Trax. Lax. Max.

Hey sportsfans,

This past week Emily got her first taste of big time track and field at the Montgomery Academy Invitational. 22 1A-6A schools from all over the state. Mostly high school athletes with some middle schoolers thrown in. Since the recent middle school meet was canceled due to bad weather, Coach Timmerman wanted the younger kids to get some competition experience at this meet.

Do we have another Daley Thomspson (look him up) in the making? Traditionally, the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" has been given to the man or woman who wins the decathlon. This began when King Gustav V of Sweden told Jim Thorpe, "You, sir, are the world's greatest athlete" after Thorpe won the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Maybe one day they will talk that way about Em. You never know. For now, to give her aching achilles some rest, Em stayed away from the track events and focused on the field ones in Montgomery.

Em competed in the long jump, high jump and javelin. What a fun, albeit loooong, day. We were not prepared for how long the meets take. In fact, this was not considered a long meet at all. Only took Em five hours to complete her events. The entire meet lasted almost seven hours. A big shout out to Papa Max, Pa, Leigh, UD, Lilly, Ellis, Sid, Lydia, George, Will, Marlene and Rick for coming out and cheering on Em.

Above, Taylor, Sam, Elizabeth, Em, Sydney C, Josh and Miles were among the Altamont kids running today.

Em did very well for her first time out, especially given that she was competing against athletes several years older than she. She landed successfully three long jump attempts. Teammate Taylor Young (9th grade) landed a jump at 17'3" to win the event. It wouldn't shock me in a few years if Taylor passes the current state record of  19' 9 1/2" set by Whitney Marsh (Mountain Brook High, 2002). Also, after doing some research (thanks, Aunt T), we have confirmed Em to be the first Nomberg to place in a recognized track and field competition in more than seventy years. Way to go, Boo!

Em also did very well in the javelin as she recorded a throw of more than 65'. Pretty good form. Spikes will help stabilize her footing. Coach really likes her enthusiasm and bazooka-like arm. She has five years to shoot for the girls state record set in 2007 by Meghan Austin from St. Paul’s with a monster heave of  150' 2".

The toughest event for her is the high jump. She showed great form. Longs legs, spikes and tons of practice will help Em improve greatly. Coach will keep working with Em to perfect the Fosbury-Flop (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bgVgFwoQVE). Current girls state record in the high jump is co-held by Kelly Gregory (Murphy High, 1985) and Raevan Harris (Northridge High, 2005) by clearing 5’ 10”.

From the "Did you know" department:  Did you know that Altamont's track teams currently hold several 2A  outdoor track records? Among them include Sid's former tutor, Elaine McGaughlin, in 2003 set the pole vault record at 8' 10". The school held the state title for 2A for eight straight years from 2002-2009.

Em also had a lax game this week against a very well organized Oak Mountain team. Although they lost 8-5, the Spartans are playing better each week. Em played solidly on defense.

Sid has been very busy with the school play and getting ready for the spring dance recital. Many photos soon to follow.

How would you like to hit the links at age 95? Way to go Papa "Bo Who and Deion Neverheardofyou" Max! This original multi-sport star never ceases to amaze.

Having a great week: Lots of underdogs are still dancing in the Big Dance, mostly notably Lehigh and Norfolk State. More are expected today. March Madness at its finest!

Not having a great week: Some annual powerhouse schools no longer dancing after one game: Duke, Mizzou, Bama, Michigan and Temple. Quit pouting. See you next year. Vandy had a good ride, but came up short against a very stingy Wisconsin team. A disappointing end to a successful season from from this talented squad that featured five seniors and the sweet shooting of  junior John Jenkins. All will be gone next year. Time to rebuild.

If you're looking for a really cool hoops sports blog email my buddy Barry at: bdreayer@bellsouth.net. Barry hits all the highs and lows of the week in his super informative and funny weekly musings! It's a great read for the hoops junkie.

Spring break is here. Enjoy your week if this is your break too. We are heading to soak up some rays. Opening day is fast approaching. More lax and trax in the following weeks.

See you again in a few weeks.
The Sports Guy

The Ginger Train gets cranked up. Dores are Champs! Tragic City Rollers. Colts mgmt. says: "Nah nah nah nah. Hey hey. Goodbye (to Peyton, et al.)"

Hey sportsfans!

Go grab your coffee and bagel. This is a long one. Biggest sports week of the year so far.

Em and her lax gal pals hit the field hard this week. Two tough games. Lots of fun. Lots of Katherines/Katheryns.

Tuesday night kicked off the season with a game against the dreaded Vestavia Rebelletes. Last year Vestavia proved to be a very tough opponent in two hard fought losses. This year, however, is a brand new season. Yeehaw!

Em was honored with the first draw and showed the other guys she was all business. Within three minutes of the opening whistle the Spartans grabbed a 2-1 lead with Em scoring on a sixty yard sprint, duck and weave, and lower right corner fastball for a score. #4's long strides and track training proved to be too much for the blue team. Thanks, Coach Timmerman!






Down 4-3 at half, the Spartans poured on the scoring that lead to an 8-6 victory. Old reliable LA played superbly in goal as she stopped several very tough attempts. Em biggest highlight in the second half came on a 8 meter penalty play with about three minutes to play. She took the ball off the whistle, two strides right and then fired a laser to the lower left for the convincing 8th point. Goalie never saw it. Still hasn't.




Big day for Em on Thursday at the winter sports assembly at school. Em's hoops squad was recognized for their 12-2 season. Em was also presented with the team's most improved award. Way to go Em! Next season will be even better. Might even see some varsity playing time.



Thursday night we watched Meyer play some serious hockey in Pelham. His Flames squad skated to a 4-4 tie against the Mighty Ducks. Meyer was stellar on defense and took four excellent shots on goal, including this first shot captured by Emily.






On Saturday, we traveled up to the Rocket City for a lax match against Huntsville. Playing in a cow pasture (actually) across from the army installation testing site (really), the Spartans played well in a tough loss. Em didn't get on the scoreboard this game, as her sleep deprived fog did not lift until mid way through the second half. It was during this second half, with about eight minutes to play, that Huntsville poured in three goals within three minutes. Our guys never recovered. The loss brings their record to 1-1 on the season.





Saturday night was one experience the girls will not soon forget. With Mad Hands and The Doodle in tow, we headed over to the Zamora Shriner's Temple which logically is the home turf of the Tragic City Rollers (TCR). Yup, you read that right. The Rollers are our home city women's roller derby team. Never been? Shame on you! Watching this glorious part of (sub)cultre should be on everyone's bucket list.

TCR took on The Rolling Arsenal of Derby from Huntsville. What fun and excitement! I just wished we had a clue what we were watching. Some (all) of these women (I assume) were quite scary! Of course, the halftime entertainment featured the dancing skills of our buddy, Margaret Blackerby, and her mates from the Katie Cox School of Irish Dance. Well, duh! We found out after the game that we had enough MOT in the stands for a minyon. Who knew?






After 14 seasons, Peyton Manning has been released by the Indianapolis Colts. It will be hard to imagine him playing for a new team. Where do you think he will end up? I think either with the Broncos or Cardinals. We should know this next week before free agency kicks in. Here is a short list of other NFL stars who ended up on another team: Unitas (Chargers), Namath (Rams), Montana (Chiefs), Franco Harris (Seahawks) and O.J. (49ers). As sports business reporter Darrell Rovell recently tweeted, "Congrats to the offensive coordinator on Peyton's new team. Nice salary, no work." That about sums it up.

The Colts also released numerous well known longtime players. Time for them to start over with their soon to be Number One pick, Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Some of you might get the reference in this clever cartoon below.



Good stuff from Indians outfielder Trevor Crowe, "Dear reds player, please remove skirt while sliding into home." @LouMar6 you've been #loumared



Having a good week: For the first time in 61 years (hard to believe) the Vanderbilt men's hoops team played in and won the SEC Championship when they took on this year's juggernaut in Kentucky Wildcats. Having played them tough in two prior games this season, the Dores took it to Big Blue today in their 71-64 victory. This win is the biggest in school history. Hopefully this win will propel them past the first round of the NCAA tourney for the first time in four seasons. With their recent conference tourney championship, Harvard's men's hoops team made the NCAA tourney for the first time in seventy years. Jeremy Lin is not Tommy Amaker's only success story. Keep on eye on the Crimson.

Not having a good week: The ongoing biggest story in sports, the alleged New Orleans Saints bounty hits during the past several seasons. The NFL investigation found between 22 and 27 defensive players on the Saints, as well as former assistant coach Gregg Williams, maintained a bounty system for inflicting injuries on targeted players. Big problems for Williams, Head Coach Sean Payton and Saints ownership. Auburn's men's basketball team is being investigated for possible point shaving violations this season. The point guard, Varez Ward is the target. As Clay Travis tweeted, "There is a 100% chance that Varez Ward's defense will be: "I wasn't shaving points. We just suck at basketball." Yup. Sounds about right.

Do you think it's gone? Jacoby Ellsbury and teammates watch a long fly sail into the afternoon sky. Nice photo.



Sid is acting, assistant directing, producing and financing the spring school play, "Zapped." Should be a fun look at television and pop culture.

More games and play practices this week. Spring break soon follows.
I might not sleep this month. Too much fun stuff going on.
The Sports Guy

Hodgepodge.

Hey sportsfans!

Spring showers in the Magic City are actually closer to downpours. Friday afternoon was no exception. Em and her running mates were set to participate in a metro middle school meet at Hoover High, but Mother Nature saw things differently. This meet will be rescheduled to later in the spring.

TSG was treated to a midweek excursion to T-town for the Bama/Auburn hoops game. In a game that might have set back college hoops by decades, these two mediocre teams sluggeed their way to a 55-49 snoozefest. This game's lowlights included poor shooting percentages by both teams, terrible free throw shooting by Auburn and confusing offensive plays by both teams. Not that I'm complaining. Thanks to Rich for a few hours of of the Magic City.






Is this Chipper's last season? Think about this: He has been a Brave so long now that not a single one of the other 34 players who appeared in his first game in the big leagues (on Sept. 11, 1993) is still active. He has been a Brave so long, in fact, that he arrived in Atlanta a dozen seasons earlier than any other player on this roster. Entering his 22nd spring training, Chipper turns 40 on April 24. His numbers are not what they were even five years ago, but they're still pretty solid. Here's hoping that Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones, Jr. goes out when he wants to, so long as he brings the Braves another championship.


You read that right. There are no aisle numbers in the Tuscaloosa Home Depot, only years of all 14 National Championships. This is the most SEC thing ever. Alabama’s craziness knows no bounds.

Having a good week: Some players get a watch when a veteran who joins the team takes their jersey number. Pittsburgh Pirate Daniel McCutchen got a college fund for his unborn daughter due in May. A.J. Burnett, who took McCutchen's No. 34 jersey, will start a College America 529 plan for McCutchen's daughter, McCutchen said. Not quite yet -- the child has to be born first so she can get a Social Security number -- but soon. Former Cal QB Joe Ayoob broke a world record distance for this paper airplane throw (226 ft,10 in). University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban will offer four-year scholarships to prospective student athletes beginning with the 2013 signing class. The US men's soccer team beat Italy for the first time in 11 games over 78 years, a 1-0 victory in an exhibition Wednesday night on Clint Dempsey's goal in the 55th minute.

Not having a good week: LA Laker star Kobe Bryant has a concussion in addition to the broken nose he sustained in the All-Star game. Bryant was injured during Sunday night's game in Orlando, Fla. He was struck by Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, who said Tuesday that he has apologized to Bryant for breaking his nose. Tommy Tuberville, current football head-coach at Texas Tech University, has been named as one of the subjects in a $1.7 million fraud lawsuit. After Tuberville resigned as the head football coach at Auburn University following the 2008 season, he and partner John David Stroud co-founded the Auburn-based investment company, TS Capital Partners, which is run by Stroud Capital. The suit, filed last Friday in a Montgomery, AL district court, claims that Tuberville and Stroud defrauded investors out of over $1.7 million. Delaware State was hit with a technical after Tahj Tate’s follow dunk gave his team a one-point lead and caused fans to storm the court thinking the game was over. However, there was 1.1 remaining on the clock, which meant that Delaware State’s fans and players were penalized for their premature celebration after coming back from 17 down at the half. Aric Brooks hit two free throws after a controversial delay of game technical foul just before the buzzer to provide Morgan State with a 73-72 victory over Delaware State. Minnesota’s Lakeview Christian Academy star player Anders Broman put up a whopping 71 points but his team still lost to Melrose High, 114-110. In the March 5th issue of Sports Illustrated, writer George Dohrmann has an eye-popping article on the current state of the UCLA Basketball Program. The program, after three consecutive Final Four appearances in the middle of the previous decade, has fallen on hard times. Brien Taylor , once the number one Major League Baseball draft pick, is charged with multiple counts of trafficking cocaine. The 40-year-old Taylor played for East Carteret High School and was signed by the New York Yankees after the 1991 Major League Baseball draft. But Taylor never played for the team because of an arm injury. Instead, he pitched for several minor league teams.

Do you think this lady was attending the St. John's / Rutgers game by choice?


Spring has sprung! This upcoming week includes: lax games, play practices, and a track meet?. Spring training games also begin this week. Spring break is in our sights.

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

Most Unbreakable Records in Sports History ???

Today is the 50th anniversary of Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point game. There are certain records that have stood the test of time and for good reason. Records like the Big O averaging a triple-double for a season or Richard Petty's 200 wins have yet to be matched let alone challenged. How about Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak or Pistol's 44 ppg at LSU?

There are many, many. What are yours?

The Sports Guy