Bonus Road Trip- (6 of 10) Springfield, Vt., to Springfield, Mass.

First of all, our apologies to Stephen Colbert and Morgan Spurlock. We were unable to put Colbert's, a political humorist/actor, and Spurlock's names into the tags from our last blog, so we will just simply, arbitrarly mention them here.

Today, we compare the relatively short distance between Springfield, Mass., home to the Basketball Hall of Fame, to Springfield, Vermont, which actually beat out all Springfields to host the premiere of "The Simpsons Movie" in 2007. Since many believe that the Springfield in "The Simpsons" is modeled after Springfield, Mass. (though that is never mentioned), many in basketball town were disappointed.

But, the premiere screening of the film took place in a historic old cinema in Springfied, Vt., which was pleasantly pleased with the publicity.

There are also Springfields in Illinois, Missouri, Virginia, Kentucky and...ahhh, I'm getting a headache!

Of course, if one were to take this short drive, they would probably want to go in a school bus, but they may not want a person like Otto Mann, (hmmm, I wonder if this is a joke about the Ottoman Empire; I am a Turkish-American, so I suppose I should be humored or annoyed by this. Ironically, Principal Skinner is an Armenian-American!), who is voiced by the great Harry Shearer.

Shearer, who is not only known for voicing Otto and Principal Skinner, but his great acting in the 1985 cult classic "This is Spinal Tap!," recently showed his serious side with a documentary called "The Big Uneasy" about the Hurricane Katrina fiasco. Shearer is a part-time resident of New Orleans.

So, is the distance between these two zip codes?:

A) 1 hour, 20 minutes

B) 1 hour, 30 minutes

C) 1 hour, 40 minutes

D) 1 hour, 55 minutes

E) 2 hours, 10 minutes

SIDEBAR: Alas, the University of North Carolina Tarheels women's volleyball team fell to Pepperdine University on the host school's home floor in Malibu, Calif., late last night (eastern time). The score for the Waves was 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22), but junior Emily McGee of the 'Heels scared 18 kills; for her career, she now has 1,0004 kills in NCAA play.

SIDEBAR 2: Yes, it does appear that presidential campaign of fringe, far-right Republican candidate Herman Cain is now over with. But, we saw a tweet from "The Huffington Post" which said the former Godfather's Pizza baron, who has not admitted to infedelity or sexual harrassments charges, allegedly did fess up to quoting Pokemon in various campaign speeches.

Things We Learned on Google Today- Gyumri is Armenia's Second City

Today, we continue our look at former republics of the Soviet Union that are now independent countries with a look at Armenia. By the way, we think this sheep is from Scotland. Armenia is a predominantly rural country that overlooks Mount Ararat, with lots of hills, and therefore, lots and lots of sheep.

As it is, since I am a Turkish-American (Turkey and Armenia are traditional rivals, and yes there is a controversial, dark chapter of history between the two sides which we are not going into), there are plenty of other things I will need to do here, including making sure that I have spelled Armenia's prime minister Tigran Sargsyan's name correctly. Sargsyan is relatively close to age to President Barack Obama, as he is 51, which makes him a year older than Obama.

Gyumri is actually the answer to what is Armenia's second largest city behind the capital Yerevan. It is in fairly close proximity to Kars, Turkey.

In May of 2010, Gyumri was the site of major political demonstrations organized by the Armenian National Congress. During these protests, former prime minister Hrant Bagratian criticized the government in Yerevan, according to Radio Free Europe.

Gyumri has a population of 168, 918, roughly the same size as the American city of Greenville, South Carolina. Gyrumi has many historic Orthodox churches, including Saint Jacob and Holy Mother of God.

The city is also home to a large domestic brewery and the Armenian League soccer team FC Shirak, a team that has a player named Hovhannes Tahmazyan, who turns 42 in January (wow!).

Gyumri is also the hometown of Soviet Olympic weight-lifting great Yurik Vardanian who won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

This is the next-to-last profile of former Soviet states in our series. The final entry will be dedicated to Azerbaijan.

SIDEBAR: We wanted to give a quick update from yesterday's first round NCAA women's volleyball games. The University of North Carolina Tarheels prevailed over the tenth ranked California Bears in a game that was played in 'neutral' Malibu, Calif., which is considerably closer to Berkeley than Chapel Hill.

The 'Heels won the match 3-2 (25-17, 16-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-9). Junior Emily McGee lead the way with 23 kills and 18 digs for UNC. The 'Heels now face Pepperdine on the California school's home court.

But, the 'other UNC' the University of Northern Colorado was swept by Hawaii in a game that didn't finish until the wee hours of the morning on the east coast as it was played in Honolulu. The final score of that match was 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-15). Hawaii had a 29-1 record coming into the match, and were highly favored; they will next play Colorado State.

It was also a bad day for UNC's traditional rival Duke University (the two teams only played each other once this year in Durham, NC, a game that Duke won) as they fell to Tennessee 3-1 in a game that was played on the Lady Vols' home court; the Vols next face Ohio State.

Sports Desk- Women's NCAA Volleyball Tourney Begins

The University of Hawaii Rainbow (picture; 29-1) will be among the 64 teams seeking the NCAA Women's national championship in volleyball. The team will start play in Honolulu against the University of Northern Colorado Bears. Among the standouts for Hawaii are Kanani Danielson, Emily Maeda and Jane Croson. The Rainbow have won 24 games in a row; the Bears have not played in Hawaii since 2003.

Eight teams from the Big 10 made the field as did five teams from the PAC 12, including Oregon, which will play against Colorado State in Honolulu.

The more familiar UNC, the school in Chapel Hill, NC, will head all the way out to Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., to face the University of California. Last week, the Cal Bears upset sixth-ranked Stanford thanks to Tarah Murray, who was named Pac 12 Player of the Week. But, the Bears will face a solid challenge from the Tarheels as the team features Cameron Von Noy, the ACC Freshman of the year. And, three All ACC players in Kaylie Gibson, Emily McGee and Chaniel Nelson. The two teams play at 5:00 p.m. (esatern time) on Dec. 1.

Two of the other three ACC schools in the field of 64 include both Florida State and Miami (Fl).

The Seminoles actually get to host their first round game against the University of Albany. The 'Noles have perhaps the most internationally diverse squad in the field as their roster includes the likes of Duygu Duzceler and Fatma Yildirim (both from Turkey), Rachael Morgan (New Zealand), Patricia Fiqueriedo (Brazil) as well as two players from Serbia and one from Latvia. Their opponents, the Great Danes, lead by senior Brooke Stanley also have a player from Croatia. That game will take place on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Their conference and in-state rivals Miami (Fl) travel to Ames, Iowa (Iowa State University), to face Northern Illinois. The Hurricanes team includes ACC Player of the Year Lane Carico.

The top four teams in the field are Illinois, Nebraska, Iowa State and Texas. The national championship game will be played on Dec. 17th in San Antonio, Texas.

In the whoops department, we misinformed the public by saying that my alma mater Radford University had won the Big South Tournament in Charleston, SC, several days ago. It was in fact our arch rivals, the Liberty Flames, that won the tournament. But, the team from Lynchburg, Va., now has the challenge of facing defending four-time NCAA champion Penn State on the Nittany Lions' home floor.

SIDEBAR: Since we have many blog readers in Turkey, at least as of late (I am a Turkish-American), I thought it would be good to run a list of scores from this weekend's soccer action. In what was arguably the game of the week, Istanbul powerhouse Besiktas beat Trabzonspor 1-0. A feat that is made more impressive because Trabzonspor is playing Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League at the moment.

Here is a partial list of other scores from the Turkish Premiere League:

Samsunspor 1 Antalyaspor 0
GalataSaray 2 Sivasspor 1
Ankara GB 0 Fenerbahce (Istanbul) 0
Karabukspor 2 Bursaspor 0

Happy National College Radio Day

Happy National College Radio Day. I co-hosted a Turkish music show on WUVT-FM (90.7-FM) in 1994, so I fully respect the hard work and dedication that all college radio djs put in. Today's Turkish music show on WUVT-FM is called "Turkish Music Hour" and it airs from 1:00-2:30 p.m. (yes, it is an ironic title since the show lasts an hour and a half). I still listen to the show, and I think it's quite well-done. The hosts have in fact thought me about the Turkish female pop singer Nil Karaibrahimgil who is apparently very popular now.

There is a Greek music show before the Turkish show, as was the case when my friend Bahadir and I co-hosted the show. And, it is also quite good.

Since I now live in North Carolina, I also want to mention four exceptional college radio stations between Greensboro and Raleigh. They include WKNC (North Carolina State), which has a great heavy metal show on Friday nights, WXDU (Duke University, pictured) which has a great folk/local music show hosted by Washboard Dave.

In addition, there is WXYC (UNC) and WUAG (UNC-Greensboro).

SIDEBAR: This was a good weekend for many ACC sports team in Virginia and North Carolina. In college football, Wake Forest pulled off a huge upset of Florida State by a 35-30 score. Similarly, the Virginia Tech Hokies were able to defend their home turf in an exciting 38-35 win over Miami (Fla).

Not that this is pick on the Miami Hurricanes Day, but the UNC Tarheels won a home volleyball in five sets over the Hurricanes yesterday. Emily McGee of the Tarheels was named ACC Volleyball Player of the Week. On Thursday, the Tarheels, which also have a Turkish player named Ece Taner, host the Virginia Tech Hokies, a team that features junior Liz Trinchere, who is an alumnus of my high school, Glenvar High School in Salem, Va.

Sports Desk- Vikings and Spartans Victorious in Virginia

Yes, a Spartan mask from a museum was not our initial choice for an image for this blog, but all the marching band photos were either too big or unavailable for legal reasons.

As it is, my alma mater Glenvar High School from Salem, Va., was not in action, but 'the big school' Salem High School was. And, the Salem Spartans defeated the William Byrd Terriers 27-13 in a home game.

Up the road, the visiting Northside Vikings beat the Hidden Valley Titans 21-17. Hidden Valley High School is one of two Roanoke-area high schools, including Eastern Montgomery High School, which did not exist in the 1980s, when I was a star quarterback for the Glenvar Highlanders (that is a joke, our real quarterback was a guy named Barry).

Here is a rundown of other high school scores from the Roanoke/Lynchburg/Blacksburg region:

Cave Spring 34 Lord Botetourt 18
Christiansburg 47 Bassett 0
Galax 43 Radford 0
Magna Vista 28 Franklin County 26
E.C. Glass 21 William Fleming 20
Martinsville 44 Liberty 34
George Wythe 31 Floyd County 19

SIDEBAR: We learned recently that an alum of Glenvar High School named Liz Trinchere plays volleyball for Virginia Tech. The Hokies were victorious over their arch rivals the University of Virginia Cavaliers by a 3 sets to 1 score in Blacksburg. Cara Baarendsey, a junior from Mason, Ohio, scored 13 kills and 16 digs for the Hokies in the home victory.

It was a mixed bag for the UNC Tarheels in women's volleyball this weekend. The team hosted the Tarheels Classic, and they scored wins over St. Louis and Miami (Ohio), but the 'Heels feel to Tulsa 3-1. Kaylie Gibson of Apex, NC, and Aleksandra Georgieva of Bulgaria combined for 13 kills despite the loss.

Conversely, my alma mater Radford University fell in a road game to UNC-Greensboro in the Spartan Spiketacular in straight sets on Saturday in front of 311 spectators. Radford Highlanders senior Carly Fleming of Manassas, Va., did become the school's all-time solo blocks leader (50) in spite of the defeat.

Karrian Chambers, from College Station, Tex., helped guide the Spartans to their victory and she recieved all-conference honors as well.