Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 29, 1995 TAG: 9509290044
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-16 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RAY COX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Such is life in a tough business. Sports by nature is an activity that on any given day or night will see roughly 50 percent of its participants turn up losers. In bullfighting and big game hunting, the losers usually just turn belly-up.
For the particularly unfortunate (we exclude unwary game animals and blinded-by-rage bovines from this group because they usually pay the ultimate price) it will get even worse. They're the ones who find a way to get hurt. Losing and getting hurt at the same time, now that is misery on a spectacular scale.
There isn't a sufficient amount of sympathy in the world to cover all those who end up bullied, banged-up and beaten in athletics.
Good thing that sports have some positive aspects as well, or so we've been led to believe. Builds character, experts say.
Still, you had to feel a tug at the old ticker at the end of Radford High's 31-0 football mauling of Covington last week. While the black, gold and white clad Bobcats were rallying around their esteemed coach, Norman Lineburg, a freshly crowned 200-game winner at the high school, the muddied, exhausted and clobbered Covingtonians were lining up at the 20-yard line.
A coach blew a whistle and the losers ran to the 10. Then they turned and lined up again. Another whistle. Another sprint back to the 20. And back and forth.
Gassers at the end of a tough game. Now that's misery.
We don't know what the Cougars did (or didn't do) to deserve that sort of workout, but we sure felt sorry for them.
And that may not have been the worst of the indignities suffered by Covington. In the game program, the page set aside for the roster of the visiting team included not the Cougars' names and jersey numbers, but those of their archrival and nearest neighbor: Alleghany.
TESTIMONIALS TO 200:A much happier scene greeted the Bobcats in their dressing quarters.
There a series of rousing speeches in praise of Lineburg were delivered to a gallery stuffed into the hot, cramped and humid confines of the locker room and walk-in showers. Speakers included Wayne Frye and Tony DeHart, the assistant coaches; veteran Radford teacher Carroll Purcell; Charles Fretwell, a long-time fan and member of the 1941 Radford team; and Lineburg's eldest son, Robert, now an assistant basketball coach at Southern Methodist University. Wayne Lineburg, another son and a fourth-year football player at the University of Virginia, was also present.
The Lineburg patriarch said later that he enjoyed having his children there, especially since they were on their best behavior.
``That was the first time that Robert didn't try to call all our plays,'' Norman Lineburg said. ``Usually, he's saying, `Dad, that's the dumbest play I ever saw.'''
Lineburg was clearly touched by all the hoopla, but his warmest remarks were reserved for the members of the current team.
``I love you guys,'' he said in conclusion. ``I love Radford High School.''
LINEBURG FAMILY TREE CONTINUED: Several weeks ago, when Radford was playing at Powell Valley, Vikings flanker Todd Zirkle took pains after his team's 28-7 victory to await Lineburg outside the Radford locker room.
``We're kin to each other,'' Zirkle said. ``His mother is a Zirkle and all the Zirkles were from the same area [the Shenandoah Valley].''
Lineburg agreed.
``We have to be related,'' he said.
Must have been some good athletic genes in the line. Zirkle is probably Powell Valley's second-best football player behind record-setting tailback Thomas Jones and is also a Division I college (if not professional) baseball prospect as a left-handed pitcher.
COCKEYED POLLSTERS:Nice job of paying attention by the voters in the Associated Press football polls this week.
First we have Cave Spring receiving 24 points on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 voting scale in the Group AAA poll. Presumably, the Knights (who barely missed the top 10) impressed with a 4-0 record. Never mind the nettlesome detail that three of Cave Spring's victims were AA schools and the fourth, Heritage, is AA-sized and will be officially in that classification next year.
Or how about once-beaten Appalachia and Lee High being left out of respectively the A and AA polls? Appalachia's only loss was to Lee, a school probably twice its size. The Bulldogs are the defending Division I state champion and play the most brutal schedule year in and year out of any school that size in the state.
Lee's only loss is to Powell Valley.
The Vikings? Glad you mentioned them. They're eighth in the A poll despite being undefeated and having victories over two good AA teams, Lee and Richlands.
Powell Valley, by the way, is the defending state champion in Division 2 and has most of its important players back.
THE PERILS OF POWER: Of course, you can't find fault with the top team in the Group A poll, Giles. The Spartans are right good.
But if the Spartans keep killing teams like they have been and Coach Steve Ragsdale continues to be a gentleman and calls off the dogs, you have to wonder about the long-term ramifications.
Ragsdale has.
``Our starters aren't getting the game repetitions that they need and you worry about that from an execution point of view, from a conditioning point of view, and from a mental/emotional point of view. How are they going to react when we do get into a tough ballgame that goes down to the wire?
``But, on the other hand, you get to build some good depth and that's good from a team morale point of view because everybody's playing.
``In general, it's a nice problem to have.''
by CNB