Eastern Carolina Classic dates announced

As we seek refuge from the summer sun in air-conditioned rooms, here's a thought to keep you cool. The dates for the 2008 Eastern Carolina Classic Christmas high school basketball tournament have been announced by Fike High School Athletic Director John Gay. Fike is this year's host.

Because the holidays (Christmas Day and New Year's Day) fall on Thursdays, the ECC tourney will run Saturday, Dec. 27, take a day off and resume Monday, Dec. 29, and conclude Tuesday, Dec. 30.

The tourney returns to the cozy confines of Fike's gym which means get there very early. Once again, Greene Central is the guest and while I've got nothing but love for the Lady Rams and Rams, it would be nice if the ECC would rotate the fourth team a little bit. I'd love to see Greenfield, Wilson Christian or Community Christian in the mix but I know that will never happen. I remember when the ECC had a different guest each year but that was a long time ago. Maybe one day Greene Central will actually win the tournament.

Here's the schedule:

At Fike High School
Saturday, Dec. 27
5 p.m. — Beddingfield vs. Hunt girls
6:30 p.m. — Greene Central vs. Fike girls
8 p.m. — Greene Central vs. Fike boys

Monday, Dec. 29
6 p.m. — Girls consolation game
7:30 p.m. — Beddingfield vs. Hunt boys

Tuesday, Dec. 30
5 p.m. — Boys consolation game
6:30 p.m. — Girls championship game
8 p.m. — Boys championship game

Randy on the way

Randy Pridgen, the head athletic trainer at Barton College, spent four days working hard in the hot sun at the US Youth Soccer Region III Tournament with a small staff.

Working for Professional Sports Medicine of Raleigh, Randy and his crew of Barton students Jayme Beacham and Heather Hartsell along with Methodist College's Rachelle Bowman put in some long hours dealing with a plethora of problems incurred by 184 teams in 136 games.

The golf cart carrying Randy must have logged close to a hundred miles during those four days. Certainly enough to have found his way into range of our cameras.

Wilsy voting has begun

The Wilsy Awards voting is underway and off to a good start. At 1:47 a.m. Saturday, I see that several votes have already been cast. Hopefully, the pace will continue through the end of the month and many votes will be cast.

So, remember, you can vote as many days as you'd like but you can vote just once a day.The voting ends July 25 and the winners will be announced online on July 26. The results will be made visible until the last couple of days so as not to spoil the surprise.

Bynum gets bad news in Baltimore

This comes a day late but baseball has taken a back to seat to soccer in my brain the past few days.

Unfortunately, Wilson native Freddie Bynum's stint with the Baltimore Orioles has come to an end . Bynum, who played at Beddingfield and later Pitt Community College, was designated for assignment by the American League club on Monday.

Bynum has struggled with injuries throughout his career, especially since coming to Baltimore in a trade from the Chicago Cubs in December, 2006. He suffered a strained hamstring last July, then a hand injury as he was coming back from the hamstring. At the beginning of this season, Bynum had arthroscopic surgery on his knee and didn't get onto the field until May.

Bynum, a shortstop, was hitting below the Mendoza Line (the .200 benchmark named for former Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Mario Mendoza) and that's not going to cut it.

The Orioles have 10 days to decide whether to release Bynum, trade him or put him on waivers. If the club opts for the latter, Bynum will be sent to the minor leagues which isn't the best place to be for a 28-year-old.

Hopefully, Freddie will get another chance at "The Show" before long.

Coaching moves of interest in Nash County

Matt LaWell of the Rocky Mount Telegram reported in Saturday's edition that Nash Central has hired former assistant coach Kevin Crudup as the Bulldogs' new football head coach. Crudup replaces Kenneth Grantham, the school's first football coach who left to take the job at Greene Central, his alma mater.

I guess that ends speculation in some quarters that Nash Central would look southward to find its new coach.

LaWell was a busy man yesterday as he also reported the Bulldogs lost their varsity baseball head coach, Chris Huffman, after one season. Huffman, who is moving to Fayetteville with his family, will be replaced by assistant coach Jeff Mizzelle.

Huffman's wife, Michelle, was the Rocky Mount High School softball coach.


Nash Central hires Crudup

Huffmans leave Nash County schools posts