Found online at the Boone paper website and, apparently, nowhere else.

No Equal. We like it.

We have been told a similar graphic is visible on the television billboards in Boone. Yet instead of a group of Mountaineers, it only features one.

If anybody spots the billboard, please take a pic and send it our way.

Tuesday a bunch of bankers got together to talk banking. The morning featured the chief executive of North Carolina on stage. Kinda cool – “Said she was pulling for Appalachian State last night (more basketball). “Everybody I pull for loses,” she says.” There’s a political joke there somewhere.

/sigh – “Aramis Hillary was charged with underage drinking and drunkeness, CoCo Hillary was charged with driving under the influence and violation of the ABC Act.” Details are much worse. Also, “CoCo Hillary is a former Appalachian State wide receiver.” Huh?

MISSING SPRING PRACTICE. According to the latest spring ball report – “In defense of the Mountaineer offense, it was without starting .. wide receiver CoCo Hillary (injury).”

MULLING IT OVER. Minor update – “Appalachian State officials say they are reviewing CoCo Hillary’s status.” Also, he blew a .11.

WINSTON PAPER REPORTS. New details – “No decision about Hillary’s status with the team will be made until Athletics Director Charlie Cobb and Coach Jerry Moore review the situation. Cobb is vacationing in Colorado, and Moore is in the Grand Caymans this week during spring break.” There’s also this.

Depressing. Look who has automatic bids – so far – to the I-A NCAA tourney – Northern Iowa, Montana and Wofford. Oh, and Richmond is considered a “lock” for an at-large bid. Also getting bids, Winthrop, East Tennessee State and Robert Morris. Again, depressing.

No longer a college kid, the dude can start cashing in! – “Armanti Edwards, QB from Appalachian State & first two-time winner of the Walter Payton Award, will be signing autographs in Hickory on March 13th from 11am-2pm.” Just $20 bucks a stroke! If you think that’s pricey, well …..

Pretty cool – “Mitch Woods, who led the Seahawks (24-6) to the verge of the state finals this year, was named the South Florida Association of Basketball Coaches Mr. Basketball. The 6-3 guard, who is committed to App State, didn’t know he would be Mr. Basketball until he received the glass award.”

The lone undefeated team in the SoCon ventures into SEC territory to play stout 9-2 Auburn. Time to see how good this team can be! Let’s go 10 11-an-O! First pitch at 7:30 our time. For a fee, you can watch live stats. Or just have some fun with Twitter.

GAME CALLED. Geez .. can’t get game in Boone .. can’t get games away from Boone.

DAG NAB IT. Bummer – “The game was called at 6 p.m., just 30 minutes before the scheduled start, as Lee County went under a tornado watch. Wednesday’s game against the Mountaineers will not be made up.”

This just in – App State bball season is not over. Maybe.

While Sims and Company will not be dancing, there are still three other opportunities for postseason play. There’s the NIT, the CBI and the .. uh .. somethingsomething.com tournament. /shrug

We are the assumption that there is some kind of automatic bid process to the Not Invited Tournament NIT. According to wiki, “automatic bids are now awarded to all regular season conference champions who did not win their conference tournament” or get an at-large bid to the Big Dance. Yet the NIT handbook doesn’t say that, nor offer specifies regarding which conferences it targets.

App State indeed won a division title, yet CofC had a better regular-season record while finishing second in the South. The Mountaineers own a better Sagarin rating than the Cougars (126 to 139), but Cremins crew has more D1 wins (21 to 20).

If the NCAA takes 64 teams, and the NIT then picks 32 teams, then … /counts fingers, toes, keys on keyboard .. the top 96ish teams in any national ranking should be playing in either, give or take a Michigan (RPI: 93).

Last year CofC went to the CBI, while El Cid played in the … /click back, nose to screen, attempts to dictate to memory … CollegeInsider.com Bowl tournament. And we ALL know who won that last year!!! … /sarcastic look, pauses, then wonders who the heck did win it.

Oh.

This is just a convoluted way of saying, the season ain’t over until Monday afternoon.

NO SPRING BREAK FOR YOU! In Winston paper –

Charlie Cobb, ASU’s athletics director, said that the Mountaineers are probably a “bubble team” for the NIT. Two other possibilities exist — the College Basketball Invitational and the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

“We’re going to try and do a little politicking in the next few days and see what’s there,” Cobb said. “We’ll do the same for the women’s team to see where we are, and hopefully when selections are made Sunday and Monday, we can be part of the postseason. We definitely want to try and play.”

Coach Buzz Peterson said he plans to bring the team back later this week for practice. He said that the NIT might be a long shot but that he feels confident the Mountaineers will play in one of the other two tournaments.

somethingsomething.com bowl tournament!!! Can you feel the excitement?!

Awesome.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Boston sports radio station WEEI on Tuesday they’ve reached terms with free-agent Jets defensive end Marques Murrell, but that’s a depth signing.

While we still ruminate the possible end of men’s bball season, how ’bout these other Mountaineers?

Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Playoff Champs

The App State Club hockey team beat Catholic University, 7-5, for the Hulsey Cup. (One of these days we’re making a game.)

SoCon Wrestling Champs

Three App State wrestlers won league titles and are now headed to the NCAAs next week, the most since five went in 2005 – Tony Gravely (125), Austin Trotman (184) and Dylan Temple (174).

SoCon Men’s Indoor Track Champs
A second straight title.

Last weekend Pollard’s Pounders swept Rider 1-2-3 to go 9-0 on the season, best start evah! Today at 2 the team is at Presbyterian, then tomorrow at Auburn. And this weekend the team opens SoCon play at the Stink. Pressure? Nahhh – “Others receiving votes (listed alphabetically): App State (9-0)”

TOP OF THE EIGHTH. Live stats – App State 8, Presbyterian 3.

Considering the past, not too surprising – “The Jacksonville Jaguars have scheduled a workout with Appalachian State’s star quarterback, Armanti Edwards.” Also, from cheater Patriots land – “Free agent linebacker Marques Murrell (was) in town to visit with the Patriots yesterday.”

Congrats to Wofford. The Terriers have been good all year.

They beat two SEC teams. Hung with some ranked teams. And shredded the SoCon.

Last night, they cut down App State. /sigh

The Wofford Terriers registered a breakthrough last night, earning their first Southern Conference title and NCAA Tournament berth with a 56-51 victory over the Mountaineers in a physical and somewhat strange game of two halves at Time Warner Cable Arena.

ASU buried itself too deep with a disastrous first-half performance. The Terriers offered a shovel or two to help the Mountaineers dig out in the second half, but the Mountaineers, perhaps worn from digging, couldn’t escape.

Our thoughts …

Sunday night, with just under five minutes to go and a 21-point lead over CofC, App State did something odd. Starters stayed in. And played till the end. Every timeout there was hooping and hollering. Hugs! And when the game ended with a 23-point deficit, the cable box arena exploded.

Only one problem. That was a semi-final. There was still work to be done.

We have no idea what happened after the teevee cameras went dark Sunday night and before the team tipped off late Monday. But that first half ….. yeesh. Five points in 11 minutes. Donald Sims (37 mins Sat., 38 mins Sun.) and Kellen Brand (34 mins,35 mins) were fuh-LAT. The rest of the team was fumbling.

Down 15 at the half (a challenge!), App responded!

The offense still coughed and wheezed, but the D stayed strong. And seemed to get stronger. The door was opened! The opportunity was there! LET’S GIVE ‘EM HELL BOYS!!!

But the offense just … couldn’t … quite … get … going.

At 14:42, it was a 10-point game. (Andre Williamson FG)

At 9:15, it was an 8-point game. (Williamson FG)

At 8:25, 6-point game. (Williamson FT)

At 4:00, 5 points. (Ryann Abraham FT)

At :57, 4 points. (Williamson FT)

And … and .. and …. theycouldgetnocloser.

In the final minutes of the biggest game of the season, Abraham and Williamson became the answers. And that’s just not the way App State was meant to play.

We have no idea the selection process for the NIT and the not-NIT. Chances are the season isn’t quite over yet. For now, well played tournament App State. And Wofford, ya better represent!

* image stolen from Charlotte paper’s slideshow

Not sure what to say really. App State has been here before, about 10 years ago. This is a first for Wooford. Both have a player of the year. Both had big wins Sunday. Both are ROLL-un! So who is the odds on fav to dance? This confuses us, but it’s laid out right here – “Wofford -4.5.”

AT THE HALF. Wofford up, 33-18. It ain’t pretty. Our theory – adrenaline hangover. The Mountaineers just look tired.

First Peppers went (and celebrated). Then Delhomme cut (and fans celebrated). Now this – “Fullback Brad Hoover, one of the more popular players on the Carolina Panthers roster, was released Monday, according to safety Chris Harris on his Twitter feed.”

The Greatest App Ever didn’t get to do too much at the recent NFL Combine. Stupid injury! He wasn’t 100%, so he decided to wait and show off the speedy goodness at his pro day. That day is March 16. Next Tuesday.

Any regrets of not giving it the ‘ol hampered try when all the pro world was watching? Nope.

Q. Tell us about the hamstring. Did you consider skipping the NFL Combine because of it?

A. I strained my hamstring about two weeks before the Combine while running routes at wide receiver. It was disappointing because I had been working so hard to prepare for the Combine. However, I decided to go because it wasn’t affecting my ability to throw passes. I could still play quarterback. My hamstring felt fine when I was playing quarterback. To tell you the truth, it almost feels completely healed. I decided to wait until (Appalachian State’s) Pro Day on March 16 to run my 40-yard dash and do all the other tests, along with go through the wide receiver drills. If my hamstring isn’t already 100-percent, it will be by then, or maybe even stronger than 100-percent.

Q. Do you feel a big relief after finishing the Combine?

A. Maybe a little relief. It would’ve been a big relief to do everything this past weekend. I couldn’t because (of the injury), but I will be able to do everything at my Pro Day. I still have another day to prove myself.

In interviews, most teams asked him the “is playing QB and only QB a deal breaker for you?” What do you think he said?

And by the way, enjoy 22!

NOTHING WOULD BE FINER. More AE plans.

Right now the only private workout is with Carolina. I have a rescheduled workout with the Colts and Dolphins because they can’t make it to my pro day. The Panthers workout will be on March 18th. All of these workouts will be held in school. The Panthers have been showing a good amount of interest more than any team.

I plan on doing wide receiver and quarterback drills on my pro day on the 16th.

I am back in South Carolina right now and I am continuing to workout and head up to my school for the pro day next week.