Boxtorow Blog

The third annual FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW’s Countdown to Kickoff begins today.  For five weeks FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW will get you ready for the 2008 football season.  The Countdown culminates with our NFL preview on September 6.  On today’s show we will have as guests the coaches whose team’s won conference championships last year - on one show!  Darrell Asberry of Shaw, Rick Comegy of Jackson State, Al Lavan of Delaware State and Willie Slater of Tuskegee.  I’ll also give you my thoughts as to who I believe will win each conference and some final Bret Favre talk.

Click on or copy and paste in your browser the following link to see  what station in your locale carries FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW www.boxtorow.com/affiliates.php.  If the show does not air in your locale, please log onto www.boxtorow.com and click where it says Click here to LISTEN Saturday’s 1:00-2:00 PM ET to listen to the show on Saturday from 1 - 2 p.m. ET.

Thank you for your continued support of FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW.  We are very much looking forward to our 4th season servicing HBCU Sports and beyond.

Donal Ware.

This is the third year in a row in which I have made the trip to the CIAA and MEAC press luncheons in Petersburg, VA and the Tidewater Virginia area, respectively.  Each year, it allows me to spend time and see some colleagues that I may see on occasion.  Colleagues such as Eric Moore of the Onnidan Group and onnidan.com, Lut Williams of the Black College Sports Page, and Stan Lewter of CIAA-TV and ESPN.  This year, two other colleagues included Mark Gray of Sports Groove TV and WOL-AM 1450 (Radio One) in Washington, DC and Ty Miller of Sheridan Broadcast Networks.

Thursday’s press conference with the CIAA coaches was a little different this year.  As a matter of fact, I have been at the CIAA’s luncheon since 2003.  Instead of the coaches coming up one by one and talking about what they don’t have, Lewter interviewed each coach in like a one on one session, asking them questions about players, the upcoming season, etc.  Chowan is the new team in the conference this year and will play in the Western Division.  Shaw was picked to win the Western Division and rightfully so.  Head coach Darrell Asberry and the Bears are loaded this year.  Virginia Union under first year head coach Greg Richardson is picked to win the Eastern Division.  Richardson is in his first year as the head coach, but had been the defensive coordinator at Union and has been a head coach before and with most of last year’s team returning, not a whole lot changes.  Besides, Union as the premier player in the conference and one of the best quarterbacks in the country returning in Lamar Little.  But when it’s all said and done and the dust settles, I will give the edge to Asberry and the Bears to repeat as champions.

Friday at the MEAC was a lot of fun as well.  I had a chance to talk to and interview all of the coaches in the session with the coaches and the media.  The luncheon where the coaches come up and speak to the audience was entertaining as always.  And let me tell you the luncheon was packed with alumni from all schools, but the most being from Norfolk State.  Anyway Donald Hill-Ely head coach at Morgan State was funny as he normally is and told some jokes that I won’t repeat on this board.  Alvin Wyatt of Bethune-Cookman was his normal self.  But I believe Hampton’s first year head coach Jerry Holmes stole the show.  Before he sat down he gave props to former head coach Joe Taylor who is now the head coach at Florida A&M.  Then he said something to the in a firm tone, to the effect of [“…they say I have big shoes to fill…”].  He brought a shoe from behind the counter and said [“…No, I’ve got my own shoes to fill…”] and threw the show over the podium onto the floor as he got a loud round of applause.  Coach Taylor was the last coach to speak and he got serious and rightfully spoke about the APR (Academic Progress Report) and how schools needed to take it more serious and put personnel in place to make sure that the student-athletes of our HBCUs are graduating.  As you may know the way the APR is set up, if you are not graduating a certain percentage of student-athletes, the NCAA can take scholarships away.  Taylor as seen what other schools are doing to make sure there athletes graduate.

For the second year in a row South Carolina State has been picked in the pre-season to win the MEAC.  This may be there year and they may be the most talented team with Malcolm Long, Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina two years ago as their quarterback and one of the premier backs in the country Will Ford at tailback.  I will go with them as well.  Florida A&M is picked to finish 6th but with Taylor at the helm don’t be surprised to see them near the top of the conference by season’s end.

Donal Ware.

It has been too long since the last time I wrote on this blog. As a matter of fact it was during NBA All-Star Weekend when I last wrote. I promise I will update this blog on a more regular basis.

Well this week begins the conferences football press luncheons. I went to the SWAC media day on Tuesday. It was great. I got to speak to and interview all but one of the coaches. We will have those interviews along with the previews and predicted order of finish as we do every year on Boxtorow.com in the next couple of weeks.

I was very impressed with the new head coach at Alcorn State Ernest T. Jones. He was very energetic and excited about his program. Had a chance to meet for the first time Johnny Cole, the new head football coach at Texas Southern, after interviewing him the last couple of years on FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW. His new quarterback Bobby Reid, the transfer from Oklahoma State was getting all of the attention and Coach Cole loved it. Reid is a major weapon. Again meeting and talking with most of the coaches was great.

Let me give you an early prediction. The predicted order of finish was given and in the West it was Grambling, Southern then Prairie View A&M, which was the way the teams finished last year.  Remember the day you read this because by the time the dust settles on December 13, Prairie View under head coach Henry Frazier, one of the brightest, sharpest, smartest coaches in the country will be SWAC Champions.  You heard it here.

Check back as I talk about the CIAA luncheon which is this Thursday and the MEAC luncheon which is this Friday.

As always we have big things planned for you here at boxtorow.com.  Thank you for your support.

Donal Ware.

I had an absolutely wonderful time at the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend in New Orleans. In addition to the actual activities surrounding the Weekend, I had an opportunity to go and see some of the devastation in New Orleans. On Sunday before the game, my man Magic took me through the 9th Ward. I saw how some of the devastation in still affecting people. People still living in mobile units right on their property two and a half years after the storm. But I also saw people who took it upon themselves to rebuild and not wait for government assistance which has been tremendously slow. Southern University of New Orleans’ main campus is still closed.

I would like to thank Magic, who I call the people’s mayor for taking me around and shedding light on the situation in New Orleans, the terrible politics, and showing me and talking to me about the side that a person who lives in North Carolina just doesn’t see and hears about from a slanted point of view via mainstream media.

Sunday’s game was very exciting and not boring in terms of the game like last year. LeBron James was named the MVP because he had the better overall numbers, but I thought Ray Allen should have been named MVP, or the two should have shared the honor. He hit three huge three pointers in the fourth that kept the East ahead and eventually won them the game.

After the game I had a chance to talk to Dwight Howard and asked him if he expected to hear from Soulja Boy’s people after his dunk performance as Superman. Also, the Sports Diva, who we had as a guest on the live broadcast, asked Dwight the question that set the record straight about his dunk or as some called it non-dun. Check his answers out on our All-Star page at www.boxtorow.com/allstar/allstar2008.php.

Thank you for your support.

Donal Ware.

This is the second straight year that I as the host of FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW have attended the NBA All-Star Weekend. It’s great that the NBA recognizes FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW and grants us credentials.

It is great being back in this great city of New Orleans. This is my second time here in three months after having not been here since I was three years old (I am now 33). And while there have been many major sporting events and events that have happened here the last seven or eight months that has brought major revenues to the city as it continues to recover, such as the Essence Festival, the Bayou classic, the Sugar Bowl, the National Championship and NBA All-Star weekend, not to mention Mardi Gras, it is important to remember that the city is still recovering and many of its citizens continue to suffer behind petty politics.

The NBA has done a wonderful job this weekend with its outreach prgorams and service projects. The NBA, its players, and the NBA Legends have done a lot of giving back, getting into the community, using their hands and physical labor along with many volunteer groups to help rebuild parts of the city. This is normally a time when players come to enjoy themselves, but to see guys like Jason Kid and Allen Iverson helping out is wonderful.

Due to technical difficulties beyond our control, we were unable to produce a live show at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday and for that I do apologize. But we were able to do a live show and should have it posted for you under our show archives on the main page by Tuesday Feb. 19. So far I have had a wonderful time. Friday was a media opportunity with the East and West All-Stars. Sitting there talking to the likes of Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, David West, Caron Butler, DeWayne Wade - it’s like you see these guys on Tv all the time either playing or doing interviews and to actually be up close interviewing them - it’s surreal. I’m not star struck or anything because we do this semi-regularly, but I guess my point is these guys are regular people too. When I see a guy like Shaq just having fun it’s real cool. I am a huge sports fan obviously and this is what I do, but sometimes I think we take the x’s and o’s of sports a little too seriously sometimes. We talk about how guys showboat and things of that nature. But isn’t part of that what it’s about? Entertaining the fans? Anyway these guys are regualr people.

It’s almost 9:00 a.m. local time on Sunday. In a few I am supposed to be getting up with legend Willis Reed to conduct an interview with him. I had a chance to preview the film Black Magic yesterday at a screening. Co-prodced by Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, perhaps the greatest Black college player and one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players, the film showcases the contributions Black colleges have made to the game of basketball. Reed. bob Love. bobby dandridge. Cleo Hill. John McClendon. Big House Gaines. Peewee Kirkland. All of them are featured in this film. It is a must see when it airs on ESPN in mid-March. we will be doing more with it in the next couple of months on FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW.

I went to the Celebrity Game on Friday where Terrell Owens, who didn’t play until the second half was the MVP. That game was a whole lot of fun. Saturday with the Slam Dunk Contest was awesome. Dwight Howard is truly a young superstar. I am going to the Legends Brunch this morning. Going to walk around the NO a bit later. And get ready for the game tonight.

I gotta run. I appreciate you reading this and continue to support FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESSR ROW and tell five friends about this site www.boxtorow.com.

Donal Ware.

I had a wonderful time in at the Bayou Classic and in New Orleans. First off, if you haven’t purchased the new BCFx video game you must do it. I was partly in New Orleans to help promote the game.

This was my first time at the Bayou and my first time in New Orleans in 30 years (I was three when I was last here). Thoroughly enjoyed myself. The food was great, the people were great, the French Quarter was great, everything about the experience was wonderful. The game itself was good. Was it me, and this may sound crazy but was Grambling looking past Southern? I mean they seemed not to play with a whole lot of intensity. And in part I would have to say that was in part coaching. And Grambling head coach Rod Broadway, in his first season, said as much. It was like the Tigers were looking toward the SWAC Championship game against Jackson State in three weeks. And yes this loss will cost Grambling the Black College National Championship, no matter the outcome of their game against Jackson State.

Broadway has been a football coach and around football for a long time. But in looking at him, albeit from the press box, on the sideline and looking at some shots of him on NBC, it seemed that the game was too big for him. I mean he was the head coach at North Carolina Central for five years. Prior to that, he was an assistant at North Carolina, Florida and Duke amongst others. He played at UNC. So he has been in big games. But never a head coach in as big a game as this. The Bayou Classic is big time football, football at its best. A national television audience, a crowd of over 53,000… Big time. Kudos to Pete Richardson, who received a three-year contract extension, and the Jaguars on the victory, but Grambling clearly did not come to play.

Did you know that the economic impact that the Classic had on the State of Louisiana was $200 million? Wow!!! Clearly the biggest HBCU sporting event and one of the biggest college athletic events.

I will be back next year. For sure.

The NCAA Division II Football Committee as it relates to the Southeast Region has messed up. Again. Unlike 2004 when Shaw, after going 9-2 and winning the CIAA Football Championship Game over Fayetteville State, was not included in the Division II playoffs, this year after going 8-3 and again winning the CIAA Football Championship Game with a loss to NAIA Edward Waters, they were included in the playoffs. Unfortunately at the expense of Virginia Union.
Yes, the only head-to-head match-up between Shaw and Virginia Union was in the CIAA Championship Game with Shaw winning 31-24 in a double overtime thriller. But let’s look at the history of this. Virginia Union went through the regular season with a 9-1 record, their only loss coming to Elizabeth City State. They won at SAC opponent Lenior-Rhyne in convincing fashion and defeated a decent Central State team who is now an NCAA member. Again, Shaw lost to Edward Waters on a “neutral site” (the game was the Willie E. Gary Classic played in Jacksonville), lost at home to a good Morehouse team and lost on the road to Fayetteville State. Both teams played Elizabeth City State, Johnson C. Smith, St. Augustine’s College, Livingstone St. Paul’s College, and Bowie State. All things considered, I would give the slight edge (and I mean slight) in strength of schedule to Virginia Union. Then again, Shaw’s win over Virginian Union may even make it even.
This is where I get confused. Even after their loss to Elizabeth City State on Oct. 13, the Panthers were ranked #6 in the Southeast Region. Two weeks later as they continue to win, they are all of a sudden dropped to #8. Hmmm. A team gets penalized for winning? We’ve seen this happen before. Heck, it happens in the Boxtorow.com/BASN HBCU Weekly Football Poll. The difference is the Southeast Region vote determines who makes the playoffs. The Panthers stay in the #8 spot the rest of the season and on the last day of the CIAA regular season despite winning three conference games after the loss to Elizabeth City State, they remained at #8. All of a sudden Shaw was #12 on the last day. Uh-oh.
The top six teams in each region are voted to the playoffs. The earned access rule basically states that if a conference does not have representation in the top 6, but is in the top 10, that each conference will be represented. Uh-oh. My thought was that even with VUU’s loss to Shaw, there was no way the committee would put Shaw in. My thought was that with VUU’s loss to Shaw, the committee may make it so that the CIAA is not represented. Shaw won’t move from #12 and VUU will drop to #11. Or Shaw moves to #11 and VUU drops to #12. The final rankings came out and VUU dropped from #8 to #12 and Shaw moved from #12 to #10 getting in to the playoffs.
How did this happen? Well first of all, how did VUU go from #6 to #8 despite winning? Had the committee forgotten that VUU lost to an underachieving Elizabeth City State team, then decided to penalize them a week, two weeks later? Did they committee remember that they left Shaw out of the playoffs in 2004 and wanted to make it up by including them at the expense of Virginia Union? Not really sure. Again winning the CIAA Championship of the championship game does not give you an automatic berth.
I see where VUU will now be in the Pioneer Bowl. I thought the prerequisite for the Pioneer Bowl was a .500 record and a team having a band. When did VUU get a band? Well, that make-up call is the least that can be done for Virginia Union.

This is the response from Mr. Mercer that was spoken about on Sept. 29 edition of FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW.

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September 26, 2007

Don:

Thanks for sending me copies of your correspondence with the “News and Observer.” Here in D.C. we’ve been fighting the same kinds of problems in reporting on Howard University Sports by the Washington Post. These problems, unfortunately are endemic among predominantly white owned media. Their perspective on things, unfortunately is horribly skewed. While some progress has been made with the Post (the increased proportion of black reporters has helped) there are still problems.

If these newspapers were really thorough in their coverage they would find that proportional to their enrollments HBCU’s have greater attendance, a greater economic diversity among attendees to games, more entertainment at games than other division 1-AA and Division II colleges. In addition, it’s likely that you will find better talent relative to the division in which these teams compete. For example, years ago, I was at a game between Howard and Alcorn. Both quarterbacks who competed in that game (Jay Walker and Steve McNair) ended up playing in the NFL. Both team’s running backs wide receivers and I believe a linebacker from Alcorn ended up in the NFL. The press coverage of that game was better than usual (tolerable) but that’s because a young reporter for the Post, Michael Wilbon followed the HBCU’s and literally made the Post cover it. But by and large, these teams (Universities) were not covered in the way they should have been.

Over the last several years Howard has had starters in the NFL and Super Bowl (Antoine Bethea with Indiana, Billy Jenkins with St. Louis) and now has at least four starters in the NFL (one, Marques Douglass is from North Carolina. He’s a starting defensive tackle with San Francisco).

I truly think we need to publicly “out” all these newspapers for their blatant double standard when it comes to their coverage of HBCU’s or for that matter, important issues of all types to the black and minority communities period! They emphasize the negative at every opportunity. They stereotype and more than anything misstate the facts. When do you here about all the magnificent contributors to the community who have matriculated HBCU’s. The News and Observer could have written volumes about Willie Gary on of the top lawyers in the U.S., a product of Shaw University and NCCU Law School.

We are over-proportionally loyal to newspapers like the News and Observer and for no good reason. We subscribe to them beyond our numbers while they slight us and minimize our contributions, events and issues. Every once in a while, they write patronizing little articles to mollify us and cover up their perpetual bias. Our problem is that we treat them as if they are professionals.

I’m not saying they’re incapable of being fair and honest. I’m saying they’re not motivated to being fair and honest. I don’t believe they think they have anything to lose by not being fair and honest. What they must be made to understand is that what they’ve done here in this situation is characteristic of how they deal with issues important to black people period.

Apparently papers like the News and Observer refuse to be fair and honest because they believe there’s no penalty for not being fair and honest. And you know, they’re probably right about that (at least for the time being). Periodic letters are fine, Don, but we need to get the word out more consistently every time they exhibit this kind of unacceptable reporting. We need to monitor them for their content every week. We need to have a blog that report the findings of our monitoring. Then, we need to make them pay. If they continue to operate as they do we need to take the newspapers back to their office and stack them up at their doorsteps and call the radio folks over to see us do it!

By the way, I don’t know this lady who responded to your letter but her response to your letter was outrageously and entirely condescending and dismissive. You need to send it back to her marked “F” for being non-responsive, detached, frivolous and insincere (and BS). The general managing editor should be brought into this. You need to meet with him and representatives from HBCU’s and get this straightened out. Thanks for including me in this.

Johnny Mercer

As was indicated on the Sept. 29 edition of FROM THE PRESS BOX TO PRESS ROW, this is the original letter sent to the newspaper in Raleigh, NC.

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It was an absolute disgrace that the only story in the News and Observer about the A&T/NCCU game was a fight that ensued after the game was over. It was even more disgraceful that the game did not make the regular paper. I paid $1.50 for the paper and the story was not in the paper. That will be the last $1.50 I will spend on the N&O. The fight that ensued after the game was a side bar. What a well played game and if you read the N&O you wouldn’t have even known it. For the game not to make the paper first of all is irresponsible of the News and Observer. If this were an ACC game that ended at 10:00 p.m. you mean to tell me there would have not been a story????

Your newspaper can never get the facts straight even when they are presented to you. Prime example, why in Saturdays newspaper on the NCCU/A&T game preview was the radio station listed as WNAA 90.1 as broadcasting the game????? WNAA doesn’t even get into this market. The NCCU sports information office, who sends you game notes every week, lists WRJD-AM 1410 as the carrier of all NCCU games throughout the season. It is listed in your TV/Radio section. How do you miss that??????

As the former Assistant AD for Sports Information at Shaw University, I have had my battles with the N&O over the years. I have been so busy the last couple of years that I have not written the paper about the lack of coverage that Shaw and St. Augustine’s still receives, when there are phenomenal sports stories on both campuses. You are always on the backend of everything. I never saw a story last year about pro prospect Greg Peterson of NCCU during the season last year, even though he was a fifth round draft pick by the Bucs and made the team. I still haven’t seen a story. When was the last time a CIAA football player was drafted and made the team? And the team was a local team. St. Augustine’s DE Alex Hall is one of the top 15 defensive linemen in the country, inclusive of all divisions, with scouts coming to St. Aug’s everyday to watch film, not to mention he’s a great student. I haven’t seen a story on him. Is that not newsworthy???

I have had enough of the lack of coverage that that NCCU, St. Aug’s and Shaw receives from the N&O and the negative coverage the schools receive. You mean to tell me you send a reporter to Greensboro to cover the game and the below story is what is brought back to you with no game story??? What kind of newspaper are you running? St. Aug’s played at home and Shaw played in Rocky Mount on Saturday and you mean to tell me you did not have a reporter at either of those games?? You think running a long press release will make up for not covering these games?? If you are short-staffed, that’s your problem. You are not short-staffed when it comes to covering the ACC. Get more staff or string the games out at the least. You have a responsibility just as I have a responsibility, as a person in this community, to write this letter. This is what our daily newspaper gives to the citizens of the Triangle, as the daily voice of the Triangle? Unfortunately because the paper is online, this is how the rest of the world will probably view what happens in the Triangle more specifically as it relates to sports and will barely know that NCCU, St. Aug’s and Shaw exists. Flip Murray, formerly of Shaw, is now in the NBA and doing pretty well. I don’t recall seeing a story on him in the last four years. When Ray Allen went down in 2003 when he was playing for the Sonics, he was basically carrying the team. I don’t recall seeing a story on him. The N&O has a terrible history of covering NCCU, St. Aug’s and Shaw.

I will not continue to put up with this nonsense coverage by the News Observer. I was close to renewing my subscription to the newspaper. I will not. Not only that, if I have to do it one-by-one, I will encourage others not to renew or subscribe to the N&O. How in the world does a game that finished at 10:00 p.m. not make the paper?????? The News and Observer is irresponsible, has been for sometime and I will not subscribe any longer and will see how I can get others not to and see how we can get the community involved in this irresponsible and disgraceful and distasteful news reporting by the major daily newspaper of the Triangle.

Have you read this story????? And this made the sports section online. This is a joke a disgrace and the citizens of this community should no longer put up with this terrible, horrible, non-factual, sensationalized, bush league coverage by the News and Observer.

And for the record the aforementioned schools play real sports so in the future, I hope someone tells me that you have covered it as such.

Donal Ware.

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GREENSBORO - On the same night a classic rivalry was joyously reborn, it may have died an ugly death.

N.C. Central’s 27-22 victory over N.C. A&T was overshadowed by a bench-clearing brawl at the conclusion of the game that lasted several minutes and left dozens of players lying on the field as other swung helmets and fists.

A&T and NCCU police ran in after a few minutes and broke up the fight using pepper spray.

An NCCU player lay on the ground outside of the locker room vomiting after the fight as trainers worked feverishly to wash out his eyes.

The fight so enraged A&T athletics director DeLores “Dee” Todd that she said the two schools likely would take a “cooling-off period” from continuing the series.

“I’m disgusted. It’s very disgusting,” Todd said after watching the Eagles instigate the fight by jumping on the Aggies’ midfield logo. “It’s a game, why do that?”

A&T has the nation’s longest losing streak, now 20 games. After performing poorly for much for the game, A&T had a late drive end on an interception in the end zone with 14 seconds left.

In the emotion of the game-saving interception by Eagles linebacker Eric Ray (whose twin brother Derrick scored earlier on an interception return), the NCCU players stormed the field and began jumping on the logo.

After the game, Todd demanded her coaches sequester the Aggies in the locker room until the Eagles had departed.

NCCU athletics director Bill Hayes, who has steered the school to Division I from the Division II CIAA, was A&T’s football coach for 15 years.

After the game, Hayes said he didn’t see the fight, which he said occurred as he was making his way to the field from the stands. Hayes declined comment on any disciplinary action.

Later, standing in the end zone as the stands cleared, a visibly angry Todd, along with police and security, spoke with Hayes. As Todd walked away with security in tow, Hayes stood on the field with his head down.

Todd said that before the 2005 game in Raleigh, A&T coaches kept their players in the locker room because there was a history of unsportsmanlike behavior between the teams.

But A&T alum Judy Sessions also blamed the Aggies. Sitting in the stands during the fight, Sessions looked on in horror.

“I’m disgusted, why do they have to act like that,” she said. “This is just terrible.”

The game was billed as the return of a rivalry that dates back to 1924. It was the teams’ first meeting since NCCU beat A&T 23-22 in the 2005 Aggie-Eagle Classic. It also was the first time the two old-school rivals met as D-I opponents.

The emotion might have been exacerbated by NCCU’s band.

First, the band jammed for the vast majority of halftime, not letting A&T’s band on the field.

Eventually, as it became obvious to the crowd, the A&T fans began booing NCCU’s band. Then, as A&T’s band had to hustle off the field after a truncated performance, NCCU’s band started playing again and pretty much played for the rest of the evening — even during the plays.