september 22, 2014 play by play 1september 22, 2014 play by play 3Other area football stars Bill...

september 22, 2014 play by play 1

2 play by play september 22, 2014


Other area football stars

Bill Turner photos

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PLAYMAKERSpotlightConsider that during the 10-year history of

Play by Play, Salem High School football coach Stephen Magenbauer has lost a grand total of 19 games (while winning well over 110). So it should be no surprise to our readers that Salem has started strongly once again this fall, scoring 40 points or more in decisive vic-tories over Franklin County, Patrick Henry and William Byrd. Longtime Byrd coach Jeff Highfill, who has en-joyed success against Salem in previous years, told reporter Ray Cox of The Roanoke Times, “I told Ste-phen before the game that on film, this looked like one of the best teams they’ve had in a while. And the rest of those teams weren’t bad either.” Salem rolled Byrd Sept. 12, 42-7. While the Spartans seem to be loaded in all

Brian Hoffman photos

W hile Salem has been grabbing

the headlines, players from other area high schools have been offering impressive performances as well. Cave Spring senior running back Jon Roach (left) scored four touchdowns in a 34-7 win over Mar-tinsville Sept. 12 at Dwight Bogle Stadi-um, with three rush-ing TDs and a fourth coming on a 65-yard interception return.

Roach scored three times against Martinsville last year when a potential fourth was called back due to penalty. Roach has been alternating with junior running back Tyler Rice, with both players rush-ing for more than 100 yards against the Bulldogs. North Cross underclassman Davis Call (right, rushing the quar-terback) has been a defensive force, recording 18 indi-vidual tackles and nine assists in the Raiders’ first three games.

Articles Seth Fisher Finds his Niche at Richmond ....................................... 10

Tricia Jessee Learns Her Lessons, Leads Generals ....................... 12

Zombie 5K is Special Olympics Fundraiser .......................................13

Renee Lavin is Roanoke’s Trails Specialist .......................................14

New Golf Book Recounts ’69 Ryder Cup ...........................................15

Extras Playmaker Spotlight .......................3

Ask A Ref ...........................................6

Snapshots of the Season ...............9

PlaybookOpinions Todd Marcum ......................................... 4

Mike Stevens .......................................... 5

Christian Moody ................................... 6

John A. Montgomery ........................... 7

Mike Ashley .......................................... 19

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key positions, the team lead-ers continue to be quarter-back Austin Coulling and running back Coleman Fox. Salem is currently ranked No. 1 in Timesland. The school’s last state football championship came in 2005.

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Kicking around the college gridironTODDS AND ENDSby ToddMarcum

Players in this Issue

p.O. box 3285, roanoke, Va 24015 (540) 761-6751 • E-mail: [email protected] the Web: www.playbyplayonline.net

and at www.facebook.com/playbyplaysports

©Copyright 2014. All rights reserved. No part of Play by Play may be reproduced by any means or in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Publisher/Editor John A. Montgomery

Graphic Designer Donna Earwood

Contributors Mike Ashley Rod Carter Leslie Coty Donald Earwood Brian Hoffman Sam Lazzaro

Todd Marcum Gene Marrano Joyce Montgomery Christian Moody Mike Stevens Bill Turner

Cover photo by Brian Hoffman

AHH, CoLLege FooTBALL is in the air and there’s lots going on around these

parts…a surprising number of them with ties to my alma mater, Marshall University. But before we get started with this admittedly “Herd Heavy” in-stallation of Todds and ends, I first want to congratulate the Virginia Tech Hokies who, after a convinc-ing 35-21 win at The Horseshoe over No. 8 ohio State, are looking to make good on my prediction that this could be a special season in Blacksburg. g r a n t e d , much hard work still lies ahead to take the Coastal Division of the ACC. And if the Hokies are suc-cessful, a likely date will wait in the champi-onship game against a highly rated Florida State team, but you have to win the ones in the beginning to have a shot at

the games that really matter — and thus far the Virginia Tech squad has certainly done what it needs to. I had the good fortune recently to work with Tech Head Coach Frank Beamer on a television

c o m m e r c i a l shoot. I came away under-standing what a true treasure for our region that he is. He was courteous and accommodating to everyone on my crew, even though he had

had a hard day and was just com-ing off a muggy August practice. He even went out of his way to sign

autographs for some of the crew. Frank Beamer is a true embodi-ment of the Southern gentleman.

* * * After two Big South titles, Turner Gill has certainly made his mark on the Liberty Univer-sity football program, yet thus far the Flames have been the brides-maids when it comes to the FCS playoffs. While this year still holds promise — they are getting votes for the FCS Top 25 as of this writ-ing — 2015 might be the year they find a groom. Kevin Grooms, the troubled-but-talented tailback from the Thundering Herd, has transferred to the Liberty program after a trio of brushes with the law got him expelled from Marshall and kicked off the football team. He’ll sit out this season while he adjusts to life at Liberty. “Kevin sought out our football program because he is at a point in his life where he wants to make some positive changes,” gill said in a statement. “He believes Lib-erty University would provide the type of atmo-sphere that would allow him to be suc-cessful in this endeavor. He understands that he will be expected to grow academ-ically, athleti-cally, socially and spiritually. We are excited to have the opportuni-ty to work with Kevin and be a part of his growth and maturity. “While Kevin has enjoyed suc-cess both academically and ath-letically at Marshall, the thing that made Kevin attractive to us is the fact that he has had some adver-sity and he wants to make changes in his life. Liberty University is a place that has always offered young people a second chance and we are excited to be a part of that process in Kevin’s life.” The 5-foot-10 grooms is cer-tainly a bit of risk, but his upside is virtually unlimited. A former Conference USA Freshman of the Year with legitimate 4.3 speed, he has the potential to be among the most talented players ever to see

the field in the Hill City. That’s saying something as Liberty has sent nearly two dozen players to the NFL, including two-time all-pro and former first-round pick Eric Green. grooms could be the difference-maker that puts Liber-ty in the hunt for a national cham-pionship. Here’s hoping he finds the right fit in Lynchburg. The Herd giveth, the Herd taketh away Former JMU starting quarter-back Michael Birdsong trans-ferred to Marshall. Birdsong will redshirt this season and run the scout team while sitting out under NCAA transfer rules. After that, he’ll have two years of eligibility left to play and will be in the 2015 mix for the battle for quarterback as Heisman hopeful Rakeem Cato graduates. Birdsong had 14 career starts

as quarter-back for the Dukes, in-cluding all 12 games last season. He was 268-for-453 pass-ing for 3,206 yards, 26 touchdowns and 16 in-terceptions. The Dukes signal caller also ran for 489 yards but lost the starting job to georgia Tech trans-fer junior

redshirt quarterback Vad Lee. Again, Birdsong will have two big years to play at Marshall. Finally, Devon Johnson has had a crazy trip from the coal-fields to the backfield. A versatile two-way performer for Richlands, he played collegiately as a fresh-man and sophomore as a reserve tight end for Marshall where he impressed the powers that be with his hard-nosed play. With grooms’ unexpected departure and coach Doc Holliday unhappy

Gentleman Frank Beamer

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Is the Stagg Bowl getting stagnant?OPEN MIKEby MikeStevens

I ’M NoT SURe WHo SAID IT first, but the coach or business leader who originally stated

that “maintaining success is much tougher than creating it” was spot on. one-hit wonders are littered throughout the sports, entertain-ment and business worlds. They are reminders to each of us that creating a flash-in-the-pan product is much easier than developing something that stands the test of time. Later this year, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl will return to Salem Sta-dium for the 22nd straight December. It’s more than a little far-fetched to think that a city with no more than 25,000 citizens and an athletic confer-

ence with only a handful of staff members would have the ability and resources to create a monster and then feed it well enough to keep it from leaving the Roanoke Valley. Yet that is just what Salem and the old Dominion Athletic Conference have done for more than two decades. “We have been very fortunate with the local support of the game,” says Brad Bankston, old Dominion Athletic Conference commissioner. “But at the same time, I think it is easy for some

people to take the game for granted after 20-plus years.” And that is exactly what has been happening in recent years. Local fans who couldn’t wait to be a part of a national championship scene have decided to spend their time either on the couch at home or in the mall Christmas shopping on game night. “I think it’s time for people to recommit themselves to come to the Stagg Bowl,” says Carey Harveycutter, the Stagg Bowl’s game manager and Salem’s director of tourism. “everyone agrees that it’s a quality foot-ball game and a great overall fan experience, so our hope is that people will begin to rediscover it and return to it.” Salem and the oDAC have the game locked down through 2017 thanks to a new contract that they were awarded in December 2013. The NCAA knows it can trust Salem to put on a first-class event because its track record for hosting championships is impeccable. Since the game moved to Sa-lem from Bra-denton, Fla., in 1993, Salem and the oDAC have exceeded player, fan and most impor-tantly NCAA e x p e c t a t i o n s on virtually ev-ery front. “The NCAA overall is very pleased with what we have been able to do to maintain the quality of the game and have decent crowds, but you’d be surprised how much another 500 to 1,000 people at the game would mean, because they all look for that,” says Harveycutter. The first two years in Salem the game sold out despite horrendous

weather. Then in 2001, the game’s first primetime slot on eSPN also produced a sellout crowd of 7,992 as Mt. Union nipped oDAC member Bridgewater 30-27 in one of the best games in Stagg Bowl history. Con-versely, the average attendance for the past two years has been 5,700. “Unlike the early years when the game was blacked-out if it wasn’t a sellout, people can now sit at home in the comfort of their living room and have a beverage of choice, and that certainly hurts our gate,” says Harveycutter. The color purple also has provided local organizers with a unique situ-ation when it comes to attendance. For 17 of the 21 years the game has been played at Salem Stadium, either Mt. Union or Wisconsin-White-water has been involved. The two purple-clad powerhouses have played each other in the title game eight of the past nine years.

“It is hard to recreate experi-ences when you have the same two teams so many times, and I honest-ly think that does somewhat work against you,” he says. Harveycutter knows he can’t control the matchups or the weath-er, so instead he’s focusing on something he’s been doing pretty well for more than four decades — selling tickets. His research sur-prisingly indicates that a number of people who live less than an hour from Salem have never been to a game at the stadium. “We want them to give us a chance and come see the total product,” he says. “If they do, I know they will keep coming back.”

The key to attracting both the new fans and getting the old ones to recommit themselves means you not only need to attract some Hokies and ’Hoos with the fireworks and pregame concerts in the parking lot, but also some hard-core college football fans who are willing to get out of the La-Z-Boy and give D-III a shot. “everything plays second fiddle to having a full stadi-um,” says Harveycutter. “If the stadium is full when you kick-off on Friday night, then that

tough piece of roast beef you had at the ban-quet the night before is quickly forgotten.” And that’s something all fans should chew on.

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Carey Harveycutter and Brad Bankston at the 2010 Stagg Bowl

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Purple haze: Mt. Union and Whitewater are regular contestants

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The 2009 snow miracle: Clearing the field for the Stagg Bowl after nearly 20 inches of snow may have been the city’s greatest feat

2014 Amos Alonzo Stagg BowlFriday Night – 7PMDecember 19ESPNU

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Flying touchdown: High-octane offense has been routine


Let’s hear it for the unheralded sport

Ask A Ref

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To inform fans of the games’ finer points, Play by Play publishes “Ask A Ref,” a chance for fans to ask a question about specific sports rules, preferably those related to high school or the NCAA. This month’s question is answered by veteran high school football official Christian Moody.

I saw a play in a juniors game where a punt — although it wasn’t blocked — was very short and hit a player from the receiving team. However, after a player from the kicking team fell on it, the other team got to keep the ball. If the receiving team touches it, doesn’t the team that recovers it get to keep it?

It depends on where it was touched. If a member of the receiving team is the first to touch a scrimmage kick (a punt or a field goal kick) BeYoND the neutral zone (the line of scrimmage), then the ball will belong to the team in final posses-sion with a first down. However, if the player on the receiving team touches it behind the line of scrimmage, that caveat does not apply. This is to allow a team to try to block a kick without worrying that touching it then means the kicking team gets a first down if recovered.The other side of this rule is that if a player from the kicking team re-covers the ball behind the line of scrimmage, he can pick it up and run. If he makes the line to gain, good job, first down. If he just falls on it, as in your play, the kicking team merely is in possession of the ball behind the line to gain at the end of fourth down.

FROM MY VANTAGE POINTChristian Moody

HeRe’S To THe LITTLe guys among groups of fan-dom. Here’s to the teams

whose fans will never be referred to as a “nation,” or even a “legion,” for that matter. You’re still working hard to win, even if few people care. To those who do, it’s a big deal. As our entire sports season gets lost within the intense glow of football, it’s hard to notice the other things happening. Football is now so big that the World Series is almost an afterthought. The NASCAR series champi-onship chase is no longer front and center on the sports pages — with an exciting season coming to a close. I wish I remembered the source of the following quote, but even google let me down. It goes something like this: “The only emotion humans truly pursue is elation.” I don’t bring that up to ar-gue the assertion, the point is that elation is something humans enjoy and sports is a primary source. At least we hope so. elation is the thrill of victory. The feel-ing of elation is the point of competing, risking the agony of defeat, to borrow a couple of lines from ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.” You are willing to make an effort to follow a sport that has a much smaller fan base, just to feel that elation that comes with a win. Some-

times that elation causes good, decent people to behave in heartless ways (adults cheering the failure of a child on an op-posing rec team jumps to mind). other times elation just leads to nothing more than hugs, handshakes and the bliss of pride and satisfaction for the win by “our team.” either way, elation is the high that sports fans are chasing. If you’re reading this, I must assume you are a sports fan. Why else pick up Play by Play? That said, I’m going to make another prediction: You are

not a fan of every sport — some you don’t care about at all. Plus, I’m willing to bet you are a fan of at least one sport that doesn’t draw mass appeal. Simple statistics predict that you are. For the purposes of this column, I’ll define that as anything from lacrosse and soccer (in this country) to ice dancing, bowling or field hockey. There really aren’t many people anymore who love only the big three sports and/or auto racing, while having no interest in any other. Part of the joy of being a sports fan is being able to find an interest in a niche sport and follow it as avidly as you please. We can pick and choose based on what holds our interest. A lot depends on our environment. Not many peo-ple in the Roanoke region are following Irish Road Bowl-ing — probably the fringiest of fringe sports, if “fringiest”

is even a word — but to those people who are interested, it means a lot. Technically, minor league baseball is the same way. We enjoyed the Salem Red Sox winning the Carolina League championship a year ago, but once they were eliminated this season, how many people bothered to follow the championship series? (Potomac beat Myrtle Beach, FYI.) Stanford won the national championship in NCAA Division I women’s water polo recently. To the people who play on that team, plus a fraction of Stanford’s student body and boosters, this was a huge deal. They felt pure elation with the win. How far did that elation bleed? The number of people I know who know or care who wins that sport’s national cham-pionship is...well, I can estimate it with a round number. This is a sport that has such small participation that no current ACC school has a team. (Former member Maryland has one, but they’re now in the Big 10 where three other schools are playing women’s water polo.) even sports that are huge on the world stage, but attract scant interest here, are among those that qualify as joy-bringers if we know someone who likes them. I know a few fans of english Premier League soccer. ob-viously that’s a big-time sport, but I know only a couple of people who can name more than five teams. Formula one racing is the same. There aren’t as many Lewis Hamilton fans around here as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fans, but I bet they are just as happy with a win by their favorite driver.I was thinking about this in the context of the Stagg Bowl. even though that’s football, the brightest of stars in the American sports sky, Division III is of passing interest to most. The local alumni bases for D-III schools have their passions, but most people are content to hear a score or get a little info about a star player and that’s enough. Yet the city of Salem goes through a lot of effort and expense to keep the Stagg Bowl at Salem Stadium (see Mike Stevens’ column on page 5). The city has had it for 21 years and does such a great job that over 50 other NCAA championships have been decided there, the vast majority being in Division III. That’s fine. The small things matter. The elation felt by those players and the fans of their teams is every bit as valid and won-derful as the happiness felt by fans of the Super Bowl champions. So let’s hear it for the little team or the unheralded sport. There are just as many emotions there as on fields with lots of television lights.

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This game is called on account of rain…

See MONTGOMERY, Page 8

JAMSESSIONby John A. Montgomery

SoMeTIMeS YoU WIN. Sometimes you lose. And sometimes you get rained

out. It’s 4:30 in the morning on Sat-urday, Sept. 13, and a heavy rain (reminiscent of what I imagine machine-gun fire sounds like) is pelting the slate roof that covers Play by Play corporate headquarters, my garage loft office. Talk about foreboding.

This rainy-day thing appears to be an appropriate metaphor for the status of Play by Play — as with this issue, No. 136, we head to the dug-out, at least temporarily. Sour business conditions have made it prudent to cut our losses and cease publication. I seem to re-member learning somewhere in my schooling that escalating costs and shrinking revenues do not make for a promising business model. You have to know when to fold ’em. And so this will be our last issue for a while. But enough of the gloom. Let’s celebrate 10 complete years and re-live a little history.

Actually we need to go back nearly 18 years — because it was Jan. 2, 1997 when the Roanoke Valley Sports Journal was informally launched, thanks to a germ of an idea from our good friend Sam Lazzaro. Sam, who enjoyed a longtime career in minor league baseball, had recently left the Salem Avalanche and was pursuing other career interests. During a job interview with then-Blue Ridge Business Journal own-er Jim Lindsey, Sam inquired as to whether we had ever considered a sports publication. Jim smiled, turned to me (I held the title of general Manager of the Business Journal at the time), and asked — somewhat rhetorically — “John, have we ever considered a sports publication?” As my boss and good friend for a number of years, Jim knew that a sports publication was my longtime dream — ever since the 1960s. ever since my mother, an elementary school librarian for much of her career, bought me gift subscriptions to Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News. Journalism seemed an attractive and exciting career to me, and now nearly 50 years later, I can attest that many different aspects of it indeed have made it so. The Roanoke Valley Sports Journal debuted in April of 1997, benefitting from the established in-frastructure of the BRBJ meshing with some of Sam’s sports contacts. We al-ready had employees, equipment and processes in place. The Business Jour-nal staff helped with the launch. We gleaned considerable input from Jim, Sam (who came to work with us), pro-duction director Donna Spraker, edi-tor Dan Smith (a former sportswriter no less), advertising representatives Leslie Coty, Fletcher Smith, Deborah Vaughan and others. The Sports Journal was always our second pub — and for good reason. The BRBJ produced the lion’s share of

the revenue, and naturally, received the lion’s share of the attention. We produced the SJ in our spare time. But my true love was always the sports side. Several years later, long after Jim had sold the BJ operation to The Roanoke Times, Times management determined that the sports pub was not a profitable endeavor. By then, I had moved on to other employment. But when the BRBJ dropped the sports publication com-ponent, I picked it up — same idea, different name. That would be almost exactly 10 years ago to the day. Like the Sports Journal, Play by Play has relied on staples. We have always featured a dominant cover photograph, a series of 4-5 columns, followed by a similar number of feature stories. We have always included a page of “About Town” pictures. our emphasis on been on current ama-teur athletes with Roanoke Valley ties, but there has also been a strong

dose of past stars (called “Yes-terday’s Heroes” in the SJ, “Legends of the games” in PbP). our concentration has been on sandlot, high school, college, and local professional athletes and teams — but we have also provided our col-umnists the freedom to opine on national issues. As a Cave Spring High School graduate, I think about fellow alumni Tiki and Ronde Barber and J.J. Redick, who have used Roanoke Valley playing fields and courts as springboards to reach the in-ternational stage, where at times they have been known

strictly by their first names. That is a status attained by very few. Hidden Valley High School graduate Luke Hancock brought similar attention to Roanoke a year-and-a-half ago when he was named Most outstanding Player of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Final Four and graced the

cover of Sports Illustrated. We have never pretended to be totally impartial, never the bastion of investigative journalism. our focus has been the positive side of sports. one of the reasons I grav-itated toward sports in the first place is that it is not (or at least, didn’t used to be) filled with life-and-death issues. There seems to be plenty of sources for hard sports news. It has been quite a ride. Thanks to the loving input of nearly all of the original crew members, we were able to recreate the magic from the SJ, I believe. Donna Ear-wood (she married in 1999) left the BRBJ in 2003, coin-ciding with the birth of a child, Maggie. Some 18 months

later, then residing in Covington, she contacted me, saying she was ready to get back into the graphics fray. “Did I know of any business opportunities for her, say on a part-time basis?” Did I! That conversation was as timely and fortuitous as the one we had with Sam more than seven years earlier. The name “Play by Play” came to me while I was driving one day, and


MarcumFrom Page 4

with the pass protection from the other backs, Johnson was moved to the backfield in August where everyone expected him to play personal protector for the pass-happy Herd. Quickly, Holliday discovered the magic of handing the ball to a 6’1”, 245-pound back with 4.45 speed. Two games into the sea-son, “The Rock” ranks among the top 10 of FBS rushers with 288 yards and an average of 8.7 yards per carry. “Devon is the best player I’ve seen in my coaching career,” said Richlands coach Greg Mance. “He can do everything.” The Rock is making football fans in far Southwest Virginia proud…and it’s looking like he can indeed do it all.

it has served us well, I think, even though some confuse us with the retailer that sells used sporting goods. We have never covered sports in complete- game detail, but we have covered the landscape thor-oughly, touching on a wide variety of ath-letic competition. Plus, we have had a good time along the way, another play on our name. With Donna’s de-sign, we developed a logo and supporting marketing materials, and went out into the business community hop-ing to continue the Sports Journal’s mission — presenting our readers with local sports stories, generally with a positive slant. We have been fortunate to land the support of about 100 advertis-ers over the years — and a core of them has been especially critical. Kroger has served as our back-page advertiser since Day one, even back to the SJ days. other long-time advertisers included WDBJ7, Virginia Amateur Sports, the Sa-lem Civic Center, the Salem Red Sox, the Roanoke Dazzle, Member one Federal Credit Union, Roa-noke orthopaedic Center, Pro-fessional Therapies, Brambleton Deli, Texas Steakhouse, Jersey Lily’s, Putt-Putt, Comcast, Stop In, CMT, Arby’s, attorney David Bowers, Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg, Awful Ar-thur’s, Rip City, Jefferson College, For Sale By owner, Parisi School and Spectrum Sports Academy. Dave Sarmadi has been with us for years — not only through his Mitsubishi dealership — but be-fore that, when he was a Berglund executive, and after that, when he worked with automobile dealer-ships in Leesburg and Staunton. Again, business conditions have contributed to a gradual but un-mistakable erosion of advertising — many of our advertisers have changed their name, changed their direction, or in some cases, closed their doors. It happens. Some people have asked why

MontgomeryFrom Page 7 we do not charge for the publica-

tion — even a token fee — and the simple answer has been that we have felt broad circulation has been essential in order to garner advertising support, and right or

wrong, our philoso-phy has been that more people would read the publication if it was free than if there was a nominal charge. From the editori-al side, we have also relied on a talented core of contributors over the years — not just the aforemen-tioned players, but

faithful writers and photographers mentioned here in alphabetical order: Mike Ashley, Jim Carroll, Robin Chalkley, Brian Hoffman, Leo LaCasse, Bo Lucas, Chris Manning, Todd Marcum, Gene Marrano, Christian Moody, Don Piedmont, Jan Sessor, Chris Slone, Mike Stevens, Bob Teitle-baum, Bill Turner, Dick Wil-liams and Dan Wooldridge all contributed to dozens and dozens of issues — and Ashley, Hoffman, Marcum, Marrano, Moody, Ste-vens and Turner are big parts of this one as usual. There have been other writers — Beverly Amsler, Susan Ayers, Vic Brancati, Mike Loveman, Bill Mercer, Hunter Miller and Bryan Paiement are among the rela-tively recent ones who come to mind — that have helped us periodically and enhanced the end product. There are some great stories as to how those people came to our maga-zine. Sam intro-duced me to then- television person-ality Mike Stevens in 1997 and Mike not only agreed to write a column, he never missed an issue. Chris Moody was hired as SJ editor in 2000, when my responsibilities at the BRBJ expanded, and a few years later he joined us at PbP when the SJ became defunct.

gene Marrano picked up the first issue of the SJ in the marketplace, inquired as to how he might con-tribute, and has been a vital cog ever since. Former banker Bill Turner launched a second career (he now even models a clothing line), thanks to about 50 stories and well over 1,000 pictures in Play by Play and many more than that in the Roanoke Star. Brian Hoffman has helped us immea-surably, all the while serving as sports editor for a group of other niche publications. Who has had the most to say? Ashley has probably written more words than any other contributor. Seems like he will find a joke in there somewhere. Bob Teitlebaum and Dick Wil-liams both passed during the run of Play by Play, but they will never be forgotten. “Teits” contributed three pieces per issue for several years, and although I haven’t veri-fied it, I imagine a few of them did not mention Vanderbilt, DirecTV, poker or beer. Williams, through his company Member one, had been an advertising supporter of the SJ every single issue since its 1997 inception, and when he retired from the financial indus-try in 2008, I wanted to do a pro-file about him and his interest in sports. Dick hesitated upon my request before gently asking if he could write the piece himself. Hmmm. I eventually conceded and his sec-

ond career started. Dick ultimately wrote more than 25 articles for us — most of them ret-rospective pieces of local sports his-tory. We have ex-panded in various other directions over the years. We publish an online component and approximately 500

“subscribers” receive an email providing them a link with each edition. About five years ago, thanks to an idea from Comcast sales executive Dave Weisman, we started a television commer-cial campaign that has featured

“Playmakers.” Thanks to the able work of producers Adam Ranzer and J. Rodney Billingsley and the advertising support of Stop In, Bojangle’s and U.S. Cellular, more than 250 athletes have been fea-tured. Seldom does a day pass that someone doesn’t mention our commercial. Webmaster Rod Carter has ca-pably managed the Play by Play Web site for several years — and our Web site will continue to op-erate for the immediate future. Leslie Coty and Chris Moody have helped us with our Facebook pres-ence. Bob Blades helped deliver. When Donna contacted me back in 2004 and asked if I might have any work for her, we agreed that Play by Play would be a low-stress newspaper. Largely that has been true, I would say. We have always found some-thing to laugh about. even dur-ing those editions when minor irritants have crept in. even those when we have had to clear hurdles to get the product finished. I like to say this work is a good bit like “The Wizard of oz.” When you pull back the curtain, the operation is surprisingly sparse. But it has been fun. A lot of great fun. See you at a game.


Snapshots of the season

It’s All in the PipelineWhy is Salem football so strong year after year? One reason might be its strong feeder program. The Spartans recently posed for a picture with the Andrew Lewis Middle School team and area sandlot squads, filling about a 30-yard stretch of Salem Stadium. Call it blanket coverage.

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Roanoke Valley Sports ClubThe Aug. 25 meeting was scheduled to feature Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Buzz Williams, but when Wil-liams was unable to attend, basketball director of operations Jeff Reynolds (second from right in picture at left) filled in ably. Reynolds is shown with (l to r) members Jim Lugar, Susan and Tom Marchi. The club also honored high school basketball coaching legend Dick Kepley (below, second from right), pictured with sons Drew and Chuck, friend Pat Sales and event organizer Dave Ross.

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Piper Roe CommitsThe Cave Spring High School junior (skying for a kill, above) recently made an oral commitment to play col-lege volleyball for Louisville.

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Leading the PackWilliam Byrd High School cross-coun-try runner Shane Gibson (above) has emerged as one of the top runners in the area, often finishing in or near the lead at area high school competi-tions.

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MemoriesReader Bill Shrader (holding ball, above) did a double-take looking at last month’s Play by Play cover. He recognized 1916 Salem football player Jere Bunting, whose son, Jere Bunting, Jr., was Shrader’s boyhood friend, as shown in this late-1930s photo. Bunting, Jr., who died in 2003, was inducted into the William and Mary Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996.7 Bristol

RacePhotographer Bill Turner (checkered pants) hob-knobs with Greg Biffle’s pit crew (left) at Bristol Mo-tor Speedway Aug. 23. The winner of the race was Joey Logano (right). Biffle finished 10th, but Turner assures us that Turner did his part.

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by Mike Ashley

Fisher finds his way at RichmondFoR A gUY WHo PRoBABLY

has pigskin in his DNA, Seth Fisher sure has had to strug-

gle to find his place on the college gridiron. The Richmond junior running back is making the most of his chance these days, the Spiders fi-

nally putting the ball in his hands and in a symbiotic relationship, Fisher happier than ever and UR winning more games there in bucolic Westhampton. “It was more out of neces-sity, Seth was a fullback for us and we had three running backs go down last year and

had to m o v e h i m , ” says coach Danny Roc-co. “We start-ed feeding him the ball and he really took owner-ship of it. We always knew he had the

skill set.” Cast as fullback in the pass-happy Richmond offense, Fisher averaged just 2.7 carries and 12 yards per game in the first eight contests last fall. The Spiders went 2-6, and were on their way to a Colonial Athletic Association-low 113.2 rushing yards per game. The Spiders decided to weave a new web down the stretch, and injuries pushed Fisher to the forefront. He averaged 17 rushes and 82.5 yards the last four games, all Richmond victories. He pound-ed out 131 yards on 23 carries in the fi-nale against William & Mary. “I think they saw I wasn’t just a typi-cal fullback sticking my face in there, that I had some athleti-cism,” says Fisher, who previously was a star linebacker at Salem High School. “It was a situation where I knew there was an opportunity for me to transition my play into more of a running back style. That’s what I wanted to do.” The summer be-fore last year, Fisher reinvented himself after talks with Roc-co and assistant Wayne Lineburg, who had recruited him. “I worked my butt off during the summer

to gain speed and not necessar-ily lose weight, but have a better weight,” recalls Fisher. “I’ve been 230 (pounds) since I got here and I just wanted to turn that into a better 230. I was running with the ones (first team in preseason). I was doing well, I thought.” But once the season started, the focus was on a passing game featuring quarterback Michael Strauss and Fisher’s longtime Sa-lem teammate, receiver Stephen Barnette. It wasn’t until injuries

to tailback Jacobi Green and T. J. Moon that the door opened. “I was able to make a contribu-

Richmond back Seth Fisher is finally getting the chance to show his stuff

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The Salem Connection: Spartans Fisher, Stephen and Reggie Barnette and Alex Light are now UR Spiders

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Fisher gained a career-high 131 yards on 23 carries against William & Mary last season

2014 GreenwayMemory Miler

November 1

4 Miler & 10 MilerRace Benefits:

Register Online atwww.CommonwealthGames.org

Roanoke’s Only10 Miler!!

Roanoke’s Only10 Miler!!


See FISHER, Page 16

tion and through that time, the offense was able to click,” says Fisher. “The offensive line started to click and Strauss was doing his thing all year long (when he set 14 school records).” So the 6-2, 232-pound Fisher was a key returnee this year after churning out 426 yards rushing (second on the team), and 151 more yards in the passing game. He had six touchdowns, three by land and three by air, and earned second-team All-CAA honors. But so far this year, an ankle injury has hobbled him and kept him from regular practice and the produc-tion everyone, including Fisher, was expecting. He had eight rushes for 48 yards and caught a touchdown pass in

a 55-7 rout of Morehead State but then on Sept. 6 Virginia’s defense held him to seven yards on five carries and 24 more yards on three receptions. Fisher is no stranger to injury. An ACL tear in his knee five games into his senior season at Salem nearly cost him his college career. The hard-charging Fisher had al-ready become the Spartans’ all-time leader in sacks, and helped Salem to back-to-back district and regional championships. one of the Timesland’s top prospects as a linebacker, Fisher had an offer on the table from Wil-liam & Mary, had just gotten one from Richmond and VMI, and then even Virginia Tech and Vir-ginia were starting to show inter-est. Fisher had given up his first love, baseball, as a sophomore so he could focus on football, where his best scholarship opportunities awaited.

The college recruiters began disappearing after the injury, though. “It was very discouraging,” says Fisher. “It was probably the hardest duration of three or four months of my life. You work so hard and it’s potentially all gone. I took it hard and it was really hard on my parents, too. You just don’t think there’s any hope.” Fisher had waited until the fall of 2010 to see how many more scholarship offers he would re-ceive. He really didn’t have a frontrunner and then even the programs that had offered him were running away. All, that is, but Richmond and Lineburg, who had also recruited Salem’s Barnette brothers, among

many other Southwest Vir-ginia athletes. A Radford na-tive and the son of leg-endary coach Norm Line-burg, Wayne is now special teams coor-dinator and wide receivers coordinator at Connecticut, but he has a deep, personal re l at i o n s h i p with his re-

cruits still at Richmond and it’s easy to see why. “We knew he was a good football player and a real good kid from an outstanding program,” says Line-burg of Richmond staying with Fisher when others didn’t. “We had already offered him (a schol-arship) and felt like it was the right thing to do.” The pieces quickly began fall-ing into place for Fisher about be-coming a Spider. His grandfather, longtime Salem and Andrew Lew-is High team doctor Dr. Richard Fisher had played there and his mom Betti’s side of the family was from Richmond. Fisher had been on the campus on visits to the city and really liked the campus. It’s likely the school would have been his ultimate choice anyway. Then there was another big plus. “Because Reggie and Stephen (Barnette) were already here, that was big, having someone here you

already knew,” says Fisher. “Re-ally my whole high school football career I played with them and it made it so much easier having someone here I knew.” Fisher landed in a recruit-ing class that included star West Point High School running back

Aaron Roane, and Roane — who was third-team All-CAA last year — was immediately moved to linebacker and Fisher went to full-back. Roane played in every game as a freshman in 2011, and Fisher

Fisher (No. 4) blocks Virginia’s Eli Harold early this season, giving Richmond quarterback Michael Strauss the opportunity to run

Fisher (who wore No. 35 last year) scored a touch-down against JMU in a game at Harrisonburg

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Jessee learns her lessons, leads W&L soccer

by Mike Ashley

IT’S NoT UNCoMMoN IN sports for the youngest of mul-tiple siblings to turn out to be a

great athlete. Years of hard sports lessons at the hands of elders often trans-late into success. over and over, bullied younger brothers seem always eventually to get their day in the sun, but take a look at the close-knit Jessee clan and there’s a different take on the old story. It was two older sisters, usually more about nurturing while com-peting than bullying, that helped pave the way for soccer standout Tricia Jessee to step right in at Washington and Lee’s power-house program, and put her best foot forward. “Having two older sisters that played soccer and volleyball defi-nitely added some competition,” says Jessee. “We all swam togeth-er and competed all the way up through high school. We all want-ed to be the best. It was great hav-ing them around. They were role models as well as competitors.” And the Patrick Henry product used that competitive pedigree to step right into a starting job for the generals last year after overcom-ing a preseason knee injury. Now this fall, she has picked up where she left off. Jessee had two goals in the season-opening 5-1 win over

Meredith College, and W&L, picked second in the 12-team oDAC preseason soccer poll, is off to a fast start this fall at 2-0-1. “We only lost one senior from last year and we’ve had so much experience together that we play to-gether really well,” says the sophomore forward. “It has just been easier to build up as a team, and going forward, that experi-ence together should help us.” Jessee knows a little about momentum. She helped pace the Patriots

to two district tiles in high school, and was all-district for four sea-sons, then first-team all-region and honorable mention all-state as a senior in 2013. Jessee runs down a long list of folks that have helped her get to where she is today, from her parents, especially her athletic mother, Lee Stanley, who pushed her to try a little bit of everything as a kid, to Roanoke Star coach J.D. Carlin and her high school coach, Carrie O’Keefe. She still sometimes meets Carlin for lunch in Roanoke, and credits o’Keefe with showing her how good she could be. But it was her mother who perhaps set up her ath-letic career. “My mom was a huge athlete all through high school (at North Cross) and she super-encouraged me and my older sisters,” says Jessee. “I played tee-ball, we did dance, soccer, swimming, basket-ball. We played every single sport when I was little because my mom

wanted us to check everything out. She knew it’s such a great thing for kids to develop a passion for something.” Stanley did put all the sisters in soccer early and all of them were good enough to play for travel teams. Ultimately, Jessee’s sis-ters, Laura, who played volleyball at oberlin, and Sarah, who just graduated from W&L, picked vol-leyball over soccer in high school. Not Tricia, though. Spurred by Carlin’s motivation when she was in mid-dle school, soccer became her favorite sport though she

helped the Patrick Henry volley-ball to a district title in 2009, be-fore she decided it was too much along with soccer. She also helped the swim team to a championship in 2010, again before she felt she was in over her head.

Soccer was where her heart took her, finding that passion her mother had wished for her. “I love playing soccer more than any-thing in the world and I knew I wanted to play in college,” Jessee says. “So I committed and went for it when I was in high school. I had so much fun with a great bunch of girls and our team was always competitive. I scored a lot of goals and that was great, too, giving me the confidence going to college.” Coming into last season as a freshman, Jessee hadn’t been promised anything about start-

ing but she knew if she worked

hard she had a chance.

Then on the fourth day of pre-

season camp, she strained an MCL and sprained her ankle all on the same play. She was on crutches for a short bit, had to wear a knee brace and sit out for three weeks. The first game she came back

to start — against Roanoke Col-lege — she pulled a quad muscle in warm-ups but didn’t say any-thing and played without incident before the injury caught up to her

and she had to sit for another couple of weeks. “I was so excit-ed about playing Roanoke I just de-cided to play,” she says. She would fin-ish the season playing 14 games, starting 11 for the 17-3-1 generals, and registering nine goals and an

assist. She was oDAC Player of the Week after two goals at guilford and a hat-trick at Sweet Briar. “The injuries kept her from get-ting in top shape but you could

See JESSEE, Page 16

Tricia Jessee

Jessee (No. 20) played 14 games for Washington and Lee as a fresh-man, scoring nine goals and earning ODAC Player of the Week honors

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Zombie run mixes fundraising with hair-raising EVeR WATCHeD “WALK-

ing Dead” and thought “Running from zombies

looks like a lot of fun”? If you have, oct. 4 will be your day to see and feel the excitement of avoiding a throng of undead. Thank-fully, no brains will be en-dangered. The Roanoke County de-partment of parks, recre-ation and tourism is once again teaming up with the Blue Ridge Regional Jail to put on a fundraiser for the Special olympics. A 5K run will be held at green Hill Park, but this is no ordinary 5K. This is the second annu-al Roanoke Zombie 5K. event coordinator Wendi Schultz says last year’s inau-gural event raised $27,000 for the Special olympics and attracted 1,500 participants. of those, 1,200

were runners and about 300 were zombies. The runners dash along the

5K course, although it is as much of an obstacle course as a race course. The zombies are not there to run the race. “Zombies don’t run too fast,” Schultz says. The event is more of an event than a race because it’s not timed, Schultz says. “Runners are welcome to wear a watch and time themselves.” There are no medals awarded for placing based on time. Instead, runners who finish the course alive and in decent health will be entered into a drawing. Alive? Does that mean some might not live? obviously, these zom-bies will not be allowed to feast on runners’ brains, or even intentionally touch

them, but each runner will have a flag belt with flags attached by Velcro, such as those used in flag football. The flags are the targets of the chaser zombies. A runner who loses all of his or her flags is dead. Teams of four runners can work together with only one wearing the flags and the other three pro-

by Christian Moody

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ROANOKE ZOMBIE 5K• Saturday, October 4, 2014 at 10:00 AM

• Roanoke County’s Green Hill Park

• Make-Up Roll Call at 9:00 AM

• Net Proceeds will go to Virginia’s Special Olympics

viding protection. Zombies cannot enter as a team but can request to be kept togeth-er on the course. The zombies will be assigned to zones. Parts of the course will be zombie-free. With a notable lack of real zom-bies in the area, event organizers are forced to get their zombies from the same place as television production companies — from real, live people being made up in ghoulish garb and make-up. The chance to be a zombie is the second aspect of the event that makes it unlike any other 5K in the valley — non-runners are needed to participate. There is an entry fee of $25 for zombies — it’s $35 for runners —but the chance to be part of the event and play the part of a citizen turned foul should be worth the price of participation. Zombies come in two catego-ries — distracters and chasers. Distracter zombies lurk, hide or

Zombie Run success: Last year’s inaugural event raised $27,000 and attract-ed 1,500 participants, 1,200 runners and about 300 zombies who don’t run

See ZOMBIES, Page 17


Lavin truly at home on Roanoke’s natural trails systemSeVeRAL YeARS BACK, Be-

fore she hired Pete Eshelman as the Roanoke Regional Part-

nership’s first director of outdoor branding, executive director Beth Doughty spoke out about how the Roanoke Valley wasn’t really tak-ing full advantage of its outdoor amenities. She told Roanoke City Coun-cil, for instance, that some local residents, or clerks at hotel desks, couldn’t even tell visitors how to find the nearby Appalachian Trail. That had to change, said Dough-ty — and it has. First there was eshelman, also the driving force behind the RoanokeOutside.com Web site, a go-to source for infor-mation on all things outdoor rec-reation. Then Roanoke City Parks

and Recreation hired its own guy to focus on outdoor events — Joe Hanning. eshelman and Hanning have been subjects of earlier pro-files in Play by Play. Now comes Renee Lavin, hired last year by Parks and Rec as a trails specialist, where she focuses on natural surface trails within the city. Lavin is very busy in September, first with a series of “epic Hikes” as they are billed, a lead-in to Roanoke’s Weekend for Wilderness Sept. 25-27. That event includes panel discussions, guided walks in the woods — even a “Toast to Wilderness” at Parkway Brewery in Salem. (See details at playroanoke.com or vawild50.org.) “We really have a broad partner-ship on this event,” says Andrew

Downs, the re-gional director for the Appa-lachian Trail Conservancy, which is spear-heading the Weekend for Wilderness. It celebrates the Wilderness Act of 1964, now 50 years old. The legislation signed into law by President Lyndon John-son set aside an initial 9.1 million acres of wild lands. C o n g r e s s has added more than 100 million acres under the law since then. The opening event Sept. 25 at the Taub-

man Museum features speaker Ed Zahniser, “whose father wrote the Wilderness Act,” says Downs. Lavin oversees activities at Fern, Fallon, Mill Mountain and Fishburn parks, and at gigantic Carvins Cove — the second larg-est municipal park in the coun-try. She runs programming that gets people out running, walking, mountain biking and cross-coun-try skiing when there is enough snow. Lavin also coordinates vol-unteer trail maintenance and trail building at those parks. Lavin originally came to the area to work at Roanoke College with its outdoor program, before heading to the Wilderness Adven-ture Camp in Craig County. She sports a master’s in outdoor rec-

reation and education from the University of Maine. Lavin is cer-tified to teach rock climbing and is a swift water rescue instructor. She paddles, skis, hikes, mountain bikes, you name it. “I always say I have my dream job,” she says. Five miles-plus of new trails have been built during her tenure. “We’re just seeing more people taking advantage of the great re-sources that the trails are in the

area,” she says. She works with Pathfinders for greenways, the Roanoke International Mountain Biking Association chapter and Blue Ridge gravity (a downhill

mountain biking club) on main-taining those trails. Lavin is also helping to spear-head the second annual Roanoke Seven Summits challenge, de-signed to get people out and climbing seven mountaintops around the Ro-anoke Valley. Much like the

100 Miler campaign in the winter months, participants can sign up and get a T-shirt, as well as inspi-rational weekly emails. “They start easy with Mill Mountain…and get harder each week, [finishing with] Tinker Cliffs and McAfee’s Knob,” says Lavin. See roanoke7summits.com; the idea is to scale one peak per week from Sept. 27 through Nov. 8; you

by Gene Marrano

See LAVIN, Page 17

Renee Lavin and her dog Riley take a break on Tinker Cliffs

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Lavin is certified to teach rock climbing, is a swift water rescue instructor, and has many interests


Act of sportsmanship that ‘shocked the world’ subject of new golf bookBY 1969 THe RYDeR CUP

golf competition between the United States and great

Britain had pretty much become like international basketball is now: a one-sided affair where the U.S. wins most of the time. The U.S. had won 14 of 17 Ryder Cups, where players are involved in match play, coming into the 1969 event at the Royal Birkdale links course in Southport, england. That’s the stage for the second book on a dramatic moment in professional golf history, courtesy of Neil Sagebiel, a Floyd-based writer who broke in with a splash in 2012 when “The Longest Shot” was published. That book retold the tale of an unknown golfer, Jack Fleck, who beat the revered vet-eran Ben Hogan at the 1955 U.S. open. “The Longest Shot” made the Booklist Top 10 list of sports books in 2012. Sagebiel’s just-released work is “Draw in the Dunes: The 1969 Ryder Cup and The Finish That Shocked The World” (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press). Sagebiel scores another coup with a foreword from Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus, both of whom were 20-something golf stars in 1969. The Ryder Cup was thought by some to be on the verge of extinc-tion since the U.S. had steamrolled the British team for the most part and interest in the tourney was waning. Then something extraor-dinary happened: in the last match Nicklaus and Jacklin battled each other to the final hole — where Nicklaus conceded a two-foot putt that Jacklin still had to make. The 1969 Ryder Cup ended in a tie — as it probably would have anyway, since no one expected Jacklin to miss a two-footer — but hey, you

never know. “It started out with the ending,” says Sagebiel about his interest in re-telling the story. “I wanted to look into it — why was [the tie] such a big deal? — in the context of what the Ryder Cup was like then.” Nicklaus’s move became known as “The Concession,” cheered by many as an act of sportsman-ship, criticized by others — in-cluding some of his own 1969 Ryder Cup teammates and cap-

tain Sam Snead. “I was shocked,” Jacklin admits about the move by the golden Bear, as he relates in “Draw in the Dunes.” “He felt like it was the right thing to do,” concludes Sagebiel of the move by Nicklaus. The writer says Nicklaus also felt a missed putt would have been “devastating” for Jacklin, who had won the British open that summer and had be-come a new golf hero in great Brit-ain. “It was a really grand gesture [but] it didn’t sit well with some of

[Nicklaus’] team-mates.” Sagebiel’s ex-haustive research shows that some players thought the putt was in-deed miss-able. Nicklaus picked up Jacklin’s marker on the green at the 18th hole, officially conceding that last shot. Many in the golf world were flat-out shocked. The ’69 Ryder Cup was a some-times-contentious affair, with great Britain captain

Eric Brown fanning the flames for starters. Some of the U.S. players recalled the hostility of fans, and in a four-ball match opposing play-ers argued extensively over rules and a fight nearly broke out. It was in that atmosphere the Nicklaus, in the middle of a “slump” on the regular tour (he hadn’t won a ma-jor in couple of years — shades of Tiger Woods) made his gracious concession on the final hole. Nicklaus says he would do it again — concede a final putt that produced a tie — according to Sagebiel. “[Sam Snead] didn’t like any part of it,” says ’69 Ryder Cup player Raymond Floyd of The Concession. “He wasn’t happy with the whole thing.” Sagebiel in-terviewed Nicklaus in his Florida office for “Draw in the Dunes”; the golf legend says he never regretted his act of sportsmanship, one that may have helped revive interest in the Ryder Cup itself. “He was just great [about sitting down for an

by Gene Marrano

See SAGEBIEL, Page 17

Neil Sagebiel’s latest golf book details the 1969 Ryder Cup golf matches where Jack Nicklaus (above left) conceded a putt to Great Britain’s Tony Jacklin (above right), allowing the event to end in a tie. U.S. Captain Sam Snead (below) was reportedly not pleased with the gesture


redshirted. “I wasn’t very happy with it, honestly,” he says. “I didn’t enjoy playing fullback, using all the tal-ents I knew that I had just to block and not even get to touch the ball and not doing what I do best, which is playing linebacker.” Fisher toughed it out, though, just hoping he would get a chance somewhere. It was that athletic ability that made him such a dy-namic linebacker that started to show through. That, and a recom-mendation that went a long way, as Fisher started to move up the depth chart. “I thought he would be a real good player,” says Lineburg. “He’s tough, a hard-nosed guy; (Salem coach) Stephen Magenbauer is very good with his evaluation. If he tells you a kid can play, he can play, so I trusted his judgment.” Fisher’s ability to catch the ball became an integral part of the of-fense. He had six catches for 38 yards and two touchdowns as a redshirt freshman in 2012, also making 10 special teams tackles and forcing a fumble. Then came the meeting with coaches and the hard work to reshape himself to be even more of a factor. “He worked at it a ton,” admits Lineburg. “He’s a hard-working

FisherFrom Page 11

Photo courtesy of the University of Richmond

kind of guy that has flourished. He has gotten bigger, stronger, faster. He has just done a great job.” Now he’s the only true full-back in the mix but he still alter-nates at tailback to get some car-ries because he had flourished with a football in his hands. The Spi-ders also have a lot of plays for him in the passing game, and be-cause you can’t just line him up at fullback on plays you’re going to pass, he still sees double-duty in the backfield. Perhaps his finest moment came in that 2013 finale. The pre-vious game, a last-minute win over Delaware, Fisher had 74 yards on 15 carries. In the locker room afterward, Line-burg sought him out. “Coach Lineburg was with me the whole time through recruit-ing and now getting to play more,” says Fisher. “And I was still in pads and uniform after Delaware and he comes up screaming at me about the William & Mary game next. He knew they had pulled

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their scholarship offer and he was trying to get me

fired up, like any coach would do.” Mission accom-plished to the tune of that career-high 131 yards. “I just had a different mentality

that game,” Fisher smiles. Now the whole family convenes in Richmond again to watch Fish-er. His father, Bob (who was a standout on Patrick Henry’s leg-endary undefeated group AAA 1973 state football champions), played baseball at Virginia Tech. But Seth has gotten past his love for glove and bat, though he was

Seth Fisher (left) comes from grid iron stock: his grandfather Dick Fisher (above) played for UR in the 1940s

a promising pitcher and centerfielder. Nope, what he misses most now is playing defense in football. “I miss it everyday still. I love playing running back, as well. It was harder dealing with it when I was just playing full-back but now that I have a bigger role it’s easier. I’ve told them I’d go both ways so I could play lineback-er.” either way, and both ways if they let

him, Fisher loves the physicality of the game and just in general. He someday hopes to work in physical therapy or fitness but he hasn’t given up the dream of football after college. “I do think I can get a shot,” he says. “The big thing is staying healthy and keeping your mind-set where it has to be. I’ve been talking to Coach Rocco and other coaches and I think I have what it takes. I still have this year and all of next year for college ball but I would love to have that opportu-nity.” Don’t bet against Fisher. Just give him the ball and see what he can do.

JesseeFrom Page 12

just see right away she was special on a soc-cer field,” says W&L assistant coach Ra-chael Sushner. “ev-ery time she was in the game she made a difference. She makes things happen.” Sushner calls Jes-see “a goofball who doesn’t take herself too seriously.” She’s one of the most pop-ular players on the team “because she’s so humble and down to earth.”

older sisters can make you that way but there’s a lot more going on with this supportive family. Jessee’s father, John, a 1979 W&L Law School graduate, was there for all but two con-tests last season, and probably won’t miss more than one game this fall. The Jessees are in-volved that way. In addition to the sports commitment, Tricia began volunteering at an elementary school and tutoring last year.

Her sophomore class on the soc-cer team also volunteers at the SPCA, bathing and walking dogs, and playing with cats. Her sister, Laura, is in the Peace Corps and has been in ghana for a year. The family visited her on a safari in Tanzania this summer. Sarah is in law school at Rich-mond. Tricia is undecided on her ma-jor but leaning toward business, possibly with a minor in math. She’s got time to settle on a career goal while she’s scoring goals for W&L. one thing’s for sure, though, when you’re competing with your sisters, you have to have two ma-jors.

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SagebielFrom Page 15

ZombiesFrom Page 13

create a hazard to be avoided. They cannot kill anyone by grabbing flags; only chaser zombies can do that. Chaser zombies can only run short distances, so no one has to worry about a particular zombie staying on their hip for the entire race until all flags are gone. “We’re hoping for as many peo-ple as we had last year. The ratio was about right,” Schultz says of the one-zombie-for-four-runners split that occurred. Volunteers will be there to pro-vide make-up, although partici-

The Zombie Run is as much of an obstacle course as it is a race course. No question about the fun

pants registered as zom-bies are welcome to do their own make-up. out-fits are not provided.

Children under 10 will have their own short race, but the main race is only for those 10 and over. No strollers or animals will be al-

lowed in the race, according to the Ro-anoke County Web site, for safety rea-sons and because of the use of obstacles. Schultz says there are other zombie runs in the country and they are proving successful as fund-raisers. No question about the fun.Ph

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interview], says Sagebiel, who calls the fore-word by Nick-laus and Jack-lin “the perfect touch for the story.” That United States squad was jam-packed with stars, including Lee Trevino, Billy Casper and Dave Hill — Arnold Palmer didn’t even make the team. “[Snead] didn’t believe in conceding a putt,” says Sagebiel, but at the Ry-der Cup that year or afterwards “never said a word about it” to Nicklaus. Snead served as U.S. team cap-tain three times — but never again after 1969. His Ryder Cup playing record of 10-2-1 is one of the best in history. Beginning in 1979 — with a Ry-der Cup match at The greenbrier resort — the entire european con-tinent became eligible for Cup play, not just great Britain. As a result, the deeper roster has led to 10 wins against the U.S. in the bi-annual event since then. Sagebiel’s book (277 pages) in-cludes meticulous detail on the match play tournament (where the object is to win individual holes) and an appendix with more details on the results. A high

school and college player himself, Sagebiel main-tains a well-respected golf Web site, the “Armchair golf Blog.” People who follow golf may already be aware of The Concession and of Jack Fleck at the 1955 U.S. open, “but they haven’t been put into a full-length narrative,” notes Sagebiel — who took care of that

with his two books to date. “I feel like I’ve been fortunate to find these topics.” For the non-golf fan, “Draw in the Dunes” may require a learning curve to read, but the Floyd author does a good job of explaining the Ryder Cup for-mat and the sport’s lingo. Then he builds drama throughout “Draw” as it heads towards The Conces-sion. Ironically, Jacklin and Nick-laus in recent years joined forces to design a golf course…which they christened “The Concession.” “They have memorialized this great moment in golf and in sports with this private club in the Sara-sota [Florida] area,” says Sagebiel. The legend of that extraordinary act of sportsmanship from 45 years ago lives on.

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can do them on your own or via guided hikes for a $6 fee. Lavin and other associates will lead those walks, offered on Thursdays and Saturdays. Walkabout outfit-ters is a sponsor and is staging several training/warm up pro-grams. There’s a special celebra-tion for summit participants on Nov. 13. Five wilderness hikes within an hour of Roanoke in the epic Hikes series end with jaunts to venues as far away as Peters Mountain (giles County) and Devil’s Marb-leyard (Rockbridge County) with free transportation and guides provided by Roanoke Parks and Recreation. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is co-sponsor-ing that series. “All of these wil-derness areas are accessible from Roanoke, which is something we’re really blessed with,” says Downs. “We really just wanted people to have an opportunity to explore these areas,” says Lavin of her mis-sion. She talks to people who say, yeah, they’ve heard of Dragon’s Tooth or Tinker Cliffs…but they’ve never checked it out. That’s where she and these special programs come into play. Here’s another compelling rea-son to consider the trails in and surrounding the Roanoke Valley: “Being fit isn’t always just about being in the gym,” notes Lavin.

LavinFrom Page 14 “You really can have an have an

active outdoor lifestyle that is re-ally good for fitness…a lifelong activity.” Lavin is also gearing up for the first on the Trails Duathlon at Carvins Cove on Sept. 28, a 2.5-mile out and back trail run, fol-lowed by a 12-mile mountain biking loop on the Happy Valley, enchanted Forest, Schoolhouse and Arrowhead trails. “We wanted to have a sister event to the off the Rails Triathlon, which we had this spring at Fallon Park,” says Lavin. She calls Carvins Cove “a great resource for the valley. We really wanted to showcase the trails out there.” The duathlon can be done solo or with a teammate (they can split the running and biking legs be-tween teammates). Lavin calls it intermediate mountain biking, starting with an easier fire road section to help novices become more comfortable before they hit single track portions of the trail. See “Friends of Roanoke Trails and greenways” on Facebook if you are looking for a partner for the duathlon. Lavin conducts $6 mountain biking clinics for new-bies that want to dip their toes in that pond. “We’re always working on dif-ferent programs and clinics to get people on the trails,” says Lavin, who leads guided hikes in city parks on almost a weekly basis. Stay tuned.


Back issues of Play by Play are available on a limited basis for $2 each plus mailing and handling. Peruse our covers at our Web site and order by email below.

Covering Local Sports in the Roanoke ValleyP.O. Box 3285, Roanoke, VA 24015(540) 761-6751 • E-mail: [email protected] the Web: www.playbyplayonline.net

Who says theRoanoke Valleyisn’t a hotbedfor sports?


TV or not TV, that is the questionSIDELINESby Mike Ashley

I geT exCITeD ABoUT THe new fall TV lineup. I just about wore out the re-

mote this summer. And I’ve got the thumb equivalent of tennis elbow and not because I watched a lot of tennis. It was so bad I ac-tually started watching televised baseball again. Which is often sort of like watching C-SPAN, only the congressmen never step out of the box between pitches. I kid baseball but really, get in the box and hit. You just adjusted your gloves, readjusted your helmet, knocked dirt off your spikes, tugged on your jersey and spit before the last pitch. I’ve had shorter trips to the DMV then some of these guys’ at-bats. It does get better as playoff baseball approaches. I love the tension in a tight game, waiting to see who is going to a hero and who, maybe, will be the goat. (I’m pretty sure the goat is going to be someone in the Nation-als’ bullpen.) And if the baseball still stinks, I can change the channel to football. Pro football is the made-for-TV sport, so much so that soon no one is going to go to games and pay $25 to park, $85 for a ticket, $8 for a pretzel and $10 for a beer, and sit in traffic before and after. When you’re there, you get the same interminable timeouts but now the huge NFL scoreboards blare the same commercials I can mute at home or take a chance and go see what’s going on in the other game. Remotes in hand, men are hunter-gathers. oh, and you’ll have to take the remote out of my cold, dead hand. or when I fall asleep on the couch. All that said, I and every one else you know still don’t care who you have on your fantasy team so zip it, Junior. Actually I was talking about other TV programming. There’s too much reality television on television now and I don’t need that because, you know, I have reality already. “American Ninja Warrior” was the highest rated show over Labor Day, and I did once watch a few minutes when I think the batteries in my re-mote died and I was too lazy to get up and go across the room to change the channel. or search for new batteries in that kitchen drawer where loose batter-ies of all ages and sizes are mixed in with rubber bands, pens that don’t write, some loose safety pins (oUCH!), 17 unsharpened or broken pen-cils, some Post-it notes with illegible things written on them, and 17 un-opened packages of Post-it notes, some random screws, a Phillips head screwdriver (What did that guy look like to get that named for him?) and some old candy that has been around long enough to have melted and put a glaze on the drawer bottom and all the stuff nearby BUT not old enough to have earned a spot in my mom’s old candy dish on the coffee table in the for-when-guests-come-only living room. Last time I looked, that stuff had hardened into one big piece of candy sort of in the shape of the old BCS Trophy. I’ve opined that sports are my favorite reality show and that’s why networks pay so much to broadcast the colleges and pros and olym-pics. They have all those real moments like cheerleaders crying, Lance Stephenson blowing on LeBron James’ face, penalty flags on defensive backs whenever they do anything, or smartest-guy-in-the-stadium Nick Saban wandering off the field dazed and wondering why he tried to kick that field goal against Auburn. All the best reality shows — short of Kardashians, celebrity housewives you have never heard of and bearded duck guys — are set up like sports competitions. You’re winning a race or outlasting somebody or some judge tells you you’re better than everybody else (though as most of you know I don’t consider that a real sport either, apologies to gymnastics, diving, figure skating, dunk contests, beauty pageants, etc.). “But Mike, aren’t some of them beautiful artistic interpretations for athletic expression?”

You’re dang-tootin’ they are but it’s not a com-petitive sport when a third party decides who wins. You get up there on that balance beam and have another team trying to knock you off with a stick, now that’s a sport. or skate head-to-head with Tonya Harding. Anyway, I had some ideas for new reality shows I think can make it big. First, how about “Driving With Justin Bieber”? Contestants board an ATV with the calamitous Canadian, collide with a pick-up truck and then fight special guests in the truck like Demi Lovato or Fred Willard, for cash and prizes. In the bonus round, they ride along as Beibs tries to outrun our regular highway patrol sidekick Erik Estrada. okay then, how about “Airline Reclining Wars”? Contestants find an assigned seat and anytime someone in front of you reclines you can remove your tray table and beat them about the head, or risk reclining yourself and the contestant behind you beating you about the head. Random contestants in non-reclining seats have their bags packed for the guess-the-location reroute of the flight. guests stay at the fabulous econo Lodge, receive a year’s supply of Turtle Wax, and get a home ver-sion of the game. Alrighty then, how about “Show Me the Money with Johnny Man-ziel”? Contestants are chosen by a panel (Jillian Barberie, Al Roker, that “Boom goes the Dynamite” guy and a Kardashian to be named lat-er) based on their best night-club selfies, and are whisked away to Cleve-land to sit behind the bench and watch Manziel watch Browns’ games from the sideline. If he gets in, the first contestant to make the “money sign” gets to take a legal hit from former NFL lineman Michael Strahan for cash, prizes and the chance for a free MRI. You’re not going to believe this. I was in that drawer, looking for a way to end this column, and I just found a tray table….


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