Category Archives: Sports

$Texas, Me Myself and Ty, Politics, Sports

I never meant to hate Cam Newton.

I was born in Eastern North Carolina, which means I wasn’t born in the heart of ACC country: I was born in Pirate Territory.

I explained to a Kinston tourist that local infatuation with piracy had more to do with a black-bearded man named Edward Teach than East Carolina University, but deep down I knew it was all bluster.

My high school colors were purple and gold; my uncle played at Dowdy-Ficklen back in the 20th century when students could also be athletes; heck my mother got her nursing degree while commuting to Greenville, (but she always rooted for the Wolfpack.)

The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament (which is not canon if it’s not held in Greensboro) is broadcast in nearly every classroom in the state of North Carolina, but when you talk professional sports, you’ll see a schism in this state, not concerning allegiance, but degree of allegiance.

The Charlotte Hornets might as well have been in Tennessee when I was growing up watching from Goldsboro (Don’t forget this is when cable was 36 channels) and the most connection I ever felt to the team was through Mugsy Bogues in Space Jam.

I “rooted” for the Hornets, but Charlotte still felt a world away.

When the Panthers joined the NFL, though — I remember hearing about it from a clown at a birthday party in 1994 — I immediately became a fan. Continue reading →

Standard
Journalism, Me Myself and Ty, Sports

Values & disaster-stricken North Carolina

Gov. Pat McCrory broadcast his press conference live on Facebook Tuesday night from Raleigh as he laid out the state’s continued response to Hurricane Matthew.

With flood waters along the Neuse River still advancing on hundred-year flood records, McCrory assured that the state’s disaster relief funding will last into 2017 while vowing to call a special session as early as next week if more money is needed to aid displaced residents from affected counties, which stretch from Edgecombe County near Rocky Mount to Robeson County on the South Carolina state line.

McCrory then opened up for questions, but in the end only had to answer two, both from the same reporter: Kirk Ross of the Washington Post.

The first: “I wanted to see if you have any numbers or estimates on the livestock
and what are some of the concerns while you’re trying to get them buried as soon as possible?”

It may sound odd that the first question from the national press about a major weather event that has, as of this writing, claimed the lives of 20 North Carolinians would be about livestock, but Eastern North Carolina is the the production engine of the state’s poultry and pork industries.

The N.C. Farm Bureau Federation reported in July that the state ranks second in the nation in hog & turkey production and fourth in the production of broiler chickens & trout.

How McCrory would have an estimate of livestock lost while the waters in some areas were still rising is beyond me, but make no mistake that the general consensus here in Kinston is that we, too, are very concerned about the animals throughout Eastern North Carolina. Continue reading →

Standard
Journalism, Me Myself and Ty, Politics, Sports

Swinging for the fences

First off, I submitted the Kinston Wholehogs.

I don’t believe anyone ever relishes naming a new team. All selecting a mascot did for the Rio Grande Valley was stir up regional hostilities amidst the already tumultuous merger of two University of Texas branch campuses into a single research institution. the_university_of_texas_rio_gande_valley_athletics_logoThe mascot and team name they settled on — the Vaqueros — still angers alumni who graduated as Broncs, Scorpions or Ocelots and those who see the Spanish word for cowboy as an unnecessary homage to the population of the Valley, which is 90 percent Hispanic but 100 percent in the United States.

Culturally, the regional disdain for the mascot was over my head, but when the Texas Rangers organization last week released its slate of five name options for its new Carolina League affiliate in Kinston, I knew resistance would quickly follow.

While others have dug in on why “Down East” isn’t a true reflection of the team’s locale, I see the organization reaching out with a clear compromise in its five-team offering: the Eagles, which pays homage to Kinston’s first minor league team in 1925 in the Class B Virginia League.

A handful of people I’ve talked to about the team names have suggested the vote is a stacked deck designed to coalesce local support around the Eagles since it’s harder to build a voting bloc behind any of the more outlandish names. Hamhawks and Hogzillas will split the barbecue vote, while Eagles seem to be a more natural fit over the Wood Ducks due to the historic connection I mentioned.

And that is exactly why we must unite behind the Shaggers. Continue reading →

Standard
Me Myself and Ty, Sports

My thoughts on the Super Browl

One of my friends who doesn’t follow pro football very closely asked me who I (and, by association, she) want to win the game, since we’ll both be at the same Super Bowl party Sunday for kickoff.

I couldn’t respond in a text, so I promised an email. Then I remembered I have this handy blog that I’ve been neglecting so I can disseminate my pseudoknowledge to the masses! So here it is.

First off, why is this year’s game bigger than most? In a word, Broaches. OK, so that didn’t work out as well as Joe’s “Super Browl” moniker, but the story angle every sportswriter is taking on this year’s game is the fact that Jim Harbaugh (who coaches the 49ers) and John Harbaugh (who coaches the Ravens) are brothers from the same mother. What makes it even more interesting (to me, at least) is that Jim has taken a team to the Super Bowl in just his second year of coaching and took the job in San Francisco just four days after winning the Orange Bowl with the previously laughable Stanford Cardinal football team. He was also a hell of a quarterback with the Colts in the mid-1990s and but it’s a common perception that while Jim was the better player, John is the better coach.

Also, both the 49ers (5-0) and the Ravens (1-0) are undefeated in Super Bowl games.

Now, as far as who “we” should want to win:

Continue reading →

Standard
Eh?, It's in the vault, Me Myself and Ty, Sports

I’m not good at pool, Eh?

We had just been herded inside from the patio and out of the crisp Toronto air. We crowded into the bar and lounge area, all of us forced to carry our conversations, spoken in half a dozen different languages, inside where a billiard table stood, taking up valuable standing and drinking room.

I was in a frenzy at this point, spinning in two different directions like a planet on two axes. Beers were only $4. They were delicious, but therein lied the problem: too many of them were sitting around unattended. There is a rule about alcohol within my circle of friends – it should never be wasted. I don’t think I’ll ever consider myself to be too old to finish off empties and actually approach the job with a point of pride – I feel like I’m the best at it.

After I had palmed two Canadian pints I hadn’t myself paid for, Kelly asked who was going to play pool with her. Deep down I knew it was me who would play her, as if the dice had already been cast and my number had come up. It was quite evident to me that no one else wanted to play, but she would be insatiable. Sometimes those things are just apparent.

Plus I knew it was time to lose again. Continue reading →

Standard
Me Myself and Ty, Sports

Told ya.

I didn’t have to jump on the “Sidney Lowe has to go” bandwagon because I’m pretty sure I’ve been riding shotgun since 2008.

Whether he’ll be around next season is now a moo point, much like how no sportswriter’s opinion really counts in matters of hiring and firing, but I wouldn’t be a sports snob if I didn’t use this blog as a platform to say I told you so.

In 2009, I wrote this column following State’s Mets-style meltdown against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. I’m particularly concerned about the way Lowe was splitting minutes in the backcourt. Fast-forward to this season, when he still left doubt as to whose team it was: Javy’s or Harrow’s. These are college kids, and if you’re constantly worried about being pulled and replaced after a mistake, it’s going to affect your focus on the court.

I still have no idea how Lowe never managed to develop a decent point guard in five years.

Then, in 2010, I went after Lowe in this piece. In my opinion, the writing was on the wall following that Georgia Tech loss when he refused to shake Paul Hewitt’s hand and ran into the locker room yelling at the officials. That on top of his bow tie this season (I realize that it was a gesture, but this post explains my sentiment) was just too much for me. Call me a fucking moron*, but when you’re losing, you don’t draw attention to yourself by complaining about calls after the buzzer sounds and wearing loud clothing.

*Special shoutout to Chris Hogue! Whoever you are, I would love to meet you to discuss this e-mail you sent to my personal e-mail address Feb. 11, 2010:

Ty:

Read your article on Lowe. Just thought I’d let you know that you’re a
fucking moron.

Regards,

Chris Hogue

 

Standard
Sports

My view on the ticketing fiasco

UPDATE Sept. 27 12:40 p.m. A few posts on the SG website to clear some things up, plus information about the additional opportunity for tickets we’ve sorta known about since Sept. 24: http://students.ncsu.edu/ The story (not the letter from Johnson) was lifted from Technician.

So if you’re an N.C. State student who requested a ticket for this Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech, that means you’re fuming because you didn’t get one and you don’t know why.

I say this because I only have heard of one friend of a friend who did not get shafted this go-round, and Facebook has blown up with people angry over this thing.

Because I no longer have editorial freedom or feel welcome writing for Technician, I decided to do my conspiracy theorizing here on my blog, so enjoy:

Did anyone receive the “Howl” from SBP Kelly Hook last week (Sept. 24)? If not, here’s the excerpt that concerned ticketing for the VaTech game:

“SG student ticketing UPDATE for the Virginia Tech game.
•  Student ticket demand is expected to be at an all time high with Parents & Families weekend.
•  Be sure to check out GoPack.com, the Technician, and our SG website on Monday/Tuesday for other opportunities to receive tickets for the VT game.”

So, if I’m reading this right, there is expected to be an all-time high amount of demand for tickets to this game, but Student Government is still predicting there will be other avenues through which students can receive tickets?

Anyone reading the writing on the wall? When has there ever been a forecast for there to be EXTRA tickets for any game? The tickets that aren’t claimed by students are generally reinserted into the lottery with remaining tickets being released to students in a first come, first serve ON DEMAND basis.

So how is it that the SBP knows, on the day that ticket requests begin, that there will be both a high demand for tickets and some excess that SG can give away at a later time?

Consider all of the other issues that have happened this season concerning tickets. At one point I heard grumblings that group leaders that received tickets had members in their groups that didn’t receive tickets, plus the all-around confusion that’s associated with freshman and ignorant upperclassmen not understanding the ticket process.

I understand that people bellyache every year over tickets (because Technician reports on it every time) but I’ve never seen an uproar like this over tickets. That, coupled with the suspiciously forecasting Howl e-mail from Kelly Hook makes me feel like something is up with the ticketing system that was glitching during games earlier this year (the group leader/member ticketing divide before the Cincinnati game) and hasn’t been fixed yet.

I hope everyone that wants/deserves a ticket gets one, and if SG does miraculously discover an excess of tickets or acquires some from visitor vacancies like they did during the Cincy game (not likely since VaTech generally travels to Raleigh well), then that is one problem solved. No worries for the student body and Go Wolfpack, ya know.

But I really feel like some investigation should be done into that Hook e-mail and whether or not SG knew about these ticketing problems ahead of time.

The way I see it, there are either enough tickets, or there aren’t. If SG or the ticketing office is holding something back from students, be it tickets or information, then we’ve got a problem on our hands

Standard
Sports

Tonight, I’m just rooting for football

FootballThere are a few sports within sports that are polarizing even among sports fans.

Besides NASCAR (which qualifies as a sport, almost) I would argue that pro baseball is the next most divisive issue in sports. Steroids notwithstanding, a lot of people just think it’s boring.

I could argue that as a dying-hard Orioles fan, there are few baseball fans that simply love the game of baseball more, or explain how the culture of baseball is what truly attracts me to the sport, but it’s like a Hilary Swank hot-or-not debate: in the end each side just gets more entrenched in its own views and intelligent discussion ends.

But while baseball as a sport takes a lock of flak for being boring (a view I totally understand) football’s different levels of play and difference in the number of followers at those levels has always perplexed me.

It seems (at least in North Carolina, anyway) that college football has a larger following than pro football. I think it has a lot to do with the closest team being either Atlanta or Baltimore (just like in MLB) until 1995, and the fact that Charlotte may as well be a different state in comparison with the rest of N.C., but the last gladiator-like sport still played (regularly) on American soil should have followers at all levels, right?

While I must admit my love for the NFL likely comes from me spending the majority of my life as a Duke fan (no explanation necessary there) I think it has a lot to do with how team-oriented football is.

When a college basketball player moves up to the NBA, they’re gone. With only five players on the court at the game’s highest stage, it’s very rare that a college star is going to make a name for himself in the NBA. Yes, I know, I’ve seen the ACC’s J.J.s on TV, but your Chris Paulesque players are few and far between.

In the NFL, though, you have a role. There are fat guys, fast guys, mean guys, smart guys. Players can change positions because they’re more adept at the pro level as a wide receiver than as a QB…it’s fluid. Even some of the worst players get snaps throughout the season, and there’s almost a continuation of the college culture. Every game matters (even when there’s 16 of them with the possibility of adding two more) and, in a step away from what I dislike about college football, every game is winnable. Duke will NOT beat Alabama, but there’s a chance the Redskins can make something of this season. The science of the NFL just seems to have a more artistic aspect to it.

There’s nothing that compares with Saturdays, don’t get me wrong, but the arrival of the NFL completes my 7-step method for enjoying football every day of the week. It is as follows:

Tuesday: 9-10 year-old games
Wednesday: 11-12 year-old games
Thursday: Middle school games (afternoon), Junior Varsity (evening)
Friday: Varsity
Saturday: College
Sunday: Pro
Monday: Dun dun dun dun…Monday Night Football

So, as a lover of the game, I cannot wait for tonight. And while the NFL may be “where college football careers end” we can still look past the pageantry and millions of dollars worth of corporate sponsors and still see 22 boys in a pasture, throwing around a pumpkin that won’t bust.

And if nothing else, just feed off of these amazing lines from The New York Times concerning the return of pro football tonight:

From The Saints Have Taken Steps to Avoid a Letdown:
“In a place that knows hangovers, the Saints hope they have found the remedy.”

And these gems from Mike Tanier’s preview of tonight’s game:

  • “Despite his age and eroded approval rating, Favre retains the power to relegate the defending champion to the second paragraph.”
  • “their big-name offensive line looked like a colander during the preseason…”
  • “Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy is being melted by the NCAA and recast as a Yoke of Shame”
  • “Mastication tendencies aside…”

You know what, just read it. Go football!

UPDATE: Another way to get excited about football.

Standard