ODU baksetball tried to give the game away Tuesday against Richmond.  The Monarchs were up by as many as 17 points, but in the final seconds, they were clinging to a 3 point lead.

In the final minute, ODU turned the ball over 3 times on the full court press.  It was almost like the script called for Richmond to come back.   It looked like something out of a WWE match.   ODU was the wrestler who’s celebrating with the crowd while the injured guy (Richmond) gets up and grabs a chair.  Unfortunately for the Spiders, the chair wasn’t big enough.  ODU held on for the 3 point win, thanks to a charge call at the end of the game (probably the right call, but pretty close).

So, how did Blaine Taylor take this?  I was pretty sure he’d be miffed about almost blowing a 17 POINT LEAD!  Amazingly, he was not.  He was almost giddy.  I guess that makes sense when the team is riding a 3 game losing streak.  He was happy to see ODU jump out to an early lead.  While the crumble was stomach churning, a win is a win.

So, where does ODU go from here?  At least they know they can pull out a close game at the end.  Darius James (Tallwood High School) was awesome.  He is the guy who can take over a game if need be.  I think this team gets better as the year goes on.  I don’t know if I see them finishing any higher than 4th in the CAA.  But, does that even matter?  Isn’t it all about the CAA Tournament anyway?  This team has enough talent to win that.

Gotta admit.  Hampton University basketball surprised me a bit on Thursday.  The Pirates hosted and beat George Mason.  Now, the Patriots have lost a few people from last year’s team that won the CAA title.  But, still.  HU was a disappointment last year.  They were expected to be world-beaters, and then didn’t even win the MEAC.  So, this year, I didn’t know what to expect.  And, really, we still don’t know what to expect, but this was a good step for them.

Hampton controlled the whole game.  Just like the time last year when they beat VCU, the Pirates almost never trailed.  If they played Mason 10 times, I think Hampton would win 7.  They just looked like the better team.  Great game for HU.

But, here’s the rub.  Can they keep it going?  I like coach Kevin Nickelberry.  He’s a motivator and a great speaker.  But, last year, his team did not respond as the season went on.  For them to do well down the stretch, he’s going to need to push the right buttons this year.

Good start, though.

Where are our local football players going to college? More and more are going to James Madison in Harrisonburg. When I went up to JMU’s campus, I could see why. It reminded me of my time at Michigan State covering sports over there. The town is a “college town.” I’ve always liked those.

Anyways, enough about me liking the campus. A lot of our football players obviously like the campus, too. I was talking with center Scott Lemn from Kemsville High School in Virginia Beach. He says most of the people he meets on campus are actually from our area.

Success is one of the reasons our kids go there. They have a chance this year to play for a national championship. They’re ranked No. 1 in the country and they have some of the most exciting players in the country. Tallwood High School’s Rodney Landers is the quarterback. According to their coach, Mickey Matthews, Landers is a game-changer. He says only one other guy in that he’s coached could do it as well as Landers. That was Champ Bailey. Matthews coached him at Georgia.

If you don’t consider JMU a local team, you need to check the roster again. This team will be fun to watch, and root for, the rest of the year.

I saw first hand how good Norfolk State can be.  The Spartans have had a tough season, but they busted out with a big 35-9 win over Morgan State on Saturday.  It’s NSU’s first 2-game winning streak of the season. 

After competing for the MEAC title last year, many thought this team would do it again.  But, they had a bunch of road games early in the season, and just couldn’t win any of them.

Is this team worse than last year?  On paper, it seems obvious.  But, when I talked with their coach, Pete Adrian, a while ago, he told me this team was actually better.  Is that coach speak?  I don’t think so.  NSU did win a lot of close games last year.  And, they had a lot of their toughest games at home last year.  It’s possible this year’s squad is better, but just has a worse record.

Right now, I’m almost sure they’re playing better than last year.  The offense controlled the game today, and the defense returned two turnovers for touchdowns. 

Now, the most important thing is gearing up for next year and answering this question.

Will Norfolk State be better in 2009?

D-Hall is back, sort of.  The former Deep Creek star in Chesapaeake is at least a lot closer to home.  After getting cut by the Oakland Raiders just 8 games into the season, Hall has signed on with the Redskins.  He’ll play out the season with them and then become a free agent.

This deal works out pretty well for both parties.  The Redskins get one of the best cover cornerbacks in the leauge.  Hall, a former Virginia Tech standout, has the 3rd most interceptions in the league since 2005.  This is good for Hall because it gives him a chance to get his reputation back. 

Things were pretty ugly in Oakland for Hall.  In the off-season, he signed a 7-year, $70 million contract.  He didn’t last that long.  Fortunately for him, he still received $8 million for his 8 games.  Hall is going to have to fight the reputation that he’s a headcase, trouble-maker, etc.  Now, with the Redskins, he’ll get that chance.

This comes at a time when the Redskins could use some DB depth.  Sean Springs has battled injuries all season, and Chris Horton has been hurt a few games too.  Hall will help the Redskins throughout the rest of the season.

How will it turn out?  If I had to guess, I’d say Hall would help out the Redskins later in the season.  For some reason, it’s hard for players to make an immediate impact in the NFL, even on defense.  I could be wrong, but I don’t think this will give the Redskins a “big bang” right away.

“Big bang?”  You know what I mean.

It’s not the Yankees or the Red Sox.  The story this year in Major League Baseball is all about the Tampa Bay Rays.  They had the worst record in the Majors last season, now they are just about to start their first post-season in team history.  Joe Madden is the lock-of-all-locks to win the manager of the year award.  I mean, has there ever been a clearer choice?

Chesapeake’s B.J. Upton has been a big reason the Rays lineup produced this  year.  Upton’s power numbers have been down, but he’s stealing a ton of bases.  Chris Reckling and I talked with B.J. this week when the Rays made a trip to Baltimore.

The first thing I noticed about the Rays is that they were incredibly loose.  I don’t know if I’ve seen a team that loose before a game.  It was just before a game that could have clinched them the A.L. East title, too.  Turns out the happy-go-lucky attitude wasn’t bad for them.  They crushed the O’s on this night.

B.J. has a mohawk now.  He doesn’t stand out.  Basically everyone on the team has the signiture hair cut now, including the manager.  The wholde thing started about a month ago.  It was just one of those things that brought the team closer together. 

Upton is a very serious guy, but even he was sporting the new hairdo.  B.J also says the whole thing about him not hustling this year is in the past.  When I asked him about it, I could tell he was a little uncomfortable talking about it.  I think he’s embarrassed.  The good news is the manager doesn’t hold a grudge.  When I asked Madden he said kids make mistakes.

Last year at Grassfield High School during the charity home run derby, I asked B.J. if he dreamed of post season baseball.  Now, just a few months later, it will soon become a reality.

East Carolina football has arrived.  Actually, they’ve been coming for some time. Their head coach, Skip Holtz, has his team rolling.  Two straight bowl game appearances.  Not bad.  Now they’re ranked in the top 15 in the nation.  Even better.

My first trip to Greenville, North Carolina was Wednesday.  When you beat Virginia Tech and West Virginia, you get a visit from WAVY-TV. 

Wednesday, they practiced until 6pm.  I got there at 5:30 and started shooting some video of practice.  Some teams do not let you do this.  They think there are too many spies out there.  Thankfully, ECU didn’t have a problem with it.  It just makes our stories look better when we can shoot our own video of the team, even if it is just practice.  Now, I did get a little instruction before I started shooting.  Holtz came right over to me and said, “Make sure you shoot the players, not the plays.”  See, even ECU is already getting a little antsy.  That’s what happens when you get good.  I didn’t care.  I wasn’t a scout.  Just a journalist.

After practice I talked with a couple of Hampton Roads players who play for the Pirates.  One of the guys was Khalif Mitchell.  He used to play at First Colonial High School in Virgnia Beach.   He transfered to ECU from North Carolina after they were going to make him redshirt after his sophomore season.  So, he figured he’d just switch schools.  ECU came calling along with some other schools like Arkansas.  Looks like Mitchell made a good decision.  Now he’s playing for a national power.  Well, emerging national power I guess.

After practice I talked with Holtz about recruiting.  He said this was helping him tremendously.  After their last win, they got four verbal commitments right after the game.  I told him I was from Hampton Roads, and his eyes lit up.  I think his mouth started watering, too.  You see, coaches love the talent that is in our area.  He would love this success to help get more of our kids to consider the purple power to our south.  We’ll see if it works. 

Hello Tommy Reamon.  The longtime coach on the Peninsula is now running two-a-days at Landstown High School.  He’s the teams newest head coach.  Those who know Reamon’s history know that he coached Mike and Marcus Vick at Warwick High School and then his own son at Gloucester High School.  Now he has come to the southside.  In talking with Tommy yesterday, he seems to think there’s enough talent to compete at Landstown.  The team was mediocre last year, but that is not the norm for the Eagles.  They have had plenty of success in their 7 years of existance.

What a tough position for Reamon.  The school has such high expectations after the Percy Harvin/Chris Beatty years.  If Tommy does well, he’s just keeping the tradition alive.  If he fails, then that puts a little tarnish on his legacy.  That said, I think he can compete in the Beach.  Can Landstown win, though?  Salem and Green Run should both be beasts again.  And, Tallwood and Kellam are both going to be good. 

The good thing for Tommy is his team is young.  There are 32 sophomores on the team.  Not bad.  And that gives them some room to grow.

The trade has finally happened.  Brett Favre is out of Green Bay and into New York.  Count me as one of the skeptics who thinks this won’t make the Jets any better.  Don’t get me wrong, I do think the Jets will have a better season than last year, but not because of Brett Favre.  One man does not a team make.  Especially in football.  You’re telling me 1 player out of 50 will have that big of an impact?  I understand, it’s the quarterback, the most important position on the football field.  But, c’mon.  Michael Jordan was 20% of the starting team in Washington, and he couldn’t do it.  Why should I believe an aging all-star will have any different effect in football?  He will sell more tickets, and the team will be better.  But they would have been better with Chad Pennington, too.