By Sonny Jones
Just wondering: Why don’t division champions play for the Waccamaw Middle School Conference title in all sports, except football, which doesn’t have divisions? It seems obvious to do it. One game winner-take-all. Maybe there’s a good reason not to play.
• Just wondering: Is there anyone better taking sports photos than Kenneth Armstrong? No.
• Just wondering: When will the officiating shortage have a really, really, really big impact on high school sports? It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
• Just wondering: Could Bladen County have two players in the NFL next season? Tar Heel native and West Bladen graduate Brandon Council is expected to play in Saturday’s National Football League Players Association College Bowl in Pasadena, California. East Bladen graduate Larrell Murchison plays for the Los Angeles Rams.
• Just wondering: How did we get to any sports event, whether at a high school in the middle of nowhere or the old Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, prior to GPS maps on our phones? Or get anywhere, for that matter? I used to drive to Atlanta a few times a year to watch the Braves and, somehow, got to the hotel, the stadium and back home. Not sure I could do that today.
• The Fairmont girls basketball team beat St. Pauls 52-49 on Tuesday night, snapping the Bulldogs’ 44-game conference win streak. The teams now are tied atop the Southeastern Athletic Conference with 6-1 records. Click here to read the game story by The Robesonian’s Chris Stiles.
• Don’t overlook the North Carolina Tar Heels when the NCAA tournament comes around in March. It’s easy to look at the preseason No. 1 ranking following their run to the championship game last season and the current 15-6 record and be disappointed. However, UNC has won 10 of its last 12 and its six losses have been by a combined 36 points. They’ll be a handful in the tournament.
• The Charlotte pro sports scene isn’t exactly a hot spot these days.
The NBA’s Hornets have won only five of 21 home games, are 10 games out of the LAST playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and have the third-worst record in the league at 13-36. A franchise quarterback would be appreciated.
The Carolina Panthers haven’t had a winning record nor qualified for the NFL playoffs since 2017 and are searching for a head coach in hopes of turning things around.
The Triple-A Knights, an affiliate of MLB’s Chicago White Sox, finished with an International League-worst 58-92 record last season.
At least the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers are winning this season. The affiliate of the NHL’s Florida Panthers is 20-15-4 and in third place in the Atlantic Division.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2020 – LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, southern California; considered one of the greatest players in the game’s history
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• TENNIS: Australian Open (taped), 2 p.m., ESPN2
• PGA: Farmers Insurance Open, 3 p.m., GOLF
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Louisville at Wake Forest, 6 p.m., ACCN
• FIGURE SKATING: U.S. Championships, 7 p.m., USA
• NBA: New York at Boston, 7:30 p.m., TNT
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Virginia Tech at Duke, 8 p.m., ACCN
• NBA: Dallas at Phoenix, 10 p.m., TNT
• TENNIS: Australian Open, 10:30 p.m., ESPN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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