Monday, December 26, 2011

Wilber Makes His Mark

In the five years since Kyle Wilber showed up at Wake Forest as a 190-pound defensive end from Apopka, Fla, I’ve probably written at least four substantial pieces on him encompassing around 2,500 words. My latest such effort Wilber Fits at Wake Forest ran in the Journal this morning, and if you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out.

But there those who are playing, and have played, at Wake I could write 10,000 words about and never feel like I’ve told even close to what there is to tell. And Wilber is one.

The angle I took for my latest is how Wilber took one for the team this season when he moved from defensive end to linebacker, and how the sacrifice may well have cost him a berth on the All-ACC team.

“No question,’’ coach Jim Grobe said. “That’s the problem when you can run, and you’re a pretty good cover guy, but you can also rush the quarterback and are a pretty good pass-rush guy.

“You kind of become a jack of all trades, and that’s hard to develop any one skill over another.’‘

Nikita Whitlock recognized the sacrifice as well as what it meant to the team.

“I don’t think we could have been the same defense without that sacrifice,’’ Whitlock said. “That sacrifice went a long way. And he knows it.’‘

But there were other elements of the Kyle Wilber story I’ve collected recently that I would have loved to have fleshed out in greater detail, if only I had been graced with the space and time. The more I got to know Wilber, the more he fascinated me.

And the more his teammates got to know Wilber, and the more he got to know them, the more willing he was to assume a leadership role.

“Kyle has really taken his leadership role up to a whole other level,’’ Whitlock said. “He was initially, the first year I was here, just a leader by example. He played well and he did well in school and things. And now – we really heard it against Vanderbilt. He tore into us against Vanderbilt from the opening possession.

“He’s really become, for me, an older brother, father figure on the field. And that’s how he kind of talks to you – not as a teammate but as a big-brother type person. And it’s not always good. It’s not always the loving Kyle.’‘

The more I found out about Wilber’s bootstraps upbringing, the more I realized what an accomplishment it was for him to even make it to Wake Forest in the first place, let alone become a standout player who helped the Deacons get back to a bowl. Wilber opened up about it to me one time, and talked about how many family members he actually lived with at different times in his life, but when word got back that it wasn’t something he wanted to make a big deal out of I backed off making it a central theme of anything I was writing about him.

But he did mention that’s why he wants to work with kids himself when his football career is over and why he has already been volunteering at the Children’s Home here in Winston.

“I just want kids to know that it doesn’t really matter where you’re from,” Wilber said. “It’s where you’re going.”

It occured to me that not only is Wake Forest good for a Kyle Wilber, but a Kyle Wilber is also really, really good for Wake Forest, a school that, if it’s not careful, can be pigeonholed as a refuge for privilege and wealth. Grobe agreed.

“It’s pretty amazing,’’ Grobe said. “We’ve had a bunch of those guys.

“It’s a cool story. It’s a deal where this is a different environment.’‘

Wilber, for his part, said he has appreciated his classmates as much as they have appreciated him. He finished his degrees with a double major of sociology and communications in the fall semester and will walk in May.

“It’s more of the lines with them accepting me,’’ Wilber said. “Back home I got along with everybody.

“So it’s just good to know you’re not really judged by the color of your skin or the amount of money that you have. You’re more judged on the personality than those points.’‘

As for how long it will take Wilber to be free of all football commitments to really devote himself to the welfare of children, Grobe said that’s an open question.

“I think you’re looking a kid who’s going to run somewhere around 4.7, 4.8, something like that,’’ Grobe said of Wilber’s time in the 40-yard dash. “He probably has the potential to play at 260. I think he’s a skinny 240 right now.

“I see him a lot like Tyson Clabo. I thought Clabo was just a puppy when he left here. And of course Tyson had the advantage of playing in NFL Europe for awhile before he had to really mature to the point he could make it in the NFL.

“I see Kyle that same way. If somebody could hang on him long enough for him to put some more weight on he could be a real factor. After watching some of the 3-4 teams in the NFL and a lot of those outside linebackers are really kind of defensive ends playing outside backer. They’ 260 and 265 and they’re able to drop to the numbers and play man coverage on the tight end. He could do all those things. I think his deal is going to be – he’s certainly a really, really good player – but can he get big enough to be the physical guy off the edge and still be fast enough to run and cover.

“I think he can.’‘

Personally, I hope he does.

Friday, December 23, 2011

The Sound of Silence

As you can see, My Take on Wake has reemerged from whatever dark hole in cyberspace it found itself over the weekend. Good thing too, because there’s been plenty to write this week.

But as you can also see, if you attempt to weigh on on whatever issue being bandied about, that MTOW is not taking comments. I don’t know what that’s about. I’ve asked, and I’ve been told folks are working to rectify the problem, but I haven’t been given any explanation or assurances.

I’m sorry for you, but I’m even more sorry for me. I miss the feedback, and occasional give and take. Long-time readers will remember that early in the days of MTOW I solicited members to the Peanut Gallery. I wrote at the time I would probably regret my request, but truth is, even as caustic and vitriolic as the discussion can and will get, I never have. I need to know what those who follow Wake with the passion of any good fan are thinking and saying and debating. And as patronizing as it might sound, you’ve been a first-rate sounding board. I’ve had to reject comments occasionally because they were, to my thinking, way too personal or hateful, but for the most part the quality of discourse has been superb.

The discourse has been so superb, in fact, that I’ve even reconsidered the tag Peanut Gallery. Peanuts are good and good for you and all that, but they can be bought for around four bucks a pound. I got to wondering one day what’s the most expensive nut on the market and pretty much settled on the Macadamia Nut, which could cost up to 14 or 15 bucks a pound if you don’t get a good deal.

I’ve missed you guys so bad and have been so taken by what you’ve contributed to My Take on Wake that I no longer consider you the Peanut Gallery.

I now dub you the Macadamia Nut Gallery. Hang in there with me, and I hope to hear from you as soon as the switch that switched you off is switched back on.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

The Games Before the Games

Coach Jeff Bzdelik resorted to tactic No. 1,378 in the coach’s handbook and it worked well enough to help get his Deacons past UNC Wilmington 87-78 last night at Joel Coliseum.

Good for him and good for the Deacons, who matched last year’s win total of eight before Christmas and, at least in the final 10 minutes, looked good doing it.

Brian Mull is a friend who writes for the Wilmington Star-News I’ve gotten to know and like over the recent games between the Deacons and Seahawks. Last season, after UNCW won its first game ever over Wake Forest, Mull was writing a blog in which he inserted his personal observation that C.J. Harris of the Deacons should probably be playing for a school in the Colonial Athletic Association, the loop in which UNCW plays.

The clipping was either saved, or retrieved, and Bzdelik read it in front of the team before last night’s game. The ploy had its intended effect, as Harris played as well as I’ve ever seen him play, scoring 23 points (only one off his career-high) while taking only seven shots from the floor. He savaged the Seahawks’ defense with his mid-range game and got to the line for 14 free throws, of which he made 13. And he turned the lights out on the Seahawks’ last ray of hope. 

Freshman guard Adam Smith, a second-team Parade All-American from Jonesboro, Ga., was as hot in the second half as a player can be without spontaneously combusting, The Deacons held him in check in the first half, but then left him open about five minutes into the second half in their haste to push the ball upcourt. Smith nailed the resulting 3-pointer and boom, boom, booom he nailed the next three he took for good measure—all in the span of two minutes and 24 seconds. Wake Forest bolted back ahead by scoring on 19 of its last 21 possessions, but Smith’s sixth of seven 3-pointers pulled the Seahawks back as close as 76-70 with plenty of time, 1:50, remaining.

Wake beat the pressure,spread the court and passed the ball around burning clock. Harris took control of the proceeding with eight seconds showing. He drove from the top of the circle into the lane, but not all the way to the basket, and hit a sweet fallaway for an eight-point lead.

“He read it before the game,’’ Harris said of Bzdelik. “It was something along the lines that I’m like a CAA player – what’s the conference? So they felt like I was that caliber player.

“I just had a chip on my shoulder because it really made me mad from at the beginning.”

I’ve known hundreds of coaches of all kinds of different sports in my life and I’ve never met one who wouldn’t play as good a card as was given to Bzdelik last night. You use what you’ve got, and if the source of the offending slight happens to have no direct association with the team you’re getting the player fired up to play, then that falls so deep in the fine print of aforementioned coach’s handbook that it would take a legion of lawyers to ferret that out.

And by then the coach of the other team is telling us how much Wake has improved from last year and how the Deacons’ guard play—and the play of Harris in particular—is largely responsible.

“I’m a big believer,’’  Buzz Peterson said. “You’ve got to have guards at ever level. I’ve been in the front office in the NBA and I’m telling you, you’ve got to have guards. I know Michael (Jordan) is excited about Kemba Walker. I know that. But you’ve got to have guards. Guards will take you a long way.

“And I know for sure Wake Forest has improved guard play. C.J. Harris looks much more comfortable on the wing than he does at the point. That to me—if you have to say what is it about their guard play?—I would have to tell you that C.J. on the wing is much better.’‘

He’s of course not telling us we all didn’t know, but more people are apt to listen to Buzz Peterson than they are to you or me. They’re also probably more apt to listen to Buzz Peterson than Brian Mull. But it was Mull who said what Wake Forest could use, and that didn’t keep Jeff Bzdelik from using it.

I’m sure Mull understands.

I would.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

How Will 2011 Deacons Be Remembered?

It’s called the Music City Bowl for the obvious reason that it’s played in Nashville, as good a music town as there is this side of Austin.

But if this bowl were named for the two teams that will be playing in it come Dec. 30, then it would be the Bottom-Line Bowl.

Both Wake Forest and Mississippi State are 6-6, so one will end the season with a winning record and one with a losing record.

And that, to quarterback Tanner Price, is the bottom line.

“I’m going to be extremely disappointed if we finish the season 6-7,’’ Price said. “I don’t ever want to have another non-winning season and we’re going to do everything we can to prevent that from happening.

“We’ve been preparing really hard and don’t think it’s going to be the same team that we saw against Vanderbilt.’‘

Coach Jim Grobe said that ideally a team’s total body of work would be taken into consideration when determining the success of a season—the improvements made, the level of performance in relation to a team’s potential and of course, the difficulty of the schedule.

But Grobe didn’t have to spend 34 years in the coaching profession to learn that what is ideal is often too much to ask.

“Our coaches were talking about it this morning,’’ Grobe said. “The bad thing is, we’ve probably overachieved, we’ve probably done better than people thought we were capable of doing this year, and your guys probably ought to be getting patted on the back for the season that you’ve had – but if you end up 6-7 then all anybody is ever going to say is you’ve had a losing season. That’s just the way it is.

“They won’t even talk about the bowl game. They’ll just say ‘They had a losing season, they were 6-7.’ No matter how well you play, no matter how tough your schedule was, 6-7 is 6-7. We’re not really focusing on that to be honest with you, but we’d like to win another game.’‘

I pointed out that in years to come, those flipping through a Wake Forest football media guide will most likely draw only one conclusion from the 2011 season.

“You’ll just hope they will look at the last thing and see the Music City Bowl,’’ Grobe said. “They’ve got to go too far down.

“They’ll just see the wins and losses at the top.’‘

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

To Whom It Doesn’t Concern

Of all the wonderful Skipisms Skip Prosser came up with during his six seasons as Wake’s head coach, the one I probably heard most concerned rebounding.

“When a ball comes off the rim, it doesn’t have a name on it,’’ Prosser would say time and time agan. “It’s addressed to For Whom it May Concern.’‘

Prosser’s teams never played the kind of defense it takes to be great teams. Defense wasn’t Skip’s thing. But when it came to rebounding the basketball, Prosser was passionate. He stressed that rebounding is above all else hustle and desire. His 2003 Deacons, the year Josh Howard was a senior and Eric Williams, Justin Gray, Chris Ellis and Trent Strickland were freshmen,  became the first ACC team to lead the nation in rebounding.

We’re talking about the whole nation, all of Division I.

Flash forward two coaches and five seasons what we’re watching now is a team that really hasn’t established an identity—or at least not one worth bragging about. It’s hard to see past the lack of numbers and overall talent level to see anything the Deacons do especially well.

But what they’ve really become known for over the first 11 games is their inability to pull a rebound off the backboard. I just checked, and of all the 338 teams playing Division I basketball, the Deacons are tied with Central Michigan for No. 306 with a rebounding margin of minus 5.1. BC, the 11th-ranked ACC team, is two spots ahead at minus 4.7.

Blame it on the fact that Travis McKie is probably the only natural rebounder on the team. Blame it on the Open Post Motion Offense the Deacons are running that often finds a big man on the perimeter when a shot goes up. You can blame it on what you want, but you’ve got to think that an ACC team can at least hold its own on the boards against the caliber of teams Wake has played so far.

In what surely has to be a school first, the Deacons played the first 10 games without out-rebounding an opponent. They did tie Richmond with 29 each, but came back the next game and were out-rebounded 35-29 at High Point.

It wasn’t until Ty Walker returned and Wake played a home game against Gardner-Webb Sunday that it finally won the battle of the boards 35-34. So that’s something to watch over this next stretch of games, if the presence of a 7-0 center with the wingspan of a condor can help turn a horrendous rebounding team into a merely mediocre one. I really can’t see the Deacons being good at rebounding, at least not until the likes of Arnaud Moto, Devin Thomas, Aaron Rountree, Tyler Cavanaugh and Andre Washington in the 2012 recruiting class.

Bzdelik said today his major points of emphasis during this particularly precious period between exams and Christmas, when there are no NCAA limitations on how many hours the teams can work, is to improve the team’s rebounding and defense. He’ll need to work fast. UNC Wilmington, the team due in town for tomorrow night’s game, just pulled 23 offensive rebounds to beat Campbell by two. The Seahawks are ranked No. 152 in rebounding margin with plus 1.5 a game. That’s not great, but it’s a far cry from No. 306.

Can’t Keep a Good Blog Down

Whenever someone I’ve lost touch with asks me if I’m still with the Journal, neither one of us can believe it’s true.

“It’s amazing they haven’t run me off by now,’’ I usually explain.

On Sunday, though, I had to wonder if my run was done and nobody had bothered to tell me.

My family gathered this weekend in Raleigh, and as always we had us a time, telling tale tells, laughing, railing about all there is to rail about these days, laughing some more, caterwauling maudlin country songs and generally enjoying each other’s company. Like Robert Earl said about the brothers in Corpus Christi Bay, we Collins boys are bad for one another, but we’re good at having fun.

But upon finally checking in with myself on line Sunday I found I wasn’t home. My cosmic connection had been broken and I was soon palpatating with the heebie-jeebies. You’re nobody anymore until somebody links you, and I couldn’t even get through to myself. It left me wondering, as Robert Earl poses in another song Is There Wireless in Heaven?

This story has a happy ending, at least for me and for those to whom I owe money. I found out by Monday morning that nobody with the Journal was dropping any broad hints, and instead there had been a server problem back in the home office in Richmond. So by yesterday afternoon I was back up and still running. Thanks to everyone who wondered about me. I truly appreciate it.

I did manage to swing by Wake’s second football practice of the day yesterday and as soon as I finish this I’m headed over to Joel Coliseum to watch coach Jeff Bzdelik put the hardwood Deacons through their paces.

No real scoops from football. Joey Ehrmann landed wrong in the morning practice and bruised up his knee, but neither coach Jim Grobe nor trainer Don Steelman expect it to have any bearing on Ehrmann’s availability for the Dec. 30th date with Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl. Chris Givens said he hadn’t gotten his evaluation from the NFL back and he wasn’t even going to ponder his future until he headed home to Wylie, Tx., to discuss his options with his family. He also said that even if he made a decision on whether to make himself available for the draft, he probably won’t tell anybody until after the Bowl. I asked Grobe if the issue had been a distraction, and he said that would only happen if Givens wasn’t into practicing for the bowl game—in which case he would tell him to go ahead and rest up for the spring combine. He hastened to add that he’s seen no sign of that being the case, stressing that Givens is still all in. And I’ve written a story that will run in Wednesday’s Journal in which Grobe still doesn’t expect to use more than two running backs, senior Brandon Pendergrass and freshman Orville Reynolds, against the Bulldogs of the SEC.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

BuzzOuts Vs. BuzzIns

Since Jeff Bzdelik was named basketball coach at Wake in April of 2010, every game the Deacons have played has been not so much a game as a referendum.

If digits were dipped in purple paint to signify a vote, most in the Wake fan base would have long ago run out of unstained fingers and toes.

The camps are clearly divided, as I’ve gleaned from reading your comments here and perusing the usual message boards. On one side are the BuzzOuts, on the other the BuzzIns. Yet while their positons are diametrically opposed, their message is identical and succinct enough to be characterized with two short sentences containing a total of six words.

See There. I Told You So.

The game doesn’t even have to end before the referendum is on and raging. When the Deacons are playing well, the BuzzIns are crowing. When they’re stinking up the gym, the BuzzOuts are out in force and having a field day. The discourse, many times, is more compelling than the game.

One lesson I’ve learned the hard way is to not infringe on a reader’s right to be a fan. So far be from me to scold or chastise anyone for the interest, if not passion, they harbor for Wake Forest. Not being a fan, I can’t say as I always understand it. But I do know that if no one cared enough to revel in victory or despair in defeat then Wake would be wasting its time even fielding athletics teams like I would be wasting my time writing this blog I’ve enjoyed so much these past three years.

The rancor and vitriol can get pretty thick from time to time, which any reasonable person would see as saying more about the one slinging the bile than their intended target. There’s no age limit, or maturity level required to be a fan. And that’s coming from a nonpartisan bystander whose motto is, If You Don’t Grow Up by The Time You’re 50, You Don’t Have To.

It also bears noting that the hiring of Bzdelik wouldn’t have sparked so much division if it had been explained better in the first place. One week the fan base is told that the basis for letting a coach go is his unacceptable performance in post-season play, and the next week the same fan base is introduced to a new coach with a post-season record every bit as bad, if not worse. There were obviously other considerations, but by being left unsaid, they opened wounds that continue to fester into Bzdelik’s second season at the helm.

But to demand that Ron Wellman fire Bzdelik, as I’ve written before, is like spitting in the ocean and expecting the sea level to rise. It’s not going to happen. Wellman himself is too invested in seeing this thing through. And if you’re ready to take the next step, and demand Wellman’s head, then my sense is you’ve wandered out of the fringe too far for most to follow. That, to me, is like spitting in the ocean and expecting a tsunami.

Personally I prefer to take the longer view and let the events play themselves out. I don’t have to be the first to arrive at a conclusion. There have been encouraging signs, the highly-regarded six-player recruiting class and the cohesion and teamwork on display this season that were nowhere to be found a year ago. That said, this is not a good basketball team. It may be good enough to win a few more games in the most diluted ACC I’ve ever known, and it should get better as the season progresses and the freshmen and sophomores continue to develop. But I’ve got to think that the real challenge for players like Tony Chennault and Carson Desrosiers and Chase Fischer and Anthony Fields and Daniel Green is not to earn playing time this season, but next, by which time the Deacons should have as much talent as most of the conference teams they play.

By this time next year I’ve got to think we’ll all know far more about where the Wake program is headed, and how fast it’s getting there.

So, again, I’m willing to wait. For those who are not there’s another referendum set for Sunday when the Deacons emerge from exams to play Gardner-Webb.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

No Given Givens Will Be Back in 2012

Chris Givens had a really good season at Wake Forest, maybe too good for the overall good of the Deacons’ football program.

Givens, a record-breaking junior receiver, said at today’s final gathering to eat chicken and talk football that he is considering making himself eligible for the NFL draft. He said he wants to decide by the end next week where he will be playing football next season.

“I don’t know if I’m coming back or I’m leaving yet,’’ Givens said. “I want to make my decision before the end of next week and we’ll see what happens.’‘

I asked Givens if it had sunk in yet that the Dec. 30 game against Mississippi State in the Music City Bowl may be his last at Wake Forest.

“Not really,’’ Givens said. “It has sunk it a little bit, but if I leave I feel it’ll sink in more then. Right now I’m just really focusing on the here and now and I’m trying to think about anything that could sway my decision.’‘

Givens is the best receiver I’ve ever seen play at Wake. He made first-team All-ACC after catching 74 passes for 1,276 yards and nine touchdowns, breaking the yardage record Hall-of-Famer Ricky Proehl established in 1989. He along with quarterback Tanner Price were two of the biggest reasons the Deacons were able to rebound from last season’s 3-9 debacle to receive their first bowl invitation since 2008.

Nobody knows better than coach Jim Grobe just how good Givens is.

“When you’ve broken Ricky Proehl’s records, now you’re a pretty good football player,’’ Grobe said.

Grobe, by experience as well as inclination, is usually against players leaving college early. I always figured some of that mindset came from just how hard Grobe had to work to get a scholarship to Virginia—by spending two years at Ferrum Junior College—and just what playing ACC football meant to him.

But Givens said in the chat the two have had, Grobe told him he was in his corner regardless of his decision.

“He’s been like the best a head coach could be with the whole situation,’’ Givens said.

Grobe wasn’t thrilled when Jon Abbate left early to make himself available for the draft after the 2006 season. But that was mainly because Abbate was only 5-10 and Grobe had been told by people he trusted that Abbate wasn’t going to be drafted. Abbate, indeed, wasn’t drafted, and despite signing a free-agent contract with the Houston Texans as a fullback, never played in an NFL game.

Givens, at 6-0, 190 pounds, is a smaller receiver than most NFL teams prefer, but there are a lot of 6-0 receivers making plenty of money in pro football.

“He’s a real-deal guy, there’s no question about it,’’ Grobe said. “And Jon Abbate was a real good player. There was no doubt Jon could play. But Jon just wasn’t very tall.

“In Chris’s case, you know they would probably want him to be a little taller, I’m sure if the truth is known. They would probably want him to be a little bit more physical as a blocker and did some things without the ball in his hands than he does. But he does some really good things – good speed, good routes, good work ethic, catches the ball good, got the real, real good footspeed. He’s a good player. He’s a really good player.’‘

Grobe said he wants what’s best for his players. And if that means that Givens is better off playing in the NFL next season, then the Deacons will still field a football team in 2012.

“Camp’s a good player,’’ Grobe said of sophomore flanker Michael Campanaro. “And a couple of guys in the shadows who haven’t done much might be the next Chris Givens. You never know when Scooby (Lovell Jackson) might step up. He’s got as good of foot speed as most of the guys on our team. And he might step up. I think Matt James is a guy who could step up. I hate to ever put pressure on freshmen but Sherman Ragland, I think, is going to be special. Brandon Terry has a ways to go, but we’ve got a couple of big receivers who would be great targets for Tanner. And then Camp could end up being the go-to guys.

“We’ve got some guys to do some things with and I think we’re having a really good recruiting class. We’re bringing some really good footspeed in. So we’ll see.’‘

Indeed we will.

Not Quite Cameron, But Close Enough

Far be it from me to over-sell a four-point victory over a two-win team from the Big South.

But to appreciate Wake’s 87-83 victory at High Point Wednesday you really, as the saying goes, had to be there.

It would have been really easy for any ACC team other than maybe Duke or North Carolina to have lost this one, given the way the stars were aligned. High Point celebrated its first ever visit by an ACC team in mass, packing 1,801 full-throated fans into the Millis Center and keeping the energy flowing from well before game-time until the final buzzer. The school availed itself of the occasion to honor one of its own who made good, coach Tubby Smith of Minnesota, who was on hand to watch the player who passed him on the school’s all-time list of scorers, Nick Barbour, go off in the second half to score 24 of his 35 points in the final 15 minutes and change.

Those who love and care about High Point went to bed Tuesday night thinking about this one, and they woke up Wednesday morning thinking about it. When Corey Law skied for an alley oop and dunk on the Panthers’ first possession, the crowd let go with a roar louder than anything the Deacons can expect to hear this season at Boston College, Miami or Georgia Tech.

“Not quite Cameron, but it competes with it,’’ C.J. Harris observed. “Anytime there’s a small gym and so many fans are there, the students at both ends of the court, it’s tough to play.’‘

Travis McKie reveled in the super-charged atmoshere.

“It was fun for me, like coming back to high school and those games where the crowd was wild and everybody’s against you and everybody wants you to lose,’’ McKie said. “It was definitely fun for me. I enjoyed it.’‘

Harris weathered foul trouble to score 20 and McKie contrbuted 18 as the Deacons shot 70 percent in the second half. The difference this night, though, was the offensive support Harris and McKie got from Tony Chennault and Nikita Mescheriakov. Chennault was as good as I’ve ever seen him while scoring a career-high 20 points and dishing out six assists against two turnovers. Mescheriakov made 4 of 4 from the floor, 3 of 3 from 3-point range and finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

And when the going got really hairy for the Deacons, after a 3-pointer by Shay Shine trimmed their lead to 78-75, it was Mescheriakov and Chennault who provided the answer.

Mersheriakov pulled up in front of the Deacons’ bench and drilled a 3-pointer for an 81-75 lead. After a 3-pointer from Xavier Martin pulled the Panthers to 83-78 with 1:42 left, the Deacons beat the press, set up and ran all but three second off the clock before Chennault made a tough, contested shot in the lane.

As for Mesheriakov’s dagger, taken with 20 seconds left on the shot clock, I asked coach Jeff Bzdelik if it was a shot he wanted to see.

“No,’’ Bzdelik said. “I wanted to get Travis in the post, and (Mescheriakov) pulled it.

“But it’s one of those things that you start to say `What?’ And then you go `Yeah!’’ As Jeff Van Gundy used to say, when that ball’s in the air, you’re either a good coach, bad coach, good coach, bad coach. And if it goes in you’re a good coach, and if it doesn’t you’re a bad coach.’‘

Through Wake’s first eight games, McKie averaged 18.9 points and Harris averaged 18.4—combing for 53 percent of the Deacons’ offensive output. I asked McKie the stupid question of what it means to get the kind of production the Deacons got from Chennault and Mescheriakov.

“It means a lot,’’ McKie said. “I think it was two big games from Nikita and Tony, especially Tony. Tony, he was struggling offensively the last couple of games. And you could say the same about Nikita and his shooting percentage. But they both made shots, and they had a good night tonight.

“That takes the load off me and C.J. and definitely makes the game a little easier.’‘

Maybe I just caught High Point on a good night, but the Panthers looked far better than what one would expect from a team that’s 2-6. Of course Barbour put on a show and he and his teammates were sky high, but it also bears noting that four of the six losses have been by five or fewer points.

And maybe the stars that were aligned ended up in my eyes, but I really wouldn’t be surprised if High Point stirred up some things this season in the Big South. But then of course on one of the really memorable nights in the history of High Point basketball, I was there.

And I was glad of it.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

The Nashville I Know

We stumbled into Tootsie’s
And there before my bloodshot eyes
Was the closest thing to heaven
Pouring bourbon over ice,
She asked me `What’s your pleasure?’
And I knew right then and there,
I could never face my family,
Without these souvenirs.

For the kids I brought a T-shirt,
For my wife a flannel gown,
And for me I brought the barmaid
From Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge.
—The Souvenir by Ed Hardin and Country Dan Collins

It may be a surprise coming from a guy called Country Dan that I don’t really like country music, at least not the kind heard on Top 40 radio. There have been many songs decrying what Music Row has become, a pillar of product and promotion over art and soul, and I agree with every one of them.

My favorite song of that vein is by the incomparable Dale Watson and it’s called Nashville Rash.

On second thought, as good as Watson’s song is, this one by Tom Russell is even better. The Death of Jimmy Martin.

So if you head over to Opryland during your trip to the Music City Bowl, don’t waste your time looking for me. I won’t be there.

But we might cross paths here Ryman Auditorium. Or here Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Or here Ernest Tubb Record Shops. Or here Robert’s Western World. Or here Gruhn Guitars. Or here Exit/In. Or here Country Music Hall of Fame. Or here Bluebird Cafe.

I had the great good fortune to visit Nashville often in the early 1990s when Wake had a home-and-home with Vanderbilt in both football and basketball, and I have some tales to tell about the Nashville I know. But seeings how the game is not until Dec. 30, I’ve got plenty of time to tell them.

In the meantime, if you really want to know where country music got started and what it’s really all about, you may want to find the novel by Hillsborough-based writer Lee Smith called The Devil’s Dream. I’ve read it twice, but might give it another go before heading back to Nashville.

Speaking of music, if you happened to miss Lisa O’Donnell’s tribute to local guitar legend Lowman Pauling that ran Sunday in the Journal, do yourself a favor and check it out here Music’s Unsung Pioneer. I always knew Winston to be a good music town, but I didn’t know the extent of it until reading Lisa’s beautiful piece. Lisa is a musician in her own right, as is her husband Jeff Shu who plays mandolin and steel guitar for my favorite country band The Bo Stevens.

Lisa really did herself proud on this one.