Due to the Thanksgiving Holiday this week’s articles will not be available until Monday.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

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What’s Up in Local Sports

By Calvin Hastings

As football season winds down, it’s time for the start of the high school basketball season.  And with high school basketball comes Holiday Tournaments.   The Third Annual Holiday Basketball Classic will be played this year at Kings Mountain’s Parker Gym December 28th, 29th and 30th.   Teams participating include Shelby, Burns, Crest, Kings Mountain, Hunter Huss, Ashbrook, Berry Academy and Brisbane Academy.   Games will be played at 3:00, 4:30, 6:00 and 7:30 pm each day.   Tickets will be $6.00 per day or $15.00 for a three day tournament pass.   All proceeds will be split between the Cleveland County Schools.

Gardner Webb University recently signed three student athletes to National Letter of Intents.  They include 6-10 center Michael Byron of San Antonio, Texas.   6-0 point guard Luke Davis from Raleigh and 6-9 forward T.J. Hallice of Indian Trail.   In addition the Bulldogs are planning to move senior Grayson Flittner to point guard.   Flittner has been the Bulldogs’ shooting guard the past three seasons.  Highlighting the Bulldog schedule will be a November 23rd trip to the National Champion North Carolina Tarheels.

Hats off to Sonny Jackson and his grandson Josh Etters.   Jackson and Etters won the Kings Mountain Country Club’s 2009 Member-Member golf tournament.   Pat Phifer and Tony Cooke won the first flight.   Kenny Walker and Darrell Sisk won the second flight.   Ken Deardorff and Jim McNeilly won the third flight.

Congratulations to the six new members of the Lincoln County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2009.   They include Jimmy Fortenberry, Sonny Taylor,   Ben Yount, Harold Bynum, Jay Boggs, George Brookins and Sally Brookins.   Brookins accepted for their son Jonathon Brookins and Polly Bryant accepted the award for her father Jay Boggs.

Hats off to the East Lincoln Mustang’s men’s cross country team.  The Mustangs won the 2009 State 2A cross country state title by 11 points over Central Davidson.  It was the school’s first state title in any sport.

Last week, the 1979 South Point High School football team celebrated its 30th reunion.   The team remains the only unbeaten team at the school in 40 years of football.  In 1979 the team went 14-0 and won the North Carolina Class 3A football championship.   The team was coached by Jim Biggerstaff.   Current Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Perry Fewell played for the team.

The season ended last Saturday for the South Point’s soccer team.   The Red Raiders were eliminated by Hickory by a 4-1 score.   South Point ended their season with a 10-11-2 record.

The season also ended for the East Lincoln Mustang’s soccer team as they fell to Salisbury last Saturday by a 3-2 overtime score.   East Lincoln finished 18-7-1 on the season.

Former 1980 South Point graduate Perry Fewell has been named the Buffalo Bills’ interim head coach.   Fewell becomes the first ever NFL head coach from Gaston County.  Fewell  replaces Dick Jauron who was fired on Tuesday.   Fewell has been serving as defensive coordinator for the Bills.   The Bills are off to a 3-6 start.   This is  Fewell’s fourth year with the Bills and 12th NFL season.

Congratulations to Crest senior wide receiver Blake Hollifield.   Hollifield has been named the 2009 Bronko Hagurski Comeback Player of the Year by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.   Seventeen months ago Hollifield was involved in a near fatal car accident that left doctors, coaches, friends and family wondering if Hollifield would ever play again.   Hollifield suffered a third degree concussion and a skull fracture along with several broken ribs and a broken scapula.   A passerby pulled Hollifield from the car before it burst into flames.   Hollifield currently leads the Chargers in receptions with 16, receiving yards with 244 and receiving touchdowns with two.

13 year old Elliott Grayson of Shelby has won the Player of the Year for boys 13 and under golf division in the USKids Western North Carolina fall tour.   Grayson was medalist in  five of the events.  Grayson took player of the year honors over 10 other competitors from three states.   Grayson now qualifies for the US Teen World Championship to be held in Pinehurst in July, 2010.

Blake Pressley of Burns and Raheim Ledbetter of Crest have been named the Shelby Star’s co-high school football players of the week.   Pressley caught seven passes for 141 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs in their 34-31 win over West Henderson.   He also had a key kickoff return.   Ledbetter led the Chargers defense in their 27-14 win over Northeast Guilford last Friday.

The Big South 3A Conference has named its All Conference Soccer Team.   Hector Cortes of Hunter Huss was named the Player of the Year and Billy Baucom of Ashbrook was named the Keeper of the Year.   Joel Webb of Ashbrook was named the Coach of the Year.

Hats off to Michael Cunningham of Lincolnton.   Cunningham was named the Gaston Gazette’s High School Football Player of the Week.   Cunningham accounted for four touchdowns for the Wolves and finished with 101 yards of rushing on only nine carries.

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What’s Up in Prep Football

By Lewis Carpenter

We are in the second round of state playoffs and we have 10 local teams still in the hunt.  I was 12-1 this week bringing my total to 99-30 for year.  I have done better lately after a slow start the first few weeks.  The picks this week will be especially hard, because the teams that are left are so evenly matched. There are no bad teams in the second round.

This has been a great season so far, and I have seen some great football.  Hopefully one of our local teams will end up in the state finals.

Here are my picks for this week.

3A PLAYOFFS

BURNS @ Tuscola -  Burns has a lot of speed and momentum, this game should be close.

RS Central @ WEST ROWAN -  RS has had their best season in years, but West Rowan has been a power for a while.

3AA PLAYOFFS

Crest @ ANSON COUNTY -  Crest has been up and down this year and Anson has been strong lately.  Close hard fought game.

SOUTH POINT @ Forestview – Forestview won in the regular season, but South Point is the more experienced playoff team and out to avenge their earlier loss.  This game will be carried on WGNC 1450AM, Gastonia.  The Sundrop What’s Up Shopper Tailgate show will be at this game.

2AA PLAYOFFS

East Salisbury @ SHELBY -  Shelby is tough at home and has much playoff experience.  The “Golden Lions” always play well late in the season.  This game will be carried on WADA, 1390AM. Shelby.

West Stokes @ EAST LINCOLN -  East is at home and playing well.  They won their conference after playing some tough competition and will be ready.

2A PLAYOFFS

Lincolnton @ WINSTON-SALEM CARVER -  I hope that I miss this one as I know the Lincolnton staff very well.  I am afraid that Carver has too much speed and home field advantage. This game will be carried on WLON, 1050AM, Lincolnton.

1AA PLAYOFFS

BESSEMER CITY @ Swain County – Swain is always tough, but I believe that Bessemer’s speed and defense will carry the day.  I think that the competition that BC has played this year will have them ready for Swain.

Some of my picks this week are “iffy” because many of these games could go either way.

Get out and see a playoff game this weekend.  We wish all the local teams well.  “Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”, I will see you here next week in the WHAT’S UP SHOPPER.  See Ya,  Lewis.

By Helen Almond Turner

No matter what state our life is in, financially, healthwise, etc., we all have plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.   We live in the land of the free and although we have allowed many of our freedoms to be removed, we still live in the greatest nation on earth.

The first settlers who arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, were not aristocrats or wealthy merchants.  They were people seeking religious freedom known as separatists, who wanted to be free of the Anglican Church in England.  102 Pilgrims, as they became known, arrived on American soil in the fall of 1620.  The women and children and many of the men, who had become ill on the voyage, had to remain on the Mayflower Ship for another six months.  While some of the able bodied men who had survived the voyage searched the coastline for food to survive, those people aboard the ship lived in squalor.  The search and exploration parties turned up several Indian villages with buried corn.

Although the Mayflower voyage had been sponsored by a group of investors known as The Merchant Adventurers, this first group of settlers did not earn them dividends.  Those who survived the winter on fish and corn and what the trappers could find in meat, built seven small residences and four common houses for the fifty-three survivors.  It was a long hard winter on and off the ship.  There had been a lot of exploration earlier by John Cabot in 1497; Samuel de Champlain and John Smith and others who had settled in earlier colonies such as Jamestown, Virginia.

Pastor John Robinson who had led this congregation in Scrooby led these religious freedom-seekers. England.  Once they survived their first winter, they celebrated with what was at hand after the first harvest in 1621.  During the long winter, they had made friends with native Americans, Squanto and Chief Massasiot of the Wampanoag Tribe.  These native Americans had helped them plant crops that would grow in soil around their settlement.  Of course corn was their biggest crop and they found plenty of fruit on the American trees.  They also had plenty of wild game and fish to cook for their first feast.  The tradition of giving Thanks after the harvest was something these settlers had done in England.

My daughter Jennifer and I were privileged to be in England one year during the Harvest Festival and share a meal in a home with our hosts.  It was very much like our own Thanksgiving, but with less variety of food.  There was lamb and roast duck and root vegetables, but no pumpkin pie.  The dessert was an English Trifle and we drank Orange Squash (soda), which they had bought for their American guests.  They gave me their Fox Hunt Horn at the end of the meal and the next day, we watched the fox hunters as they “Rode to the Hounds”.  Jennifer and I had seen foxes and coons being hunted on our farm in South Carolina, by her father and other hunters, but they wore old clothes.  These English Hunters dressed up in Hunting Coats and breeches and boots and gorgeous hats and it was truly a memorable Holiday to remember.

While we share a Thanksgiving feast as a family, which my sister Judy and her husband Bill Anton always cook, we also will continue a tradition in our family of each member telling something we are thankful for this year.  (I am thankful my sister can cook.)  My blessings are too numerous to list in this column, but some of them are my family, all you readers of this column, my friends, my church, Flint Groves Baptist and the pastors who still preach the Word of God, and for Pastor Ronnie Bowers who reminds us that “Good will triumph over evil”.

May God bless you always and may you count your many blessings this Thanksgiving.”

What’s Up with Hollywood Sports

By Kevin “Hollywood” Hastings

This week we say goodbye to the Miami Dolphins. It was nice knowing ya kid!  Miami’s vaunted rushing attack of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown was hard to stop in the Wildcat formation.  It seems the only thing that could stop them was themselves and their poor quarterback play.  On Sunday, Ronnie Brown was carted off the field and may not return for quite awhile.  Miami was going to have a tough enough time making the playoffs with him but now without him they have no shot, especially with a rookie QB.  The Dolphins were actually one of the most entertaining teams in the league.  Too bad we have to see them go but don’t fret Panthers fans you get a good look at Miami Thursday Night at BOA Stadium.

The season’s winding down and the playoff races are tightening up.  It’s starting to get exciting and I can’t wait to see who the pollsters vote into the playoffs…wait, that’s that amateur football the NCAA likes to call a sport.  Bah-humbug!

If you’re new to the poll, each week we eliminate one team from what we think is a chance to win the Super Bowl.  I do reserve the right to remove a team from the eliminated list if they somehow make the playoffs. Now onto the power poll.

Eliminated: Dolphins, Seahawks, Bills, Panthers, Redskins, Chiefs, Bucs, Rams, Lions, Titans, Raiders, Browns

THE FAT LADY’S WARMING UP GROUP

20.  JETS (4-5) - The Jets get the Pats this week and if New York loses we will be crossing them off our list next week.

19.  BEARS (4-5) - Jay Cutler threw 5 INT’s and Chicago lost by 4 points to the 49ers. If the Bears would just run the stinking ball and let Cutler make plays off the run they wouldn’t lose so much.  But what do I know, two weeks ago I wrote the Panthers off and said they’ll never make the playoffs with a 40-20 pass/rush ratio.  The next two weeks they had 20/40 ratio and won two games.  Listen up Chicago, RUN THE BALL!

18.  49ERS (4-5) - Singletary’s group may not be ready for this season but you can see Mike has the 49ers pointed in the right direction.  We never know what we’re going to get from San Fran on a week to week basis.

17. JAGUARS (5-4) - Speaking of never knowing what you’re going to get.  The Jags wins this season are against Texans, Titans, Rams, Chiefs, & Jets.  Losses to Titans, Seahawks, Cardinals, and Colts.  If you watched this game Jags RB Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee on the 1 yard line DOWN by 1 with 1:00 remaining in the 4th so the Jets wouldn’t get the ball back.  This move gave the Jags a win but caused 3,000 fantasy teams to lose because he didn’t score.  MJD apologized in the press conference after the game to all his fantasy owners!  Now that’s taking responsibility.

16.  PACKERS (5-4) - Charles Woodson played the game of his life on Sunday versus Dallas.  Being a Cowboys fan this stuff sometimes gets old.  No matter who we play the other team comes hungry and ready because everyone wants to beat Dallas.  Well that’s okay but you can’t let a struggling Pack team upset you, let alone shut you down on offense.

16.  TEXANS (5-4) - The Texans had a bye last week and were promptly bounced from the playoffs by San Diego.  The Texans are working on their first ever winning season and playoff berth.

15.  GIANTS (5-4) - The G-Men didn’t play last week and gained a spot on both teams ahead of them with losses from Philly & Big D.

13. RAVENS (5-4) - When you think of the best teams in the AFC Baltimore always comes up. But why are they just 5-4 and out of the playoffs right now?  Something is up and I think the Ravens may find themselves on the outside looking in at the end of the season.

IN THE PLAYOFFS, FOR NOW

12.  FALCONS (5-4, #6) - Atlanta sure did look sorry losing to Carolina.  The injury to RB Michael Turner could determine the rest of 2009 for the folks in Hotlanta.

11.  EAGLES (5-4, #5) - With Philly’s loss against San Diego the Iggles are on thin ice with the Packers, Falcons & Giants nipping on their heels.  It doesn’t look like RB Brian Westbrook (concussion) will be back anytime soon.

10.  CHARGERS (6-3, #6) -  I had and traded Tomlinson on my fantasy team.  LT did more on Sunday than he had the rest of the season.  Thanks LT!

9.  BRONCOS (6-3, #2) - Denver has lost three straight and QB Kyle Orton is trying to recover from an ankle injury.  The Broncos looked lost last week with the backup in.

8.  CARDINALS (6-3, #4) - Arizona slipped by a feisty Seahawks team to take a two game lead in the division.  It looks like the Cards will be back to defend the NFC Title come playoff time.

7.  COWBOYS (6-3, #3) - Dallas was just plain shut down by Charles Woodson and the Packers defense.  If you’re wondering what I think about WR Roy Williams well here goes:  This guy’s a bum who’s always looking for excuses.  That’s the difference between him and T.O.  Roy looks for excuses and Owens blames everyone else but what either one of them fail to realize is that maybe they’re the problem and it’s time to shut up and play football.  Roy said last week “The passes being thrown my way aren’t as accurate as the ones to Witten and Austin.”  Well Roy on Sunday you fumbled and dropped a couple of passes, one which went right threw both his hands and hit him in the facemask.  Couldn’t see that one Roy?  The main reason Dallas lost Sunday was OC Jason Garrett’s decision to give up on the running game and Roy.  Dallas is fine though and will compete for the NFC East the rest of the season.

6.  STEELERS (6-3, #5) - The Steel Curtain may be made of silk because don’t look now but Pittsburgh is looking up in the standings at Cincinnatti.  The Steelers are 4-0 with Polamalu in the lineup and 2-3 without him.  Troy’s hurt right now and is questionable for Sunday’s game.  The Steelers could find themselves battling for a Wild Card with Baltimore.

5.  PATRIOTS (6-3, #4) -  Don’t look now but the Patriots are gaining on everyone.  What?  They lost Sunday Night after Belichick blew the game right?  Wrong!  Belichick showed his team he wants to win and you gotta grab the bull by the horns if you want the win.  Yeah Indy won, but NE piled over 400 yards on their defense and will be ready come playoff time.

4.  BENGALS (7-2, #2) - Better not look over your shoulder now Brett because the Bengals are creeping up on the Top 3!  How absurd is that statement?  The Bengals proved on Sunday they belong in the elite class of the NFL.  They signed former Chiefs RB Larry Johnson to a 1-year deal to backup reclamation project and NFL leading rusher Cedric Benson.

3.  VIKINGS (8-1, #2) - You know who has the easiest schedule in the NFL?  These guys do.  They only play one elite team all season (Bengals), a few mediocre ones (GB, Bal, NYG) and the rest stink.  Ladies and Gentlemen you’re 2009 NFC North Division Champs.

2.  SAINTS (9-0, #1) - This team ain’t going undefeated if Brees keeps turning the ball over and the defense can’t stop anyone.  With that said I wouldn’t want to have to try and score with them in a playoff game in the Superdome.

1.  COLTS (9-0, #1) - The Colts could possible go undefeated. The next two weeks will be their toughest tests at Baltimore and at Houston.

THIS WEEK’S WINNERS IN ALL CAPS

Last Week 12-3 / Overall 93-50

Dolphins @ PANTHERS (Thu) - Redskins @ COWBOYS - Browns @ LIONS - 49ers @ PACKERS - STEELERS @ Chiefs - Falcons @ GIANTS - SAINTS @ Bucs - Bills @ JAGUARS - COLTS @ Ravens - Seahawks @ VIKINGS - CARDINALS @ Rams