Forumpalooza
Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
WINNERS: Augusta County voters
I counted eight candidates in four contested races and two others running unopposed in attendance at the candidates forums sponsored by The Augusta Free Press and The New Dominion last week.
Credit to the candidates for arriving early, staying late, talking with constituents before and after the forums, and otherwise engaging to the utmost in the process.
I can rightly say now that it’s over with that Augusta County will be in good hands no matter what happens on Nov. 6. Read more
Barber dishes on NFL, ’07 Cavs
Story by Chris Graham
sportsdom@ntelos.net
Tiki Barber doesn’t shy away from the notion that he at least wanted to be a great NFL player.
Nor does the University of Virginia alum and retired New York Giants star step back from admitting that he wants to be a great in the world of television broadcasting.
“I used to always try to determine what greatness meant – and as a football player, all I wanted to do was be consistent, do the same thing over and over and over again, and have people come to depend and rely on me,” said Barber, who was in Charlottesville last week to sign copies of his book Tiki: My Life in the Game and Beyond. Read more
A week of losers
Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham
sportsdom@ntelos.net
LOSERS: Everybody
Virginia Tech blows a 10-point lead in the final 2:11, Virginia blows one on the road at 2-5 N.C. State, the ‘Skins get their doors blown off in Foxboro …
Basketball season can’t be too far off. Can it?
LOSER: A Boy Not Named Sewell
Peter Lalich had his chance Saturday night in Raleigh.
Jameel Sewell, he of the back-to-back-to-back game-winning fourth-quarter drives, was on the bench nursing a leg injury.
It was Lalich’s to lose.
Admittedly, the deck wasn’t stacked in his favor.
But …
LOSER: Sean Glennon
The kid did well (15-for-25, 149 yards, 1 TD) – and he should have beaten the #2 team in the country.
Hell, the only thing he did wrong was not run out with the hands team to get the onsides kick with 2:11 to go and cover the ball.
That said, Virginia Tech ended up on the wrong side of a 14-10 score that could have, should have, been in its favor.
LOSER: Al Groh
Yeah, so I’m firing up the hot seat again.
(And yeah, I’m a loon. But this is how I roll.)
Ahem. Just as before last Saturday night Virginia fans could look at a schedule including Wake Forest, Miami and Virginia Tech and say, We can win all three of those, they can now also look at the schedule and say, Er, we could go out and lose all three of those, too.
I said before the season (to maniacal laughter from most who heard me say it) that I thought the Cavs could easily go 6-1 or even 7-0 at the start of the season – then fade mightily down the stretch.
I also said (to muffled giggles) that I thought Al Groh needed eight wins with this team against this schedule to keep his job.
He’s still only got the seven.
So …
JMU-Richmond game blog
The SportsDominion is live at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg for today’s matchup between the sixth-ranked JMU Dukes and the 14th-ranked Richmond Spiders.
Join us here for commentary and analysis during the game – and after the final whistle, come back right here for a special broadcast of “The SportsDominion Show” featuring postgame comments from JMU coach Mickey Matthews, UR coach Dave Clawson and players from both teams.
Wayne Theatre Alliance announces public campaign, ’09 opening date
Item by Chris Graham
The light is at the end of the tunnel for the Wayne Theatre Alliance.
“This is a celebration. I kept saying, We ought to have champagne today,” said Clair Myers, the executive director of the alliance, announcing that the nonprofit is about to take two significant steps toward putting the final pieces of financing in place for the $6.8 million renovation of the historic downtown structure into a community arts center.
The WTA has received approval from the state to begin marketing $1.5 million in historic tax credits that will be a financing cornerstone for the project. And the theatre group will next week begin the public phase of a $2.75 million fund-raising campaign that is already $1.71 million toward its goal from a successful silent campaign.
Alliance chair Bill Hausrath also announced the timetable for the opening of the theatre – which begins with construction at the site commencing in January 2008 and the public opening of the theatre 18 months later in June 2009.
“We have climbed a long mountain that many times we thought we were at the top – and today we can finally see some of the horizon, and we are ready to move forward,” Hausrath said.
Sime’s abortion answer gets attention of candidates, voters
Column by Chris Graham
You don’t normally see one candidate taken aback at something said by an opponent at a debate. But Arin Sime’s two opponents for the 24th Senate District seat were thrown off by something that he had to say at Monday night’s candidates forum in Waynesboro sponsored by The Augusta Free Press and The New Dominion. Read more
Mullins ready for challenges at WVPT
Story by Chris Graham
David Mullins was ready to take a step up.
“Through my career, I have felt that every step of the way was leading me to the position at some point of leading a company, leading a public-television station, and at WVPT, the opportunity was there,” said Mullins, who was named last week to take over as president and general manager of the Harrisonburg-based WVPT-Virginia’s Public Television. Read more
