One impression that I got from ODU’s 2nd Round loss to Baylor; those guys have some tall dudes.  I mean really tall.  There were 4 players on Baylor’s roster who were 6′10 or taller.  Two 7-footers!  That’s the equivalent of Chris Reckling standing on Bruce Rader’s shoulders, or something like that.

ODU played very well in this game.  Even when they fell behind by 14 in the first half, I never thought the Monarchs were playing badly.  I just thought Baylor was shooting lights out.  And they were.  Even one of their “tall dudes” knocked down a couple of three-pointers.  That’s just not supposed to happen.

In that 2nd half, ODU started to be rewarded for playing well.  Their zone defense made it very hard for Baylor to score easy buckets, until the end.  And even those weren’t easy.  The “big dude” named Lomers got a couple buckets down low in the final minutes and that was it.  ODU put up a great fight, but it wasn’t enough.

I saw a lot of red eyes after the game.  It was obvious that the players and coaches were crying in the locker room during the post game talk.  But, they shouldn’t feel bad for long.  This team has left it’s mark.  And, now it has given the program something to build on.

Perception is reality.  And the next time ODU gets to the NCAA Tournament, playing won’t be an accomplishment.  The fans, local media, and national media will expect ODU to compete and possibly win.  And that right there is a step in the right direction.  That is a program on the move.

Family roots of generosity on Stieger Street

I’m not one to steal thunder from my co-anchor.  But Alveta’s quest into bygone generations to track her roots got me thinking about the Schaad line.    The new NBC show “Who Do You Think You Are”  also inspired me to dig a little.   The program takes celebrities down the road of their family history–an ancestral journey into decades gone by.  

I’ve written before about the effort  to find my grandafther’s house in a working class enclave outside Pittsburgh, PA.    William Schaad built homes during the Great Depression, and I recently discovered his pre-1920 house on Stieger Street in Castle Shannon.  Family stories reveal the Schaad homestead was the center of numerous generous activities at a time when America had lost its way as a driving force of economic wealth in the world.  Quite frankly, most of the world wandered aimlessly during the 1930’s.  Railroad tracks carried hobos from town to town, looking for anything that resembled hope and a fresh start.   Those tracks ran behind Stieger Street, and these desperate men walking that line, or riding those rails would find themselves approaching my grandfather’s homestead.  Legend has it the front porch of my grandfather’s house sported a carving of a cat, which meant it was a friendly place to strangers.    Family lore suggests Grandfather Schaad never turned anyone away during those hard times.   If a man needed something to eat, there was always time share nourishment so he hopefully could make a fresh start.

Grandfather's house, wooden porch replaced by aluminum awning

The Depression took its toll on millions of people–’my grandfather’s story  being  just one tale among the multitudes.  My mother tells me he built dozens of homes, but lost his money because he could not forclose on those who could not pay their mortgages.  He died in 1941.     

I’m working with my sister Bernadette to trace  deeper  roots into our past.   Stay tuned.

Folks came out to support a good cause in Suffolk on Friday, March 19 and WAVY News 10 also lent a hand.

The American Red Cross Suffolk Chapter hosted its annual celebrity “Paint the Town Red” benefit at the Hilton Garden Inn Suffolk Riverfront at Constants Wharf .

Kay Young and I worked the room and sold raffle items. Suffolk Mayor Linda Johnson and other city officials served as celebrity waiters. Joe Hoppel was the emcee.

There was good food and music and also silent and live auctions.   It was great to get out to Suffolk and meet new friends.  My mom teaches in the city so I ran into a lot of folks who know her.  The food looked fabulous, the music was wonderful and the silent and live auction items were amazing.  I’m still waiting to hear from the organizer to learn how much money was raised.
You hear us mention the Red Cross when we report on house fires, blood drives and disasters.  The organization certainly played a big role in helping after the Suffolk tornado in 2008.  The money raised at this event will  be used to continue to help provide lifesaving services to the people in Suffolk.

Come out and say hi to me, Eric Harryman, Tom Schaad and others at 456 Fish on Granby Street in downtown Norfolk on Thursday, March 25, 2010, from 6-10pm. Reservations are suggested. Valet parking is available. In addition to good food and company, we will sell items and collect donations in support of the 28th annual Child Abuse Prevention Celebrity Night. Hampton Roads has a lot of cases of child abuse and this organization works hard to educate the public and protect our children.
This event is sponsored by: Prevent Child Abuse Hampton Roads.

We’ll see you there!

456 Fish, 456 Granby Street, Norfolk , VA (757) 625-4444

Wow!  Yesterday was just as nice as forecast…sort of.  Actually it got a little hotter than I thought by about 3-5 degrees.  So some inland locations got into the 80s. 

Highs Yesterday

Today the computer models were telling me that we will see some cooler weather.  I disagreed.  I think they are overplaying the cloud cover, but we’ll only see partly cloudy skies later this afternoon after a mostly sunny start.  Plus, we had such a warm start with lows in the low 50s.  Winds will be South/Southwest at 10-15mph.  So to me this spells out similar highs this afternoon despite the extra clouds and despite these infernal machines. (Overly dramatic I know). 

Speaking of dramatic…how about the difference in weather between here and the Midwest.  Look at the radar from this morning:

Snow In The Deep South

Snow fell from Illinois down to Louisiana.  Amazing!  We’ll have a big cool down from this system, but no snow here.  There will probably be some snow in the mountains over western Virginia though.  The storm system will produce scattered showers and thunderstorms tomorrow.  We could see some strong wind gusts, but I don’t think we’ll see severe weather.  It’s not out of the question, but instability will be lacking in the morning.  Behind the system we will get the cool down on Tuesday.  Temperatures at the 850mb (millibars of pressure) level will be 0 to -2.  That is what we look for for snow, but it will be too warm at the surface.  So don’t get your hopes up.  Again, that won’t be the case in the mountains though.  

    Temperatures will rebound quickly by Wednesday.  Highs will  be back in the 60s.   However, the long term models show another big cool down 9-10 days out.  The models keep advertising these cool downs though, and they don’t pan out as strong as advertised.  So we’ll see.  If it does pan out, then highs may be in the 40s for a day.  10 days out…confidence is low on that.  Stay tuned!

Anyway, enjoy the weather today.  Put on the sunscreen if your out for a long period of time.  UV index today is 6-7. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

(NEW ORLEANS, L.A.) — Thanks Blaine Taylor, Frank Hassell, ODU basketball in general.  You extended my stay in New Orleans by two days.  I feel like I should buy you an Applebee’s gift card.

What a city to have to travel to.  I can no longer complain about anything about my job, not that I did much anyway.  Certainly, this week, my job has not sucked.  Doing stories on the NCAA Tournament, ODU, and Bourbon Street.  If you’re wondering what Bourbon Street has to do with sports, I’m still trying to figure it out, too.

As I sit here hours before ODU’s game against Baylor, I’m wondering if the ride can continue.  Will WAVY TV actually be booking tickets to Houston to follow the team in the Sweet 16?

Talking with the ODU coaches, they seem to think that Baylor is the best team they have played all season long.  They feel that this team could get to the Final Four.  Now, some of that is probably coach speak.  It’s always wise to play up your opponent.  But, Baylor has the height and athletic ability to really make them a significant favorite in this game.  Against Notre Dame, I did not feel like ODU was an underdog.  In this game, I do.  When I walked into Baylor’s locker room and interviewed some of their players, they just looked tall.  And they were sitting down.  The conference they played in, the Big XII, was very good this year and has fared well so far in the tournament.

A win today for ODU would surprise me.  That’s not to say ODU’s not good enough to win, I just think they’d have to shoot very well and outrebound a bigger team.  Having said that, it can be done.  And, if ODU does win, it won’t be considered the biggest upset in the tournament, thus far.

Baylor 72, ODU 62.  Hope I’m wrong.

Hello to the first day of Spring!  It’s hard to believe that we will be seeing highs in the mid 70s when it will be snowing in central Illinois and Missouri today.  Here’s the satellite/radar from this morning:

Remember blue is snow on that image.  High pressure will dominate our weather this weekend.  High temperatures will be in the 70s with the exception of cities right along the shore.  Temperatures there will be in the upper 60s.  The bays and sounds are warming up though.  The Bay temperatures are in the lower 50s now.  The ocean temperatures are also in the 50s.  It will be a while before we can jump in without a wetsuit. 

With the warmer temperatures comes sprouting plants.  Things are starting to pop up nicely.  Some of you have probably already had to cut the grass even.  My yard is about due.  Along with the plants come the allergies.  We are heading into allergy season, and my nose is starting to feel it.  According to pollen.com the pollen is low-moderate for the weekend with trees being the main allergen. 

By the way a lot of folks are thinking that we’ll see less mosquitoes this year since we had a cold Winter.  Not so fast!  We did have a chilly Winter, but we never really had lows near 0 or below.  We only had a couple of mornings with lows in the teens if I remember right.  Also, we had a very wet Winter.  Bugs can use that to their advantage as subsoil moisture is harder to freeze.  Mosquitoes lay there eggs before the cold sets in. These pests can survive through Winter and start to pop out in the Spring.  From my experience you need a dry Winter with a rapid/hard freeze to reduce the insect numbers.  They are resilient.  So don’t be surprised to see the pests out pretty soon. 

Meteorologist: Jeremy Wheeler

I looked back through the climate records for a weekend that had two 70+ days. And it was slim pickings! I found a few days here and there with 70 degree days…even a stray Saturday or Sunday.

I had to go all the way back to October 3rd and 4th of last year to find a weekend with both days above 70. It was 82 on the 3rd and 76 on the 4th.

This coming weekend, we’ll likely see a high (in Norfolk) of 72 or 73 on Saturday…74 or 75 on Sunday.

In the beginning you’re tired, very tired. Then after you’ve caught up on some sleep, you start to worry … about EVERYTHING. I’ll be first to admit, I hover over my kids like a hawk, over-protective to say the least — so maybe I have not been exposed to as much worry as some other parents .. but I got a rude awakening a few days back when one of my boys 8 months old,  couldn’t breath in the middle of the night.  As the Dad of twin boys, I’m sure the worries have just begun. BUT take a look at the picture below. This is what happens when kids can’t breath. WHAT?!!!!

J.C.'s first breathing treatment

Possibly Asthma, problems with Bronchi .. ugh .. what’s a bronchi? You hear horror stories of kids with asthma and how scary it can be. But until you are confronted with the breathing treatments, medicine and research the risks .. you really don’t know how scary it is.  I snapped this picture as my wife Lisa gave J.C.  his first of MANY breathing treatments. He apparently had and infection of the ‘bronchi’ — no not bronchitis, that is apparently something different. The breathing treatments were every 4 hours round the clock, followed by a steroid treatment. How helpless does my little guy look? He was a trooper and made it through just fine, but it sure opened my eyes. I would give him breathing treatments and the whole time he would just look right at me, trusting me completely even though this breathing machine was making enough noise to wake up the neighbors. Tough to explain, but something kicked me that day. For the first time I felt at the mercy of something I knew NOTHING about. (I know, I know .. parents reading this are saying ‘welcome to parenthood dude!’

I think he's actually smiling. Wish I was.

Things like asthma may seem like they happen to someone else, but the truth is that it’s much more common than anyone thinks. And if any one in your family has it ..  your chances of  having to deal with it jump dramatically. Know the signs and what to do, you’ll rest better knowing you know.

Anyone else got a take on this stuff?? Whoa -aaaaa! Scary stuff.

Would like to hear from ya.

Eric

It’s that time of year when the flowers start blooming, the trees start budding and the grass starts growing.  This means the pollen index will be starting during the weather segments.  Pollen season normally begins at the beginning of April and ends during early May.  The height of the season is mid to late April.  This is the time you will notice a yellow powdery substance on your cars and porches.  Many local residents are highly allergic to specific pollens that bloom during this time of year.

Meteorologist Jon Cash