From the sidelines
By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspaper.com
The stress of everyday life can pull anyone down, but there is something that helps in dealing with the crazy things we have deal with. It’s sports. What a distraction for most of us, especially when it comes to the weekend.
Yes, I use the excuse to watch plenty of sports on the weekend. But really, let’s think about it for a moment. If you’re a sports junkie, you can understand where I’m coming from. Nothing is better than this time of year. We have college football, professional baseball and football, and even a little bit of college and NBA basketball.
Matter of fact, I admit I don’t have time for anything else after you throw in high school football. Thank you, Sports gods for providing this time of year when everything crosses each other’s path. I might even watch a bit of college soccer thanks to the new ACC Network.
And I have to take a moment to thank Shentel Cable for stepping up to the plate and adding the ACC Network to your offering. Shame on you Comcast. Get with the plan here.
According to a recently released Gallup poll, college football is now the most popular sport in the U.S. The only other sport for which the majority of Americans are fans is professional baseball (51%).
I probably lean the same way and have the National Football League offering at number three. College basketball would be a close fourth.
All of these are perfect to provide an outlet to relieve your stress. That means yelling at your favorite team when they make a mistake on a Saturday afternoon, or even disagreeing loudly with a call from an official. It’s part of the game and good to get it off your chest, but just don’t pick up a flower vase and throw at the television screen. That might ruin the whole weekend of watching sports.
Virginia Tech’s Dean of Students office has a new partnership with the Department of Athletics that I have to spotlight. For students that practice civility by respecting both the game and the Hokies’ opponent can now be honored as a honorary captain for the football team.
The individual will be able to attend a practice during the week, receive a behind the scenes tour of the football facility, lead the game day crowd in a stadium yell, receive an autographed football from coach Justin Fuente and wear exclusive Nike game apparel.
Strike up one for Mike Jones at Radford University in a battle with former Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams who is now at Texas A&M.
On the basketball court, Radford University received a big commitment this past week when 6-6 Keishon Porter announced he will continue his playing career here in the NRV. He averaged 19.3 points per game at Southwest Edgecombe in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and had offers from Texas A&M and UNC-Greensboro.
An interesting 5K run is coming to Virginia Tech on November 17. It’s called the Wonder Woman College Run Series where everyone is encouraged to wear “wonder woman” gear to participate. The event was designed to empower women, men and children from all walks of life to harness their inner Wonder Woman and unleash the Super Hero within, and in turn makes it a fun event to participate in.
For more information on the event, go to https://dcwonderwomancollegerun.com.
