MOBILE NATIVE DARRELL WALLACE WINS AGAIN!
Carrying a special paint scheme and the No. 34 in honor of 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott, Darrell Wallace Jr. wrestled the lead away from Johnny Sauter with 13 laps to go and held on to win Saturday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kroger 200 at sun-splashed Martinsville Speedway.  Wallace, who also wore a throwback fire suit as a tribute to Scott, scored his fourth career truck win at the same track where he notched his first career victory in this race one year ago.
With that victory last October, Wallace — whose nickname is “Bubba” — became the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR national touring series race since Scott won at Jacksonville Speedway on Dec. 1, 1963.  With Scott’s whole family in attendance on Saturday, 21-year-old Wallace celebrated an emotional triumph at the .526-mile short track located about a half hour away from the late driver’s hometown of Danville, Va.
The NASCAR pioneer (Wendell Scott) will be posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January. (Some taken from www.foxsports.com and www.dailyprogress.com)

TALLADEGA 4-WIDE NOTES (Weekend – October 25-26)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series:
•       Non-Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed his first victory at Martinsville Sunday in the initial race of the Eliminator Round for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, beating runner-up and teammate – Jeff Gordon.
•       Ryan Newman came in third, followed by Tony Stewart in fourth and Joey Logano in fifth.
•       Gordon led 130 laps, taking the top spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. The top five are separated by only seven points (Newman, Logano, Matt Kenseth & Denny Hamlin).  Carl Edwards trails by 20 points followed by Talladega Superspeedway’s GEICO 500 winner Brad Keselowski (-31) and Kevin Harvick (-33).
•       Only two races remain in the Eliminator Round for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. It continues Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. The top eight drivers in the Chase field will be trimmed to four after the final race of the Eliminator Round at Phoenix International Raceway (Nov. 9).
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series:
•        Darrell Wallace, Jr., from Mobile, AL, won at Martinsville Saturday, his second triumph at the .526-mile track.
•        Timothy Peters was runner-up followed by Matt Crafton, Erik Jones, and Ryan Blaney.
•        Crafton leads in the Truck standings over Blaney by 18 points with Wallace, Jr., third (-22).
NASCAR Nationwide Series:
•        Chase Elliot remains the leader in the Nationwide standings over Regan Smith by 42 points. Only three races are left in the 2014 season.
The next events for NASCAR’s top three series will be held at Texas Motor Speedway – the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sunday, November 2nd at 2 p.m. CT on ESPN; the NASCAR Nationwide Series Saturday, November 1st on ESPN2 at 6:30 p.m. CT; and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Friday, October 31st on FOX Sports 1 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
NASCAR returns back for the traditional May weekend in 2015, May 1-3. NASCAR’s Most Competitive Track (record 88 lead changes in 188 laps), with the circuit’s steepest banking (33 degrees) and longest distance (2.66 miles), is also the most fun and fan-friendly, offering up hundreds of acres of free camping, amazing kids ticket prices and special offers for military members and college students. Talladega Superspeedway is NASCAR’s “Party Capital” thanks to the track’s infamous infield and world renowned Talladega Blvd. The historic venue has always worked hard to enhance the fan experience in every way and now features the most comfortable seats in motorsports, large video viewing boards (a new initiative planned for future implementation at all ISC tracks) lining the frontstretch and endless activities for fans throughout its event weekends. Log on to www.talladegasuperspeedway.com or call 877-Go2-DEGA for more information. This is more than a race, this is Talladega!

 MONTGOMERY – For the second time this month, Alabama State’s duo of Bryont Brown and Paige Rankine have swept the Southwestern Athletic Conference Student-Athletes of the Week honors, for their performances this past weekend at the Crimson Classic  held in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 Rankine, a junior from McDonough, Ga. placed 28th overall at the meet  finishing in a time of 18:11.17 in the 5K race.    
 Brown, a sophomore from Montgomery, Ala. led the Hornets this week with a strong performance completing the 8K course in a time of 28:21.95. 
 This marks each athlete’s second SWAC Cross Country Runner of the week honor this season.

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Malcolm Cyrus rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown and Daniel Duhart threw for 267 yards and ran for three touchdowns, but it was not enough as the Hornets dropped a 37-36 shootout to Alabama A&M in the 73rd State Farm Magic City Classic.
After falling behind with 2:26 seconds left in the game, the Hornets (4-4, 3-3 SWAC) still had a chance to win the game as they moved to ball to the AAMU 13 yard line only to see Preston Clark’s 30 yard field sail wide left with 12 seconds left and the Bulldogs escaped with the win.
“Being a part of this game is a great atmosphere and it’s always a pleasure to play in it and obviously you want to win it, but I commend Alabama A&M for the grit they competed with us today and they got the victory,” Head Coach Reggie Barlow said.  “I commend our guys, and although we didn’t win I saw passion and guys really playing and trying to make plays.
ASU finished the game with 504 total yards and held AAMU (3-5, 2-3 SWAC) to 469, but it was mistakes that kept the Hornets on the short end.  Two touchdowns were called back due to penalties with the final one coming with 44 seconds left in the game when Cyrus scored from 15 yards out which looked like the go-ahead score, but the points were taken off the board due to a holding penalty.
The high point of the game was Cyrus becoming the 11th player in ASU history to surpass the 1,000 yards in a single season mark. He entered the game with 912 yards and his 148 yards now has him at 1,060 yards.  The rush to put him over the mark was a 19-yard run in the third quarter.
Cyrus’ lone touchdown came in the third quarter with 49 seconds left in the third quarter and pushed the Hornets’ lead to 33-21, only to see the Bulldogs come back from a two-score deficit.  In fact AAMU came from a two-score deficit twice in the second half to complete the comeback win.
The Hornets dominated the first half on their way to building a 20-7 lead to go into the locker room at the half.  The lead could have been even greater except for several ASU mistakes.
One ASU scoring pass was called back due to a penalty and Duhart had two passes intercepted in the end zone.  On top of that the Hornets had an extra point blocked and missed a field goal, but ASU’s defense held strong.
Duhart scored twice in the opening quarter rushing in from three yards out on the Hornets opening possession and again on a one yard run with less than a minute left in the quarter.
After the Bulldogs took advantage of a long kick return they were able to score a touchdown on a Harvey Harris two yard run to cut the lead to 13-7.
ASU took advantage of an AAMU miscue when the Bulldogs had a high snap on a punt and DeMario Bell was able to pick up the loose ball and get into the end zone to put the Hornets up 20-7.
The Hornets had 243 yards of offense in the opening half with Malcolm Cyrus gaining 58 and Duhart passing for 164 yards.  The Hornets’ defense made it hard on the Bulldogs, holding them to only 46 yards rushing and 141 total yards.
“All of the losses are frustrating and even more so because it’s the Magic City Classic and it means so much to so many people,” Barlow said. “I’ve been around football long enough to know a lot of times a loss has to do more with the other team than it does with yourself.  We will go back and watch the film and re-evaluate our guys and try to move away from it.  Obviously it’s a tough loss for us.”
Next week ASU will be back on the road when they travel to Baton Rouge, La., to face Southern at 6 p.m.

 Asking the simple question of “Where are you from?” around an Alabama State University athletics team and it’s likely the answer may surprise you and lead to an interesting conversation within minutes.
The ASU athletics program has continued its’ recent tradition of upholding a diversified student body that stretches worldwide and creates a global presence when it relates to roster makeup.
Among the most diverse of the 18 programs is the ASU women’s soccer team. The Lady Hornets’ 22-player roster has a unique distinctiveness to it, blending culture, ideas, language and backgrounds into one unit on the soccer field.
There is representation from 10 states, three countries outside of the U.S with a fourth player who was stationed with her family in Germany.
There’s Iita Pienimaki from Finland, Sabina Claesson from Sweden, and Shelbi Vienna-Hallam from Australia. Ally Murphy lived in Germany for a short time as well.
Six other players are from California, three players are from Georgia, two from Alaska and there’s one representative each from North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, Tennessee, Nevada, Washington and Alabama.
So, it begs the question: What’s creating the interest to travel so far away from home to attend Alabama State?
The answer differs depending upon who you ask, but there seems to be an advantage within the structure of an American university if a student-athlete is attempting to juggle both academics and athletics.
Pienimaki said that if she stayed in her home country of Finland, then it would have been much more likely that she would have stopped playing soccer and would have focused on just pursuing a psychology degree.
“Taking on student loans is pretty uncommon,” said Pienimaki, who began learning Finish, Swedish and English by the time she was a third-grade student. “In Finland, I would have had to pick up a full-time job while in college. I’d have to pay rent so I’d have to cover that.”
Claesson, whose first language is Swedish, said the experience to play competitive soccer while gaining a top education and learning more about the English language were big factors in her decision.
Vienna-Hallam was also interested in America’s system of balancing work in the classroom with play on the soccer field.
“It’s almost like you had to pick between getting a degree and playing top competitive soccer [in Australia],” Vienna-Hallam said. “It’s been great here to learn about different cultures and hear about their experiences and how they grew up. You can get an understanding of the rest of the world.”
With over 400 student-athletes at ASU, the student-body population hails from 15 countries around the world.
“There are a lot of international players here,” said Lady Hornets’ eighth-year soccer coach Jodie Smith. “This has been a steady trend for a while, and not just in soccer here. It’s been pretty consistent since I’ve been here. I’ve had German players and another Australian player and a Canadian player in the past.”
Coach Smith added that the learning curve for international players on his teams has been smooth.
“The easiest thing is that you don’t really have to worry about them academically in the classroom,” Smith said. “Their maturity level tends to be higher. You do worry about them culturally and worry about them fitting in.  But, our team does a nice job of doing things off the field together. They have team functions and team outings.”
The closeness of the team seems to be another difference between American and foreign universities.
“The team was the main reason why I stayed after the first year,” Pienimaki said. “There’s such close contact. We see each other for several hours every day so we develop some kind of relationship. You notice that school spirit is really important here too. Networking is another big thing [that can be helpful.]”
Even certain school functions and gatherings can be a cultural shock in some capacity to some.
“There are definitely differences in the culture, “Vienna-Hallam said. “We didn’t have things like coronations of Presidents and ‘Miss’ contests for every dorm. Everyone is so connected here. There’s a lots of involvement. We don’t have anything like sororities [in Australia]. When you come here and realize how many things are actually going on, you think ‘Wow.’”
As for differences from American culture, the international players from ASU would like to inform America of a few things.
For one, other countries use “post code” and don’t refer to “zip codes” in mailing addresses.
“Someone asked me for a zip code and I didn’t know what that was,” Vienna-Hallam said. “We call it a post code.”
While shagging balls might make sense for an American as a person who retrieves the ball on the sidelines, it doesn’t have that same meaning in other countries.
“We just call them ball boys or ball girls,” Pienimaki said.
Claesson shook her head in agreement.
“Yeah.  We just call them ball boys,” Claesson said.
And, instead of saying that a soccer player is controlling the ball, a foreign player might say “kill the ball.”
“Kuoleta. It means to kill the ball,” Pienimaki said. “We say that we bring our foot down the ball and stop it.”
While it is a learning experience for everybody involved on the team, it’s comforting to know that when carrying a passport post-graduation, fellow ASU alum may be just around the corner.
“I think it’s cool that players are from pretty much all over the country,” Pienimaki said. “Players on other teams are from the Dominican, Serbia and Britain too. It’s not only our team. It’s the whole athletic program that is really diverse. When I go back home, I’ll have Facebook friends from all over. I’ll always have somewhere to go. If others ever come to Finland, they can call me up. I think it opens your eyes to different things. People also realize that their country’s way of doing something may or may not be the best way to do things.”
Learn terms in Finnish, Swedish and Australian
Penny or pre-game jersey:
“Bib” in Australian  “Liivi” in Finnish.  “Väst” in Swedish.
Game jersey:
“Strip” in Australia. “Pelipaita” in Finish. “Match-tröja” in Swedish.
Hornets:
“Ampiainen” in Finnish. “Getting” in Swedish.

Pushing hard down the finish line, the Alabama State women’s soccer team found a new way to win in their previous match on the road against Southern University with a 2-0 triumph in Baton Rouge, La, at A.W. Mumford Stadium last Sunday.

The Lady Hornets (7-9 overall, 4-3 SWAC) were lifted by a pair of seniors.  The powerful leg of Alexandria Cannon and the focused shot from Iita Pienimaki did the trick as each scored and Kylee Hathaway picked up her fifth shutout in another huge conference victory.

ASU now turns its attention to a weekend home stand that begins on Friday at 7 p.m. against SWAC opponent Mississippi Valley State.  Alabama State defeated the Devilettes 2-1 in last year’s lone meeting between the schools on the strength of a two-goal effort from Ariela Lewis.  Twin sister Aaliyah Lewis assisted on one of those scores in what ended up being the difference.

Both ASU and MVSU are situated toward the middle of the conference standings with the Lady Hornets currently sitting in fifth place and the Devilettes holding up in seventh place.

The Devilettes (2-9-3 overall, 2-2-3 SWAC) are coming off two dominating performances with back-to-back 5-1 wins versus Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Grambling State.

“We are playing a Valley team that is starting to have a little success so it is going to be a difficult game for us,” said ASU coach Jodie Smith. “They have a new coach [N. Fabio Boateng] this season.  They’ve changed some of their alignments and are playing to their strengths.”

Scarborough, Ontario native Nykosi Simmons has been striking the ball very well of late, with four goals and four assists in her last three matches.  Simmons leads the team with seven goals on 32 shots.  Freshman Heather Craddock has also given the Devilettes a shot in the arm with nine of her 10 points coming in the last three matches.  Senior midfielder Hailey Beekman in third in line for scoring with three goals and two assists.

The Lady Hornets, winners of four straight, have collected multiple goals in each of the last five matches.  Aaliyah Lewis leads ASU with 12 goals and six assists while Shelbi Vienna-Hallam is second on the team with 13 points (three goals, seven assists).

“We are starting to find our rhythm,” coach Smith said. “We’ve played really well at home [3-1 this season].  We’re not making the mental mistakes that we were making earlier in the year.  You want all your players involved in the game and we are starting to have a lot of players making positive contributions.”

Live tweets with updates during the match can be found on https://twitter.com/ASUBUZZ.  Live stats can be followed on http://www.sidearmstats.com/alasu/wsoc/