Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Week 2 of HS football in the Lowcountry

Week 2 of high school football in the Lowcountry proves to be one which is very interesting. Week 1 had many good games. Ashley Ridge and Goose Creek was supposed to be a barn-burner: instead Goose Creek blew out the Ridge by 4 TDs in a game that was over midway through the 2nd quarter.

Cane Bay was favored against Summerville in their first game as a 4A opponent. Over 6,000 packed their stadium and saw their team defeat the Green Wave 10-3. Bishop England had the upset of the week, beating 4A West Ashley 30-14. They look to be the class of 2A, with athletes all over the place.

Fort Dorchester showed something, having to go on a delay on Saturday night, but still beating Carolina Forest 41-21. James Island came back from a 14-6 deficit on the road to defeat St. John's 33-14, and Timberland pulled out a win against Hanahan.

It was a very interesting week of games. Week 2 might not have the depth of Week 1, but many good games will be played throughout the Lowcountry.

My top 5:

5) Sumter at Stratford. One of the best teams in the Lowcountry, Stratford, plays an intersectional game against a good team from the Midlands, Sumter. It will be a good game, but Stratford should have an edge.

4) West Ashley at James Island (Thursday): This week's televised game is a neighborhood rivalry. West Ashley and James Island have battled it out for what is now the 13th time. Almost all of these games have been very competitive. West Ashley had a tough loss last week, losing to Bishop England, who will probably be the class of 2A football this year.

James Island had a bounce back win against St. John's. Being on local television should add more fuel to the fire of this rivalry. This will be a very competitive game.

3) Wando at Ashley Ridge: 2-0 Wando faces a tough test on the road against a valiant Ashley Ridge team who got blown out last week against what might be the class of the state, Goose Creek. Wando barely got by James Island before shutting out Beaufort.

These two non-region opponents played a very close game last year, with Wando winning 17-13 and the Wando students storming Ashley Ridge's field. This one should be a wild game with these two foes, who don't like each other.

2) Bishop England at Hanahan. This is truly a neighborhood rivalry. BE is on Daniel Island: Hanahan is the public high school on Daniel Island. These two teams battle it out in almost every sport; football is no exception. Hanahan moved up to 3A this year, so they will have a tougher region, but this will be a really good game to watch.

BE showed me a lot in last week's game. They have a capable leader in Nick Theos; and they are very good at special teams. Beating a 4A team by 16 points is always an accomplishment. Hanahan should have defeated Timberland last week, but had a fumble recovery for a TD go against them. They showed a lot in St. Stephen. This will be a good one.

1) Cane Bay at Fort Dorchester: This is the game of the week, by a narrower margin than last week. These two teams are on the rise. Both are 1-0. Fort Dorchester had to deal with a weather delay of their game, but still went into Carolina Forest, almost 2:30 away and won 41-21. Cane Bay had 6,000 against Summerville, and came out with a 10-3 win. Football observers weren't surprised, but most of the general public was.

This showed the rest of the Lowcountry that they are a force in 4A. Friday is a big night for Fort Dorchester. They will finally be unveiling their new jumbotron, which puts many colleges to shame. Fort D is a very young team, but they always find a way with coach Steve LaPrad to win games. Cane Bay has a lot of athletes, so this game will be very exciting. It should be a toss-up to see who wins.

This week has lots of other interesting games, including Berkeley at Summerville, Goose Creek at Colleton County and many others. We hope to see everyone at these games. Support your local team.


Saturday, August 25, 2012

Food City helicopter crashes in lake, pilot only one on board

A Food City helicopter has crashed upside down into a lake in Washington County, VA, near Abingdon.


Picture of the scene, from WJHL-TV in Johnson City.

Josh Smith, a reporter there, reports: Virginia State Police CONFIRMED: pilot only person on Food City chopper that crashed tonight into South Holston Lake. So far, the pilot hasn't been found.

A message board poster on VolNation from Johnson City said the pilot had just dropped the owner of food city off at his house when the crash happened. Dad says he's the best helicopter pilot he's ever flown with.

She also said at 1am, from a good source that Smith was not on board. He was still at racetrack and they got a police escort to take him home from track after news of the helicopter crash. The source says the Helo had just delivered some people to the Smith home on South Holston in Abingdon, but they were all off. Only pilot aboard, they think. A group of people had been flown to Abingdon from the track.

This is a scanner feed of what was going on during the wreck. The sound on the wreck begins at about 10:54: http://www.divshare.com/download/19430537-9b8

EastTNweather.com is reporting that sources are confirming that it was a Food City Corporate helicopter. Deaths are possible. The flight path revealed that the helicopter was on its way from Charlottesville to Abingdon, Va. 

According to this report http://www2.tricities.com/news/2012/aug/25/rescue-teams-searching-survivors-helicopter-crash--ar-2152411/, Food City CEO Steve Smith was not on board.

@ericmccord posted this story: BREAKING: A Food City Corporate helicopter crashed in Washington Co, VA. No details. Happened around 11 PM EDT.


Executives of the Food City supermarket chain were on the plane. The plane, a 1996 Bell 407, is registered to K-VA-T &W-L Aviation LLC in Abingdon,Va (the owners of Food City).

Scannerfood, a Tri-Cities based Twitter feed reports that the helicopter that crashed tail number is the N407N, Food City Corporate Helicopter.

Virginia State PD has a dive team en-route to a lake where the Food City Corperate helicopter went down.

WJHL in Johnson City has a link: http://www2.wjhl.com/news/2012/aug/24/breaking-reports-chopper-crash-south-holston-lake-ar-2152389/

Food City sponsored the race tonight at Bristol in the Nationwide Series, the Food City 250. They are the major supermarket chain in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

The WJHL report says  unconfirmed police radio traffic said privately owned boats have surrounded what could be a helicopter that is upside down in the water near Lake Road and Green Springs Road in Washington County.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Da'Rick Rogers most likely gone from Tennessee

Breaking News: Tennessee WR Da'Rick Rogers has been suspended indefinitely from the football program, per several sources, including the Tennessee football team. Dooley just said he doesn't expect Rogers will play for Vols this season. According to Joe Schad, he violated the school's substance abuse policy.

This is an important suspension, since he was one of the top WRs on their team. There hasn't been a reason given to why.

Tennessee fans are stunned, but Rogers is noted for his bad attitude. He had one during the Kentucky game last year per Bruce Feldman.

In 2011 Da'Rick Rogers caught 67 passes for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns, while averaging 15.5 yards per reception.

Evan Woodbery: Team was informed before practice but Dooley offered no details. Rajion Neal: "We've just got to believe in the coaches."

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The top Lowcountry games of Week 1

Week 0 of high school football in the Lowcountry was a week where not many teams played regular season games. Most schools in the area except for a few Charleston and Berkeley teams took the week off and played in the Sertoma Football Classic, which drew very well (11,000 on Friday night even with a rain delay).

The best games of the week, meanwhile, were played in the regular season. My top two games of the week, Wando at James Island and Timberland at Manning, both came down to the last couple of minutes and were decided by one point each.

The Trojans came back from a 17-0 deficit against their bitter rival but lost 20-19 on a missed 2-pt conversion. James Island has always played the Warriors tough, even though this year Wando is two and a half times larger than James Island.

Timberland won by one point, 23-22 as they intercepted a pass with a few seconds left to win the football game.

This week, just about everyone plays their first or second game of the season. It is a full slate, with some very good games. I will count down from 5 to 1. All games are Friday night at 7:30pm.

5) Hanahan at Timberland: Timberland looks to defend their state title again, this time inside Berkeley County on their home field in St. Stephen against a proven foe, Hanahan. Hanahan beat up Military Magnet in their first game last Friday night, and they look to put out a big statement in this game.

4) Summerville at Cane Bay: Friday night will be a very historic night for the Cane Bay Cobras. They will begin their first season as a 4A opponent, playing in a region with Wando, West Ashley, Goose Creek and Stratford. They will face a tough Summerville team in the opener. This should be a boon for the concession and ticket takers at Cane Bay, probably giving them their biggest crowd ever

This will be a good game too. Coach John McKissick needs six wins to earn 600 for his career, but he will have to earn it this year with an unproven QB, a 9th grader, and a young team overall. Cane Bay has not lost a home game since October of 2010, but they will be up for a tougher task with 4A teams.

3) Stratford at Berkeley: When these two neighborhood rivals get together, it is always a fun one. Coaches Jeff Cruce and Ray Stackley have had a rivalry going back decades, and even though the two schools are no longer in the same division, it continues just as heated as it was. Stratford has a lot of new players this year, but under center they have one of the best QBs in the state, Jacob Park.

He has matured tremendously since starting as a freshman in 2010. Berkeley had a under achieving 4-7 season last year, but they are improving this year, with most of their young core coming back for another season under the blue and gold. This will be an exciting one.

2) Beaufort at Wando: You may be surprised to see this on this list, but both schools have a lot to prove. Beaufort had a rare miss of the playoffs last year. Wando has been steadily improving each season under coach Jimmy Noonan. Wando's first game against James Island, as said earlier, was a great one. Beaufort has a new region rival, Bluffton, and coach Mark Clifford is one of the most under-appreciated coaches in the Lowcountry.

This game will be very tightly contested. Wando's hungry student section, one of the largest in the state, should give the Warriors a slight edge, but don't be surprised if the game goes either way.

Really, any of these games could be in the 2nd spot. But the top game this week is a no-brainer.

1) Ashley Ridge at Goose Creek: This game is not only the top game of the week here, but probably one of the top games in the state and maybe the region. MyTV Charleston will broadcast the game live, and all 3 TV channels will focus on this game.

This game has a lot of story lines. Goose Creek and Ashley Ridge both won their regions last year, and Goose Creek won their elusive state championship. Goose Creek this year is led by WR Tramel Terry, a Georgia commit, but QB Dantez Bennamon is a very good leader of this offense, which runs the ball almost all the time.

Gator games go quicker than most, but Ashley Ridge looks to counter that with their passing attack. Coach Kenny Walker has brought up his team to one of the best in the state in a very short amount of time. They have a passing offense, and even though they lost their top WR from last year, they look to reload quickly.

This might be a close one for Goose Creek, but they look to be dominant, showing that they are the cream of the Lowcountry crop in 2012.

All these games are good ones. There are many others on Friday night. Consult your newspaper, local TV station website or another source for a list. High school football is a great value, and these games often are some of the best entertainment you can see. Come out to your local game.


Monday, August 20, 2012

Rumor: BMW looking at the Charleston area

There are several rumors around through a couple of message boards that BMW is looking at several locations in the Charleston area.

A high school football message board, Palmetto Football Talk, is saying BMW is looking at an area in Berkeley County.

The area is the 686 acre site where Carolina Nurseries was until it closed down a couple of years ago. It is along Highway 52 and there's a rail line right next to it.

It's been for sale for almost a year. One poster there said everything would be moving from the Upstate, but that is unlikely. What's more likely is BMW moving one of its model plants from Germany.

I heard Boeing bought the area about 6 months ago for their fixtures plant, and they may be giving some or all of it to BMW.

Here is the link with more info:

http://forum.palmettofootballtalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=22661

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Astros fire manager and coaches

According to Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle, the Astros have fired manager Brad Mills. First base coach Bobby Meacham and hitting coach Mike Barnett also gone.

Houston has clinched another losing season, losing its 82nd Saturday night to Arizona. They are moving to the American League in 2013.

According to Brian McTaggart: Brad Mills' first comment was he feels "horrendous" for Barnett and Meacham

Friday, August 17, 2012

Top 5 Lowcountry games for Week 0

Since this is a local sports blog, my plan with this is to talk about local events. You get list of the top teams. Sometimes the top atmospheres. You don't see as many lists of the top games in a certain area. You see lists of top games in the state, but most HS football is regional.

I will do a top five games post every week through the rest of the football season. I will include Jasper, Beaufort, Colleton, Berkeley, Dorchester, Charleston and Georgetown counties in this list.

I will also give insight on atmospheres around the Lowcountry.

Here it is. Week 0. The first week of the high school football regular season. Many schools in the Upstate and other parts of the state are beginning regular seasons on Friday. Down here in the Lowcountry, most schools have Sertoma, but several are starting their seasons tomorrow or Saturday night.

There's a slim picking of games, but still there are some good ones we should watch.

5) Dillon Christian at Colleton Prep (Friday night): Former Colleton County Leroy Riley makes his debut for a prestigious Colleton Prep program that is returning eight starters on the year. This will be interesting to watch to see if Riley will have success at a lower level after Riley was unable to lead his Cougar team to a win the last two years.

4) Hammond at Hilton Head Christian (Friday): This will be interesting to see, as last year's Hilton Head Christian team finished undefeated at 13-0, and are probably one of the best private school teams in the state at any level. They face Hammond, who have won the last six state championships in their class. This is probably the best private school game in the state tonight, and should be very interesting.

3) Georgetown at Conway (Friday): This game is intriguing, even though it is not held in the Lowcountry. A winning Georgetown team faces one of the best QBs in the state, Mykal Moody. Georgetown has 13 returning starters, and Conway looks to be a dominant 4A school in the Grand Strand this year. Should be interesting.

2) Wando at James Island (Saturday): One of the bigger rivalries in the Lowcountry moves to the season opener. Both schools looked good in their Sertoma openers on Thursday night. Wando faced Scott's Branch, and the Warriors looked good, even though it was against lesser competition.

James Island faced region foe Hanahan, and came out with a 10-7 win. We don't usually take much from scrimmages, but the Trojans soundly defeated Summerville in one last week. James Island teams always play Wando tough, and that will definitely be the case this time.

1) Timberland at Manning (Saturday night): Probably one of the biggest games in the state on Friday. Timberland begins their defense of their first ever state title, going into hostile territory in Manning. Timberland replaces a lot of seniors, but they will still be a deep team in their division.

Manning lost in the second round of the playoffs last season, but they will be a tough foe for the Wolves. This game will be a battle.

I will make posts like this for the rest of the year, so follow this blog for more details.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Hornets, Bobcats to play exhibition game in North Charleston

The Charlotte Bobcats are hosting an NBA preseason game at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, SC against the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night at 7:30pm.

This game will include both of the top two draft picks in the NBA Draft. Anthony Davis, the top pick of the New Orleans Hornets, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the top pick of the Bobcats. Former Duke player Austin Rivers is part of the Hornets roster. Darius Miller of Kentucky is also a part of the Hornets.

The Coliseum first released this information today. This is the first preseason game since Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers played the Bobcats in October of 2009. That game sold out North Charleston Coliseum.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Sertoma Thursday and Friday

Hard to believe, but we are already at football time. The Sertoma Football Classic will be held at Johnson-Hagood Stadium Thursday and Friday.

Some changes from the last post I made earlier last month. Gates open at 4pm each day. Games start at 5pm.

Sertoma will have a radio broadcast this year, on one of Kirkman's stations. Tickets are $12 at the door, and I believe $10 if you buy them from a cheerleader. It is the best deal in town. You get to see as many as seven games per night.

To read more, go to http://www.charlestonsertoma.org/general-info.html

Here is the list of games. 

Thursday, August 16th

Baptist Hill VS

St Johns VS

Hanahan VS

Palmetto Christian VS

Wando VS

West Ashley VS

Stratford VS

Military Magnet

Garrett

James Island

North Charleston

Scotts Branch

Cane Bay (2 qtrs)

Bishop England (2 qtrs)

Friday, August 17th

Stall VS

Woodland VS

Colleton County VS

Northwood VS

Porter Gaud VS

Goose Creek VS

Ashley Ridge VS

Lincoln

Academic Magnet

Pinewood

Burke

Berkeley

Fort Dorchester (2 qtrs)

Summerville (2 qrts)

Monday, August 13, 2012

Daniel Aldrich leaving CofC

College of Charleston OF Daniel Aldrich, according to college baseball guru Kendall Rogers, is leaving the College of Charleston to sign a free-agent deal with the Yankees.

Aldrich has been one of the top HR hitters in the nation for the last two years, hitting in the College Home Run Derby the last two seasons.

Here are his stats: http://www.cofcsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=14800&ATCLID=204843635

Apparently, he raked it in the Cape Cod League this year (the highest collegiate summer league). He had a .350 average for Cotuit in that league with 10 HR and 26 RBI in only 26 games.

Kendall says Aldrich signed for over $150,000. The Yankees saw him as a commodity for his HR power. Weirdly, he will probably end up in Charleston playing for the RiverDogs, maybe as soon as the beginning of next season. He is a redshirt sophomore in eligibility terms.

This is a big loss for the Cougars offense. We still have six months till the start of the regular season, so I won't go into anything more. Very interesting.

Breaking: Mass shooting near Texas A&M campus

Breaking news. There was a mass shooting today near the Texas A&M campus in College Station. The shooter is in custody. He was firing from a house using automatic weapons.

From @911buff: MASS SHOOTING: OVER 100 ROUNDS OF AUTOMATIC GUN FIRE REPORTED. 2 OFFICERS DOWN. GUN FIRE STILL BEING REPORTED

The shooting was near Highland and Fidelity Streets in College Station. 305 Fidelity Street is the address of where it happened. It is not on the Texas A&M campus.

@InfinityVIPCarl says: shooter is dead, 2 officers were shot, several civilians shot, one known death, very very sad day  

AggieEE at TexAgs says: At least two civilian casualties reported on scanner.

There was a DOS call, which indicates a death.


TexAgs reported: CSPD reports an active shooter in the area immediately southeast of the intersection of Wellborn Rd and George Bush Drive. Please avoid the area. Residents in the immediate area need to remain inside their residence. 12:29 PM 

Crystal Galny, an anchor at KBTX, says: Officer involved shooting in CS near Wellborn. CPSD confirms multiple casualties involved. Shooter has been contained.

KCEN, an NBC affiliate near there, says six people shot, two were police officers, unconfirmed reports of two casualties in College Station shooting.

Per KBTX: Scene is reportedly under control, no longer a danger to the public

Saturday, August 11, 2012

MMA fighter dies in South Carolina

Andy Paras of the Post and Courier is reporting that a fighter taken to the hospital in critical condition tonight after a fight at the Shrine Temple in Mount Pleasant.

It was part of the Conflict MMA promotion. This is their Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conflict-MMA-Promotions/210605458971304 More info as it becomes available.
  
Tyrone Mimms.. ammy fighter in SC.. After his fight he had a heart attack and passed in the locker room. 

This was Mimms first MMA fight. A really sad moment. He was 30 years old, and he fought Blake Poore at the fight in the Omar Shrine Temple.

This link from Channel 4 in Charleston talks about him. Very sad news. He was from Augusta. http://www.abcnews4.com/story/19257549/family-and-friends-of-mma-fighter-tyrone-mims-come-together-for-family

Chad Johnson arrested for domestic violence

Apparently, tonight, Dolphins WR Chad Johnson (formerly Ochocinco) was arrested on domestic violence charges.

From South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Izzy Gould and Omar Kelly: Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson was arrested Saturday night for domestic violence, according to Davie Police Department captain Dale Engle. Engle said he was unclear of the extent of the incident.

According to a source the incident took place in a vehicle.

Johnson allegedly head-butted his new wife, Evelyn Lozada, during an argument.
When cops came on the scene Lozada, a star in VH1’s Basketball Wive’s Reality series, had lacerations on her forehead, and Johnson was arrested.Since entering the NFL in 2001 Johnson, a Miami native who lives in Davie, had never been arrested. But he was arrested in college for a domestic dispute.

Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post: Davie police spokesman said fight between Chad Johnson and his wife started over a receipt for a box of condoms. He's still in custody. Evelyn Lozada claims Chad Johnson head-butted her, giving her a laceration on her forehead.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Tyrann Mathieu suspended

LSU CB Tyrann Mathieu has been suspended by Coach Les Miles. He says he is out at LSU. Miles is negligent in transfer rules (not knowing).

Miles said policy Mathieu broke was "very comfortably administered." Mathieu blew more than one chance.

Decision was made last night.

The "Honey Badger" is one of the best players in the country. People are saying that it may be drug related. That's what is looking like. He is a cornerback who can also return punts.

WWL Radio (the flagship for LSU athletics) is reporting the press conference WILL be about the future of Tyrann Mathieu. He is in some steep trouble.

Confirmation from NFL Draft Monster on Twitter: Mathieu has failed 3 tests including one this past week I'm told.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Tanner McEvoy leaving Carolina

Per David Cloninger of Gamecock Central, backup QB Tanner McEvoy is leaving the Gamecocks and transferring to another school. This is after his arrest for underage drinking and his week-long suspension from the team which ended earlier this week

Spurrier on McEvoy: "The Gamecock coaching staff and I wish Tanner all the best as he continues his collegiate career elsewhere." 

He was not at practice today. McEvoy is a redshirt freshman from Hillsdale, NJ. From Josh Kendall at The State newspaper: Fr. QB Tanner McEvoy on his transfer: ""I'm sorry, I can't comment on that right now."

Part 2: Why we need scrimmages

In what I posted a couple days ago, I talked about why scrimmages should occur in college football.

In this post, I will post on how these scrimmages would work under my plan.

In order to make more money for these schools, I would have the option for scrimmages during the spring and right before the season in August.

Most college football teams have spring games, even down to the lowest levels in Division III and NAIA. Outside of FBS, spring games do not get big crowds at all. Teams have varying times where they practice. There's one school in our area that started spring practice right after Valentine's Day.

Matt Barber of Dixie Fried Sports, another SC sports blog, proposed this idea, but his was to play games in major football stadiums (mostly professional). http://www.dixiefriedsports.com/CFB_Jamboree.html

My idea would be for teams to play some of these type games, but for many of these teams, they would travel around to smaller cities and stadiums in order to entertain those fans.

South Carolina and Clemson (and just about every other major football program) has a statewide following. Even with their large stadiums, there are lots of people who don't have the ability to go or can't afford a ticket.

Having scrimmages in different stadiums would help energize the fan base. In addition to having gatherings at local event centers (like most places), they could play these games.

Smaller FCS and lower division teams would also make a huge amount of money in this.

For example, The Citadel. They have one of the larger stadiums in FCS (21,000 seats), and their program is probably the biggest in-state besides Carolina and Clemson. Their stadium, like most FCS stadiums, is under-used except during the season.

Every year, a local high school football jamboree is held on Thursday and Friday nights in the middle of August. Those games, one and two-quarter jamborees, often get at least 10,000 fans per night.

South Carolina and Clemson are more popular than the high schools. Bringing one of these teams in for a scrimmage or a jamboree would sell out Johnson-Hagood in hours. You could bring in most D1 teams in the Southeast, and you'd get a very good crowd.

The fans would enjoy it, getting to see their team in a game-like atmosphere. Businesses and hotels around town would love to have additional business. Coaches would enjoy getting to play against actual competition instead of the glorified scrimmages they are now. It's a win-win situation.

In part three, I will talk about the format for my plan and how it would work.

Monday, August 6, 2012

"Touchdown confirmed, we're safe on Mars!"


NASA landed on Mars today, in a very historic moment.

The Curiosity rover has safely landed on Mars. This video shows the final few minutes before the rover landed. It is a must see.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Why scrimmages should happen in college football

College football is a sport that has experienced a peak in its popularity in the last few seasons that it has not experienced since perhaps the 1940s, when pro football was a shadow of itself now.  Hundreds of sports talk stations are based on talk of the sport. You have daily shows that only keep track of the sport. Attendance is at an all-time high.

It is the clear #2 sport to the NFL in most of the country (except the Northeast), and in the South it is #1. But there is one thing that college football does not have has which most other sports do: scrimmages.

High school football has them every year before the season starts, several of them. Baseball has spring training. Hockey, professional basketball and the NFL have preseason games. College basketball has exhibition games before the season. Just about every sport has it but college football.

Scrimmages would be a great way to make extra money for the sport. But I would put a twist on them. Most plans I've seen show scrimmages only being between Division I teams that don't play that often on the gridiron (i.e. Clemson and Georgia). My plan, though, would allow every division in the NCAA to play these.

Each team would be allowed to play one division up and one down. Division I (FBS teams) could play FBS and FCS teams. FCS teams could play teams in their division, FBS and Division II, and so on and so forth.

I would encourage these teams to play on the road. They would be moneymakers for these schools, many of which that have trouble just trying to make money.

College basketball has many of these events each season. A BCS conference team visits a team from a smaller conference, and the smaller conference teams always play these games like they are in the NCAA while some of the big school players take it lightly. Upsets happen because of that.

I would allow teams to have choces: play less spring practice each year in order to play a couple scrimmages, keep the spring practice that they have, or play scrimmages right before the regular season.

In part 2, I will talk more about how this plan will work.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Albany/Stony Brook football are moving to CAA

According to , University of Albany football will be moving to the CAA in 2013, along with Stony Brook.

John Templon retweeted the news at @NYBuckets. Albany's other sports will most likely stay in the America East.

Stony Brook football is also moving there. The other sports are going to be in the America East still.

Link to Newsday article: http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/stony-brook/sources-stony-brook-to-play-football-in-caa-after-2012-1.3881711

Sammy Watkins officially suspended first two games

Per Roy Philpott of CUtigers.com (important Clemson website), pending Board of Trustees approval, Clemson's Sammy Watkins will be suspended the first two games of the 2012 season. Details on CUTigers.com.

Watkins was arrested on marijuana charges in early May, as he had some of that in his car.

He will miss the games against Auburn in Atlanta (a big game at the Georgia Dome) and the game against Ball State.

It is official: Sammy Watkins suspended for first 2 games of season. SID just sent out (per @aimclemson).

Watkins says he "accepts the suspension" and "made a mistake and realized it when this first happened. One thing we learn in this program "is that there are consequences for your actions. The entire summer has been a learning experience. I'm ready to get past this, and I look forward to Sept. 15 when I can return to game day in Death Valley."

Swinney says in release that the two-game suspension was the "low end" of the possible consequences (i.e. could have been more).

Dabo said the punishment was his alone. He needed no input or approval from Board of Trustees.

Link to the official release: http://www.clemsontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=28500&ATCLID=205564592

Also, Clemson, South Carolina and Kentucky are some of the many teams that have banned Twitter use by their players during the season, including practice.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

CofC weighing options between CAA and SoCon

Today, the College of Charleston's entire board of trustees met. They met for their regular meeting that they have every couple of months, but their main topic that the press came to hear was conference realignment.

Someone said to Kevin Bilodeau on WCSC, Channel 5 that CofC going to the CAA was a "50/50" proposition. 

Jeff Hartsell of the Post and Courier was there. Most of what I will post is from him.

"Decision won't be made lightly. At some point down road we will make recommendation."

No decision will be made tomorrow (Friday). They are still weighing the pros and cons. Some athletes, especially some of the baseball players are protesting the move because it would mean a lesser conference.

Others want to move as soon as possible. Scott Eisberg of WCIV says that Joe Hull says he has no recommendation to BOT but he can't quarantee board won't vote tomorrow. Says that's their prerogative.

The CofC committee chair says travel costs manageable. Compared 5.5 hour bus ride to 1.5 hour plane trip to Philly.
 
This will be very interesting to see. There will be more meetings.

Georgia LB suspended two games

University of Georgia LB Chase Vasser has been suspended two games for a DUI arrest he had in Atlanta last spring. All of the Georgia beat writers are reporting this story. More from Marc Weiszer of the Athens paper:

http://onlineathens.com/sports/college-sports/2012-08-02/uga-lb-chase-vasser-suspended-two-games-after-dui-arrest-atlanta

He was supposed to be a starter. He will miss the games versus Buffalo and the first conference game at Missouri.


Wednesday, August 1, 2012

San Antonio airport evacuated

The San Antonio airport is being evacuated due to a possible security breach. Terminals A and B have been evacuated.

@Live5NewsBoss: Southwest Airlines pilot tells passengers "security issue" inside terminal has closed San Antonio, TX airport.

: Possible bomb threat at San Antonio Airport. SAFD responding.

Later: Officials confirm SAFD on scene with hazmat crew.

SAN ANTONIO: 11 UNITS ASSIGNED: 8/1/2012 2:19:44 PM D5-0 BOMB W/DEVICE 9800 AIRPORT BLVD (San Antonio airport)

@Live5NewsBoss: Bomb scare in parking garage closes San Antonio airport. I'm stuck on plane on runway doing phoners for KENS 5.