01

Are fans counting down the days to the Daytona 500 or approaching the sport with a more critical eye.

The hype began weeks ago for the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
In fact, the Feb. 17 Sprint Cup race has been billed as “most anticipated event in racing history’’ by track officials.
For various reasons, this longtime NASCAR follower is less than enthralled. And may fans, mostly the old-guard types, feel the same way.
The top levels of stock car racing once actually had room for the little guy, both in the pits and the stands. Now, it takes big bucks to compete and attend races.
Friday’s announcement that Morgan-McClure Motorsports was ceasing operations may have been inevitable, but it was still more bad news for a sport that struggled with lackluster television ratings and empty seats last year.
Some NASCAR pundits, mostly those sappy-happy TV types who are nothing more than cheerleaders, point to the flood of open-wheel drivers as proof that NASCAR is booming.
Really now? How many of you southern fans give a hoot about Dario or Juan Pablo.
NASCAR was built on the backs of renegades such as Dale Earnhardt and David Pearson.
Those guys had character and were totally fearless. No cutesy public relations guru could tame them.
These days, every Sprint Cup driver looks alike and sounds alike. 
There are very few independent teams. Big money and multicar teams rule.
It’s a familiar, and even old story.
Watching Dale Earnhardt Jr. compete for the elite Hendrick Motorsports group will be fascinating, but it’s hard to get excited about this sport right now.
Sorry, Daytona.

Posted by Allen Gregory

Pigram and Strong lead ETSU’s second-half rally

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – East Tennessee State University coach Murry Bartow laid it all out on the table.
Just one minute, 15 seconds had expired from the game clock in the second half when Bartow pulled his starters.
Not one. Not two. All five.
Every single one of them.
“That a way Murry!” shouted a fan from the stands.
The Bucs had gone into halftime down 37-30 to Campbell and came out of the break looking listless and unmotivated.
It was 41-30 Fighting Camels. Now or never.
Bartow decided to bet the house.
“I did it to just get five new guys in that would hopefully give us a little life,” Bartow said. “I didn’t think – and this is coaching; I’m not putting the blame on anybody but myself – but I thought the first half we were a little … we missed shots.”
The gamble paid off.
ETSU re-energized and came to life. And it was like someone had finally decided to turn on the bright lights inside the Memorial Center.
The Bucs fought back to pull out a 74-69 victory over Campbell on Thursday evening in an Atlantic Sun conference matchup before an announced crowd of 3,321.
ETSU senior guard Travis Strong hit a 3-pointer from the far-right wing to put the Bucs ahead 67-64 with 3:05 left. Strong scored seven of the Bucs’ final nine points.
“It felt like the goal just opened all the way up,” said Strong, who scored 16 points and hit 4 of his 6 3-point attempts. “Coach and my players gave me the confidence to shoot, so I just shot.”
But it was the inspired return of Bucs (8-7, 2-0) junior guard Courtney Pigram that was the key.
Pigram had hit a wall in his recent play, and shot just 1 of 10 from the field in ETSU’s 67-60 win over University of South Carolina Upstate last Saturday.
Pigram looked brand new and reborn when he returned to the court after being pulled by Bartow.
He played like his life depended on it, scored 12 of his team-high 23 points in the second half, and emphatically pumped his chest after every big score.
“We weren’t playing as hard as we should’ve been playing while we was in the game,” Pigram said. “By him taking us out of the game, it kind of made us think. We wanted to be on the floor, playing.”
Mike Smith had another strong all-around outing for the Bucs, scoring 10 points, collecting six rebounds and dishing out three assists, while Kevin Tiggs scored eight points and picked up a game-high nine rebounds.
Jonathan Rodriguez scored a game-high 25 points (8-of-17 shooting) and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Campbell (5-9, 1-2).
The Fighting Camels jumped out to an early 13-4 lead. Campbell easily exploited the Bucs’ 2-3 zone defense, with Rodriguez and Reggie Bishop hitting 3-pointers from opposing sides of the court.
“Get ‘em out of the zone Murry!” yelled an ETSU fan.
Bartow followed the plea with a timeout, pulled starters Kevin Tiggs and Kenyona Swader, and inserted point guard Jocolby Davis and forward Mike Smith.
Davis lit a fire.
He forced the action on offense, splitting Campbell’s middle and dishing out to open Bucs on the perimeter. And he shined even brighter on defense, collecting four steals in less than nine minutes.
“I just tried to come in and get everyone going, get everybody more touches,” Davis said.
Yet the Fighting Camels stretched their lead to 33-26 when Jake Wohlfeil hit a long 3-pointer from the right-center wing with 3:42 remaining in the first half.
ETSU shot 30.6 percent (11 of 36) from the field in the first half, and the Bucs’ 30 first-half points set a new season-low.
“We wasn’t making shots in the beginning, but they fell through in the end,” Pigram said.
| (276) 645-2569

ETSU 74, CAMPBELL 69
CAMPBELL (69)
RODRIGUEZ, Jonathan 8-17 8-9 25; VEJRASKA, Kyle 6-9 4-5 16; WOHLFEIL, Jake 5-8 0-0 15; BISHOP, Reggie 3-8 2-2 11; PERKINS, Julius 0-4 2-4 2; FAGBENLE, Oladapo 0-1 0-0 0; DODSON, Preston 0-0 0-0 0; HARTLEY, Junard 0-4 0-0 0.
Totals 22-51 16-20 69.
ETSU (74))
PIGRAM, Courtney 9-17 2-2 23; STRONG, Travis 4-8 4-4 16; SMITH, Mike 3-11 4-4 10; TIGGS, Kevin 3-5 2-3 8; DAVIS, Jocolby 2-8 1-2 6; REED, Andrew 2-7 1-2 5; HAMLIN, Greg 1-5 2-2 4; WILLIAMS, Micah 1-3 0-0 2; HUBBARD, Tommy 0-0 0-0 0; SWADER, Kenyona 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 16-19 74.
Campbell 32-69
ETSU 30 44-74
3-point goals--Campbell 9-18 (WOHLFEIL, Jake 5-7; BISHOP, Reggie 3-6;
RODRIGUEZ, Jonathan 1-3; HARTLEY, Junard 0-1; VEJRASKA, Kyle 0-1), ETSU 8-21(STRONG, Travis 4-6; PIGRAM, Courtney 3-8; DAVIS, Jocolby 1-2; WILLIAMS,Micah 0-2; SMITH, Mike 0-3). Fouled out--Campbell-None, ETSU-TIGGS, Kevin. Rebounds--Campbell 31 (RODRIGUEZ, Jonathan 8), ETSU 41 (TIGGS, Kevin 9). Assists--Campbell 15 (HARTLEY, Junard 7), ETSU 14 (DAVIS, Jocolby 8). Total fouls--Campbell 17, ETSU 16. Technical fouls--Campbell-None, ETSU-None. A-3,321

Posted by Brian T. Smith

Does anyone else feel like 2007 was the year of unimpressive milestones in sports?

Barry Bonds hitting home run No. 756 while at the center of the steroid scandal, for example. Rich Gossage getting elected to the baseball Hall of Fame only because Jim Rice was the only other reasonable candidate for another. Or how about the New England Patriots being branded the greatest team in NFL history after running the table thanks in no small part to playing in a division where the other three teams have a combined record of 12-36?
Granted, it’s uncool to downplay someone’s accomplishments. I’ve also written about how unpopular it is to disagree with the likes of ESPN, Fox and most sports-talk radio hosts. The thing is, most of your major-market sports multimedia vendors have a habit of using superlatives where they may not be merited.
Which brings us to the BCS national championship game. While Fox fell all over itself declaring the glory of LSU national title win, how many people out there were wondering if they were really the best team in America?
Forests have been destroyed to supply the paper for all the BCS debates in the past decade, so we won’t go into that here, but consider that, despite the fact LSU ended the year 12-2, won the SEC championship and beat the No. 1 team in the poll, the Tigers also had two fairly damning losses. One was to Kentucky, which finished the year by losing four of its last six and barely beating an already mediocre Florida State team with more than 20 players academically ineligible for the Music City Bowl.
The other, a season-ending loss at home to Arkansas in which LSU gave up 50 points, should have bounced the Tigers from title-game contention. The only problem was, West Virginia, Kansas and Missouri couldn’t stop losing.
Then you have Ohio State, which went into the title game at No. 1 despite beating no one who finished the year ranked higher than 23rd and losing to Illinois at home. Almost no one outside Columbus seemed to want the Buckeyes in the BCS game again, especially at No. 1.
It’s almost as though this year’s BCS was more about who lost than who won. A 1-2 matchup between West Virginia and Missouri had been in the works until the Tigers lost the Big 12 title game to Oklahoma, which then failed to exit the locker room en route to being hammered by the Mountaineers in the Fiesta Bowl.
Kansas may have been the biggest loser, having a comeback fall short against Missouri before handling Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. Kansas seemingly was punished for losing to Missouri, while LSU ended up getting away with its loss to Arkansas. While Missouri was left out of the BCS altogether, the Tigers hammered the same Arkasnas team which beat the eventual champs on the road.
Again, we’re not trying to decipher the BCS system, which has been tweaked yearly as much or more than even the Nextel/Sprint Cup points format. If anyone can adequately explain either in 20 words or less, give NASA a call. You may be qualified for a career in space engineering.
While watching LSU and Ohio State duke it out Monday, I was left wondering one thing: What would either of these teams do against USC?
While a horrible loss to Stanford killed any shot the Trojans had at a national title, there were many analysts who said in the season’s final weeks that once healthy, USC was actually the best team in the country. Not that who’s best has anything to do with the BCS, of course.
At the end of the day, we’re left with the same issues in college football we’ve always had: A lot of discussion and debate but no real national champion - besides Appalachian State in the Championship Subdivision, which actually has a tournament.
Funny thing is, Appy State stumbled during the year but was still generally regarded as the best team in the country before proving it in the playoffs. It’s likely Pete “Vote for Us” Carroll would have liked to have had the same opportunity in the Bowl Subdivision.
For those still clinging to hope for a Division I-A playoff, don’t hold your breath. BCS Bowls like the Orange, Sugar and Rose each had a payoff of $17 million, as did the title game. If a separate tournament were held, do you think the sponsors would sink that kind of money into both the old bowls and new qualifying games? Forget about it.
The debate over who’s the national champion in college football is nearly as old as the game itself. No matter what other changes are made, that is one tradition that will never die.

Posted by From the Archives
College Sports

ETSU shoots 27.8 percent from the field in second half

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – The fans moaned.
And while one near the court sarcastically lamented, “Oh, we look awesome,” others screamed “Wake up!” and “Come on!”
This wasn’t how ETSU’s Atlantic Sun conference opener inside the Mini-Dome against one of the worst teams in Division I basketball was supposed to go.
What should have been a rout was instead a wake-up call.
ETSU held on to pull out a 67-60 win over University of South Carolina Upstate on Saturday afternoon before an announced crowd of 4,093.
Yet the victory wasn’t easy. It wasn’t even close to pretty. And Bucs coach Murry Bartow knew it.
“We didn’t make shots and we didn’t execute at times,” Bartow said. “Second half was a little ugly. Anytime you can get a win, you take it and you move on. You obviously have to work on things you didn’t do well. Offensively, I thought we were out of synch a little bit. We didn’t execute. Turned it over too much.”
Twenty-three times to be exact.
Add in that ETSU shot 27.8 percent (5 of 18) from the floor in the second half and connected on just 23.5 percent (4 of 17) of their 3-point attempts in the game, and it was a very rough day for the Bucs.
Bartow’s face alternated between a scowl and something worse and meaner than a scowl throughout the game.
He yelled out “Execute!” more often than he offered praise.
And 13 first-half turnovers by the Bucs (7-7, 1-0) only added to his bad day.
The Bucs’ offense lacked rhythm and flow. Fast-break possessions constantly fell apart. Mid-court plays ended in disarray. And while ETSU’s defense kept it in the game – the Bucs held the Spartans to 33.9 percent (19 of 56) shooting from the field – the Bucs’ offense sputtered.
“I think they got us playing their game out there,” said ETSU sophomore guard Mike Smith, who scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and had three blocks. “We didn’t get many transition points, didn’t get many deflections … we had a lot of turnovers.”
Andrew Reed scored a team-high 14 points (7-of-9 shooting) and collected seven rebounds for the Bucs, while Travis Strong added 10 points and Courtney Pigram scored 11 (1-of-10 shooting, five turnovers).
Jeremy Byrd led USCU with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block.
ETSU was up 19-8 with 11 minutes, 57 seconds remaining in the first half when the Spartans came to life.
USCU began to beat the Bucs to loose balls and dominate the battle in the paint. And as the Spartans alternated between a man-to-man and 2-3 zone defense, ETSU went cold.
The Bucs then took a 39-27 advantage into halftime against a Spartans squad that fell to Bluefield (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) 93-77 on Dec. 15.
The second half only got worse for ETSU.
A 3-pointer from the right wing by Spartans guard Rashawn Brailsford made it 45-42 ETSU with 9:55 to go.
As USCU’s bench erupted, the Bucs’ looked completely stunned.
The Spartans did not go away.
A 3-pointer from the left wing by Strong with 5:15 remaining was followed by a 10-foot jump shot by Brailsford.
And when a smooth pull-up floater in the lane by Spartans guard Luke Payne rimmed in, it was 55-49.
Smith and Pigram said they knew little about USCU before the game started.
It showed.
The Bucs’ frustration then rammed into the ceiling when a layup attempt by Pigram was blocked, and the ball became stuck between the rim and the glass.
Meanwhile, ETSU junior forward Kevin Tiggs – who came into the contest averaging 15.2 points and shooting 58.2 percent from the field – was held to nine points as the ball seldom touched his hands. It was the second consecutive game that Tiggs has looked out of place in the Bucs’ offense.
“Well, it’s something we’ve got to address. Because he needs to get touches, he needs to get us 18 to 20 [points] a game,” Bartow said. “And I think some of it is us. I think some of it is on the player, you know?”
USCU outscored the Bucs 33-28 in the second half.
ETSU’s second-half points total tied a season-low – the Bucs were previously held to 28 points in the second period in losses to Oklahoma State and Saint Mary’s.
ETSU takes on Atlantic Sun foe Campbell at 7 p.m. on Thursday inside the Mini-Dome.
| (276) 645-2569

ETSU 67, USCU 60
USCU (2-13, 0-1) – BYRD, Jeremy 5-9 2-3 14; UZOCHUKWU, Mezie 3-7 5-7 11; PAYNE, Luke 2-13 6-7 11; DAVIS, Bobby 4-8 2-3 10; BRAILSFORD, Rashawn 3-8 0-0 7; BOROS, Gabor 1-6 0-0 3; PRESTON, Matt 1-1 0-1 2; HOUSER, Justin 0-3 2-2 2; CHAVIS, Josh 0-1 0-0 0; SCHNEIDERS, Nick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-56 17-23 60.
ETSU (7-7, 1-0) – REED, Andrew 7-9 0-0 14; SMITH, Mike 3-4 6-8 13; STRONG, Travis 2-7 6-8 11;PIGRAM, Courtney 1-10 7-8 10; TIGGS, Kevin 3-7 3-3 9; DAVIS, Jocolby 1-2 2-4 5; SWADER, Kenyona 1-5 1-2 3; HUBBARD, Tommy 1-2 0-0 2; WILLIAMS, Micah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-46 25-33 67.
USCU 27 33–60
ETSU 39 28–67
3-point goals–USCU 5-28 (BYRD, Jeremy 2-5; PAYNE, Luke 1-9; BOROS, Gabor
1-6; BRAILSFORD, Rashawn 1-6; HOUSER, Justin 0-1; CHAVIS, Josh 0-1); ETSU
4-17 (DAVIS, Jocolby 1-2; SMITH, Mike 1-1; PIGRAM, Courtney 1-4; STRONG,
Travis 1-4; SWADER, Kenyona 0-4; TIGGS, Kevin 0-1; REED, Andrew 0-1). Fouled
out–USCU-DAVIS, Bobby; ETSU-REED, Andrew; TIGGS, Kevin. Rebounds–USCU 35 (DAVIS, Bobby 11), ETSU 36 (REED, Andrew 7). Assists–USCU 10 (BYRD, Jeremy 3), ETSU 9 (PIGRAM, Courtney 4). Total fouls–USCU 23, ETSU 25. Technical
fouls–USCU-None, ETSU-None. A–4093

Posted by Brian T. Smith

ETSU women take 54-19 lead into halftime

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – As far as Atlantic Sun conference openers go, ETSU’s was picture perfect.
The Buccaneers ripped through University of South Carolina Upstate and put the game away before the second half had even begun on Saturday afternoon at the Mini-Dome before an announced crowd of 504.
Granted, USCU isn’t top-tier Division I talent. But ETSU coach Karen Kemp knows it’s hard to argue with a 96-55 blowout win.
“Everybody stepped up and did things they normally do and came out really focused and ready to go,” Kemp said. “There are still a lot of kinks and we still have a lot of work to do. But I thought we really pushed the ball down the floor and pulled it back and ran our plays when we needed to.”
Kelly Turman scored a game-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Bucs (5-7, 1-0), while Devin Thompson added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Sabrina Treakle, Michele DeVault and Latisha Belcher added 11 points apiece for ETSU, and Belcher grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.
Cherale Powell and Kasey Thompson each scored 13 points for the Spartans (4-8, 0-1).
ETSU shot 46.7 percent (35 of 75) from the field and the Bucs outrebounded USCU 56-29.
“I thought we kept our intensity the whole game,” Kemp said. “I think that helped us get so many rebounds and not allow them back in it.”
The Bucs took a 54-19 advantage into halftime and held the Spartans to 18.5 percent (5 of 27) shooting in the first half.
ETSU’s win followed up on a big 73-62 victory over Alabama on Jan. 2.
“It took us a while to get going this year because we’re so young,” Kemp said. “But I think we’re definitely heading in the right direction. All the girls are sticking together and keeping their focus. I think things are going to get better and better.”
| (276) 645-2569

ETSU 96, USCU 55
USCU (4-8, 0-1) – POWELL, Cherale 5-8 3-4 13; THOMPSON, Kasey 5-10 0-0 13; HAWKINS, Courtney 2-9 3-4 9; WYANT, Shanea 2-4 0-0 5; JOHNSON, Ebony 1-5 2-4 4; TRANUM, Tara 2-4 0-0 4; BRADLEY, Courtney 1-6 1-2 3; WESTFIELD, Kelly 1-3 0-0 2; PITMAN, Kimberly 0-4 2-3 2; WHITING, Tiffany 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 19-54 11-18 55.
ETSU (5-7, 1-0)–TURMAN, Kelly 5-10 3-4 14; THOMPSON, Devin 5-8 2-3 12; TREAKLE, Sabrina 4-4 0-0 11; DeVAULT, Michele 4-6 0-0 11; BELCHER, Latisha 4-9 3-5 11; DANIELS, Brittany 3-4 4-6 10; WILES, TaRonda 3-11 2-2 8; AKERS, Nichelle 3-6 1-1 7; NORMAN, Jenny 2-4 2-2 6; McCLELLAND, Brianna 0-3 2-2 2; DAVIS, Tara 1-3 0-0 2; PHILLIPS, Kami 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 35-75 19-25 96.
USCU 19 36—55
ETSU 54 42—96
3-point goals—USCU 6-13 (THOMPSON, Kasey 3-3; HAWKINS, Courtney 2-5; WYANT, Shanea 1-1; BRADLEY, Courtney 0-3; WHITING, Tiffany 0-1); ETSU 7-11
(DeVAULT, Michele 3-5; TREAKLE, Sabrina 3-3; TURMAN, Kelly 1-1; DAVIS, Tara
0-1; PHILLIPS, Kami 0-1). Fouled out—USCU-None; ETSU-None. Rebounds—USCU
29 (PITMAN, Kimberly 7), ETSU 56 (BELCHER, Latisha 12). Assists—USCU 8
(BRADLEY, Courtney 3), ETSU 23 (DAVIS, Tara 7). Total fouls—USCU 17, ETSU
19. Technical fouls—USCU-None, ETSU-None. A-504.

Posted by Brian T. Smith