Your Friendly Neighborhood Snyderman

Just want to know why the North Carolina High School Athletic Association always feels the need to have the state basketball championships go head to head with the ACC Tournament. Why are you forcing us to choose one or the other. (I ask this last question as both a fan and a memner of the media). Wouldn't it make more sense to move the HS Finals up a week...play them the week before the ACC Tourney. That way we can enjoy and cover) both.  By the way, that's when SC plays their Championship games.

I asked an official of the NCHSAA that question once. He told me it really did not matter when the High Schools played, because fans of the ACC are different from Prep fans. I could not believe my ears. So you're saying no college fan would ever want to watch High School Hoops.  And even if that is the case...maybe if college fans were exposed to the hs championship games, they'd become fans of the NCHSAA Tourney. Gentlemen of the NCHSAA, it is no longer 1944. Move the games up a week and let everyone see first hand how great the Prep talent is in North Carolina.

Just a few thoughts from your friendly neighborhood Snyder-Man

 

 

 

 

Let me say right up front that when it comes to NASCAR, I am impartial. I have several friends in the NASCAR community, as I'm sure, many of you do as well.  Having said all that, it is good for the Sport when Dale Earnhardt Jr is winning. He is to NASCAR, what The Yankees are to baseball, the Lakers to the NBA, and the Cowboys to the NFL. In other words, love them or hate them, those respective sports are always more interesting when The Yanks/Lakes/Boys are competitive. You think a Red Sox fan gets as big a thrill out of winning without stomping on the Yankees??? Absolutely not.  The NFL was thrilled the Cowboys were in the playoffs. The TV ratings were at all-time highs, as were advertising revenues. By the same token, when Junior won last weekend's Bud Shoot-out, all of a sudden, this exhibition race became the Weekend's big story (Along with Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch doing their Hulk Hogan/Randy macho man Savage Imitation.) NASCAR needs Junior to keep on keepin' on. And with Hendrick's technology behind him, I'm guessing he gets his first Points win by Bristol.

Just a few thoughs from your friendly neighborhood Snyder-Man.

While covering the NASCAR Media Tour's stop at D.E.I. (Dale Earnhardt Incorporated), there was a lot of talk about how the future is bright and the present is exciting..but the past was never acknowledged. In other words, I don't remember ever hearing Dale Earnhardt Jr's name mentioned, even once. I understand he and Step-Mom Teresa are no longer business partners...but it dawns on me that by not mentioning Junior...D.E.I. did the worst thing possible. In my opinion, the smart move would have been to say something along the lines of.....Dale Junior is no longer a part of DEI (He is now at Hendrick Motorsports for those of you who just returned from Saturn) and we wish him well in his future endeavors...something like that. By not mentioning his name....DEI kept alive any possible thoughts of bad feelings and controversy. My two cents is to take the high road, talk about Jr for 30 seconds and then the whole thing is put to bed. Just a few thoughts from your friendly neighborhood Snyder-Man.  

It dawns on me while watching election returns....This is a day Newscasters do sports scores. The only difference is instead of one team beating another 28-24, the final score in the political arena is 35-million-843-thousand-635 votes to 18-million-114-thousand-068. There are some great news anchors out there doing phenomenal jobs on the primaries. But there are also some who seem to struggle over the results. All you have to do is listen to a radio sportscast where the announcer reads the scores. It's that easy.  Notice I did not say watch a TV Sportscast because nowadays there is no reason to do that since most stations have tickers at the bottom of the screen that run the scores over and over....gives us more time to get to the really juicy stories. So in summary, all the presidential candidates owe a debt of gratitude to a pair of schools or teams going at it..for that is how we really get the experience to declare winners and losers.

Just a few thoughts from your friendly neighborhood Snyder-Man.

It's time for a College Football Playoff, NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah..we already have them... in Division 3, 2, 1-AA (I mean FCS....Football Championship Series if you're scoring at home) NAIA, and  even Junior College. The only thing missing is something called Division 1-A (I mean FBS-Football Bowl Series if you're still scoring at home.) Why can't we get a playoff??? Don't tell me the players will miss too much school, because that doesn't seem to bother anyone in those other College FB Playoffs, not to mention Basketball's March Madness, not to mention the Soccer, Lacrosse, Baseball and Field Hockey College Playoffs. Students miss school for those. I don't hear an outcry about those games.  Then there's the argument that you'll be devaluing the existing bowls. C'mon...outside of the BCS Championship game, how much interest is there in the Las Vegas Bowl...or the Champs Sports Bowl...quick name the teams involved...no googling.
LSU beat Ohio State Monday Night. As an SEC Fan I was thrilled...but as a College Football Fan who watches 9-10 games per Saturday (Remember I said I had an understanding wife.)  I need a logical conclusion to the season...I need a reason I watched all those games. It's the equivalence of going to a movie...and not getting an ending... C'mon College Presidents..give us a playoff (16 team would be my preference...and I'll never, ever, ever complain about anything else...until the next time.
Just a few thoughts from your Friendly Neighborhood Snyder-Man.