Wild Bill’s Weekly Sports Roundup

Bill Turner

Well, it’s officially official.

Last Friday afternoon, I proceeded to the corporate headquarters of Macado’s in downtown Roanoke.

Nested quietly in a booth, I waited until corporate official Gail came forward to tell me the that after passing all the facts by the head big-wig, there was a little laughter before the final decision came down.

No, Macado’s is not set to issue Class-B preferred stock on the NASDAQ. But, the Wild Bill Burger is now officially named after yours truly.

This only thing left is for me to take The Chief to lunch so we can find out if he can get his mouth around the biggest and best hamburger on the planet. And, to try to get him softened up to send me to the next Winter Olympics.

That being duly noted, it’s on to this week’s Wild Bill “Big-11” Top-3 in high school girls and boys basketball as we hit the midpoint of the season.

GIRLS:
#1) Hidden Valley: You never get off a winning horse. Hidden Valley’s 31-point win over Cave Spring Tuesday night only validated the 11-0 Titans in the top spot.

#2) William Fleming: The 9-4 Lady Colonels stay firmly in second after their impressive win over Floyd Co. on Tuesday.

#3) Lord Botetourt: It’s close in a tight race with Salem for the third spot, but the Cavs stay put for another week.

BOYS:
#1) William Fleming: The 13-2 Colonels are on a roll, but the ever-tough Blue Ridge rolls through the second half of the season.

#2) William Byrd: The Terriers stay at second after their 19-point win over Lord Botetourt. The Blue Ridge will sort out a frontrunner at some point.

#3) North Cross: The private school Raiders stay at third after their 13-1 start. Friday night they will be tested at home by LCA.

Waiting in the wings on the boys side are the 12-2 Northside Vikings and 11-2 Glenvar Highlanders.

Congratulations go out to a pair of Roanoke Valley golfers for their recent awards on the state level.

The VSGA has presented the Service to Golf Award to Roanoker Ned Baber. A VSGA member at Roanoke Country Club, Baber has played a key role in the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame, being the longtime executive director where he has served in that capacity since the early 1970s. Inducted into the RVGHOF in 1982, Baber’s connection to the VSGA spans over six decades. He won the 1960 VSGA Amateur title held in Hot Springs.

Also, from the VSGA, Salem’s Kristin Hearp has been named the VSGA junior girl of the year. Hearp, a junior at Hidden Valley, has been a dominant player in women’s golf and has already committed to play college golf at Virginia Tech.

Next, we move to this edition’s unusual high school game of the week, where a girl’s game in Arroyo Valley, California pushed the envelope way to far in the notion that you can’t ask players to miss shots during a lopsided win.

Arroyo Valley High School head coach Michael Anderson has been suspended two games for mercilessly running up the score after his team defeated Bloomington High 161-2.

Anderson noted afterward, “The game just got away from me. I didn’t expect them to be that bad.”

It got away from you? At 161-2 ?

But, like my Columbo instincts dictate, I decided to get the other side of the story. No better source than Bloomington’s coach Dale Chung, who says Arroyo used a full-court press the entire first half and led 101-1 at the break.

“People shouldn’t feel sorry for my team,” Chung told the media. “They should feel sorry for his (Anderson’s) team, which isn’t learning the game the right way.” Great point, Dale.

Finally, we end with a salute to longtime television broadcaster Ted Powers, who passed away at age 95 this week.

Powers was a former golfing buddy of mine, WDBJ-7 sports anchor, reporter and decorated WWII veteran. In 1970 I appeared as a contestant on the long-running Klassroom Quiz game show where he was the popular quizmaster. It was then that I debuted my now-famous psychic powers by enlisting a medium to pick my wheel numbers in each of the three rounds. Powers howled off-camera after I revealed my scheme, and things got interesting when my number hit in the second round. Unfortunately, I missed the question and Andrew Lewis lost.

In the words of Powers from his television sports sign-off, “Goodnight to all good sports.”

Until next week, send your comments to: [email protected]

– Bill Turner

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