8 for 8. Maui. Iron Bowl.

Hey Sportsfans!

Sid's crew took on that pesky Shades Mountain Christian School at home on Monday afternoon. In a much closer rematch, the Lady Knights improved to 8 and 0 on the season with a hard fought 28-18 victory. Sid was under the weather and missed this game. Coach Keith said that her ball handling and leadership were sorely missed.

With four games remaining the Lady

Knights are looking to capture an

undefeated season. Can they equal UD's 8th grade Girard Middle School Rebels undefeated hoops team in 1989? Notice (in the picture to the right) UD's stance in defending a much bigger player. Big shoes to fill for Siddy G!

The Weekly Sports Update was lucky to have field reporters at the Maui Classic this week. The Kinney clan sent in the following photo from the North Carolina vs. Oregon game from Tuesday night. They rooted the Tar Heels on in their blowout win.

2008 Iron Bowl was played yesterday in T-town.

Enough said.

Well the Vanderbilt Commodores completed their second half of the season collapse with yet another loss yesterday. Losing to Wake Forest finished a 6-6 season for the Dores. After starting the year at 5-0, the Dores lost six of the seven remaining games. While they might be bowl eligible who knows if they will be offered one. Being in the SEC with eight bowl invites will assure them an offer, but it likely wont be an exciting matchup.

More hoops games on the schedule and the dance recital is fast approaching. Hope everyone has a great week!

The Sports Guy

Bowling. "7 and 0. 7 and 0. 7 and 0." JP Hayes. Friday Night Lights.

Hey Sportsfans!

Welcome to another fun filled week of sports Nomberg-style.

Remember what your were doing in 1982? For those of you old enough, in the sports world the 49ers defeated the Bengals in the Super Bowl, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, the NBA Champs were the LA Lakers, North Carolina ruled men's hoops and Penn State was the NCAA football king. The reason I bring up 1982 is because it was also the last time the Vanderbilt Commodores went bowling. Yup, it's been 26 long years.

In today's college football world six wins make a team bowl eligible. As a member of the Southeastern Conference, the Dores are one of eight teams currently eligible for the nine bowl positions the conference qualifies for. With one game remaining (at Wake Forest) the Dores could end the season with seven wins. Seven wins might put them in the Liberty Bowl (Memphis). Six wins might put them in the Independence (Shreveport) or Papa John's (Birmingham). Or, they muight not be invited at all and that would be a real shame. Stay tuned ....

Care to offer a prediction on this year's Iron Bowl score? While the records are clearly lopsided and Bama will be heavily favored, this game is usually close on the scoreboard. I'm thinking Bama will win something like 27-13. Might be Tubby's last game as the Tigers coach?

The girls' sports week was relatively tame as there were only two hoops games to report. Emmy is between seasons and is readying up for the dance recital. Sid's hoops team gave fans their moneys worth Monday afternoon. To our shock and horror, Westminster built a lead of 14-2 at the half. Westminster's point guard was causing all kinds of havoc for our guys and got them out of their game. Poor passing. Lots of turnovers. Confusion on defense. Not only did the Lady Knights miss eight of ten free throws in the first half, but they also committed way too many fouls. To put it mildly Coach Keith was not happy.

Whatever Coach said at the break must have worked because the team roared back with a ten point third quarter. They trapped like crazy and did not allow a single point in the quarter. In fact, Westminster didn't score any points in the second half until one and half minutes remaining in the game. By then the Lady Knights had built a five point lead and had put the game away. Very exciting.

Sid was all over the place. She hit three long field goals from the perimeter and laid in a couple of layups. She and Malley played like super balls bouncing all over the court in the second half. They forced tons of turnovers in the last two quarters. Sidney was ninja-like as she stole three straight inbounds plays.

Moving to 6-0 on the season, the team took a few days off before playing a rematch against Advent in their bandbox gym. Talk about a small gym! A rematch for several days ago this game was never in doubt. The Lady Knights won going away 38-15. The toughest thing about this game was for the players not in the game to keep their feet off the court. See photos below for just how small the court was.

The team is now 7-0 with several more games to play.

On Sunday both girls celebrated team parties with their championship soccer teams.

Charles Barkley once quipped that he was no role model. In his mind, being a professional athlete does not put him in the position. Based on his actions and opinions most would agree. However, once such fellow, pro golfer JP Hayes, showed through his actions this week that he is role model. Read his story at the following link. This is one you definitely want to share with your kids. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/wire/chi-ap-glf-hayesdisqualifie,0,6337991.story

Remember the book Friday Night Lights? I'm sure you saw the movie about the 1988 Permian (Texas) High School team and their amazing season. It's been twenty years and ESPN has done a "where are they now" feature on some of the players. http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/fnl

Happy Thanksgiving! Don't eat too much. Have a great week everyone.

The Sports Guy

Altamont is rockin. Double Duty Sid. Anna's #1.

Hey Sportsfans!

Holy smokes. The Altamont Lady Knights rolled into Oak Grove's gym on Monday night and took it over. Oak Grove could not protect their house! While OG looked impressive pregame, looks were deceiving. Their eleven year old center stood at least 5'8" and was yakking 'em in from 12-15 feet during warm ups. Well, guess what? She wasn't so good. I guess her getting four fouls in the first half didn't help either. Our girls jumped out to a 14-8 halftime lead and cruised to a 30-10 win. No, that's isn't a typo. They only allowed OG one field goal in the second half and it came with nine seconds left on the game clock.

We had a feeling this game was going to go our way when Sid stole the tip from their point guard and put in a layup only six seconds into the game. Jessie's ten points and Sid's eight led the Lady Knights to their third straight win of the season. We counted at least fifteen steals and countless moving violations were caused by the Lady Knights' tenacious defense. Double teams galore!

The best part of OG's night was the cheers from the army of cheerleaders they had in the gym. The photo below alone doesn't show how many skirted yappers were there! At least twenty at last count and more were coming into the gym at the end of the boys game. No joke. The 7th and 8th grade Altamont boys sure got a kick out of sitting behind them though.

Adam was kind enough to share with us a photo of his medal from completing the NYC marathon. (Oooohs and ahhhhs are appropriate here.)

Wednesday night Siddy G pulled double duty as she played in two sports events in the same day. Not even Deion Sanders pulled off such a feat. While Sanders did hit a home run for the Braves and score a touchdown in the NFL in the same week, he never scored a hoop and a play in a league championship game in the same day. (FYI, Sanders is the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.)

As starting point guard for the juggernaut Altamont Lady Knights, Sid lead them into battle against the Advent School. In their first home game of the season the Lady Knights cruised to their fourth straight victory. Winning 33-7, the Lady Knights made it look easy. Sid poured in six points while five others also contributed buckets. Suiting up for Advent was our buddy Tara, who also pulled double duty later on as a teammate of Sid's on the soccer field. Big props to Lilly and Co., Mackie, Janet, Ginny, Ruthie, G'ma and others for rooting on Sid.

Eating some quick protein and changing uniforms in the car during the six minute car ride, Siddy G hustled onto the soccer field just before the opening whistle. Playing against St. Francis for the league title was at stake. Have no fear, Sidney is here! Sidney, Tara, Maddie, Blayne, Emily B, Stella and others played their finest game in defeating St. Francis 3-2. Finishing with a record of 6-1-1, the LJCC team captured the league crown!

4-0! 4:58 p.m.

League Champs! 6:38 p.m.

Lilly rooted for Sid at the soccer game.

Our buddy Anna in Atlanta won her league soccer title. Way to go Anna!

As if our week wasn't busy enough, Sid's team played yet another game on Friday. This time they traveled to Fultondale just north of town. While the Fultondale team proved to be the most athletic team they've played so far, the Lady Knights took care of business in the opening quarter and cruised to another easy victory. Leading 14-4 at the end of the first period the team played smart defense as they improved to 5-0 on the season. The 35-16 win was the best game they have played. Ever steady Ellison and Allison proved to be too strong on the interior for the Fultondale forwards. Jessie and Emily each contributed several points. Siddy played tough defense and harassed their point guard all game.

Not a bad two weeks of sports with both girls winning their respective league titles and Sid's hoops team remaining undefeated.

Have a great week!

The Sports Guy

Lady Knights are red hot. AK is cool in NYC. Soccer is sweet!

Hey Sportsfans!



Sid's hoops season started off on a great note this past Monday afternoon. The Altamont Lady Knights took on Parkway Christian Academy. Playing in hostile territory, the Lady Knights scored the game's first eight points and never looked back. Winning 34-22, Sid's team looked strong for their first game together. Sid played point guard and contributed with stellar defense, excellent passing and nice leadership. Led by Jessie's 15 points, the Lady Knights showed crisp team passing and disruptive double teaming on defense. PCA was not skilled in ball movement and the Lady Knights capitalized by causing many turnovers and forcing several traveling calls. Sid knocked in one jumper and was credited with several assists. Elisson, Allison, Jessie and Malley played tough on both ends of the court.


























On Tuesday the Lady Knights were again on the road and continued with their winning ways. This game they played against Shades Mountain Christian School and it wasn't even close. Running away with a 40-17 win, the Lady Knights played smothering defense that complimented their excellent ball movement all game long. Sid, playing the point, chipped in two buckets and several key assists. Jessie, Ellison and Allison combined for most of the scoring. Malley "The Glove" Robinson was unreal as a defensive stopper. Coach Keith was super pumped after this win. The Lady Knights are 2-0 on the young season and looking for more wins!


















A big shout out to Adam for completing the NYC Marathon in 3:46:54. Nice job AK! Before I forget, the Black Bros. were just outstanding this weekend. They put on a real show this weekend. Nice job boys!

Thursday night Sid's soccer team played a tuneup scrimmage game against Trussville under the lights at the LJCC. In a rematch of an earlier loss, this scrimmage was close to the end. Three of the girls play for both teams and they sided with Trussville this evening. This advantage provided the scoring for the other guys tonight and led them to a 2-1 victory over the LJCC crew. Sid had several nice kicks as a midfielder.

On Sunday both girls were in soccer playoffs. Emmy's team played in the league championship against their arch rival Highlands Day School. Avenging an early season loss, the LJCC Eagles were victorious 3-0 to take home the title. Emmy played great at midfielder. She defended well and helped push the ball up field many times. Finishing with a record of 7-1, the Eagles were a super team this season. Coach Colin deserves a big round of applause. Thanks Allison and G'ma for rooting Emmy on to the win today. Team party is next weekend.

Sid's crew also played Sunday. They took on the Bullets at the LJCC field and moved to 5-1-1 on the season with another win. Sid played tough at forward. Her team plays their final game this Wednesday evening against St. Francis.

Several hoops games and one last soccer game this week. Have a great week everyone!

The Sports Guy

Tide is High. Spooky! Playoff fever.

Hey Sportsfans!

I hope you didn't leave the television Saturday night during the second half of the Texas - Texas Tech football game. In case you did, you missed an amazing comeback by the Horns only to be snatched away by Graham Harrell & Company in the last seconds. Biggest win in Tech history. This game defined excitement. Never before have some many Bama fans rooted for the Red Raiders. Parties throughout the state of Alabama undoubtedly were interrupted by loud cheers when Michael Crabtree broke free down the right sideline to score the winning points with only a few seconds remaining. The Tide will surely be ranked Number 1 in all the polls by the end of today.

Speaking of Number 1, did you catch the longest World Series game in history? When the dust finally settled on Game 5, the Phillies were the victors and named the 2008 World Series Champions. As Tim Kurkijan, ESPN baseball guru summed up the Series by saying, "It was great, it was terrible, but mostly it was weird." The great thing is that spring training is only a little over a 100 days away. Now it's time for hot stove talk to heat up. Where will the big time free agents Manny (Yankees?), Peavy (Braves?) and CC (Brewers?) end up?

Friday night more than 13 pounds of candy were gathered by the girl cheerleader and zombie cheerleader who live in the Home Team's house. I want to thank them for providing me with lunch for the next few weeks. (Little do they know but I have already eaten two pounds worth!) Here they are with buddies:

I can't believe I wake up listening to these two each day.

Sid and Em played in soccer playoff games this weekend. Big ups to G'ma for attending both games.

Emmy's Eagles played against St. Francis and whooped 'em real good. 5-1 was the score. The team is now 6-1 and poised for the finals next week. Emmy's soccer highlight of the year occurred late in the first half. She received a kick from our goalie and proceeded to dribble the ball the length of the field, past three defenders and kicked in a beautiful goal from about twenty yards out on the right side. The goalie had no chance as the ball sailed high and left above her outstretched arms. Way to go Em!

Sid's crew played Bessemer in a tough match. Winning 4-0 in a game that saw some serious injury to a Bessemer player, Sidney played really tough all game. She helped push the ball on offense and made several key passes. The game was played by the LJCC's team offense for most of the game. The team is now 4-1-1 and moves on to the finals next weekend.

Hoops season begins this week for Sid. Two games are on the schedule. Dance rehearsals are still going strong. Rumor has it there will be a public performance in early December in addition to the annual recital at the downtown civic center. Can't wait.

Have a great week everyone!

The Sports Guy