The Power of Words

A close friend wrote me a thoughtful note that had an apology for not giving me a going away gift. If I had a choice between any material item in the world or that note, I'm keeping the words.

For the first time in 21 years, I won't have a paycheck. Yet, I feel like I've won the lottery - a Powerball of kindness by your words. My severance package was an avalanche of great words from athletes, coaches and the viewers who were kind enough to watch and listen to me over the past fifteen years.

One of the benefits of getting older is having more awareness of the significant moments in your life. One year ago, I thought I accomplished a major goal. I wrote and published a book on David Bennett's Cats and Dogs viral video and how it effected the end of his tenure at Coastal Carolina. I asked Coach Bennett to write a motivational message at the end of each chapter. My words were simply a table setter for the inspiration of a great man. I rarely feel good about the work that I do, but when I finished that project, I did.

Days before our launch, we were threatened with a lawsuit. Sue me? Go ahead, take my beat up Dodge Stratus (purchased solely on a Will Ferrell SNL sketch). But an incredible gesture by a friend to help me with a project now had him in the crossfire and unnecessary publicity.
I thought of my friends and the instilled spirit that everyone at my alma mater, St. Bonaventure, were given as a gift by attending there. Would they choose personal gain over hurting a friend? That's why "Be A Dawg!" is tucked away in a storage unit. Coach Bennett was doing the same thing that I ultimately did - helping a friend and not thinking of himself. Only my inner-circle knew about what was going on, but reading your words today made me expand that circle.

This event started the end of my tenure at WPDE-TV. Local television is too often filled with gimmicks and catchphrases. My respect and admiration for my co-workers and management and all the viewers is genuine. There's a reason why the the core of NewsChannel 15 has been around for a long time, a rarity in television.

It was at Saint Bonaventure that I had another defining moment. On a tennis court off a busy highway in Buffalo, New York, I was playing a singles match for the Bonnies at Buffalo State. I lost the first set and was losing 3-0. On the court by yourself, it is so easy to get consumed with what went wrong (the past) and get overwhelmed by what needs to get done (the future). For some unexplained reason, rather than panic and quickly go away like I had done so many times in my Bonnies tennis career, I felt calm. Something clicked to pick up my racket and figure out a way to get that ball over the net. I came back to win the match in three sets and it might as well have been Wimbledon. My greatest athletic moment is buried on the agate page of the Buffalo News circa 1991.

That gets back to your words. Never understimate the power of a note of kindness. We all need to do it more often. A couple of days ago, I was terrified about walking into the great unknown and jeopardizing my incredible wife and two amazing kids. Thanks to your words, I'm calm. It's love-three. I don't have that 100 mile per hour kick serve anymore, but I just have to get the ball over the net. I got 'em right where I want 'em.

The best high school football highlight of 2013

Socastee has won 19 straight regular season games with Renfrow leading the Socastee offense. The Braves have lived in the shadow of rivals Myrtle Beach and Conway for decades, but with Hunter they are at the top of the mountain when it comes to Grand Strand football thanks to four straight wins over the Seahawks and Tigers. He runs the option like a doctor doing surgery on a defense. It's a combination of elusiveness and speed that makes him He's a nightmare for opposing coaches, but you'll find every one of them heaping praise on the reigning WPDE Zoneman winner. I can go into our archives right now and come up with a top ten list of Hunter Renfrow highlights, but I found the best highlight in our WPDE Studio last Friday night.

The Braves had just beaten archrival Myrtle Beach 37-21 and earned a trip to our studio as the SONIC Game of the Week. First year head coach Doug Illing handed Hunter an HTC Game Ball for his 249 yards combined passing and rushing and three TD's in the win. Here's a high school senior, on live television surrounded by his teammates, coaches and cheerleaders. He could have taken a moment to bask in the glow, but instead took the spotlight and shined it somewhere else.

 MUST WATCH: Hunter Renfrow gives HTC Game Ball to Robbie Bennett

You won't find a more thankless job than running balls to officials and hustling out water to players. It's easy to think that it's not all that important in the grand scheme of things. But Hunter Renfrow gets it. Robbie Bennett IS Socastee athletics. He works a tireless job in the background and is an important part of the Braves community. The guy who is in the shadows more than anyone else, was thrusted into the spotlight by the star of the team. An assistant coach leaned into me on the way out of the studio and said, "He came up with that all on his own", referring to his impromptu Game Ball audible.

Hunter Renfrow is the "Johnny Football" of the Grand Strand. He's got the Zoneman, Johnny Manziel has the Heisman. The way Manziel handled his off the field life post-Heisman is a cautionary tale of how one handles the spotlight and great success. Hunter Renfrow is handling his Zoneman success just fine.

The big schools haven't come knocking on Renfrow's door. He could run the triple option at Georgia Tech or he could be a slot receiver and dangerous return man at Clemson, the school he wants to attend. The FBS schools may get caught up in the numbers game when it comes to height and weight and miss out. That would be great news for a number of FCS programs that have already made offers. College coaches are well aware that it takes so much more than pure physical ability to succeed in college football. Looks can be deceiving. High school kids aren't supposed to be giving an adult life lessons. That's exactly what happened on Friday night when Hunter Renfrow reminded me that selfless is so much better than selfish. Thanks, Zoneman.

The Courage of Robin Roberts

I'm not a big ESPY's guy. If it weren't for the Gamecocks Jadeveon Clowney up for Play of the Year (which he won), I would have been buried in our archives watching 2012 high school football highlights getting ready for our Zone Media Day next week. While waiting to watch the Outback Bowl hit for 1,000th time, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award was presented to Robin Roberts. It's been well documented that the Good Morning America anchor has overcome breast cancer and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and has become an inspiration for the bone marrow transplant cause. Millions of viewers have been rooting for Roberts as she has been very public in sharing her struggles and triumphs over something so scary. Everyone has learned firsthand what an inspiration Robin Roberts is and why she was the perfect choice for the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. It just happens to be that Roberts inspired me many years ago when she was in perfect health.
Even in the minor leagues of sportscasting, if you've been doing it long enough, you'll have interactions with athletes and colleagues in the national spotlight. During my time in Bangor, I told the story of a small town girl who captured the fascination of a state by staying home and starring for the University of Maine women's basketball team. Cindy Blodgett led the nation in scoring and became a first round WNBA Draft pick. Her head coach was Joanne Palombo-McCallie, who is now one of the biggest names in college basketball as the head coach at Duke. I was nearly complete with my first documentary telling the story of the Maine basketball legend. The last piece of the puzzle was to go to Cleveland and show the hometown hero playing in the pros.
Robin Roberts was calling the Cleveland Rockers game for ESPN on the night I arrived. Two hours before tipoff, I approached her to see if I could ask her a few questions about Blodgett. I had arranged to talk to Cindy after the game, but nothing else was set up. It would have been so easy for Roberts to give me the brush off. After all, she's got a national broadcast to prepare for, and Cindy Blodgett was not a household name beyond the Maine border. Roberts not only agreed to talk with me, but she showed why she's one of the best in the business. It took me about 20 seconds to realize that she did her homework and then some. She broke down Blodgett like she had been covering her for as long as I had. She talked about the adjustment from small college basketball to the WNBA and the challenges she would face. I was hoping for a good sound bite or two and she gave me enough to do an entire separate feature for a future sportscast. As if that wasn't enough, she called over her color analyst. UConn women's basketball coach Geno Aueriemma, with Robin setting the table, sat down and gave me another great interview. It was like Robin Roberts put herself in my shoes and saw a small town sportscaster in the big arena and was thinking of how she could make my story better. Take my word - not everyone in television has that kind of selflessness and kindness.
I've been very lucky to have strong influences in my career. I was able to soak knowledge and wisdom on a daily basis from ESPN's Steve Levy and WNBC's Bruce Beck. It was only twenty minutes, but the time I spent with Robin Roberts had a lasting impression on me as well. It inspired me to try and give a helping hand to any young broadcaster who has reached out to me for advice or help no matter how busy the day gets.
I don't know if our paths will ever cross again, so just in case I can't personally say thank you, the next best thing is to share Robin Roberts Courage Award speech from the ESPY's. Sometimes, one brief interaction can have a lasting impact. I've already had that impact from Robin Roberts and if you watch this video you can have that same feeling.
Click HERE to watch Robin Roberts ESPYs speech

Rich's Blog: Golson on the big stage

The last time I saw Everett Golson, he had played the worst game of his entire football career. Shielded from the media, Golson came out of the Notre Dame locker room and stopped to talk with me. He had thrown two interceptions and got the quick hook in the second quarter from Brian Kelly in Notre Dame's 13-6 win over Michigan.
He had every reason to be down in the dumps and could have just kept on walking by. But that's not Everett Golson. He stopped and gave all the right answers and a quiet confidence that he's going to keep getting better. When the camera was off, I spoke with Golson for a couple of more minutes. I know him well enough that he could have took a moment to vent about not playing well or shake his head in disgust. There was none of that. He wasn't discouraged at all and was anxious to have a full two weeks to prepare for his next opponent. He enjoyed hearing about Myrtle Beach High's win over Conway the night before and more than anything happy to see a familiar face. Trust me, if it were up to him, he'd shy away from all the attention that he's getting in the press, but he knows that it comes with the territory.
Golson played eight games since that Michigan game and he did get better. He thrived in tough environments like Oklahoma and Southern California and might not have had flashy numbers, but he had the best stat of all - 12 wins and a spot in the BCS National Championship game.
I've witnessed more than one moment like after the Michigan game in the six years that I've covered Everett Golson that shows the intangibles which has put him on the biggest stage in college football in Miami. It has been fun to watch the country see the well rounded side of Golson who uses music as a creative outlet and has handled the bright spotlight of being a quarterback at one of the biggest brands in all of sports in stride.
When he threw for 47 touchdowns and just three picks in his junior season at Myrtle Beach, he told Mark Haggard that he was hoping to have no interceptions in his senior year. More than anything else, Everett Golson is a highly motivated individual. It doesn't matter what happens in the title game, one thing's for sure - Golson will be right to work in the offseason figuring out how he can be even better. Before leaving for Miami, he said that if the Irish wins it all in his redshirt freshman season, he'll get greedy and want to get another championship. That's how he is wired. Usually, that kind of mindset goes hand in hand with a huge ego, but not with Golson. He won WPDE's Zoneman Trophy in 2008 and 2009 and was the overwhelming favorite to win it all in his senior season. He suffered an injury against Byrnes early in the season and missed the majority of the regular season. With Zoneman ballots collected after week 11, it would be awkward to vote on a player who played about 10 quarters. Golson withdrew his name from consideration and asked for coaches to vote for one of his teammates for the award. At the Zone Banquet, I asked Golson to present the Trophy to the winner. This was my attempt of throwing him into the fire. Knowing that he would have been perfectly fine to have the spotlight off of him, I wanted to give him this task with the hopes that it would prepare him for what was to come in his college career. Standing on a stage in a room of 200 in a televised event is a daunting task for anyone, yet alone a high school senior. Talking off the top of his head, Golson spoke about what the award meant to him and how honored he was to be part of the legacy of the trophy and then announced that current University of South Carolina running back Shon Carson was the winner. Talking to Kirk Herbstreit and the rest of the national media is a whole lot bigger than the WPDE Zone Banquet, but I left that night knowing that Golson was going to be just fine in dealing with all the attention of being quarterback at Notre Dame.
I read a great article in USA Today about how young Golson will react on a big stage. The focal point of the article was the 2010 Class 3A championship that saw Myrtle Beach beat South Pointe in Everett's final high school game. I was on the sidelines and saw first hand the adversity Golson faced. Jadeveon Clowney, of South Carolina and future #1 NFL pick fame, threw #5 like a rag doll on the very first play of the game. Myrtle Beach had a blocked punt for a safety and it looked like the Seahawks were overmatched (sounds a lot like the Notre Dame/Alabama talk). Trailing 23-14 at the end of three quarters, Golson threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter in a 27-23 title victory. He didn't have the best game of his career, but he figured out a way to win when it mattered the most.
There's going to be about 25 million sets of eyeballs watching Everett Golson try and handle the toughest challenge of his career. He's the starting quarterback at Notre Dame and now a household name in all of America. If he plays great, that will be magnified even more. But that isn't going to change who he is at his core. He has the talent and resume to have a massive ego, but instead is the polar opposite. When a superstar comes home for Christmas and says his favorite gift was a candy cane from his Grandma, that's the definition of humble.
I have no idea what is going to happen between the Fighting Irish and the Crimson Tide. There will be a lot of people with butterflies as they hope that Golson can deliver in the biggest game of his life. Golson is human - he'll have those butterflies, but he'll settle into the flow of the game and do what he does on the big stage.
Today is Everett Golson Day in Myrtle Beach, as proclaimed by Mayor John Rhodes. It doesn't matter what happens later tonight on the field. The Grand Strand already knows that Everett Golson is a winner.

My encounter with Marcus Lattimore

I was supposed to be at Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Thanks to a power outage at Darlington High School, the top ranked Hartsville Red Foxes were on the ropes and played the second half on Saturday against the Falcons. I'm glad I wasn't in Columbia. I got to watch a thrilling come from behind victory for Hartsville and didn't get to see up close the horrific injury to Marcus Lattimore.

In 1985 I remember watching Monday Night Football and rooting like heck for the Giants defense to get after Joe Theismann. When Lawrence Taylor did just that, I'll never forget him popping up and waving frantically for the trainers to get to the field. Theismann's leg was broken and the video replays made everyone cringe. For the first time in my life, sports was put in its proper perspective. I remember feeling so bad for a guy that I was begging to throw an interception just a few minutes earlier.

When the chilling image of Marcus Lattimore's knee out of its socket was shown throughout the day on Saturday, it brought back memories of Theismann's broken leg and Willis McGahee's dislocated knee in the 2002 national championship game. I was expecting all of the talk to be about how Lattimore's loss was going to effect the Gamecocks prospects for the rest of 2012 and how the certain first round NFL draft pick may lose millions due to his injury. But instead, people across the country talked about the character and humbleness of Lattimore and the genuine remorse that such a great football player and even better person has been dealt an unfair fate.

Kirk Herbstreit @KirkHerbstreit

"One if most devastating hits I've ever seen.. So sad...Great player and better person!! Thoughts and prayers for 21..."

David Pollack @davidpollack47

"I never heard Marcus Lattimore talk about himself over the last 3 years. Unselfish & as humble as a kid as I have been around."

When it comes to Marcus Lattimore the football player, television doesn't do him justice. From the sideliens, you can really see him absorb contact and show the rare combination of power and speed. His ability to get those extra yards and fight for every inch do not look sexy in the boxscore. I marvel more at his ability to gain six yards when he should have been stopped behind the line than the long touchdown runs. But like Herbstreit and Pollock said, Lattimore's character off the field surpass his elite status on the gridiron. I witnessed it firsthand
In December of 2009, Marcus Lattimore was the top recruit in America and with his season over, the recruiting madness was reaching its peak level. I was the emcee of the South Carolina Mr. Football ceremony at Myrtle Beach High's Auditorium. As part of a statewide television special, I sat down with Marcus after he won Mr. Football on the stage. For ten minutes, I spoke with him about the recruiting process, the end of his high school career and what it felt like to be not only the best player in the state, but one of the best high school football players in all of America. I was blown away by his maturity and his selfnessness. I got in my car to hustle back to the television station thinking that whatever college was fortunate enough to get him was going to benefit so much more than simple on the field production.

When I got back to the station, I popped in the tape anxious to see what small excerpt I would run on the news that night and tease the sitdown interview that would air on Sunday across the state. But there was a big problem: the tape was clogged and the interview was not there. The panic attack set in. The North South/Mr. Football special that was about to be showcased across the entire state was now missing Mr. Football. I was able to get Byrnes head coach Chris Miller's phone number and hoped that someway, somehow I could try and find Marcus and get something to remedy this technological snafu. I get a phone call to tell me to head to a hotel in Myrtle Beach and Marcus would meet me in the lobby.

In the middle of a busy lobby, Lattimore emerged from the elevator and greeted me. I went into full apology mode and mixed in the embarassment of the tape not working along with the hope that the eight minute interview we did 45 minutes earlier was going to happen again. Here's a kid who's getting text messages and voice mails around the clock from coaches, recruiting websites and every other kind of media. He had a look on this face that said "What are you worrying about?". He looked me right in the eye and with a small grin on his face said "Don't worry about it. I bet you this interview will be even better".

He sat right down and answered every question again like a pro. I've been fortunate enough to see elite athletes in many different sports. Seeing the way Marcus Lattimore conducted himself was one of those goose bump moments when you realize that you just interacted with someone special.

He's got a long road to go in recovery and it's not just Gamecock Nation that will be behind him as he goes through a lengthy rehabilitation. He has every right to be mad at the world and take a "why me?" attitiude especially after his 2011 season was cut short by a knee injury. But that's not Marcus Lattimore. As I watched Willis McGahee get in the end zone on Sunday night football in the NFL 10 years after his terrible injury, my guess that Marcus Lattimore is going to get that small grin back on his face and his character will grow even stronger.

I haven't had a one on one encounter with Marcus since that night in 2009 and he wouldn't be able to pick me out of a lineup. But if our paths ever cross again, I'd like to say to him just one thing.

Don't worry about it. I bet the next comeback will be even better.

Remembering Ronald Rouse

I thought I didn't know the name Ronald Rouse. When it comes to TV, it seems as if the air time is all for the quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers. You'll see a few defensive plays here and there, but for the guys in the trenches it's all hard work and no glory - no press clippings in the paper and no highlights on the Zone. Defensive lineman Ronald Rouse collapsed during Hartsville's game against Crestwood and when I first saw it on Twitter, my stomach sank to the bottom of my feet. Our news department deals with tragedy on a regular basis and I consider myself fortunate that it doesn't cross over to local sports nearly as much.

Hags and I have been covering high school sports for the better part of 15 years around here and we mean it when we say we have a true connection to the communities we cover. When I think of Hartsville, my memories flood back to so many happy times: when I nearly fell out of my chair when Jordan Lyles was drafted 38th overall by the Houston Astros in the MLB Draft, standing on the floor in Columbia when the Foxes won a state basketball title and making the trip to Chapin to see an 8th grader hit one of the longest home runs I've seen in a state championship softball game. Sadly, the night Ronald Rouse died is now in my Hartsville memory bank.

Ryan Naquin is a news reporter at WPDE, but a huge help on the Friday night football show. He asked me if he could start going to one game and giving extended highlights and post-game reaction. We were excited and joked about how he would bring a little Sal Palontonio ESPN flare to the show. We had a skull session on Thursday with talking points about Hartsville's unbelievable run game and how a win over Crestwood would put them in the driver's seat for a region crown. The last thing Ryan wanted to do was turn his sports hat in for a news hat.

Doing the Friday night show was not fun and it usually is (even if it gets a little stressful). Talking at the beginning of the show and reporting on a tragedy gave me an unpleasant feeling. What hurt the most is that there was nothing I could do to take away the pain that so many people were feeling. WATCH VIDEO: Beginning of October 5th Chevy End Zone 

Friday night's are a blur. I get the same feeling that the players and coaches when they are out on the field. It's the one night where we can reach and out and literally be a part of each community in the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand. We cringe at any little mistake we make in a show, just like players beat themselves up for a fumble or a miscue. To sum it up simply, we want to get it right.

So how do I get Ronald Rouse right? How can I give him a proper tribute? When I heard he had two sacks this season, I was desperate to find a clip of him. I started scouring through our archives hoping that I could find big #74 making a play. For the entire night, I was thinking of Ronald as a defensive lineman. When the show ended, Hags told me that he might have gotten a game ball. And he was right. Last year, we gave the entire Hartsville offensive line an HTC Game Ball and sure enough, the center on the 2011 Red Foxes was Ronald Rouse.

Then I stumbled onto one of the early games of the 2011 season. Due to a tropical storm wiping out most of the Friday night football schedule, there were only a small handful of games that still played. I got to make a long road trip to Hartsville to see the Red Foxes host Lamar. I get excited when I can venture a little further away from the nest. Hags and I make it a habit to shoot video of linemen who catch our eye. We just isolate on some big earth movers and throw them at the end of our highlights, never to see the air.  Ronald Rouse caught my eye. He was so much bigger than everyone on either side of the line. My camera pointed on his big cleats and I panned up NFL Films style. Rouse bounced up and down getting ready to go back in the trenches.

Over the next few days, television stations and newspapers will be showing images of an ambulance leaving Kelleytown Stadium with Ronald Rouse. I hope that people can click on the link below and see the Ronald Rouse I got to see - the unsung hero who got a game ball and the mountain of a young man with so much bounce in his step getting ready to play the game he loved. It seems I knew who Ronald Rouse was after all.

Ronald Rouse Video 

Rich's Blog: Tanner's move to AD

For 13 years, I've been doing Gamecocks highlights and stories from 2 hours and 15 minutes away in Conway. I'm not on the inside, and my "sources" are much like every USC fan as we hear what's going on from our media partners in the Midlands. Ray Tanner probably couldn't pick me in a lineup, but I've seen enough to know that the Gamecocks made the right choice for its next athletic director.
The athletic director is almost like a CEO of a University's sports brand. The CEO part is thanks to the huge revenue pool that is part of the modern day big conference sports. An athletic director needs to raise money, organize an entire department and be able to relate to the coaches in every sport.
Tanner's tremendous track record on the diamond translates to every sport the Gamecocks play. Any coach in any sport can marvel at what the skipper has done in his sixteen years guiding USC (14 NCAA appearances, 10 Super Regional appearances and 6 CWS trips highlighted by back to back national titles). It certainly will be tough for Tanner to walk away from the dugout, but he built the South Carolina program into one of college baseball's truly elite. With Carolina Stadium and one of the most loyal fan bases in all of the NCAA, he's leaving at the very top of the game.
Every year, without fail, Coach Tanner would make an annual trip to the Florence Country Club for a dinner with Gamecock fans just before the start of the season. My guess is that he'll still make that trip with new baseball coach Chad Holbrook. You could tell that Tanner was loyal to relationships and the Pee Dee should know that most of all.
Dr. Eddie Floyd, a prominent USC booster, helped play a role in having the Gamecocks come to Florence to help Francis Marion open its new baseball stadium. This was an absolutely nothing to gain proposition from a USC baseball standpoint. A midweek road trip against a Division II team was not good for the RPI no matter what the result was. Tanner knew it would be a special night for the Patriots and he showed great class in giving FMU a true showcase to open its new stadium.
It was supposed to be a Gamecocks rout, but the Patriots pulled off a shocker beating the two time Division I national champs 5-4. This was one of those true upset moments in Palmetto state sports (think Chaminade beating Virginia). I was expecting a little anger and some serious frustration from Tanner. After all, a Wednesday loss to a Division II school is not a good precursor for a weekend trip to Mississippi. What I saw instead was a leader who showed his true colors when things weren't going his way.
He did nothing but praise Francis Marion for delivering on a big stage. It was the Patriots moment, one that they'll talk about for generations and he didn't take away from that. At the same time, he was calm when talking to reporters despite suffering a midweek Division II loss.
"We'll respond. Our guys are resilient," Tanner said after the game. "We play in a league where we don't win all the time. Our guys understand that Francis Marion is good and we respect them, We knew that it was extremely possible that we could get beat here tonight if we didn't play as good as we needed to, but we'll bounce back."
They sure did bounce back. The Gamecocks closed out the season 15-5 and got back to Omaha for a third straight year. You'll hear from every corner of the state that Ray Tanner is a class act. I witnessed it first hand when things weren't rosy. You could sense that what he said to the media was the same message he gave to the team and any Gamecock fan who might have wanted to push the panic button. I came away from that game thinking that is the mindset of a champion.
Bunting the runner over and getting the right matchup out of the bullpen will not translate to Ray Tanner's new job, but leadership does. Ray Tanner will bring that single greatest attribute to his new job and lead the Gamecock Nation in a different but still very important way.

Rich's Blog: Why CCU is thinking of making a move

There's a game of musical chairs going on in college athletics as the landscape of Division I sports continues to push towards the super-conference as schools begin to scurry to find their spot on the NCAA food chain. It all got started when the Big XII nearly became a dinosaur when Nebraska bolted for the Big Ten and Colorado made its way to the now Pac 12. Texas and Oklahoma were nearly courted to head out west, but ultimately stayed. The Big XII still had to go into survival mode as it snatched up West Virginia and TCU while it lost Texas A&M and Missouri to the SEC.

This game has continued to every level of Division I athletic conference and its now working its way to the Colonial Athletic Association. The CAA had 12 members who played Division I sports and a combination of those members and other schools to form a 12 team football conference that was one of the deepest and most powerful leagues in FCS football. Like the Big 12, the CAA could put be into a position where it needs to quickly finds members to stay in existence.

That's where Coastal Carolina comes into play. CoastalFans.com posted the following item on its Twitter feed:

"In an early morning meeting, the Athletics Committee of the Board of Trustees approved a motion to give President David DeCenzo the authority to "take all action" necessary to facilitate Coastal's departure from the Big South & joining a new conference. This motion will be considered by the entire Board of Trustees in their session tomorrow (Friday 5/4), and if passed will be the first step toward finding a new conference home for the Chanticleers."

This is a proactive and logical move by the brass at CCU. What this maneuver does is put Coastal Carolina in a position to be able to find a chair when the musical chairs game heats up in the coming weeks. This time around it isn't the BCS super conferences that are in the game, but the mid-major schools who are deciding between jumping to the bottom of 1-A football to FCS schools that are looking to align with the best conference possible. Coastal has seen the first ripple effects and are wisely getting its ducks in a row.

The puzzle pieces are scattered all over the landscape in many different forms. The Colonial has now lost two schools that are going up from FCS to FBS football (UMass to the MAC in football only and Georgia State to the Sun Belt in all sports). Rhode Island is going in the other direction from the powerful FCS conference to a lower profile league in the Northeast Conference. Now comes news that Old Dominion is on the verge of following suit and joining Conference USA. Hofstra and Northeastern got out of the FCS football game prior to this making a potential five CAA football members leaving the league. Villanova fits into the mold of a school that could jump up to FBS football and could join its other sports in the Big East. If CAA commissioner Tom Yeager doesn't have enough stress on his plate, there's the other side of the coin. The CAA all-sports members lost Georgia State and could now see VCU and George Mason bolt for the Atlantic 10. The A-10 just scored mid-major basketball darling Butler and lost Charlotte to Conference-USA and VCU and GMU would make a powerful basketball league.

That's where Coastal Carolina comes in. As conferences continue to raid each others memberships, the CAA is at a crossroads. Every current CAA member who has not officially made the move to another league has to be lining up a "Plan B" - If the pieces continue to fall into place, the MAC, NEC and Patriot Leagues will all be ready to take on new members. The Colonial could be no more unless it begins to fill in the missing slots and Coastal Carolina is a fit that can help both of the CAA's problems. With Coastal a full fledged Colonial member, it can help the football and all sports problem.

Virginian Pilot Column: ODU's decision could topple a line of dominos 

The Colonial situation will eventually play its way down to the Big South. Like Coastal Carolina, Stony Brook and Liberty are two potential institutions that can move up the food chain. Liberty is talking about moving to FBS football while Stony Brook has the attraction of the #1 media market and like Coastal a good solution for the Colonial. Stony Brook would fill the Northeast void left by Rhode Island and be a good travel partner with CAA all sports school Hofstra. Coastal would have its all sports rivalry with UNC-Wilmington. The Colonial recently signed a TV deal with NBC Sports cable outfit and is officially in survival mode.

The Southern Conference seems to be stable at the moment with the only threat being Appalachian State jumping to FBS football. Whether the SoCon tries to add members as all of this plays out remains to be seen. It's early in the game, but Coastal Carolina is ready to put itself in the conversation. If the Chanticleers do not take a proactive mindset, they could see Liberty and Stony Brook leave the Big South and watch the league lose its automatic bid in FCS football and see the RPI's in baseball and basketball plummet to even lower levels.

The puzzle pieces are still jumbled and nowhere near close to being totally put together, but the Chanticleers piece is about to be officially put on the side of the table and ready to get slotted in.

Rich's Blog: Can the Gamecocks get right?

Thanks to an open week for Coastal, I was able to get my first look in person at the 2011 Gamecocks. I can certainly understand the frustration of being a USC fan right now. After all, you have two potential top 5 NFL picks on the offensive side of the ball (Alshon Jeffery and Marcus Lattimore) and yet the offense is in the midst of a horrific two game slump. Here are some of my thoughts from Saturday's upset loss to Auburn:

The end of the game
I was shooting the last play of the game and saw Bruce Ellington go down to put the Gamecocks in field goal range. I was expecting to see Stephen Garcia scurry to the line and try and snap the ball to the ground and set up a game tying field goal attempt. Instead, what I saw was Auburn celebrating. When you look back at the TV feed, it's clear to me that the clock should have been stopped with two seconds left. The SEC stood by the officials call, but I don't know why you can't go up to the replay booth and get it right. It would have been a 46 yard field goal attempt - by no means a guarantee, but USC at the very least should have had the chance to force overtime.

The eyeball test
It's always different to see players up close as opposed to on television. It is stating the obvious, but the two guys that jumped out to me on defense were Melvin Ingram and Antonio Allen. I think both of these players have the credentials to be considered for All-American honors. Allen just does it all - he made so many great run stopping plays and just seems to be in the right place to make big plays.

Stephen Garcia
I almost want to take the challenge of being Garcia's defense attorney, but it's tough to defend his past two performances. He had just nine completions against Auburn. Of those nine, I think he only threw four good balls (his 35 yard pass to Bruce Ellington to set up the go ahead Marcus Lattimore TD was the best of the bunch). Take that throw, along with his 13 yard pass to Ellington deep in his own territory and the last two passes on the final drive and that's all you have. The Alshon Jeffery TD pass was just an amazing play by an elite receiver. When it comes to interceptions, sometimes you can place blame on other things other than the QB, but in this case, both picks were on Garcia. The INT's came on a 2nd and 2 and a 1st and 10 and were both overthrown balls. Garcia did not talk to the media after the game. His grandfather had passed away late in the week and requested to not have media responsibilities on Thursday.

Spurrier promised changes after the game to the offense. Does that mean benching Garcia? Perhaps it would be beneficial to take out some old film of Garcia beating Alabama or winning at the Swamp and figure out a way to get his confidence back. He's proven that he can win in the SEC. While Gamecock fans are ready to pull the plug on Garcia, I wonder if he shouldn't get one more chance to get back on track against Kentucky before ushering in Connor Shaw.

Field Position
One thing that hurt the Gamecocks offense in a big way was field position. Six of USC's 15 possessions started inside the 12 yard line (you can throw out one of those thanks to the Melvin Ingram interception at the end of the half). The other big field position stat comes from CC Whitlock's interception that was fumbled away. If Whitlock had fell on the ball instead of going for some extra yards, the Gamecocks would have had the ball in Auburn territory with a 13-9 lead late in the third quarter. Instead, Auburn got the ball back, ran off nine more plays and 41 more yards before Whitlock redeemed himself with a tremendous pick in the corner of the end zone. Perhaps, a little bit better field position could have gotten the ground game going with Lattimore and one more score would have likely given USC a victory.

Getting Right
I was standing on the sidelines at Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia. Earlier in the week, David Bennett shared another one of his unique phrases that was part coach-speak and part Southern charm. When looking at the film of Mark Richt's Bulldogs, he told me that Georgia was going to "get right" and have a great year. Unfortunately, for Bennett, Georgia started to get right at the expense of his Chanticleers. With Georgia already up 21-0 in the first quarter, I glanced up at the Sanford Stadium scoreboard to see that Auburn had a 21-7 lead over Clemson in Death Valley.

Like many, I was ready to write Clemson off. If you could take an instant poll at that moment, the majority of Tiger faithful would have written off the season and had cardboard boxes at Dabo Swinney's office ready to send him off forever. But Clemson got right just in time. The Tigers went on to beat the defending national champs and then backed it up with wins against Florida State and Virginia Tech. Three weeks earlier, they barely got by FCS Wofford and looked like they were on the road to medicority. Now, Clemson is a legitimate top 10 team and the favorite to go to the Orange Bowl.

Which brings us back to the Gamecocks. There's plenty of time for USC to "get right". Steve Spurrier reminded the media after the Auburn loss that USC lost to Auburn and Kentucky last year and still found its way to Atlanta and the SEC championship game. This team is 4-1 and can still get to the Georgia Dome.

The internet seems to be the place where players and coaches can be instantly condemned. I can remember a lot of Tahj Boyd bashing in the summer months, but that's certainly not the case anymore. Today, you can find plenty of anti-Spurrier and anti-Garcia sentiments. I assume that both Spurrier and Garcia are not investing any energy in the negativity and working on getting right.

Rich's Blog: Thigpen's perfect storm

Coastal Carolina's football locker room has the look of an NFL locker room. Normally, there's the chaos of a hundred athletes occupying the space. During the summer months, everything is quiet. There's no dirty towels, no athletic tape stuck to the floor. Last week, we hosted our high school media day there. I entered the room and took in the serenity. I had never really been in there without any hustle and bustle. I thought I was alone. After spending a good minute unloading my camera gear, I saw someone in the far left corner sitting in a locker stall with a towel draped over his head. It was Tyler Thigpen.

The NFL might have been locked out, but Thigpen was not. You would think that the NFL quarterback working out at his alma mater would have fanfare, an entourage or a "look at me" attitude, but Thigpen blended into the background in the empty locker room. His humbleness, work ethic and quiet leadership are why he's respected by teammates and revered at Coastal for being the first "legend" in the program's history.

Playing quarterback in the NFL is getting thrown into the fire. There are endless scenarios that play out in a quarterback's mind during one play and he has seconds to pull the trigger and live with the decision. Throughout his NFL career, Thigpen has been thrown into intense situations with little time to prepare. On Monday night, it happened again. When the NFL lockout ended on Monday, four months of off season activity were about to be condensed into four days. Before the lockout, Thigpen was ready to return to Miami as a restricted free agent, but thanks to the new labor deal he was on the open market.

The dominoes were going to fall quickly on Tuesday when free agency began. Joel Turner, Tyler's agent, got the phone calls right away. Six teams in all: Miami, Tennessee, Washington, Arizona, Minnesota and Buffalo. It became a two horse race. The Vikings and the Bills. Minnesota drafted him in 2007 and tried to sneak him on the practice squad before the Kansas City Chiefs snapped him up. It was said that head coach Brad Childress was furious that Thigpen slipped through the cracks. Buffalo's head coach, Chan Gailey, was the man who retooled the Kansas City Chiefs offense to fit Thigpen's ability to work out of the spread and become the NFL's leading rusher for quarterbacks in 2008.

Minnesota has Christian Ponder, a rookie from Florida State who may or may not be ready to step in on week one. The Bills have Ryan Fitzpatrick who is the starter for sure in 2011, but has just one year remaining on his current contract. The first phone call Chan Gailey made when the NFL was back open for business was to Tyler Thigpen. And now, in his Myrtle Beach home, Tyler Thigpen was in the pocket. Not the pocket he was used to, but the pocket that was his career. In a normal off-season, Thigpen might have had a little time to mull things over and make a move. But, the free agency quarterback merry go round was in full effect and he had to pull the trigger. On late Monday night, Thigpen made his decision. He became a Buffalo Bill. Quarterbacks survive on instinct. It was instinct that ultimately led Tyler Thigpen to Western New York.

Gailey has brought the Kansas City offense to Buffalo. Learning an NFL offense is like speaking another language. Thig will know the terminology and get up to speed quickly. He'll be reunited with the person who made him a fantasy football dream in 2008.

Thigpen hasn't had the breaks go his way in his NFL career. He played much better than his 1-10 record as a starter in Kansas City (six losses by seven points or less). He had just two days to prepare for a Thursday night start against the Bears last year in Miami. He's gotten endorsements from two of the biggest names in the game (Tony Gonzalez and Brandon Marshall), yet is branded as a "wild stallion" or someone who can't be a starter in the NFL.

But the new labor contract opened the door for something that is rare for a non-superstar in the NFL: leverage. In a free agent market where Matt Hasselbeck was the top QB name, Thigpen was a commodity. It gave Tyler two things - a choice of where he wants to play and a handsome pay raise.

The terms of the deal have not been announced, but he's gone from the $500,000 per year range to probably six times that amount. If you woke up tomorrow and you found out you had gotten a 600 percent pay raise, what would you do? I think some type of celebration would be in order. What did Tyler Thigpen do? His contract was done just before 11pm on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Thigpen was zipping balls in the Adkins Fieldhouse weight room to former CCU wide recevier Marquel Wilis and he was back in that same empty locker room. He's ready to blend in the background at Buffalo.

Twin Killings lead to Twin Titles for Gamecocks

"Defense Wins Championships"

It's the cheesy cliché that usually applies to football. You don't hear it tossed around when you talk about a baseball champion, but when it comes to the 2011 national champion South Carolina Gamecocks, it truly was defense that won them a second straight title.

I marveled at this team's ability to deliver a clutch double play when it needed to and then went to the boxscores to confirm how remarkable it was to see how many double plays the Gamecocks converted in the post-season. As a matter of fact, the Gamecocks had at least one double play in every single one of their post-season wins, 18 in all:

Gamecocks Double Plays in the Post-Season

Georgia Southern 2
Stetson I 1
Stetson II 1
UConn I 2
UConn II 3
Texas A&M 1
Virginia I 2
Virginia II 4
Florida I 1
Florida II 1

It would be awfully tough to rank the key defensive plays in this championship run. The John Taylor induced 1-2-3 DP's and the double plays in the extra inning Virginia game is a good start. But Scott Wingo's 4-2-3 DP against Florida in game one has to take the top prize. 18 double plays in ten games is a pretty stellar stat and then when you factor in the pressure of post-season play, it shows why this team is holding the national championship trophy.

Ray Tanner knew exactly what kind of team he had. He talked on more than one occasion that he didn't have the kind of club that could roll out and put up a crooked number. The Gamecocks had 11 players drafted in the MLB Draft, but when it comes to the high draft picks, just two.

Top 10 Round MLB Draftees in CWS by School

1. Vanderbilt - 9

2. Virginia - 5

3. Texas - 4

4. Florida - 3

4. California - 3

5. North Carolina - 2

5. Texas A&M - 2

5. South Carolina - 2 *Jackie Bradley in Rd 1A, Matt Price in Rd 6*

With two local products on the roster making key contributions in Colby Holmes and John Taylor, local Gamecock fans should get even more attached to this club with the possibility of Shon Carson and Tanner English roaming in the outfield. Carson has said he's definitely a Gamecock, English makes his decision sometime soon.

Ray Tanner's legacy is cemented as one of the all-time Gamecock greats in athletics. Beyond the obvious of winning back to back championships which is rarified air and the shuffling of over 40 different lineup combinations during national championship number two, there are two stories that will stick with me that tell the real story about Ray Tanner.

Two of Tanner's former assistants who are now head coaches, Monte Lee from the College of Charleston and Stuart Lake at Charleston Southern, both received a package in the mail last December. It was Gamecock championship rings and a handwritten note from Tanner thanking them for helping to build USC into a champion.

Then there's the Gamecocks annual trip to the Omaha Children's Hospital when they make it to the College World Series. The furthest thing from a ploy to get good publicity, Tanner and his USC team met a boy named Charlie Peters in 2003. The youngster fought through and beat cancer as a five year old. Now 11 years old and healthy, Peters has been the Gamecocks batboy in Omaha for the past two years.

And just like the Gamecocks double play combination sparked a national title, Ray Tanner brings a double play combination of his own: an elite manager in between the lines and an even better person off the field.

Rich's blog: The Gamecock Dad who quit his job for the CWS

Here's an example of public relations nightmare 101. It all started with a simple tweet:

@MRoth29: How's this for dedication? My dad had to quit his job to make it out to Omaha. #novacationdays

Michael Roth's father works at a car dealership in the Upstate. His son came out of nowhere in 2010 and went from reliever to College World Series hero, helping the Gamecocks win its first baseball national title. David Roth couldn't be there in Omaha and wasn't about to miss his son pitch there in 2011. With no more vacation time, Roth amicably resigned from his job and saw his son pitch on Father's Day in the Gamecocks 5-4 win over Texas A&M. The story went from a sidebar to national attention.

Yahoo.com: Father quits his job to see son pitch for the Gamecocks

It didn't take long before the name of the dealership surfaced. I'm sure Steve White VW/Audi of Greenville got more than its fair share of phone calls and emails about the situation and had to release a statement on its web page, citing that "The decision to terminate employment with our organization was entirely David Roth's.

Steve White statement regarding Roth

David Roth has turned down interviews with every outlet both in the state as well as ESPN who is covering the College World Series. There's no question that the car dealership is being painted as the "bad guy" in this even though both sides are saying that the split was amicable.

The trip to Omaha and the College World Series is a long one and an expensive one. If the Gamecocks go the distance like they did last year they will have been there for 13 days. That's a whole bunch of vacation time and when you factor in the fact that David Roth used a lot of vacation time to see his son pitch during the regular season, you can see the dilemma on both sides.

But for the car dealer, it's an absolute PR nightmare. Gamecock nation is loyal and strong and will soon not forget this story. As for David Roth, at 57 years old he has made a risky move to say the least in this current economy, but I'm sure there will be plenty of car dealers who would jump at the opportunity for the great PR by hiring David Roth. My guess is he won't be without a job for long.

Once again, we've learned about the passion of sports in the Palmetto State. College baseball is a niche at best around the country, but in South Carolina it makes the slow summer months awfully exciting. I keep hearing how special the overall experience is at Omaha and the College World Series is. David Roth would agree and paid quite a price to be a part of it.

Rich's Blog: Meet the John McKissick of HS Hoops and how to take SC high school sports to the next level

South Carolina is the home of the most accomplished high school football coach in Summerville's John McKissick who has accomplished numbers that are absolutely mind boggling. The dean of high school basketball comes from Jersey City, NJ. People in the Carolinas know the name Hurley. Bobby Hurley, Junior was one of the great Duke point guards of all time. His father, Bobby Hurley, Sr. is the legendary coach at St. Anthony's in Jersey City. The Friars finished a perfect 33-0 season by winning the New Jersey Tournament of Champions and for the 4th time in the Hurley era will finish #1 in the USA Today Top 25. Here are some numbers which make this feat even more impressive:

What is St. Anthony's home record: 0-0
St. Anthony's does not have a gym. Every single game is a road game.

What is Bob Hurley's salary: $9,500
That's his stipend this year. He has turned down numerous college offers, but elects to stay at St. Anthony's.

Beyond the sports story is the fact that this school in a pretty rough neigborhood survives because of its basketball prowess. 60 Minutes profiled Hurley and the school following the Elite 8. There's always a fear of promoting "another network", but this is worth watching:



Adrian Wojnarowski, who's on the NBA beat for Yahoo Sports today, followed St. Anthony's during the 2003-2004 season in the Miracle at St. Anthony's. It's a great read that shows the balance of the old school coach and his mission of making lives better for young people.

The Miracle of St. Anthony's book excerpt

St. Antony's won New Jersey's Tournament of Champions. What New Jersey does, which I think is brilliant, is take every state champion and have them play each other to determine one school that is the best in the state.

Imagine, if you will, if South Carolina let the state champions play each other in a tournament format. This wouldn't work for football as the season would go too long and I don't think you would want to see Byrnes play Scott's Branch in a first round Tournament of Champions game.

I'm thinking of this because of an article I saw in GoUpstate.com about the SCHSL expanding the football playoffs yet again:

GoUpstate: Class 2A to split into two divisions

So now, if this passes this summer, you are going to have seven state champions in high school football. Only Class 3A will have one state champion. If I was in charge of the SCHSL, here's what I would do:

First, I would lose the Divsion I and Division II monikers. I would rename the classes to Class 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and 6A. Doesn't it sound better to say that you won a Class 5A state title instead of a Class 4A Division II title???

The next thing I would do is institute the Tournament of Champions format in every sport except football. 5A and 6A get first round byes with 4A playing 1A in one round, and 3A playing 4A in the other matchup. If you want to expand to seven divisions like football, fine: Let's invite the SCISA champion and have eight state champs playing for the overall title.

Think of the excitement it would bring. You have the Hoosiers element where the little 1A school that won a state title tries to pull off the improbable. Would Raymond Felton's Latta teams had the moxy to win a T of C? How much fun would it have been to see if Khadijah Sessions and Myrtle Beach were good enough to be the overall state champ. If Saint James wins the 3A baseball title this spring, how much excitement would there be if they went all the way and claimed a true state champ.

There's enough support and passion among all sports is South Carolina to make this a no-brainer. The Tournament of Champions format would take high school sports in this state to another level.

Rich's Blog: The best cinderella story of March

While the brackets played themselves out and Cinderellas like Richmond and VCU emerged in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, there was another bracket going on that provided a truly inspirational story.
At the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, Anthony Robles of Arizona State won the individual national title at 125 pounds. Robles was born without a right leg. Watch the video from our ABC affiliate in Phoenix: it might be my favorite entrance into the ring.



Robles will not pursue the Olympics and instead become a motivational speaker:

USA Today: Anthony Robles retires

March Madness is great. The first four days of the tournament are among the most enjoyable days for a sports fan. Now that I've been covering sports for nearly 20 years (old guy alert!), I can say that going to "The Dance" is at the top of the list of things I haven't experienced in my TV career. Three times I came close with Coastal, but I have not yet been to the Tourney.

Things I'd like to cover

1. NCAA Tournament - what will come first, CCU in the Dance or my alma mater Saint Bonaventure? I was supposed to go to Cleveland in 2000 when the Bonnies lost in 2OT to Kentucky, but it was my first Darlington race weekend.

2. The Masters - I've been trying for 11 years to get credentials to Augusta and I'm hopeful that I'm getting closer to accomplishing that. Dustin Johnson...help!

3. Olympics - It's tough to cover the Olympics if you are not an NBC affiliate. Perhaps I can talk the bosses into a trip to London to cover Amber Campbell

Things I've covered
========================
1. Super Bowl - went to Houston for the Panthers loss to New England and had a one on one interview with Adam Vinatieri after kicking the game winning field goal (a real thrill). I also attended Super Bowl XXI (The Giants first Super Bowl win against Denver) as a fan (thanks Dad)

2. World Series - I was covering the Red Sox in Bangor, Maine and in a glitch by MLB was given World Series credentials in 1999 when the Yankees won it all. I went live on the field from game four before Roger Clemens won and got all the celebration afterwards.

3. NBA Finals - 1995 working in New York....what I'll always remember about this was not the Rockets and Knicks, but being at MSG when the OJ van chase began.

4. Stanley Cup - another thrill - the Rangers won the Stanley Cup and I was there for game seven and all the hoopla. I did an interview with Mark Messier that was used on the CBS Evening News the following day.

5. NCAA Hockey Tournament - The Maine Black Bears won it all in 1999. I went to Worcester, Mass and Anaheim for an amazing season. Maine won the Frozen Four and Championship game in overtime. The game ended at 11:07 pm on a Saturday night and we were able to do a live interview in the locker room in the midst of the championship. Kurt Russell (pre Herb Brooks in Miracle) was there and I closed the show holding the national championship trophy.

6. NBA Draft - Raymond Felton getting selected by the Charlotte Bobcats. I remember the room upstairs at MSG and the ABC people not promising that I would be able to get Raymond for an interview. He saw me and walked right over and sat down with me and gave me his first interview after being drafted. I'll never forget that.

7. 1999 MLB All-Star Game at Fenway - Ted Williams meeting all the players at the pitchers mound, Mark McGwire before steroids tainted his legacy and going live with Mike Mussina when he was with the Orioles (why?, because he was on with the ABC in Washington DC before my shot - he was great)

There was plenty of other cool stuff (US Open at Pinehurst, two NIT's, two NCAA Women's Tournaments, all the Gamecock and Clemson bowl games). The best part of the job is watching our local kids at the highest level of their sport. I enjoy catching up with Raymond Felton and Ramon Sessions at NBA games and look forward to seeing Everett Golson at Notre Dame and Jordan Lyles with the Houston Astros. Thanks to the great talent in this area, I'm excited to be adding to this list.

Rich's Blog: The Trick Shot QB and is he really plugging soccer and the View?

In the world of the internet, things can go viral in a hurry. Last week, I stumbled upon this video and meant to share it with everyone. Next thing I know, there's over 4,000,000 YouTube hits. So if you've seen it already, I'm sorry I'm not on the cutting edge, but for those of you who haven't it's a fun watch.

Johnny McEntee is a third string quarterback at UConn. He may not be in the starting lineup, but his trick shots are incredible. Sure, he probably needed a few takes, and what he's doing in shorts in an empty fieldhouse doesn't translate to success on Saturday's, but I'm a fan.





I'm a lukewarm soccer fan. I get excited during the World Cup and I always root hard for the US, yet I'm not rushing to get MLS season tickets or watching the table in the English Premier League. However, I did get to see Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and his goal last weekend and it was off the charts! YouTube doesn't have the rights, but this British newspaper has the video below:

Wayne Rooney's Bicycle Kick Goal

Like most males, I have not seen the View (weekdays at 11am right here on WPDE) for more than three minutes. However, I did get to see this story which was heartwarming and inspirational. A 13 year old boy from the Philadelphia area was the victim of senseless bullying. When you read the story, it breaks your heart. But the fact that he was able to go public with his story gave him the chance to meet his sports hero, Eagles WR DeSean Jackson. ESPN.com's Rick Reilly tells the story.

Reilly: Eagles over the Wolves in a rout



I always remembered DeSean Jackson as a showboater who excessively celebrates. This was better than any touchdown he'll score.

Super Bowl, Felton's All-Star miss and the CCU ranking debate

When I first saw the headline "400 fans lose seats at Super Bowl", I thought about the PR nightmare the NFL would be dealing with and after reading this article on ESPN.com, I think the NFL did an admirable job of making the best of a bad situation.

Displaced fans get Super Bowl tix for next year

My take is this: the fans got into the stadium, they got $2400, they got to go on the field for post-game which had to be a thrill and they get to go to next year's Super Bowl in Indianapolis. I remember when I covered Super Bowl 38 in Houston, there was a mixup with our press passes and we were shut out of the media area during the game. I wound up having to watch the game in the satellite truck area and hit the field for postgame. The post-game scene on the field was a thrill and worth freezing in the Reliant Stadium parking lot.

RAYMOND DOESN'T MAKE ALL STARS
Raymond Felton did not make the NBA All-Star game later this month in February. While the homer in me was hoping that Raymond got the honor, there's no one on the East roster that doesn't deserve to be on there. There's just 24 spots in the NBA All-Star game, the smallest roster by far among the major sports (it would make sense for the NBA to expand the rosters to 15 especially since the game itself is a glorified pick up game) It was a big boost for Felton to just be in the discussion and you never know - an injury could bring him to LA. Reading this article from the NY Post shows Raymond's personality.

Bloodied Felton defends Knicks' record after All-Star snub


When Raymond signed with the Knicks and I interviewed him here in Myrtle Beach, he said the Knicks were getting a warrior. Felton has been durable throughout his NBA career and playing with injuries is one of the reason that Felton is respected throughout the league.

CCU's QUEST FOR THE TOP 25
Coastal Carolina's 20 game win streak continues to increase the Chants national profile. Coastal got 26 voter points in the latest AP Top 25 good for 28th in the latest AP Top 25 poll. There are 13 voters who put CCU in their top 25. Here's the story I did on CarolinaLive.com that breaks down who has CCU on their radar.

Coastal basketball climbs the polls

It is important to remember that the AP and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls have absolutely no bearing on the NCAA Tournament committee when they choose the field for this year's Big Dance. Which means, hypothetically, if Coastal were to get into the top 25 and still lose in the Big South Tournament, their time in the Top 25 if there is any time would not help them get an at-large bid.

That being said, the symbolic value of Coastal reaching the top 25 would be priceless for this program. On Sunday's Cliff Ellis Show, the coach compared his program to TCU or Boise State in football. Is Coastal basketball like a Boise State football? That's up for debate, but the same argument for "the little guy" is being used about being ranked. Things like, "Coastal wouldn't be 22-2 in the SEC or ACC or Big East (absolutely true) and "they don't play anybody". The bottom line is this: people are talking Coastal basketball beyond the Conway city limits. I think that the Chants will crack the top 25 next Monday if they can get two more wins and a couple of those schools ranked 21-25 stumble.

MY ALMA MATER
I tip my cap to the Coastal student section that crowds Kimbel Arena and provides a great energy to the Chants at home. It will be this rabid group that could ultimately push CCU to the NCAA's by creating that special atmosphere in early March. It goes without saying that the Chants have outgrown Kimbel Arena and the new facility set to open next season is much needed.

I wanted to share with you my alma mater, Saint Bonaventure University and the Reilly Center, which has the reputation as one of the toughest places to play in college basketball. Below is a look at the Bonnies upset win over previous A-10 unbeaten Duquesne on Saturday night.



Saint Bonaventure has an enrollment of just 2,500 students. Coastal is nearly four times that size. Here's hoping that the new CCU basketball home becomes a house of horrors.

This week's links: Dustin, Bracketology and a trip Down Under

It blew up on Yahoo, then the New York Post's Page Six ran a blind item about his personal life. Dustin Johnson is learning that he has become an international star when rumors of him dating Natalie Gulbis ran rampant. When Dustin withdrew from the Sony Open to return to Myrtle Beach, the false rumor ran that he came back to the Grand Strand because his former girlfriend did not know about his relationship with Gublis. The link below sets the record straight.

Johnson denies Gulbis rumors


ESPN's Bracketology is a required stop every Monday as Joe Lunardi does his best forecast on what the field may look like in the NCAA Tournament. Because Coastal Carolina is atop the Big South standings, you'll find them in the projections.

ESPN Bracketology for 1/25

CCU will be no better than a 14 seed and most likely a 15 seed even if they run the table. Keep in mind that Coastal must win the Big South Tournament and has absolutely no chance of making the field as an at-large. CCU has zero wins against teams in the RPI's top 100 and just two wins against teams ranked between 150-199. The best win on CCU's resume at this point is the win against East Carolina. If LSU can climb the SEC, that may become a top 100 win, but as impressive as Coastal's dominance has been in 2010/11 in the eyes of the NCAA committee it is not even worthy of at-large consideration. Here is one interesting tidbit:

RPI as of Monday 1/25
Coastal Carolina 70
South Carolina 76
Clemson 91

It will be interesting to see if CCU can stay ahead of the Gamecocks and Clemson as the season wears on.

Congratulations to Darren Stack for winning the WPDE Fantasy Football league topping our executive producer Tracy Vreeland in the championship game. I finished tied in my quarterfinal game and lost a tiebreaker (that's tough to swallow!). It's never to early to study up and below is ESPN's early top 100 for 2011. I paste this link to show CCU's Mike Tolbert in at #79. I thought that Jerome Simpson might have shown up on the list. He'll be a great sleeper for next year.

ESPN Fantasy Football Top 100 for 2011

The first major of the tennis season is underway at the Australian Open. So often, anything on the sidelines or post-game of a sporting event can offer boring and very predictable questions and answers. Kim Clijsters, who is already a working mom on tour, caught former Australian doubles legend Todd Woodbridge off guard in the post-match interview. Clijsters had fun with a text message from Woodbridge questioning if the top player was pregnant.

This week's links

Rather than call it a New Year's Resolution since resolutions usually fizzle out in a matter of weeks, I'm calling it a "goal" to be a little more connected with social media. When it comes to Twitter and Facebook, I'm often conflicted by a heavy workload with a deadline and tweets and facebook posts go to the backburner.

I'm going to share any interesting tidbits I read along the way and give them the proper credit with a link.

I'll start with Raymond Felton who is having a fantastic season with the New York Knicks. I had said for a number of years that Raymond needed to leave Charlotte and I'm happy about all the success he's having with the New York Knicks. The New York Post's Marc Berman wrote this article ahead of the Knicks loss to the Lakers and lofty praise of the former two time WPDE Mister Hoop Zone from Kobe Bryant.

Kobe not surprised by Raymond



I'm a proud graduate of Saint Bonaventure University (class of 1992) and hope that I can live up to the sterling reputation of the school's Mass Communication and Journalism department. A fellow Bonnie, Adrian Wojnarowski ('91), is one of the best columnists in the country. I particularly enjoyed his coverage of LeBron James. Read both of the columns below for a great take on "The Decision" and some real insight to what the whole Lebron circle is like.

Easy Come, Easy Go for King James

King James wants Spoelstra to bow to him

I haven't mentioned it on the sportscast yet, but it has become a big headline in the world of golf. Dustin Johnson is now dating Natalie Gulbis. I had a chance to interview Gulbis once when she came to Myrtle Beach for a contest promotion. My guess is that she may be spending some more time here.

No penalty here - Dustin Johnson and Natalie Gulbis

We all know that Dustin Johnson is one of the longest hitters in the world and he's gotten the reputation as perhaps the best athlete on the PGA Tour. Everyone talks about how he can dunk a basketball. Here's further proof from YouTube. A left handed drive!



This confirms that if Dustin played 18 holes left handed, I'd still probably get two strokes a hole and lose!

Remembering Jim Hunter

In January of 2000, I was at Ricky Craven's Snowmobile Ride for Charity along Moosehead Lake when I approached the NASCAR driver to tell him that I was leaving his home state and coming to Myrtle Beach. Naturally, the first topic of conversation was getting to see him race at Darlington Raceway. I'll always remember the first thing that he said when I mentioned the Track Too Tough to Tame. "Jim Hunter. He's one of the most influential people in our sport. He's also one of the most respected people in our sport. Listen to him and always follow his advice."
Craven had taught me everything I knew about NASCAR and the current ESPN analyst was spot on in what he said. When I first got to South Carolina, I was anxious to cover my first race at Darlington. It was Dale Earnhardt, Jr's rookie season and everyone was trying to get a piece of NASCAR's rising superstar. I thought that perhaps Mr. Hunter could give me an in to try and follow Junior for the weekend and chronicle it as a preview for the following race in the fall. He liked the idea a lot, but said that there was another rookie driver who was going to be a big star in NASCAR and that I should follow him around. That driver was Matt Kenseth and I learned that Jim Hunter was a pretty darn good judge of talent. When we did our September preview show live from the track, I was hoping that Earnhardt, Junior would come on the show. Jim Hunter said there's another young gun that needed to come on with us. His name was Kurt Busch. Looking back now, Jim Hunter gave us two Cup Champions on our preview show. Pretty amazing.
Then there was another time when the phone rang in the sports office in Florence. Mr. Hunter asked if I could swing by Governor's Run golf course in Lamar, he had a couple of people he wanted me to talk to about the upcoming race. When I went to the back porch with the camera, there was Jim Hunter in a straw Darlington hat and another guy with the same hat on next to him. "Dale, could you give a couple of minutes to our new sportscaster in town to talk about the Southern 500. It's going to be his first Labor Day at Darlington." Dale Earnhardt, the Intimidator, gave a sly smile and said "Shoot". It was right then and there that I learned first hand that Jim Hunter was one of the most respected people in all of NASCAR. After talking to Dale, Senior, Hunter introduced me to another legend - the Silver Fox, David Pearson. Not a bad couple of sound bites on a Thursday afternoon to get Southern 500 coverage going. You ask every mega-name in the sport about Jim Hunter and you're going to get a story and it's usually a good one.
It was Jim Hunter who helped NASCAR guide through the tough times of Dale Earnhardt's death and became the spokesperson of the sport. It was also Jim Hunter who believed in Darlington so much that the Lady in Black went from the endangered species list to a Saturday night fixture every May for many years to come.
He is one of the sports great ambassadors. For the stories I just shared above, there are countless others in the media who will have their own tales of how Jim Hunter helped them to bring the sports biggest stars to their readers or viewers.
NASCAR's got a long list of worthy candidates for the Hall of Fame. I hope that one day Jim Hunter will be a part of it, because he was one of NASCAR's true pioneers. Even after he left the track in 2001, you could also go to the Media Center that bared his name and see a crowd of people around Jim Hunter. It will be an empty feeling in the Media Center this May when he's not there.

Camp Bennett Episode 1