There has been so much going on here at Greensboro Sports in recent days that the minds of our best journalists have become boggled. We have come up with our first set of photos that we captured at the Triad 3-A basketball tournament last Friday night. We also have up our very first audio file with play-by-play from the boys title tilt involving Northeast Guilford and Dudley.
We have photos and audio and we are seeing more and more people coming to the site and our next venture will be video coverage of local sporting events. Right now we will work on improving our picture quality and making sure that our audio is available to everyone that wants to get the goods. The feeling is that this web site can really take off and based on what I’ve been seeing and hearing it all could soon become a reality.
In the future we may even be able to do a talk show on Greensboro Sports but we have much to do and to talk about before we hit that stage. The long-time sportscaster Curt Gowdy passed away today and from what I have been hearing he will be remembered as one of the top all-time great sports announcers. ESPN’s Keith Olberman and ABC’s(for now at least) Al Michaels said on the Dan Patrick Show that Gowdy was the best and most diverse at calling the games, especially the Big Games, in the history of Sports. Gowdy called 10 World Series, 13 Super Bowls, 14 Final Fours and the list goes on.
I will remember Gowdy for his work on The American Sportsman, an outdoorsmen show that came on Sunday afternoons in the off-season after the Super Bowl. Gowdy would go duck hunting with Bobby Knight or fly-casting with John Denver, or maybe go on a wild Elk chase with Gearld Ford. Curt Gowdy knew how to circle the wagons and bring on the stars. Gowdy might even take off on a camping trip with Clint Eastwood and Red Foxx.
Big weekend on TNT for the NBA All-Stars, but I doubt they made a major impression on most of our locals. The orchestra pit down in Houston can’t compare with the troubles in turn two and the race into the pits for a re-fuel down in Daytona. Our local polling station up at the LDI said high and dry and goodbye to Lebron, Shaq, Allen, Kobe, Yao, Tracy, and Steve but they said bring it on to Jimmie, Tony, Kurt, Kyle, Brian, Kevin, Jeff, and Dale Jr. Jackie, Mary, and Kathy said Dennis or Tim would be driving the Daniel-Keck car in next year’s 500.
We have been getting more and more response from our comment boxes and we say keep it coming. We had a response late last week from Big Mo, formerly of ESPN 1590 in High Point and Maurice Stanfield(BIG MO) is now plying his trade on the Talk-Star Radio Network. Big Mo had to go but he still has a show and we know that you can find out more about Mo if you go to the Comment Box under our article Looking for Writers. Hopefully we will hear more from Mo and from you in the futrue inside those comment boxes. The best interview Mo ever had was when he went one-on-one with Max Baer Jr., known as Jethro Bodine to most everyone that watched the Beverly Hillbillies.
The Greensboro Day School Bengals will take on Ravenscroft in round one of the State Independent Schools 3-A Basketball Championships at GDS, Game Time 11:30am on Thursday. If and when the Bengals win they will play their semifinal game on Friday at 5:30pm. The Bengals have the #1 seed in the tourney and they’re coming off a 81-59 win over High Point Wesleyan last Thursday. GDS was led by Johnny Thomas with 19 points and Brandon Davis added 13. Thursday was Senior Night at Dillard Athletic Center and Fox, Hayes, Marks, Woolard, Rieves, Cooke, and all the Seniors had a great time closing it out with a win. Former Bengal Robert Johnson is now playing defense against Ivory Latta each day during Sylvia Hatchell’s practice sessions down in Chapel-Hill.
What a week for the Northeast Guilford girls…. They upset Dudley on Wednesday in double overtime and then won the Triad 3-A conference title for the first time since 1997 on Friday night. Mercedes King led the Rams to the crown but man did she have some help in the championship game. The Rams won the Semifinal in 2 overtimes and then Friday they took the Rockingham County Cougars in OT,47-43. King paced her Rams with 13 but little Shelley Reece played a very poised and steady game for Northeast at point guard and that was a major plus that helped the Rams grab the championship trohpy. I spoke with Shelley’s mom Debbie after the game and told her how important it was that the Rams hit their foul shots down the stretch and into overtime. Cecile Nettles, Telesia Milton, and Je’Talme Stevens also were a huge help to the Rams by hitting key free throws late in the contest.
The Dudley boys were challenged by Northeast through the 3rd quarter but in the final 8 minutes the Panthers made sure the Triad 3-A title was staying right inside Dudley’s gym on Lincoln Street. William Graves was the senior leader but after William the Panthers spread the wealth around. William connected for 25 points and after Will, the guards(Josh Chavis, Travis Foster, Rayshawn Polk, and Jonathan Heard) combined for 25 big ones. The big question was, what happened to NEG’s Guy Wilson? He did not play one minute in the game.
The Grimsley girls ran their record to 21-1 after the Whirlies 61-49 Metro 4-A victory over Northwest Guilford. The Vikings are the last team to beat Grimsley but when it counts the most Trumae Lucas makes sure that the Whirlies come out on top. Phil Weaver’s squad has the Metro regular season and conference titles and now has their sights set on the Sectional crown this week. Grimsley will by virtue of record and their titles will be the #1 seed and should see home-court advantage throughout this week’s playoffs. Lucas had 27 points in the final and she should be a cinch for All-Metro, All-County, and the All-Area all-star teams.
The Smith Golden Eagles made it two Metro title winners for the Greensboro Sports readers when they stopped High Point Central in a close one 61-58. Reggie Peace has taken his team to the top in just one season and he deserves strong consideration for Coach of the Year. Tavarus Alston and Brian Wynn had 28 and 23 points respectively for the Golden Eagles. The two-some combined for 51 of their team’s 61 total points and they have been the proven go-to guys for Reggie Peace’s team all year long.
The Eastern Guiford girls snagged the North State 2-A crown when they took care of Reidsville 56-51 behind Amber Wall’s 20 but the Wildcat boys weren’t quite so lucky as they fell to Reidsville 60-58 in the final. The EG Wildcat boys and girls will both move on to sectional play this week but the Lady Cats will be at home in Gibsonville, while the boys will have to drive right by the Brightwood Inn on 70 as they to take their bus on the road and hit 85 and try to do it the hard way.