Knights say goodnight. RELAY!!! Lady Spartans make the Magic disappear. Mercedes Marathon.

Hey sportsfans!

There will be no Final Four for the Altamont Boys hoops team this year. In a nail-biter Monday night in Hanceville at Wallace State, the Tanner Rattlers won the Class 2A Northwest Regional, 47-41. The Rattlers (13-13), last year's state runner-up and the 2013 state champ, also eliminated No. 4 Tharptown in the sub-regional round. Tournament MVP Johnathan Fletcher, the starting quarterback on Tanner's 2013 and 2014 football state championship teams, scored a game-high 17 points. Our guys played their hearts out, but once again missed free throws were the Achilles heal. The four seniors, Patrick, Sam, Keegan and Jordan, have much to be proud of. This team started the season with five other seniors quitting the team for various reasons. The 18-7 Knights have plenty of returning veterans and should be a fun team again next season.

Sidney is part of the team at BSC for this year's Relay for Life. This year, Birmingham-Southern is getting the privilege of having it’s very first Relay for Life event! The event will be on April 16th, 2015 from 6:00pm-12:00am on the Academic Quad. It will feature a stage, bands, games, team’s set up tents to fund raise and other surprises. Partnered with American Cancer Society,  Here is a link to Sid's personal page. Please consider donating to the this most worthy cause: Relay at BSC 2015.

Did you catch Round 1 of this year's annual Tobacco Road grudge match? Here is the new video made before the game: Here comes Duke '15. UNC v Duke in an overtime thriller. The Blue Devils made a strong comeback late in the second half to force overtime and then won it in the extra period. Awesome atmosphere and game. That's why I love college hoops.

This past weekend the Lady Spartans took on the Birmingham Magic during a short window of decent weather during Saturday afternoon. This one was never in doubt as the Lady Spartans handled the Birmingham Magic easily, 21-4. The Magic is a newer program to the league - maybe their third year? They have a nice group of athletic kids but do not have the history of playing together and need more coaching. Since Em has been dealing with a pretty nasty virus all week her playing time was limited to the first half. She did have three or four nice takeaways after checking the offensive player. 

Although laxpower.com has Mountain Brook ranked #1, slightly ahead of Oak Mountain, our girls had better not start thinking they are the greatest team in the world. I hope they get more serious about improving their skills. The competition has been sub par so far, with the meat of the schedule, including rival Oak Mountain, is coming up. These games will be the true tests of the team's abilities. The Lady Spartans are now 2-0 with James Clemens from Huntsville as the next opponent.

Lily and Ellis ran in the annual Kids Mercedes Marathon this past weekend in downtown Birmingham with 5k of their closest friends. I heard they both set PRs and are already training for next year's race. 

The average length of MLB games has increased more than 30 minutes in the past 25 years. The average game is now more than 3 hours. That's too long. To deal with the issue, here are some of the rules changes being implemented Quicken the pace of play.

ARod? Who cares. Check out this very impressive behind the back score in women's college lacrosse: Awesomeness! Lots of high sports this upcoming week. I hope Mother Nature behaves. Big weekend fast approaching for Anna W. We are looking forward to celebrating it with her.  Papa Max turns 98 this week. Awesome! Been to a UAB hoops game lately? If so, you will recognizer the strong chants of "We want football!!" coming from the student section. UAB Pres. Watts is not having a good year. Figured out your Purim costume yet? Looking forward to hamentashen alamode!

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy 

Phil Campbell rode in on a horse ... Knights quest for the Final Four. Lady Spartans in the win column. BBYO IC 2015. Relay for Life.

Hey sportsfans!

Monday night the Lady Knights were looking to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2012. They had reached that round 4-5x in the 2000s, but the past few years the team has struggled getting out of the sub-regional round. Two seasons ago they lost in this round to Sulligent. Here is the recap from that game: Sulligent vs.Altamont 2013.

Their opponent was Phil Campbell High School, from Franklin County in the northwest part of the State. The Lady Bobcats are the pride of this small town. After the 2011 tornado, the high school was torn down and the new school was finished in September 2014. It should be pointed out that Phil Campbell is one of three municipalities (Carol Stream, IL and Jim Thorpe, PA) in the United States with the first and last name of a person as its name. The Lady Bobcats featured a well balanced team that was their area's tourney runner-up to Red Bay High School (home of Van Tiffin) and sported a 21-6 record entering the game. 

The Lady Knights thrived all season by pressuring the ball and forcing turnovers into easy buckets. Many times this season they would go on a quick run, typically during the third period, that would decidedly put away the game. During this sub-regional game, however, the visiting team turned the tables on our guys by pressing most of the game. This produced many turnovers and quick buckets. The other guys were just better than our guys tonight.

The Lady Knights found themselves in a 9-1 hole early in the first period, but quickly converted some twos to catch up, 9-8. That would turn out to be the closest score of the evening. By the half, the Lady Bobcats had run up double digit lead and KP's girls were scrambling to stay out of foul trouble. The second half did not produce much change as the home team tried valiantly to play catch up to a team that kept the pressure on until the very end. Em had two nice blocks, some excellent steals and assists. She also contributed with one bucket and played very hard on defense. 

It sucks when your season ends in the playoffs before reaching the final goal. While this defeat still stings, it really must be noted that the loss concludes a very successful season for the Lady Knights. They have much to be proud of. Their season ended with a stellar record of 17-6. This is the third straight season the team did not have any seniors. However, they will be returning tons of seasoned veterans looking to go past the sub-regional round. Last year's team was injury-laden and finished 8-8 before bowing out in the area tourney. This year they played injury-free, won the area regular season and area tourney. I am sure these girls are very disappointed in the loss, a natural response by such dedicated athletes. I hope they learn from this season and build toward an even better season next year. It has been a real pleasure rooting for them.

The #6 Altamont Boys (19-6) team continued their quest for State by winning the Sub-Regional finals against Red Bay. In a slow down game, the boys prevailed 33-21 to move on to the Sweet 16. The boys then took down #1 Cold Springs in the Regional semis Thursday night, 59-57. Cold Springs featured several sharp shooters, including a D1 prospect nicknamed White Chocolate. Jordan harassed him all game and held him to under his average. The boys played tough defense all game and held on in the 4th quarter when Cold Springs rallied from down 15. They must hit their free-throws against Tanner this Monday night if they expect to make it the Final Four.

It did not take long for our favorite redhead to switch gears, I mean uniforms, as her Lady Spartans kicked off their season Tuesday night on the road at Trussville, Coach Hunter has moved Em to a new position to start the season. She is heading up the defense that lost all four of its starters to graduation. Coming off a loss in the State Championship to Oak Mountain, the Lady Spartans are looking to avenge their only loss from last season.

This opening game was really more of scrimmage. Trussvillle is a fairly new program with just a few seasoned players. They were no match for the Lady Spartans (1-0) in this game. Olivia, Meredith, Sophie and Jennings provided the scoring, while Em, Isabella and Lauren played tough on defense. Goalie LA made several nice stops. Em had numerous checks that lead to turnovers and the ball heading the other way. She plays like a strong safety patrolling the defensive backfield just waiting to strike. This one was never in doubt. The Lady Spartans took it, 14-2. Next game is against the Birmingham Magic.

Sidney is part of the team at BSC for this year's Relay for Life. This year, Birmingham-Southern is getting the privilege of having it’s very first Relay for Life event! The event will be on April 16th, 2015 from 6:00PM-12:00AM on the Academic Quad. It will feature a stage, bands, games, team’s set up tents to fund raise and other surprises. Partnered with American Cancer Society, Relay for Life helps raise awareness and money to help defeat the disease that affects too many people we all know and love. Every year, the Relay for Life movement raises more than $400 million. The American Cancer Society puts these donations to work, investing in groundbreaking research in every type of cancer and providing free information and services to cancer patients and their caregivers. Their main fundraising event is in April, but they raise funds all year. Here is a link to Sid's personal page. Please consider donating to the this most worthy cause:  BSC Relay for Life 2015.  

Over Presidents’ Day Weekend, Emily was one of more than 3,300 of the Jewish community’s top teen leaders, educators, professionals and philanthropists from across the world who came together in Atlanta for BBYO International Convention (IC) 2015.

Never give up, Calvin. Never give up.

Looks like ice/snow possibly this week in Bama. Stay safe! Stay warm!
Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy

Area Tourney Champs. 2 - 0 final score in a hoops game, really? Is Tiger sticking around too long? Lady Spartans are ready to go.

Hey sportsfans! 

Tournament time. The boys and girls teams hosted the Class 2A, Area 11 tournament this past week at Altamont. The girls took on Tarrant in the first round. I have always heard that it is very difficult to beat the same team three times in a season. That was the challenge for the Lady Knights faced Thursday night. Having beaten Tarrant in double overtime at their place early in the season, and then at home they ran away with an 18 point win, the area regular season champs were geared up for round three to open the area tourney.

The first half was a seesaw battle with Tarrant leading 22-21 at the half. However, the Lady Knights (16-5) used a stifling defense and superior conditioning to wear down Tarrant in the second half. By limiting the visiting team to nine points in the last two quarters, the home team ran away with the opening game victory by a score of 41–31.

Em played all over the court while contributing in just about every statistical category, Katie was strong in rebounding. EB hit a key three as the third period closed out that excited the crowd. Caroline was her usual hustling self. Molly had some clutch rebounds. Aarthi and Cat provide much of the scoring that including several bombs from beyond the arc. Excellent win. 

Friday night in the area championship, the Lady Knights took on Sumiton Christian which featured some excellent outside shooters, including their all-star two-sport guard who has signed to play at Birmingham Southern. Both teams played a very tight first half with with the Lady Knights up 19-15 at the break. During the last two minutes of the second period the girls went on one of their patented lock down defensive spurts that lead to eight straight points.

During a still very tight game in the third period, the game momentum turned when Sumiton's ball handler got frustrated with EB's tough defense and intentionally elbowed EB in the mouth. That earned her a quick T and split lip for EB. After Aarthi's free throws, Em sank a nice three to extend the lead. They pulled out to a 33-22 lead late in the third period.

This one was far from over. The fourth quarter heat then came from Sumiton fouling and our girls missing most of their attempts from the charity stripe.  However, they sank enough of them when it counted and when the clock struck zeros the home team was the winner,  37-32. Caroline had more than half a dozen steals while getting pounded in the paint. Molly and Katie had several tough rebounds. Aarthi shutdown their top scorer, holding her to a tough dozen and none from beyond the arc. That tough defense earned her tourney MVP. Em pulled down a key rebound to help seal the win. Cat was her usual consistent and steady self as she was also named to the all tourney team. EB is now sporting more than 15 stitches and a cool new scar to go along with her already tough court mentality.

For the first time in many years, both teams Altamont teams won the regular season and tourney area championships in the same season. Exciting week for the school. 

The Lady Knights (17-5) will now host the sub-regional game against Phil Campbell Lady Bobcats (21-6), Monday night at Altamont.  The winner will take on the winner of the #3 Cold Springs / Hatton in the Regional Semifinals (Round of 16) later in the week. The Boys won two excellent games this past week, including a thrilling 73-70 game over Tarrant for the area tourney crown. Awesome game. They are #6 in 2A and will host Red Bay this Tuesday at home. The winner will also face the winner of Cold Springs / Hatton in the Regional Semifinals (Round of 16) later in the week.  

A recent Alabama boys high school hoops game made history. Yawn!  

Did you know?? The very first Iron Bowl was played at Birmingham's Lakeview Baseball Park (about three long passes from our house) on Feb. 22, 1892, resulting in a 32-22 Auburn victory. Only 450 people were on hand to witness that historic moment. 

With Tiger's latest back injury causing him to pull out of a recent tournament, are we now looking at another athlete who should have retired earlier than he recognized? Way too many excellent athletes just could not give up their craft when it was time. Woods, who turns 40 at the end of the year, joins the following well known sportsmen who really should not have played as long as they did:   Patrick Ewing, Joe Namath, Willie Mays, Sugar Ray Leonard, Jerry Quarry, Johnny Unitas, and the list goes on. Sometimes the body gives out well before the mind wants to admit it's  time to head for the hills. Check out these surprising graphics about Tiger's decline: On the way out?

Em hits the lacrosse field this week when the Lady Spartans take on Trussville to open the spring season. #4 is moving to head up the defense this year for Coach Hunter. This looks to be a good squad despite losing nine seniors (6 starters) to graduation. Several 9th graders are hoping to contribute this season. Many returning starting veterans look to make another title game run.

Anyone need errands run? Since she turned 16, Em has been on the go and never home! I never knew I had some much free time. I might start sewing or gardening. It's all good around here. Chocolates, flowers and cards are acceptable this week. Do not wait too late! Not much from Sid this week. With the weather so mild lately I hope to get an action shot her asleep in the Eno. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: College life looks tough!

Have a great week everyone!
The Sports Guy