THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702150633
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 55 lines
From the notebook . . .
My bias is showing, but I'm glad to see the Philadelphia Eagles getting serious about re-signing Chesapeake's William Fuller. The guy is a total pro, a fine defensive end and a valued team leader. Fuller's presence also helps Eagles fans feel better whenever they remember losing Reggie White to Green Bay.
Sad to see pole vaulter Lawrence Johnson clear no height at last week's Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden. Johnson was poised to make as big a mark as a pole vaulter can make in America before the Olympics, but has lost all momentum. The vault is so fickle, though. It takes time.
Glad to see the ACC discipline the officiating team that denied Virginia a late substitution and helped foil the Cavaliers' upset of Duke. Refs have a brutal job, but this was a blatant choke that rightfully wasn't excused as ``part of the game.''
Sad to see Hank Armstrong, an NBA referee from Virginia Beach, snared in an alleged plane-ticket scheme to dodge the IRS. If convicted, Armstrong could face jail time, but a weighty fine seems the more appropriate justice.
Glad to see Sweetpea Whitaker go West, or anywhere, to train for his April bout with Oscar De La Hoya. The comforts of Virginia Beach and less-than dogged training have worked against Whitaker before. Every morning he wakes up in a strange bed, apart from his family, will remind him of the serious business at hand.
Sad to see the blowup at Nansemond River High between coach Spencer Mayfield and defrocked star Antoine Willie. Willie's dismissal was drastic action, too drastic outsiders might say. Still, you've got to respect Mayfield's hard line with his two-time Group AA player of the year. How many coaches could do it?
Glad to see Tom Palombo, Virginia Wesleyan's former women's basketball coach, directing a genuine juggernaut in his third season at Ohio's Defiance College. The Lady Jackets are 21-0 and ranked first in Division III after going 28-1 and losing in an NCAA regional final last year.
Sad to see this idea for another small-time arena show its strange face and obstruct the real issue, which is that a large, modern building is the only way for this region to go, NHL team or no NHL team.
Glad to see Sid Savoy's Oscar Smith High wrestling program become one of the area's best. A decade ago, Savoy labored in a dingy old wrestling room with a team that, when it could fill enough weight slots, was regularly pounded by other Chesapeake teams. The Pilot ranks Savoy's boys sixth.
Sad to see nearly two dozen Virginia Wesleyan athletes beat each other up and get suspended. Guess this stuff does go on everywhere, just like the Virginia Tech apologists say.
Glad to see Virginia Commonwealth coach Sonny Smith contending for a second straight trip to the NCAAs. Smith seemed ripe to take his drawl and wit to TV-land a year or two ago. But despite an injury to their best player, Smith's Rams are still in the thick of the CAA.