Sports Week
section B Also Religion , Obituaries , Classifieds may 29, 2008
MEAC tourney picks Winston
FROM THE
HUDDLE
Finally, something to get excit
ed about. Finally, a conference
thinks enough about Winston
Salem to host its basketball tourna
ment here. That's all 1 could think
about when MEAC Commissioner
Dennis Thomas made the huge
announcement at the Joel on
Tuesday.
I was genuinely happy to hear
that. I mean, I've been here for six
years and all I've heard about was
how fun the city was when the
CIAA hosted its tournament here
years ago. The MEAC has even
been in Winston before (1980, 81
and 82). Thomas said the MEAC
tournament will be in Winston for
the next three years. The only thing
Winston has to do is help the tour
nament grow. That's what
Commissioner Thomas told me
after we finished with a little inter
view session.
"You've got to help us grow,"
Thomas said.
I responded by telling him that I
got him, and that I was going to do
what I could. I mean, I know the
tournament will get bigger in
Winston. Look at what happened to
the CIAA after it left Winston
Salem. Plus, the numbers indicate
the MEAC basketball tournament
attendance has increased each year.
It went from 15,000 to a little under
35,000 paid fans during the time it
was in Raleigh. The commissioner
told me that he'd like to see the
WE L C ? M
MID - i A M I Rh L
Photo by Anthony Hill
Winston-Salem mayor Allen Jomes greets ME AC Commissioner Dennis Thomas at the Joel on Tuesday.
?
attendance increase to 50,000 while
the tournament is here.
"The numbers speak for them
selves," Thomas said. "In 2004, the
attendance more than doubled. I
would have cause for concern if we
still have 35,000 paid fans after
three years."
Don't even worry about, com
missioner. I know Winston-Salem is
going to help the tournament grow,
as well as build a strong relation
ship with the conference.
I'm also hoping to build a better
relationship with the MEAC
through this tournament and some
of the things we can do together. I
will tell you more about that when
things are finalized. But it's looking
good. From the looks of things, the
tournament should definitely grow
in Winston. I mean, this city is hun
gry for something like that.
Seriously. And, I am going to love
to be taking one less trip in
February next year. Really, I'm
pretty excited about the move to
Winston.
I kind of knew the move was
going to be announced. I even sur
prised assistant city manager
Martha Wheelock with a call about
it on Tuesday morning. According
to her, she wasn't even sure about
the move when I called. But she hit
me back (Thank you, Martha) to let
me know that I was right. Then,
Thomas gave her much praise lead
ing up to his announcement.
"I want to thank Martha
Wheelock for her time and effort,"
Thomas said during the press con
ference. "She's quite a negotiator. A
lot of times it wasn't friendly, but it
was always professional."
Thomas also spent quite some
time praising the city officials, the
See Hill on B4
Pile photo
Clemson junior DJ. Mitchell had a very solid season for the Tigers.
Mitchell, Parker earn
All-ACC accolades
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT _ -
Former North Forsyth star and present Clemson junior righthander
DJ. Mitchell was named to the First Team All-ACC baseball team
recently. Clemson freshman utility player Kyle Parker was also named
to First-Team All-ACC squad. The team was compiled by a vote of the
12 ACC head coaches.
Mitchell finished with a 6-5 record and 3.47 ERA in 15 starts and six
relief appearances. In 98.2 innings pitched, he has allowed 89 hits (.254
opponents' batting average) and 37 walks with 95 strikeouts. He has also
allowed just 16 extra-base hits, including only four home runs.
Mitchell, who did not even pitch in a game at Clemson until his soph
omore season in 2007, leads the ACC in innings pitched and strikeouts
(106). Mitchell struck out 11 batters in only 6.0 innings pitched during
last week's ACC baseball tournament in Jacksonville, Fla.
Parker, who should be in his senior year of high school after graduat
ing from Bartram Trail High School in Jacksonville, Fla., a semester
early, was one of only two freshmen to earn first-team honors, joining
ACC Freshman-of-the-Year Chris Hernandez, a lefthander from Miami
(FL).
Parker is one of the nation's highest-rated quarterbacks who signed to
play football at Clemson. In 2008, he is hitting .310 with 12 doubles ,14
homers, 49 RBIs, and a .405 on-base percentage in 54 games (52 starts).
He excelled against ACC competition as well. In 29 ACC regular-sea
son games, Parker hit .336 with six doubles, 10 homers, 34 RBIs, and a
.441 on-base percentage. He tied for second in homers, was second in
RBIs, and was fifth in slugging percentage (.673) in ACC regular-season
games among all players.
Clemson 's streak of 21 straight NCAA Tournament appearances
ended this year.
Photo by Charlie Pfaflf
Local bailer Ray Bristow skies through the air
for a score during a game last summer.
Summer
tradition
returns
next month
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE ' '
Two things are a constant during the summer
months. Those two things are hot weather, and siz
zling basketball action at 14th Street Recreation
Center for the Late Nite summer basketball league.
The Late Nite League, which has been going on
for 20 years, will begin on June 25 . The deadline to
sign up 12-man roster teams is set for June 8. The
cost per team is $300. League and 14th Street
director Rob Little seems just as excited as some of
the players.
"I guess I'm excited, because the league still
exist after all this time," Little said. "I also get
excited when 1 think about some of the guys that
have come up watching the league when they were
little. And, now some of them are playing in the
league. Like the Hot Boy'z. I coached most of
them when they were 10,12 years old. They want
ed to play 18-year-old kids back then. Now they're
one of the best teams every year. Guys like Petey
(Mike Noel), Jon Jon and Danny (Gathings) have
been around this league for a while."
"I've been getting a lot of calls from other peo
ple that want to sign up teams too," Little contin
ued. "I haven't been to the center this week
because I am on vacation. But I am sure the calls
have been coming in. There's definitely a buzz
around town. This league usually gives people
something to talk about."
Little expects at least 10 teams to participate in
the league. He said he really expects more than last
year because he's sensing the league will have
more younger squads. Participants must be 18
years or older.
"It really looks like the league is getting
younger," Little said. "We have teams like
Syracuse Style (Da Cuse) and the Hot Boy'z com
ing back. I am sure they'll play strong. It should be
interesting to see who does what this year. You just
never know."
The Late Nite League has turned into a
Winston-Salem tradition. More than 400 people
crowd the recreation center each week to catch
See Late Nite on B4
NFL pros receive their degrees from Wake Forest
BY ANTHONY HILL
THE CHRONICLE ?
Four Wake football standouts, and Chicago Bears
tightend Desmond Clark (A former Wake player)
graduated on May 19.
The four standouts are
also presently with NFL
teams.
The players were
Steve Justice
(Sociology), who actual
ly graduated in Dec 07
? walked last week.
Justice is presently with
the Indianapolis Colts.
The other Wake stand
outs were Kenneth
Moore (Sociology) ?
who graduated in Dec 07
walked last week (Lions)
and Jeremy Thompson
Moor*
(Health and Exercise Science). Thompson is witn tne
Green Bay Packers. Also, Kevin Marion graduated in
May, but walked last week. He's presently with the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
Desmond Clark graduated with a degree in
Communication. He is currently the starting tight end
for the ChicagQ Bears (Number 88). Clark has been
with the Bears tot the past 5 years and has been in the
league since 1999. Desmond was not red-shirted
while at Wake making it more difficult to finish in 4
years.
According to NCAA 2007 Graduation Success
Rates Report and the NCAA 2007 Federal Graduation
Rates Report, Wake Forest ranked eighth with a grad
uation rate of 93 percent among all athletes.
The Academic Progress Rate (also known as APR)
is a metric established by the NCAA to measure the
success or failure of collegiate athletic teams in mov
ing student-athletes towards graduation. The APR is
designed to measure semester-by-semester academic
progress, and is separate from the Graduation Success
Rate, which only aims to measure the actual percent
age of student-athletes who graduate, thus omitting
students who would have graduated but left school
early for non-academic reasons (such as a profession
al career).
In the most recent APR rankings published. Wake
See (iradi on B2
Chicago Bean photo
Chicago Bears tigh
tend Desmond
Clark was one of
five former Wake
Forest football
players to graduate
last week. Here,
Clark celebrates
during a game last
season.
o