COLUMN
A look back, and a look ahead
January 4, 2010
By Tommy Kopetskie, NorthRaleighSports.com
Don't get me wrong, the holidays are great.
I can't get enough of egg nog, Christmas cookies — especially those peanut butter ones topped with the Hershey Kiss — and the Dominick the Donkey Christmas Song.
(No joke, it's better than anything on Taylor Swift's holiday CD. I know, I've listened to both.)
And visiting the grandparents and swapping stories with your cousins you hardly like is what the season is meant to be about.
But it's time to get back to what we do around here: play sports.
Good, competitive, pride-on-the-line athletics.
Sure, there were a few holiday tournaments which offered some relief like the GlaxoSmithKline and Chatlee Shootout basketball invitationals — as well as this past weekend's Knightdale wrestling duals — but those are non-conference contests with little or nothing at stake.
The thinking goes, If you win, cool. If you lose, those games weren't that important in the first place.
(And those commemorative tourney plaques will be forgotten and covered in dust in a bookshelf within the next month.)
But to be honest, I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the holiday tournaments. I like nontraditional match-ups where the Millbrook boys basketball team battles some squad from Georgia and area wrestlers scuffle with the best from Virginia.
But frankly, I'm a little sick in the head when it comes to prep sports.
However, those match-ups lack the electricity of the Cap-7 Conference clash.
Need an example?
I watched Leesville Road battle South Granville in the second round of the Chatlee Shootout at Lee County High School's "old gymnasium," which was built about five days after concrete was invented. (It's a joke, concrete was first made in 1756.)
While the poor lighting, 22-foot tall ceilings and dustballs the size of, well, real basketballs, created an intimate feel, I watched the game with about 17 other people — 15 of which were immediate family members of the players on the court.
It's not an illusion, that's the ceiling at Lee County High's "old gym" just a few feet above Grayson Hawkins' head. It gave the Pride's contest against South Granville a "Hoosiers-like" feel.
It was good basketball — the Pride's Quinton Marshall was ridiculous, posting 16 points and grabbing 15 boards — but I'm anxious for this week's schedule to commence.
There is plenty to get excited about as the Leesville Road basketball team — both boys and girls — visits Sanderson Tuesday, and continue on the road to Millbrook Friday.
The Wolverines also visit Enloe Friday, which is an intriguing match-up as the boys teams are two of the league's best — though the Eagles are the understood frontrunner.
Plus, we have two great wrestling match-ups Wednesday, Jan. 6, as Millbrook hosts Sanderson and Wakefield travels to Leesville Road. (Both are 7 p.m. starts.)
As the conference enters the meat of its schedule, there is plenty to watch, enjoy and certainly cheer.
Honestly, you don't have to be a relative to look forward to this.
Five things I think you might want to know
Wakefield forward Keith Armstrong (with ball) faces a tough task battling Enloe's Melvin Tabb — a Wake Forest recruit — Friday night. And it will be a match-up many people will be watching.
1. Armstrong/Tabb = Frazier/Ali
I have been thoroughly impressed with Wakefield's Keith Armstrong's development into a stellar post presence — he's turned into an automatic double-double guy — and Friday's meeting with Enloe will be a true test for the Wolverine. Wake Forest-recruit Melvin Tabb has been a big name for three years now, and he offers Armstrong his biggest test of the year. While he can disappear at times, the Eagle center is still a force. Can Armstrong match him? If the Wolverines want to be contenders and not pretenders, Friday is the night to prove it.
2. Wrestling near the mat
For four hours I hung around at the Knightdale Duals Saturday shooting video and taking photos, and I missed the best action of the day.
Parents from Orange High (Hillsborough area) and Matoaca High (Chesterfield, Va.) got into a tussle, and I didn't see it. Not a thing. What a bummer.
Who says holiday tournaments lack intensity? Wait, I just did like one minute ago.
3. McInnes notches milestone
I mentioned this elsewhere last week, but it deserves another note. Millbrook boys basketball coach Scott McInnes secured his 300th career victory at the GSK tournament this past week, which is quite an accomplishment when you concern most seasons have only 26-30 games.
4. Defensive lockdown
In last week's 75-22 victory over Greensboro Smith, the Wakefield girls basketball team allowed just two points in the second quarter and three points in the fourth. It's one thing to blow out a team "NBA All-Star Game-style," winning in a highscoring shootout. But it's another to just dominate in all phases, and that's what the Lady Wolverines did.
Wakefield has a huge challenge facing 10-3 Enloe at the end of this week because the conference title appears to be on the line.
5. Out of our coverage area, but worth a note
The Green Hope girls basketball team might not have a great traditional, but it's apparently starting one. Behind super-stud Kristen Gaffney and her 26 points per game, the Lady Falcons are 13-0, including victories over Wakefield, Millbrook, Sanderson and Leesville Road (twice).
Heck, Green Hope also defeated Enloe this season. A few more games against Cap-7 opponents, and they might deserve the league title.
Fantasy football tip of the week
I know the season is over, but I have one more thing to say. My team stumbled down the stretch like an inebriated frat boy after a kegger, dropping me from second place to fourth and out of the money contention. Did I say money, I meant something besides money.
And what's my conclusion, fantasy football stinks. It's like my players didn't know what was on the line for me. Inconsiderate jerks.
Quote of the week
"Matt (James) was just a beast out there tonight. He is just all over the place, creating deflections and he is just so strong, when he gets the ball inside, there is just no taking it away from him. He is hard to stop when he gets the ball at the block."
— Sanderson head basketball coach Mike Shaw discussing James' 20-points, 11-rebound effort against East Chapel Hill Dec. 29.
Random thought
If Travis Pastrana — the X-gamer with a death-wish — had died New Year's Eve while jumping his rally car off a pier in Long Beach, Calif., what would your reaction have been? Seriously? Cause it would have been a pretty big downer, to say the least. And continuing to party five minutes after watching someone die might seem a little insensitive, no?
Must-see movie
I might be one of the last people besides my parents to see The Hangover, but if you haven't, it's completely and totally worth it. Just how good was it? I watched it several times and I'm contemplating not sending it back to Netflix.
When Alan (Zach Galifianakis) runs into the room — sans pants — screaming "There's a jungle cat in the bathroom," I almost cry laughing.
E-mail your thoughts to tommy@northraleighsports.com.
