ATLEE HIGH, COACH AXSELLE GAME AWAY FROM FIRST STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

 Briefly told … at least that’s the plan (subject to change):

Life has taken some cruel twists and turns for Atlee 

High School coach RALLY AXSELLE … but now, 

here he is, a game away from winning his – not to 

mention the Raiders’ – first boys basketball 

championship … and, suddenly, it all seems 

worthwhile. Win or lose Friday night, Axselle will 

have accomplished a lot, more than most of us. For 

one thing, in the midst of this living-the-dream 

season, he left his day job as middle-school teacher, 

to help out at home … where sister ANNE MARIE 

AXSELLE was coming to the premature end of a 

life that could only be described as INSPIRING.

We didn’t have to ask Rally if Friday’s game with 

Varina at the Siegel Center in downtown Richmond 

will be dedicated to Anne Marie. Come to think of it, 

she would have loved just being there. To Anne 

Marie, her brother already was a winner. The feeling 

was mutual … and that’s what really matters after 

all. 

SO … HBO’s “Hard Knocks” will not feature BILL 

BELICHICK’s 2025 North Carolina Tar Heels after 

all. Something about the seven-time Super Bowl-

winning coach wanting more creative control. 

Surprise? No … When the inside look at pre-season 

preparations couldn’t get an NFL team to participate, 

Belichick, 72, making his college-coaching debut, 

volunteered … presumably as long as he would be 

treated kindly, which was a long-shot at best … 

Nobody has fessed up – yet – but wanna bet he put 

his 23 year old girl friend off limits, and HBO, 

knowing that would be a main reason why anyone 

would tune in, tried to get Belichick to change his 

mind – and failed … Based on some pictures we’ve 

seen of JORDON HUDSON with her old man … 

sorry, Belichick … she wouldn’t have minded the 

added exposure at all.

IF YOU think the college football playoffs are 

stacked in favor of the SEC and Big 18 … wait until 

the lineup for March Madness is released … The 

more I hear about schools with good NET, having x-

number of wins against rivals in Quad I, the more I 

understand how screwed up the selection process has 

become … Check out the list of requirements the 

selection committee must follow, a convoluted 

process apparently drawn up by someone who hates 

hoops (and makes no secret of it) … Whatever 

happened to the good, old, proven eye test?

NEXT TIME you hear blackmail ridiculed … 

remind them about what Florida State and Clemson 

did to the group that should be formerly known as 

the Atlantic Coast Conference… Last week they 

settled with the ACC, having brought lawsuits 

against the other member schools over a squabble 

that began with FSU being left out of the 2023 

football playoffs (despite being unbeaten) and wound 

up down and dirty over the payment required to 

leave the brotherhood said to be as much as $500 

million … In the end, FSU and Clemson got what 

they’ve wanted for a long time … when the 

conference agreed to let the football heavyweights 

take more than an equal share of ESPN’s money – 

get this: based on TV ratings, which always have 

been suspect ... before the first 24-hour all-sports 

network was born in 1979.

ONE GUESS who said:

“Baseball is dying all over the place. It should get off its 

fat, lazy ass and put PETE ROSE in the Hall of Fame.”

You are correct, sir …it was President DONALD 

TRUMP, while announcing a pardon for the game’s all-

time leader in base hits … that should make him eligible 

(at last) for induction … Now, all Rose, who died less 

than a year ago at age 83, needs is the required 75 per 

cent minimum of the votes. Good luck with that, 

especially with Trump, hardly a friend of the media 

entrusted with the final say, in his corner.

Until next time ...