Josh Hailey
Josh Hailey produces many WRAL shows and also shoots many events in the market.
By Josh Hailey
Oct 5, 2009
Man I miss those mighty Seminoles. That speed, skill, and strength that used to overwhelm anybody in their way. It seems like a lifetime since Florida State won the national title in 1999, and after another lackluster loss at Boston College that dropped the Noles to 2-3 on the season, it seems Bowden has finally lost support of the program he worked so hard to build.
Jim Smith, chairman of the FSU board of trustees told a local paper on Monday, "My hope is we'll go ahead, and if we have to, let the world know that this year will be the end of the Bowden era." In actuality the Bowden era has been over for about five years, and it's been sad to watch.
Bowden's teams have dropped games in recent years at places like Wake Forest and Maryland, progams the Noles used to beat by 50. It's gotten so bad that South Florida came into Tallahassee two weeks ago and stomped FSU on their home turf. The Seminoles have become a shell of the program that once looked like it would never lose a conference game.
What makes it so sad is that it's Bowden himself tearing down the program he worked so hard to build. They beat up on the conference for years, but they were like the ACC's big brother. They'd whip us, but they would also whip anybody who messed with us, wearing the ACC logo on their jerseys with pride. They made the conference legitimate and relevant, and they set a standard for every other team to shoot for.
Bowden has said recently that he will
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Jun 17, 2009
By deciding to play the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in back to back weeks at Pinehurst No.2 in 2014, the USGA has put itself in a very tight spot. This unprecedented double-header could go off without a hitch and be a huge success, but it could also blow up in the USGA.’s face.
It’s understandable why they would want to try it, with the economic value of staying put, and not having the expense of setting up two venues is extremely smart. Who knows what the economy will be like in five years, but it’s very forward-thinking by the USGA.. It’s also very exciting to see how the best players in the world in the men’s and women’s game would measure up against one another on the same track.
It would be cool to see how Tiger Woods plays the course one week, and then see Lorena Ochoa tackle the same layout the next. What if the men’s winning score is even par and then the ladies go low. Either way it will give the public a little bit of an idea how the best of the best in each gender measures up. It’s also very media friendly, instead of making two trips to different parts of the country, the golf media can settle in for about a three-week stretch.
Imagine how much easier that would be for a media outlet coming from Japan or Australia. As much sense as this all seems to make, there is a reason this has never been done before. Playing two majors within two weeks time puts tremendous pressure on the
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Apr 6, 2009
UCONN's A.J. Price takes the ball up and has to find an open man as Michigan State's Goran Suton throws up his arm during the first half of the Final Four opening game Saturday, April 4, 2009 in Detroit at the Ford Field.
Photo by Todd Melet
WRAL's Josh Hailey will be covering the game tonight. Here is his breakdown of the two teams.
Michigan State vs. North Carolina National Championship Match-up Breakdown
PG-Kalin Lucas(14.7 ppg, 4.6ast) vs. Ty Lawson(16.3ppg, 6.6ast)
This will be the most important head to head match-up of the game. Lucas was the Big Ten player of the year and Lawson the ACC player of the year. Lawson has been the tournament’s MVP by a mile through five games, and the big question is whether Lucas will be control his team’s tempo and make good decisions on when to run, and when to slow it down. Nobody has been able to stay in front of Lawson thus far, and he has been knocking down the three at a 60 percent clip, which makes him completely unstoppable. Lucas looked completely over-matched in the first meeting in December - he has improved but will it be enough?
Advantage Lawson
SG-Travis Walton(5.2ppg, 1.5spg) vs. Wayne Ellington(15.6ppg, 4.8rpg)
Walton is known as the Spartans defensive stopper, although he has come up with huge scoring games in the tournament. He will have his work cut out for him with Ellington, who was on fire in the semis against Villanova. Ellington has displayed the total
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Apr 3, 2009
For two days, I've been wondering, where are the people? Growing up a huge fan of college basketball and knowing how big an event this is I just assumed that it was nonstop excitement. Maybe the economy and the fact that Detroit is not exactly a popular tourist destination has kept folks from arriving early to soak in the experience.
Today the Final Four finally started to feel like the event that I've always imagined. Friday is the open practice day for the fans, many of whom won't be lucky enough to score a ticket for the actual games on Saturday and Monday.
Practice day has become it's own event, and with the Michigan State Spartans taking the floor first at noon Ford Field had a rock concert atmosphere. It actually looked like there were more people here for the Spartans practice than there were back when they hosted North Carolina here earlier in the season.
It's going to be one heck of a scene here Saturday evening when UConn has the unenviable task of trying to knock Michigan State out, they seem to have taken on the role of playing for the entire area that is suffering through very tough economic times right now. The Huskies are probably the better team, but when you make it this deep in the tourney the predictions are meaningless.
Speaking of the Huskies, maybe the only tasteless moment I've witnessed thus far was when Jim Calhoun was leaving the court after their practice session and a fan yelled "cheater!"
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
Mar 15, 2009
WRAL's Sports Managing Editor Dane Huffman believes that Duke, not North Carolina deserves the No. 1 seed next week in Greensboro because they could win the ACC tournament title, which would make them the true conference champ, and therefore deserving of staying home instead of the Tar Heels.
While Duke winning the ACC tournament would be a truly great achievement, it does not entitle them to a better seed than the Tar Heels. Dane points out that the official ACC champ is the tourney champ, and to the victor should go the spoils, but winning the tournament has never carried with it an automatic 1 seed to the big dance.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, NCAA seeding is based on each individual team's overall balance of work throughout the season, not three days in a conference tournament.
This argument could be a little more cloudy if these two teams hadn't played each other, and maybe if they only played once. But the fact is that UNC handled Duke both times, with the final game deciding the regular season championship, recognized by the league or not.
Carolina also has spent nine out of a possible 18 weeks ranked number one in the country. Compare that with Duke, which was atop the polls for just one week. The fact that the Tar Heels were able to sustain the losses of senior starter Marcus Ginyard, freshman all-american Tyler Zeller, and the mid-season suspension of William Graves only makes their season more impressive.
I
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Feb 26, 2009
Duke got knocked down…literally. With 15:46 left in the second half Maryland center Dave Neal, who looks more like a journeyman heavyweight boxer than a basketball player, delivered a vicious blind screen on Nolan Smith that sent Smith immediately into la-la land. The play continued, and with Smith on the ground wondering what city he was in, Neal knocked down a wide open 3 pointer to cut the Duke lead to 1, and send the crowd at the Comcast Center into hysteria.
How would Duke respond? It was one of those moments that defines a team, defines its identity. Would they allow the Terps to push them around the way they did North Carolina 4 days earlier?
The answer came swiftly, one possession later, and it was delivered by the Blue Devils’ true leader Gerald Henderson. Henderson drove right down the middle of the lane and delivered a punishing slam over 3 Terrapin defenders.
It was more than 2 points, more than just a dunk, it was a message. Henderson, who has been averaging 20 points per game in the month of February, was letting Maryland know that they weren’t going to knock one of his guys to the ground and get away with it.
Henderson’s toughness carried the Devils throughout the second half. With the game tied at 45, Henderson stopped a 2 on 1 fast break with a block. On the ensuing possession he buried an 18 foot fall away jumper for the lead. Then with the game tied at 60 he hit a 25 foot
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Feb 7, 2009
Miami Hurricanes you have been warned. There is a category 5 Blue Devil lurking in the Durham area scheduled to make landfall at 1:30p.m. Saturday afternoon.
The day is sure to be filled with sound and fury. Deafening noise from the Cameron Crazies, and suffocating inspired play from the Blue Devils will certainly swallow up the Hurricanes.
How can I be so sure of this you might ask? Especially fresh off the beating Duke absorbed at Clemson on Wednesday night. Not to mention that this has been about the time the last two Duke teams have swooned.
Also keep in mind this wasn’t just any loss, the 74-47 loss marked the worst defeat any Mike Krzyzewski team has suffered since the 101-71 loss UNLV laid on the Blue Devils in the 1990 NCAA championship game. That’s almost 20 years--Duke just doesn’t get dominated, ever.
This is exactly why Duke will bounce back. The humiliation the Devils endured in that UNLV loss laid the foundation for a different Duke mindset and style for the next 18 years. They became a tougher, grittier program, and have been pushing other teams around ever since.
Coach K is a master motivator, and the loss at Clemson, just like the loss in 1990 will only serve as fuel for the Blue Devils. Most of the players on this team were infants the last time this happened so maybe it's time to explain that loss and what it meant to the program.
Krzyzewski again will use the
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Josh Hailey
Dec 7, 2008
Time Warner Arena in Charlotte was packed and there was a buzz in the air. LeBron James, perhaps the best player on the planet, was in the house, but he wasn't playing. James, like everybody else was there to see scoring machine Stephen Curry, and Curry did not let the crowd or his team down. He was simply dazzling, scoring a career-high 44-points in another victory over a traditional power from a major conference.
The victim this time was N.C. State. The Wolfpack knew all about Curry coming in - who doesn't, right? Last season Curry missed a shot from half court at the buzzer to win in Raleigh. This season no desperation shot was needed - well, sort of. He showed the Pack his full arsenal again scoring on runners, three-pointers, and pull-up jumpers. The moment to remember was late in the second half with Davidson clinging to a one-point lead, and an airball got tipped outside to Curry about 35 feet from the basket. The shot clock was about to expire and without hesitation he launched a rainbow that of course hit nothing but net to seal the victory.
The shot was followed by a long, smiling stare at James who was out of his seat and onto the court with both hands raised in the air. Great players make those kind of shots in those kind of moments, and it was cool to watch LeBron look amazed at what Curry was doing on the court.
This is becoming routine for Curry. Last year I sat in the RBC
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
