Barry's Back

     By Thomas McNeeley

        Barry Bonds will be returning to the San Francisco Giants for the upcoming 2017 season. He will be a special adviser to the team, as the Giants announced on Monday. The legendary slugger will assist Larry Baer, the Giants CEO. Bonds will be joining the team this week at spring training.

            Baer talked about his excitement for Bond’s arrival at spring training with the team. “We are delighted to welcome Barry back home to the Giants. As one of the greatest players of all time, Barry’s contributions to our organization are legendary. He joins Willie Mays, Willie McCover, Orlando Cepeda and other distinguished alumni who help advise the club and we look forward to working with him again.”

            Prior to the 2017 season, Bonds spent his time with the Miami Marlins as the hitting coach for the team. However, Bonds was eventually fired despite the Marlins having the fourth-best batting average (.263) in the majors.

The Top 5 Biggest NCAA Tournament Upsets of the Past 20 Years

By Sarah Brams

1. March 16, 2012---round of 64

No. 15 Norfolk State Spartans vs. No. 2 Missouri Tigers

Missouri locked in a 21.5 spread and were shocked by the Norfolk State Spartans, led by Kyle O'Quinn, who scored a game-high 26 points and led with 14 rebounds. Up by two with 3.8 seconds left in regulation, O'Quinn actually missed two free throws. This opened the door for the Tigers, but they couldn't pull through as Phil Pressey, missed a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. Norfolk State had officially shocked college basketball.

Final Score: Norfolk State: 86, Missouri: 84

2. March 14, 1997---round of 64

No. 15 Coppin State Eagles vs. No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks

The Eagles became the third-ever 15-seed to win a tournament game (at the time), as they stunned the Gamecocks 78-65. The SEC-regular champion opened up a seven-point lead in the second half after a tied-up game at halftime, but Coppin State outscored USC 38-18 in the final 13 minutes to win by 13 points. That margin of victory remains the largest by a 15-seed in an NCAA tournament game. This also marked the first tournament win for the MEAC conference as a whole.

Final Score: Coppin State 78, South Carolina 65

3. March 15, 2001---round of 64

No. 15 Hampton Pirates vs. No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones

Iowa State was expected to roll over Hampton in the first round. The Pirates were making their first appearance in the "Dance" in just their sixth season as a Division I program. Hampton's Tarvis Williams put his team up one point with 6.9 seconds left, and the Cyclones' Jamaal Tinsley missed a layup at the buzzer. The Pirates pulled a huge upset over the Cyclones despite shooting 38.9 percent from the field and 15 percent from the 3-point line.

Final Score: Hampton 58, Iowa State 57

4. March 18, 2016---round of 64

No. 15 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders vs. No. 2 Michigan State Spartans

The Spartans were hot coming off a Big Ten Tournament win, but Denzel Valentine and his team could not come out on top as Middle Tennessee led throughout the game and knocked off the heavily-favored Spartans. They lost despite shooting 55.6 percept from the field, its sixth-best field goal percentage in an NCAA tournament game under Tom Izzo. The Spartans were a -9000 favorite.

Final Score: Middle Tennessee 90, Michigan State 81

5. March 19, 2015---round of 64

No. 14 UAB Blazers vs. No. 3 Iowa State Cyclones

Just 14 seasons after being stunned by Hampton, Iowa State once again fell as a double-digit favorite in the round of 64. The Cyclones had an early 10-point lead, but in the second half neither team could get a lead of more than four points. The Blazers closed the game on a 9-4 run in the final 1 minute, 40 seconds to win by one. UAB beat top-seed Kentucky as a 10-point underdog in 2004; this game was the second time in 12 seasons that they won a tournament game as a double-digit underdog.

Final Score: UAB 60, Iowa State 59

Czech Republic Soccer Player Saves the Life of an Opponent

On February 25, 2017, Francis Kone, the striker for the Slovacko soccer club in the Czech Republic, recorded a stat that someone in soccer may have never done, saving the life of the opposing team’s goalie.  During the match, Kone and the goalie, Martin Berkovec, were both going after the ball when the goalie collided with his own teammate, Daniel Krch, leaving him unconscious and motionless.  Kone quickly jumped into action and was able to stop Berkavec from swallowing his tongue, which allowed him to breathe.  The incident happened in the 29^th minute of the match, and brought everyone to a standstill.  After the match, Kone had announced that this was not the first time that he had saved someone’s life on the field, but the fourth!  Kone then posted to Facebook after the match, thanking God and everyone who had written or called him about the incident, “I would like to give thanks to God for saving a colleague from the worst, because without him we would know how terrible today could have been.  Thanks also to all those from near and far away who have written to me or called about this gesture of sportsmanship and humanity.  I hope Martin and Daniel will recover quickly so they can return to the football field”.  Daniel Berkavec then thanked Kone, "for his quick action in saving me".  The league also announced after the match, that Kone was the “hero” of the match. 

By: Kyle Langdon

Time for a Change

It's a cool, Saturday afternoon in February. A few fans and some proud parents are in the stands cheering on a basketball game in High Point, North Carolina. After the first five minutes of the game, it's time to sub out all the starters and put in five new players on the floor, making sure everyone is getting equal playing time. Now, to answer your question, no this is not a game being played at Montlieu Elementary school. This is, in fact, a game being played just down the road at the Millis Center at High Point University. So why would would a college basketball game be so eerily similar to a 4th grade basketball game do you ask? The answer is simple, actually. Scott Cherry. Amazingly enough, Scott Cherry does the same job during games that a volunteer does for his 10 year-old son's team. The only difference is that Scott Cherry actually gets paid to do this.

Date back to 1993. Scott Cherry rides the bench on his way to a NCAA National Championship under the tutelage of Dean Smith. Fast forward to 2006, and we find Scott Cherry riding the wave as an assistant coach with George Mason to the Final Four. Lucky him! It truly is impressive that Scott Cherry can make it so far in the NCAA tournament just by sitting on a bench. For whatever reason, though, this qualifies him to make way more money than he deserves for a job that he is not very good at. 

Now this begs the obvious question, "But Scott Cherry brought High Point to three conference regular season championships in a row! How is he not a good coach?" Another simple answer. John Brown. After a redshirt season in 2011, John Brown went all four seasons with High Point finishing with a winning record. Prior to this, Scott Cherry had three seasons under his belt as head coach of the program, and guess what, that's right, NEVER HAD A SEASON ABOVE .500. Immediately following the JB era, Coach Cherry takes the team to another season not being able to go above .500. 

After a recent contract extension, it seems like Coach Cherry had a bit of a safety-net, but now could his job be on the line? Can Scott Cherry break .500? Can he start winning big games? Will he keep his job?

Whether or not it's Coach Cherry on the High Point bench or someone else, High Point fans just want wins.

Bracketology Podcast

March Madness is here and I have college hoops hot takes and breakdown the bracket for about an hour tournament preview. I even pick my bracket! Enjoy! 


https://soundcloud.com/kevin-mcmahon-jr/mind-your-mcmahoners-mcmahon-sers-bracketology-special

The Battle of the Blues

by Zach Tucker

North Carolina. What a wonderful state. North Carolina offers various sights and sounds to visitors of all ages. North Carolina is home to the Biltmore House, the Outer Banks, Mt. Mitchell (the highest point east of the Mississippi River), Cheerwine and the first successful flight; among other things. North Carolina is also home to one of the greatest college basketball rivalries in the United States that features Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Both institutions have a lot in common. For starters the two schools are separated by only 10 miles. They both have a shade of blue for one of their primary colors, royal blue for Duke and light blue for UNC. Both programs have five national championships. Duke has 19 regular season championships and 19 ACC tournament championships. UNC has 31 ACC regular season championships and 18 ACC Tournament championships. They both have had prominent players and coaches that have participated in the rivalry over the years. Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick, Grant Hill, Shane Battier and Jon Scheyer are some of the names that headline former Duke players. Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Phil Ford, Sam Perkins and Tyler Hansbrough are some of the former notable UNC players. Not to mention that both teams are currently led by Hall of Fame coaches in Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams and who could forget about Dean Smith?

On March 4, 2017 the two schools will meet again for the 244 time. A win for Duke would mean that they could potentially move up to the #2 seed or #3 seed in the ACC tournament and possibly even earn a higher seed in the NCAA tournament. That would also mean that Duke would be 8-2 in its last 10 games against Carolina. A win for UNC would almost guarantee a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Carolina has already clinched the #1 seed in the ACC tournament. It would also be Carolina’s first win at home against Duke in three years.

Both Luke Kennard (Duke) and Justin Jackson (UNC) were named as finalists for the Naismith trophy earlier this week, which is given annually to the best player in college basketball. Both players will look to lead their respective teams to a win on Saturday. Nothing is guaranteed in a rivalry game, but both teams and fanbases will be licking their chops for the chance of a sweet victory.

It’s Duke.

It’s UNC.

It’s the greatest rivalry in college basketball.

NFL News: Patriots expected to retain QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Article By Nick Spino

After weeks of questions and rumors about what the New England Patriots would do with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the team has decided that they will retain him.

With veteran quarterback Tom Brady turning 40 by the time preseason football begins, "Jimmy G" will remain with the Patriots for the 2017 season and possibly beyond.

The Patriots like Garoppolo, as he has meet the team's standards in practice and when he has had opportunities in games. Garoppolo was productive for New England while starting the first two games of the 2016 season in place of Brady, who was sidelined with a four-game suspension in loom of 'Deflategate'. Garoppolo led the Patriots to wins over the Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins, but ended up suffering a right shoulder injury against Miami that knocked him out of the lineup.

A second-round selection out of Eastern Illinois in 2014, Garoppolo will be entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Patriots. He is due to make a salary of $820,077.