The staff just got done voting on this week’s ShenValley5 (the five best football teams in Augusta County, Staunton and Waynesboro).
Here they are with first-place votes in parentheses:
1. R.E. Lee (2) 1-0
2. Riverheads (1) 0-0
3. Draft 0-1
4. Buffalo Gap 0-0
5. Fort Defiance 0-1
Has the second guessing stopped yet?
Hey, I’m just askin’.
Because there’s nothing wrong with what Stuarts Draft football coach Rod Bowers did against Broadway last Friday up on the Turkey Trail.
All Bowers did was put a major decision in the hands of his team. His team down by one after an Isaiah Miller scored with under a minute left to play, Bowers asked his players if they should go for the tie or try for the two-point conversion and the win.
“The team decided to go for two and I’m never going to doubt them,” Bowers said.
They fell just short and thus ended their three-game win streak dating back to last season, but they showed a little chutzpah.
And a coach listened to his players.
Now just fancy that.
And another thing: How many out there was to root for Robert E. Lee football? (OK, a lot of you.) So how many people groan every time one of their players has got to do a somersault into the end zone and get a dumb excessive celebration penalty? (OK, a lot of you. Now discuss.)
But still: You gotta love the way Dae Quan Scott plays.
Shh. Shh ...: DId you hear that? I think that’s the sound of the area volleyball torch getting ready to be passed tonight at Waynesboro.
Betting time: I say 10 bucks we see the legendary “lonesome polecat” play from Steve Isaacs on Friday at his old homestead in Crozet.
Actually: Probably not, but it would be great though.
And, don’t forget: Post your 3-on-3 questions by Thursday at 6 p.m. every week.
Oh: And don’t foget you have a chance to be our weekly guest picker in “What Do We Know?” Send an e-mail and let us know why you should be the one.
Since my Sunday column using the term “blue-hairs” to describe some of the older people in Waynesboro that seem to be fervent anti-lighted ballfields, I’ve gotten a ton of e-mails. (As one could imagine.)
Some were wonderfully polite and understanding, expressing that the term “blue-hair” is a state of mind and not an age.
Other’s weren’t so kind. Informing me that I will be old someday (really, I never knew that?) and others saying they would no longer be reading my column or anything with my byline on it. (Thus whittling my fan base down to just my mom and dad, again.)
But the bottom line is this. Sure, generations of kids in Waynesboro have survived and thrived without lighted ball fields. And yes, not all kids play baseball and/or softball. (Trust me, I understand that.) Those kids, however, weren’t competing with the alluring “life” of the street gang. Back then, Crips, Bloods and whatever else they call themsevles these days (I just stick with “thugs” and “fools.") were just a big-city problem. Sorry folks, but it’s a USA problem now.
The big issue here isn’t about who plays baseball and softball, the major issue here is children.
Trust me, once I buckle down and buy a home (where ever), I’m sure I’ll want to protect my investment. But in a city that is overcome with talk of “sprucing up” downtown, I think we’re forgetting what should be our most important investment—our children.
And if you’ve had them, watched they grow and sent them off in the world to have their own, we shouldn’t forget that.
Now should we?
So I’m sitting here trying to hammer out our annual football special section and I’m thinking to myself, “Geez, will these football games just start already.”
And another thing: Honestly, you know you’re thinking the same thing.
Yep: I really think Dale Spitzer and his Indians are about to make some noise in the Valley South (Southern Valley, The Valley, whatever you want to call it.) Their first big test is at Robert E. Lee on Friday. And what a test that is.
Why?: Because you can never count David Tibbs and his always athletic Leemen out of anything.
Shenandoah, please: All 3-on-3 kidding aside, I think the Shenandoah is Riverheads to lose (again). But I wouldn’t be surprised if Buffalo Gap ended up winning.
What about Wilson?: If they find a capable quarterback to replace Chase Hutchinson, who knows.
But you’re a sports editor, aren’t you “supposed to know?”: Sure. But what fun would that be?
Totally unrelated to anything I’m talking about: But thanks to Fark.com for this. Wow!
What about volleyball?: In the Valley South (Southern Valley, whichever) I can’t imagine anybody coming close to Stuart Draft. They have a ton of girls back and were top notch last season.
What about Waynesboro?: Too young.
How about the Shenandoah?: Not sure. (See, I don’t know everything.)
That’s all for today and remember, catch our 3-On-3 every Sunday on The Second Page. E-mail your questions to sports@newsvirginian.com by Thursday and make sure you put 3-on-3 in the subject header.
See you tomorrow.
Yeah, yeah.
I know, I know.
“Where the heck have you been, Sacco.”
Well, I’ve been working, wishing on I was on vacation, on vacation, back, then wishing I was back on vacation.
Oh, and I did this little thing the kids call “Getting married,” and, well, that’s basically it in a nutshell.
But enough about me and where I’ve been. Let’s talk about you and where you’re going. Or where you hope to be going.
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Talk about a happy coach: I just had to ask Lorie Aleshire what it’s like to have her first head coaching job. Especially when it’s at Waynesboro High School, the place she helped bring a volleyball state title to a while back.
Her eyes lit up and she flashed that usual Aleshire smile that comes oh so easily to her face when you talk about volleyball to her.
“It’s been fun,” she said.
No doubt.
Sure, the Little Giants are going to be young and winning the Valley South may be just a pipe dream, but Aleshire brings that little extra something to the team that no too many coaches can these days: Total love of the game and total devotion to the school she’s coaching for.
Something tells me she’s going to be on the sidelines for the Little Giants for quite some time and, as Martha Stewart is so fond of saying, “That’s a good thing.”
And another thing: After talking to Aleshire, we just happened to run into former coach Candace Kimmett who looks great and is, no doubt, treating cancer like her 2005 team treated the rest of the Valley District—kicking its butt and taking its name. Keep it up the one we’ll always call “Coach.”
Now I’m not saying: That the Little Giants football team is going to go out there and ruin everybody with a sick combination of its single wing and years of built up anger and frustration, but if any team thinks they’re going to be an easy “W” the game just might become an “L” for them.
You best keep an eye on: Two words, Steven Brown. Hey, I’m just saying.
Am I the only one who can’t wait to watch: Riverheads and Buffalo Gap have it out for the Shenandoah District football title?
Hey, I’m just askin.
Or: Watch Wilson Memorial once again sneak itself into the title mix?
I hope I’m not.
What’s in a name?: Valley South? Southern Valley? How about we just call it the Valley? If the district that was supposed to known as the Valley North (or Northern Valley, whichever) can change its name to the Massanutten District, why couldn’t Fort Defiance, Stuarts Draft, Waynesboro, Robert E. Lee and Rockbridge just keep the Valley District moniker. See, now we’re all confused.
Speaking of Stuarts Draft: Will you call me crazy if I type these words—Valley South (or Southern Valley, whichever) champs?
Go ahead, call me crazy. You know you want to.
See you tomorrow (or Friday, whichever).
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.