It looked like The Chief was going for my scalp.
You can imagine my concern when I clicked on The Star SPORTS tab midday Monday and saw the lead story by writer Dick Baynton that headlined, “Your vote could stop our downward spiral.”
Although Dick is one of my friends at The Star, and a guy for whom I was the guest speaker at one of his club’s weekly breakfast meetings (I even gave away a Loudmouth item at that gig), I thought The Chief must have enlisted Dick to get out reader votes to dump Wild Bill. Sorta like one of those European coup d’etats.
Yeah, I have a couple cold ones at a Railyard Dawgs game and I take advantage of any perks offered at professional sporting events. But, I know Whitey Taylor and that oughta mean something.
After stewing a little, I finally clicked on Dick’s column to see what kind of mudslinging he had on tap.
Turned out Dick’s political column had mistakenly been published in SPORTS, where Dick pointed out there are about 25 candidates running for President, not just Hillary and Donald. Yes, you always learn something when you read this (or Dick’s) column.
Suddenly relaxed, it made me wonder if The Chief missed his mark by not having a Star Party candidate. The Chief for president and me for vice-pres. After all, I am an expert on vice.
We could have had one of those political slogans that goes down in history. Something like, “A vote for The Stars is like golf with all pars.” Plus, “Hail to the Chief” is already in place to fit the ole boy.
I’d like to just say that someone voted for me for vice-president. Plus, The Chief and I are surely better than some on the ballot. (Chief’s note: That’s not saying too much . . .)
The next race is four years away. Until then, I’ll stick to sports.
The Roanoke Railyard Dawgs had a tough opening weekend with a pair of losses to Knoxville, but the Dawgs responded with two wins last weekend against the Evansville Thunderbolts by scores of 3-2 and 5-3. Roanoke now returns to The Berglund Center for six straight home games beginning this Friday-Saturday against Fayetteville and Huntsville, followed by Knoxville on Thursday Nov. 10th and three straight against Evansville on Nov. 11th, 17th and 19th.
The Roanoke Valley Sports Club returns to action Monday, November 14th at the Salem Civic Center where Virginia Tech Women’s Golf Coach Carol Robertson will be the featured speaker. A 5:45 social will be followed by dinner at 6:00. Guests and prospective new members are always invited to attend. For information or to purchase tickets contact Maggie Drewry at 540-353-1103.
High school football plays out the final week of the regular season this weekend with rivalry games posing plenty of intriguing possibilities for playoff berths. There are none bigger than two local match ups where Northside looks to slide in the back door with a win over I-581 rival William Fleming. Same at Bogle Stadium where Cave Spring needs a win over Hidden Valley in the battle for The Paint Can Trophy.
Now, to the mail bag, where a number of readers chimed in on a recent report that Virginia Tech was in the running for the national championship in football. Here’s a sample.
Dear Wild Bill: Could it be true? After Tech won at North Carolina, were they really in contention for the national championship? (Hokie Bird Shouter/ Salem)
Well, Hokie Bird, I had a hard time buying that one myself, so I called my buddy Harry in Vegas. The call elicited quite a laugh from the sports book guru.
“We’re Vegas and we love sucker bets,” Harry said. “It’s a lot like keno players. Give ’em a 50 cent drink and hope they keep putting down $10 to win a thousand. We’ll put odds on virtually anything if someone wants to cover.”
Well, Tech lost to Syracuse to end the championship chatter.
Or, did it? This week Tech was still listed at 125-1 to win it all. Put down $100 in advance, then pick up $12,600 when they win it all in January. They’re waiting for any and all somewhat overly optimistic Hokie bettors.
Until next time, get out to vote on Tuesday, check out our online site at TheRoanokeStar.com, and keep those write-in votes coming.
