The giant-killers in the western North Carolina mountains
There must be something in that mountain air (or maybe the bootleg moonshine which is said to be made in those hills) that makes giant-killers out of the sports teams at small colleges in western North Carolina.
First, Appalachian State University (a contender in the small-school football division of the NCAA) beat mighty University of Michigan 34-32 on September 1st this year (at Michigan's home field), when Michigan was rated no. 5 in the nation. This was certainly one of the greatest upsets in U.S. college football history--as dozens of sports columnists and TV commentators breathlessly told the world. To make it even more of a David and Goliath story, Appalachian came from behind 31-32 with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the game (with no more times-out available) to score a field goal and then block a last-minute field goal attempt by Michigan, to win by 34-32.
Then, on November 7th, another David hit another Goliath between the eyes. Gardner-Webb, a tiny Baptist school, thrashed the University of Kentucky, long a powerhouse in college basketball, by an 84-68 score (also on Kentucky's home turf). I have heard that Gardner-Webb was never behind in the score throughout the game.
The initial response by the sports media to both upsets was, "Who is Appalachian State/Gardner-Webb?" and "Where in the country are they?" The answers: Appalachian State, with about 15,000 students is located in Boone, North Carolina (population about 15,000); Gardner-Webb, with about 4,000 students, is in Boiling Springs, North Carolina (population about 4,000). I obtained that info from the schools' websites; I found it interesting that the student population and the town's population were about the same in each case.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The giant-killers in the western North Carolina mountains.": And your Tar Heels just barely escaped tiny Davidson last night on the hardwood!
Hey, Anonymous,
Davidson isn't up in the mountains, and Carolina did win.
Mycroft
First, Appalachian State University (a contender in the small-school football division of the NCAA) beat mighty University of Michigan 34-32 on September 1st this year (at Michigan's home field), when Michigan was rated no. 5 in the nation. This was certainly one of the greatest upsets in U.S. college football history--as dozens of sports columnists and TV commentators breathlessly told the world. To make it even more of a David and Goliath story, Appalachian came from behind 31-32 with 1 minute, 11 seconds left in the game (with no more times-out available) to score a field goal and then block a last-minute field goal attempt by Michigan, to win by 34-32.
Then, on November 7th, another David hit another Goliath between the eyes. Gardner-Webb, a tiny Baptist school, thrashed the University of Kentucky, long a powerhouse in college basketball, by an 84-68 score (also on Kentucky's home turf). I have heard that Gardner-Webb was never behind in the score throughout the game.
The initial response by the sports media to both upsets was, "Who is Appalachian State/Gardner-Webb?" and "Where in the country are they?" The answers: Appalachian State, with about 15,000 students is located in Boone, North Carolina (population about 15,000); Gardner-Webb, with about 4,000 students, is in Boiling Springs, North Carolina (population about 4,000). I obtained that info from the schools' websites; I found it interesting that the student population and the town's population were about the same in each case.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The giant-killers in the western North Carolina mountains.": And your Tar Heels just barely escaped tiny Davidson last night on the hardwood!
Hey, Anonymous,
Davidson isn't up in the mountains, and Carolina did win.
Mycroft
posted by Mycroft Watson at 11:57 AM
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
2 Comments:
And your Tar Heels just barely escapted tiny Davidson last night on the hardwood!
typo...that would be "escaped"
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