Notes ’n’ quotes ...
After saying goodbye to their families from August to May, most sportswriters ease up in the summer, get that second wind and prepare for the beginning of football.
Not here.
That’s because of Legion baseball and the East-West All-Star Games.
It wouldn’t be a summer in Salisbury without Rowan’s Legion going deep in the playoffs. This year, it was joined by neighbor South Rowan, which made it one step from the Area 3 finals.
Tonight, it’s off to the Greensboro Coliseum for the East-West basketball games, which always seem to have somebody from around here participating.
North Rowan has two players in the boys game, Marcus Reddick and Bryan McCullough. Seldom has one school produced two players in the same game.
The girls game begins at 6:30 p.m. with the boys to follow.
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The East-West football game is Wednesday night at Greensboro Grimsley’s Jamieson Stadium and yet another North Rowan Cavalier, Jarrett Wishon, is scheduled to play, along with Kannapolis’ Duran Lipscomb and Josh Lee. Wonders coach Ron Massey is the offensive coordinator for the West.
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Sure, go ahead: Sumo grand champion Masaru Hanada’s interpreter, as they watched a workout of the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League: “He wants to know if it’s legal to grab an opponent’s throat.”
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More North Rowan: Can Super Mario help Livingstone College become super?
Former Cav quarterback Mario Sturdivant worked the Bobby Jackson Basketball Camp last week and said he would not be returning to Kentucky State. He said — and Blue Bear coaches confirmed it — that Sturdivant may end up at the Salisbury school playing both basketball and football.
Former West basketball star Antwan House, a 6-7 forward, who is heading back to Florida for his second season of junior college, is also being courted by the Blue Bears.
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The Portland Fire’s Jackie Stiles is barely halfway through her rookie WNBA season, but the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer just broke a WNBA endorsement record.
WNBA officials announced a Wal-Mart order for Jackie Stiles T-shirts was three times larger than for any other WNBA player. Even more impressive: The order was for only six Wal-Marts in the Springfield, Mo., area, where Stiles played at Southwest Missouri State.
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Tracy Connor has found a home — her old home.
The former South Rowan basketball star will begin teaching at her alma mater this year. Connor starred at Wake Forest as a 6-foot-3 post player and will now be James Greene’s assistant.
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Trivia question: Barry Bonds recently became the 17th major leaguer to hit 500 home runs. Who is most likely to be the next to reach 500?
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Third baseman Chipper Jones, who has been with the Atlanta Braves through seven consecutive division titles and three World Series, discloses the team’s secret:
“The main thing is to have an owner with a billion dollars.”
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A Dale sighting: From motor sports author Brock Yates: “One final thought as the Dale Earnhardt legend builds — Who will be the first to claim that he is not dead and was seen driving a pickup outside Florence, S.C.? It will happen, trust me.”
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Dale’s team, the Kannapolis Intimidators, continues to struggle in the second half of the South Atlantic League season.
The main reason is that five of the best players have been sent up to the Winston-Salem Warthogs’ high-Class A club.
And that team, after going 22-46 in the first half of the Carolina League season, was in first place after 15 games of the season’s second half.
And manager Wally Backman knows why: the former Intimidator players.
“They know they’re competitive,” he told the Winston-Salem Journal of his Warthogs. “They believe in themselves now. And it’s with the addition of a few young guys. They’ve brought a different level of chemistry to the ballclub. The guys are excited.”
Backman said he actually wanted shortstop Guillermo Reyes and catcher Humberto Quintero during spring training.
Now he has them, along with starting pitchers Kris McWhirter and Dennis Ulacia, along with closer Joe Valentine.
Of Quintero, Backman gushes, “He’s the real deal.”
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Trivia answer: Jose Canseco, who is 37, has 450. But bet on Ken Griffey Jr., 31, who has 442.
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Everyone’s still talking about Tommy Lasorda’s tumble in the All-Star game trying to dodge a broken bat.
From Rick Nelson in the Sporting Green: “Would the bat have missed him if he was still on Ultra Slim Fast?”
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And finally. ...
Just spent my 10th anniversary on vacation. And if I’ve learned anything in 10 years of marriage it’s this: Happy wife, happy life.
So for the first time, we left the kids at home.
Now, if you’ve got kids, you know that by the second day, we had no idea how to entertain ourselves.
Me: “What do you want to do?”
Her: “I don’t know. What do you want to do?”
Me: “It’s 500 bucks a day, honey. Let’s pick something!”
We finally just did what comes natural to us. We stood out on the beach and yelled at other people’s kids.
That was a joke — and so is this column. See ya next time.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4256 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com
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