Vol. 3, No. 15, October 1, 2007 - Play by Play

Vol. 3, No. 15, October 1, 2007

2 PLAY BY PLAY OCTOBER 1, 2007 

Across from the Salem Wal-Mart (Exit 137 off I-81) 

2007 CLEARANCE SALE! 

Virginia’s Largest Mitsubishi Dealer 

‘07 MITSUBISHI 

GALANT ES 

SALE 

$18,995 .00 

PRICE 

AT, PW, PL, CD, Sunroof, Leather 

#3102 

AFTER REBATE 

AND DISCOUNTS 

TOTAL 

SAVINGS 

$2772 

ECLIPSE GS CPE 

SALE 

$20,638 .00 AFTER REBATE 

PRICE 

AND DISCOUNTS 

Sportronic O/D Transmission, Sun & Sound Pkg, 

Sunroof, 650 Watt Rockford-Fosgate Audio 

System, PW/PL, Cruise #2987 

TOTAL 

SAVINGS 

$2886 

OVER 400 VEHICLES IN STOCK & AVAILABLE! 

LUXURY/IMPORTS 

‘04 ACURA TSX #1189P LOADED, 33K $23,995 

‘04 AUDI A4 QUATTRO #665P WAGON, LTHR, SUNROOF, 22K $24,995 

‘02 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK320 #1140P LOADED, 42K $24,995 

‘03 BMW 330i #593P LEATHER, LOADED, 40K $27,995 

‘05 MERCEDES-BENZ C240 #1017P 4 MATIC, LEATHER, ROOF, LOADED, 25K $29,995 

‘03 MERCEDES-BENZ E320 #812P LEATHER, LOADED, 38K $31,995 

‘06 MERCEDES-BENZ C230 #780S LEATHER, LOADED, 12K $32,995 

‘06 ACURA TL #1071P LEATHER, ROOF, LOADED, ONLY 4K $33,995 

‘05 VOLVO XC90 #565P AWD, THIRD ROW, LEATHER, 11K $32,995 

‘06 BMW 325Xi #868P LEATHER, SUNROOF, 10K $35,995 

‘05 LEXUS RX330 #902A LEATHER, LOADED, 18K $36,995 

‘06 BMW X-3 3.0 #886P LEATHER, LOADED, 10K $38,995 

‘04 MERCEDES-BENZ E500 #1020P 4MATIC, LEATHER, LOADED, 34K $38,995 

‘07 BMW 328xi #863P LEATHER, SUNROOF, LOADED, ONLY 146 MI $38,995 

‘07 MERCEDES-BENZ R350 #1077P LEATHER, LOADED, 12K $43,995 

‘06 MERCEDES-BENZ CLK350C #919P LOADED, ONLY 8K $44,995 

‘06 BMW 525Xi #856P LEATHER, LOADED, 11K $45,995 

‘04 BMW 745i #962P LEATHER, LOADED, 32K $47,995 

‘06 BMW 530Xi #490P DVD, LEATHER, SUNROOF, 25K $49,995 

‘06 MERCEDES-BENZ CLS 500 #990P LOADED, 26K $59,995 

Robert Harper 

Co-Owner/GM 

• ONCE A YEAR SALE 

• REBATES UP TO $5500 

• 0% FINANCING 

AVAILABLE UP TO 

60 MONTHS 

• VIRGINIA’S FINEST 

SELECTION 

The Car Book 

“Best Bet” Award 

2007 MITSUBISHI ENDEAVOR 

IMPORTS 

‘05 MITSUBISHI GALANT #2824A AT, AC, PW, PL $16,995 

‘04 HONDA ELEMENT EX #799P AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, 32K $16,995 

‘05 MITSUBISHI LANCER OZ RALLY #625P AT, AC, PW, PL, CD, ONLY 2K $17,995 

‘05 HONDA ACCORD #662P AT, AC, PW, PL, 10K SOLD 

‘07 TOYOTA COROLLA #1197P LOADED, 18K $18,995 

‘05 MITSUBISHI GALANT ES #701P AT, AC, PW, PL, CD, 21K $18,995 

‘07 HONDA CIVIC #1198P SUNROOF, CD, PW, PL, ONLY 7K $19,995 

‘05 MAZDA 6 SPORT #640A LEATHER, SUNROOF, 16K $20,995 

‘06 HONDA ACCORD #1201P SUNROOF, CD, PW, PL, ONLY 7K $21,995 

‘06 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER SE #3094A LOADED, 8K $21,995 

‘06 MITSUBISHI ENDEAVOR LS #1053P AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, 18K $21,995 

‘05 VOLKSWAGON BEETLE CONVERTIBLE #1127P 21K $22,995 

‘06 SUBARU LEGACY #415P LEATHER, LOADED, ONLY 11 MI $22,995 

‘04 NISSAN 350Z #1059A LEATHER, 6SPEED, 18K $24,995 

‘07 TOYOTA RAV4 #1086P AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, ONLY 4K $24,995 

‘07 NISSAN MAXIMA #1002P AT, AC, LOADED, 15K $26,995 

‘07 TOYOTA CAMRY XLS #3072A LOADED, ONLY 400 MILES! $27,995 

‘07 TOYOTA FJ CRUISER #3041A AT, AC, PW, PL $29,995 

‘06 MITSUBISHI MONTERO LTD #1046P LEATHER, LOADED, ONLY 8K $31,995 

‘07 NISSAN 350Z #1045P CONVERTIBLE, LOADED, ONLY 2K $37,995 

www.dsmitsubishi.com 

(540) 302-0099 

1830 W. Main Street, Salem 

M-F 8:30am-8pm S 8:30am-6pm 

AMERICAN CARS 

‘00 MERCURY COUGAR #3054A SUNROOF, CD, A MUST SEE! 43K $10,995 

‘04 PONTIAC GRAND-AM #3008A AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, 58K $10,995 

‘02 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER #846A AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, 55K $10,995 

‘04 DODGE INTREPID #393A AT, AC, PW, PL, 64K $10,995 

‘00 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE #2993A LEATHER, SUNROOF, LOADED $11,995 

‘01 FORD CROWN VICTORIA #616P AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, 47K $11,995 

‘03 JEEP LIBERTY SPORT #476A AT, AC, PW, PL $14,995 

‘06 FORD TAURUS SEL #1043P LEATHER, SUNROOF, LOADED $16,995 

‘06 CHRYSLER SEBRING #2535A AT, AC, PW, PL, CRUISE, ONLY 2K $17,995 

‘05 FORD ESCAPE XLT #884B LEATHER, LOADED, 4X4, 33K $18,995 

‘06 DODGE DAKOTA SLT #3035A CLUB CAB, V8, ONLY 6K $19,995 

‘03 FORD EXPLORER LTD #835P LEATHER, SUNROOF, LOADED, 42K $19,995 

‘06 PONTIAC G-6 GTP #766P LTHR, SUNROOF, LOADED, 22K $21,995 

‘05 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER #489A AT, AC, PW, PL, 17K $21,995 

‘05 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED #1147P LEATHER, V8, 25K $24,995 

‘05 CHRYSLER 300 #1131P LEATHER, LOADED, 26K $26,995 

‘06 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED #1121P LEATHER, V8, 16K $27,995 

‘05 CHEVROLET TAHOE #1019A AT, AC, 4X4, 21K $28,995 

‘04 CHEVROLET TAHOE Z71 #1021P LEATHER, LOADED, 42K $30,995 

‘07 JEEP COMMANDER LIMITED #1183P LEATHER, LOADED, 14K $33,995 

The Car Book 

“Best Bet” Award 

2007 MITSUBISHI GALANT 


ENDEAVOR LS 

SALE 

$24,629 .00 

PRICE 

AWD, PW, PD, CD Player, Keyless Entry, Front 

and Side Curtain Air Bags, DEMO #2919 

Dave Sarmadi 

President 

ALL PRICES AND DISCOUNTS INCLUDE ALL FACTORY REBATES. NOT INCLUDED ARE STATE REQUIRED TAX, TITLE, TAGS, AND $398 PROCESSING FEE. SALE ENDS SEPTEMBER 19, 2007. VEHICLE IMAGES SHOWN ARE FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. THEY MAY DIFFER FROM ACTUAL VEHICLE BEING SOLD. SEE DEALER FOR LIMITED 

ALL PRICES WARRANTY AND ROADSIDE DISCOUNTS ASSISTANCE INCLUDE DETAILS. ALL UNLESS FACTORY STATED OTHERWISE REBATES. ONLY NOT THE VEHICLE INCLUDED DISCLOSED ARE ABOVE STATE BY STOCK REQUIRED # IS SALE PRICED. TAX, TITLE, EXAMPLE TAGS, FOR STOCK AND NUMBER $398 2917 PROCESSING WITH $3000 TRADE FEE. IN OR SALE CASH DOWN ENDS AND OCTOBER APPROVED CREDIT 13, 2007. THE PAYMENTS VEHICLE FOR IMAGES 60 MONTHS SHOWN AT 0% INTEREST ARE WILL FOR BE ILLUSTRATIVE 

$293/MONTH. 

PURPOSES ONLY. THEY MAY DIFFER FROM ACTUAL VEHICLE BEING SOLD. SEE DEALER FOR LIMITED WARRANTY AND ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE DETAILS. UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE ONLY THE VEHICLE DISCLOSED ABOVE BY STOCK # IS 

SALE PRICED. EXAMPLE FOR STOCK NUMBER 2917 WITH $3,000 TRADE IN OR CASH DOWN AND APPROVED CREDIT THE PAYMENTS FOR 60 MONTHS AT 0% INTEREST WILL BE $293/MONTH. REBATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. 

AFTER REBATE 

AND DISCOUNTS 


RAIDER DC V8 DBL CAB 

SALE 

$21,995 .00 

PRICE 

PW, PL, Cruise, 276 Watt 

6 CD Changer, Alloy Wheels 

#2697 

TOTAL 

SAVINGS 

$5190 

AFTER REBATE 

AND DISCOUNTS 

TOTAL 

SAVINGS 

$8005

OCTOBER 1, 2007 PLAY BY PLAY 3 

Bill Turner 

Playbook 

Opinions 

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

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

Bob Teitlebaum ...................................... 6 

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

Christian Moody ...................................15 

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

Articles 

Tiki Barber was Back in Town in September ................................. 10 

Northside’s Alexi Staton Stands Tall at VMI ....................................12 

Phil Key Brings New Ideas to the Sports Club ................................13 

Avs Make Playoffs, Fall in the Finals ................................................14 

Craig Residents Know How to Get the Job Done ......................... 16 

Woody Deans, a Legend of the Games ............................................18 

Page 10 

by Bob Teitlebaum 

Extras 

From the Bookshelf ...............3 

Question for the Doctor .......3 

Natural Health Tip .................5 

Playmakers ..............................8 

Ask A Ref ..................................8 

Snapshots of the Season ......9 

From the 

Bookshelf 

Baseball history 

and Westerns 

Page 14 

Gene Marrano 

I’M INTERESTED IN BOOKS 

about the history of baseball. I 

have been since I was a child. 

I am fascinated with old-time 

baseball during the dead ball 

era. 

I’m also interested 

in Western films and 

when I was writing 

for The Roanoke Times 

(1970-2000), I’d go to a 

Western film convention 

nearly every summer. 

Most of them were held 

within driving distance 

of Roanoke and I found 

people (including former Salem 

High School football coach 

Willis White and the late Len 

Mosser, the Patrick Henry basketball 

coach 

in the 1960s 

and early 

’70s) to go 

with me. 

So what is 

the tie between baseball history 

books and Western films 

I noticed at the film conventions 

held in North 

Carolina that McFarland 

Publishing Co. always had 

a booth in the dealers’ 

room where you could buy, 

trade or sell old Western 

movies, purchase posters 

that hung outside the 

theaters where the movies 

played when they graced the big 

screen, and pick up old Hopalong 

See BOOK, Page 8 

Question for 

the Doctor 

This month’s question answered by 

Christopher K. John, M.D. 

My teenage son sprained his ankle several 

times while snowboarding last winter. 

Is there anything he can do to prevent future 

problems 

Absolutely. Snowboarding places a lot of 

pressure on your ankles and calves. Ankle injuries 

occur mostly from hard lateral impacts, 

such as crashes, and are particularly common 

after jumping when a combination of compression 

and inversion (the ankle turning in) 

forces are experienced. This may lead to an ankle 

sprain or to a more serious condition called 

“snowboarder’s ankle”— a fracture of the lateral 

process of the talus. 

Dr. Christopher K. John 

If your son was just learning how to snowboard last winter, he may have 

used softer boots, which are more comfortable and allow more maneuverability. 

Unfortunately, they also double the rate of ankle injuries compared 

to hard boots. A good option is the new hybrid boots, which balance the 

increased stability of hard boots with the increased comfort of the soft 

boots. 

Another good idea is a general strengthening and flexibility program 

for the ankles. There are all sorts of resources for this, including balance 

boards, therabands, etc., but one of the easiest exercises is to “draw the alphabet” 

with your big toe in the air. This is an excellent way to strengthen 

the muscles around the ankle and prevent further injury. 

As always, if this becomes a recurring problem, a visit to an orthopaedic 

or sports-trained physician to be evaluated is a good idea. 

Roanoke Orthopaedic 

Center


Ferrum players are more than teammates 

THEY ARE OLDER NOW BUT 

the men still carry a certain 

swagger…the walk of a champion. 

In 1968, a group of strapping 

lads from Ferrum College (then 

Junior College) did something 

very few athletes will ever be able 

to claim…they won a national championship. 

IN MY 

OPINION 

by Todd 

Marcum 

It’s safe to say that for most of them some of the most intense joy of their 

lives was associated with the game of football — as is some of the most 

profound sadness. 

After the championship, many players courted offers from larger college 

programs. Seven would follow Ferrum assistant coach Rick Tolley 

when he took a post as head coach at Marshall University. On Nov. 14, 

1970, the eight would perish in a plane crash that claimed the lives of 

75 Thundering Herd players, boosters and coaches, as well as the flight 

crew. 

Eventually, the teammates decided it would be a good idea to start 

coming together once a year to remember the old times. For the 2007 reunion, 

held Sept. 15, the team decided to travel north to visit Huntington, 

W.Va., the home of Marshall. (As a proud Marshall alumnus, I happened 

to be in attendance and got the opportunity to hear their story.) 

They could take in a game, see the sights, visit the memorial…as a 

bonus, they would get to see Renso “Rock” Perdoni’s kid play for New 

Hampshire. The co-MVP of the 1968 Ferrum team was later an All-American 

at Georgia Tech and the runner-up for the Lombardi Trophy. His son, 

Matt, is a senior and a team captain for the New Hampshire squad. 

The trip to West Virginia was slated for about 25 former players and 

their spouses as well as legendary coach Hank Norton. When the grillers 

of Smokin’ Thunder — unofficially the most hospitable tailgate in college 

football — caught wind of the visit, they made the team guests of 

Players in this Issue 

Publisher/Editor 

Graphic Designer 

Contributors 

John A. Montgomery 

Donna Earwood 

Mike Ashley 

Robert Blades 

Rod Carter 

Donald Earwood 

Tommy Firebaugh 

Sam Lazzaro 

Todd Marcum 

Gene Marrano 

Joyce Montgomery 

P.O. Box 3285, Roanoke, VA 24015 

(540) 761-6751 • E-mail: jmonty@cox.net 

On the Web: www.playbyplayonline.net 

Christian Moody 

Dan Smith 

Mike Stevens 

Bob Teitlebaum 

Bill Turner 

©Copyright 2007. 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. 

Play by Play is published every fourth Monday. Deadline for submissions 

for the October 29 issue is October 15. 

Todd Marcum 

honor at the pre-game eat and greet. 

There the years rolled back as players spun stories with the locals about 

the 1968 Panthers gridiron squad that recorded a perfect 10-0 season, including 

an upset over defending national champion Northeastern Oklahoma 

A&M. They topped it off with a 41-19 win over Phoenix College in 

the Shrine Bowl in Savannah to bring the title back to Franklin County. 

“We were simply afraid to lose,” said John Cougill, as his teammates 

nodded in agreement. Unlike the athletes of today, the team, which often 

journeyed hundreds of miles for its seven road games, traveled in the 

“luxury” of the “Golden Goose,” a 1939 standard-issue school bus. The 

pre-game spread often consisted of a pack of bologna and a loaf of bread. 

The coaches pushed the players to their very limits. It was, the players 

said, a tough place to 

play. And it’s apparent 

that nearly 40 years later, 

they wouldn’t have 

had it any other way. 

Dan Danko said that 

the 1968 Panther team 

was something special. 

Closer than teammates, 

more like brothers. He 

said that many times 

they have called on one 

Players from the 1968 Ferrum team still wear 

rings that prominently feature a ‘7’ in tribute 

to their fallen teammates 

another and that a teammate 

is always there to 

help. 

The group wore memorial 

shirts with the 

Ferrum Panther on the front along with photos of Tolley and the others 

who were lost in the crash. On the back was a picture of the 1970 team 

and the Marshall logo. 

Cougill recalled hearing news of the plane crash. He was coming back 

from Richmond to Randolph-Macon when he picked up a report on the 

radio. He couldn’t believe what he heard. In a state of shock, he waited 

through the wee hours of the night for a convenience store to open so he 

could buy a paper. He says he still has that paper to this day. 

Roanoker Horace Green was a student at Western Carolina when the 

plane went down and he had never had a chance to see the community 

where his former teammates were laid to rest. In the hearts of the people 

of Huntington, his lost friends will forever be young, noble and an honored 

part of the community’s heritage. 

“This has been 37 years coming,” Green said. “I didn’t have the opportunity 

to come when it happened. We were playing. I’m finally here. After 

seeing the fountain and gravesite, I figured out what it’s all about.” 

Rock Perdoni admitted it had been an emotional weekend. 

“When I look at these guys I think, ‘This is my brother,’” said Perdoni. 

“My son looks at me and says, ‘Dad, I want what you have with your teammates.’” 

As he headed off to the football game to watch his son face off against 

the heavily favored Thundering Herd, Perdoni said, “This has been a perfect 

day. No matter what happens at the game, we can’t lose.” 

Perdoni got an unexpected treat as he watched the younger Perdoni 

and his New Hampshire teammates best the Herd in a 48-35 offensive 

shootout. 

“It was a great weekend to be at such a wonderful place,” said Cougill. 

“For about 25 years after the accident, I thought about the tragedy every 

day. I personally had reservations about coming to Marshall. I had never 

been to the cemetery and seen the memorial. 

“Having now been there I can see that we Ferrum guys are not alone in 

either our loss or our memory of that terrible event. While we were at the 

cemetery, someone unknown to us who was a citizen from Huntington 

brought flowers and put them on the memorial. Candles were there from 

someone’s recent visit. I couldn’t help but notice the numbers of fans who 

were stopping to pay respect to the beautiful and moving memorial at the 

entrance of the stadium. 

“All of these things helped me understand that my friends that died 

that night are OK, that so many people will always remember the many 

lives that were cut short.”


Bridgewater star wants to shine at home 

HEY, ALL YOU CHAMBER OF 

commerce and economic development 

gurus, I’ve got the 

poster boy to lead your campaign 

for keeping young, talented professionals 

from leaving the Roanoke 

Valley. 

Meet Jeff Highfill, Jr. 

He’s smart, athletic, handsome and has experience when it comes 

to striking a pose. His image already is front and center helping to 

sell Bridgewater College to prospective students in a slick promotional 

brochure. 

Oh yeah, did I mention he’s actually interested in returning home 

to begin his life in the working world 

“I definitely could see myself back in Roanoke teaching and 

coaching after this year,” he says. 

Highfill is off to a strong start on the football field this season. In 

late September, the Eagles were 4-0. Their senior starting quarterback 

had thrown seven touchdown passes, had completed nearly 70 

percent of his passes and was averaging more than six yards a carry 

on the ground. 

Highfill is a 

throwback to 

the days when 

athletes didn’t 

expect a free 

pass from society, 

worked 

hard and took 

their textbooks 

as seriously 

as their 

playbooks. He 

currently has 

a 3.95 grade 

point average. 

“I am competitive 

on the 

football field 

and in the 

classroom, so 

whatever challenge 

there is, I 

want to do the 

best that I can, 

and class is no 

different,” he 

says. 

His major is 

mathematics, 

his minor is 

With movie idol good looks and impressive statistics on 

the field and in the classroom, Highfill is a school model 

business, and 

his passion is solving logic-defying word problems. Highfill fully comprehends 

the numbers associated with the young professional flight that 

has been widely reported in the area media in recent times. 

But more than being an addition to the community’s census figures, 

Highfill wants to be a positive role model and follow in the footsteps of his 

father, longtime William Byrd coach and educator, Jeff Highfill, Sr. 

“I’ve seen the positive effect that my dad has had on so many young 

men, and I’ve seen how you can reach people through football that you 

can’t connect with in the classroom,” he says. “I just have so much respect 

for the things that my dad and his coaching staff have done that 

being a part of that would be truly special.” 

But before he drops off his application at the Roanoke County School 

Administration building on Cove Road, he needs to take care of some 

unfinished business at Jopson Field in Bridgewater. 

In 2006, the kings of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference fell flat on 

their faces. They lost not one, but two conference games, and watched 

helplessly as their streak of five straight ODAC championships came to 

Courtesy of Bridgewater College 

an abrupt halt. 

No rings, no playoffs, nothing. 

“If we can’t get focused after what happened last year, then we have a 

problem,” Highfill, Jr. says. “Everybody has their heads on straight and 

many of us stayed up here over the summer and worked out, so the dedication 

is there and we just have to make it happen.” 

But that will be easier said than done. Since Bridgewater nearly won 

the Stagg Bowl in 2001, every single team in the ODAC has stepped up 

its financial and competitive commitment 

to catch the Eagles. When Washington 

& Lee won the title last year, it 

sent a message to the entire league. 

“It’s getting tougher and tougher 

every year and teams that you used 

to think of as not being very good can 

now get you in a dogfight every week,” 

he says. 

The former William Byrd Terrier 

knows a thing or two about dogfights 

and he also knows that the real world 

is fast approaching. 

“Football and athletics have been 

such a huge part of my life and now 

here I am with my college career getting 

ready to end, and it’s tough,” he 

says. 

“I’m going to have to move on and 

figure out what I’m going to be doing 

Jeff Highfill connected on more 

than two-thirds of his passes in 

Bridgewater’s first four wins 

Dan Smith 

next year.” 

Hopefully, it won’t take a math genius 

with a job opening here in the valley 

to solve that problem. 

Natural Health 

Tip of the Month 

From Dr. Jeffrey Barker, DC, CCSP 

With its warm, sunny days and crisp, cool nights, fall is a great time 

to start an outdoor exercise program. Walking, jogging, or hiking 

are great fitness activities. To avoid injuries, a proper warm-up is 

essential... 

1. First, make sure your doctor okays you to start exercising 

2. Light walking/jogging and calisthenics are a good start 

3. Sport-specific stretching is the next step 

4. Start out slowly and increase the intensity as your muscles loosen 

and warm up


Ahhh…Vandy, Vegas, widescreen and brew 

A FEW NOTES: 

The people who write for Play 

by Play, and its predecessor, the 

Sports Journal, seem to have favorite 

subjects that routinely creep 

into their space. 

According to the editors and 

the designer, my regular topics include 

DirecTV, gambling, Vanderbilt University, Nashville and beer. This 

seems totally ludicrous to me but that’s what they say. 

In Mike Ashley’s case, he likes to write about food, his wife, Radford 

University, food, his daughter and the Texas Tavern (food). 

Columnist Mike Stevens often tells inspirational stories, writing about 

people who have overcome difficult obstacles or who have left an indelible 

impression. 

Gene Marrano covers the local pro beats — and has had quite a few 

teams disappear on him in recent years, including the RiverDawgs (soccer), 

the Wrath (soccer), the Steam (arena football), the Express (hockey), 

the Vipers (hockey) and the Dazzle (basketball). Good news, Gene. I 

think you’re safe writing about the Salem Avalanche baseball team for a 

long time to come. 

Chris Moody loves to focus on golf, officiating and playing surfaces. 

If new surfaces go down, Chris will tell you all you want to know about 

them and maybe a little bit more. 

So how come I am the one who wrote a story for the Sports Journal on 

Salem native Murray Cook He is regarded as the greatest groundskeeper 

to come from this area, having put together fields in softball Olympics 

and given advice when new stadiums were put in at certain major league 

venues. Chris, how did this subject escape you 

I also wrote about former Yankees, Expos and Reds GM Murray Cook 

when he came to Salem as a scout for the Boston Red Sox. How many 

writers can say they’ve profiled two different men named Murray Cook 

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I have to admit that sometimes these topics seep into our copy without 

us even realizing it. I could have sworn beer was nowhere to be found in 

my Sept. 3 contributions, but designer Donna Earwood pointed out that 

it found its way into my copy yet once again. 

Sure enough, my column about the ghost players from Field of Dreams 

related the story about the team doing shows for U.S. forces stationed in 

the Pacific and how after their performance, they shared a brew. 

It seems innocent enough, so I guess my streak continues for writing 

about favorite subjects. Anyway, I’ll try not to mention any of my other 

tried and true topics in this issue. But don’t bet on it. 

THE JOBS I WOULD LEAST LIKE TO HAVE: I wouldn’t want to be 

the commissioner for any major league professional sports organization. 

Now these guys have to deal with far-ranging topics like NFL football 

coaches illegally videotaping opposing coaches and stealing signals (see 

New England’s Bill Belichick); dogfighting (former Virginia Tech quarterback 

Michael Vick); gangsters (numerous suspects, some of who have 

been suspended and fined); steroids that taint baseball; Tour de France 

records; baseball owners crying poor; and much, much more. 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell came down on Belichick by fining 

him $500,000 and docking the Patriots $250,000 and draft choices next 

year. Most members of the media considered this punishment to be too 

lenient seeing that Goodell often throws players out of the league for a 

year because of their transgressions. 

Given the way pro football teams make money, the fine won’t hurt the 

Patriots. Belichick’s hefty salary as the NFL’s best coach will more than 

cover his infractions. To him, it will be more like a speeding ticket. 

Belichick’s character is so cold that it probably doesn’t embarrass him 

to be caught. In fact, he said early on that it was an interpretation of the 

rules even though Goodell used the King’s English and told him to stop 

taping defensive signals by the other team. 

I remember when the NFL’s head man had the plushest job in the 

world. Pete Rozelle would hold a press conference at every Super Bowl 

and tell you how smoothly things were running. And they were…because 

Rozelle never had to (or never chose to) deal with cheaters, dope addicts 

or players torturing dogs. Every winter, it was business as usual. Most of 

the press conferences were snoozers. 

BIG MARKET OR NOT: Now let’s look at baseball money losses. Outside 

of Boston, New York and Los Angeles, all teams are headed to the 

poor house, if you believe the hype. 

Yeah, they can’t make it because their attendance averages something 

like 30-40,000 sold seats for each of 81 playing dates; plus concessions, 

luxury boxes, TV contracts and the sale of team products. 

Some teams say they can’t compete with the big-market teams. So 

what is a big-market team Philadelphia says it’s not a big-market team 

and can’t afford to pay players the same prices they can earn in New York, 

Los Angeles or Boston. In my mind, this is a good excuse for losing. 

Philadelphia has a very large metropolitan population. I’ll admit that 

certain teams have huge advantages over others in baseball. No one has 

TV deals like the Yankees, Cubs and Braves. Heck, the Yankees even have 

their own television network. Of course, their salaries are out of sight. 

Luckily all of New England backs the Red Sox or they wouldn’t be able 

to compete. In fact, USA Today recently asserted that Boston has moved 

ahead of the Yankees in national popularity. I remember when the Braves, 

not Boston, were America’s team. Atlanta is now crying poor. 

TOM JOYNES: Former VMI athletics mainstay Tom Joynes passed 

away last month. This was one funny dude. When he served as sports information 

director, Joynes regaled the writers with his never-ending wit. 

However, he might have been too nice a guy. He was moved up to athletic 

director at VMI and that began the end of his career. For a time, the 

Keydets prospered thanks to a couple of strong college basketball teams 

led by Ron Carter in the late 1970s, one of which came within one game 

of making the NCAA Final Four. 

Football competed because Bob Thalman’s teams often came close to 

Virginia Tech and even beat the Hokies some years. However, the end was 

near as VMI’s program slipped through the ranks to the bottom of Division 

I-AA football, falling behind one of its biggest rivals, The Citadel. 

As the program slipped, Joynes took the blame. He never complained. 

He simply faded from the field, faithful to the VMI alumni that faulted 

him for trying to run a program that had little chance to compete.


Play by Play : third down, many years to go 

THE ISSUE YOU ARE HOLDing 

of Play by Play is No. 45, 

a significant number only in 

that we publish 15 times a year 

and this marks the completion of 

the third full rotation. The inaugural 

issue hit the streets at the end 

of October, 2004. 

Business forecasts often include three-year plans. It’s a good time to 

take stock of exactly where we’ve been and let our readers know where 

we’re headed. 

Play by Play is largely patterned after its predecessor, The Sports Journal, 

a logical progression since most of the players are the same. This 

magazine was initiated only because previous corporate ownership 

decided the Sports Journal’s profit margin was inadequate. 

That decision launched a new opportunity. Play by Play 

was started just a few days after the SJ ceased, and except for the 

name change, there is relatively little difference in the publications. 

The transition was practically seamless. 

Our base of writers, advertisers and distribution outlets remains 

the same, although we’ve added to our numbers in all categories. 

The SJ editors, its original designer, the sales team and the photographers 

have all joined Play by Play. We’ve also added some new 

features which we think have improved the end product, including 

our Web site, playbyplayonline.net, which allows those who so 

wish to read our entire issue online. 

Before we take a moment to celebrate…let’s review the path we 

took to get here. 

When we began Play by Play, we were optimistic that it would work. 

The following passage appeared in Issue 1: “We are banking that a large 

segment of the Roanoke Valley is sufficiently interested in local sports 

to support an independent publication dedicated to the subject. After 

all, the word ‘fans’ is short for ‘fanatics,’ and sports fans are notorious 

for soaking up information and expressing their pleasure or displeasure 

accordingly.” 

Advertising support is critical to the magazine’s success, something 

those close to the operation never forget. Our ad dollars have grown each 

year, and we know our advertisers are not buying ads just because they 

like us. 

We also enjoy hearing from our readers regularly, often with story 

ideas, occasionally with corrections, but mostly to share their love of 

sports. In the past few days, we had one reader tell us he played baseball 

for Radford University’s Chuck Taylor, who was profiled in September, 

and another let us know that Red Sox baseball great Bobby Doerr, who 

was prominently mentioned in the same issue, played in an exhibition 

game at Roanoke’s Maher Field in the late 1940s. 

It’s interesting to peruse that first issue, which was put together in home 

offices in short order. “What are we going to do with Victory Stadium” 

was one topic. Other stories included pieces on golfer Chip Sullivan, 

then-new women’s Virginia Tech head basketball coach Beth Dunkenberger 

and Jack Bogacyzk, the former Roanoke Times sportswriter who 

now works in West Virginia. 

Our column lineup included Mike Stevens, Bob Teitlebaum, Mike 

Ashley and Chris Moody. Forty-five issues later, those columnists are 

still with us. And the ubiquitous Gene Marrano continues to generate 

a flurry of stories, just as he does for several other local publications and 

broadcast outlets. We’re grateful that Gene still finds time to be part of 

the Play by Play team. 

Realize that the local sports landscape has changed in three years. 

Hockey is gone (again). The Dazzle pro basketball franchise folded after 

five seasons. The wrecking ball dismantled Victory Stadium last summer. 

Of course, Salem continues to host NCAA championships three or four 

times a year, and the Spartans’ high school football team has gone 42-2 

since we set up shop, so not everything is temporary. 

New arenas are popping up everywhere (witness the new complex in 

Botetourt, Patriot Stadium at Patrick Henry, and Spartan Field at Salem 

High School) and old ones are being renovated (Bogle Field, Salem Stadium). 

In a couple of years, William Fleming High School will have its 

own stadium, too. 

In three years, 10 high school state titles have been won by area teams: 

Salem (football, twice); Cave Spring (volleyball, twice); Fleming (boys’ 

basketball); Hidden Valley (girls’ basketball and girls’ soccer); Glenvar 

(wrestling and volleyball); and Roanoke Catholic (boys’ basketball). 

Some of our homegrown athletes continue to distinguish themselves 

on the national stage, including J.J. Redick, Tiki and Ronde Barber, and 

Angela Tincher. But we also publish plenty of stories about people you 

may not know. We’ve carved a niche covering sports stories you won’t get 

somewhere else. 

Somehow, we always find plenty of news to bring you month in and 

month out. We’ve never filled the paper with wire stories or fluff. It’s always 

completely locally generated. The quality of the content and design 

is a direct reflection of the work by those whose names 

appear in the staff box on page 4. 

Some readers are interested to know how a publication 

works. Play by Play is not typical; it functions in a 

style reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz. We believe the 

product is professional, but when you pull back the 

curtain, the infrastructure is not complex. 

We’re blessed to have an array of contributors 

who are creative and diligent. They recognize the 

importance of deadlines. They continue to submit 

their work not because of the enormous compensation 

they receive, but simply because they enjoy 

what they do, and seeing their work in print is 

gratifying. 

We try to maintain a sense of humor in our operation and 

we also try to keep the stress level low. Usually, we succeed. 

About 80 percent of the 10,000 issues we distribute every 28 days is 

picked up. That percentage is growing. 

Thank you for continuing to read us. We couldn’t continue to deliver 

the product without you.


PLAY 

Book 

From Page 3 

Makers 

Cassidy 

Salem High School 

The Spartans’ football team defeated 

Northside, 34-13, on Sept. 21 to 

run their 2007 record to 4-0 and retain 

their top ranking in Timesland. 

Since Stephen Magenbauer 

became head coach at the 

start of the 2004 season, 

the Spartans are 42-2, 

with the losses coming 

to Christiansburg (36-35) 

and Amherst (25-21) by a 

total of five points. They 

won Group AA state 

titles in 2004 and 2005. 

Playmakers is sponsored by Professional Therapies of Roanoke 

or Roy Rogers lunchboxes. 

McFarland Publishing opened 

its business in 1979 in Jefferson, 

N.C., and in a short time 

became one of the country’s 

leading publishers of scholarly 

and reference books. 

It published more than 

3,200 titles in its first 10 years 

and set a goal to maintain 

a similar pace thereafter. 

Some of McFarland’s titles 

are biographies of the old Western 

heroes such as Buck Jones. 

McFarland also publishes on 

topics such as the performing arts 

(especially film), sports and leisure 

(especially baseball), military 

history, popular culture and 

automotive history. 

In general, its baseball books are 

well-written and well-researched. 

Most of the authors are members 

of the Society of American Baseball 

Research (SABR) who have 

written numerous articles about 

baseball history. 

McFarland claims to be the 

leading publisher of serious books 

on baseball and I won’t dispute 

that assertion. Some of my favorite 

books from McFarland include 

a biography of Pepper Martin 

from the old St. Louis Cardinals’ 

Gashouse Gang; a biography of 

the famed Chicago 

Cubs’ double play 

combination of Tinker 

to Evers to Chance; 

Jimmie Foxx, probably 

baseball’s most 

famous slugger in the 

1930s other than Babe 

Ruth and Lou Gehrig; 

New York Yankees’ 

pitcher Waite Hoyt; 

New York Hall of Fame infielder 

Tony Lazzeri; and Baseball and 

Richmond. 

That last book, a gem, has added 

to my knowledge of the game. Most 

anyone who studies the history of 

baseball knows that Jack Chesbro 

holds the record for most wins in a 

single season in modern baseball 

(after 1900). He won 41 games for 

the New York Highlanders in the 

early 20th century. 

What you probably don’t know 

is that Chesbro played minor 

league baseball in Richmond and 

also in Roanoke — during the 1896 

season. 

PROFESSIONAL 

THERAPIES, INC. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q. 

Ask A Ref 

In an effort to inform fans of the finer points of the rules of the 

games, Play by Play regularly publishes the feature “Ask A Ref,” a 

chance for fans to ask a question about specific sports rules, preferably 

those related to high school or the NCAA. We ask officials to answer 

these questions and, depending on the number, print some or all 

of the responses. 

Questions can be sent to Ask_a_Ref@yahoo.com. 

In this issue, we ask our question to veteran high school football 

official Christian Moody, a contributing editor to Play by Play. 

Can one team’s coaches use headphones if the other team 

has none, or if the other team’s are not working 

Sure. Rules that govern play below the pro level make no re- 

A. quirements on such communication, so each team is responsible 

for its own equipment. Likewise, monitoring the use of 

such is outside the purveyance of the game officials, to quote the 

NFHS rule book. 

There is a rule in professional football that prohibits this, and 

football fans have likely seen where the referee makes an announcement 

that one team must disconnect their headphones because of 

a malfunction. I’m not sure why this is announced over the PA or 

how it’s enforced, but in pro football it’s up to the home team to 

provide the connections and hardware to make headphones work 

(although they do not provide the headphones themselves, because 

I’m sure each team wants to keep its encrypted frequency a secret) 

so there would be an advantage if the home stadium staff could 

cause a disruption of communication for the visitors.


Snapshots of the season 

Roanoke College Volleyball 

Caitlyn Long, a sophomore from Cave 

Spring High School, scores a point for 

the Maroons in recent action. 

 

 

D-III emotion 

Dan Smith 

When Emory & Henry’s football team 

thrashed Ferrum, 50-7, on Sept. 1, among 

those suiting up for the Wasps were Joey 

Daniels (above), a junior defensive back 

from Salem High School, and Matt Assenat 

(46, below), a senior defensive end from 

Lord Botetourt. Assenat was celebrating a 

touchdown that developed from a fake field 

goal attempt. 

 

Jim Hickam 

Dan Smith 

The Ferrum assistant defensive coach 

(above), who made a name for himself 

as head coach for more than 30 years at 

Northside High School, was not happy 

with Ferrum’s performance against 

E&H. 

Thanks to our sponsors 

for making our event a winner! 

Dan Smith 

Tommy Firebaugh photos 

Senior Tour Golf 

At Blue Hills on Sept. 4, the big winners 

were C.B. Sink (left) and Bill Mann 

(above). Sink was the Division 1 net 

winner with a 59, matching cards; Mann 

was the Division 2 net winner with a 64. 

Mann also was the Division 2 gross winner, 

shooting a 79. 

Title Sponsors: WSLS Newschannel 10, Outback 

Steakhouse. Gold Sponsors: Fleet Feet Sports, 

Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Life Fitness, 

Play by Play. Silver Sponsors: Pepsi Bottling Group, 

The Redwoods Group, Robertson Marketing Group, 

East Coasters Cycling & Fitness. Bronze Sponsors: 

Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group, Mariners Landing/ 

East Lake Real Estate, Tudor’s Biscuit World of VA, 

Brandon Animal Hospital of Roanoke. 

Donor: Mann & Associates, Inc.


Still at the 

TOP 

TIKI BARBER 

COMES HOME 

by Gene Marrano 

of 

IT’S EVIDENT VERY EARLY 

in his new autobiography, 

Tiki, My Life in the Game and 

Beyond, that former Cave Spring 

High School valedictorian Tiki 

Barber knows how 

to write with flair 

and articulation. 

In one six-page sequence, 

he describes 

a simple run from 

scrimmage, detailing 

all of his thoughts as he 

looks for daylight and 

follows blockers before 

sprinting off into the end zone. 

It reads like a graceful description 

of ballet choreography. 

In another chapter, Barber, who 

went on to star at the University of 

his 

game 

Virginia before 

a stellar National 

Football 

League career 

with the New 

York Giants, vividly 

describes 

the fine art of 

putting on the 

too-tight uniforms 

favored 

by football 

players who do all they can to 

appear like fierce warriors. 

Barber appreciated the athletic 

skills he honed at Cave 

Spring, but would prefer to mention 

first the education he received 

there as a foundation for his success 

outside the game of football. 

He’s written several children’s 

books with his twin brother — 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tiki Barber was the keynote speaker at a Sept. 13 Valley Forward forum. 

Roanoker and former UVa teammate Walt Derey (right) brought Barber in 

Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde 

Barber — and may turn them into 

an animated television series. He 

and Ronde have hosted the satellite 

football wrap-up show, The 

Barber Shop, for years; he was a 

Fox & Friends morning show cohost 

and an off-season sportscaster 

for the CBS-TV affiliate in New 

York at one point. 

My Life in The Game and Beyond 

(Simon & Schuster) is a good read 

from a man who was always looking 

ahead, even at an early age, 

when both he and Ronde were 

being raised by single mother 

Geraldine Barber. Their father, 

J.B., a one-time Virginia Tech tailback, 

has never been a part of the 

family. 

Barber didn’t entirely warm to 

football until well into his high 

school years, according to the 

book, and stayed lighter than he 

should have been as a ball carrier 

until his junior season at the 

University of Virginia. 

Before the 1995 season 

at UVa, an assistant coach 

asked him what he wanted 

to be: an Olympic track 

star — one of Barber’s 

dreams — or a successful 

tailback. The 

ex-sprinter’s name 

can still be seen at 

Cave Spring High 

School on a tote 

board that lists track 

records. Barber bulked up, adding 

weight and muscle, and two years 

later was drafted by the Giants in 

the second round. The rest is history: 

originally thought of as a 

Bill Turner photos 

third-down back, the 5’9” dynamo 

eventually became a starter and 

all-purpose yards monster, rushing 

for more than 10,000 yards, 

catching passes for 5,000 more. 

Barber says he feels “not a tinge” 

of regret about walking away 

from the game after a 2006 season 

where he felt like he was slipping, 

despite impressive numbers. 

The shadow of Willie Mays, Jerry 

Rice, Evander Holyfield and others 

who stayed far too long in the 

arena was always on his mind. 

“That was part of it,” says Barber, 

quick to add that there were 

no “simple answers,” as to why he 

walked away from the game at age 

31. “I knew that in little ways, I was 

losing a step. It did bug me.” 

Ex-football running back stars 

like Barry Sanders, Robert Smith 

and Jim Brown that walked away 

near the top 

of their game 

were ins 

p i r a - 

tions. 

Barber’s high school football coach was Steve 

Spangler, now the principal at Cave Spring 

Barber appears to burn some 

bridges in the book, especially 

where now-embattled Giants 

See BARBER, Page 16


Who says the 

Roanoke Valley 

isn’t a hotbed 

for sports 

We talk your language. Every fourth 

Monday. Available at Kroger, Wal-Mart 

and 150 other outlets. 

 

P.O. Box 3285, Roanoke, VA 24015 

(540) 761-6751 • E-mail: jmonty@cox.net 

On the Web: www.playbyplayonline.net


Earning her stripes 

by Mike Ashley 

Alexi Staton stands tall at VMI 

GENERALLY SPEAKING, ALEXI 

Staton had never really 

thought about a military 

career. 

Too bad, because it turns out she 

excels on defense, although privately 

she still has a hankering for 

offense. That combination of skills 

is helping the versatile sophomore 

from Roanoke earn her stripes at 

VMI while the Keydets move up 

the ranks in women’s soccer. 

“Alexi’s ball-handling ability and 

her offensive strength 

were very attractive 

when we recruited 

her,” says third-year 

Keydets coach Bryan 

Williams, who had 

the team off to the fastest 

start in its five-year 

history at 3-4-1. “Alexi 

is playing an outside 

back for us this year 

and the back line has 

really come together.” 

The Keydet kickers have never 

won more than seven games in a 

season, but they already had three 

Alexi Staton 

wins by mid-September this year, 

including two shutouts. Staton, returning 

to some old habits despite 

playing defense, scored the gamewinner 

in a 1-0 win over The Citadel, 

VMI’s archrival. 

“I had just come into the game 

in the first half and I really hadn’t 

even touched the ball,” says Staton. 

“I was in the right place at the 

right time.” 

Staton made that synchronistic 

trait a staple of her game at 

Northside High School, where she 

graduated in 2006 as the Vikings’ 

all-time leading scorer 

with 46 goals and 

28 assists under coach 

Shawn Duff. A twoyear 

captain, Staton 

helped lead Northside 

to the Blue Ridge District 

title as a senior. 

She also starred for the 

Roanoke Star and Valley 

AFC soccer clubs, 

and that’s where she 

developed her true 

love for the sport and began to realize 

how that passion could have 

an impact on her future. 

Photos courtesy of VMI Sports Information 

Alexi Staton (4) is one 

of less than 100 female 

students enrolled at VMI 

“Mike Thorrel was one of my 

coaches and he made me want 

to play college soccer,” she says. 

“During the summertime he gave 

me extra lessons and really helped 

me with a lot of the little things, 

helping improve my skills.” 

That’s important because Staton 

says one of her biggest influences, 

her mom, Tamela Morgan, never 

knew a lot about the game until 

Staton started playing and turned 

her mother into the classic “soccer 

mom.” 

“My mom grew up in the Lexington/Fairfield 

area and she 

didn’t even know there was soccer 

until she got to college,” Staton 

laughs. “She only played basketball, 

but she’s really into sports. 

Now she watches me and gives me 

good advice. She pushed me and 

my brothers and sisters to play.” 

Good thing, too, because by her 

senior season at Northside, Staton 

was fielding offers from several 

Division II programs and contemplating 

a career in medicine where 

soccer would help her get her foot 

in the door with some scholarship 

aid. 

And that’s about when a letter 

from Williams and VMI arrived at 

her home. 

See STATON, Page 17 

October 27, 2007 

8:30am 

Piedmont Greenway/ 

Wasena Park 

Greenway 

Memory Miler 

10 Mile Run 4 Mile Run 1 Mile Run 

Age Group 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entry Fees 

 

 

 

 

 

All proceeds benefit the Alzheimer’s Association 

and Virginia Amateur Sports 

 

 

711-C 5th St., NE, Roanoke, VA 

24016 • 540-343-0987


by Bob Teitlebaum 

The Key to success 

PHIL KEY IS A MAN OF 

ideas. 

Because he doesn’t mind 

sharing them, the Roanoke 

Valley Sports Club is a thriving organization. 

While club membership is 

somewhat less than the 300-plus it 

once enjoyed, the club has grown 

financially. Its bank account, 

which it draws upon to compensate 

guest speakers, has increased 

a few thousand dollars due to 

Key’s vigorous participation on 

the club’s executive board. 

He joined the club when Dick 

Williams became the president in 

2000; soon thereafter, he became 

a board member who has developed 

a reputation for promotional 

ideas. 

A Roanoke native, Key’s employment 

with IBM took him away 

from the valley for 22 years and 

when he returned, he was ready to 

be proactive. 

“We don’t promote the club 

enough,” says Key, who stepped 

into the role of changing that. 

Current club president John 

Montgomery has benefited from 

Key’s promotions. “He’s been a 

tremendous help to the club in two 

areas,” says Montgomery, who is 

also the publisher of Play by Play. 

“He’s helped with programs — doing 

the legwork to bring in former 

NFL stars Carroll Dale and Alex 

Hawkins, among others — and 

by helping us generate additional 

funds to pay for such programs.” 

The club, which was founded in 

1993 by Dan Wooldridge, Charlie 

Moir, Joe Thomas, Sr. and others, 

holds approximately 10 meetings 

a year. That’s nearly 150 meetings 

since it began, most of which have 

been held in the Community Room 

at the Salem Civic Center. Average 

attendance is approximately 100. 

The attendance has a dramatic 

spike if people from Virginia Tech, 

the University of Virginia or VMI 

come to speak. 

The best attended meetings take 

place late in the summer when 

Tech football coach Frank Beamer 

and his counterpart at Virginia, 

Al Groh, give interested fans previews 

of their respective teams. 

Traditionally, the two coaches 

appear at the same meeting, 

bringing on a night of fellowship 

and friendly rivalry from members 

associated with each school. 

This past year, the coaches could 

not make it on the same night and 

there were two separate meetings 

at Hidden Valley Country Club because 

the civic center was tied up 

with other bookings. 

Longtime sports fan invigorates club 

Phil Key (left) procured former 

Baltimore Colt Alex Hawkins as a 

sports club speaker in 2006 

Beamer, however, had to cancel 

because he was honoring 

another speaking engagement. 

Beamer was originally set to be in 

Lynchburg on April 16, the day of 

the mass shootings, and then that 

event was rescheduled for July 26, 

the night he had intended to be in 

Salem. He was replaced by defensive 

coordinator Bud Foster, who 

was equally well-received. 

The sports club has been popular 

with its base, but innovation 

in recruiting has not been its 

strength. 

Enter Key. He played football and 

basketball for old Jefferson High 

School and made all-Western District 

and Roanoke City-County before 

entering the Marines in 1951 

and taking off for California before 

he could finish high school. 

“They were expanding the Marine 

Corps,” says Key, who was 17 

when he left school. “They had two 

divisions at the time, one on the 

East Coast and one on the West 

Coast.” 

Key entered the new West Coast 

division and completed his tour 

a year-and-a-half later. At 6’4”, 

195 pounds, he was big enough to 

play college football and earned 

a scholarship to the University of 

Richmond. 

“All my buddies went to Hampden-Sydney. 

I didn’t have a car, so I 

decided to go with them to Hampden-Sydney,” 

Key recalls, instead 

of Richmond. 

With the Tigers, Key played four 

years of football and basketball 

while being named to Who’s Who 

in American Colleges. 

In spite of his early achievements, 

Key says at that age he 

wasn’t particularly assertive. 

“I developed late in life,” he 

adds, which helps explain how his 

late entry to the Roanoke Valley 

Sports Club has coincided with a 

flood of new ideas. 

First, he hounded The Roanoke 

Times to write an article on the 

sports club in hopes that it would 

be seen by people who might decide 

it would be a good thing to 

become a member. 

“The Danville [sports] club is always 

covered in their paper and I 

thought, ‘Why not us’” he asks. 

Key set up a meeting with reporter 

Evelio Contreras, providing 

him with considerable background 

and detail. 

The story appeared 

in Neighbors in December 

of 2005. 

Key’s efforts didn’t 

stop with a story in 

the newspaper. He 

came up with another 

idea of selling sponsor 

tables, appealing 

to club members who 

were willing to pay for 

the privilege of having dinner with 

guest speakers. 

Of course the speakers had to 

be significant enough to carry out 

this idea and it was a natural for 

the Beamer-Groh meetings. 

It has worked whenever one 

of Tech’s basketball coaches appears, 

as well as when the speaker 

has VMI connections. 

“It made sense to put members 

with speakers and make some 

money for the club,” Key explains. 

“My mind is always percolating 

John A. Montgomery photos 

with ideas.” 

This particular idea has added 

a few thousand dollars to the club 

treasury. 

Prominent speakers can command 

high dollar, but the sports 

club has never paid more than 

$2,500 for a meeting. Most programs 

cost $500 or less. 

(Charlottesville’s Howie Long, 

an NFL Hall of Famer and prominent 

broadcaster on the Fox network, 

has been known to receive 

$40,000 for a single appearance.) 

Key reasons that with betterknown 

speakers, the membership 

rolls might increase. 

“We have a lot of money; why 

not bring in a [well-known] speaker 

and maybe charge a little more 

for a ticket” Key asks. 

The club’s current dues are $30 

a year. A family membership costs 

$40. Dinner is an additional $12. 

Key wasn’t finished, though. His 

next original thought was a special 

achievement award to honor 

sports people in the Roanoke Valley. 

“I thought there are a lot of 

people in the club with interesting 

backgrounds and achievements 

and everyone would be interested 

in knowing what they had done,” 

Key says. 

“I like to make people feel good 

and do something for them.” 

So far, Jim Lugar, Dave Osborne, 

Carlton Waskey, the late 

Len Mosser, Wooldridge, Moir, 

Don Divers, Bill Shrader, Dave 

Ross, this writer, Harry Bushkar, 

Carroll Moffit, Galen Conner, 

Ned Baber and Wallace Coffey 

are among those who have been 

honored. 

Each one received a certificate 

and a place on the permanent 

Key with former Green Bay Packer Carroll Dale 

(center) and sports club board member Jim Lugar 

plaque displayed at each club 

meeting. 

Perhaps Key’s most touching 

subject turned out to be the late 

George Preas, a great football 

player at Virginia Tech and for the 

Baltimore Colts during their best 

days under Johnny Unitas. Preas 

was honored in the fall of 2006, not 

long before his death. 

“We had [former Colts star] Alex 

Hawkins as the main speaker and 

See KEY, Page 17


Bridesmaid finish placates Avalanche 

Salem surviv roster turnover to lace as league runner-up 


TEN MINUTES OR LESS 

after the Salem Avalanche 

lost the fourth and deciding 

game of the Mills Cup Championship 

Series to the Frederick Keys 

on Sept. 11, players were packing 

up to head to their respective 

homes. 

In fact, there were equipment 

bags and trunks already sitting 

in the hallway. Some were on cell 

phones with wives, girlfriends or 

family members — if those people 

weren’t in town already to watch 

the Carolina League finals. 

The post-game meal was a quieter 

affair than usual. Even though 

the Avs struggled at times in 2007 

as injuries and call-ups played 

havoc with the roster, it’s never 

easy to lose a championship. 

Some players, many of whom 

will not return to Salem Memorial 

Baseball Stadium next year, lingered 

first in the dugout to watch 

the Frederick Keys accept the Mills 

Cup trophy from league president 

John Hopkins. That came after 

the Keys gathered for picture-taking 

in front of the visitors’ dugout 

and doused each other with cheap 

champagne. 

There were bright spots for the 

Avalanche this year, which finished 

the season earning its wildcard 

playoff berth with a re-made 

roster. Outfielder Billy Hart, one of 

those who actually stayed around 

for the duration of the year, got hot 

in the second half and made a late 

run to win the Carolina League 

batting crown with an average of 

.305. 

The former USC football and 

baseball player beat out another 

Californian, teammate Mitch Einertson, 

on the last day of the sea- 

son. The center fielder also hit .305, 

a fractional point or two behind 

Hart — and settled for the league 

MVP trophy with his 87 RBI. 

“Who would have thought Billy 

Hart would have been a batting 

champion No one worked harder 

than Billy all year long,” said 

manager Jim Pankovits, who also 

praised Einertson for taking advantage 

of the opportunity when 

other players got hurt or were promoted. 

“[Einertson] just took off — from 

the middle of May until the end of 

the season he was by far the most 

consistent hitter and deserving 

of the MVP, no doubt of that,” the 

manager said. 

Pankovits hailed the work of 

pitcher Chris Blazek, thrust into 

the closer’s role after the All-Star 

break. Blazek came up big in the 

postseason. 

Infielder Wladimir Sutil “will 

play at a higher level” after shining 

in the postseason as well. 

From where he was at the beginning 

of the year as a returning 

player and a sub, stuck behind 

people like the touted Eli Iorg 

— who later went down with an 

injury — Hart said he learned it 

was all about getting through the 

grind. 

“Every at-bat and every game 

counts,” said Hart. Being in the 

playoffs was the icing on the 

cake. “It’s all about winning ball 

games.” 

He hopes to move up next 

spring. Hart was confident all year 

that even with the call-ups and injuries, 

the Avalanche could make 

it to the second season. 

“We had a lot of good players 

on this team throughout the year 

[and] we had a lot of really good 

players move on to Double A. It’s 

Bill Turner 

Bill Turner 

Billy Hart (left) won the batting title 

Bill Turner 

MVP Mitch Einertson 

always a good accomplishment to 

go to the finals,” said Hart as he 

loaded a plate with his post-game 

meal for the last time. “It was 

fun.” 

“You can’t really look at it as 

a disappointment,” said hitting 

coach Chuck Carr of losing in the 

championship round. “The way we 

started, even in the second half [of 

the season], it didn’t look like we 

were going to come this far. They 

just have to look at it as another 

chapter in the book.” 

During Carr’s three seasons in 

Salem, the Avs went from a onegame 

playoff, to the first round last 

season, and the Mills Cup championship 

series this year. 

In the second half-season, with 

several key pitchers called up to 

AA Corpus Christi, “the offense 

really knew they had to go out 

there and put up some numbers,” 

said Carr. 

Being in a pennant chase will 

help these young players down 

the road, the former major leaguer 

said. 

It’s all about focus. 

“That hard work all season… 

that’s when it pays off. The thing 

is, who focuses the most [in the 

postseason].” 

As for Hart coming on strong 

and capturing the batting title, 

Carr indicated it was “more of a 

confidence thing as he started 

progressing. [Hart] has the ability 

to make it, but he’s going to have to 

cut loose that shyness.” 

Pankovits doesn’t know where 

he will be next year after completing 

his second season as manager 

in single-A Salem. Such is life with 

a big league organization like the 

Houston Astros, which fired manager 

Phil Garner and general 

manager Tim Purpura in August 

— just two years after the Astros 

were in the World Series. Purpura 

was director of minor league development 

when Pankovits was a 

roving instructor. 

After the last game against Frederick 

and his goodbyes to players, 

the former major league utility 

player appeared to be a bit redeyed 

as he looked back on a long 

season. “We spend six months together; 

it’s like a family,” said Pankovits 

as he sat in the manager’s 

office. Home is not far way for the 

Richmond-area resident. 

“It’s a long haul but it happens 

every year. Fortunately a lot of 

these guys have a bright future 

and will be playing a long time. I’ll 

see them a number of years in the 

future.” 

Did he see the Avalanche making 

it to the championship round 

earlier in the season 

“I didn’t even see this team,” he 

said. “This is a brand new team 

except for a few players that we 

started with. That’s a tribute to the 

organization. All the new guys we 

plugged in did a great job. That’s 

very unusual that we could continue 

to have such a consistent 

season from start to finish with all 

the changes. 

“A great year [with] a disappointing 

finish…but a lot of fond memories,” 

said Pankovits about 2007. 

“I think I’m pretty demanding in 

how much I asked them to work, 

but they never complained. 

They showed up every day and 

worked their [butts] off.” 

There was plenty to be learned 

from chasing the Mills Cup trophy, 

about preparation and performing 

in stressful situations 

— “which it seemed like every 

game we were in,” according 

to Pankovits. “They will benefit 

from those experiences the rest 

of their careers.” 

Having finished two games 

short of a Carolina League title 

despite a season full of upheaval 

won’t look bad on the managerial 

résumé of Jim Pankovits, either.

OCTOBER 1, 2007 PLAY BY PLAY 15 

On the surface, field value underestimated 

IN HIS COLUMN ON PAGE 6, 

Bob Teitlebaum says that I have 

a tendency to write about playing 

surfaces. That’s true, because 

I’m writing about facilities. That’s 

the old news guy in me. New facilities 

mean improvements within 

the community. They often mean 

more economic impact for sports 

and happier residents. 

The number of people who actually see an improved quality of life with 

artificial surfaces on football fields is fairly small, limited mostly to those 

souls who had to try to get mud out of white jerseys and pants after rainy 

nights on the field. 

Now they just have to sweep their homes and automobiles to get out 

the hundreds of little rubber grains that get in shoes, socks and cling to 

uniforms. 

I also love new golf courses. Actually, I like all golf courses, and I love 

to play golf. For some reason I’m just not very good at it. This fact used to 

make me angry, but I realized a mad golfer isn’t a better golfer, he’s just 

more miserable. 

In this issue on page 16, I’ve 

included a story about a new 

facility in Craig County that’s 

somewhere between the stages 

of hope-for-someday and opening-day-is-scheduled. 

Craig County is an amazing 

Salem 

Stadium 

place in that the people who 

want things like new fields and 

facilities make plans, figure out 

what they need, decide how to 

get it, then go do it. I love the spirit. I wonder how that would work on this 

side of Catawba Mountain. 

There’s a new golf course being built in Mt. Pleasant called Ballyhack. I 

wrote about it some 18 months ago, but there were delays in finishing another 

project, so groundbreaking was delayed until this summer. Not to 

worry, very few of us were going to get to play it, anyway. It’s for big-money 

out-of-towners who don’t mind dropping large sums of cash for large 

homes they will rarely visit, located around an expensive golf course they 

will rarely play. But still, there are worse things to do with land than build 

golf courses — trees and grass don’t hurt much. 

Mt. Pleasant residents should hope that Roanoke County officials don’t 

notice them sitting out there with open land around…or there will be 

a permit to build a Wal-Mart issued so fast they’ll never know what hit 

them. 

This is offensive 

There was an interesting scene on the sidelines of the Virginia Tech vs. 

Ohio football game on Sept. 15. Athletic Director Jim Weaver, fresh off issuing 

his ridiculous injunction on the Marching Virginians’ percussion 

section for a cheer that one or two people may (or may not) have complained 

about, stood there while from the front row, just behind his left 

shoulder, some maroon-clad moron shouted absolute profanities toward 

opposing players and game officials. 

Rewind a bit: The Tech band plays a drum beat when the offense gets 

inside the opponent’s 20-yard-line, known as the red zone, exhorting the 

team to score a touchdown. The beat plays three repetitions, followed by 

a chant among Hokie faithful of “Stick it in! Stick it in! Stick it in!” 

Granted, they mean stick the ball in the end zone, and granted as well, 

it is a kitschy little double entendre, as college students often seem to enjoy. 

Big deal. It’s a college football game. The phrase is not dirty unless 

the listener chooses to interpret it that way. It’s not profane and it is not 

disrespectful to the opponent. 

I was all for Weaver’s attempt to quell booing. Booing is classless. 

Chanting to your own offense is not. 

But the things the fan at the Ohio game was shouting were classless, 

vulgar and offensive. There were children just a few feet from him. Yet no 

one did a thing about it. 

If Weaver wants to cut out offensive behavior, he needs to address real 

jerks like that — and there are plenty in every stadium I’ve ever been to 

for a game — and stop worrying about a band’s chant. 

Things in sports I could do without — a continuing series 

OK, show of hands, how many of you are going to scream the next time 

you hear “threw him under the bus” 

Fill in the pronoun of choice. It could be “threw you under the bus,” or 

“her,” “me” or even a proper or common noun. 

Enough with the bus. It’s played. 

It wasn’t that good of a quip when it was first coined, but it quickly became 

a cliché, and now it’s just a tired old remark. If that’s all the talking 

heads of television and radio can think to say, they need to have their 

creative license revoked. 

Coolspeak phrases like that usually come and go, fads of the moment, 

like the length of athletic shorts. So when is this thing going to go the way 

of the Britney Spears’ relevance and disappear 

Also on the list of things that were never as interesting as intended, 

but are now just uberannoying, are those robot graphics Fox Sports uses. 

They are supposed to look like the Terminator, or something similar, and 

look like cyber warriors. Of course I’m speculating on what they’re supposed 

to be and why. It’s just guesswork, really, because I don’t know why 

a television network as big as Fox uses such cheesy graphics. It makes no 

sense. 

Why not just get old video of cylons in Battlestar Galactica and superimpose 

them with a football or hockey stick. That blue light going back 

and forth would look pretty cool in a cage-style goalie helmet. 

Memo to 3 Daughters Media 

I’ll be happy to continue to listen to ESPN Radio on the stations you 

now own, but could you please make this possible by maintaining a 

signal without constant eruptions of static or those strange, rumbling 

buzzes


FACILITIES 

Rural community knows how to get it done 

by Christian Moody 

WHEN SOMETHING NEEDS 

to be done in Craig County, 

people figure out if they’ve 

go the wherewithal to do it. Do 

they have the location The resources 

The money 

About 15 years ago, a track was 

built behind Craig County High 

School — in one day. All of the labor, 

all of the material and all of 

the equipment were donated. The 

track cost the school nothing. 

Craig County residents know 

not to ask the county government 

for favors. The budget is small, the 

tax-base smaller, and paying for 

the school system, landfill and the 

few other services takes up most of 

the money left in a county with no 

stoplights, one incorporated town 

of less than 300 residents, millions 

of trees and two-thirds of its land 

belonging to the U.S. Forest Service, 

which pays no property tax. 

So when residents wanted a 

place for their kids to play ball that 

was similar to sports complexes 

in Salem and Botetourt County, it 

was up to them. 

Thus the Craig County Recreation 

and Conservation Association 

was born. 

Now, the “Field of Dreams,” as 

it’s called, is a goal the CCRCA is 

trying to achieve. It will be a new 

complex of athletic fields that will 

coach Tom Coughlin is involved, 

calling him a tough “one-size-fitsall” 

coach that wouldn’t cut him 

any slack in practices when his 

body began aching more as an aging 

veteran. 

“It got played up in New York 

that I retired because of Tom 

Coughlin…or because I was tired 

of being beat up. It’s a confluence 

of a lot of things,” Barber says. 

But football was never going to 

be all that Barber was about and 

he turned in his uniform after the 

2006 season following a 10-year 

NFL career. He lives in Manhattan 

with his wife, Ginny, his sweetheart 

since college, and their two 

young sons. Barber’s elaborate 

“crib” was featured on a halftime 

show last year. He’s now a correspondent 

for NBC’s Today show 

and a studio host on that network’s 

Sunday Night Football telecast. 

Craig County has no stoplights, millions of trees, and 

two-thirds of its land belongs to the U.S. Forest Service 

allow recreational teams from 

Craig to practice and host home 

games. 

The CCRCA’s complex is in the 

final planning stages. The last permits 

were expected to be approved 

and signed in late September. All 

that’s left to do is build it. 

Problem is, that might be the 

hardest part. It’s certainly the 

most expensive, and money is not 

exactly lying around. There are no 

large treasure chests of cash waiting 

for a good project. 

Tracy Surface, the chairwoman 

of the CCRCA, said the overall 

cost of the project, if fully funded, 

would be between $600,000 and 

$700,000. That’s if everyone who 

works on the project is paid. 

Barber 

From Page 10 One of his first assignments for 

Today was at Virginia Tech after 

the April 16 shootings. 

Even though the Barbers have 

no formal ties here any more 

— Geraldine moved out of the 

valley after she retired from her 

Roanoke County administrative 

job a few years ago — Barber came 

back in the middle of September 

at the behest of his friend and former 

UVa teammate, Walt Derey, 

who is part of the Valley Forward 

movement. 

That group — led by local businessman 

John Lugar — wants to 

keep more young professionals 

here in the valley and held a Sept. 

13 forum where people could 

mingle with local government 

and civic leaders, asking questions 

about the valley’s future. 

Barber came in as keynote 

speaker to talk about how the Roanoke 

area had shaped him, how 

important it is to build a sense of 

But in Craig County, volunteerism 

is not only alive and well, it’s 

essential. Plans are in place for 

heavy equipment to be used to 

clear the site, near the campus the 

three county schools share about 

two miles east of New Castle on 

Virginia 615. 

The land is already deeded to 

the CCRCA, purchased from Glen 

Whitlow. 

Volunteers have agreed to clear 

the land, grade it and prepare it to 

be ball fields. 

Like other sports complexes, 

four diamonds will radiate from a 

central hub. 

One will be a regulation baseball 

field with 90-foot baselines 

and a grass infield. Another will be 

community here. 

One of those looking on at a news 

conference before the forum was 

Steve Spangler, now 

the principal at Cave 

Spring High School. 

He was Tiki and 

Ronde’s head coach 

at the Southwest Roanoke 

County school in 

the early ’90s. 

“Any time he comes 

home it brings back 

memories,” Spangler 

says. “Those guys have 

Bill Turner 

amazed me from when 

they were in high 

school,” he recalls of 

the Barber twins. “The 

sky was the limit. Every time you 

thought they got to one plateau 

they moved it up another notch.” 

Spangler remembers Barber as 

being “very highly motivated” in 

high school. “I’m just as proud as 

I can be of them. I knew they were 

Donna Earwood 

a regulation softball field with 300- 

foot fences, while the other two 

will be for t-ball or little leagues 

with 200-foot fences. 

A football field will be laid out in 

the outfield of the baseball field. 

Gene Hannah is heading an action 

committee that’s selling firewood 

as a fundraiser. Hannah’s 

group will raise money earmarked 

for fuel for the heavy equipment 

that will be donated. 

The CCRCA raised money the 

past two years raffling off a new 

Ford pick-up truck. The drawing 

this year will be at the Craig County 

Fall Festival on Oct. 13. 

The CCRCA is also looking for 

sponsorships and grants. The state 

has offered a $25,000 matching 

grant. 

Still, it’s a long way from the 

total amount needed to build the 

fields, the fences, the central tower 

and, ultimately, the lights that will 

stand over the fields. 

Surface said while the work of 

Hannah, Mac McCaleb and other 

volunteers is beyond value, the 

money trickles in. The project 

will be a pay-as-you-go effort that 

might take years to complete, but 

it’s going to be done with sweat, 

with community, with volunteerism, 

and without debt. 

Craig County residents know 

how to get it done, even if they 

have to do it themselves. 

special athletes.” 

Being considered a special 

athlete obviously meant something 

to the proud 

and ambitious man 

known simply as Tiki 

to many in the game. 

Single-name athletes 

like Tiger, Peyton and 

Michael are in a separate 

category from the 

mainstream. 

“I didn’t want to be 

the guy who not only 

was hearing from other 

people but was saying 

to myself, ‘I’m not 

Tiki Barber the same anymore.’ So 

I walked away while I 

still could, at the top of my game.” 

After all, whether it’s broadcasting 

or another profession — Barber 

hints in the book that politics 

are one future possibility — there 

are plenty of playing fields left to 

conquer.


Staton 

From Page 12 

“It was late in the spring of my 

senior year and I got a letter from 

Coach, and I decided I might as 

well look at VMI,” she recalls. “My 

dad and my uncle both graduated 

from VMI so I knew a little about 

it already. I went there and I liked 

it the most of all the schools I had 

seen.” 

And Staton took to the lifestyle, 

so much in fact, that she now plans 

on commissioning in the Navy after 

she graduates. Ultimately, she 

would like to go to flight school, 

and that goal is within her reach 

as long as she keeps her grades up 

and keeps building on the foundation 

VMI establishes in all cadets. 

It’s particularly tough on women, 

though, with less than 100 females 

among the 1,300 total Keydets. 

A lot of the women there are 

athletes, too, trying to build VMI’s 

fledgling women’s programs 

against great odds at the Division 

I level. 

“We have to recruit student-athletes 

that are strong academically 

and interested in what VMI has to 

offer,” says Williams, who seems 

to be getting pretty good at finding 

those recruits. He has five sophomores 

and six freshmen among 

his small, 16-player roster, part of 

the team’s challenge going against 

larger programs with many more 

experienced players. 

“VMI teaches you to keep at it 

and never give up,” says Staton. 

“I’m really glad to be part of this 

team. We only have two seniors 

but I think everyone has picked up 

a leadership role at times to make 

it work.” 

Staton is learning about leadership, 

too, already an Echo Company 

corporal in the Corps of Cadets. 

Like all the cadets, she went 

through the Rat Line her freshman 

season, the baptism of fire 

that makes or breaks a VMI man 

or woman. 

“That’s the toughest thing I’ve 

ever gone through,” she says. “It 

was pretty hard. That and getting 

used to so many new things can be 

overwhelming. Just learning the 

rules like how to wear a uniform, 

how to march, just the military 

lifestyle.” 

Staton says being part of a team 

within the corps helped, but despite 

what outsiders might think, 

she says her fellow females at the 

Institute are tougher on each other 

than even the men. 

“Most of the girls give each other 

a harder time at VMI,” she says. 

“I guess because it’s so hard for us. 

If one of us messes up, then the 

corps kind of looks at us as one so 

we have to make sure that the girls 

remain in good standing.” 

But Staton’s freshman season 

was tougher for other reasons, too. 

An ankle injury kept her out of all 

but seven games and the competitor 

in her ached. She hurt more this 

preseason — a recurrence of the 

ankle injury and a chronic stomach 

problem sidelined her for the 

season-opening win over Howard, 

and she came off the bench against 

The Citadel. 

Ultimately, one in a long line of 

doctors finally figured out Staton 

had developed lactose intolerance. 

Dairy is out of her diet, the ankle is 

better and Staton has been back in 

the starting lineup ever since. 

With her back on the backline 

and with a big assist from the 

freshmen goalkeeping duo of Angela 

Redmond and Heidi Beemer, 

the Keydets allowed just two goals 

in the next four games, Williams’ 

plans are coming together. He 

loves Staton using her offensive 

skills from the backfield to bring 

the ball forward and initiate offense. 

Mom, becoming quite the soccer 

aficionado, enjoys Staton’s 

game, too. She rarely misses a VMI 

contest, and all that while she and 

Staton’s stepfather, Kirk Morgan, 

coordinate the sports schedules 

of Staton’s younger sister and two 

brothers. 

Key 

From Page 13 

“I never really realized how 

much work they had to do getting 

me everywhere all the time until I 

got to college,” Staton says. “They 

come to every single one of my 

home games and most of the away 

games they can get to.” 

Staton has extensive future travel 

plans, too. She’s planning on naval 

flight school, and that makes 

sense. Her career is just starting to 

take off. 

it made sense to honor George,” 

says Key. Hawkins and Preas were 

once teammates. 

Unfortunately, Preas was in 

poor health and unable to attend. 

He was represented by his wife, 

B.J. Preas, who accepted the honor 

for her husband. It was by far 

the most touching meeting ever 

held by the sports club. B.J. Preas’ 

acceptance speech was from the 

heart, Key says, and she still get 

accolades for the words she uttered 

that night. 

Key’s son, Phillip, Jr., like his 

father, played football at Hampden-Sydney 

where he started at 

running back. 

His daughters, Rachel Boyer 

and Shelley Blackwell, live in 

Danville. Blackwell was a teen 

tennis star with a state ranking. 

He has four grandsons, all of 

whom have played the violin since 

they were 5 years old. The oldest, 

Delos Boyer, plays in a concert 

orchestra using a violin that belonged 

to his great-great-grandfather. 

Key’s granddaughter, Lucy 

Blackwell, “is only 4 and has her 

own violin,” Key says proudly. 

Delos, who stands 6’5”, is projected 

to grow another three inches 

and wears a size-16 shoe. He 

might be a major player in Division 

I athletics. 

Boyer plays on the George Washington 

High School junior varsity 

football team in Danville. He also 

will play basketball, probably on 

the varsity level. Amazingly, in 

this day of early recruiting, Boyer 

has received no attention despite 

making excellent grades. 

Though Key is beyond conventional 

retirement age, he’s still one 

of the busiest men in Roanoke. 

After a 36-year career working for 

IBM, he retired in 1992 and entered 

into a partnership with an 

associate in Florida. 

“We have computer software 

that permits large manufacturing 

companies to use energy more effectively,” 

he says. “It’s like getting 

better gas mileage.” 

With the new sports club year 

just getting underway, it’s going 

to be interesting to see what else 

Key comes up with for the board 

to consider. 

It’s safe to assume he’s not out of 

ideas. 

(Bob Teitlebaum is also a member 

of the Roanoke Valley Sports 

Club’s board of directors.) 

Deans 

From Page 18 

two states,” he ticks off effortlessly. 

Deans, now 59, was once a backup 

guard for the Patriots, who went to 

the state AAA final in 1966 when 

he was a junior. Coming back to 

coach his alma mater was always 

a goal. “Patrick Henry’s been my 

life.” 

Deans has never looked back 

and says he knew when it was time 

to quit coaching. The only time he 

misses it is while he is watching a 

game and formulating strategy. 

“How I would have liked to have 

done things, in order to stop one 

great player, like a J.J. Redick.” 

Deans says he was the master 

of “junk defenses” when he was 

coaching. 

In 1988, the Patrick Henry Patriots 

played and beat Washington, 

D.C., powerhouse DeMatha at the 

Roanoke Civic Center, in front of 

the largest crowd ever to see a high 

school game in Virginia. The attendance 

was “9,632 fans,” recalls 

Deans. That game led to a series 

of basketball extravaganzas that 

he helped organize for years at 

the Salem Civic Center. In recent 

times, a game between Oak Hill 

and Redick’s Cave Spring Knights 

packed the arena. 

Now Deans has jumped back 

in the fray with next February’s 

Member One Valley Shootout, 

which features Hidden Valley 

High School boys’ and girls’ 

teams, Salem High School and a 

pair of military academies. Local 

amateur coach and scout Steve 

Myers, whom Deans knew when 

both worked for the Dazzle, enlisted 

his help. 

“I really wasn’t looking to get 

back into it, [but] he’s a basketball 

nut,” he says of Myers, who has 

contacts that helped recruit teams 

for the first Shootout. 

“I’ve known him for years,” says 

Myers of Deans in return. “His experience 

with putting on tournaments 

has been a big plus.” 

The Salem Kiwanis Club is pitching 

in and West Virginia attorney 

Scott Long is a co-sponsor. Long’s 

son plays for Hargrave Military, 

which battles Massanutten in the 

last game on Feb. 2. 

“I’m the kind of guy that likes 

to stay busy,” understates Deans. 

“I’m just loving life right now.”


LEGENDS OF THE GAMES 

Deans: ‘Patrick Henry’s been my life’ 


WE’VE ALL SEEN THOSE 

commercials with actor 

Dennis Hopper, declaring 

that retirement isn’t just about riding 

off into the sunset anymore, 

sitting in a 

rocker on the 

front porch as 

the rest of the 

Legends of 

the Games 

Thirty-eighth in a Series 

world whizzes 

by at a faster pace. 

Woody Deans has taken that to 

heart: since he retired three years 

ago, the former two-time Group 

AAA state championship basketball 

coach at Patrick Henry High 

School has stayed very involved 

with athletics there. He announces 

football and basketball games on 

the public address system, along 

with handling some supervisory 

chores, the five-year part-time 

work that comes 

with an early retirement 

package. 

That’s not all 

Deans has been up 

to. He works parttime 

in the golf 

pro shop at Hanging 

Rock with his 

friend, Billy Mc- 

Bride, Jr., and also 

helps out former 

Roanoke Catholic 

basketball player 

Kevin Dill at the 

p r o m o t i o n - o r i - 

ented Adventures 

in Advertising in 

downtown Roanoke. 

Local recreation 

teams and schools are among his 

clients. 

“Very flexible, that’s why I like 

working here,” says Deans of the 

Franklin Road firm. “If I want to 

go play golf, I go play golf.” 

That job at Hanging Rock allows 

Deans to play three to four rounds 

of golf a week. He’ll only admit that 

his handicap “has come down” 

since he left PH. 

A growing passion and the extra 

time to practice golf have led to his 

participation in the Roanoke Valley 

Senior Tour, now in its second 

year. Deans has notched one win 

(gross score) and a second place. 

“I was very proud [of the win at 

Draper Valley],” he adds. Not having 

to put in “those 13-, 14-hour 

days,” like he did at Patrick Henry 

has been good for his game. 

Basketball has never strayed far 

from Deans’ heart; he spent two 

years on the game-day staff of the 

Roanoke Dazzle, calling the action 

for others that recorded the stats. 

“It was a perfect fit for me because 

I knew basketball,” says 

Woody Deans retired as Patrick Henry’s AD three years ago and now 

handles PA duties for football and basketball, among other activities 

Deans of working with the nowdefunct 

professional team. Last 

year he operated the clock on 

games at Roanoke College and 

he may do that at the Salem Civic 

Center this winter. And he’s now 

the co-founder of a high school 

basketball event, the Member One 

Valley Shootout, which debuts in 

February. 

His eyes well up easily when 

thinking about the time his wife, 

Suzy, baked brownies for the PH 

basketball teams — when they 

won. Brownies in part fueled state 

titles when future NBA player 

George Lynch was there (1988) and 

when Curtis Staples helped shoot 

the Patriots to the championship 

four years later. “If I’d known I was 

going to be so successful I’d have 

bought stock in Duncan Hines,” 

Deans laughs. 

Thinking about their daughters, 

Jenny and Kristie, also brings out 

the sentimentality in Deans. It 

probably doesn’t hurt that Kristie 

works at the Congressional Country 

Club in Maryland, which hosted 

Tiger Woods’ 

invitational tournament 

this summer. 

She got her father 

tickets to the 

event after Deans 

had seen Woods 

perform at Pinehurst 

previously. 

Ironically, the 

Deans family lived 

in the Cave Spring 

area while their 

daughters grew 

up; one time he 

encouraged Jenny 

Bill Turner photos 

to go sit with the 

Knights’ faithful in 

the student cheering 

section when 

he coached against them. 

“I will, but I really want you 

to win,” she told him under her 

breath. 

Of the new PH football stadium 

and gymnasium, 

which he 

helped design 

with architect 

Richard Rife, 

the former health and physical 

education teacher declares, “I am 

so thrilled that Roanoke City has 

finally done something first class 

in the area of athletics and facilities. 

I’m happy for the kids and the 

teams.” 

In the new gym, Deans worked 

with Rife to design space behind 

the player benches so people won’t 

walk in front of them (a pet peeve 

while he was coaching) and suggested 

where the officials’ locker 

rooms should be placed. 

“It’s first class,” reiterates Deans, 

who sat down with Rife a halfdozen 

times or more to go over the 

plans. “He came back and came 

back. What we talked about…it’s 

in there.” 

That includes new weight-lifting 

and training rooms, more space 

in locker rooms and extra storage, 

plus an indoor running track. 

Deans was athletic director for 

seven years after ending his run of 

25 years as a basketball coach and 

PE teacher. 

“You just couldn’t handle both,” 

he says about the prospect of 

coaching and being athletic director 

at the same time. “Not at a 

Triple A school.” 

He started coaching at Jackson 

Middle School, then coached the 

last-ever Jefferson junior varsity 

team in 1973-’74. When Jefferson 

High School varsity coach Dick 

Kepley went to PH, he took Deans 

along. Deans coached the JV team 

for nine years and then the varsity 

for 13 after Kepley left. 

“Six districts, four regionals and 

See DEANS, Page 17


Headlines you’ve missed that I will miss 

SIDELINES 

by Mike 

Ashley 

AS A PRACTICING JOURNAList, 

I have been remiss in not 

mentioning the passing of 

the Weekly World News, a longtime 

staple of the grocery-store checkout 

experience. 

The WWN printed its last issue 

in late August (though it’ll continue 

online, but that doesn’t help me while I’m on line at the grocery 

store). And I would have brought this up sooner but I was temporarily 

kidnapped by aliens who looked like Bigfoot but gave me a wondrous 

diet plan imparted to them four years ago by Elvis, who is alive and well, 

and living in Tazewell. 

I already miss the WWN, if for no other reason than I can only take so 

many checkout publications with Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and 

Paris Hilton on the cover. Them, I’ve heard enough from. Give me more 

Loch Ness Monster stories or tales of bat-boys or half-humans or enchiladas 

that look like The Pope. Come to think of it, I had a burrito at El 

Rodeo last week that looked just like The Pope’s hat. 

Fortunately, I had been looking ahead to this sad time in the Fourth Estate 

when the WWN was snatched away from us. See, I collect headlines 

and story ideas from many publications because I never know when the 

Play by Play October deadline is gonna sneak up on me and I can’t write 

another word about Barry Bonds or Michael Vick or Bill Belichick or 

Tim Donaghy. 

So I reached into that musty desk drawer this week and unearthed 

some gems I had been saving from all over, and some of them even have 

something to do with sports. Let’s go chronologically and add a WWN 

headline: 

Schools Not For Swingers Anymore 

Schools in Broward County, Fla., have posted “No Running” signs on 

their playgrounds. Swings, merry-go-rounds and any other equipment 

with moving parts have been eliminated as a result of $561,000 paid out 

to settle 189 claims of playground injuries. What does that leave on the 

playground Grass 

Maybe I was a more diligent kid than those we have today but I always 

assumed the risk of hopping on the Jungle Gym or parking my carcass 

in the swing. Have you looked at kids today We need them to step away 

from the Happy Meal and get out and run. 

Baby Born with Soccer Ball for Head 

Nine months after Germany hosted the World Cup, births were up 10 to 

15 percent in the country. The event, described as a month-long party in 

the (now literal) Fatherland, was more than the soccer-crazed Germans 

could handle. “The excitement they felt during the matches seems to have 

lasted and been employed in other ways after the final whistles.” 

The German team was a surprise, reaching the semifinals before 

Italy gave them the boot. But not before the happy Germans got their 

NEW FROM MOUNTAIN DEW 

Introducing Mountain 

Dew Game Fuel, 

the same Mountain Dew flavor 

with a blast of citrus cherry 

and 30% more caffeine for 

a unique and invigorating 

taste. 

 

corner kicks. 

STEVIE WONDER BAGS 10-POINT BUCK 

In April, the Texas legislature planned to “make it easier for the blind to 

hunt with guns.” As good an idea as this sounds on paper, what it means 

is that Texas is easing a ban on laser-sights on high-powered rifles, “a hindrance 

to blind hunters, who generally ‘sight’ their targets by having a 

friend tell them where to aim.” There’s a Dick Cheney joke in here somewhere, 

but I don’t play partisan punch lines. 

Rep. Edmund Kuempel said this measure “will get more blind people 

back into the outdoors,” something I don’t have a problem with as long as 

they’re not pointing a gun my way. 

Sales of Braille orange jackets are said to be brisk in the Panhandle. 

Trappist Monk Little League Team Wins Local Title 

Cincinnati Little Leaguers have been banned from traditional baseball 

“chatter” unless it’s “positive in nature.” 

“No batter, no batter” and “Saaa-wing, batter” have been banned on 

the playing fields because, well, some kids can’t hit a baseball. Which is 

probably the reason I’m sitting here typing this instead of playing in the 

big leagues. I don’t blame the host of outfielders who crept in closer and 

the third basemen who heckled me, but apparently I could now contact 

my attorneys and seek legal action against them. 

To help, though, here’s a new politically correct cheer for Cincinnati 

Little Leaguers: “We want a pitcher, not an underwear-stitcher…unless of 

course you aspire to a career in high fashion or something like that, and 

then it’s just fine with us, Hey.” 

Dancing While Seeing Stars 

A Chicago woman plans to sue her dance partner for “negligent dancing.” 

The woman was apparently grabbed by the arms and tossed in the 

air by an “overenthused” co-worker at an office party, and she suffered a 

fractured skull. 

Reportedly, the man has counter-sued Arthur Murray. 

I knew I was in trouble the last time I was in a club and I asked a girl to 

dance, and she had me sign a release form. 

Attorneys for Britney Spears are monitoring the situation closely, too, 

after her negligent dancing effort on MTV’s Video Music Awards show. 

VIRGINIA IS FOR GANG-BANGERS 

Virginia’s new tourism campaign, “Live Passionately,” was accompanied 

with a logo featuring a pair of hands with thumbs and forefingers 

forming a heart. Unfortunately, this sign is already known widely as the 

symbol representing Chicago’s notorious gang, the Gangster Disciples. 

To make it up to the street gang-bangers, they’ve been invited for a 

weekend in Williamsburg to hang with the colonials, walk the meancobblestone 

streets and sell Jimmy Crack Corn to the locals. 

I tell you, a couple of hits of Jimmy Crack Corn, and I don’t care.

20 PLAY BY PLAY OCTOBER 1, 2007

Vol. 3, No. 15, October 1, 2007 - Play by Play

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