Salute to NCAA College Sports (3 of 3)

Here are the six student athletes pictured in this entry: 1) Mysha Sataraka, softball, UCLA; 2) Grant Mullins, men's basketball, Columbia; 3) Chanen Roygoza, women's gymnastics, Penn State; 4) Matt Grzelcyk, men's hockey, Boston University; 5) Kiah Gillespie, women's basketball, Maryland; and 5) Mark Lowrie, baseball, Winthrop.....

Democratic Forum Tweet (3 of 3): That's a Wrap

With images of Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley (pict. top), MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow (pict. center) and They Might Be Giants (we are using them to fill space, and it looks a suitable image for a finale). TMBG is actually on tour right now in Australia.

O'Malley is running against Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Dick Cheney (that's a joke) for the Democratic party's 2016 presidential nominee.

Tonight's debate took place at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, where my late grandfather Dudley "Doc" Sturgis once taught economics. We also noticed the sharp irony that the last GOP debate took place at Colorado University in Boulder, Colo., a progressive college town, and the current Democratic debate is taking place in a zip code which has probably voted for every Republican candidate since Chester Arthur.

Here are the tweets:

1) Secular Talk: Bernie Sanders runs circles around the other candidates when it comes to both substance and confident messaging.

2) Catholic Democrats: Bernie Sanders has become a lot sharper when discussing racial disparities and ways to address racial inequality.

3) Pat Bagley (liberal political cartoonist for The Salt Lake Tribune): Bernie Sanders isn't proposing anything more radical than what Eisenhower implemented in the '50s.

4) Suzy Khimm (liberal journalist with "The New Republic"): Free points for media-bashing wooooooo.....

5) E.J. Dionne, center-left columnist for the Washington Post: Smart move by Bernie Sanders to criticize 'stupid' Republican attacks on each other and to say Democrats don't want to campaign like that.

6) Andrea Mitchell (NBC News reporter): Rachel Maddow to Bernie Sanders: What is the misconception about you? He says people think I'm grumpy.

7) Anna Douglas (Rock Hill Herald): Maddow asking the gun Q. Had to know this was coming.

8) Jessica Valenti (The Guardian, UK): I really do enjoy watching Bernie.

9) Zaid Jilani (progressive Muslim activist): Bernie is doing well in this Dem Forum. He's coming off as very loose; I think better than the debate."

http://www.theymightbegiants.com/

http://yorkdems.com/

http://scdp.org/

http://www.msnbc.com/

http://www.heraldonline.com/

http://www.winthrop.edu

Democratic Forum Debate Tweets from Winthrop U (1 of 3): Live from Rock Hill, SC, it's Saturday Night Live........

Welcome to those of you in Greece where perhaps tourists heading to Turkey, my late father's country, have decided to stay put following the re-election of ultra right wing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, perhaps they will join Syrian refugees who have decided not to head north to Serbia!

Tonight's Democratic Party Forum at Winthrop U in Rock Hill, SC, is perhaps just over now, but we got some tweets from the debate including one from Bakari Sellers, a former Democratic state legislature from Denmark, SC, who was at the debate himself (he is a contributor to CNN; yet he slams the media in his tweet).

Our images are of Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton (top), a bald eagle (center, since Winthrop's mascot is an eagle), and Dale Earnhardt Jr., since the band Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. (now Jr. Jr.) was playing gig at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, where everyone not watching the debate in the nation's capital were probably gathered.

Here are the tweets:

1) Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC, newspaper, earlier in the day): "Rand Paul talks about Keystone XL while stumping in Spartanburg." (the GOP candidate Paul later went to Rock Hill).

2) Overheard in Newsroom (not about the debate, but we thought it was amusing): "Those pesky interns with their creative impulses and their hope."

3) Shane Goldmacher (Politico): "So Marco Rubio is asking for Scott Walker's endorsement."

4) Ken Rudin: "Ben Carson, accused of making things up and not being truly informed, announces he would appoint Judge Reinhold to the Supreme Court." (This is a joke, Judge Reinhold was a teen movie actor in the '80s).

5) Jack Miller (Clinton campaign): "Hillary Clinton supporters loud and proud! Turnout is amazing!"

6) Martin O'Malley: Hillary Clinton wants to go after Jeb Bush for making excuses on guns. But, she did the same thing in 2008."

7) Washington Post: "Amid national coverage about race, Yale acknowledges failing its minorities."

8) Shannon Greene ("Rock Hill Herald" reporter): Meet Hillary "fangirl," Madison Kimrey, the first in line for the debate.

9) Bakari Sellers: Mainstream Media....there is one reason your Bernie is making a comeback like in '08 is really off, Bernie is not Barack Obama. You're welcome.

http://www.930.com

Image to Fill Space- Woman in White Bikini

It's come to our attention that the only three people reading this blog are a Winthrop  Univeristy college student in Rock Hill, SC, a Turkish taxi driver in Baltimore (orginally from Eskisehir, if you're Turkish you might get the joke) and a house wife in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Hopefully, this blog entry which might remind one of Acapulco, Mexico, might change all that.

We expect this particular entry will be popular in Latvia, Pakistan and Dubai!

College Nicknames- Birds and Cats

Here we go again (we have done this for three years in a row, I think):

Smart Schools

1.Vanderbilt Commodores (Tenn., SEC)
2. Duke Blue Devils (NC, ACC-pictured)#
3. Northwestern Wildcats (Ill, Big 10)
4. Yale Bulldogs (Conn.; Ivy League) *^
5. Lehigh Mountain Hawks (Pa., Patriot League)

Felines

6. Davidson Wildcats (NC, Southern Con)#
7. Auburn Tigers (Ala.; SEC) *
8. College of Charleston Cougars (SC, Southern Con.)

9. Columbia Lions (NY; Ivy League)
10. Pitt Panthers (Pa; Big East- pictured) #*
11. Southern U Jaguars (La; SWAC)#

Angry Birds

12. Temple Owls (Pa, A-10, pictured)#*
13. Southeast Missouri Red Hawks (Mo; Ohio Valley)@
14. Winthrop Eagles (SC, Big South)

15. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (SC, Big South)
16. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (Ms, USA)
17. Monmouth Hawks (NJ. Northeast)


#-Schools which are in NCAA field of 68 schools

*- Schools with College Gymnastics programs

^-Schools with Hockey programs

@-Schools that were members of the now defunct Metro Conference

College Schools Nicknames- More Angry Birds

On our other blog, in honor of March Madness (for those of you in Latvia and Peru this is the time of year when American college basketball teams try to win both their conference and national tournament), we are dedicating an entry to teams with fowl nicknames since we are more or less addicted to the video game/computer app Angry Birds. as are 2.4 billion people around the world.

Not all of these teams are going to the NCAA tournament, which will have pairings announced on Sunday, but both the Kansas Jayhawks and the Temple Owls (pictured here) are going to be in the tournament. In fact, Kansas may get a number one seed.

The other school pictured here is the Southern Utah Thunderbirds which have a fairly competitive women's gymnastics program.

Here are the teams; there are three schools from Ohio on the list:

1. Elon Phoenix, Big South, Elon, NC.

2. Hartford Hawks, American East, Hartford, Conn.

3. Jacksonville State Gamecocks, Ohio Valley, Jacksonville, Ala.

4. Kansas Jayhwaks. Big 12. Lawrence, Kan.

5. Kent State Golden Flashes, Mid-America Conference, Kent, Ohio.

6. Loyola (Ca.) Lions. West Coast Conference. Los Angeles, Calif.

7. Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. Mid-America Conference. Oxford, Ohio.

8. Oral Roberts Golden Eagles. Summit League. Tulsa, Okl.

9. Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Summit League. Cedar City, Utah.

10. Temple Owls. Atlantic-10. Philadelphia, Pa.

11. Winthrop Eagles. Big South. Rock Hill, SC.

12. Youngstown State Penguins, Horizon, Youngstown, Ohio.

Bonus Road Trips (10 of 10) Provo to Raleigh...beware of the traffic

We wish to warn not only incomers from Provo, Utah, but also anyone coming into Raleigh, NC, via I-40 or I-85, that this seemingly small city is quite overgrown and congested! So, I will wager that at least one angry Pittsburgh Penguins fan missed a game against the Carolina Hurricanes as I'm sure at least one angry college gymnastics missed an North Carolina State Wolfpack meet (hmm...we aren't naming names).

On Saturday, the visiting Brigham Young Cougars start their season at North Carolina State, and it is quite a trek. Assuredly, the visiting women's gymnastics team from Provo, Utah, will be flying in for the meet. But, today, we look at how long that journey would take if one came to Raleigh from Provo in a Hyundai Accent.

For our points of destination, we are going with the famous restaurant, The Pit Authentic Barbecue, which was featured on the reality/cooking show "Ludo Bites America," with the ever-passionate five-star French chef Ludo Lefebrve, on the Sundance Channel. It is still showing in reruns.

As for Provo, Utah, where those of us who voted for Barack Obama may feel like Chomskyite hippies wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and Birkenstocks, (for those of you in Gyumri, Armenia, Provo, Utah, is considered the most conservative city in the land) we are selecting the Sensous Sandwich Shop on West Center Street.

Despite solid performances from Wolfpack gymnasts Diahanna Ham, Lane Jarred and Brooke Barr, the team fell to the third-ranked Florida Gators 196.025-194.675, who probably were fortunate enough not to deal with I-40.

So, just how far is Provo from Raleigh, assuming traffic is not backed up to Greensboro on I-40 (45 miles west of Raleigh); is the answer?

A) 31 hours even

B) 32 hours even

C) 33 hours even

D) 34 hours even

SIDEBAR: We want to take a moment to congratulate Radford University Highlanders' freshman R.J. Price for being named Big South Freshman of the Week in men's basketball. My alma has been on hard times as of late as the team lost its 13th basketball game in a row on Thursday night in Rock Hill, SC, to Winthrop University by a score of 70-54. But, in spite of the team loss, Price scored 19 points in the game. The Highlanders next face arch rival Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., on Thursday night.

Congrats to Winthrop

Alas, my alma mater Radford Univresity (Radford, Va) fell to the Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC) tonight by a 61-46 margin at the Big South Tournament held at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC.

Winthrop is the alma mater of my mom and my cousin Mike.

But, I still wanted RU to win!

I want to also congratulate RU on another good year on the court. We will certainly star center Art Parakhouski from Belarus, but I hope the senior gets selected high in the NBA draft.

UPDATE (SATURDAY): Amazingly enough, Winthrop won the Big South Tournament todya by upsetting the host Coastal Carolina.........!

RU Faces Winthrop This PM

There is a big game today my alma mater Radford University (Radford, Va.) and my cousin Mike's alma mater Winthrop University (Rock Hill, SC). The two teams will face off in Radford at 4 p.m. in a regionally televised game on MASN.

The RU Highlanders have won their last two home games thanks to Art Parakhouski (pictured here). They defeated Presbyterian University 75-58 earlier in the week, which included a 10-point effort from one of my favorite players Gorkem Sonmez (my dad came from Sonmez's native Turkey) and last Saturday the Highlanders defeated the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks in a game that was a part of Bracket-Busters weekend.

In the the UNCW game, Parakhouski scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. He has 23double-doubles, which leads the NCAA. Laz Trifunoic scored 19, and Blake Smith added 15 for the Highlanders in their 76-68 win over the Seahawks.

Winthrop has lost two of their last three games, including a 77-57 setback in Richmond, Ky., in their own Bracket Busters game with Eastern Kentucky. Matt Morgan scored 18 points for the Eagles in a losing cause.

In their home win over UNC-Asheville, Cahrles Corbin scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for the Eagles in a 68-65 overtime victory on Senior Night.

The Eagles also lost to High Point on the road this week, so today's game is crucial for both teams as they head into the Big South Tournament which starts on March 2.

Locally, the UNC-Greensboro Spartans prepare for their final home game before The Southern Conference Tourney when they face Georgia Southern on Monday night.

The Spartans lost to Davidson this week, but a week ago they were able to beat The Citadel on the road in Charleston, SC, by a 59-53 score thanks to 19 points from Ben Stywall and 18 points from Mikko Koivisto.

Parakhouski was recently named Big South Player of the Week for a fourth time this season.


UPDATE: We won the game 54-52, and Parakhouski got yet another double-double!

UPDATE TWO: Radford is actually replaying Winthrop today (Thurs., March 4th) in Conway, SC, on the campus of Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. The game is scheduled for broadcast on ESPN-U. We will try to have the results posted on this blog.

Big South College B-ball Games this Weekend

If it seems like I am posting a lot of entries about my alma mater Radford University in Radford, Va., it is because the school is celbrating its 100th anniversary this year. And, the Radford Highlanders's men's basketball team is getting a lot of media attention for a small school as they continue to post wins in Big South Conference play.

On Sat., the Highlanders travel to Charleston, SC, to face Charleston Southern University for a 7 p.m. game.

My cousin Mike happens to an alum of Big South rival Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. The Eagles are also in action this weekend.

Here is a list of games, some of which might be televised in their given region:

UNC-Asheville @ Liberty- 7 p.m.

Gardner-Webb@ VMI- 7 p.m.

Wintrop @ Presbyterian- 7 p.m.

Other games in our area outside the Big South and ACC include:

UNC-Greensboro @ App. St.- 3 p.m.

Howard @ North Carolina A & T- 4 p.m.

VCU @ Georgia St.- 6 p.m.

LaSalle @ Richmond- 4 p.m.

George Mason @ JMU- 2 p.m.

Elon @ W. Carolina- 7 p.m.

Duke Beats Radford University in Men's Basketball

Since we partial to Rowdy Red, the retired mascot of Radford University, my alma mater in Radford, Va., we thought we'd go with this image.

Alas, my Highlanders lost to Duke University in men's basketball by a 104-67 margin in Durham, NC, on Saturday afternoon.

But, we are hoping that RU will bounce back and my pounce Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, on Dec. 3, especially since that is my cousin Michael's alma mater!

Coming this Weekend- Blogathon II

Yes, I will trying to play catch up again as we will attempt to post seven new entries both here and on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire."

I want to take a moment to congratulate the Radford University's men's basketball team for beating Winthrop University from Rock Hill, SC- which is my cousin Mike's alma mater.

Go highlanders!