DG142

Now it's time to begin the 2013 portion of the 2012-13 season in College Basketball with a look at action from January in dread gallery 142.
As conference play got underway in earnest there were three conferences tied for the lead for the most teams with at least one player with dreads. The Big South, Southland, and OVC had four teams each where you'd be able to find some dreads. But let's start DG142 with the ACC, where there's only one player with dreads.
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1. Sophomore G Rod Hall of Clemson begins ACC play by getting his shot rejected by Florida State C Kiel Turpin on the first possession of the day on Jan. 5.

DG141

More nonconference games from the College Basketball 2012-13 season are featured in dread gallery #141, as we look at action from the month of December.
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There were several games in December that had players with dreads on opposing teams, including one on the first day of the month that featured a pair that made my Dread all-America team.
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1. He started the season with his dreads reduced, but Morehead State senior G Devon Atkinson begins December with his dreads right, as G Reggie Arceneaux drives to the basket between him and F Bruce Reed on Dec. 1 at Dayton.

DG140

I do not like to keep falling back on the old excuse of "better late than never;" but sadly, that's the way things are in the House of Dread. I simply do not have the time to do everything I'd like to do in this blog, and the things that I do do are hardly ever done in a timely fashion. All I can do is say I'm sorry and hope that you please bear with me.
The calendar says summer is about to begin, but in the HOD it's basketball season. So let's take a look at some photos from the recently completed 2012-13 College Basketball season (which I will still refer to as this season), starting with the month of November here in dread gallery #140.
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FOR OPENERS .....

1. William & Mary sophomore G Marcus Thornton prepares to launch a jump shot over Hampton C Emmanuel Okoroba on Nov. 9. Thornton, whose 18.8 PPG scoring average was tops among Division 1 players with dreads (and 31st among all players), had 24 points along with 4 rebounds on opening night in W&M's 69-51 home victory.

College BB '13 Dread News

The 2012-13 season in College Basketball was almost like a blur as far as I was concerned. It came and went so quickly that I didn't have a chance to do anything except for that First Look post back in January. I watched a lot of games but not nearly as many as in previous seasons. Actually I should say I saw portions of a lot of games because there weren't many I stayed with from start to finish. By the time the season was over the roster of Division 1 players with dreads (that I know of) included 64 names; but only 50 or so of those players were on the court for significant minutes this season. As usual, there were a lot of highlights as well as some serious disappointments. But before we get to my annual All-America teams, I have a few things I wanted to mention. 

He might have dreamed it would end this way, but no way did Sherwood Brown expect his career would end this way - with him being named the player of the year in his conference; with him helping lead his team to its first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament; with his team then suddenly transforming itself into something that came to be known as "Dunk City" and taking the tournament by storm, becoming the first team ever seeded 15th in a region to reach the sweet 16; and with him posing with cheerleaders from the opposing team before games and shaking hands with the TV announcers after games.

DG139 - Part 1

There currently are only a handful of players with dreads in MLB; but it sure was a blast watching them perform in 2012.
If you've been following this blog over the years, you already know that I like to ring in the start of another baseball season with a look at the previous season. Yes, I'm aware that the season begins in the first week of April, not May. But due to a lack of time, I didn't have this DG ready in the first week of April. But it's ready to go now, so without further delay, here's dread gallery 139 - a look at MLB 2012.
For your enhancement I'll be including links to some videos from MLB.com  I recommend you click on them; but if you do, be prepared to sit through a 15-second commercial.

We'll start Part 1 with a new member of the house in 2012. Prince Fielder dabbled with starter dreads a couple of times during his 6 seasons with the Brewers. Finally, in his first season with the Tigers after signing as a free agent, he decided to take the plunge.

1. Prince Fielder connects for his 2nd solo HR of the game, giving Tigers a 7-0 lead over Red Sox during 5th inning on Apr. 7. He also homered in the 4th. They were his first two HR of the season as the Tigers won 10-0.

DG139 - Part 2

Every game of the Pittsburgh Pirates and every fifth game of the Cincinnati Reds were must-see TV for me last summer. For real, watching Andrew McCutchen and Johnny Cueto perform in 2012 made for a lot of enjoyment. McCutchen and Cueto are the feature attractions of Part 2 of dread gallery #139. But before we get to them, we'll start with another player who brought the enjoyment (and the excitement) - although you had to strain a bit to see his dreads.
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1. Rockies OF Eric Young, Jr. sprints across home plate with the go-ahead and eventual winning run in top of 8th inning in a 5-3 victory on Opening Night at Houston on Apr. 6.

First Rock

No, this is not a post about what happened in Massachusetts way back in 1620. And it's not about the planet Mercury either. Instead, I thought I'd lead off my preview of the 2013 NFL draft with the first rock of football. You'll find it in the state of South Carolina.

Honestly, up until 4 years ago, when I included a photo of Stephon Gilmore in dread gallery 45 (the DG I did featuring National Signing Day '09), I had never heard of Rock Hill before. And up until I went to Wikipedia and Google Maps last week, I wouldn't have been able to tell you that it's located in the northern part of South Carolina, about 25 miles southwest of Charlotte. But make no mistake, of all the cities and towns with "rock" as part of their name, Rock Hill is first when it comes to football.

College FB '12 House Calls

Alabama was the team with the most TD scored by players with dreads in 2011, but with Trent Richardson taking it to the house on Sundays in 2012, the Crimson Tide wasn't in the running for the top spot this season. They finished in 5th place. However, the crown will not be leaving the state of Alabama. Its new home is 100 miles or so southeast of Tuscaloosa, in the capital city of Montgomery.

When Isaiah Crowell left Georgia last summer and transferred to Alabama State, the Hornets instantly became top contenders for the crown. And sure enough, led by Crowell's 15 TD, ASU finished #1 in Division 1 this season. Of the Hornets' 48 total TD, 34 of them (71%!) were scored by players with dreads.

College FB '12 Dread News - Bowl Review (Part 1)

As it turned out, the bowls I ranked 1 and 2 for having the best dreads also were two of the most exciting games on the 2012-13 bowl schedule, with Clemson defeating LSU 25-24 on a last-second FG and South Carolina scoring a TD with 11 seconds to play to edge Michigan 33-28. They also happened to be the only two bowls I watched a significant portion of. I was so busy doing NFL stuff that I didn't have time to watch as many bowl games as I usually do. And you can also blame those 7 weeks I spent on the NFL for why my final 2012 college football report is so late. I mean, almost everybody has started spring practice for the 2013 season already. But there were a few things (quite a few, actually) I wanted to mention before I wrap up 2012, so here we go.

Despite a 10-2 overall record, South Carolina finished 3rd in the SEC East and had to settle for a trip to the Outback Bowl, played annually on New Year's Day at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. But that was just fine as far as Ace Sanders was concerned. Other than a BCS bowl, there was no bowl Sanders would rather have played in more than the one closest to his hometown of Bradenton. Not surprisingly, the junior WR put on quite a show for his family and friends - and the rest of the Gamecocks fans in attendance - scoring three of his team's 5 touchdowns in the thrilling victory over Michigan.

College FB '12 Dread News - Bowl Review (Part 2)

Let's continue now with part 2 of my recap of the action involving players with dreads from the 2012 postseason in college football.

IN THE FCS

North Dakota State and Sam Houston State met in the championship game for the 2nd year in a row; but how the Bison and Bearkats got there turned out to be far more dramatic than the championship game itself.

Georgia Southern Coach Monken was in tears at the post-game media session after his team was eliminated at North Dakota State for the 2nd straight year. "It hurts. It hurts bad," said Monken after the Eagles dropped a hard fought 23-20 heartbreaker in the semifinals despite outgaining the Bison 430-276 in total yards.

The 1-2

I just have a quickie post today - and one that I'd rather not have to do. The house of dread was staggered (but still standing) by a one-two combination of bad news recently, and I thought it would be important to let you know about in case you hadn't already heard. Only in special cases over the years have I done posts specifically to report (and mourn) that someone is leaving the house. But unfortunately we have one of those special cases now. It always hurts to have to add names to the ex-dread list; but for real, the latest two additions hurt a lot more than usual.

In my first look post on college basketball a few weeks backs you may recall how unhappy I was to see Illinois State G Bryant Allen with reduced dreads all the time.

2012 College Football Dread All-America

Unless you did a Rip Van Winkle last fall, you probably noticed that there were a lot of players with sick dreads in uniform on Saturdays in 2012 - way too many to mention them all here. Of those players some have dreads with a greater "wow" factor than others; you know, the kind of dreads that make you say, "Wow! Who is that?" the first time you see them. My 5th annual dread all-America team features 96 Division 1 players whose dreads most definitely rank high when it comes to the "wow" factor.

To even be considered for this team you must have dreads long enough to be seen while you're wearing your helmet. And I don't mean barely seen. I'm talking about long enough that the person sitting in row ZZ at the top of the stadium doesn't need binoculars to know that you have dreads.