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Cannon Ball and other high school thoughts
May 17, 2008Random thoughts and musings that derived from Friday night’s Clinch Mountain District baseball showdown between John Battle and Virginia High. Battle won 6-2 and clinched the inaugural CMD regular-season title.
--- There was a capacity crowd at DeVault Stadium on Friday night, despite the cool weather. It reminded one of the old days when the rivals would hook up in intense battles.
“I usually don’t look around at the crowd, but I came back in after an inning and I just happened to look up and I told one of the coaches I said, ‘man this place is packed here isn’t it’. I thought maybe the weather would keep people away …. but it was a great atmosphere,” Battle coach Larry Cannon said. “I like playing here, the boys like playing here against a classy team and a classy coaching staff in Virginia High. It was certainly fun for us tonight.”
--- Friday’s victory was the latest accomplishment for Cannon, who has racked up the wins since donning a Battle uniform and taking over the coaching duties.
Cannon took over a program in disarray prior to the 2007 season, but quickly righted the ship. He has compiled a 32-12 record over the past two seasons and has earned rave reviews from opposing coaches and his players.
“He’s done an amazing job,” Battle senior pitcher Joseph Timp said. “Every [practice] is planned out. We have a key thing going on. We make sure that we’re doing exactly what we should. I’ve become such a better athlete, just because of the fact he’s been here. I would liked to have had him for all four years, but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. But all the credit goes to him. He’s changed so many things in this program and made it a great atmosphere. I respect him beyond belief.”
--- Postseason tournaments begin in Southwest Virginia on Monday and for many it will be a refreshing occasion.
After the VHSL’s divisional system debacle in basketball in which it seemed every school qualified for the playoffs, baseball, softball and soccer tournaments actually mean something and there will be no multiple Group A champs in those sports.
Teams will be playing for their seasons when the tourneys get underway. In basketball, many area teams that lost in the first round of the district tournament still qualified for their respective region tournaments. A first round loss in baseball, softball or soccer means you are done for the year and summer vacation begins.
Posted by Tim Hayes Bristol Residents Becoming Spoiled
May 17, 2008Folks in the Bristol area have become spoiled. That’s the opinion of this lifelong and highly-peeved motorsports fan.
In the early days of Bristol Dragway, events at Thunder Valley were embraced by merchants and civic leaders. For example, the debut race in 1965 was actually broadcast on local radio.
Anyone who attended the famed Spring Nationals can remember all the signs, banners and promotional displays along Volunteer Parkway appealing to the drag racing community.
For good reason, the drags were an event and the anticipation grew for weeks. Armies of passionate fans made long trek to the hills of Tennessee to see the favorite stars and their cars.
Contrast those fun and profitable days to the past two weeks. While the national buzz was strong for the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, the local interest was lukewarm at best.
There were very few welcome signs, let alone creative advertising campaigns. Folks, who claim to love hardcore racing and lament the high costs of NASCAR, were ho-hum about the return of the NHRA to Bristol.
No splashy Chamber of Commerce campaign or music festival could have generated the kind of national attention. Yes, the ESPN cameras are at Bristol Dragway this weekend.
A quick glance around the parking lots at Thunder Valley Saturday morning revealed tags from around the country. By 1 p.m., the grandstands and pit areas were nearly jammed.
Where was the local interest?
Do folks realize what a treasure they have in Bristol Dragway? Do they realize that most NHRA national events are held in or near major cities? Do they realize that Bristol Dragway has an international reputation and that events such as the Thunder Valley Nationals help to put us on the map? Do they realize just how popular drag racing is?
Wake up folks. You are not only losing a great chance to showcase our region and make some bucks, you are missing a fun party. http://www.tricitiesblogs.com/images/uploads/SP-NHRA_Allen_Johnson_01-DC051808.jpg
Posted by Allen Gregory NHRA: John Force on Doug Herbert
May 17, 2008I’ve known Doug for years. You know, Doug [came] up to me and said his son was a big fan, and he thanked me for giving him a hat and whatever it was I gave him years ago when he was little. He said, ‘My kid loves you. He roots more for you than he does for me.’ And what happened was … I lost my Mom and Dad, but you expect that. To lose a child, I can’t imagine …
Nobody can help you expect somebody who’s been through that. Herbert called me within a few days of that. And I said, ‘We’ll pray for you.’ … But Herbert, his children, his got another little one; he’ll have to live for her. There’s no way I can say … I know that he’s working for charities, with the foundation. … He’s just the best guy, and all we can do is gather ‘round him.
You’ve got to get through it in your own way. I’ll be honest: I don’t know if I could’ve handled it. I just … I won’t go there. But it screws my head up.
Posted by Brian T. Smith NHRA: Gary Scelzi on Doug Herbert
May 17, 2008I know Doug really well. I knew his youngest pretty well. It’s just gut-wrenching. I can’t imagine what he and his ex-wife went through.
That’s why it’s no different than when we lose a driver. Every week, we’re with these people more than we are our families. Whether it’s restaurants or golf outings or charity events or autograph sessions. And then you see kids like that … it’s just wrong. It shouldn’t happen. It makes you re-evaluate your faith. What purpose could this possibly have? Why would God want to take them away? But evidently, there’s a bigger plan that none of us know about – you would hope. But it happens every day. You try not to let it affect you. But when you’re close to someone like that, it can’t not affect you.
One of the biggest kids I try to teach to my kids right now is: you guys are race car drivers. So the minute you get a driver’s license or you start driving with someone who gets a driver’s license, the first thing they want to do is say, ‘I want to take you for a ride in my fast car.’ They always want to push you. They want to show you how good they are or what they can do, or they want you to show what you can do. It’s like peer-pressure or it’s like drugs. ‘Look, this drug didn’t affect me, try it.’ I and try to tell them, ‘Look, we do our stuff in a controlled environment. That’s where we do it. You don’t do it on the street.’ It’s dangerous enough with all that in place. But if you do one thing on the street and you lose control and you kill a kid, or you go into a house or you hit a tree, you’re never going to be able to live with yourself if you hurt someone else. You can’t let that happen. And all you can do is try and preach to them as much as you can and hope it sinks in. But we’ve all done stupid things.
Posted by Brian T. Smith NHRA: Kenny Bernstein on Doug Herbert
May 17, 2008We saw [his sons] almost every weekend. We watched them grow up. I used to have a lot of fun with the little one all the time. You just always saw them. You knew they were there. It was cool, just cool. As I told Doug many times in the past couple months here, I feel really badly for him and what’s happened. He’s been a strong person with it.
I think he’s moving on and going forward and embracing it. He’s done a lot of good things because of it. I think he’s taking up that challenge on behalf of his kids to try and not let that happen to any other kids.
It is a family out here. We pretty much live together almost 10 months out of the year, so it is a big family. You have your ups and downs with everybody as time goes, but when things go tough for someone, everybody rallies together. And it is a family, no matter what. It’s a very small world.
Posted by Brian T. Smith 
