Well, well, well...

Know Your Medal of Honor Recipients:

Chaplain Milton L. Haney (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on July 22, 1864, at Atlanta, Georgia. His citation reads:

Voluntarily carried a musket in the ranks of his regiment and rendered heroic service in retaking the Federal works which had been captured by the enemy.

Machinist First Class Burke Hanford (US Navy) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on June 13 and 20-22, 1900, in China. His citation reads:

Served with the relief expedition of the Allied forces in China on 13, 20, 21 and 22 June 1900. In the presence of the enemy during this period, Hanford distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

Private Edward R. Hanford (US Army) received his Medal of Honor for his actions on October 9, 1864, at Woodstock, Virginia. His citation reads:

Capture of flag of 32d Battalion Virginia Cavalry (C.S.A.).


I, for one, am shocked (SHOCKED!) that there is an academic scandal at the “prestigious” University of North Carolina. Seems the blue bloods in Chapel Hill are a bunch of cheaters. Maybe instead of looking down their noses at other “football” schools, they should have been looking in their own classrooms to make sure their “student-athletes” were going to class. Here’s a nice little article about this from Matt Hayes of the Sporting News. I’m not sure what my favorite part is, but I really liked this part:

Meanwhile, in Chapel Hill, N.C., the entire university is complicit in a systemic charade of bogus, no-show classes for athletes; a scheme that—you’re gonna love this part—the NCAA missed while investigating North Carolina over the past two years.

Ouch.

To join my Walk to End Alzheimer’s team, visit the link below.

http://act.alz.org/goto/imjustsayin

If you join my team, please ask other people to donate. If you would “just” like to give, go to:

http://act.alz.org/goto/greghorres

By the way, thank you to the anonymous person who donated $500. I appreciate it very much. Remember, my friendship can be bought. In fact, studies have shown that I like people who donate to this event more than people who don’t. I’m just sayin…

Hey, remember when people would actually post things on the blogs that I follow? I might have to start purging my blog list…


The I’m just sayin… Know Your South Carolina Athlete

Our Athlete You Should Know this week is former Stratford baseball standout Justin Smoak (no relation). Smoak played four years of varsity high school baseball under Coach John Chalus (who, I must say, is one of my favorite coaches I never had a chance to play for. I’ve got a lot of respect for Coach Chalus). It wasn't until his junior year in high school that scouts began to notice his talent because they were originally scouting his teammate and friend, Matt Wieters. As a senior, he was named by ABCA, Baseball America, and Collegiate Baseball as a 2005 high school All-American. He was also one of 36 high school players in the nation to play in the 2005 high school All-American baseball game, named South Carolina AAAA Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005, named co-Mr. Baseball for 2005 in South Carolina (alongside Gamecock teammate Reese Havens), made the 2004 and 2005 South Carolina AAAA All-State team, and a member of the 2005 South Carolina AAAA state championship team while with the Stratford Knights. He was initially drafted by the Oakland Athletics as a sixteenth-round pick in 2005 upon graduation, but deferred and went to the University of South Carolina. 

In his three years playing for South Carolina, Smoak consistently put up big numbers. After batting .303 with 17 home runs and 63 RBI, Smoak earned Freshman All-American honors. He followed up with a .315 batting average, 22 home runs, and 72 RBI in his sophomore year, good enough to be tabbed as a third-team All-American. For his junior year, Smoak batted .383, with 23 home runs and 72 RBI. Smoak is South Carolina's all-time home run king with 62, breaking Hank Small's record of 48, which stood for over 30 years. Smoak is also South Carolina's career leader in RBIs and walks.

The Texas Rangers selected Smoak with the eleventh overall pick in 2008. Smoak was called up by the Rangers on April 22, 2010 and made his Major League debut the following evening in a game against the Detroit Tigers. He recorded his first hit on April 26, 2010 against the Tigers. He got his first Major League home run against the White Sox on April 29 off Gavin Floyd and hit his first home run while batting right-handed on May 3, against Oakland off Jerry Blevins.

On July 9, Smoak was traded to the Seattle Mariners with prospects Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke and Matt Lawson for Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe. He was sent down to AAA Tacoma on July 31, 2010. He returned to the Mariners on September 18 and batted .340 with three home runs in the final 14 games of his rookie season. Former Seattle Sonics announcer Kevin Calabro gave him the nickname "The Freak From Goose Creek".

On July 23, 2012 Smoak was optioned to AAA Tacoma, after his batting averaged dropped down to .189 in the middle of a 1 for 25 slump.

Congrats to Justin Smoak for being named this week’s SC Athlete You Should Know.

As always, big thanks to Wikipedia for this info.