10 for 10 (7th Entry): Virtual Postcard from North Carolina....

Greetings to our readers in Uruguay, Panama, and South Korea....

Our initial choice for a virtual postcard was the quaint small town of Madison, which is hosting a heritage festival on Saturday, Oct. 3rd, with 100 vendors, but we couldn't find a suitable image. Madison is in Rockingham County, which also includes the towns of Eden and Reidsville.

Instead, we opt for this photo of Old Salem in Winston-Salem, some 45 miles west of Madison. Winston-Salem is also the host of the River Run Film Festival in April, and the home of Wake Forest University.

In European soccer action today, Eden Hazard of Chelsea scored a late goal to solidify a 2-0 victory over their London crosstown rivals Arsenal.

In the Netherlands, Heracles upset PSV Eindhoven 2-1. And, in Turkey, the Istanbul powerhouse Galatasaray managed a 1-0 victory over perennial contender Trabzonspor.

http://www.townofmadison.org/

http://www.shoprockinghamcounty.com/

http://www.oldsalem.org/

http://www.visitwinstonsalem.com/

Sports Desk: Princeton Tigers Go to Lynchburg and Win

Earlier in the season my alma mater Radford University, a Big South school, faced the Cornell Bears, an Ivy League team, and won. But, given that Big South schools stretch from Lexington, Va. (VMI) to Charleston, SC, (Charleston Southern), and Ivy League are from the northeast, the two conferences don't play with each other that often.

But, on Saturday, the Princeton Tigers in their last game before the start of conference play, headed down to Lynchburg, Va., to face the Liberty Flames on Saturday in the first meeting in men's basketball between the two schools.

And, it was Princeton (11-2), a team which traveled from New Jersey, which prevailed with an 80-74 win that was propelled by T.J. Bray (pictured) who almost matched his career-high with 24 points and his teammate Ben Hazel who added 18 points. For Liberty, John Caleb Saunders scored 25 points.

SIDEBAR: There was a shocking upset in Winston-Salem, NC, on Sunday night, as the home court Wake Forest Demon Deacons shocked the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, ranked 19th in the country at the time, 73-67.

The win was the first for Wake Forest over UNC since 2001 in a series that the Tar Heels have dominated in more recent years. Senior Travis McKie from Richmond, Va., lead the home team in scoring with 16 points, and he shot 7 for 11 from the floor.

SIDEBAR 2: Well, when the West Virginia Mountaineers joined the BIG 12, geographic rivalries went out the window as the closest conference school to Morgantown, WVa., is (we believe) Iowa State, located in Ames, Iowa.

Tonight, WVU traveled even farther away as they headed to Lubbock, Tex., and got an 89-86 (OT) win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

Juwan Staten lead WVU in scoring with 25 points, and Terry Henderson hit a crucial three-pointer with :18 left to play in regulation.

Our Favorite Olympic Athletes (so far)_ One of Four

Wow! A blog entry about a tweet from 2008 women's American Olympic gymnast Shawn Jonson has drawn very, very hits so far. Hopefully, that will not be the case with this one.

We are looking at some of our favorite Olympic athletes. Today, we start with American male athletes, but we will also include international athletes as well:

1) Tony Azevedo, 31, water polo, Long Beach, Calif. (was born in Brazil), Stanford University (pictured top): The United States water polo captain is one of many American athletes born on foreign soil, but fortunately even fringe right-wingers will accept athletes representing the United States irregardless of where their birth certificate is from. Team America (3-2) faces an uphill challenge as they lost to Hungary 11-6 yesterday. They lost by the same score earlier to Serbia. This result will pit the United States against Croatia (5-0) in the quarter-finals. Azevedo is part of the team that won silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2) Justin Gatlin, 30, sprinter, Brooklyn, NY, University of Tennessee (pictured center)_ Gatlin who won gold in the 100-meter relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, had the misfortune of running against the legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt who has won the same event in the last two Olympics during the current summer games (Gatlin did not participate in Beijing). Gatlin raced the event in an impressive 9.79 seconds. Bolt's Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake took silver in the 100-meters. The National Zoo in Washington, DC, named a male cheetah cub after Gatlin.

3) Richard Lambourne, 37, indoor volleyball, Louisville, Kentucky, Brigham Young University (pictured below)_ Lambourne who has played professionally in Belgium, Greece and Poland is the libero of a so far undefeated United States team that won gold in 2008, and last defeated Tunisia.

4) Ryan Lochte, 28, Daytona Beach, Florida, University of Florida_Lochte has had both the fortune and misfortune of being on the same national swimming team as Michael Phelps. But, Lochte will leave London with two golds, two silvers and one bronze medal.

5) Chris Paul, 27, Winston-Salem, NC, Wake Forest University_ Paul is a local hero in the Winston-Salem area where he went to high school at West Forsyth, where we imagine his number is retired. Yesterday, Paul, who now plays for the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA, scored 17 points in Team America's 126-97 win over Argentina, in which the United States only had a one-point lead at half-time against an Argentinian which has beat them in a shocking semi-final result at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

6) Galen Rupp, 26, track (10,000-meters), Portland, Oregon, University of Oregon_ Rupp won silver in the 10,000-meter race finishing second to Mo Farah of Great Britain on Saturday.

http://www.usawaterpolo.org

http://www.gostanford.com

http://www.usatf.org

http://www.usavolleyball.org

http://www.teamusa.org

http;//www.nationalzoo.si.org

http://wfu.edu

Quote of the Day/Week-Maya Angelou

First of all, thanks to our blog-readers in Bulgaria and Honduras. I've been to one of those countries-Bulgaria, though it was when I was a child 35 years ago. And, I've been close to Honduras with visits to Belize and Guatemala.

Today, we are quoting the great poet Maya Angelou who turned 84 yesterday. This is also National Poetry Month in America.

Angelou spent several years in Ghana during the 1960s. The poet, who is also known for being a Civil Rights activist, has in recent years been a professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and she recited her poem "On the Rushes of Morning" during Bill Clinton's inauguration in 1993.

Here is her quote:

"Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean."

Bonus Road Trip (9 of 10)_ Should-Be Ivy League Schools

Today, we are asking blog readers how long this very long road trip between Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, and Stanford University, in Palo Alto, California, would be.

We are saying these are Should-Be Ivy Leagues because they both have high academic standards, and here in the United States, major conference expansion because of major revenues sports is getting so absurd that soon San Diego State will be playing football in the Big East Conference against the likes of the University of Connecticut. For those of you Europe, this would be like Manchester United playing soccer games against teams from Dubai!

For our comparison, we are selecting two coffeeshops: Brew Nerds located in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem and California Cafe which is in Palo Alto.

Both schools lost their respective football bowl games as Wake Forest fell to Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., on Dec. 30 by a score of 23-17. And, the Stanford Cardinal, which had a very succesful season, lost to Oklahoma State 41-38 at the Fiesta Bowl near Phoenix, Arizona, on Jan. 2.

Wake Forest will be playing Virginia Tech at home in men's basketball within the hour. The team's next home game in the sport will be against North Carolina State on Jan. 14 at 1:00 p.m., local time.

As for Stanford, the school has a highly competitive women's gymnastics team which has its home opener on Jan. 22 against Washington.

So, just how far apart are these two schools?

Is the answer?:

A) 39 hours

B) 40 hours

C) 41 hours

D) 42 hours

Yes, we think it would be better to fly too!

SIDEBAR: The answer to yesterday's Bonus Road Trip was C) 6 hours, 45 minutes. We forgot to mention that we used Blake's Tavern in Providence, RI, and the Ithaca Ale House in Ithaca, NY, as our points of destination.

Also, former Brown gymnast Alicia Sacramone actually posed completely nude for the ESPN Magazine photo shoot in which she was standing unclothed on a balance beam, but only the rear portion of her body was visibile to the camera.

We also wanted to clarify that Brady Quinn, the Denver Broncos quarterback she was dating (editorial comment: lucky guy!) is still on the team roster. Though we don't follow pro football very closely, we gather that the team is now starting Tim Tebow instead. The Broncos have a playoff game this weekend, but we are more likely to know how the Russian soccer CSKA Moscow is fairing!

Happy National College Radio Day

Happy National College Radio Day. I co-hosted a Turkish music show on WUVT-FM (90.7-FM) in 1994, so I fully respect the hard work and dedication that all college radio djs put in. Today's Turkish music show on WUVT-FM is called "Turkish Music Hour" and it airs from 1:00-2:30 p.m. (yes, it is an ironic title since the show lasts an hour and a half). I still listen to the show, and I think it's quite well-done. The hosts have in fact thought me about the Turkish female pop singer Nil Karaibrahimgil who is apparently very popular now.

There is a Greek music show before the Turkish show, as was the case when my friend Bahadir and I co-hosted the show. And, it is also quite good.

Since I now live in North Carolina, I also want to mention four exceptional college radio stations between Greensboro and Raleigh. They include WKNC (North Carolina State), which has a great heavy metal show on Friday nights, WXDU (Duke University, pictured) which has a great folk/local music show hosted by Washboard Dave.

In addition, there is WXYC (UNC) and WUAG (UNC-Greensboro).

SIDEBAR: This was a good weekend for many ACC sports team in Virginia and North Carolina. In college football, Wake Forest pulled off a huge upset of Florida State by a 35-30 score. Similarly, the Virginia Tech Hokies were able to defend their home turf in an exciting 38-35 win over Miami (Fla).

Not that this is pick on the Miami Hurricanes Day, but the UNC Tarheels won a home volleyball in five sets over the Hurricanes yesterday. Emily McGee of the Tarheels was named ACC Volleyball Player of the Week. On Thursday, the Tarheels, which also have a Turkish player named Ece Taner, host the Virginia Tech Hokies, a team that features junior Liz Trinchere, who is an alumnus of my high school, Glenvar High School in Salem, Va.

Things We Learned on Twitter Tonight- NC State Wins in College Basketball

Since I did not attend either the University of North Carolina or their rival North Carolina State, it's only fair that I cover the Wolfpack as well as the Tarheels on this blog. Of course, this will still irk alumni of Duke and Wake Forest!

I must profess with college football season is full-swing, it's hard to believe that college basketball season is getting underway as well. Of course, in places like Lawrence, Kansas, and Lexington, Kentucky, folks are fully aware of this.

Tonight, in Raleigh, NC, the NC State Wolfpack won a surprisingly competitive game with Tennessee Tech by an 82-69 count according to a tweet from WolfpackWire.

C.J. Leslie lead the Wolfpack with 21 points, and his teammate Scott Wood added 11 points to help NC State prevail.

Zac Swansey scored 13 points for the losing Golden Eagles.

The Wolfpack only lead 37-34 at halftime, and the Golden Eagles were winning the game early in the first half.

The Wolfpack's chief rival UNC (ranked #8) beat Lipscomb 80-66 in Chapel Hill tonight as well.

Wake Forest Advances in NCAA Tournament

It has not been a particularly good year for North Carolina schools in men's college basketball, with the exceptions of Duke and Wake Forest. None of the other NCAA Division One schools in the Triad, which includes The University of North Carolina-Greensboro, North Carolina A & T, Elon University and High Point University won their respective conference tournaments.

But, one team did.

And, last night, The Wake Forest Demon Deacons of Winston-Salem, NC, beat the University of Texas in New Orleans by an 81-80 score in overtime.

Wake Forest player Ishmael Smith scored the winning jumper. He described his emotions to the school's sports information office:

"I knew I wasn't going to get all the way to the lane," Smith said. "I knew I had to pull up, and thank God I made the shot."

The Demon Deacs next face top-seeded Kentucky on Saturday.

UPDATE: Alas, the game was a blow-out as the Wildcats won 90-60, but at least Ashley Judd is happy!