Salute to NCAA college sports (2 of 3)

The six student athletes picture here are 1) Alex McMurtry, women's gymnastics, Florida; 2) Sarp Gobeloglu (originally from Turkey), men's basketball, Montana State; 3) Dominique Wilson, women's basketball, NC State; 4) Myles Yorke, men's soccer, Radford; 5) Paige Neuenfeldt, women's volleyball, UNC, and 6) Zac Epperly, wrestling, Virginia Tech

Happy Graduation, Grads! Here is a List of Commencement Speakers

Here is a list of commencement speakers who gave commencement addresses at various public and private colleges and universities across the United States over the course of the last three weekends.

After CEOs, both active and former politicians were the most sought after speakers. Most schools went with governors from their own state, but Liberty University, the arch-conservative Christian college founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, once again sought a Republican speaker as Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) arrived in Lynchburg, Va., fairly far from his home base of Baton Rouge, La.

Here are the speakers:

1) Gov. Terry MacAuliffe (D-Va., pictured top). Virginia Tech. Blacksburg, Va.

2) Susan Wojiciccki, CEO of Youtube. Johns Hopkins U. Baltimore, Md.

3) Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Denver Broncos. UVA. Charlottesville, Va.

4) Dr. Atul Dawenda, UNC. Chapel Hill, NC.

5) Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Md, pict. center). Univ. of Maryland. College Park, Md.

6) Katie Couric. American University. Washington, DC.

7) Vice President Joe Biden. Univ. of South Carolina. Columbia, SC.

8) Gen. Martin Dempsey. Duke University. Durham, NC

9) Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La., pict. bottom). Liberty University. Lynchburg, Va.

10) Gov. Mike Beebe (D-Ark). Univ. of Arkansas. Fayetville, Ark.

11) David Ferriero. Archivist. NC State. Raleigh, NC.

12) Anne Holton. Sen. Tim Kaine's wife. Radford Univeristy. Radford, Va.

13) Jill Abrahamson, former executive editor of "New York Times." Wake Forest. Winston-Salem, NC.

14) Mary Barrra. CEO of General Motors. Univ. of Michigan. Ann Arbor, Mich.

15) Thomas H. Kean, former governor of New Jersey. Rutgers U. (He was a replacement for Condi Rice)

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Pre-Election Day Tweets_ Rallying the Troops

Perhaps, in a more perfect world, an independent voter in Blacksburg, Va., a college town  with Virginia Tech which happens to be in Montgomery County, one of the most politically split jurisdictions in America according to today's "Roanoke Times." could order "Red Dawn" (1984) and the Michael Moore documentary "Sicko," about the decline of the American health care system from Netflix and invite uber-partisan liberals and conservatives for a wine and cheese party.

That's not likely to happen, but one thing all sides might agree on is how expensive political races are becoming. "Indy Week" announced in its current issue that Chad Barefoot, a 29-year-old Republican, has spent $916,754 to face incumbent state senator Doug Berger, a Democrat, for a Wake County (Raleigh) state senate seat. Reportedly, most state senators in North Carolina make circa $40,000.

These are insane times indeed, and perhaps that is reflected in these tweets we collected from last night:

1) @PaulFeig (Creator of the cult tv show "Freaks and Geeks"): "Whichever candidate you support, make sure to take down the sign in front of your house immediately, if they win. Nobody likes a gloater."

2) @PaulBegala (Paul Begala, a center-left tv commentator): "Okay @CNNOpinion, here's final predictions: POTUS wins with 297 electoral votes; Romney 241.

3) @TeaPartyCat (Top Conservative Cat, actually a liberal political satirist): "Chris Christie: 'I'm still very satisfied with Obama and FEMA. And, oh, thanks Mitt for saving New Jersey with $5,000 of canned goods."

4) @AnnaMarieCox (Anna Marie Cox is a liberal pundit in Minnesota, a swing state): "Just today, a reporter asked me: 'Do you know how they're getting all these people to Romney rallies? Answer: By force?"

5) @tbtduluth (Trampled by Turtles, a popular band from Minnesota): "Remember when your politics, religion, and income were nobody else's goddamn business? That was nice."

6) @NRO ("National Review," a conservative magazine): "Romney's Bucks County, PA, rally matches President Bush's in '04 just 5 days before he defeated John Kerry." (Of course, we should point out that these tweets do not necessarily reflect the views of our managing editor Tilly Gokbudak, who happens to be moi).

7) @MMFlint (Michael Moore, pictured bottom with glove; the liberal icon is ironically from Michigan, Romney's state of birth, also a swing state): "Plus, a few dozen Repubs need 2 be removed from the House if Obama is 2 get anything done. Every swing state has a Repub or 2 who need 2 go."

8) @BilgeEbiri (Bilge Ebiri is a movie critic for "New York" magazine): "I think the strangest irony of this election might actually be that Scott Brown appears poised about losing his senate seat."

http://www.michaelmoore.com

http://www.nationalreview.com

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.indyweek.com

http://www.netflix.com

Sports Desk- ACC Volleyball, Miami (Fl) Is on a Role

We had difficulties finding a good image of Emani Sims, a sophomore for Miami (Fl.), was named ACC Player of the Week and National Player of Week as she scored a collective total of 27 kills and 23.0 blocks in the two road wins over the weekend for the Hurricanes, according to theacc.com, so we are going with an image of the school's mascot Sebastian the Ibis.

The toughest challenge for the Hurricanes came on Friday when they went to a full five sets against Clemson winning 3-2 (25-13, 21-25, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11); the 'Canes then won over Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday by a score of 3-0 (25-22, 28-26, 25-15).

Another major story in ACC volleyball is one that is happening off the court as Wake Forest women's volleyball coach Heather Kahl Holmes is battling breast cancer; she was diagnosed in May. She was honored by the Virginia Tech team before a road game in Blacksburg, Va. The Demon Deacons next face a talented North Carolina State Wolfpack team at home in Winston-Salem, NC, on Friday, as part of the school's Dig for the Cure campaign.


Here is a look at Saturday and Sunday results; the scores for games on Friday night, which involved all 12 teams, will be on our other blog as well as a profile of Paige Nueuenfeldt for the University of North Carolina Tarheels who was named ACC Freshman of the Week: http://www.politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com

Saturday, Oct. 20th games:

*_denotes home team

#-denotes game that was broadcast on regional tv

*UNC 3 Boston College 0

*North Carolina St. 3 Maryland O

* Virginia Tech 3 Duke O (this game marked only the third the Hokies prevailed over the Blue Devils in women's volleyball in 27 tries).

*UVA 3 Wake Forest 1 (the win was the first conference victory for the Cavs this season)

Sunday, Oct. 21th

Florida State 3 *Clemson 0

#Miami (Fla)  3 *Georgia Tech 0

Congratulations to Alabama for Winning 2012 NCAAs in Gymnastics

Hmmmm.......yes, a lot has happened in the world since the University of Alabama won its seventh team title in women's gymnastics in Duluth, Ga., back on April 21. In fact, the horse I'll Have Another upset Bodemeiser at the Kentucky, Michelle Obama gave the commencement at Virginia Tech and Kim Spradling became the latest person to win it all on the reality tv show "Survivor."

But, nonetheless, we have been saluting the NCAA winners in women's gymnastics for several years now, and we wanted to continue that tradition even though the finals have aired on various ESPN networks.

For the Crimson Tide, seniors Geralen Stack-Eaton (pictured here) and Ashley Priess came though on balance beam on the final rotation to seal the deal, and help Alabama win its first back-to-back NCAA title in the sport.

Alabama edged out top-ranked Florida, which once again came very, very close to winning the Gators' first title; the team has been second or third on numerous occasions.

UCLA, a team that along with Utah and Georgia has also won several NCAA titles, finished in a narrow third.

The Standings thus finished: 1) Alabama 197.85; 2) Florida 197.775; and UCLA 197.75. Finishing out the order in the Super Six were Stanford in 4th, Utah in 5th and Arkansas in 6th. Each of the schools in Super Six were from either the Southeastern Conference or the PAC-12, which Utah just joined this year.

For the Gators, there is some great news though as Freshman Kyra Hunter of Frederick, Md., became the first freshman to win the Honda Sports Award in women's gymnastics since 1991.