November 2005
The News Argus
9
Read on
Rams win homecoming
game
WSSU puts Wale Forest
to the test
WSSU alumni gives
his opinion about ESPN
controversy
SPORTS
Go Rams
WSSU football team brings home
the glory at Homecoming
By Steven Gaither
ARGUS SPORTS EDITOR
In front of a packed homecoming crowd,
the Winston-Salem State Rams held off St.
Augustine College for a close 35-33 victory.
The Rams defeated the division-leading
Falcons, to leave the CIAA with a win. "We
came into this homecoming game, and we
wanted to take out our seniors with a win,"
said senior RB Martin Hicks, who finished
the game just 11 yards shy of his third
straight 1,000-yard season.
Special teams and turnovers were big in
the first half of the game. After going three-
and-out on the first series, the Rams got the
ball back when Ivan Diggs muffed the punt
and the Rams recovered on the Falcon 24.
Four plays later, Monte Purvis hooked up
with tight end Stan Wright for a 30-yard
touchdown score, going up 7-0.
The Falcons would not stay down long.
Photo by Garrett Garms
The Rams cheerleaders kept the team and the fans moti
vated as the players took home the victory.
as they put together a scoring drive on their
own, assisted by a few Ram penalties, that
resulted in a seven-yard touchdown com
pletion from Darrell Nesbit to DeArdre
Jenkins. Again, special teams came up big
for the Rams, as Maurice Reed blocked the
PAT and WSSU hung on to lead.
Every time it seemed as if the Falcons
were poised to take the lead, the Rams
stepped up and made the big play. The
Falcons put together a nice drive early in
the second quarter; however, that drive
came to an abrupt end when out-of-
nowhere freshman Deron Middleton inter
cepted Nesbit's pass and returned it, taking
points away from the Falcons. The Rams
capitalized on that turnover as well, turning
it into a 10-play, 65-yard drive that culmi
nated in a five-yard touchdown run by Jed
Bines, giving the Rams a 14—6 lead with
four minutes left in the half.
Once again, the Falcons
put together a nice drive
before Nesbit threw anoth
er pick, this time to
Maurice Reed. For the
third time in the half the
Rams took advantage of
the turnover and struck
quickly on a Martin Hicks
touchdown scamper going
up 21-6. The Rams kicked
off with 35 seconds left to
play, but it only took the
Falcons 10 seconds to score
on a 68-yard pass to Eddi
Montgomery and the
Rams went into the half-
time leading 21-13.
»4S*^
Photo by Garrett Garms
The Winston-Salem State Rams won ther homecoming game against the St.
Augustine Falcons, much to the delight of Rams fans.
The defenses took over in the third quar
ter, as the Rams recorded the only score — a
one-yard run by Jed Bines, his second of the
day. The fourth quarter would prove to be
an exciting one that kept everyone who
could stomach it in their seats. After the
Rams offense was held largely ineffective
on two drives to start the quarter, the
Falcons seemed to get the momentum mov
ing their way when Nesbit completed his
third touchdown pass of the day, finding
Andre McGlone for a 22-yard strike. With
seven minutes remaining on the clock it
was WSSU 28-20. After getting the ball
back, the Falcons took to the air and began
driving again when Middleton seemingly
jumped off the sidelines, picked off Nesbit's
pass, and returned it for a 74-yard touch
down. The score gave the Rams a seemingly
insurmountable 35-20 lead with 4:30 left in
the game.
The Falcons were still fighting for a spot
in a CIAA championship, and finally began
playing like it, as they scored on another
quick hitting drive to cut the lead to 35-27
with 3:12 left. The Rams failed to move the
ball on their next drive, giving the Falcons
life. The Falcons responded with Nesbit's
fifth touchdown pass with less than a
minute remaining to cut the lead to 35—33.
The game came down to the all important,
two-point conversion, which would have
tied the game and most likely produced
overtime. Nesbit dropped back, decided to
keep the ball himself, rolled around the
right corner only to be met by Ram defend
ers. Final score WSSU 35, Saint Augustine
College 33.
Although the Rams defeated the Falcons,
the Western Divison leaders, the teams
finds itself on the outside looking in on the
CIAA Championship, since it tied with
North Carolina Central but lost the head-to-
head match-up. Considering the tough start
the Rams have had, starting the season 0-3,
it's hard not to view this season as a suc
cess. Senior wideout, Brandon Hussey said
the biggest thing he'll remember about this
team is its never-say-die attitude. 'These
guys weren't quitters."
Rams
hold
their
own
Winston-Salem State
nearly upsets nationally
ranked Wake Forest
aBy Steven Gaither
ARGUS SPORTS EDITOR
The 2005 Twin City
Shootout lived up to its
billing, as Wake Forest held
off a hot-shooting Winston-
Salem State at Lawrence Joel
Coliseum team for a 88-84
victory. The game played
out like a heavyweight bat
tle as the teams traded the
lead throughout the game.
The Deacons jumped out
to a 24—13 lead. The Rams
responded and were up
40-34 with three minutes to
go in the first half. The lead
didn't last, and the Deacons
went into half time 42-41.
As good as the Rams were
from 3-point land in the
first-half, (5-12) they were
even hotter in the second
half as they shot a 56 per
cent (5-9). The Rams got as
close as 84r-83 but the Deacs
hit their free-throws down
the stretch and won.
The Rams hot shooting
even surprised head coach
Phillip Stitt. "I hadn't seen
anything like that in my two
weeks of practicing with
them. We stepped it up, and
we executed our plays."
Stephen A. Smith speaks
out about controversy
By Steven Gaither
ARGUS SPORTS EDITOR
'Taking it to the house."
'Taking it deep." "Back-
Back-back-back, gone!"
ESPN viewers should rec
ognize these expressions .
ESPN's Chris Berman, for
example, coined the phrase,
"He could go aU-the-way!"
But has ESPN jargon crept
on to the pages of the main
stream press? Scott Reinardy
and Earnest Perry apparently
think so. Reinardy is a doc
toral candidate at the
University of Missouri, and
Perry is an associate profes
sor there. In a survey of 249
sports journalists, Reinardy
has found that "ESPN
sports-speak" has crossed
over to news pages, and his
thesis has caused a stir in the
sports-media world. The New
York Times and the Baltimore
Sun have carried stories
recently that explore
Reinardy's thesis. And, in the
Times piece, WSSU graduate
Stephen A. Smith is cited,
because he is a columnist for
The Philadelphia Inquirer and
host of ESPN's Quite Trankly
With Stephen A. Smith.
Smith was here for
WSSU's homecoming festivi
ties, and he discussed the
issue.
"I don't think it's because
of people like [ESPN's]
Stuart Scott or myself,"
Smith said. "You have to
realize what a Stuart Scott
does; he is an anchor who is
given highlights. He's not
out there being a reporter
like I am."
Smith added that he, as
well as most journalists does
n't use jargon. "Not that
there is anything wrong with
it," he said, "if s just that
when you are reporting that
is not the place for it."
Smith has written for the
Philadelphia Inquirer since
1994, but it's his appearances
on ESPN, particularly his
analysis on N.B.A. Nation,
that has made him a house
hold name. Smith's Quite
Frankly, debuted recently on
ESPN 2.
While he has had no for
mal training in broadcast
journalism. Smith also
admitted that hosting the
show comes more natural to
him. "It involves interaction
and communicating with
people and being more per
sonal, without having to sit
down and formulate your
thoughts."
In The New York Times arti
cle, which was published
Oct. 17, the author quotes a
contributing editor who
w rote that newspaper sports
columns have become "noth
ing more than a springboard,
a gig that start you on your
way to becoming a multime
dia star."
Smith described that
assumption as inaccurate.
"I'm a journalist, a reporter,"
he said. 'They are entitled to
their opinion, but I don't see
how you can say that when
I'm breaking stories, doing
things that those journalist
a re supposed to be doing."
Smith added that it was
his story-breaking reporting
style that opened the doors
to broadcast for him. 'They
would ask me to come on
TV," he said, "I would keep
copies of my tapes and they
liked me. I just feel real for
tunate and blessed because I
enjoy doing it."
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