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A&T: Will Fobbs' third year be the charm?

import — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO — When you're in charge of an operation that has lost 27 consecutive football games, there are few easy questions. And so it wasn't stunning to N.C. A&T coach Lee Fobbs when a fan, given a microphone in what was termed a news conference, recently asked why the Aggie populace should believe the upbeat rhetoric of August 2008.

Coach K returns to Duke with smile

import — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

DURHAM -- No, Mike Krzyzewski said. There was no jet lag. When joy is this great, it tends to blur time zones.

Returning to Duke University after coaching the U.S. national men's basketball team to Olympic gold, Krzyzewski emphatically declared Wednesday that victory brought happiness to the exclusion of anything else. A burden was not lifted; an honor was bestowed.

Hoppers try to court a crowd for home finale

import — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- A minor league baseball team, like television's "Law and Order," is made up of two separate yet equally important groups: the players, who are paid by the big-league franchises to do their work on the field; and the front office, which answers to local ownership and handles a club's business affairs.

Fifth-year seniors lifeblood of Wake football

import — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

WINSTON-SALEM -- As anybody with a cursory interest in recent ACC football knows, Wake Forest has built itself into a player in this strange new world by developing talent over the long term. Redshirting is so prevalent that you'd swear Black and Gold have added a third partner in the Demon Deacons' official color scheme.

Dudley's Okoro to travel

import — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

WINSTON-SALEM -- Kenny Okoro, a freshman cornerback from Dudley, has impressed Wake Forest's coaches enough to make the Demon Deacons' season-opening trip to Baylor, coach Jim Grobe said Tuesday.

Inclusion on the active roster for Thursday's game (8 p.m. Fox Sports Net) does not guarantee Okoro will play against the Bears. Grobe has used only 10 true freshmen in seven seasons on the job. Okoro will only be used in the event of emergency, but his presence on the travel squad suggests his development is ahead of the curve.

Wake's Okoro makes travel squad for opener

Rob Daniels — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:23:00 -0400

WINSTON-SALEM – Kenny Okoro, a true freshman from Dudley High School, has impressed Wake Forest’s coaches enough to make the Demon Deacons’ season-opening trip to Baylor, coach Jim Grobe said today.

Two vie for kicking chores for Tar Heels

import — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

CHAPEL HILL -- When it comes to kickers, North Carolina coach Butch Davis is punting on specifics.

As the Tar Heels continue preparations for Saturday night's opener against McNeese State, Davis indicated Monday that both Jay Wooten and Casey Barth will kick against the Cowboys. He declined to declare a breakdown of responsibilities among kickoffs, extra points, short field-goal attempts and long field-goal attempts.

UNC kicking race undecided

Rob Daniels — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:43:26 -0400

CHAPEL HILL - When it comes to place-kickers, North Carolina coach Butch Davis is punting on specifics.

As the Tar Heels continue preparations for Saturday's season-opener against McNeese State, Davis indicated today that both Jay Wooten and Casey Barth will play against the Cowboys. He declined to declare a breakdown of responsibilities between kickoffs, extra points, short field goals and long field goals.

Many happy returns for Tate and Tar Heels

import — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

CHAPEL HILL -- There will be times when you'll want to leave your seat or reach for the clicker during a North Carolina football game this season. Just make sure you pick your spots the way Brandon Tate picks out his blocks.

Nobody covered more ground in the ACC last season than Tate, the wide receiver and return man whose 147 all-purpose yards per game led the league. When he touched the ball by his various means, he took it upfield an average of 17.83 yards a pop -- good for sixth in the country.

Stanton 3rd on Greensboro home run list

Rob Daniels — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:32:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- Mike Stanton now stands only one home run short of second place on Greensboro's single-season chart. The 18-year-old Grasshoppers outfielder, who went deep for the 34th time on the season Thursday night, trails Guilford County Hall of Famer Emo Showfety by one entering tonight's home game with Greenville.

O'Brien decides to redshirt highly touted QB Glennon

import — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

RALEIGH -- In an age of Internet-spawned impatience and dirigible-sized hunger for college recruiting information, some N.C. State fans may be disturbed that quarterback Mike Glennon won't play in 2008.

Some will interpret coach Tom O'Brien's decision to redshirt Glennon as an indictment of the freshman. (If the kid were really as good as advertised -- the third-best QB prospect in the land, according to ESPN -- he'd surely have unseated the competition 10 days ago and become the Big Wolf on Campus before attending his first class.)

Wolfpack QB battle down to Evans, Wilson

Rob Daniels — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:54:00 -0400

RALEIGH - N.C. State's starting quarterback derby has been pared to Daniel Evans and Russell Wilson, and a final decision is at least a day away, coach Tom O'Brien said today.

O'Brien said true freshman Mike Glennon will redshirt and that Harrison Beck will be the third quarterback. Justin Boyle's decision to transfer to Louisville, revealed on Monday, thinned the herd slightly, but the process isn't complete.

A look at Deacon Tower

Rob Daniels — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:49:00 -0400

A few questions and answers on Deacon Tower, the stadium upgrade project for Wake Forest football:

Q: Much has been made of the high-end seats that make up the bulk of the project. What improvements will the rank and file fans notice at BB&T Field?

A: New rest rooms and concession stands on the West (home) side of the stadium are expected to make a difference. In 2009, renovations of existing rest rooms will take place on both sides of the facility.

Q: What's next?

Wyndham notes: Great Scot! Laird is hot after tie for fourth place

import — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- Martin Laird, who tied for fourth place at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday, has won $342,525 in his past two events on the PGA Tour. In his previous 17 starts, he missed the cut eight times and pocketed a total of $145,566. Now he's in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

A weekend with a 64 and a 63 put a nice finish on an eventful week for Laird, one in which he went from the lead to nearly missing the cut. He was right on the number of 3-under-par 137 on Friday afternoon, but the Scot survived and advanced, as they say in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Playing for playoff implications

import — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO - Like many others in the Wyndham Championship field, J.J. Henry put together three straight rounds in the 60s, closing with a 62 on Sunday. The difference is that he did it with a looming -- if pleasant -- distraction. His wife, Lee, is due to give birth to the couple's second child today in Fort Worth, Texas.

And then there was the issue of whether Henry would make the top 144 on the points list and qualify for the PGA Tour's Fed--Ex Cup playoffs this week.

Pettersson wins Wyndham Championship

Rob Daniels — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 19:03:00 -0400

Carl Pettersson spent some of his youth on one of the courses to host Greensboro's PGA Tour event, and he enjoyed one of his greatest professional moments today on another.

Scott McCarron is answering the question

import — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO — So far, Scott McCarron is answering the question he has had to pose by word and by phone so often lately: "Can I play?"

With another big round at the Wyndham Championship today, the 43-year-old professional, who has lost nearly three years of golf to an elbow injury, won't have to solicit tournament directors for sponsor's exemptions if he prevails at Sedgefield Country Club. Victory would again grant him the status to which he had been accustomed for 14 years -- full-time membership on the PGA Tour. A high enough finish may do the trick, as well.

Pettersson sets 54-hole Greensboro record, owns two-shot lead

Rob Daniels — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:59:12 -0400

Through 54 holes, Grimsley High School graduate Carl Pettersson is enjoying one of the PGA Tour's finest performances in four decades.

Pettersson, who played college golf at N.C. State, is at 19-under-par 191 entering today's final round. That's the best in the 69-year history of the Greensboro event by four strokes, but it's only enough for a two-shot lead over Scott McCarron, who holed out from a bunker on 18 and also surpassed the previous 54-hole low in the event. Jesper Parnevik held it with a 195 in 1999.

ACC not likely to play baseball here

import — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- Numerous schedule conflicts will almost certainly preclude the Greensboro Grasshoppers from replacing Boston's Fenway Sports Group as the host of the suddenly homeless 2009 ACC baseball tournament, the team's president said Friday.

"I'm still trying, but it doesn't look good," said Donald Moore, the Hoppers' chief operating officer.

Hoppers unlikely to host 2009 ACC baseball

Rob Daniels — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:51:30 -0400

Numerous scheduling conflicts will almost certainly preclude the Greensboro Grasshoppers from replacing Boston's Fenway Sports Group as the host of the suddenly homeless 2009 ACC baseball tournament, the team's president said today.

"I'm still trying, but it doesn't look good," said Donald Moore, the Hoppers' chief operating officer.

From GSO to MLB

Rob Daniels — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:09:00 -0400

Thanks to the boundless auspices of www.thebaseballcube.com and www.baseballreference.com and the personal library of former News & Record reporter Bill Hass, it's time to unveil a site dedicated to Greensboro's connection with Major League Baseball. Click on the links below.

Alphabetical list A-Z, 1905-present

Maginnes cuts through static

import — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:04:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- John Maginnes is hearing voices again. Five or six, to be exact. And he's not losing it. Honest.

The Greensboro resident and Sedgefield Country Club member is an analyst for XM Radio's coverage of the PGA Tour, and as the Wyndham Championship began Thursday, he and his comrades were ready for another six hours of tracking people and places they couldn't always see.

If it sounds like chaos, it's close. But the extent of the back-talk and cross-talk speaks well to the comprehensive nature of a seemingly implausible -- but successful -- venture.

Weaver is right at home with 69 in first round

import — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

GREENSBORO -- Drew Weaver, the decorated amateur from High Point, shot a 69 on Thursday in the first round of the Wyndham Championship while employing a borrowed caddie who knew less about the course than Weaver.

C. Damian Velasquez from Venezuela had been looping for Stewart Cink earlier this season and was Carlos Franco's regular caddie as recently as two weeks ago, when Franco decided he wouldn't play in Greensboro.

ACC baseball loses Fenway as '09 host

import — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0400

Greensboro may play host to an ACC baseball tournament after all. And if it happens, it would be sooner rather than later.

Fenway Sports Group, originally scheduled to conduct the 2009 tournament at its hallowed Boston grounds, stunned the conference Thursday by announcing it has discovered a scheduling snafu and can't hold the tournament until 2010. The move opens the selection process at a late hour, and the Greensboro Grasshoppers are jumping in.

"Yeah, we're very interested," said Donald Moore, the team's chief operating officer.

Clark, Pettersson tied for second at Wyndham

Rob Daniels — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:09:00 -0400

Two former N.C. State players with local connections are tied for second and one shot off the lead after the first round of the Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield Country Club.