Around the Hardwoods With Wild Bill

We’ve hit the holiday “break” in full speed on the hardwoods as local tournaments have taken place around the valley. The K-Guard Classic at the Salem Civic Center gave way to a few surprises as both Cave Spring and Hidden Valley lost first and second round games. At press time the two were set to meet in round three for a preview of what is always a key River Ridge rivalry. Interestingly, the four AAA schools swept the four AA members into the losers bracket after the first round Monday. Patrick Henry advanced to the championship game and was set to tangle with Gar-Field.

At the Northside Tournament, undefeated Christiansburg advanced to the final to play AAA Franklin County. On the ladies side, Brookville and Heritage were set for the final in the Lady Terrier Classic in Vinton.

There’s still football left in the air as the college bowls are in full swing. Quite frankly, the bowl schedule and qualifying have become a little ridiculous, but since it’s cold outside, a little more pigskin won’t hurt. Outside the five major BCS bowls, thirty contests dotted the map this year, thus requiring 60 teams. Thirty two of those sixty had five or more losses. With teams only needing six wins to be bowl-eligible there’s little wonder why many schedule three non-conference patsies to get themselves halfway to the promised land.

The great predictor is ready for his first BCS pick of the year. Va. Tech will defeat Stanford in the Orange Bowl in a classic shootout that would make Buck Jones and John Wayne  proud. There’s too much turmoil in Cardinal land as head coach Jim Harbaugh is on everyone’s “A” list, from the University of Michigan to the San Francisco 49ers and the distractions can be unsettling. Plus, the Cardinal fan base must be ticked to the point of complacency. A perfect fit for the Rose Bowl, or even a reasonable trip to the Arizona desert for the Fiesta, #4 Stanford was sent packing to Miami in order to be part of a bad juggling act that needed a place for Big-East, uh-champ, U-Conn. Let’s hope this farce gives Mark Cuban the energy to get a playoff in place in the near future.

Likewise, hat’s off to Tyrod Taylor, who pulled off eleven straight wins as Tech’s masterful QB. If Tech knocks off Stanford, it will surely be a case of what-could-have-been had the Hokies not been victimized by someone (let’s call him Madam X ) scheduling the first two games five days apart.

Congrats on the hardwood to Hidden Valley’s Tyler Evans, who recently broke the all-time girl’s single game scoring record for the Titans, scoring 35.

This week’s unusual game goes to the Floyd County-Radford matchup Tuesday night. Floyd came in averaging over 102 points a game. Apparently, Radford coach Rick Cormany knew exactly where to put the Xs and Os – the 102 mark was again hit, but it was Radford that lit up the century bulbs with the 102-58 blowout over Floyd.

With this being the last week of the year, the mailbox will give you a sample of the most unusual questions from 2010, all of which involved rules. Think you know your officiating? Take the test and watch for the answers next week.

#1)Football- A team is trailing by 20 points and is on its own one-yard line with two-seconds left in the game. The coach, resigned to defeat, decides to let his field goal kicker get in the record books with the longest field goal ATTEMPT in school history. Assuming the normal 7-yard dropback for the placement, can the kick be made with the holder on one knee and the tee placed six-yards deep in the end zone, thus affording the kicker a 116-yard attempt?

#2)Basketball- It’s 40-40 with five seconds left in the first half. A player rebounds a missed shot at the defensive end and throws the ball skyward with a hook-shot motion toward the opposite end of the court. A teammate of the shooting player runs under the ball inside the foul line at the opposite end, where the descending ball hits him in the head and goes in the basket before the buzzer. What’s the halftime score?

#3)Ice hockey- If an ice hockey game ends regulation tied, each team is awarded one point for the tie. Then, an overtime period is played and, if still no winner, a shootout is conducted. If a team scores in overtime it gets a second point for the OT win. Likewise, if it goes to a shootout, the team scoring the most goals gets the extra point. A coach, knowing his team is horrible in shootouts, tries to win in the initial overtime by pulling his goalie for an extra skater to hopefully score first. The other team gets the puck and shoots it the length of the ice into the unguarded goal for the win. Assuming the coach’s assessment is right in that they would have lost anyway in a shootout, was his strategy flawed in any way?

Send your questions to: [email protected]

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