Archive for the 'Wake Forest' Category

06
Dec

A fallen Demon Deacon

Some sad news from the world of sports.  Fellow Demon Deacon and former NBA player Rodney Rogers was injured in an ATV accident last week, and is paralyzed from the shoulders down.  This is obviously a horrible story and my heart goes out to Rogers and his family.  What jumped out at me when I read the news story about the accident was this passage:

A Durham native who starred in high school football and basketball, Rogers had returned to his hometown and was working for the city public works department as a heavy machinery operator. He was promoted to a supervisory position six months ago, according to the report.

He was also volunteering as a girls’ basketball coach at a Durham middle school and had set up a computer lab at a city public housing complex, according to the report.

His agent and lawyer, James “Butch” Williams, described Rogers as “an outdoorsman, plain and simple,” according to the report. “He hunts, motorcycles, rides horses. He loves big trucks,” Williams said.

Rogers, who was financially set, took the job with the Durham DPW because he liked working with heavy trucks, Williams said, according to the report.

“Rodney isn’t the type to sit around twiddling his thumbs. There aren’t any jobs he considers too small for him,” Williams said, according to the News and Observer. “He started his own trucking company and was usually the lead driver. He’d be out there driving to the quarry at 3:30 in the morning.”

Michael Balzarano, who oversaw Rogers at the Durham DPW, said Rogers was not working for the city as a lark until he got bored. “I didn’t even know he had lots of money. He is very friendly, very concerned, very conscientious,” Balzarano said, according to the report. “We chose him because of his ethics and his attitude. He was highly motivated. He was promoted to supervisor six months ago.”

Yes.  You read that correctly.  A guy who played 12 seasons in the NBA and was financially secure was working at the Durham Public Works department for kicks.

I was lucky enough to see him play in person when I was at Wake.  The image of him unleashing one of his patented 360 degree, left-handed dunks will forever be burned into my sports memory.  I’m not a praying man, but I’ll definitely be thinking good thoughts for Rodney and his family.

19
Sep

Roundup

Image via Flickr user Куртис Перри

I have a love/hate relationship with Mark Cuban.  It just swung back towards the “love” direction after reading this.

Tiger Woods’ niece is a Demon Deacon. Based on that picture, I’m guessing there will be a slight increase in the male attendance at Wake Forest Women’s golf events.

I caught Style Wars at the Silent Movie Theater last night.  See it for yourself in 8 parts thanks to YouTube.

Check out Poison Fire; a mini-documentary about gas flaring in Nigeria.

Mr. Fish is razor sharp, as usual.

02
May

Dear students of Wake Forest University

Please demonstrate/protest/boycott this warmongering, duplicitous, clueless asshole.

McCain to speak at Wake Forest May 6 in Wait Chapel

April 29, 2008

Sen. John McCain will speak at Wake Forest University May 6 in Wait Chapel.

Officials with McCain’s campaign have provided initial details about the event to the university.  Wait Chapel doors will open at 8 a.m. for the event, which is expected to start about 10 a.m.

The event will be free and open to the public, according to campaign officials.

 

Appearing alongside Grandpa "100 years of war" McCain will be Sen. Richard "President Bush is right 96% of the time" Burr, Sen. Fred "Why did I leave Law & Order?" Thompson, and Sent. Sam "I don’t believe in evolution" Brownback. 

I hope there are enough activists on the campus of my alma mater to give these clowns the kind of welcome they deserve. 

 

17
Dec

You should see the other guy

Wake Forest Soccer, National Champs!

 

03
May

If you watch football, you must read this article.

When I think about former pro-bowler and fellow Wake Forest alum Mike McCrary, I always remember the sweet Mustang 2.0 that he drove around campus. That thing was cherry red, with a full spoiler kit. Combine that with the fact that he was a tall, muscular football player and you know that this guy was really living the life during his college years. McCrary surprised everybody by going on to be a star defensive end for the Baltimore Ravens when they had one of the most feared defenses in the history of the league.

Now, he can barely walk.

Via The Baltimore Sun

His knees ache with pain so intense that he says he is unable to stand for more than a few minutes.

“I look silly at cocktail parties. I’m the only one sitting down,” said former Ravens defensive end Michael McCrary.

He is 36 years old.

He has taken a blizzard of medications for chronic pain and depression, casually rattling off the names as if they were afternoon snacks.

“I’ve been on Percocet, Percodan, OxyContin, oxycodone, three different psychiatric medicines,” he said. “I had a fentanyl patch; that’s like heroin. I’m on methadone now.

“You know when people said it was crazy, all that stuff that Anna Nicole [Smith] was taking? Man, that’s the same stuff I take.”

I’m 34. I couldn’t imagine facing the prospect of getting two knee replacements in a couple of years. But for a few million dollars a year…I would have done the same thing.

14
Mar

Dear CBS, You can’t have my soul this year.

I lived each and every one of my first 22 years on this Earth smack dab in the middle of Tobacco Road in North Carolina. In that part of the country, you start to play organized basketball as soon as you can run. I remember being in junior high and watching the ACC tournament. In class. Completely sanctioned by teachers. At a young age, you picked a university to cheer for as if your life depended on it. How do you a choose? Who gives a shit? Just pick one. We got a game to watch. What’s your favorite color? Red? Congratulations, you’re a Wolfpack fan. Pass the Doritos.

Any affiliation to said school is unnecessary and unimportant. I saw grown men who had never so much as set foot inside the Chapel Hill city limits actually come to blows. All because of a slight—real or imagined—to the character of Jeff Lebo.

And you stuck with that team and only that team unless one thing happened in your life. You or child ends up attending a school other than the one you root for. I drank the Carolina Blue Kool-Aide and stayed a Tarheel fan up until the day I got my acceptance letter from Wake Forest. That evening I went to the mall and bought a Wake baseball cap. From that moment, I became a Wake guy. And I’ll stay a Wake guy until my ride is over.

College basketball is in my blood.

But you can’t have my soul this year. You can’t suck me into your endless web of highlights and feel good pieces. I don’t want to know how that one guard from that huge state school does community service with handicapped Iraq war veterans. I don’t want to know how that one coach from that tiny school that we’ve never heard of is retiring after a distinguished 40 year career. I cannot live and die with these people for weeks out of my life any more. I simply can’t do it.

But…

I really do want to see if that Ohio State team has enough experience to deal with the pressure cooker of six NCAA tournament games. Even though Greg Oden ripped my heart out of my chest by choosing to be a Buckeye over a Demon Deacon, I still root for the kid.

I’d love nothing more than to have the pleasure of watching Kevin Durant explode for another superlative exhausting 25 point half. Watching Durant evokes memories of a similar baby-faced assassin named Carmelo Anthony literally laughing at his opponents during the Syracuse march through March.

What kind of seizure influenced dance moves will Joakim Noah will come up with if Florida finds a way to repeat?

Is this the year Tubby Smith finally gets those idiotic Kentucky fans off his back?

How many times per game will Billy Packer make a painfully obvious prediction and then pat himself on the back when it comes to fruition?

I guess there’s only one way to find out. See you on Thursday morning.

02
Dec

Rah! Rah! Wake Forest, rah!

Wake Forest University will play in the Orange Bowl. Yes, you read that correctly. Wake Forest will play in the Orange Bowl.

WakeOrange (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

No. 16 Wake Forest 9, No. 23 Georgia Tech 6
By MARK LONG, AP Sports Writer
December 2, 2006

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Wake Forest’s defensive players huddled near the sideline, pushing and shoving, yelling and screaming, jumping and dancing.

They were trailing 6-3 and ready to do something about it. Riley Swanson did.

Swanson intercepted a pass from Reggie Ball on the next play, sparking a comeback that gave Wake Forest its first Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 36 years and sent the Demon Deacons to their biggest bowl game in school history.

Riley Skinner followed Swanson’s pick with long completions on consecutive drives, setting up Sam Swank’s final two field goals that gave No. 16 Wake Forest a 9-6 victory over 23rd-ranked Georgia Tech in the ACC title game on a rain-soaked Saturday.

“When you get our backs against the wall, these kids respond,” Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said.

Skinner, who grew up in Jacksonville, finished 14-for-25 for 201 yards in his homecoming — and may have had the biggest cheering section in the half-empty stadium. He struggled most of the game and was sacked four times, but he came up big when the Demon Deacons needed it most.

He hooked up with John Tereshinski for a 39-yard gain on third-and-10, setting up Swank’s second field goal, a 33-yarder with 8:27 to play. The kick tied the game at 6.

On the next possession, Skinner found Willie Idlette down the middle for a 45-yard gain, setting up a 22-yarder that turned out to be the game-winner.

The Demon Deacons (11-2) won their second league title and first since 1970, adding another chapter to an improbable season in Grobe’s sixth season. The finale comes in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2 — the program’s biggest bowl game since the 1946 Gator Bowl.

“I can’t even put it in words,” said linebacker Jon Abbate, who finished with 15 tackles. “It’s been an unbelievable season. Unbelievable to be ACC champs, and I can’t explain it.”

Georgia Tech (9-4) had a chance to tie the game or take the lead, but punted when coach Chan Gailey opted not to go for it on fourth-and-13 from his 18 yard-line.

It was one of several questionable calls for Gailey, who went for it on fourth-and-1 from Wake’s 13-yard line in the third quarter. Ball failed to pick up the first down on a quarterback sneak.

Gailey also ordered a field goal early in the fourth quarter instead of attempting a fourth-and-1 play on Wake’s 17 with the game tied at 3. Tech also called a reverse in the first quarter on third-and-1. The play resulted in a 9-yard loss.

“Obviously, it’s my responsibility to get this football team ready to play and we didn’t do well enough today to win the game,” Gailey said.

Nonetheless, the blame will be put on Ball, and maybe rightfully so.

He was awful for the second consecutive week. He was 9-of-29 passing for 129 yards, with two interceptions. He was 6-of-22 for 42 yards last week in a loss against rival Georgia and threw two interceptions.

The senior refused to talk after the game.

“I think with every quarterback, every time you can get pressure and get contact on him, you get in their head a little bit,” Abbate said.

Ball’s best passes were three deep balls down the sideline that resulted in pass interference penalties.

Tashard Choice ran 21 times for 100 yards, and Calvin Johnson caught eight passes for 117 yards. But Johnson also had two key drops. The second one came on a deep pass that he tipped into the hands of Swanson for the game-turning interception.

“That was huge,” Grobe said. “That was right after the defense got so pumped up. That’s where I looked over to the defense and I expected to see them tired and kind of sucking wind. They were dancing around and bumping into each other and ready to go.”

Georgia Tech will return to Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl in four weeks — something Gator Bowl officials had hoped to avoid.

ACC commissioner John Swofford even said at halftime that the Gator Bowl would be allowed to select another conference team, essentially giving the bowl permission to overlook a rule that would force the bowl to select Georgia Tech (7-1 in conference play) over Clemson, Boston College or Maryland (all 5-3 in the league).

But the Gator Bowl relented after a week of complaints and invited Georgia Tech back following the game. The Yellow Jackets accepted and probably will face either defending national champion Texas or a team from the Big East.

Wake Forest, meanwhile, will head to Miami.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for us to prove one more time what this team is about,” Abbate said.




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