Tourney time.

Hey sportsfans,

When was the last time you had the pleasure of watching more than nine hours of middle school volleyball? Yesterday for me. The Altamont Lady Knights played in the Jefferson County Middle School girls volleyball tourney in lovely Oak Grove, Alabama. (You can look it up. I dare you.) Coming into the tourney the three time defending champs were the Advent Panthers.

After a forty-five minute drive through scenic Hueytown, we toured west Jefferson County to Oak Grove. We arrived before nine for the ten o'clock first game. The Knights easily took out Brighton and then Briarwood in opening two rounds. They lost to Advent in the third round, sending the Knights through the losers bracket and a longer path the finals.

In the fourth round of pool play, the Knights destroyed Corner Middle. In the match up everyone was waiting on had Altamont again against Advent. This time in the semis. The Knights and Panthers had played seven games during the season before the semis. The Panthers had won six of the seven, by an average of eight points winning margin. Well, in the semis the Knights really found their stride and just played their best ball of the season. Winning both games in nail biters, the Knights just wore out the #1 seeded Panthers. Exciting games to say the least.

However, at the conclusion of the semis several of the Knights parents got a little too excited in their assumption that the Knights had won the tourney. Much to their chagrin, the parents were informed the teams would be playing again in a best of three in the finals. (This was a double elimination tourney.) Some real grumbling in the stands. I just wanted to smack around a few of them!

Things settled down in the stand as a quick warm up between the semis and finals was finishing. Really? After seven hours you'd think the teams would be warmed up. The gym was now full of other spectators and players all ready for the finals. Unfortunately it did not take long for the Panthers to establish their dominance. Winning both games fairly easily, the Panthers captured their fourth straight crown. While the Knights gave it their all, the semis just seemed to take out all their strength. Kudos to both teams for some highly skilled volleyball. Real athleticism on display.

Emmy played in several of the games. She served well and had some excellent shots. Elizabeth and Ashley were also superb all day. This team will be tough to beat next year. Lots of great experience for many of the seventh graders.







Three weeks before Em starts playing hoops for Coach Keith. Should be a fun season. Cannot wait to see the Ginger Train snagging some boards and leading the fast break.

Having a good week: Detroit sports teams - Lions are 3-0 for the first time in more than thirty years, and the Tigers clinched the AL Central divisional crown. Cam Newton is still looking good. The NY Yankees looking to peak at the right time. Texas A&M is set to join the Southeastern Conference, the league said Sunday, apparently signaling that legal hurdles have been cleared for the Aggies to leave the Big 12. New York Jets RB LaDainian Tomlinson became the third NFL player to have at least 160 career TDs, joining Jerry Rice & Emmitt Smith. The Buffalo Bills defeated New England 34-31 to end a 15-game losing streak to the Pats. Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson has pledged that for every TD he scores this season, he will donate $5,000 toward helping at-risk youth & fighting human trafficking.

Not having a good week: Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves just stink right one now. Killing me not so softly in the ATL. Eagles super QB, Michael Vick, in successive weeks with a concussion and broken (non throwing) hand. New York Giants players deny claims from former teammate Bryan Kehl that defensive coordinator Perry Fewell tells players to fake injuries if they need a timeout.


TSG and Ellis at the top of the ridge after a great hike on Sunday.

Happy New Year. Fall weather is upon on. Almost.
On the agenda in the upcoming weeks: Halloween. Camping. Surprise.
Have a great week, everyone!

The Sports Guy

Finally! Dores are rolling. Jake is the Man!

Hey sportsfans,


Attention: The Ginger Train has left the station with full steam!

Despite missing many practices due to injury, Em has quickly made up for it with her enthusiastic play. When questioned about missing so much time on the practice court, she responded, "We're sitting here, I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about practice?" (In fairness to Em, that's really Allen Iverson's rant from several years ago.)


With her foot no longer bothering her, all week Emmy "I'm a setter!" Nomnomnom released a controlled fury on the volleyball court and vanquished some ill prepared and unsuspecting opponents. During Monday afternoon the Knights traveled to eastern Jefferson County to take on Erwin Middle and Rutledge Junior High. Those guys never had a chance.


The Knights played great in Erwin's sweltering 80+ degrees gym. The girls played very well together in their convincing wins over both schools. Lizzie, Lucy, Ashley and Em heated up and played their hearts out. Some highlights included Em closing out two wins with serves and Ashley serving for eight straight points against Rutledge!

During Tuesday afternoon in a home game, the Knights took on Brighton Middle. These games weren't really close. Winning the first two games with superior team play, Em and her mates looked impressive. Highlights included Emmy serving the winning scores to close out both games.

On Wednesday, Em's squad took on their arch rivals, Advent Panthers. This time they played in a real gym, but the results were the same. A stronger Panthers squad took it to the Knights in beating them three straight games. The defeat dropped the season record to 7-2.

On Monday, the team takes on Shades Mountain and Briarwood in the final regular season matches. The county tournament is next weekend.

Sid has been dancing up a storm and learning some very complicated numbers. She is also trying out for some plays in a few weeks. Stay tuned....

Having a good week: He will struggle during the season, but did you catch Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton's first game? Pretty impressive. I know it's early in the season, but Vanderbilt Commodores look pretty good in their three wins against Elon, UConn and a thrashing of Ole Miss this past weekend. Go Dores! A big shout out to our buddy Jake Harris who played very well considering how sick he had been earlier in the week. Jake's Colts team rolled to victory over the Raiders. Some highlights included stellar blocking from the right guard position and an awesome one handed tackle.

Having a not so good week: NFL defenses and special teams coverages. Have you seen how many kicks returned for touchdowns and how many QBs with huge numbers? Brady, Rodgers, Henne (yes, Henne), Brees all had great games. Wednesday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, the Houston Astros grudgingly secured their place in franchise history. The 50th team in Astros history is the losingest, with a 1-0 defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies. In Crestline football, the Raiders #3 had a very rough game against Jake Harris. After being pancaked by Jake on several plays, #3 started shoving, swinging and pushing. Giving much credit to Jake's good sportsmanship no fights ensued.

Rosh Hashanah is fast approaching. Fall Project Week is not far behind.

Loving the cooler weather.

Picked out your Halloween costume yet? Working on mine as we speak.

Have a great week, everyone!

The Sports Guy

2011 Alabama Komen Race for the Cure

Hey sportsfans,

Next month is the annual Alabama Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Birmingham. October 15th. Team Kate has Hope is quickly adding team members and receiving donations. Please consider joining our team or making a donation, or both.



Here is the link for the Team's page: http://ncalabama.info-komen.org/site/TR/RacefortheCure/BHM_NorthCentralAlabamaAffiliate?pg=team&fr_id=2168&team_id=177924

Thank you,
The Sports Guy

Labor Day fun.

Hey sportsfans,

What a great week! Lots of exciting volleyball and fun at the beach. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend. We sure did.

First off, the volleyball news. Em's Knights walked into the Lions' (actually, Panthers') Den on last Monday afternoon and it was U-G-L-Y. I mean, UGLY! Playing in a gym the size of your mother's living room proved to be just one of the obstacles facing the Knights. The other was the fact they were facing the three-time defending Jefferson County Middle School Champs, the Advent Panthers. The Knights were out of sorts from the first points until the last one. They could not adjust to the extremely limited dimension of Advent's gym. Talk about home court advantage! I'm wondering how Advent's won/loss record over the years compares to Vanderbilt's Memorial Gym magic or the Milwaukee Brewers' success this year at home. The Knights did squeak in one victory, but lost three others.

The view from the stands of Advent's court.

Here is Emmy keeping score.

An action shot of Lizzie's serving.

The Knights did manage victories at Briarwood, Shades Mountain and Brighton last week. Weather permitting, they have more games scheduled this week. Hopefully Em will see some court time.

Hurricane, Schmurricane. Despite Lee's (not our Leigh!) presence, we had a very nice weekend with lots of family this weekend on the gulf. Not much sun, but good quality family time.

Having a great week: Four years after pleading guilty to federal charges relating to gambling and dog fighting, Michael Vick is back on top of the football world. This week he agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles on a six-year, $100 million contract. The deal replaces the one-year guaranteed franchise tender, which has a value north of $16 million. The contract comes seven years after Vick signed a 10-year, $130 million deal with the Falcons. The ultimate question is whether he'll stay there this time. Papa Max had a great weekend enjoying the company almost all of his grand and great-grand children in Gulf Shores. LSU coach Les Miles seems to be on roll these days. After whipping Oregon this weekend, Miles' Bayou Bengals have beaten some excellent teams lately. Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M, in 2010.

Having a not so great week: The fellow at Under Armour who was in charge of designing the University of Georgia and University of Maryland football uniforms. Just awful. With no real pennant races this year, Major League Baseball better pray the playoffs are competitive. With three weeks remaining in the regular season the divisional and wild card races are all but completed. Colts QB Peyton Manning's injury might be more substantial than was thought. The legendary signal caller looks to be on the sidelines for the start of the NFL season.

Have a great week everyone!
Trying to stay dry in this much cooler weather,

The Sports Guy