by Bill Turner
Oh, my goodness. If you thought last week’s dissertation from Edgar Allan Poe and the whacky world of magnets was off the wall, we hit new heights this week as everything comes unraveled in Blacksburg.
Hold on to your seats. The Wild Bill column is on the air with a firing, some feuding and a downpour that gets some eyes a little fogged up when it comes to counting.
First, let’s stay to the saner side of sports with this week’s Wild Bill ‘Big-11’ baseball and softball Top-3.
Northside continues to hold the top spot on the baseball diamond with their perfect 13-0 record. Blue Ridge District foe Lord Botetourt sits in the #2 spot at 12-1. Hidden Valley, undefeated in the River Ridge at 3-0, and 7-3-1 overall, holds on to the third position. Northside and Lord Botetourt meet Friday afternoon, Apr. 27th, in Daleville for a head-to-head meeting between #1 and #2. Should be a great matchup, with the winner surely the favorite to claim next week’s top spot.
On the softball side, Northside keeps the #1 position at 13-1. William Byrd and Glenvar, both 10-3, tie for the second spot in the ‘Big-11’.
Monday night, albeit cold, offered exciting baseball at Salem Memorial Stadium as Boston Red Sox hurler Daisuke Matsuzaka took to the mound for a rehab start with Salem. Japanese media were in attendance along with a well-needed propane heat blower in the Salem dugout.
Although Matsuzaka was proficient in throwing strikes, Wilmington Blue Rock batters Whit Merrifield and Geulin Beltre liked the zone, parking two home runs over the left field wall to stake the Blue Rocks to a 3-0 lead and eventual 7-2 win.
Now, in the ‘you-knew-it-was-coming’ category, things went a bit haywire in the Hokie Nation this week.
Monday, Seth Greenberg was fired as Tech’s head basketball coach. A source, who spoke to me Monday on the condition of anonymity, said Greenberg was caught totally off guard. Reportedly, he was showing a recruit around the Tech campus when he was summoned to get the decision.
Bet that was an interesting pitch to the prospective hoopster.
Greenberg: “So, son, what do you think of our campus and facilities?”
Recruit, after getting a tweet: “Beautiful, and the coeds are gorgeous, too. By the way, any word who your replacement may be?”
Things, likewise, got chippy between Hokie and Cav fans after their respective spring football games offered a difference in opinion on attendance.
Like ESPN, Wild Bill now breaks down the numbers to set things straight.
Cavs head football coach Mike London estimated their game attracted 8,000, although impartial observers said 5,000 was the perhaps a more realistic number.
The differential being 3,000 souls on board or an inflation of 60% over the realistic impartial figure. (The RIF)
At Tech Saturday, Frank Beamer surmised 40,000, despite local media putting the number at 15,000.
That’s an error of 25,000, or an an exaggeration of 167% in total fannies in the seats.
I don’t claim to be a good attendance estimator and once missed the gate when asked in the photo pit at a Washington Nationals game by around 12,000. But, the attendance in Blacksburg became a moot point when they never played the game. Seems like it was akin to a baseball rain out.
I got caught in a hilarious crossfire earlier this week between some Hokie and Cav fans. The UVA group pointed out that while the Tech spring game was called off, next door to Lane Stadium the two school’s softball teams battled it out in not one, but both games of a completed doubleheader.
I surmised that since the softball went on, the rain over Lane was in the truest form, an isolated storm.
According to the UVA faithful, it all made sense. One commented, “Frank didn’t want his guys in the damp air – someone may have gotten the sniffles.”
I’m staying clear of this debate. But, can anyone grab me a hanky? I feel a cough, sneeze and a guffaw coming on.
In the meantime, send your congested comments and questions to…ahhhchooo: [email protected]