New Direction

From the Vault: Timberland edges Manning

Posted: Saturday, October 25, 2003 12:00 am

Published in The (Sumter, S.C.) Item

I remember having to follow someone from a grocery store to the high school because I was lost. Also, I had to drive about an hour back to the Manning bureau and file the story in about 20-30 minutes. I think this was the game where I had the exact halftime statistics as the statistician for Manning High School. Ah, the joys of covering high school football.

 

Wolves edge Manning 25-21

By BEN LEDBETTER

Item Sports Writer

ST. STEPHEN -- Manning High School's football team started out strong Friday against Timberland Friday at the Timberland field, but it wasn't enough.

The Wolves used three fourth-quarter touchdowns to defeat the Monarchs 25-21 and win the Region VIII-3A title for the second consecutive year.

The loss also ends Manning's 5-game winning streak as the Monarchs drop to 5-4 overall and 3-1 in the region. Timberland remains undefeated at 8-0 and 3-0.

Manning actually led 21-7 at halftime, but not sustaining drives and being flagged for eight penalties for a loss of 70 yards doomed the Monarchs, according to head coach Robbie Briggs.

"We had three separate times where we were getting eight, nine, 10 yards on first downs and we would hold them," Briggs said. "Three drives in a row that really hurt us. We just can't overcome those things. Penalties killed us. We really outplayed these guys tonight, and penalties and special teams killed us."

Manning scored two touchdowns in the first quarter, one on a Larki Parks 35-yard run at the 9:40 mark and the other from Josh Miller three minutes later with a 29-yard run to put the Monarchs up 14-0.

Following a Miller score in the second period, the Wolves got on the board when Patrick Speights went in from four yards out at the 6:53 mark.

Speights finished the night wth one touchdown and 119 rushing yards on 17 carries. Parks, who also ran for 54 yards and a touchdown, had four catches for 74 yards. Miller finished the night with two touchdowns and 74 rushing yards on 18 carries.

That drive started after Ryan Moultrie scored the last of Timberland's three fourth-quarter TDs with 1:21 left when he ran in from five yards out.

"I'm proud of our guys," Briggs said. "They've overcome a lot of adversity, and we'll go back to the drawing board."

Another thing that doomed the Monarchs were mistakes such as dropped passes, Briggs said.

"We dropped some key passes down here on a vertical route that would have been a first down," Briggs said. "We just didn't take over when he had to. We had missed opportunities. You have to give those guys (Timberland) a lot of credit."

Different offensive formations did help the Monarchs in the early part of the game, Briggs said.

"I think we showed them some different formations early they weren't expecting. We had them off guard," Briggs said. "Like I said, we had three drives in a row, if I'm not mistaken, where we're getting seven, eight, nine yards, first downs and we're getting a 10- or 15-yard penalty. You just can't do that and win."

Verizon to drop its unlimited data plans

According to a story from Time today, Verizon Wireless will be dropping its unlimited data plans in favor of usage-based plans like those instituted by AT&T.

The story states that on July 7, new customers will be under the new usage-based plans. These plans reportedly include one for 2GB for $30 a month.

I'm disappointed, but not surprised. When I recently upgraded my phone, I thought about choosing a carrier based on the availability of unlimited plans. Now that another company seems to be on the bandwagon, I'm glad I picked what I did. Doesn't look like my choice would have made that big of a difference anyway.

Also, there are companies in other countries that are already using unlimited data plans. Check out Vodafone's mobile internet plans for consumers in the United Kingdom.

 

 

From the Vault: State Championship advance

High school football is big in a lot of places and one of those is the state of South Carolina. I remember this game came down to one play at the end and Gaffney was able to head back to the Upstate with the title. Sidney Rice who is quoted in the story went on to play football with the University of South Carolina and professionally with the Minnesota Vikings. This story was published in The (Sumter, SC) Item.  

Indians saw quick change with Strickland

By BEN LEDBETTER

Item Sports Writer

Posted: Tuesday, December 2, 2003 12:00 am

COLUMBIA – With new head coach Phil Strickland, the Gaffney High School football team was at least guaranteed a fresh face leading a squad that finished 2-10 last year, including a 37-27 loss to Summerville in the first round of the 4A Division I state playoffs.

Strickland brought more than a new face, however.

This year was vastly different as the Indians sport a 13-1 record, with the only defeat a 42-14 loss to defending Division II state champion Byrnes. Gaffney is now ready to face Sumter for the Division I state title Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium beginning at 2 p.m after beating Summerville 19-16 in overtime last Friday.

For senior wide receiver/defensive back Sidney Rice and linebacker Antwan Sarratt a change was evident as soon as Strickland had control of the team.

“I noticed as soon as the coach came in, he cared about the players right off the bat,” Rice said Monday at a press conference at the South Carolina High School League offices. “He wanted everybody to get together and talk to him about whatever questions we had to ask him.”

“He was more concerned about school than just football,” Sarratt said. “That really caught my attention. He could take us somewhere. By listening to him, we finally made it. Our dream came true of being in the state championship as a senior.”

The Indians did have to work hard to make the title game as they scored two second-half touchdowns to send the game into overtime. They vanquished the previously undefeated and nationally-ranked Green Wave in overtime when Rice caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Antonio Gaffney.

Rice, who is listed as 6-4 and 185 pounds, used his height advantage to make the catch.

“I was just glad coach gave me the opportunity to catch the ball,” Rice said. “The quarterback put it right there. I’m used to getting jump balls. It was almost perfect. I just went up and got it.”

Rice, who leads the team with 73 catches for 1,316 yards and 13 touchdowns to go along with one rushing touchdown, is used to getting jump balls since he has played with Gaffney’s boys basketball team, the state’s defending 4A champion.

“It feels good to be a part of two teams that made it down here the same year,” Rice said. “I always wanted to (do it). I didn’t know it was going to happen.”

Rice’s receiving numbers nicely complement the rest of Gaffney’s offense, which also has a strong running game in senior running back A.J. Littlejohn.

Gaffney has completed 153 of 262 passes for a team-high 2,459 yards and 23 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He also has four rushing touchdowns. Littlejohn has a team-high 24 touchdowns and 1,484 rushing yards on 240 carries.

As a team, the Indians have 2,556 rushing yards on 464 attempts and 2,600 passing yards, completing 167 of 285 passes against 10 interceptions.

Gaffney will face a Sumter team that’s just as balanced offensively as the Gamecocks have 3,254 rushing yards and 2,547 passing yards.

Early performance of So. Central Rain

 

New Orleans has its own Wolfpack

According to this column by Peter Finney in The Times-Picayune, Loyola University New Orleans was using the Wolfpack name in the 1920's for its athletic teams. In 1946, North Carolina State University started using it for its teams and now wants the exclusive rights to the name. The Raleigh school registered the Wolfpack name with the federal government in 1983, the same year it defeated the University of Houston in the NCAA basketball championship.

Southern Louisiana is in SEC Country and N.C. State, which competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is not likely to play against the NAIA school in the Crescent City.

If Clemson, Louisiana State, and Auburn can all share the Tigers name, I see no reason why two schools of different sizes can't share one.

And, yes, this is from someone who grew up watching ACC basketball and pulling for the N.C. State Wolfpack.

Haith: Climbing mountains

 Frank Haith recently accepted the head coaching position of the University of Missouri. I remember when he was an assistant at UNC-Wilmington and worked at the basketball camp I attended in seventh grade. I really don't remember much from that camp session except that I really wanted to learn more about basketball.

I knew nothing about Haith except his ties to North Carolina and his stints as an assistant at Wake Forest and head coach at Miami.

The Kansasa City Star's Kent Babb writes about how Haith met and seemed to overcome several challenges as he started out in coaching. There's even a part about where he once lived in a dorm room and mopped floors so he could stay close to the game.

I always feel more inspired when I read about people that have met challenges in life and continue to work hard to achieve their goals.

From the Vault: Spencer racetrack's fate to be determined

This was one of the first stories I did for The (Lexington, N.C.) Dispatch. When this story ran, the newspaper was still publishing on an afternoon production cycle.

Fate of proposed Spencer racetrack still to be decided

BY BEN LEDBETTER
The Dispatch

Published: Friday, August 3, 2007 at 10:29 a.m. 
Last Modified: Friday, August 3, 2007 at 12:00 a.m.

 SPENCER | The fate of a proposed raceway slated for this Rowan County town will wait another week after Thursday's meeting of the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

 After a public hearing that went nearly five hours, the board decided to schedule deliberations for 6 p.m. Thursday with another meeting scheduled for that Friday, if needed.

The first phase of High Rock Properties LLC's project - primarily the two-mile racetrack and 114 condominiums - is included in the company's request for a conditional-use permit. The developers also were asking for a pair of variances from town buffer and setback requirements.

However, if High Rock is allowed to build on the property, it might have some work ahead.

High Rock Chief Executive Officer David Risdon said part of the land is contaminated with benzene, arsenic and mercury. Risdon said the elements are not on the property for the actual racetrack, but his company would clean it up.

Although he agreed to clean up the contaminated land, Ann Brownlee, founder and president of the Trading Ford Historic District Preservation Association, said she does not think a racetrack and the historical area could coexist.

"The current plans would irrevocably destroy the site," she said.

Brownlee said the racetrack site was where a one-day battle occurred in April 1865 during the Civil War.

Risdon said Thursday the short battle occurred near but not on the property and that he had confirmed that with the state.

Out of the six people who spoke for and the two who spoke against the racetrack during the public comment portion of the meeting, one was a real estate attorney and one owned land on the site.

Salisbury real estate attorney Randy Reamer spoke in support of the High Rock project and said he represented a group of businessmen who owned property near the site.

"Our belief is the project will increase the value of the land," he said. "Any activity would result in an increase in value."

Two speakers in support of the project were from the Sports Car Club of America and the National Auto Sport Association.

Charlotte resident Dick McOllister with the SCCA said, if approved, the High Rock course would be the first road course in the state.

Salisbury resident Rodney Whedbey, who has driven in SCCA races, said he owns 2.9 acres of commercial land at the site.

"One thing as property owners, we would be negatively impacted" if the project is denied, he said.

The two opposition speakers were a resident here and a representative of Norfolk Southern Railroad.

Frances Driscoll, who lives in Spencer, said the area where the proposed development would go is historically significant while Scott Myers with Norfolk Southern talked about the impact on the railroad, which runs near the proposed racetrack and parking spaces.

 

 

State of North Carolina clearing backlog of tax refunds

It looks like the state of North Carolina is giving back tax refunds from previous years after some work by the News & Observer in Raleigh. According to this article in the (Greensboro) News & Record, the overpayments go back as far as the mid-1990's. So does this mean, I will be getting a little extra back with my refund this year? I mean it probably wouldn't be that much, but you know, it would be welcome.

Documents provide Sunshine

This is the end of Sunshine Week, which is a reminder for citizens to watch and participate in government. To aid that, The Lens and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana have provided short guides about redistricting, public records, open meetings, and technology issues in accessing public records. This is all good stuff to have on file.     

NFL Players Renounce Union Status To Block Lockout | AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

After almost three weeks of negotiations with NFL team owners and the assistance of a federal mediator failed to result in a fair, new collective bargaining agreement, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) this afternoon renounced its status as a union in order to block a lockout by the owners. The NFL left the players no choice.

via blog.aflcio.org

Sure, players in the National Football League make tons of money during their playing days, however, this impacts more people. As the article states, people like stadium employees, police officers, and even bartenders at sports bars count on the games for extra money. This makes me think how bad this would hurt newspaper circulation. Sure, there have been lockouts, but those were during the time when the paper was one of the few sources for news. Now, people can get news in a variety of places. Coverage of NFL games are a major part of the report in many Monday sports sections. Take that away and that is one less reason to pick up a newspaper or read its website.