And on the 8th Day, God Created Baseball...

<--- Since college football ended, this has been me. Just replace the monkey with the bulldog. And I have a much better 6-pack. But for real, it has been just nothing. Boredom. And then this weekend happened.

After a month filled with crappy weather, crappier basketball and a significant lack of sunshine, God seemed to know we needed a break in Eastern North Carolina. So this past weekend, he gave us 62 degrees, sunshine, and the greatest game on Earth. Baseball is back.

I got out to my first game of the year Sunday as I made my way to Greenville for the rubber match of the ECU-Virginia series. Not too bad when opening weekend matches a pair of Top 25 teams and one of them is #2. UVA had won the opener on Friday 6-2 and the Pirates got some back on Saturday with a 6-1 win.

Sunday was a glorious day for ball. The sun was bright, it was warm but not hot. Just a taylor made day. UVA jumped on ECU early and built leads of 9-2 and 13-4. In the end, the ECU bats cam alive, but not enough firepower as UVA held on for a 14-11 win and a series win. Not a bad showing for the Pirates, though, as they get a win and a pair of close losses to the #2 team in the country.

One big moment for me came on Sunday in the 2nd inning. Former Nash County Babe Ruth legend (and Northern Nash standout, which we forgive him for) Tyler Joyner made his Pirate debut out of the bullpen. TJ showewd flashes of what is to come in Greenville as he popped the mitt with some nasty heat more than a few times. Overall, Tyler's control was not sharp and his official line was 1.1 innings pitched, 4 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks and 1 strikeout. I have a good feeling that it will get MUCH better for TJ as his career advances.

Members of Rocky Mount's 2008 3A State Championship team got there first tasts of action for the 2010 season this weekend. The marquee name was Brian Goodwin, who made his Tar Heel debut Friday afternoon. B Good knocked in his first career run on a sacrifice fly. After a pair of 0-4 days, Brian broke through on Sunday with his first college hit. And in typical B Good form, he turned on the wheels and stretched what should have been a double into a triple. He played a solid right field for the series, and much like Tyler, I expect it will get much better for Brian.

Jim Leggett began his first season at Pitt Community after redhsirting last year at Belomnt-Abby. Jim actually got his season underway last weekend with a couple of innings pitched. This weekend, he closed the first game of a double-header against Wake Tech. He faced four batters, and would have only faced three if not for a fielding error on a perfect ground ball. We'll definitely be keeping tabs on Jim this year.

Speaking of Wake Tech, the Eagles are in their first season as a program. It has been a somewhat bumpy ride thus far as they face established programs like Pitt and Louisburg. But at least one of their players has some experience winning big. That player is Outfielder Cameron Ramsey. Cameron was a member of the back-to-back Babe Ruth World Series teams in 2004 and 2005. Also, he was a mamber of the 2008 RMHS state championship team and this past summers American Legion Post 58 team that made the state tournament. Cameron had 4 hits this weekend for Pitt including a pair of doubles. Not a bad start for a guy helping to get a program off the ground. It's a great opportunity that Cam is taking advantage of. We'll keep an eye on his season.

Down at Bouis Creek, Ben Fish made his Campbell debut on Sunday as a pinch hitter. With the bases loaded, Ben took the first pitch he saw and deposited it about 450-feet: foul. But he did a good job, battled back and hit a screamer down the 3rd base line. The 3rd baseman made a play on it, but bobbled the ball and could only record the out at 2nd. So Ben ended up with a fielders choice and a RBI. Ben will play a backup role this season behind former Northern Nash player Brian Braswell. But with his bat, Ben will have a chance to make an impact.

Well, that's gonna do it for today. Gotta run out quick. Talk to ya'll later.

PS: Sweet revenge on Tracy for pulling against the Pirates yesterday. She got sunburned. The lesson: Don't go to Purple Heaven and blaspheme. Or you will get burned. BOOYA!!!

A Week in the Life of Myron Rolle

I was cruising ESPN.com and came across this article. You college football fans may remember Myron Rolle as an All-ACC safety at Free Shoe U or as the #1 prospect in the country his senior year in high school. Well, he will be working out at the NFL Combine coming up soon and with his awesome talents, has a good chance to be a late 1st round pick. But he spent his senior year of college a little differently than your average NFL prospect. Instead of flying around the field at Doak-Campbell Stadium, he has been studying at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Not bad. A little better than Matt Leinhart taking Ballroom Dancing his senior year at USC.

So anyway, here's the link: The Burden of Myron Rolle. Hope ya'll have a chance to check it out. I'll be back later with more fun from the Wonderful World of Wes as we look at why Tiger Woods may have screwed up, but at least he had fun doing it...

Winter Olympics? Why Not...

Alrighty then. Here we go. The Winter Olympics kicked off tonight in Vancouver (which happens to be the strip club capital of The Great White Satan to the North, a.k.a. Canada. I learned this nifty fact on Bon Jovi's "Behind the Music")

And you say, "Wes, why in God's name would you care about the Winter Olympics? You hate snow and cold of any kind, and there is no baseball."

Well, you would be correct on all of the above reason. It is cold. There is a ton of snow. And there is definitely no baseball. But there is one thing, or should I say one person, who will draw my attention to these Winter Games.

Her name is Tanith Belbin. And she rates an 11 out of 10 on the unofficial ( and unsponsored to this point) "Wes Bradshaw Hot Athlete Scale". And basically that is all I need to watch a women's sporting event. Other athletes who apply to the rule include Maria Sharapova (tennis), Amanda Beard (swimming), Jennie Finch (softball) and the newly appointed Allison Stokke (pole vault). Just google any of these and you will see why they hold any guys attention.

Anyway, color me a fan of Ice Dancing. No, I don't know how something called 'Dancing' can be considered an Olympic sport, but at this point, I could friggin care less. My reasons are below. As always, you're welcome.

PS: Yes, I cropped out the douchebag looking skating partner. He sucks.

Super Sunday Lives Up To It's Name

I hope everyone stuck around for the entire Super Bowl game. I hope The Who didn't make you click the channel and end up watching an "Ace of Cakes" marathon.

WHAT A GAME!!! I've got some friends down in New Orleans (a.k.a. The 504) and I'm so happy for them today. For my buddy Jon, it's been a long time coming. And I can guarantee you, these folks were Saints fans before it was cool. I know because I have given Jon more hell over the years about his Saints than anyone deserved. But, as he congratulated me in 2002 when the Tampa Bay Bucs won the Super Bowl, today I gladly return the congrats to him.

I would also like to point out the contributions of a couple of guys who played their college ball right down the road at a little place called THE U! Jonathan Vilma made a huge touchdown saving deflection when Peyton Manning was going deep to Austin Collie and also made a couple of nice tackles for loss. And then my man, one of my 5 favorite Canes to ever put on the white helmet, Mr. Game Winning TD Catch himself, JEREMY SHOCKEY!!!! Shock redeemed himself from a tumultuous end to his time as a New York Giant with the biggest catch in Nolia history. From being a guy who had to pay his own way to see his team win it two years ago, to being the hero of the Who Dat Nation, Shock and Awe was in full display when it mattered most.

As for the game, I thought it was really well played. Not a lot of penalties and until the end, n turnovers. I think no matter who we were pulling for, we just wanted to be entertained into the 4th quarter. And this game delivered. Peyton Manning is the best QB in the world, and he played like it until he made one mistake. But we have come to find out the last decade in the NFL, the team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins. And that's exactly what happened.

Overall I think this will go down as one of the most memorable Super Bowls of all time. And for my 504 folks, it will go down as the night they arrived. WHO DAT!!!

PS: Here are a couple of pics, just because the Saints cheerleaders are unbelievable...

Remembering "Triple T": Terrible Terry Tate

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, the Bleacher Report did a list of their favorite Super Bowl commercials of all-time. The short version of Terry Tate: Office Linebacker was on there. I went to YouTube and found the long version. I can't think of many things better in this world. And just for my buddy Randy Langley, Terry Tate will be a junior LB at Rocky Mount this coming up season. Enjoy: