This morning's paper included a story on the Myrtle Beach-Conway (or Conway-Myrtle Beach, if you prefer) rivalry.
What it didn't include -- primarily because of space issues -- was some funny smack talk between the coaches, Conway's Chuck Jordan and Myrtle Beach's Mickey Wilson.
Now, Wilson hasn't exactly been Mr. Talkative lately. He's concerned with the health of his star quarterback, Everett Golson, and the coach is tip-toeing around how much information he's going to give out on the situation. (He won't publicly make a decision on Golson's status for tonight's game against Conway until about an hour before kickoff.)
Still, when I asked Wilson the biggest change in Jordan from when Wilson played for Conway in the late 1980s-early 1990s to today, Wilson shot off a quick answer with a chuckle.
"He’s getting old," Wilson said.
Jordan, the dean not only of area coaches but also soundbites, came back over the top on his former player.
"For the record, I can still out-run Mickey," said Jordan, who will turn 54 in November.
Some other thoughts from the coaches prior to tonight's game:
JORDAN
On the differences for the two schools when it comes to playoffs:
"I don’t think the general public doesn’t know enough about the point system to follow it. The game has playoff implications, more playoff implications, for us than it does them."
On what he spoke to Wilson about when the former was given the head coaching job at MB:
"The first thing I talked to him about was the difference in being an assistant coach and a head coach. … I always felt like Mickey was going to be a head coach someday. He works hard and he gets along with the kids. ... The door of opportunity kind of presented itself, and he stepped through that door."
WILSON
On his former school:
"I pull for those guys except for this week."
On his former coach's durability:
"I think the biggest thing about Coach Jordan is (he) has always changed with the time. Offensively, he’s always done different stuff. He’s not one of those guys whose stuck in the mud. He’s just a great football coach. That’s why he’s been able to stay there as long as he has."
***
Last week included a few surprises, overall it was a better-than-average slate of picks. I got to the 30-win mark on the season, and I feel pretty good about this week's games.
On to this week's picks:
Georgetown 27, Kingstree 15
Carolina Forest 31, North Myrtle Beach 7
Hemingway 17, Carvers Bay 13
Myrtle Beach 31, Conway 27
Green Sea Floyds 41, Latta 20
Loris 38, Hannah-Pamplico 14
Scott's Branch 21, St. James 20
Here were last week's picks, with actual score in parentheses; correct picks are bold-faced:
Waccamaw 28 at Georgetown 14 (Georgetown 30, Waccamaw 7)
Andrews 10, C.E. Murray 7 (Andrews 29, C.E. Murray 22, OT)
Carolina Forest 31 Kingstree 17 (Carolina Forest 38, Kingstree 13)
Carvers Bay 20, Latta 3 (Carvers Bay 61, Latta 0)
Marlboro County 24, Conway 20 (Conway 35, Marlboro County 7)
Lake View 17, Green Sea Floyds 14 (Lake View 34, Green Sea Floyds 19)
Myrtle Beach 28, South Florence 21 (Myrtle Beach 28, South Florence 27)
Lake City 32, Socastee 21 (Lake City 54, Socastee 28)
Hemingway 25, St. James 13 (Hemingway 20, St. James 0)
Aynor 19, Hilton Head Prep 18 (Hilton Head Prep 39, Aynor 35)
WEEK 4: 7-3. OVERALL: 30-15
