths, playgrounds
and a very nice rose garden.
Maurice Kitchens
Finally…
Congratulations to former William Fleming and Marshall linebacker Maurice Kitchens on his
commission to the United States
Marine Corps. Maurice was the
subject of one of my early columns
for Play by Play.
AUGUST 29, 2011
Play By Play
5
Recruiting savvy intern all in the design
T
he college football
season is finally here and like
most people — I’ll drink to
that!
But, my reasons for tossing back
by Mike
a few are a little different than
most. You see, I’m more interested
Stevens
in the cup than the concoction.
Clark Ruhland, my co-worker in the communications department in
the City of Salem, is the creator who designed the seven stadium cups
that will be featured at Lane Stadium’s concession stands this football
season.
That means the nearly 400,000 fans that will roll through the gates for
the Hokies’ six home games this fall will be able to get their hands on his
artwork and even take it home with them.
“It will be neat to see everybody
walking around drinking out of the
cups, and I’m sure I’ll be tempted
to grab a couple of extras for souvenirs,” he says.
Ruhland, who is a Botetourt
County native and a 2007 Virginia
Tech graduate, is no stranger to design work, especially for the Hokies.
Besides his work on the stadium
cups, he also produced five different pocket schedule cards for this
2011 campaign, including the one
commemorating Frank Beamer’s
Clark Ruhland...and his work
25th season in Blacksburg.
“Not a lot of people will be able to get things commemorating Coach
Beamer’s 25th anniversary, so I think the cups with his image on them
and the schedule cards will be really cool keepsakes,” he says. “Mrs.
(Cheryl) Beamer really liked the card with her husband on it, and I made
a larger version of it that she plans to have framed for him.”
Ruhland’s design initiatives began as a hobby rooted in his passion for
Virginia Tech football. When he was still a student at Tech he began making computer desktop wallpapers and sharing them with Tech fans all
over the world.
“Whenever I created a new desktop image I would let people on TechSideline.com know that they were welcome to download it and use it,”
he says. “Since no one at Tech was making these things back then, they
were really popular, and I actually became known as the desktop guy.”
One of the people who noticed “The Desktop Guy” happened to be
OPEN
MIKE
a member of the Virginia
Tech sports marketing team,
Brent DiGiacomo.
“He’s the guy who recommended that I be given a
chance to create these things
and the first one I did was the
2010 Tech baseball poster,”
he says. “Since then I’ve done
everything from women’s
soccer to football to basketball.”
Some might say Ruhland
was lucky to get his work noticed, but I would strongly
disagree. He, more than any
college intern I ever worked
with in the past 25 years, understood the importance of
gaining work-related experience before graduation.
After his freshman year
at Tech he interned with the
Fincastle Herald, the next
summer The Roanoke Times
and after his junior year he
interned with Travis Wells, Grant Kittelson and me at WDBJ-7. He also
spent every Friday night in the fall keeping stats and writing stories for
“Friday Football Extra,” something he still does today as a hobby.
All of those experiences explain why
he was able to gain employment just two
weeks after gradation as a sports copy editor with the (Lynchburg) News & Advance
doing layout design for a 30,000 circulation
daily paper.
He was in the Hill City just eight months
before he was hired by NASCAR Media
Group in Charlotte. During his time in the
Queen City he spent countless hours archiving footage from NASCAR races both
from the past and today and producing videos. He also took advantage of the incredible
fringe benefits the job afforded him.
“I got credentials to go to any race I wanted
to go to, so the allure of it was great,” he says.
“The first race I went to was the 50th anniversary of the Daytona 500, and my dad and I got
to take in all the pomp and circumstance and
didn’t have to pay for tickets.”
His office was in uptown Charlotte right next to the brand
new NASCAR Hall of Fame, so on any given day he could be
rubbing elbows with drivers, crew chiefs and legends, like the
one and only Richard Petty. The complex also features a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant and one afternoon Ruhland and a
couple of his co-workers were having lunch when Petty walked
in the door.
“I introduced myself to him and told him I had just been
working with some footage from 1970 and asked him if he
would sign a diecast car for me, but in true Petty fashion he
wouldn’t sign anything until he shook my hand,” Ruhland says.
“The thing about Richard Petty is that he ‘gets it’ when it comes
to the fans.”
For me to be able to get Ruhland to give up his life in NASCAR’s fast lane and return to the valley has been a blessing for
both of us. He gets back closer to his family and his Hokies and I
get someone that “The King” would appreciate — a hard worker
who truly “gets it.”
(Check out his design work on the résumé section of his Web
site, www.cruhland.com.)
6
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
Group A playoff system seems arbitrary
Ask A Ref
To inform fans of the games’ finer points, Play by Play publishes
“Ask A Ref,” a chance for fans to ask a question about specific sports
rules, preferably those related to high school or the NCAA.
Questions can be sent to [email protected].
This month we have a football question from a sandlot coach.
It will be answered by Play by Play contributor Christian Moody,
who has officiated high school football for more than 20 years.
Q.
A.
Can I have my quarterback behind a player other than the
center and have the center snap the ball directly to a tailback?
It depends on where the quarterback is. If he has his hands
under another player who is not the snapper, then no, that
is not legal. If he’s just behind a lineman but is not breaking
the plane of the waistline of a lineman and does not have his hands
in position to receive a snap, then he’s just a back and he’s fine. In
order to legally place his hands under a lineman or break the plane
of the waist of the snapper, he has to actually be in position to receive a legal snap.
easternmost school still in the west.
Craig County coach Mark McPherson says he’s not a fan of the new
system, but he doesn’t have a lot of choice.
“My not liking it isn’t so much because of the travel aspect as the differences in the school systems and the areas,” McPherson says. “I feel like
we’re a Southwest Virginia school. We’re being pushed into the east. It’s
mostly community schools over that way, not many schools for the whole
county like we are. It’s a different football culture, but I think we’ll be
competitive.”
Glenvar’s Kevin Clifford believes
the new format takes away from some
of the district rivalries, but it will mean
the Highlanders will make the playoffs
where in the past they fell short in spite
of good teams and strong records.
The Highlanders were locked out
of the Region C, Division 2 playoffs in
2006 with a 9-1 record because there
were only four spots and all four district
champions were Division 2 schools. Because those champions were guaranteed the spots, Glenvar sat home while
James River, with a 6-4 record and a loss
to Glenvar, went by virtue of its Pioneer
District crown.
Gone are the regions, immaterial are
the districts, and nearly every team that Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford
manages to keep the footballs inflated says new system won’t last
will make the playoffs. So why isn’t Clifford happy?
“I don’t think they should have done away with the regions. It could
have been done,” he says. “The problem is the numbers are so varied. Region C and B are the two biggest, but if they would redraw the regions,
that would have made more sense to me.”
Clifford says he does not expect this format to last.
In complete disagreement with Clifford is Will Fields, the coach at
Bath County. The Chargers are in Division 1 so they are in the east section, where most teams are near the Chesapeake Bay or in far southeastern Virginia. Fields isn’t bothered by the travel, but he is happy a more
equitable divide was established. Under the old system, each region
looked at its member schools and put the largest half into Division 2 and
the smaller half in Division 1. The problem was Region B has most of the
large Group A schools in the state. That put Buffalo Gap and Riverheads,
both significantly larger than some Division 2 schools in other regions,
into Division 1.
“You look at Division 1 and Region B disappeared,” Fields says.
Only five schools from Region B schools fell into the new Division 1.
Similarly, only three from the old Region D, which was located in the
coalfields, are large enough to be listed in Division 2.
James River coach Phil King is pragmatic about the change. He says
the only problem he sees is the use of power points to determine playoff slots and seeding makes it impractical for his team to play smaller
schools out of district. The Knights picked up two Group AA teams — Alleghany and Staunton River — because they are more valuable in garnering power points.
“A lot of guys are wondering why we play district schedules,” King says.
“Instead of playing someone like Craig County, we might add someone
else of a higher classification.”
King is not suggesting he’ll do that, he says, but it makes a situation
where it’s advantageous to drop smaller schools in favor of bigger ones
strictly because of the power points awarded.
McPherson has had trouble filling his schedule because Division
1 schools are not in demand. He lost Bland when Graham joined their
district and the Bears had to add the G-Men, so Craig will play Roanoke
Catholic. Unfortunately, private schools do not earn any power points for
public schools.
King says if the Knights make the playoffs but have to go to far southwestern Virginia, they’ll go willingly. “If we have to go to Lee County we’ll
get on the bus and figure out where that is,” King says. “The goal is to end
up playing in Salem, and I can find that place.”
Brian Hoffman photos
T
he Virginia High School
League loves drawing lines.
It’s an easy way to make decisions, just draw a line on a map or
a list and create two groups, one
on each side of the line.
That’s how the new playoff system for Group A football was organized — two lines create four
groups and the state will get its champions.
The change eliminates the regional format in football and makes the
state into two sectionals — east and west — in Divisions 1 and 2.
This is only an issue in the playoffs, when the VHSL will seed 16 teams
in each section strictly by power points — points awarded for wins and
the strength of the opponent along with the opponent’s classification.
The reason this change is so major is because, for the first time, the first
line drawn was separating the divisions based on enrollment. This has
come to be known as the 475 line. There are 93 Single A football teams
(three are teams from two schools consolidating into one team and have
not been placed) with 45 schools having more than 475 students in grades
9-12 and 45 schools having fewer.
The second lines divide those divisions into east and west, with 23
teams in the western portion of Division 1 and the eastern portion of
Division 2. What makes that odd is those lines are in radically different
places.
Starting in the
western end of the
state, the VHSL
counted 23 Division 1 teams and
only got to Eastern
Montgomery. This
put Craig County
and its Pioneer District brethren in the
eastern section. Division 2 divides its
teams considerably
farther to the east as
Craig County coach Mark McPherson (left) doesn’t Appomattox County
think the Rockets should be grouped with the east High School is the
AUGUST 29, 2011
Play By Play
7
Born to run? Maybe not, but you can learn
I
’ve always been a runner,
if not very fast. But running 5K,
10K and even longer footraces
has been less of a chore and more
fun over the past year for me, and
has even become somewhat of
by Gene
an obsession. There are dozens
Marrano
of footraces around the Roanoke
Valley one can enter in any given year, and I’ve entered many of those —
most on Saturday mornings.
I ran after my high school years more than three decades ago and started entering races when I lived in Colorado, a mile-high Mecca for runners
and bicyclists. One of the earliest was the uber-popular “Bolder Boulder,”
as for eight years I was a Boulder resident. There were 15,000 runners in
the 1980 5K. I joked that I ran against Olympian Frank Shorter, also a
Boulder resident;
of course, he was
up front, while I
was back with the
9- and 10-minute
milers.
What’s made it
much easier over
the past year is
that I have lost
50-60 pounds off
my once-lumbering 6-foot frame,
down from 230240 to about 180.
How’d I do that?
Mainly by laying
off of the carbs —
much less bread,
bagels,
pasta,
pizza and the
like. That’s not
easy for a native
New Yorker; for
us, carbohydrateloading is a birthright.
I don’t miss it
much, however,
and now when I
indulge it’s a treat.
I get on the scale
every morning to
see where I am. I
run two or three
times a week and
get on the treadmill (a Christmas In a relatively short time, Gene Marrano (picpresent to my- tured above in the Mountain Junkies ‘Conquer
self) several oth- the Cove’ 25K) has lost 60 pounds and won a
er times a week, slew of racing ribbons and medals (right)
more often in the winter months. Once a week I’m on the Roanoke
River Greenway — maybe the best thing Roanoke has ever done —
for a run of about two hours.
Blaine Lewis, the co-owner of Fleet Feet Sports along with his
wife Robin, told me he read somewhere that it takes 21 days to form
a new habit, and I believe that. The weight loss has propelled me to
run longer and somewhat faster to boot. It’s amazing what losing a
quarter of your bodyweight will do for you. Goodwill has also benefited
from all of my former clothes that don’t fit anymore.
Fleet Feet is a strong supporter (and outfitter) for the local running
scene. The Star City Striders Web site lists local races and supplies links to
registration pages at starcitystriders.com. Then there is Mountain Junkies LLC, the brainchild of Josh and Gina Gilbert. He’s a Salem chiropracPhotos courtesy of Gene Marrano
IN MY
OPINION
tor; she’s his wife and the creator of an awesome pumpkin bread (loaded
with chocolate chips) that awaits runners after they have finished one of
the trail races Mountain Junkies sponsors. It’s been the motivation I’ve
needed to finish some of their events, to be honest.
Mountain Junkies, the subject of previous Play by Play stories, has
taken over timing responsibilities at many area runs in addition to the
events they host. “Obviously we enjoy being surrounded by people that
like what we like. That commonality helps anyone feel more normal. We
started timing races because we know how to do it and at the time we
were filling a need for this service around the valley,” Josh says.
Often you see the same folks at these races, be they on local streets,
greenways or on trails. The camaraderie is one reason I now run a race almost every weekend they are available. “It is great to see people challenge
themselves and push themselves to go faster and/or farther and through
challenges they fight to overcome,” says Josh. “Any contribution we can
have on helping people grow, we take as a huge accomplishment.”
The result of my weight loss and a renewed dedication to running? In the past six months or so something just short of a miracle has happened. I’ve started to finish “in the money” — a topthree finish in my age group (50-54) — and have accumulated
a growing collection of booty that includes medals, cups and a
plaque carved out of tree bark. I’m faster now than I was three
decades ago and more motivated. I just slap on the headphones
and try to maintain a good pace, making it a goal to pass people
when I can, and stay ahead of others breathing down my neck.
I finished first in my age group at the Coventry Commonwealth
Games 5K run, first in the Grandin Court Baptist run, and first at
the “Four on the Fourth” four-miler staged by The Roanoke Times
on July 4. I’ve finished in the money at some of the Mountain
Junkies trail races — most significantly, in first place at the “Conquer the Cove” 25K endurance run in June. That was 15.8 miles
with lots of hills. That was a biggie for me.
I’ve taken my mini-obsession with racing on the road to
Covington, Montvale and Rocky Mount, and to a half-marathon
in Martinsville. I’m also going to tackle my first full marathon in
Richmond this November, and will start training in earnest after the heat of summer subsides. I even ran a 10K in Atlanta last
spring while in Georgia to visit my older kids.
Running consistently — and losing the weight — has made me
look and feel younger. I have more energy and I like the compliments I get from those who know me. A few people have asked if I
was sick; nope, I wanted to lose that weight. A basic weight-lifting
regimen (nothing too heavy) has helped me tone up, especially in
my upper body.
Can anyone do it, even if they haven’t run much all of their
lives? Consult your physician first, of course, but heck, yeah. I
run races with folks in
their 50s, 60s, 70s and
80s. Those who cannot
run due to physical conditions can often walk
many courses. Check
out starcitystriders.com
and mountainjunkies.
net for race dates and
registration fees.
Push away those carbs
when possible, eat more
salads with grilled chicken and low-fat dressing
— and enjoy the results.
Read a few books for
inspiration; Born to Run
by Christopher McDougall, a best-seller about the joys (and occasional
agony) of long-distance running comes to mind. I’m certainly no athlete
and did not run competitively in high school; if I could do it, you can, too.
We may not all be born to run, but we can learn to run.
I’m convinced of that now. And I’ve got quite a collection of T-shirts to
boot.
8
From the
Bookshelf
Play By Play
Is this ESPN tome too
much of a good thing?
“Those Guys Have All the Fun:
Inside the World of ESPN,” by
James Andrew Miller and Tom
Shales, Little, Brown and Company, 763 pp., $27.99.
First, let me come clean with my
bias.
I have been an ardent admirer
of ESPN (“The Worldwide Leader
in Sports”) virtually my entire
adult life. The television network
debuted in early September of
1979, when I was 23, and during the ensuing three decades, I
probably have not gone more than
three days without some type of
exposure to it. I’ve always found it
to be informative and professional, clever and fun.
I even look forward to their
commercials. “This is SportsCenter,” a self-effacing promotional
campaign conceived in the 1990s
and still running today, is simply
brilliant, to my way of thinking.
It was to that mindset that an
oral history of the Entertainment
and Sports Programming Network, now a flagship of the Disney conglomerate, had appeal.
Enticed by the advertisement that
it included interviews with more
than 550 insiders, I bought a copy
within a few weeks of the book’s
early summer release. When you
think about the various offshoots
of the ESPN brand — ESPN2,
ESPN3, ESPNews, ESPNU, ESPN
Radio, ESPN Zone, ESPN Classic,
ESPN the Magazine, ESPN.com,
etc. — it’s mind-boggling.
I used to think I could never get
enough ESPN. After reading this
book, I stand corrected.
Perhaps that’s a cheap shot, because the book is interesting, but
it’s like eating a tasty meal where
the courses just keep coming. After about five, you’re more than
ready for dessert. After seven, you
don’t want to see any more food.
Miller and Shales have a track
record of collaboration. They
teamed to produce the captivating Live from New York, An Uncensored History of “Saturday Night
Live” in 2002, which I have read
also. The ESPN book follows that
successful formula. The recount of
the long run starts from the idea’s
conception
and is presented in
bite -s i z e d
q u o t e s
(u s u a l l y
about
a
pa rag raph
each) from
a
wide
array
of
characters
— not just
on-camera talent, but also executives who manage and develop the
business, and some important figures at arm’s length, such as NBA
commissioner David Stern.
As in the SNL book, the authors
are successful in getting the subjects to open up and talk freely, so
there is a sprinkling of some of the
network’s salacious tales. There
are many, many more candid and
insightful observations of a less
sexual nature — as would be expected in a work that runs about
200 pages more than Live from
New York.
All of your ESPN favorite characters are here — Chris Berman,
Keith Olbermann, Dan Patrick,
Robin Roberts, Tony Kornheiser,
Kirk Herbstreit, Erin Andrews,
Peter Gammons and Bill Simmons among them — and probably more than a few you could do
without — Dick Vitale and Stephen A. Smith quickly come to
mind. The dust jacket includes a
headshot mosaic of 22 sports stars
and network stalwarts, the collage
spelling out “ESPN.”
Among the subjects the authors
interviewed is President Barack
Obama, a confessed basketball
junkie, who created a sensation
when he filled out a “March Madness” NCAA basketball tournament bracket on ESPN in March,
2009 shortly after his inauguration
— and correctly picked North Carolina to win it all. “Coach K wasn’t
too pleased with my pick…but it
was all in good fun,” Obama says.
“I have watched ESPN and
SportsCenter for as long as I can
remember. I watched it in a lot
of hotel rooms as we traveled the
country [campaigning]….Things
are a little busier these days. I
have a few more things to worry
about. But just like millions of
Americans, I still like to decompress after a long day by catching
up on scores and highlights….One
of the great things about watching
sports is that it offers a break from
the stress of the workday. I know a
lot of Americans use sports to unwind, and I’m no different.”
ESPN debuted when Obama
was in his late teens; like me, he
is a member of the camp that remembers the network in its infancy. That is the wheelhouse of readers that this book plays to.
In 1995, I attended a Lynchburg
College lecture series where one
speaker was Bill Rasmussen, the
network’s founder. Two puzzling
things about that night stand out
16 years later: one is that I was able
to buy Rasmussen’s book at half of
the cover price, which surprised
me given his international notoriety. The other is that his answer to
my question regarding memories
of his relationship with Berman,
perhaps the most visible face of
the network, was weak.
After reading the new book, I
understand why. Rasmussen was
recognized in 1994 by Sports Illustrated as one of the 40 most
influential figures in the previous
40-year history of sports, but in
reality, about all Rasmussen did
for ESPN was come up with the
idea — important, to be sure. But
he was eased out of his position
unceremoniously in the network’s
early years because the idea was
bigger than he was.
Background on some of ESPN’s most memorable “events”
is provided in the book: Bobby
Knight’s interview with Jeremy Schaap after Knight was
fired by Indiana; Jim Valvano’s
rousing “Never Give Up” speech
at the first ESPY Awards in 1993;
Erin Andrews and the peep hole
videotape; Rush Limbaugh getting dumped as a studio host;
the insight to televise poker and
World Cup soccer; LeBron James’
decision to leave Cleveland; the
in-house clash between Monday
Night Football broadcasters Mike
Tirico and Kornheiser.
Virginia and Virginia Tech football are both referenced in highly
readable passages that support
the power of online media. Chris
Fowler talks about his blog post
that rallied support within the
college football community after
Tech’s 2007 massacre. Rick Reilly
talks about how appalled he was
at the UVa administration initially
placing a ban on protest signs inside Scott Stadium and how public
AUGUST 29, 2011
reaction to his published thoughts
ultimately led to coach Al Groh’s
firing.
I was intrigued by baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian’s observation
that “I’ve never been at a place
like ESPN.” He identifies three research associates that know more
minutiae than seemingly imaginable — such as who made the last
out of every World Series in the
last 75 years; what every baseball
card looks like between 197985; the numeral on every Major
League umpire’s jersey. You sense
this is just a small sampling of the
knowledge and expertise that can
be found inside the 64-acre, Bristol, Conn. compound.
ESPN has come a long way from
its early days of broadcasting Australian rules football. Today it
brings 65 sports to 200 countries
in 16 languages. It employs 6,000
and broadcasts 25,000 hours of live
programming annually. ESPN, the
authors say, is worth more than
the entire NFL; it is worth more
than Major League Baseball, the
NBA and the NHL combined.
Perhaps it does require a book
the size of a two-brick doorstop to
tell the complete story.
— John A. Montgomery
Are you ready for
more football?
“War Without Death,” by Mark
Maske, The Penguin Press, 391
pp., 2007, $25.95.
Excited about
the end of the
NFL labor dispute, I prepped
for this season
by reading this
2007 book about
the NFC East.
Just put the
review down
and walk away
if I have to explain the
National Football League’s NFC
East and its importance to us here
in this region. That division includes the Washington Redskins,
Philadelphia Eagles, New York
Giants and geographically-challenged Dallas Cowboys, teams
with a combined 11 Super Bowl
victories, teams whose fates have
been intertwined since most of us
were old enough to grip a football.
Mark Maske, an NFL writer for
The Washington Post, undertook a
bold project in 2006, chronicling
each team from January through
a full offseason then through the
See BOOK REVIEWS, Page 18
AUGUST 29, 2011
9
Play By Play
Summertime…and the golfing is (not) easy
The Greenbrier and Ballyhack
host star-studded events in July
fan favorite. He was
joined by eight-time
major winner Tom
he 2011 Greenbrier
Watson, the 61-year
Classic is now in the books,
old pro emeritus at
and this year’s event
the Greenbrier. Other
held the last week in July
big names drawing
proved to be just as fanthe gallery’s attentastic as the previous
tion included Sergio
year’s inaugural PGA
Garcia, Lee Janzen,
Tour showcase at the
Webb Simpson
White
Sulphur
and the always
Springs, W. Va.
d ist inct ively
resort.
dressed John
After Stuart
Daly.
Appleby’s fi Tuesday’s
nal round 59,
Greenbr ionly the fifth
er
Classic
sub-60 round
Youth Day
in Tour hishad special Bill Turner photos
tory, secured
ties to Roathe
2010
noke as Cave
title with a
Spring High
fou r-rou nd
School and
2 2 - u n d e rFirst Tee of
par
total,
Roanoke Valspec u lat ion
ley golfer Drew
ensued as to how
Phil Mickelson
Board teamed
the pros would carve
with pro Drew
up The Old White TPC
Weaver to claim half
in 2011. What a difference a year
of the $10,000 purse
makes.
that was split with
Tournament officials made
First Tee West Virsubtle changes to The Old White
ginia. Along with
that included adding slightly more
Wednesday’s
Prothan 200 yards in length, narrowAm, spectators were
ing several fairways and reseeding
offered the best opportunity to get
all 18 greens. While the alterations
close to the pros as most were reat first glance appeared minimal,
laxed and very generous in taking
the results were staggering.
extra time to sign everything from
This year’s field expanded to inhats to golf balls before the more
clude Phil Mickelson who, with
serious competition began the
39 Tour victories including four
next day.
majors, was clearly a big draw and
by Bill Turner
T
Scott Stallings sinks
the winning putt on
the first playoff hole
Stallings was all smiles as the realization of his Tour win and a $1.08
million paycheck was recognized
by tournament dignitaries (left)
and Jim Nantz of CBS Sports
Roanoke’s Laura Blades, the
Play by Play publisher’s niece,
may have nabbed the prize of the
day on Tuesday when Watson autographed a vintage 1981 Sports
Illustrated that featured him on
the cover. The planets lined up
perfectly on the edge of the 18th
green for a piece destined for the
memorabilia case.
The tournament once again
came down to another exciting
See GOLF, Page 17
Orlando Magic guard J.J. Redick (below) hosted his celebrity fundraiser golf tournament
and gala at Ballyhack Golf Club on July 23
Greenbrier pro emeritus Tom Watson drew a huge throng of fans
during his Tuesday (July 26) practice round. Among the successful autograph seekers was Roanoke’s Laura Blades (right)
10
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
ODAC needs Nekoloff’s know-how
Salem, without Nekoloff playing
his valuable role.
“He has done a great job for
us and I knew he would from
the moment we hired him,” says
Bankston. “He was energetic about
the opportunity and had worked
with us at the softball championship when he was at West Virginia
Wesleyan. He has knowledge, and
he has matured in his role. It’s not
an easy job but he has delivered,
and during that process, really
blossomed into a real resource in
terms of technology and getting
our word out.”
Nekoloff and Bankston have
become a dynamic duo for the
13-member league, a partnership
born of rolling
up the shirtsleeves
and
working sideby-side for the
good of a common
cause.
They both love
what Division
III
athletics
Nekoloff
by Mike Ashley
Brian Hoffman
J.J.
Nekoloff grew up A
diehard Cleveland sports
fan, and in the Parma
parlance of his Ohio home, the Old
Dominion Athletic Conference is
really lucky he decided to take his
talents to Southwest and Central
Virginia.
Nekoloff is the assistant commissioner and sports information director for the ODAC, and if
you’ve read something about that
league or seen something on television about the loop, chances are
Nekoloff had a hand in it. He’s got
an e-mail list longer than a football field and he gets the word out
on all that is good in the state’s
preeminent Division III league.
“J.J. does a great job,” says
WDBJ-TV sports director Travis
Wells. “He’s great to work with
and so timely in getting us releases and information. He’s super accommodating and really knows
his stuff.”
“J.J. is a grinder and so reliable,”
says Randy King, veteran sportswriter for The Roanoke Times. “He
ODAC assistant commissioner and sports information director J.J. Nekoloff earns high praise from members of the area media for his efficiency
always takes care of whatever you
need. I know I can trust him and
not just because his name sounds
like a Russian brand of vodka.”
For those that thirst for ODAC
info, Nekoloff pours it straight.
He first came to the ODAC offices,
then in Salem, six years ago as the
conference’s new sports informa-
tion contact. Commissioner Brad
Bankston, who had also worked
on that side of athletics in his career, knew a good thing when
he saw it and promoted Nekoloff
to assistant commissioner. Now
it’s hard to imagine a Division III
event in the region, including all
those national championships in
See NEKOLOFF, Page 16
–– 13th
15th Annual ––
Coventry Commonwealth
Games Captain’s Choice
Dr. Wally Memorial
Golf Tournament
September
2011
October 9,23,
2009
Hanging Rock
Golf Club
Lunch at 12:00 Noon
Tee off at 1:00pm
Great Prizes for: Closest to Pin,
Longest Drive and Longest Pu�
For More Information:
Virginia Amateur Sports
711-C 5th Street, NE, Roanoke, VA 24016
540-343-0987 • www.commonwealthgames.org
Dr. Wallace R. Johnson (1939-2008) was a
founding board member for VAS
AUGUST 29, 2011
11
Play By Play
7
Photo courtesy of Scott Smith
Abby Wambach Sighting
Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Woolwine
Snapshots of the season
Elizabeth Woolwine (immediate
right), a 2004 Salem High School
graduate who now lives in Richmond, had the opportunity to meet
women’s professional soccer star
Abby Wambach (far right) at a Boca
Raton magicJack soccer game in
Florida in late July. Wambach is a
four-time winner of the U.S. Soccer
Athlete of the Year award and the
third-highest all-time scorer for the
U.S. Women’s National Soccer team. She distinguished herself internationally in this
summer’s World Cup competition.
7
2011 Badger Baseball Graduates
7
The Roanoke Badgers 2011 college-bound class is pictured above at a signing ceremony. Front row (left to right): Austin Gregory, a Hidden Valley pitcher who will
play for Roanoke College; Cory Smith, a Hidden Valley pitcher who will play for
Washington and Lee University; Craig Hoelzer, a North Cross infielder who will play
for Johns Hopkins University. Back row (left to right): Aaron Burton, a Patrick Henry
infielder who will play for University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Andy Richards, a
Hidden Valley pitcher who will play for Virginia Military Institute. These five players
have played with the Roanoke Badgers since they were 10 years old, accumulating
hundreds of wins, more than a dozen tournament titles, two Virginia state championships and a national No. 1 ranking in USSSA.
Kasey Kahne appearance
Brian Hoffman
Tommy Firebaugh photos
The popular NASCAR driver (above right, surrounded by reporters and photographers) was in Salem July 27 for the grand opening of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet at
Spartan Square. Play by Play publisher John Montgomery (above left), representing
The Roanoke Times on this day, was part of the media interviewing him.
WINN
ERS
7
Senior Golf Winners
Larry Lingle (above left) was the overall winner of the Roanoke Valley Senior Golf
Tour’s Aug. 17 tournament played at London Downs in Forest. Playing in Division 3
(handicaps over 19), Lingle carded a net score of 61. In Division 1 (handicaps 0-13),
Ken Wilburn (above right) finished in first place with a net 66. Hi Nicely (below)
picked up Division 2 (handicaps 14-19)
first-place honors with a net score
of 65.
DAV
DA
AVI
VID
ID BOW
OWE
OW
WERS
Attorney
• Divorce • Traffic
• Social Security Disability
33
30 Years
Experience
345-6622
335 W. Church
Ave., Roanoke
(Next to City
Courthouse)
12
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
Comeback
Route
Averet t walk-on
receiver has
caught on
Photos courtesy of Averett University, Drew Wilson, photograhper
by Mike Ashley
I
t was the fall of 2003, and
Ray Bare was looking out over
the Pacific Ocean.
He was contemplating walking
in and not turning back.
It was the low point of a Barebones existence that the Stewartsville native had embarked on
after disappointing himself. “I tell
people that really the 10 years of
my life from when I was 16 until I
was 26 were a big waste,” he says.
“I had become an undiagnosed
alcoholic. I was the guy, who if he
had one beer, had 10 or 12. However much money I had in my pocket
that night, that’s how much I was
going to drink.”
Working a series of odd jobs
after graduating from Staunton
River High School in 1997, Bare
stuffed as much of that money in
his pocket as he could and took a
Greyhound bus more than halfway across the country. He crossed
the Mexican border and headed
to Mazatlan on the Pacific shore,
where Bare planned on starting
over or maybe, as things turned
out south of the border, simply
ending it all.
“I found Mazatlan by Googling
the top 10 cheapest places to surf,”
he says. “My original plan wasn’t
to ever come back but I hadn’t
thought it out very well. I surfed
and cliff-dived and tried a little
of everything because I thought it
was going to end there. If I couldn’t
get back home, I was going to walk
out into the Pacific Ocean and call
it a day.”
***
It was the spring of 2010, and
Ray Bare was looking out over the
Cougar Den football field at Averett University, and contemplating
walking on for the Cougars football team. Bare had examined his
life, had taken charge, and he still
hasn’t turned back.
He’s a second-year, 31-year-old
rookie-raw wide receiver for the
Cougars, and although he played
in just one varsity game last season before breaking his leg, Bare is
Averett’s 2011 team captain.
Sometimes experience and
leadership is about a lot more than
playing football and knowing
where to line up. Often it’s about
knowing where you shouldn’t
have been and working your tail
off to earn back your self-respect.
Along the way, Bare has found,
you can inspire others.
“That’s probably been the biggest surprise out of all this, to be
honest,” Bare says. “It’s really the
amount of respect I get from the
young guys on the team, the enhadn’t played high school football
couragement they give me. I try to
but seemed worthy of a walk-on
give it to them and it really makes
tryout.
you appreciate being part of a
“He told me (Bare) had been
team. That’s something I think a
playing basketball at Virginia
lot of us out in what they call the
Western Community College but
‘Real World’ could use more of in
had never played football in high
our lives.”
school,” says Dunlevy, shaking his
Averett head
head. “I said, ‘Is
coach
Mike
there anything
Dunlevy has
else I need to
more wins (44)
know?’ And he
than any coach
said, ‘Well, he
in Averett footis 30 years old.’”
ball
history.
D u n l e v y ,
The Cougars
who has obviwere 7-3 in
ously told this
2009, and finstory
before,
ished second in
pauses for emthe USA South
phasis
and
Conference.
then lets out an
Safe to say he
ex aggerated,
knows how to
“O-kay….”
build winning
He insisted
teams.
on
meeting
So imagine
with Bare, and
his
surprise
then he insistwhen his top
ed on meetrecruiter, asing with Bare’s
sistant
Max
wife,
Salem
Roach, came
native Emily
to him back in
Smith, whom
2010, and told
Bare met at Virhim he had
ginia Western
found a player Ray Bare, 31, is beginning his second on the basketin Roanoke that year on Averett University’s team
ball courts. She
AUGUST 29, 2011
played for the Blue Stars women’s
team, and the two were married in
2007.
“From the beginning, Coach
Dunlevy has been very upfront
and honest about what was expected of me,” says Bare. “He is
holding me to the same standards
as everyone else, and I have appreciated that. He wanted to make
sure Emily is on the same page
with everything and understood
the time commitment.”
Emily understood. She finished
up her degree and now has a good
job with Carilion so the couple
lives in Roanoke, and Bare makes
the 90-minute drive from the Star
City to Danville every day.
“He was in our One Hundred
Percent Club, which means he
missed nothing this spring,” says
Dunlevy of Bare’s drive, and, well,
his driving. “That’s almost every
day, a meeting or whatever it was,
and he was here. You don’t find
that level of commitment, even at
his age. The other kids see that and
feed off of it.”
Dunlevy says his 2011 seniors
talked so much about Bare and
“how much they were inspired” by
him that it was a no-brainer when
the 6-foot, 190-pound receiver was
named captain for this fall.
“He’s probably not going to be a
starter and he’s going to be limited
in what he can do but he’s a guy
that everyone looks up to,” says
the coach. “He just has a great outlook in how he approaches things
day-to-day, and has been great for
us as coaches to point to him as an
example of what we expect from
everyone in the program.”
***
It was the fall of 2003, and Ray
Bare was looking at a payphone in
Mazatlan, and making one of the
toughest calls he had ever made in
his life. He called his father, Ray,
Sr., and said he wanted to come
back home. His western walkabout was over and he wanted to
return.
Bare had been living in a $90
(American)-a-month, one-room
bungalow with a toilet, no windows but bars over openings in
the wall and a front door. “Sitting down there, I was completely
alone, 3000 miles from home with
nothing,” he says. “You just sit and
think about all the things I had
done, and it was certainly nothing
I was proud of.”
Ray, Sr., and Tonja Bare had
been collateral damage in their
son’s reckless youth, standing by
him through the failed semi-careers, the overdrinking and underthinking, and even through a 1998
theft, police chase and subsequent
Play By Play
car wreck. Bare was airlifted from
Bedford to Roanoke Memorial
Hospital with a concussion by
Lifeguard 10. When he woke up,
he served 20 days in jail.
Bare speaks haltingly of the incident, embarrassed but willing to
talk about it for the greater good.
“It wouldn’t have been that bad if
I had learned my lesson from it,”
he says. “At the time, my attitude
was that I just got 20 days. That’s
not that bad. Let’s see what else I
can do.”
It was time for tougher love from
his parents after the Mexican vacation.
“I called my parents and asked
them to Western Union me some
money and my dad’s exact words
were, ‘You got yourself down there,
you get yourself back home,’” the
younger Bare recalls. “I called my
grandmother and she sent me $50
to get a bus back from Mazatlan to
“The thing I found in Ray that is
unlike a lot of people today, is that
when they experience bad things
early on, they find it very difficult
to have hope and refocus their attention,” says Elliott.
“But this guy, he had a game
plan. And he always had a positive
outlook. He worked at it and it’s
paying off for him now.”
Bare became not only a starter
but a team leader for VWCC. He
enrolled in classes, thanks to his
grandmother coercing one of his
aunts to front him the tuition, and
he finished out the season with
the Blue Stars, playing pretty well
for a guy who had never played
in high school. VWCC didn’t win
any games that semester but Bare
made four A’s and a B, and for extra credit, met Emily.
As Emily finished her education, Bare worked to pay off his
debts, taking a full-time job at
Because of his perseverance, Bare has been named team captain
Nogales, Ariz., and I walked across
the border and hitchhiked home.”
He came back to town and lived
with his grandmother, Willis
“Mammie” Bare. Bare, with a
newfound and hard-won maturity,
began to see things a little differently. “The part that kicked in for
me was when all my friends came
back from college and I’m hearing
about them teaching or coaching
or they’re working in the hospital.
I realized I was way behind. That
really sunk in.”
Bare got a job at Valley View
Mall, working for Abercrombie &
Fitch, and he mowed yards and
did odd jobs to make a little more
money. He met some students
from Virginia Western at the mall,
and they invited him to come out
and play basketball with them.
He played pickup with the varsity
team and after some attrition over
the holiday break, coaches John
Elliott and Clyde Tables invited
him to join the squad.
Parts Depot. He didn’t get back to
taking more classes until Emily
was working full-time in 2008. He
was set to play varsity basketball
when he took a visit to Averett as
part of an open house program.
And his dream changed.
“I had always wanted to play
football,” he says. “I played in rec
leagues but when I got to high
school I didn’t grow very much. I
was 5-2, 120 pounds when I graduated.”
So Bare’s varsity athletic
achievements at Staunton River
had been limited to the crosscountry team. He has since grown
10 inches and added 70 pounds.
“It’s really fun to see people I
haven’t seen since high school,” he
says with a smile.
***
It was Oct. 28, 2010, and Ray
Bare was looking down the practice field, charging hard on a kickoff coverage unit when a teammate was blocked into his leg,
13
breaking his fibula and ending his
season with three games remaining. He wouldn’t walk comfortably
again for some time.
“When he broke his leg, the other kids were very upset, particularly the older players, because
they see how much he puts into it,”
says Dunlevy.
Bare regrets the injury on several levels. “First I was playing better
and I just loved it,” he says. “I love
practices, too. I wish I had that
week to do over again.”
Not because of the injury but
because of doctor’s advice, as Bare
was first put in a soft cast, he was
told it wouldn’t be a good idea to
travel with the team the following day for the game at Shenandoah. Averett lost 24-14, and in fact,
dropped the final three games
with Bare in his cast and out of the
mix.
“I really feel like my role on the
team is to be that crazy Energizer
Bunny guy to make sure that we’re
never flat,” he explains. “Regardless if it’s the first day of camp or
our first game (Sept. 3) against
Hampden-Sydney, I’m going to be
fired up to make sure we’re ready
to go.”
Bare’s footing with the team had
improved before the injury. He
had been playing better, and was
stating to really help the junior
varsity team. He had a touchdown
catch in one game, and he remembers his sideline exploding “like
we had just won the Super Bowl.”
Not surprisingly, Bare has
worked back from the leg injury
spectacularly. Unfortunately, not
every practice and game affects
his 31-year-old body the same way
it does his younger teammates.
“That’s the major thing I notice
is that they’re quicker to bounce
back,” he says of the young whippersnappers all around him. “I
also notice they can get away with
more junk food or soda. I can’t do
those things and not pay a price.”
And then of course, there’s the
price to be paid in typical locker
room jockeying, dynamics that
dictate Bare must receive a heavy
ration of hard times about his age.
Teammates love to ask him about
’80’s music and what it felt like to
play the first Nintendo game.
“We have a lot of fun,” Bare says.
“I take it as their way of letting me
know I’m part of the team.”
***
It’s late April, 2012, and Ray Bare
is looking out over his fellow Averett graduates, walking across the
stage and into his future, diploma
in hand.
See BARE, Page 16
14
Play By Play
AUGUST 29, 2011
Sox conclude bumpy campaign
A
Gene Marrano
fter finishing a game
out of a playoff spot last season the Salem Red Sox were,
at press time, in danger of missing
the Carolina League postseason
for a second straight year.
The 2011 campaign has seen
players come and go — and return in some cases. Such is life
in advanced-A ball, where player
development is the main goal and
capturing a pennant is always
secondary. Local fans continue to
turn out; the Sox average something less than 3,400 paid fans per
game, fourth in the eight-team
circuit, and have long understood
that turning out future major
leaguers has always been what
minor league baseball is all about.
Salem got off to a tremendous
start this year and at one point
had the best team record in professional baseball at 20-7. The Sox
led the Carolina League in many
statistical categories as well at that
juncture. A long slump, though,
doomed any chance the Sox had of
capturing a first half pennant.
Evan Lepler is completing his
third season in Salem as play-byplay broadcaster for the Salem Sox
and has a bird’s-eye view on what
the team did in 2011. Player movement, like the promotion of fleet
outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker to
double-A Portland didn’t help,
but Lepler says he warned others
at the time that the gaudy record
may have been a bit of an illusion.
“I tried to tell people [that],” Lepler says. An early sterling record in
close games may have given some
false optimism. “We made every
pitch we needed to make, we got
every hit we needed. [I] sort of expected it to even out.”
“Even out” it did, of course, as
Myrtle Beach captured the halfpennant. “We weren’t as good
Bill Turner
Evan Lepler is winding up his third
season of Red Sox play-by-play
probably as 20-7 and weren’t as
bad as 10-30 that we went [later
on].” To wit: the team recorded its
20th win in the 27th game — but
didn’t get number 30 until its 67th
contest. “It completely flipped
around the other way.”
Lepler says the Boston organization expected somewhat of a
struggle in Salem this year, with a
young pitching staff that was often
experiencing advanced-A ball for
the first time. Other teams in the
Carolina League featured staffs
with more experienced hurlers.
That’s a cyclical thing; at times the
Salem rotation and bullpen has
featured more players approaching their mid-20s. “It’s tough to
win games that way but it doesn’t
mean that players aren’t developing and becoming future major
league contributors,” adds Lepler.
Catcher Dan Butler made
strides towards becoming a bigleague backstop before his callup to Portland. Starting pitcher
Stolmy Pimentel, on a return trip
to Salem, seemed to right himself after an 0-9 stint at Portland.
Outfielder Bryce Brentz (17 homers for Salem at press time after
an early season call-up from lowA Greenville) seems destined for
great things, perhaps at Fenway
Park.
Baseball America’s poll of Carolina League managers has labeled
Brentz the best power hitting prospect in the circuit, a tag that Lepler
endorses. “It’s a treat to watch him
take batting practice,” Lepler says.
Brentz realized in his first spring
training at-bat — when he hit a
homer — that 2011 would be different than 2010, when he batted
just .198 at Greenville.
Third baseman Kolbrin Vitek
endured alternating slumps and
hot streaks (a leading second-half
hitter in the Carolina League), but
appears to be a prospect. Shannon
Wilkerson also supplied outfield
punch and defense after the pro-
Chris Hernandez
had 10 wins at
press time
Brian Hoffman
by Gene Marrano
motion of Hazelbaker, a converted
infielder whom Lepler labels “an
incredible, ‘toolsy’ player. A really
intriguing prospect.” Chris Hernandez (10 wins) showed promise
and Lepler says Drake Britton,
despite a 1-13 record in 22 starts, is
worth watching.
At times, says manager Bruce
Crabbe, the pitching, fielding and
hitting didn’t all come together simultaneously, a sign of youth and
inexperience. A 13-inning loss after a 7-1 lead in mid-August was
deflating, according to Lepler, but
that’s baseball. “It’s been a half
of excruciating losses…a tough
stretch.”
The second half has been a matter of streaks for Salem, but the infusion of players like Miles Head
and Jorge Padron helped make a
difference. A 10-3 stretch after an
0-5 second half start made some
think “pennant,” but the team has
struggled since. “I think we’ve underachieved a little bit, to be honest,” says Lepler. “Our lineup has a
ton of talent.” He commends Crabbe and the entire coaching staff for
trying to keep the club motivated.
Lepler isn’t sure if he’ll return to
the broadcast booth in Salem for
2012; like everyone else he’s looking to move up, but “intriguing
young players” in Greenville
is one reason he would like to
come back. Look for prospect
Brandon Jacobs, who passed up
a football scholarship at Auburn
to play baseball, to be among
the new faces in Salem. There’s
always the promise of next season in baseball.
***
One more baseball book for
Bryce Brentz slides into third on what Sox fans to read during the long
was ruled his 16th HR of the season
offseason ahead: Stan Musical:
An American Life by George Vecsey (Ballantine Books, 416 pp.,
$26.). Raised dirt-poor in a hardscrabble western Pennsylvania
mining town, Musial, who labored
all of his career in the shadow
of Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio,
Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and
Hank Aaron, was nonetheless
considered the best hitter in baseball by many.
A first baseman-outfielder during his Hall of Fame career in St.
Louis, Stan “The Man” — a nickname given him by the Brooklyn
Dodgers fans — had a career that
spanned from the early 1940s
through 1963. He actually started
out as a pitcher in the low minors
after being signed by the legendary Branch Rickey (subject of a
book review in the last issue of Play
by Play), but a lack of velocity and
a strong bat turned him into an
everyday player known for wicked
line drives and good power: 475
HR, .331 average, 1,951 RBI (sixth
best all-time). Musial also staged some
epic salary negotiations in an era long
before free agency.
Vecsey’s effort was
hampered by his
lack of access to Musial, now enfeebled by Alzheimer’s
disease. Quotes from Musial come
from earlier newspaper clips and
a previous autobiography. Still,
the veteran New York Times sports
columnist has turned out a baseball book worth reading by talking
to many who played with Musial
and knew him outside of the game.
ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian has called
Musial “the most underrated great
player of all time,” but he gets his
just due in An American Life.
AUGUST 29, 2011
15
Play By Play
Titans take Wachovia
Cup for second time
a consolation
game, the point
alk about an anticlitotals for third
max — Hidden Valley High
and fourth place
School won the state chamare split evenpionship of state championships
ly. Likewise all
and there was no one around to
quarterfinal loscelebrate.
ers are awarded
“We have the trophy here at
22.5 points.
the school,” says athletic director
M o r r i s
Chris Morris. “It came in a box,
thought
the
delivered by UPS.”
Titans
had
Basketball coach Troy Wells took
The trophy he refers to is the
clinched
the
his team to a second-place finish
Wachovia Cup for Athletics. The
Wachovia Cup
Morris says the Wachovia Cup
Virginia High School League
before
the
is a major award that most people
awards the Wachovia Cup to the
spring jubilee
know little about, which is unforschool in each classification that
in Radford, but
tunate because it’s a major accomhas the most cumulative sucearning a state
plishment.
cess in all sports, with additional
title in girls’ ten “People who follow high school
points awarded to the winner of
nis ended all
athletics know about it,” Morris
the sportsmanship, ethics and indoubt.
says. “The average parent whose
tegrity award. The Titans also won
By any meason or daughter plays one sport
the award five years ago.
sure, winning a
doesn’t know.”
Despite the fact the Wachovia
Wachovia Cup
It doesn’t help that the final
Cup seems like a footnote to high
is a sign of exstandings are released after school
school sports, it is a big deal —
cellence in an
is out. Plus, there is no time when
winning it indicates an all-around
overall athletic
Hidden Valley AD Chris Morris and principal Rhonda
a school is competing with the
excellence in athletics that cannot
program. Many
Stegall recently received their second Wachovia Cup
outcome of a specific game set to
be overstated. But since it shows
schools
are
determine whether the Cup is won
up in the summer when schools
gram because it speaks to how acknown for having a strong tradior lost. A great state title has that
are empty, there’s really no way to
complished we are as an athletic
tion in one or two sports, but the
clinching moment.
celebrate the announcement on a
program,” Morris says.
Titans won state titles in girls’ out “The standings are sent out durlarge scale.
Hidden Valley racked up more
door track and cross-country in
Hidden Valley principal Rhonpoints than any other Group AA
da Stegall says the school will call
school in Virginia, scoring 462.5
attention to the award.
points. Second-place Western Al “We have freshman orientation
bemarle finished with 375.
and we announce it there,” Ste “It takes so many people to
gall says. “We also announce it on
make it happen, it can only be
back-to-school night, and it will be
done with a lot of hard work on the
on our T-shirt we’re making for the
part of our coaches,” Stegall says.
“It also shows
the overall talent of our athletes, but we
also have to
have the support of the parents for it to
happen.”
A
school
Cross-country and track stars Haley Cutright (left) and Annie LeHardy
earns
50
were joined by coach Dan King for their college signing ceremony
points for a
ing the year and we gauge where
state champiaddition to girls’ tennis.
we are,” Morris says.
onship, 45 for
The great run to the state final
The Titans were in a tight race,
a runner-up
by the boys’ basketball team was
but when the girls track team won
finish, 40 for
matched by second-place honors
the Group AA meet and the soccer
third
place
garnered by the boys’ and girls’
The Hidden Valley girls’ tennis team won its second
teams and girls’ tennis team were
and
down
swim teams. The volleyball team
consecutive state championship in Radford in June
making their respective runs,
the list to 15
was a state semifinalist and points
Western Albemarle had only the
10th anniversary of the school. We
points for an eighth-place finish.
were earned in golf, both socbrag about it, sure.”
In the case of a state tournament
cer teams, competitive cheer and
See WACHOVIA CUP, Page 16
“This is really nice for our prowhere semifinal losers do not play
girls’ indoor track.
by Christian Moody
Bill Turner
Bill Turner
Photo courtesy of Chris Morris
Bill Turner
T
16
Play By Play
From Page 10
stand for, and are champions for
the pure student-athlete this level
empowers.
“Brad has been not only my boss
but my mentor and my friend,”
says Nekoloff. “I think we match
up pretty well. When people ask
me what Brad might think about
something, I’m pretty sure I can
answer. He and I have a great rapport.”
Bankston, Nekoloff and Mollie
Robertson, assistant to the commissioner and director of championships, make up the ODAC
offices, now located in Forest.,
closer to the geographic center of
the league. Nekoloff also handles
championship
administration,
runs all the award processes with
the coaches and even helps out in
scheduling.
His real calling, though, is on
the technological side. The ODAC
boasts a state-of-the-art Web site
for Division III (or any division,
for that matter), and Nekoloff
has helped nearly all the league
schools enhance their own Web
sites. The ODAC has been way
ahead of the game in podcasts and
in streaming live events over the
Web.
“If I push my glasses up in the
middle I’m a little bit of a techie,”
Nekoloff says with a laugh. “I re By his senior year he was runally do enjoy tinkering with the
ning the intramural program at
technological side of what we do,
Marietta, his first real sports adgetting into the computers, Interministration position, he said. In
net coding, things like that.”
2003, he accepted a graduate po And Nekoloff’s work has been
sition as a sports information direcognized locally and nationally.
rector at Division II West Virginia
His conference peers
Wes le y a n,
awarded him the anwhile pursunual ODAC SID of the
ing his MBA.
Year honor in 2009-10,
“I had nevand he serves on a pair
er even heard
of national technolof sports inogy committees for the
formation
Division III Commiswhile I was at
sioners
Association,
Marietta,” he
including chairing one
says. “It was
group.
trial by fire
Pretty heady stuff
at West Virfor a guy who grew
ginia Wesup in the suburbs of
leyan. One of
Cleveland, completely
the first reinfected by the local
leases I wrote
sports bug but espe- ODAC commissioner Brad
I tore apart
cially by the strain pro- Bankston (left) and Salem Civic the referees
vided by the Cleveland Center executive John Saunders because no
Indians of the mid-1990s. Truth be
one ever told me you don’t do that.
told, Nekoloff wanted to someday
My athletic director tore me apart
replace John Hart as Tribe general
when he got a call from the referee.
manager, and prepared himself
That was lesson one.”
by playing baseball and soccer in
Nekoloff was a quick study,
high school.
though, and gained valuable ex He even played soccer at Mariperience immersed in the publicetta (Ohio) College his freshman
ity side of the business. During his
year until a severe ankle injury
second year there, he made some
took him off the pitch and chanof his most important contacts,
neled his love for sports elsewhere.
volunteering at the NCAA Division
Brian Hoffman
Nekoloff
Bare
III softball tournament in Salem.
“That’s where I got my first introduction with the ODAC, and with
(Salem Director of Civic Facilities)
Carey Harveycutter,” he says. “I
can’t think of a better set-up for
somebody to learn to do things
than work with Carey. Championship administration, how to
treat people correctly and having
Brad and Carey together with (Salem Parks & Recreation Manager)
John Shaner and (Salem Assistant
Director of Civic Facilities) John
Saunders, with all the people that
are associated with the championships in Salem, who could ask for a
better learning environment?”
Of course Nekoloff now pulls
his own weight in the conference
and city’s success, having worked
20 national championship events,
not to mention countless ODAC
championships.
Wells is annually amazed at
the highlights video Nekoloff
and Steve Mason put together for
the ODAC basketball tournament
banquet each year, and any media
member that has ever worked the
event is a big Nekoloff fan, too.
“Without him, our office and
the public image of our league
certainly wouldn’t be what it is today,” says Bankston.
LeBron James should be so
popular with the media.
Wachovia Cup
From Page 15
Averett University, Drew Wilson, photograhper
He wants that future to include a job in athletic administration, and he has already
applied to several graduate
schools’ sports management
programs, including his beloved University of Florida.
“My experience at Averett and
Virginia Western has shown
me not just how much athletics helps students but also the
communities around them,” Bare (in helmet) enjoys a good-natured
he says. “I want to find a way I rapport with his Averett teammates
can be a part of that and give those
chance when they were younger. I
same opportunities to future stuwas definitely one of those people.
dent-athletes.”
I just wanted to be an example to
Bare, who has also repaired his
people that if things didn’t go your
relationship with his parents, has
way or you didn’t get a chance to
a story that should be heard and
do what you wanted to do when
not just by youngsters, he insists.
you were younger, it’s not too late
“There are a lot of people, espeto still do that.”
cially with the way the economy
Bare has come so far, traveled
is right now, that are thinking
literally such a long way to find
about going back to school or dohis place, who could doubt him?
ing something that they always
And who couldn’t help but root for
wanted to do but didn’t get the
him?
girls’ lacrosse team in position to
add to its tally.
Morris says the school will be
recognized at VHSL Day at a University of Virginia home game this
fall, but since the trophy is already
at the school it’s ready for the trophy case now. A banner for the
gym has been ordered.
The Titans won the Wachovia
Cup in 2006 as well. The last two
years it was won by Blacksburg, so
the Titans are able to keep the cup
in the River Ridge District.
Hidden Valley is the third Roanoke Valley school to win a Wachovia Cup. William Byrd won
three straight from 1996-98. Glenvar won the cup in Group A in
1994.
Bill Turner
From Page 13
AUGUST 29, 2011
Former HV principal David Blevins (center) accepts the award in 2006
AUGUST 29, 2011
17
Play By Play
Golf
From Page 9
finish akin to 2010.
Tour rookie Scott Stallings
forced a three-way playoff with a
perfectly placed 9-iron on the par3, 72nd hole which led to a fivefoot birdie putt. Stallings ran back
to the tee box on the signature finishing hole that was designated as
the point where the playoff would
start. Using the same 9-iron, Stallings put the second effort six feet
left of the pin. After Bob Estes and
Bill Haas missed their makeable
birdie attempts, Stallings calmly
found the cup with authority to
claim his first Tour win and the
$1.08 million first prize.
The subtle course changes gave
evidence The Old White presented
plenty of fight. Mickelson, Watson,
Appleby and Daly all missed the
36-hole cut. The winning score of
10-under-par, 270, was 12 shots
higher than 2010. But, the scoring
difficulty may have been best validated by one unique comparison.
In 2010, 46 players never shot 70 or
higher in any of the four rounds. In
2011, not a single player stayed in
the 60s all four days.
While the golf attendance
mushroomed to 213,000, the concert series likewise drew record
crowds to nearby Lewisburg.
Greenbrier officials estimated
Friday night’s headliner with the
high-energy Black Eyed Peas attracted 56,000 fans, while Tim
McGraw and Keith Urban kept
the traffic in Lewisburg heavy on
Thursday and Saturday nights, respectively.
The Greenbrier Classic will
move to the July 4th holiday week
in 2012, for what Greenbrier owner
Jim Justice promotes as the per-
John Daly was a fan favorite
Prominent
retired
professional
athletes —
including
major league
baseball
pitcher Billy
Wagner (near
left) and NFL
player Dennis
Haley were in
attendance
Bill Turner photos
J.J. Redick took a break during golf to drain a few 3-pointers (left) at Ballyhack and then spent much of the following
week with his former high school coach Billy Hicks (above)
conducting a three-day basketball camp at North Cross
fect fit — America’s resort hosting
the Classic on America’s holiday.
***
Closer to home, Orlando Magic
guard J.J. Redick hosted his first
charity fundraiser golf tourna-
ment and gala at Ballyhack Golf Club on
July 23.
Proceeds benefitted Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
and Child Health Investment Partnership
(CHIP) of Roanoke
Valley. The celebrity
golf tournament included Virginia Tech
football coach Frank
Beamer, and several
retired
prominent
athletes — including
major league baseball pitcher Billy Wagner, VT and NBA hoopster
Bimbo Coles and NFL player Dennis Haley.
Sixteen foursomes ponied up
$5,000 each to participate in the
fundraiser, and combined with a
benefit concert the night before,
gross revenue from the event (prior to expenses) exceeded $110,000.
Redick was pleased that he was
able to give back to his hometown
and promised to make it bigger
and better in 2012.
Redick, a former standout at
Cave Spring High School and
Duke University, extended his visit
to Roanoke with a three-day basketball camp held at North Cross
the following week that attracted
50 campers.
His former high school coach,
Billy Hicks, served as tournament
director, but Redick was “extremely hands-on,” according to Hicks.
Redick gave a motivational talk
each day and worked closely with
the aspiring athletes.
Book reviews
From Page 8
entire 2006 campaign. The result
is an educating and insightful look
at how the NFL operates, viewed
through the prism of these often
bitter rivals with conflicting styles
and approaches to how to reach
their organizational goals.
If you like any of these teams,
the book has much to offer. And
even if you don’t, there are such
compelling personalities on display — aggressive owners Daniel
Snyder and Jerry Jones, coaching
legends Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells, and players like Terrell Owens in his first year in Dallas, Eli
Manning trying to live up to his
draft status in New York and another New Yorker in his final season and of special interest to those
of us in Roanoke — Tiki Barber.
Maske is at his best profiling
these protagonists.
Barber has had so much bad
press recently that it was refreshing to read about him at the top of
his game as a mentor to other players and a gentleman who transcended the war-like competition
of pro football. After the death of
Giants (and NFL) patriarch Wellington Mara, Barber had one of
his best games and after scoring
a touchdown, presented the ball
to Mara’s grandson, Tim McDonnell.
“Timmy,” Barber told him, “this
is for you, your grandfather, and
your family. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I love
you.”
Most of the sentiments in the
book aren’t this sweet, although
any fan would love the behindthe-scenes glimpses of personnel decisions and fly-on-the-wall
locker room looks.
Maske, for my tastes, was heavy
on labor issues that finally came to
a head in 2011. I understand those
issues a little better now but truth
be told, I would have been happier
with more T.O. dirt or Lavar Arrington airing his grievances with
the Redskins as he suited up for
the Giants.
The Eagles come across best
(without giving away an ending
many football fans will remember). Maske does a great job of
breaking down how that organization operates, from owner Jeff
Lurie, through team president Joe
Banner, and right down to Andy
Reid’s deft — albeit somewhat unappreciated — touch in the City
of Brotherly Love and Santa Claus
Booing.
Play By Play
Here’s another good Eagles’ moment, and one for Barber, too:
“A celebration erupted on the
field, but Jeremiah Trotter and
Brian Dawkins made certain to
find Barber amid the chaos. Barber suddenly was a former NFL
player.
‘You’re a warrior,’ Dawkins told
him.
Barber appreciated that. Trotter and Dawkins had been among
his fiercest rivals, but he respected
them and they respected him.”
Even as this book grows older,
the machinations of that season
still linger and affect each of those
franchises — Barber coming back
this season, Parcells’ sudden departure after reshaping the Cowboys; Gibbs’ agonizing decisions
to try to return to his own coaching principles and right the Redskins’ ship; Donovan McNabb’s
struggles to win over fans for a
franchise he salvaged, and the Giants trying to get over their own
animosity toward inflexible coach
Tom Coughlin. Remember how
that worked out the next year?
Short of a must-read for fans,
the book will broaden your view
— though there’s too much on labor (players union leader Gene
Upshaw’s and commissioner Paul
Tagliabue’s friendship averting
trouble in 2006), on the behindthe-scenes dealings that landed
Roger Goodell as Tagliabue’s successor and on other minutiae like
the NFL Network’s emergence. All
this, I felt, at the expense of a more
expansive narrative about the season and its dramatic twists and
turns.
I was ready for more football.
— Mike Ashley
See the movie,
read the book
“When the Game Was Ours,”
by Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, with Jackie MacMullan, First
Mariner, Books, 340 pp., 2009,
$15.95 (softcover).
I saw the
HBO documentary —
and I enjoy
HBO sports
docu mentaries more
than
actual
televised sports
— “Magic
& Bird: A
AUGUST 29, 2011
Courtship of Rivals,” and I was
similar backgrounds, something
captivated by two of my heroes,
they didn’t discover about each
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird
other until they shot a Converse
telling their own tale.
TV ad together in 1985 in French
If you’re old enough to rememLick. That’s the only locale where
ber Channel 7 running the NBA
Larry would agree to appear with
Finals on tape delay after the 11:00
his rival.
news, then you understand what
The bond the two developed that
this duo did for the league and
day couldn’t truly blossom until
basketball fans. If you’re
younger, you probably
think the NBA began with
Michael Jordan.
But before his Airness,
there were TWO guys that
you had to wait up each
night to catch highlights of,
two players that willed their
teams into huge games in a
huge rivalry and that split
eight championships between them. And sorry, Michael, but two was better
than one.
Since retiring, Bird in
1992, and Magic finally for
good in 1996, the memories Originally adversaries 30 years ago, Bird
have dimmed somewhat and Magic have since forged a close bond
and so too has their rightful
place as saviors of the pro game.
they both had stopped playing.
WDBJ wasn’t the only affiliate that
Bird’s reaction to the announcedidn’t air The Finals. The NBA had
ment his rival had the HIV virus
very little cache nationwide in the
is one of the story’s great moments.
1970s, and in fact, even college
So shaken that he had lost his comhoops hadn’t blown up the way it
petitor so suddenly, Bird had one
would when these two met in the
of his worst games and admitted
1979 championship game.
to having no desire to play, some Bird’s disgust at his Indiana
thing he had never before felt.
State team (coached by current
The early years in the book are
North Cross coach Bill Hodges,
a tale of their rise and respect for
whose name comes up several
one another, mostly from afar.
times) losing to Magic’s MichiTruth be told, I thought the docgan State team is still palpable 30
umentary told the story of that
years later. (The book was written
Converse meeting better than the
in 2009.) That NCAA final is still
book. But I couldn’t put the book
the highest-rated televised college
down either, even though there’s
game.
foreboding in the late chapters as
Armed with those numbers and
Magic’s career suddenly ends and
their popularity as magnetic stars
Bird battles the back woes that
that for basketball purists brought
ended his tenure.
the pass and the team game back
The book also had some controin a big way, Larry and Magic did
versy when it arrived, revelations
save the NBA. Before 1982, no NBA
that Magic’s good friend Isiah
Finals telecast had ever even reThomas questioned how Johnson
ceived an average 10 rating. With
contracted the virus, and that the
the Los Angeles Lakers and Bosstar guard conspired to “freeze”
ton Celtics renewing their rivalry
budding star Jordan out of an allacross the country, viewing numstar game. Thomas was also inbers soared to 15.9 by 1987.
volved in an incident where he
In 1979, then NBA’s four-year
said if Bird were black ‘he’d be just
deal with CBS paid $74 million. By
another good (player),” a shocker
2002, the league’s contract across
from the player who was, ironicalthree networks was valued at $4.6
ly, Bird’s mother’s favorite player.
billion.
There are all kinds of basketball
But beside all that ballyhoo, this
nuggets like that from a golden age
is a story of two guys, one growing
in hoops and from two superstars
up in French Lick, Ind.; the other
that should again be celebrated.
in Lansing, Mich., who had identiIf you love hoops, see the movie
cal goals to reach the top of their
AND read the book.
sport and who had surprisingly
— Mike Ashley
Art by Kenneth Gatewood
18
AUGUST 29, 2011
Play By Play
The wreck of the Edmund FitzAshley
SIDELINES
Brian Hoffman photos
A
s implausible as this
may seem, I serve as a judge
for a national contest for various columnists in multiple catby Mike
egories. Invariably, the columns I
Ashley
enjoy the most are the adventure
reads where folks go out and do
stuff and then write about it.
I particularly enjoy reading them while lying on my couch.
But a recent disharmonic convergence of summer vacation, whining
nephews and heat conspired to pull me out of the couch’s gravitational
pull and outside to actually do something. I tubed down North Carolina’s
Green River, and as it
turned out, this tube
tale will make a fine
adventure column
(and thus now a tax
write-off).
And as smart as
that seems, whatever made me leave
the oppressive heat
in our region to go
south for even more
oppressive heat can
be debated, but in
the end it’s important Ashley (looking at camera) has been infatuto remember that no ated with tubing since at least 1984, as
one ever accused me these highly classified photos reveal
of being the sharpest knife in the drawer.
As the topic of tubing was broached among my extended family,
certainly I had apprehension at affixing my carcass to an oversized
inner-tube and trudging into the murky depths where I knew not
what fierce creatures awaited but had some idea from cable TV. My
wife reassured me that snakes couldn’t bite me in the water without drowning themselves, which somewhat alleviated that concern
but made me question the premise of every “Anaconda” movie I had
ever seen.
Fortunately I am at home in the hills of North Carolina where both
sides of my family have roots and where everyone says my name like
there’s an “a” in it, Miack. But as we wound down the snaky road
that dropped us into the Green River Cove, paved roads, fast food
and all manner of civilization disappeared from sight.
Riverside, my first mission was to determine how I would embark
on my voyage — personal rear cargo in the hole, sitting up on the
tube or belly down skimming across the river like a water-buffalosized waterbug.
I chose the former, and as I plopped down, a bit top-heavy, I immediately capsized the “Ashatania” to the delight of onlookers, including my
laughing-like-hyena nephews, other tubers and likely, the viewership of
“America’s Funniest Videos” and the appropriately-named “YouTube”
had anyone the desire or wherewithal to digitally chronicle my tubbytube launch.
I had turned a water flip that would have done Esther Williams proud
and emerged from the drink upright, my hat and sunglasses askew but
now wiser and sufficiently baptized for the coming ordeal.
It is impossible to maintain much dignity in such circumstance so best
just to laugh, sit right back and consider hearing the tale of this fateful
trip.
Now presoaked for my own convenience, I rethought my configuration
and opted for the more seaworthy belly-first approach. As I was remembering that golf is truly the only sport for which I’m still aerodynamically
designed, I was away, cast adrift beyond my control as the rest of the family scampered in to the river to catch up.
We had been told by the tubologists that maintained this outpost in the
mountain wilderness that the circuit would take us two hours and then
we’d be picked up at a bridge down stream and returned to our cars, our
belongings, and their high-priced snacks and drinks.
Little did we know that we had actually just embarked on a three-hour
19
tour.
A three-hour tour.
The “S.S. Ashley” was tossed and went down four or five more times,
twice in rapids that hurled me into rocks with enough force to eject me
from my perch and into the not-so-briny, not-so-deep, once as part of a
pile-up started by some other equally helpless fat guy who demonstrated
even less nautical instincts than myself. He was standing there sans tube,
certainly some breach of waterway protocol and essentially became the
iceberg that sunk the “Ashtantic.”
In trying to avoid him, I didn’t see the Plymouth Rock hidden behind
him and I glanced off him and went into the rock at ramming speed, flipping me faster than a three-bedroom in Old Southwest. I estimate I only
swallowed three gallons of the Green River that time.
The next rapids again propelled the “Edmund FitzAshley” into a rock
that I couldn’t negotiate — and who can negotiate with a rock? And this
time as I sprawled I lost the handle on my vessel and on my hat. In a
split-second decision, I grabbed the tube and let the hat float away and it
quickly sank, never to be seen again, likely devoured by one of those river
monsters I dreaded encountering.
The loss of that brown “ACC Today” hat cannot be overstated. First, the
title (of a now defunct Web site for which I once toiled) allowed me to
appear neutral and friendly to all sports-minded comers throughout the
Mid-Atlantic region. Second, now 13 years old, it was just about broken in
for my bulbous head.
Chapeau calamity aside, the
other big hazard for me was in a
meeting with Eddy. Nope, no Eddy
that I actually knew but an eddy in
the river where the movement of
the water worked against the current and created a dead space that I
sailed right into and from which extradition proved semi-impossible.
Five feet away from me, people
were walking to the shore and when
I de-tubed, there was no bottom
and I flailed about for a few minutes thinking I would wind up finished in Davy Jones’ locker (though
I always preferred Mickey Dolenz)
before I was finally able to dock the
“Queen Mike” with said shoreline.
My nephews, all robust swimmers and lightweights, were like
tadpoles all day but the afternoon
did wear on a little long, all of us
praying by the end that around the next bend, we would see the bridge.
We were hungry and tired and river-soaked, and now anxious to battle
for positioning on the couch back home.
I vowed that I would never spend so much time on the water again
without shuffleboard and a scheduled buffet on the promenade deck.
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20
Play By Play
It’s a team effort.
JoIn Kroger In goIng green.
AUGUST 29, 2011