Wednesday: AWESOME-uary rolls on
RADFORD, Va. – Due to extreme cold temperatures expected today, Radford softball’s home opener versus Virginia Tech has been postponed. The forecast called for temperatures in the mid-30s with the wind chill in the mid-20s. A make up date will be announced later. — press release from Radford University this morning.
I TOLD MY SON TO SAVOR ALL OF IT. The fact that postseason baseball’s on every night? Relish that. The fact that weekends are packed with the pageantry of college football and the high stakes of the NFL? Appreciate that. The fact that the weather was still warm enough for us to step outside and play whatever sport we wanted or grill up some sausages over a charcoal flame? Don’t take that for granted.
This was back in October. Not all months are as great as October, I said.
“Yeah, like February,” said my 7-year-old, Casey. “February stinks.”
He was right, of course. But as a father, I don’t want to raise a little month-hating cynic. So I figured I’d try a little mind-over-matter experiment.
“Tell you what,” I said to the boy. “Let’s not say the word ‘February’ any more. From now on, we’re going to call it ‘AWESOME-uary.’”
You could almost hear the “Full House”-style piano music start to play in the background as I continued this corny heart-to-heart talk.
“Life is what you make it, son,” I said. “Your attitude goes a long way toward determining your experience. Maybe we don’t like February because we TELL OURSELVES we don’t like February. If we decided, right here and now, that next February was going to be awesome, then by golly, it’ll probably be awesome.”
“AWESOME-uary?” Casey said.
“AWESOME-uary,” I said.
What a bunch of crap that was.
February stinks. I hate it. Twenty-eight days of tedium, this month is. It’s so bad, people are trying to start discussions about Dwight Howard. Sports Illustrated devoted an entire issue this month to Michael Jordan turning 50 (And I might be wrong about this, but I don’t think they even got a chance to INTERVIEW Jordan for any of the pieces.)
My favorite national sports talk show host, Steve Czaban, is on vacation in some warmer place, because he knows it, too. That means I get a backup trying (and failing) to polish the February sports turd on the air.
Bottom line: Calling this month something different doesn’t make it better. Unless you’re calling it “over.”
CAVS FALL: Virginia has a defensive breakdown that leads to the game-winning basket with 5.7 seconds remaining as No. 2 Miami escapes with a 54-50 victory. UVa’s remaining schedule includes home games with Georgia Tech, Duke and Maryland and road trips to Boston College and Florida State.
ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH: Berman has a feature on Duke’s Mason Plumlee, who visits Blacksburg tomorrow night in a battle of two of the leading contenders for ACC player of the year.
GLASS HOUSES: The NCAA, trying it’s darndest to avoid any mirrors that might be nearby, accuses Miami of a “lack of institutional control.”
OTHER STUFF: Radford blows eight-point lead and falls to Campbell in overtime, squandering chance to move into second place in Big South North division…No. 1 Indiana tops No. 4 Michigan State 72-68…No. 5 Florida falls at Missouri…Blackhawks tie NHL record by earning at least one point in each of their first 16 games.
NAME THAT TUNE
Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would have helped that bash
She said, “Hey babe…
February 20, 2013 - 7:08 AM
Why would VT or UVA not attempt to Andrew Rowsey. He might only be 5 11 but anyone see him take the beating he got at Rustburg he plays much bigger. He got mugged every time he crossed mid court
c’mon man !!!
Al I completely agree, but height is such a huge thing in the game today. However I think a lot of ACC schools overlooked him and after he goes to Ashville and tears it up they’re going to regret it. I still wouldn’t be surprised if in a year or two he transfers to a “bigger” school. Plain and simple the kid can ball, even if he is white and 5’11
Is the song, Take a Walk on the Wild Side?
This time of year is not my favorite for sports. Not a big b’ball fan, so not much to see on SportsCenter. Once spring training gets going, I’ll be happier.
Big Whoop, MJ is 50. That’s a big sports story?
Never realized MJ was so insecure. Heard on ESPN radio the other day where he said he’s better than Lebron because he has 6 rings and Lebron only has 1. I don’t really care who the best is, but by that reasoning Bill Russell would be better than MJ because he has 11 rings. I guess stuff like this gets started so sports radio will have something to talk about this time of year.
Lou Reed -Walk on the Wild Side- Point on the Miami debacle- Miami walks- tainted evidence intentionally tainted by investigators- last thing NCAA wants is to have Miami out of the picture- set up job from the get-go! I love the smell of conspiracy in the morning- it smells like paranoia. But, wait and see. Lots of hand wringing by NCAA saying this won’t happen again, but Miami skates.
I completely agree re: February being awful. Not only is Steve Czaban on vacation this week; Mad Dog Russo is also on vacation, as are half of ESPN Radio’s personalities. This morning I spent the commute listening to NPR, which is my personal last resort.
I’ve also found myself bored with college basketball this year, which usually gets me through the doldrums until NASCAR and MLB roll around. This has had profound impact on my evenings lately. It’s to the point where I’m taking an online film course through coursera to kill time. Yes, I’d rather watch a silent film from 1928 than see to mid-to-lower tier ACC teams play on a Tuesday night. I wish I could snap my fingers and make it March.
That would be ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ by Lou Reed…
Gotta disagree about February…I’m a hockey nut, so this month is great. Well, except for the fact that the Ref Wings lost again and are not playing all that well. Injuries are killing them right now. And, they still haven’t scored a power play goal on the road. There’s a good chance their 21-year playoff streak is in jeopardy later this year if things don’t start clicking better.
Last night’s ACC games didn;t really change much in terms of NCAA hopes. Miami and Duke are still solidly in. UNC and NC State are both probably in as well. UVA is still on the fence a bit…losing doesn;t really hurt them, but a win would have propelled them in for sure at this point. They still have some critical home games they need to win to boost their odds. Maryland, after claiming their biggest win of the season, drops a bad one at BC, and is still on the outside looking in, with not a lot of chances to impress down the stretch.
And that should say Red Wings, but the refs last night were harsh, calling a lot more penalties on the Wings than the Preds, so maybe that was a Freudian moment, or a brain fart.
Quick song nailage toay. Nicely done.
February is also an awesome time for the Roanoke Times’ IT department to roll out the “beta” site. Great job, folks, you have just lost a long-time visitor.
Keep it up.
AMc, good thing your son doesn’t read your blog. February is only boring sports-wise if you don’t like basketball. That is the equivalent of July & August being boring for folks who don’t like baseball. The month is what you make of it, AMc. Sound familiar?
There has been some really good basketball on TV the last 2-3 weeks. Sure, there’s not one dominant team for the lazy EZ Button crowd to follow. It reminds me of people saying golf is boring if Tiger Woods isn’t playing. If you like college basketball, you should have liked the several games recently. Heck, even the VT-NCState game was a really good game.
It’s going to be interesting to see if the NCAA holds themselves as accountable as they do the member institutions. We all know the answer to that one. If I were Miami, I would do everything in my legal power to have a neutral court dismiss all charges. We all know MIami is guilty, but we all also know the NCAA enforcement is a huge sham.
Oh, I’ll grant you July and August aren’t the greatest, even for a baseball nut. I suppose the difference is that in July and August you can go out and enjoy playing your sport of choice. Or go to the park. Or grill a steak. Or drive up to Douthat and hit the lake (wonderful place, by the way). I’m not one to complain about weather a lot — I love the change of seasons and wouldn’t want to live somewhere that’s warm 365 days a year — but I’m definitely done with cold by February. This contributes to my February blues, I’m sure.
The basketball in February is fine. But with the promise of much more meaningful basketball being so close — and the freshness of January hoops in the rear view — it feels somewhat empty to me. I realize not everybody feels this way.
It’s possible I might just have a tiny case of cabin fever. Haven’t been out of the house much in 2013 because of the surgery. That’ll change beginning next Monday, thankfully.
Aaron, you can grill a steak any time of year. Blazing summer heat? Fire it up and grab a beer. Middle of a snowstorm? Grab a shovel and clear a path…there’s meat to be flame-kissed. In fact, aside from initially clearing around the doors of my house, the next thing I clear around is the grill. Unless it’s so windy I can get the grill lit or lightning, I’ll grill. But, the cold does stink for playing golf. That’s one thing I really miss about Virginia Beach winters…I could still find numerous good weather days in the middle of winter to play a round. Up here? Not so much…they always seem to happen on a weekday when I’m in the office!
You know what, O.J.? I think I might just do that today. Thank you for the pep talk.
Think I’ll watch a little Accenture Match Play, too (noon, Golf Channel). And then check out the greatest active soccer player, Lionel Messi, lead Barcelona against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League (2:30 p.m., Fox Soccer Channel).
Hokies-Duke and a pair of Shootout races on tap tomorrow…Yeah, we can get through this together.
There ya go! But, I can’t really relate to being home-bound recovering from a surgery, I’ve never had that. I imagine I’d get bored fast though, and stir crazy myself. There’s only so much on Netflix I can stand in a given time frame. If I’m not working or otherwise being productive during the day, I generally get really, really bored, no matter what the season is.
I highly recommend a nice, thick-cut ribeye. That’ll lift the spirits!
OJ, you can make a fine wind break for your grill with some 2×4′s and a piece of carpet. Fix it so it will stand on it’s own and it keeps fairly strong breezes off the grill. OK, so I’m a grill nut.
Netflix has really been hosing me with the suggestions lately. Nothing as audacious as the famous “Teeth” incident of 2010, but pretty bad. I will say that “Changing Lanes” was pretty good. They were right about that.
540Hokie, I have considered that. To make it work though, I’d need to move my grill to another part of the deck and orient it differently…the strongest west winds that I would need to block come from the left side of my grill…the wind break might help though, last time I had my grill that way the wind flipped it over. I’ve given up on grill covers. There’s probably someone over in Giles or West Virginia who’s snagged 5 of them out of the New River by now that I used to own…
We have some mixed Netflix recommendations too. My wife likes watching a lot of medical drama TV show type stuff, reality TV, and sappy romance stuff. I’m more a sci-fi/action/sports fan. So we get some weird things that pop up, trying to reconcile Star Trek with Die Hard with Major League with Grey’s Anatomy with Mob Wives.
I do have to say though, it lists Seal Team Six, Ghost Protocol, and Transformers…so that’s not too shabby I suppose. Makes up for listing A Little Bit of Heaven, The Rebound, and Pretty Little Liars. It’s fairly clear which recommendations are for which person…so glad we don’t get the freaky ones like Teeth.
O’John, what kind o’ grill do you have? I tried grilling the other night and it wasn’t that cold. Somehow, it just wasn’t going to get cooked with the grill temp not going above 125 – and 540Hokie – I’ve got a pretty good wind screen as it is. I’ve got some complaining to do, apparently. Had to bring the dang things in and finish them on the stove – although, with a little olive oil, butter, and salt and pepper, they turned out delicious! A knife was not even needed. Best steak I’ve had in a long time, truth be known.
Back to Awesome-uary – I prefer to look at it as Anticipation-uary.
February does suck, weather wise, but it provides the greatest month of anticipation there is. You get to hear the phrases of “pitchers and catchers report,” “driver’s (just for you, Danica) start your engines” for the first time after a short break, and all of the bubble talk leading up to the greatest spectacle in sports, which would be March Madness.
And, in Feb, they don’t happen nightly, but that IU-MSU game was a great one. Conference game, two top 4 teams . . . it was like an early Final 4 matchup.
The IT guys at the RT still sink. I’m sure these paragraphs I did won’t matter, and if this doesn’t post at all, like a couple of other items have not, you all just miss out on my wit and wisdom.
Well there you go, I grew up in SW Va and that was when they had real winters. 2 feet of snow, 17 below temperatures at times, walking barefoot to school in freezing weather, you get the picture. The good ole days. That’s why when I set out in life I settled in an area where you still had seasonal change but enough nice days to participate in outdoor activities. Works for me. Go south young men. Hated to see UVA give that one away last night. I think it puts them in a big hole. One thing we have to look forward to though, SG isn’t begging for an NCAA bid so his comments about the selection process doesn’t have to be filtered. Could make for some colorful commentary. Think I’ll go hit some balls and then come home and grill some steaks.
Quick Netflix suggestion. “House of Cards” is awesome and with all 13 episodes available, it’s just begging for a mid Feb..err Awesome-uary binge watch.
Watch House of Cards on Netflix. If you’re like me and you love it, you’ll speed through the entire season in a week, but hey. There’s only a week left in the month, so have at it!
Think of the NCAA as a private club with rules. Members are the colleges and universities that make up the NCAA. You join the club and you have to live by the rules. If you are deemed by the club officers to have broken the rules, the worst that can happen to you is that you get expelled from the club. And, since the club sanctions all sporting events by the club members, getting expelled is a big deal. Also, the club, or the NCAA, can force members to pay fines, cut scholarships, and suffer other penalties. The problem with the Miami situation is that because the NCAA is just a private club, they have no legal power to do anything outside of the club. They cannot force any outsider to give testimony because they have no legal standing (can’t subpoena witnesses etc). From what has come out in the news, there is a guy outside the club who conducted activities with players inside the club (players for Miami) in clear violation of the club’s rules. Now the interesting part. The club starts to investigate, and my guess is what they find is bad, really bad! So bad that the Death Penalty is on the table. Now the NCAA is in a quandary. They can’t unring the bell, but they don’t want to go forward. An NCAA without a Miami is something that they don’t want. So they knowingly hire the lawyer for the outsider to help with the investigation by the NCAA. Now the whole evidence trail is tainted, and my guess is done so intentionally. Miami walks! Brilliant!
Funny. Radio host J.D. Howell recommended House of Cards to me yesterday when we were discussing Netflix before we went on the air. I shall take this advice.
Thanks guys. Now I’m hungry for steak……
Rick H, we have the bottom-end Char-Broil 2-burner gas grill from Lowe’s. When I bought it 4 years ago, it was originally selling for $89, but they had a sale for $79. I got an added 10% off as a Lowe’s employee then, so I snagged it for $71+tax. All I’ve replaced is the drip bar over the burner, and several tanks of propane. Best grill I’ve owned, honestly. Toss a wood chunk or 2 in there to add some smokey flavor to whatever I’m cooking, and it’s honestly hard to tell the difference between it and charcoal. We don;t have a problem with it cooking at a cold temperature though. Even when it’s been windy, as long as I can get the burners lit, they stay lit unless we have a hurricane-like wind gust. But since the starter clicker thing doesn’t work, I have to use a lighter.
a mac were you watching the Bayer -Arsenal game yesterday? Gus Johnson was calling it. Awesome! He been doing that long? Is there a story in it for Jason Whitlock?
I am pretty sure Rowsey wanted to go to a small school. I do wish it had been VCU or George Mason though. To me June and July are the worst sports months. Not a big NBA fan and that is before any football. That is the real doldrums of the sports world. UVA will be fine if they get to 21 wins but 22 would be much more secure. 20 and they are out for sure in my opinion.
February ia a dreadful sports month. The NBA All-Star Game! Wow! After the Super Bowl the landscape is pretty bleak. There are 3 sports seasons: Football, Spring Football and Summer Camp.
February is so boring that the life, death and legacy of Jerry Buss is being treated bigger than if the Pope abdicated. Oh……. the Pope did abdicate.
The only saving graces are the return of Suits and The Walking Dead.
Ha! I think I got J.D. on that kick over the weekend via Twitter.
OJ, I can relate on the auto starter on the grill. I turn on the gas, toss a match in, and hope to keep my eyebrows! I have to figure out what is going on with mine, because it just don’t do it when the temp gets below about 40, and that shouldn’t be the case.
Anyway, back to some sports – anybody watching any of the Accenture Match Play Championship? In Arizona – snowing like you’ve never seen. Well, you aren’t actually watching it now. I think it is a replay of last year, but I tapped into it a bit ago, and it white conditions. It was actually a beautiful sight. Nothing like cactus and snow.
Trevor | February 20, 2013 at 9:58 am
February is also an awesome time for the Roanoke Times’ IT department to roll out the “beta” site. Great job, folks, you have just lost a long-time visitor.
Keep it up.
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Don’t let the door hit you.
Roll Tide!
Rick, I’d heard they suspended play for the day due to snow, and that some of the caddies got into a snowball fight. That part of Arizona averages something like a half inch of snow annually, so I think they’re making up for a couple years with no snow as well.
And good luck with the grill. I’ve never run into that problem, so I wouldn’t know where to start. But I do know mine gets fairly ineffective at cooking when it’s below 10 degrees and windy, like, -10 wind chills. Then, it doesn;t work so well for grilling. I know this from experience. I finished mine inside that day.
great article..i argue with my five year old all the tme about february..she adds five dollar foot longs to he end of febrauany,,,great seeing your articles back!
Whenever I watch ACC basketball games they always put the standings up with us dead last, I am enough of a fan for that to tick me off plus it was completely avoidable. I wonder if it ticks off anybody in the athletic department family. I believe Miami could have been beaten last night-UVA missed a chance there. Awesome- ary Indeed .Don`t forge tThe SI swimsuit issue, Waste management Open, material for Aaron`s blog and oh yeah, the SI Swimsuit Issue. OJ at #15″ That will lift the Spirits”. Do it every night-helps me get thru Awesome-ary.
Your Awesomery story reminds me of the day I reported for duty as a student entering Submarine School. I checked in with the CO and his first words to me where, “are you having fun?” Not getting a response he continued, “if you are not having fun, you’re not doing it right!” Still not getting much of a response, he continued, “if you don’t figure that out, you won’t have much success in the Submarine Service or anywhere else either.” Well I did figure it out and have provided over 30 years to the Submarine Force. What he meant was, no matter how rotten or menial the job or task you better find a way to look for a positive. Because if you are only looking at the negative, you’re more likely to foul up and if you foul up something on a submarine, things can get really bad in a hurry! If you can’t find anything positive, you need to start looking around for something else to do!
“Don’t let the door hit you.
Roll Tide!”
Keep on Trolling Tide!
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OJ, I have a Charbroil Grill, and it still works. Plus, I have a Weber grill for when I want to have just charcoal fired steak.
February is a monotonous month, I agree, but basketball is just starting to heat up, and conference tournaments are weeks away before the Big Dance.
On Netflix, I would suggest to everybody that they watch some films such as The Last Days of Sophie Scholls, Sarah’s Key, and I have been watching a documentary on Auschwitz. Those movies really makes one think. I also went to the Holocaust Museum in D.C. this past weekend, and it was sobering.
Trevor, I went to the Holocaust Museum and the Vietnam Wall on the same afternoon. Talk about being depressed. All those shoes was the most sobering thing to me at the Museum.
Coxster — Funny you should mention that. Was that really Gus or just a clever imitation? I didn’t watch the Arsenal game, but I was watching one of the UEFA matches last week and I thought, “That TOTALLY sounds like Gus Johnson!” But I never heard him identify himself, so I ultimately determined that this was wishful thinking on my part that Gus would be moonlighting on the Fox Soccer Channel.
Whoever it is (and it very well may be Gus), he’s good. Knows when to turn on the juice, much like Gary Thorne doing a hockey game.
“Rise and fieeerrrrrr!”
I know I’m late, but a couple of things regarding FebruAwesomary:
It is no accident that the Super Bowl has moved into the first week in February (with expected movement to the following week at some point in the future, especially if the NFL goes to 18 games or adds some playoff games.
Second, iit is also no accident that the SI Swimsuit issue also comes out the week after the Super Bowl.
Grilled chicken last week with no problem, but I wasn’t in the 10 degree area. Fortunately, SWVA doesn’t get that cold at dinner time very often.
And yes, it is Gus. He will be the lead on Fox’s World Cup coverage in 2018. SI’s Richard Dietsch writes about it in his Sports Media column today.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130220/ray-lewis-espn-media-circus/index.html
Since a few folks on here have mentioned Andrew Rowsey from Rockbridge, I’d like to let everyone know his high school career ended tonight. He scored 32 points to give him a career total of 2,636 points just 51 shy of the all time VHSL record.
Unfortunately, we’ve seen VT pass on players similar enough to Rowsey (both Curry boys quickly come to mind) to know that an undersized pure shooter doesn’t seem to interest them. Meanwhile, they continue to squander countless games because they can’t hit a free throw in the clutch. Given that Erick Green is a bit undersized, you would think they might learn…