King James’ royal distraction

By William R. Toler

Working in the mainstream media, I’m often disillusioned at what is considered news.

Last month, on the call-in radio show The Rage, I lamented that while the internet “kill-switch” bill had passed through a Senate committee and the Disclose Act was gaining ground, we in the major media were instead reminding everyone that Michael Jackson was still dead.

Last week another distraction hit television screens across America. The big issue: where will Lebron James play basketball?

The media hype that was generated over a sports star’s decision to switch teams was appalling. You would think it had life or death consequences for the entire nation.

Congress throws penalty flag

By William R. Toler

As if they have nothing better to do, members of the U.S. Congress decided to enter the sports arena again on Friday.

This time, instead of trying to figure out who used “performance enhancing” drugs, our duly elected officials decided they should intervene in the realm of college football.

Some members of Congress believe that the championship should be decided by a playoff system similar to all other collegiate sports instead of the current Bowl Championship Series.

Indie wrestler needs surgery

By William R. Toler

A Virginia-based independent wrestler is now fighting for health care.

Chris Escobar, who has wrestled up and down the coast in Virginia and North Carolina broke his leg Feb. 28 at a show. He has a complete break of his tibia and fibula with spiral fractures within the bone structure.

“In the middle of wrestling Lance Lube I picked him up for a fall away slam and my leg snapped in mid motion,” he wrote in a bulletin to fellow wrestlers. “Freak Accident.”

This is the second time Escobar has broken that leg. This time, however, he will have to have surgery. His surgery is scheduled for Mar. 12.

Gestapo on the gridiron

By William R. Toler

Freedom of the press doesn’t mean you get a free pass through a security check, to paraphrase an officer working security at a Jones Senior High School football game Sept. 12.

As I parked the van and walked up to the gate in my Underdog T-shirt, a security guard stopped me, made me put my video camera (clearly marked with a Channel 12 sticker) down on a table, and empty all contents from my pockets.

“Even for the press?” I asked, rather baffled, since this was the first time I’ve had to deal with this in my time as a journalist.

Police pummel Pirate fans

By William R. Toler

A rush of the field by fans at East Carolina University Sept. 6 resulted in what many are calling excessive force by police officers providing security at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Following a triumphant victory against West Virginia, fans began to trickle onto the field. Some of the first few were stopped by officials, which consisted of ECU police, “State Highway Patrol, the Greenville Police Department, Kinston Police and the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office,” according to an article in the Daily Reflector.

A video on YouTube shows one officer punching a fan close-fisted, a fan being body slammed and one officer delivering a running punch to someone in the stands. There’s no need to say any more. The video speaks for itself.

I.R. compatriot plays pirate…again

By William R. Toler

Trent Woods resident and friend of the Register’s founders David Carta will reprise his role as Captain Jack at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the home football games of the East Carolina University Pirates.

Carta, who began last season, said this year’s gimmick will include shooting a .45 caliber flintlock pistol.

Olympic-sized thoughts

By Eric Voliva

Mention the word Olympics around me and I usually shrug, sigh, grunt, or use some other primitive gesture to express my general disinterest in the whole idea of competing for gold in games that involve wearing spandex, chucking spears and tossing oversized balls around.

Where’s the challenge, I ask?

I grew tired of the repetitious events in elementary school, I became bored of them in middle school, and today I’m as mind-numbingly apathetic as ever. It’s gotten to the point where there’s more entertainment value to be found in trying to pick out the all-natural Waldo from the rest of the crowded pack of performance-enhanced “athletes” than enduring two minutes of uninspired teenagers moving robotically through their routines.

Where’s Tanya Harding when you need her?

But after listening to hours upon hours of the all the hype surrounding this kid Michael Phelps—whom I’ve dubbed “Flipper”—I couldn’t help but tune in and see what all the fuss was about.

Pummeling the pommel horse

A San Francisco sports columnist wasn’t talking about pro football, boxing or even backyard wrestling when she described “the most brutal sport I’ve ever covered.”

Women’s gymnastics in the Olympics earned that sad and serious distinction, Buzz Bissinger writes in a New York Times op-ed. The sport subjects teen girls to intense pressure and a masochistic training regimen of seven or more hours a day, he explains.

And the cadre of old-man coaches combined with a history of sexual abuse and molestation accusations sends a chill down the author’s spine. Sounds like another case of obsessive stage parents pushing children into a cutthroat and seedy sports subculture.