Black and Gold NC

Vote for Jerry!

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Liberty Mutual has COACH Of The YEAR award for each NCAA division. Go to

http://www.coachoftheyear.com/

and vote for Jerry Moore. Liberty Mutual will donate $50,000 to the charity of his choice and $20,000 to the Appalachian State Alumni Association.

I think it's worth giving them your email address. I have Liberty Mutual and they have always done me right!

Stupid headlines from the W-S Journal

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 01:19:00 +0000

Don't get me wrong, I DO INDEED admire the Winston-Salem Journal. They consistantly report on the Mountaineers. For this they are to be commended.

But these 2 headlines just stink! ...

"Tar Heel defense difference in victory" http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/06/tar-heel-defense-difference-in-victory/
Oh yeah, like the Heels were so big and bad in defeating a bottom feeder of the SoCon. I wonder why Butch wouldn't schedule ... ummm ... an in-state foe - like maybe ASU or Elon?

Here's the other totally stupid headline...

"Richmond pulls shocker, knocks off Duke 24-16"
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/06/richmond-pulls-shocker-knocks-off-duke-24-16/
OK, really. Where's the shock value?

Armanti on the sidelines

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:19:00 +0000

Fan Fest was a ton o fun today! The weather held out and the event was very well attended.
There's Armanti on the sidelines with his crutches and big red and black shorts. He seemed to be smiling, so we'll take that as a good sign.

The Battle of The Beards

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:44:00 +0000

Need a couple of tickets to the ECU game? Here's a good deal...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320413828464#ht_600wt_1026

Armanti ROCKS

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:45:00 +0000

Way back in December, Armanti was on the Heisman Watch List. I have no idea about how such things work, but here's where our mighty QB ranks with the current Heisman Watch boys.

Junior, Armanti Edwards
5,293 yards for 43 touchdowns.
this year rushing - over 300

Current QB's on THE LIST:

Senior, Chase Daniel - Missouri
10,235 career yards 78 touchdowns
this year rushing - average, less than 10 yards per game

Sophomore, Sam Bradford - Oklahoma
5,173 yards for 59 touchdowns
this year rushing - I didn't do the math. It's negative figures.

Senior, Graham Harrell - Texas Tech
12,993 yards for 109 touchdowns
this year rushing - approximately 1 yard

Now, let's break it down to a state level and see how Armanti compares...

Junior, Cameron Sexton - UNC
1,409 yards for 7 touchdowns
this year rushing - pitiful
The Tar Heels should be very proud of their victory over McNesse State.

Senior, Patrick Pickney - East Carolina
2,571 for 18 touchdowns
this year rushing - around 50
Yes you are a worthy opponent and we welcome the opp to play you in 2009.

Freshman, Russell Wilson (not to be confused with the STAR ASU long snapper) - NC State
532 yards for 4 touchdowns
this year rushing - maybe 2 yds

Junior, Riley Skinner - Wake Forest University
5,415 for 28 touchdowns
this year rushing - around 70
I LOVE the Deacs. Riley can throw, but he can't run.

Junior, Thaddeus Lewis - Duke
5,535 for 39 touchdowns
this year rushing - less than Riley or Patrick.
I can't believe you beat JMU in the season opener.

Fair weather fans

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:43:00 +0000

Saturday 09/26/08

3:00pm - The burgers, beer and extra ice packs are in the cooler with all the ice from my ice maker dumped in.
3:10pm - My friend Bit shows up and loads said cooler along with my pile of stuff into the car. It's raining.

Bit: Are we stupid to do this?
Me: No.

3:15pm - We have gone 2 miles up Peacehaven Road and are getting onto 421. The windshield wipers are going strong.

Me: Ya know, my elbow really hurts today. If we hadn't told the Fitz's we were coming to their house to tailgate and if you hadn't told Charles he could have the extra 2 tickets, I would say let's bag the game today.
Bit: I'm pretty sure the Fitz's wouldn't mind. They can go out to eat. Heck, they have 2 teenage boys, it's not like they don't have food in the house and they are betting on our burgers. And Charles, ppht, he can buy tickets at the gate.

3:18pm - We exit onto Lewisville-Clemmons Road.

Me: Hello Fitz? Would you think we are horrible people and call an end to our friendship if we bagged coming to Boone today? My elbow hurts and it's raining and whine, whine, whine.
Fitz: Hahaha! Nah, that's ok. We'll see ya'll next week.
Bit: Charles, you will have to find other tickets to the game or just take your date out to dinner. We're not coming.

3:20pm - Heading back into Winston-Salem.

Me: I think a beer would make my arm feel better.
Bit: The Wake game starts at 3:30. We could go watch the game and eat bar food and drink beer.
Me: Let's go to that kinda new sports bar on Robinhood. I haven't been there yet.

5:00pm - Sitting in Beef O'Brady's polishing off our second beer and wiping the hot sauce off our lips.

Me: What is wrong with the Deacs? I want to go home and take a nap before our game.
Bit: Four turnovers is enough for me.
Me: Check please.

Yosef's alternative to SOLD OUT

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:12:00 +0000

So it seems that this Saturday's game is completely sold out and, more importantly, HOMECOMING is sold out. If you are interested in these games you need to email me at blackandgoldnc@gmail.com. I have four season tickets, two of which I am offering up for sale for both games. These tickets are located in the west side (the APP side) stands around the 30ish yard line.

Here's the deal...I will sell these tickets for pretty much face value - $60.00 for both. If we get into a bidding war, the tickets remain $60 but the winning bidder will be the individual that agrees to write the biggest check to The Yosef Club. (I will require said individual to hand me the check before the game(s) which, I will in turn submit promptly to the Yosef Club.) The winner gets the tax benefit of contributing to a worthy cause AND the benefits of Yosef Club membership.

Too much information

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:55:00 +0000

So my surgery is scheduled for tomorrow at 2:45 pm. That's almost THREE O'CLOCK in the AFTERNOON and I can not eat or drink (well, I can drink water before 6:00 am) ANYTHING after midnight TONIGHT. I'm thinking I might be a wee bit grumpy tomorrow.

So...I just added panic to my already anxious state by googling "arthroscopic elbow surgery". Why did I do this?!? I think that sometimes, what we don't know is better than what we do know.

Improved Stadium

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:20:00 +0000

I really love the new view from my seats and I'm very excited by the fact we had record attendance yesterday!

Tough Skinny QB

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:08:00 +0000

Here is the scanned (because I couldn't find the actual on SI's website) picture of the title page of this weeks print version of Sports Illustrated.

I'm kind-of thinking it might hurt, just a little bit, when a brute 20 lbs (but really probably 30 lbs) heavier tries to knock your block off. Kudos to Armanti for hanging onto the football!

I can't wait until Saturday! I'll get to try out my new tailgate grill.

Putting it in perspective

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:06:00 +0000

At some point over the last couple of days I convinced myself that losing to LSU at DEATH VALLEY by 28 points was not necessarily a black eye to the Mountaineers. I thought I was being somewhat of a Pollyanna until I researched their box scores from the 2007 season. The Tigers beat the ACC's (I'm not saying the ACC is a football conference) Virginia Tech by 41 points.

I'm happy to see that the Mountaineers maintain our #1 position this week!

I'm not amused with the irony of my football weekend

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:40:00 +0000

If you look at the score in my previous post and know the score of the Appalachian State v LSU game (links intentionally not included) you will realize why the only picture I will share is a "pretty" one of the LSU band.
To add insult to injury...we werekicked out of our swank Canal Street hotel this morning (thank you Gustov) and we're slumming it at a Quality Inn Roach Motel in Baton Rouge. Hopefully our flight really will leave in the morning and I can get back to civilization.

Go Deacs!

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:32:00 +0000

The Bears were no match for Riley Skinner and company!

Guess which city I'm in

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Actually this picture was taken last night. If you guessed New Orleans, you are wrong. This lovely store is

in a strip center (no pun intended) located in Dallas.

I'm in Waco now getting ready to go see the Deacs.

OK. What is up with this stupid storm? Are we going to have a football game on Saturday? Am I going to get bumped from my flight to NO?

Football Vacation Eve Eve

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:09:00 +0000

Saturday was a ZOO in Boone! Traffic was horrific and the campus bookstore was over run with students trying to get their books. (I wonder...does ASU still have a book rental system? Surely there is a better way for distribution! Why make them stand in horrendous lines? That's such a waste of precious time! Why don't they deliver the textbooks to each professor and he/she can pass the books out on the first day of class?)

Anywho, I really couldn't handle the crowd so I marched to town for my would be game-wear purchases. In addition to my gold visor (from Appalachian T's) I picked up a preppy Big A belt and, following App Fan's advise, got this t (at Mast Store).

My cashier at The Mast Store was a delightful young man who is leaving Boone on Friday (after class) and driving (in a car that doesn't have cruise control) to Baton Rouge for the game. OK... I'm glad I'm in my 40's and can travel in comfort.

My lame picture of the west side stands. For good and thorough pics check here.

Here's a question...why don't we pressure wash the cement at the base of the stands? Seems to me that white would be better than ecru.

What shall I wear???

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:11:00 +0000

I have planned to go to Boone on Saturday because I REALLY want to pick up a white Appalachian State t and visor (I'm thinking white will be better than black in the sweltering Baton Rouge heat). But, OH MY! App Fan is calling us to wear BLACK. I guess I'll go with it - there's no Gorton's Fisherman logo on this one so I'm ok. Still, I need new whities so I will stick with the original plan to head up the mountain.

You will probably want to pick up a copy of the Winston-Salem Journal on Friday. There will be a special sports section on college football. No doubt the Mountaineers and Armanti will get some significant, and well deserved, ink!

Front and center of the Journal's sports page today was a nice article on T.J. Courman. I really like this picture of him because he is the visual embodiment of the true scholar-athlete. (I wonder if they only have one black and gold necktie and every player passes it along when they finish having their picture made. Or, do you get your tie issued when you sign up? Is it issued along with your jersey?)

Football Vacation

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:41:00 +0000

It is a scant nine days before the official black and gold football vacation. I can hardly wait! Here's the schedule along with the associated costs. (I'm always about a bargain!)

August 27: FLY from GSO to DFW (the Big D). Cost: $0.00 (frequent flyer points)
HOTEL: 2 rooms at the Hyatt Suites. Cost: $0.00 (hotel points)

August 28: DRIVE to Wacky Waco to watch Wake Forest take on Baylor. (not sure of the cost of
rental car and gas)
GAME TICKETS: Cost: don't know, I didn't pay for them.
HOTEL: 2 rooms at the Marriott Courtyard in Waco. Cost: $0.00 (hotel points)

August 29: DRIVE back to Dallas, return rental car and hop on a Southwest flight to
NEW ORLEANS. Cost: $108.83 per person
HOTEL: The Sheraton on Canal Street. Cost: $74.00 per night (thank you Priceline)

August 30: DRIVE to Death Valley to watch the Mountaineers take on the Tigers. Cost: gas and
rental car.
YOSEF CLUB TAILGATE Cost: $60.00 for 2 people
GAME TICKETS: $90.00 for 2 people
HOTEL: Back to NO for another night at the Sheraton. Cost: $74.00

August 31: FLIGHT back to GSO. Cost: $0.00 (frequent flyer miles again)

The proud aunt thing

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:27:00 +0000

I missed Fan Fest and the scrimmage. (Apparently the event didn't rate coverage with the Winston-Salem Journal or WXII-12. What a bummer!) I am being overly cautious and very diligent in my efforts to not only rehab the elbow, but also get rid of a nasty sinus and ear infection before THE FOOTBALL VACATION. More on that event later.

My youngest M & M (nephew) is quite the racing stud. I just sent him a text message to see if he is planning to cycle in the 2012 Olympics. No response thus far.

I sort of think I have somewhat ARRIVED in the sports arena. The "hey big guys" at my office have invited me to join their Fantasy Football league. I'm totally at a loss but I'm going to play. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

I think our women's soccer uniforms look awesome! (Are they new? - don't follow soccer so I don't know) It's a shame we lost to the Waker but I feel certain the Lady Mountaineers will improve as the season progresses.

Dissed? What's in an A?

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:07:00 +0000

When I went to my mailbox this evening I found, amongst the bills and insurance statements, 2 great things. My big fluffy envelope from the Yosef Club and the Sports Illustrated 2008 College Football Preview.

After thrashing into and through my Yosef Club envelope, I was pleased to discover my 4 season ticket cards and my 2 LSU tickets but my heart sank when I saw that my Justice Lot parking pass was no longer. I am now relegated to Raley Lot. I can't feel dissed and I can only be happy that so many Mountaineers have stepped up their contributions to our school and our sports programs. I should have pumped up my giving to Yosef this year but the thoughts of potentially losing my job ruled out over football.

Sports Illustrated... well of course they think of 1A (aka FBS) as the ONLY Division 1 (they gave Armanti no love on their Heisman Watch - I would put a link to that flawed editorial blurb, but SI is seriously slow [probably because they are owned by the Communist News Network] in putting current editorial on their website). So... I am forced to put this much superior link). At least they gave us some props...

..."That was the day defending 1AA champion Appalachian State - perfectly executing a spread-option offense...knocked off the fifth-ranked Michigan Wolverines in the Big House." {well, I wouldn't call the second half perfect but we performed good enough}

..."Rush Hour Jackson made Michigan pay"... {'nough said}

..."And the Tigers' next opponent? It's three time Division 1-AA national champion Appalachian State, which stunned Michigan in the first week of last season." {Thanks for the kind words Mr Mandel but we do not wish to rely on our past accomplishments.}

Bands are very important - at least the ASU band is

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:18:00 +0000

I was most pleased to see that goasu.com is telling us that a scant 80 members of North Carolina's Band of Distinction will be representing us at LSU.

I have often made comments to my friends that a mere 50, or 40, or 30, or 20 of our band members could and would outplay a competitors' entire band. I could not be more pleased to know that we will have the Marching Mountaineers with us in Baton Rouge!

Back in the day (that would be the 1979-1980 season) when beasley and brown ruled the turf, i was, for one season only, a lowly member of the band - we're talking 3rd trumpet. Back then us freshman had to learn the BAND CHEER or we were threatened with a toss in the duck pond. Now I sit behind the band at THE ROCK and I'm saddened to say that I have yet to hear "its skidely, ooten booten...".

It's difficult not to get overly confident

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:15:00 +0000

Front page of the Winston-Salem Journal sports page today is yet another great article by Tommy Bowman. I just don't understand this comment..."Coaches all say this once was a very top-heavy league, with a couple of teams at the top every year and then everybody else just fighting to survive," Lembo said. "It's kind of shifted. Now you have all these teams fighting to be at the top and very few at the bottom. It was exciting to be part of that last year and hopefully we can maintain that." because I think the opposite. It seems that top-heavy would mean the majority of the teams are at the the top vying for the number 1 position and the few at the bottom not really thriving. I think Elon's Coach Lembo is confused but I stand open to correction.

a sense of humor

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:31:00 +0000

i am very fortunate and blessed to have clients that i not only count as friends, but clients who have a sense of humor in these seemingly trying times. i know many of you don't work in the home furnishings industry but i'll bet you will find a chuckle in this youtube video my friends at sterling industries produced. if you were a retailer, how could you NOT do business with this company?!

in mountaineer news...

there was a blurb burried in the winston-salem journal sports page this morning - i would put a link because i'm all about supporting the only major nc paper that covers the mountaineers, but i can't find this on their website - the sports media entertainment network's broadcasters poll (who in the world is this?) gives us the pre-season #1 ranking. well of course they do.

age blind

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:31:00 +0000

you have probably heard of a person being color blind but have you ever heard of somebody being AGE blind? i kinda think i am and i'm always smacked back to reality when i have the "aha moment" and realize the fact that everybody is not my age. i don't think this is a good thing or a bad thing. it's simply a thing.

i am blessed to have a ton of friends of various ages (20 somethings to 70 somethings) but i still think of them as being my age. it's not until a conversation leads to something along the lines of what we wore in high school, or what our favorite song in elementary school was, or what we were doing when elvis died, or name the 4 beetles or, well, you get the picture, that i actually realize i am older or younger.

today i went back to see my orthopod about my broken elbow. while i'm waiting for the doc to come in, doogie howser comes in to do the preliminaries. he's a 4th year medical school student and i am officially feeling OLD. then the REAL doctor comes in. when i saw him before i had the feeling he was probably my age. looked him up. wrong! he's younger.

so i tell said young doctor that i really thought my elbow should be substantially better than it is. after all, corey lynch had his arm up and running in 4 short weeks. he chuckled and reminded me that it takes OLDER people longer to heal. my therapy starts august 5th. thank you very much.

bad picture, great message

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:24:00 +0000

Either I'm totally unobservant or this sign just went up yesterday. This is visible to west bound travellers on I-40 at the highway68 exit. It actually sits on Albert Pick Road (where my office is located). While I LOVE it, I still can't get past or embrace the current Yosef logo.

I was googling around today and found an old article on the bleacher report where Jimson Cuenta picks our Mountaineers to beat the Tigers.

Last season, the Appalachian State Mountaineers SHOCKED THE WORLD, by UPSETTING the Michigan Wolverines, 34-32 in Ann Arbor, during Week 1 of the College Football season.
This season, the Appalachian State Mountaineers will SHOCK THE WORLD, AGAIN... This time, by UPSETTING the LSU Tigers, AT Tiger Stadium.

less than 60 days and i'm beside myself

BlackandGoldNC@gmail.com (Trish) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:21:00 +0000

david coulson at www.sportsnetwork.com had a nice article about qb's in the fcs. you gotta love a guy that refers to armanti edwards as "the most dangerous player in the football championship subdivision"AND gives him the #1 spot.

stewart mandel at www.si.com has a less than positive view of our chances against lsu but he doesn't totally dis us. i'm ok with this.

i hope you will go through the motions, register and VOTE for the mountaineers in this espn thing. it's rather embarrassing to think we have to rely on the buckeye nation to win this. (no offense intended to ohio state - we love you for loving us!) in this you will also get the opportunity to vote for another southern conference great, stephen curry.

my friend ck had a cool post today where she requested everybody's fave 5 songs. i can't stop at 5 or 10 or 20. i'm just wondering if anybody else really can. (i feel somewhat proud because i introduced ck [she's somewhat younger than me] to van morrison.)