The Times Dispatch Blogs

234 days.

That's how long it's been since we watched LSU manhandle Ohio State 38-24 (it wasn't as close as the score indicated) in the BCS Championship game, concluding the 2007 college football season. Sure, the NFL playoffs lasted until early February and the 2008 NFL preseason has been underway since early August, but it's been 234 days since we've had college football.

The long drought ends on this holiday weekend, with a schedule beginning on Thursday and continuing through Monday evening. There aren’t any blockbuster games on the schedule, but there are some interesting matchups.

Both of Arkansas’ Division I teams begin new eras on Saturday.

After decades as “Indians,” Arkansas State will take the field as the Red Wolves for the first time. “The Wolves” will be in College Station, Texas, to take on the Texas A & M Aggies. I expect Steve Roberts’ crew to put up a good fight, but I can’t see them pulling off the upset. It’s going to be hard getting used to calling them the Red Wolves. Can I at least call them the WolfTribe?

In Fayetteville, the Bobby Petrino era begins at the University of Arkansas when the Razorbacks take on Western Illinois. After a decade of Houston Nutt’s conservative run-oriented offense, Petrino brings a more balanced offensive attack to the Hogs. It will be interesting to see how the players, most of whom were recruited for Nutt’s system, will adjust to the new offense. As for Western Illinois, the Leathernecks are ranked 13th in a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) preseason poll by The Sporting News, so this may not be the cakewalk many fans are expecting. (By the way, Central Arkansas was ranked 25th in the same poll.)

Elsewhere around the nation:

Perhaps the most interesting matchup of the weekend will take place when Appalachian State visits No. 7 LSU. Appy State pulled of one of the biggest upsets in college football history when they knocked off Michigan on last year's opening weekend. The Mountaineers won’t sneak up on the Tigers, like they did Michigan, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can keep it close.

Vanderbilt visits Miami (OH) tonight and Mississippi State travels to Louisiana Tech on Saturday, which means that the SEC could open with a couple of embarrassing non-conference losses.

In Oxford, Miss., Houston Nutt’s Mississippi Rebels host the Memphis Tigers. This rivalry usually produces close games and this year should be no different. Ole Miss fans are excited to have Nutt as their coach. Most Arkansas fans are also glad that Nutt is the Ole Miss coach.

Missouri versus Illinois is another rivalry that usually produces a good game. Mizzou brings a #6 preseason ranking into the game, while the Illini are ranked 20th.

Sunday brings a couple of good intra-state matchups, when Louisville hosts Kentucky and Colorado hosts Colorado State.

No. 18 Tennessee plays at UCLA in prime time on Monday.
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Race walking has got to be the most bizarre sport I’ve ever watched.

First, just the concept of “race walking” seems strange. A race is supposed to be a contest to see who can travel the fastest. When traveling on foot, this is usually called “running.” So in race walking, are you supposed to go fast, but not too fast? Are there speed limits?

And then there’s the way the competitors look when they’re walking. They keep their backs straight with their arms bent at the elbow, swinging from side to side. It appears that they hardly bend their knees. It’s not really walking or running. It’s more like “waddling.” Actually, they all looked like they needed to go to the bathroom really badly.

During the race I saw, there were several contestants bunched together in a pack. They looked like a bunch of penguins. Penguins that needed to go to the bathroom. I’m sure it was an intense competition, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
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Random thoughts on the Olympics:

It’s funny how during the Olympics, we get excited about sports that we couldn’t care less about at any other time. Like swimming, for example. Does anyone watch swimming any other time? I don’t. But it has always been one of my favorite events of the summer games.

I never knew badminton could be so exciting, especially doubles competition. More high schools should play badminton. The equipment is probably fairly inexpensive and it can be played indoors or outdoors.

Table tennis can also be amazing to watch. Table tennis players have got to have the best hand-eye coordination and quickest reactions of any athletes.

Is there a more boring event to watch than rowing? This is not to be confused with kayaking, which can be pretty entertaining.

There are several events that I never would have considered as Olympic events. Like trap shooting and skeet shooting, bouncing on a trampoline and walking.

The judging in boxing is even screwier than it is in gymnastics. There’s always been an element of shadiness when it came to judging Olympic boxing. Until they can come up with a better system, boxing should be dropped from the Olympics and replaced with Mixed Martial Arts. Very few MMA contests go the distance, so judging is rarely an issue. Most bouts end with a tapout or when one competitor is not able to defend himself. All you need is a competent referee.

This appears to be the best USA basketball team we’ve had in years. More often than not in recent years, the United States has been a disappointment in international hoops competition. This year should be different, though. I’ll be surprised if any team stays within 20 points of Kobe & Company.
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The 2008 Summer Olympics are finally underway. There are several events I like to watch - track and field and gymnastics are my favorites, but the rest don’t really interest me.

There are some sports (if you can call them that) that I cannot believe they have made into Olympic events. To me, they are a joke, I mean Badminton – come on! There are a few others I feel this way about, but I’ll leave it at that.

On the other side, I’ve found that I can’t stop watching the “real” sports. I have watched some of the basketball and gymnastic preliminaries, but I have really been drawn to the swimming – which I have never really enjoyed watching.

I even found myself jumping out of my seat and cheering last night as the USA men’s 4x100 relay swim team came from behind to beat France for the Gold, setting a new world record. It was amazing… especially after the French said the only reason they were there was to “smash the Americans” in this race.

Is anyone else out there watching? What are some of your favorite events?

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August is finally here and that means one thing (besides triple-digit temperatures) — football season is just around the corner. NFL teams are in training camp, while college and high school teams have begun their summer practices. There’s already been an NFL preseason game on television.

However, something is a little different this year, at least locally. There will be no Walnut Ridge – Hoxie game this year. For the past several years, when the Mustangs and Bobcats met on the football field, not only did it signify the beginning of a new football season, but also the beginning of a new school year. Despite what the thermometers read, summer was pretty much over.

That wasn’t always the case, though. When I was in high school at Walnut Ridge many years ago, the two schools were in the same conference and always played in the final game of the regular season.

Then, for a number of years in the 80s and 90s (I’m not sure of the exact years), the two rivals played each other twice each season, in the first game and then again in the final game. I never cared for that arrangement. I always felt that playing twice a season slightly diminished the “specialness” of the rivalry. One of the things that makes a rivalry game so important is that they are only played once a season. The winners get an entire year to brag, while the losing team has to wait a year for a chance at revenge.

The Hoxie senior Mustangs open the 2008 season on Thursday, Sept. 4, against Heber Springs. The game will be played at Harding University in Searcy.

The Walnut Ridge senior Bobcats open their season on Sept. 5 at Cave City.
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My little girl, who just turned seven last month, has been so afraid for the last couple of days. She has been asking me if someone will break into our home and hurt her and her younger sister.

This has been asked of me since Saturday evening when we were going to the Walnut Ridge Community Center to watch some friends dance at the Main Street Dance recital. As many know it was vandalized very badly, destroying trophies that were to be handed to the young ones who have worked so hard all year, along with numerous other items.

I think it is so awful that anyone could do such a thing and ruin the night for so many people – Miss Amber has worked so hard teaching these dancers and preparing for the recital. The dancers have also worked so hard to get each move down. Many people spent hours and hours on getting things ready for the event not to mention the expense. The night was also ruined for all the individuals who were going to watch the performers.

I hope there are not any other little girls or boys who are frightened as my little girl.

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My sister-in-law, Georgetta, called me Friday afternoon because she had a cut on her head that she thought would need stitches. Of course my first question was, “What happened?”

Well… here goes…

My brother, Blake, went out to his shop, and the door was jammed. He opened the big doors and tried to get the regular door open from the inside, but couldn’t. He asked George to help him, so she tried to pry the door open. When she stopped, Blake walked to the back of the shop – to get a running start – so he could jump into the door and bust it open.

In the mean time, George decided to do more prying and asked Blake to wait a minute. He was already at the back of the shop, though, and didn’t hear her. She was down in front of the door prying away as Blake ran and jumped into it.

Needless to say, Blake flew through the door knocking it into George.

She actually did need stitches, but wouldn’t go to the hospital. She also has some bumps and bruises, but she is okay.

It is one of those things that isn’t really funny, but I couldn’t help laughing as she told me the story … Luckily, she laughed with me.

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It’s summertime again (okay, I know it won’t officially be summer until June 21 — but that’s beside the point) and that usually means a long dry spell for sports. Actually, it’s not just sports, but television in general has pretty slim pickings. Whoever it was that called television a “vast wasteland” must have done so after channel surfing on a Saturday afternoon during the summertime.

Baseball and NASCAR are approaching the midpoint of their schedules, but those sports have long, drawn out seasons, making it tough to get too jazzed up over a single game or race. However, there are a few things going on in the sports world worthy of attention.

First, in the NBA playoffs, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics have each made their respective conference finals. I haven’t watched the NBA very much over the past few years, but even I would be interested in a Lakers-Celtics final.

If you don’t want to wait until September and October for meaningful (and entertaining) baseball, the NCAA Baseball Tournament gets underway this weekend. The 64-team field will be whittled down to the eight teams that will advance to the College World Series in Omaha. I don’t keep up with college baseball during the regular season, but the NCAA Tourney and the CWS usually provide lots of drama and excitement for baseball fans.

Also, the Little League World Series will be played later in the summer. If you’ve never watched the LLWS, I urge you to check it out. It’s great fun to watch the kids play their hearts out for the love of the game and a desire to win.

For me, personally, the best thing about summer is the realization that each day that passes brings us one day closer to the start of football season. The NFL preseason starts Aug. 3. Only 68 more days! And, best of all, just three short months from today — Aug. 28 — marks the beginning of the college football season!
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My aunt, Pat Melton, passed away this morning after a short battle with cancer. Although it is always hard to lose someone you love, I'm thankful that she is now at peace and won't be suffering anymore.

As a kid, I loved to visit her house. She was always smiling and made you feel at home. She made the best baked beans I have ever eaten, and they always had the best toys or gadgets to play with (and still do - just ask Briar or Brad). I actually used my first computer at her house many, many years ago.

Aunt Pat was a huge NASCAR fan; she even won the Mark Martin truck that was given away a few years ago after the NASCAR season.

She loved life and her family and lived every day to the fullest. She was one of a kind and will definitely be missed.

Others in the office were talking about nicknames today. It got me to thinking…

A nickname is a name of an entity or thing that is not its proper name. It may either substitute or be added to the proper name. It may be a familiar or truncated form of the proper name, such as Angie – for Angela.

I’m also called Ang a lot. I guess that would be a nickname for a nickname. I don’t know. In school I was called “Big Ang.” Looking at me now you would think it is because I am big… I wasn’t then, though. They called me that because I was very small.

My husband called me AJ until we got married and I was no longer an AJ, and my Granny Tate always called me Hannie.

My little brother, Blake, is better known as Possum, and my older brother, Rodney, is either Hot Rod or Cougar.

Briar and Brad are #1 and #2, my niece, Kylie, is Booger, and Jarah is Tiger or JJ. My nephew Drake is Big D, and Grace, my other niece, is Gracie. I think nicknames are supposed to be shorter than the original name, so I’m not sure what happened there.

Anyway, you get the picture.

I’ve shared some of mine … feel free to share yours, too!

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