Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993 TAG: 9309230038
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Doug Doughty
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
That way Pat and Helen "Skeet" Fischer could have seen both their sons play football on the same day.
Older son Spence will start at quarterback for Duke, which visits Virginia at 1 p.m. - a half hour before Centre invades Washington and Lee, where younger son Brooks is the back-up quarterback.
"How are we going to handle this?" Mrs. Fischer asked in response to a question. "Let's see: We're going to fly into Richmond, rent a car and one of us will be dropped off in Charlottesville. The other will proceed to Lexington."
Which parent gets dropped off, they don't know.
"I'll probably go to Charlottesville," Mrs. Fischer said. "I may be able to get back to Lexington before my husband does. But we had not anticipated this at all."
When Brooks was a senior at Lovett High School in Atlanta, his parents went to his games on Friday night and then found some way to catch Duke the next day. However, they already have had one conflict this season, when Pat Fischer had to be in Denver on business two weeks ago.
"When we got to our room, there was a message from our daughter at Giants Stadium," Mrs. Fischer said. "She said Spence was starting against Rutgers. Later we got a message from Brooks telling us what he had done."
Brooks Fischer came off the bench and completed eight of 15 passes, including a pass for W&L's lone touchdown in a 36-6 loss to Emory & Henry. Spence was 28-of-45 for 333 yards and two touchdowns in Duke's 39-38 loss.
"Last year we went to every Duke game, which probably set a bad precedent," Mrs. Fischer said. "[The games] two weekends ago let them know they could play without us."
\ AROUND THE STATE: Normally, teams like James Madison don't schedule non-conference games against the likes of Jacksonville (Ala.) State, last year's Division II national champion. However, Jacksonville State president Harold McGee formerly served as a vice president for administration at JMU.
Jacksonville State, in the first year of a two-year probationary period before joining Division I-AA, is not the only past or present Division II power coming to Virginia this weekend. Liberty entertains Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where ex-West Virginia coach Frank Cignetti has an eight-year record of 72-14-1.
One of the most interesting results in the state last weekend was Clinch Valley's 28-25 victory at Hampden-Sydney. Clinch Valley, a non-scholarship NAIA Division II program in Wise, is in its third year of intercollegiate football.
\ BRAINE-COPELAND CUP: Virginia athletic director Jim Copeland reacted with displeasure at mention of a mythical Braine-Copeland Cup symbolizing football supremacy in the states of Virginia and Maryland.
It was Copeland and Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine who earlier agreed to move the Tech-UVa men's basketball game from Roanoke to the USAir Arena in Landover, Md. UVa's football team already has beaten Maryland and Navy, while Tech entertains Maryland this week.
\ IN THE ACC: North Carolina football coach Mack Brown, who is 0-5 against N.C. State, said quarterback Mike Thomas will make his first start of the season Saturday when the Tar Heels visit the Wolfpack. Regular Jason Stanicek suffered a bruised shoulder in the Tar Heels' 33-7 loss to Florida State.
Bobby Bowden, coach of top-ranked Florida State, will use the Seminoles' open date to attend the Auburn-Southern Mississippi game. Two of his sons, Terry and Tommy, are the head coach and offensive coordinator at Auburn. However, Bobby Bowden will sit on the Southern Mississippi side in support of his youngest son, Jeff, a Golden Eagles' assistant.
\ HONORED: Friends and more than 200 former Emory & Henry football players are expected Saturday for ceremonies honoring Casto Ramsey, the Wasps' coach from 1953-56 and 1960-68. Ramsey, who also coached at Tazewell High School, was NCAA District 3 Coach of the Year in 1968.
Kevin Cross from Rural Retreat and Virginia is one of 67 national recipients of the "Hitachi Promise of Tomorrow" teaching scholarship, a $5,000 grant. Cross, who earned a 3.8 grade point average in sports medicine at UVa, was a student trainer and currently is enrolled in graduate school.
\ RECRUITING: Duke has received a basketball commitment from one of the top prospects in the country, 6-4 guard Trajan Langdon, who is considered the best player to come out of Alaska. . . . Norman Nolan, a 6-8 forward from Dunbar High in Baltimore, has narrowed his choices to Providence, Virginia, Michigan, Nevada-Las Vegas and Georgia Tech.
\ DEPARTING: VMI coach Joe Cantafio's decision to sign four guards last spring should help him get over the loss of freshman Jamel Grey from Hampton.
"The military system didn't agree with him," Cantafio said.
Grey was considered a point guard in a group of backcourt signees that included Maurice Spencer, Warren Johnson and Darryl Faulkner. Bobby Prince, who started 19 of 27 games at point guard last year as a freshman, is the incumbent.
\ SOCCER: Roanoke has won six straight games, outscoring the opposition 30-2, since bowing to Duke 9-1 in its men's soccer opener. In the process, eight-year coach Scott Allison has moved into first place among Maroons' coaches with a record of 63-41-10 (.596). Predecessor Rob Brewer was 57-39-11 (.584).
\ MOVES: Ken Tyler, a 1987 William and Mary graduate, is the new assistant to Roanoke College men's basketball coach Page Moir. Tyler, previously an assistant at East Stroudsburg, Pa., succeeds Rick Hall, who took a position at Coastal Carolina.
by CNB