When you are trying hard to trim down 5,000 stories to maybe 200, it gets difficult, to say the least. The search is for ones that connect multiple dots, and the frigid night in Charlotte does just that.

Duke University Football had not qualified for a bowl game in almost two decades, a record at the time for Power 5 schools. It was during the preparation for this game that I stumbled upon the fact that Duke had only played in three bowl games in my 49 years, and I was at all three of them. Hence, this is how I came about the proud fact that I’ve seen every bowl game in my 63 years in person.

We were heavy underdogs against a Cincinnati team that tied for first place in their league, and we were just happy to be there. The picture above shows just how cold it was in Charlotte that night, and we bought everything available to try and stay warm.

The game was in the closing minutes, and the score was knotted up, 14-14. We were at the Cincinnati five yard line and on the cusp of a great victory. Yet, in a span of just six plays, we not only lost the game but lost it by two touchdowns !!!

For the next 10 years, Scott Van Pelt of ESPN leadoff his segment called Bad Beats with this particular game. I haven’t seen the segment in a while, so I’m not sure if it still holds the top spot. It reminded me of the poor guy who wiped out on the slopes and then spent decades being the example of ” The agony of defeat ” on the hit series, The Wide World of Sports “.

My father was there that night as was our three youngest children, Pappy Meade, Coach Knight, one son-in-law ( Josh ),1 daughter-in-law ( Christina) and 1 grandchild ( Noah ). It had been a long, long time since Duke reached the promised land, and we wanted to enjoy the glory of the moment.

While on the subject of Bad Beats, I offer up Alan Knight as exhibit A. Most people don’t have the opportunity to get to know Coach on a personal level, but over our 25 years, he has become very much a part of our family. I only wish that more people could have seen the side of Alan that we were blessed to know.

Yes, he is a very serious ball coach and has been closing in on 50 years now. But Jeff Burner and Jerry Walters, along with that Dodson, fella over at Spotswood are all equally intense while coaching. Walters could be considered borderline frightening at times but lovable away from the game.

Knight stays away from social media and refuses to talk about his personal accomplishments, but wow, give him the window to discuss his players and his programs and buckle up.

The partnership between the two of us only works because of his complete lack of ego. He doesn’t want to talk about himself, not even a little, so this sets me up to have fun with that fact.

Yes, he looks like he’s 8 feet tall, and where’s size 25 shoes ,  doesn’t try to be the life of the party, so he’s perceived to be aloof or arrogant. He doesn’t take credit for anything that happened on Magic Mountain / Lady Panthers Softball Complex. He knows that he coached and coaches a program in a community that is a throwback to the olden days.

There was room for Ralph Viafora, Dennis Zimmerman, Lori Mongold, Roy Cardin, Big Daddy, Arthur Campbell and a host of others to play their part in a phenomenal story that began almost half a century ago. Coach just wants to coach without having to explain his methods and is always trying hard to advance his / our program without stopping to get you to like him along the way.

Picture a circus 🎪 and then look for the ring leader, the guy with the funny hat and loud voice. Yeah, that is not Alan Knight, it’s the guy typing this story. But like Coach, the guy we call ” Warm and Fuzzy “, I don’t have the spare time to get someone else to like him or me. There are things to do and challenges to face that are more important.

Yes, the media doesn’t appreciate him either because he stays away from the things that sell newspapers. It’s about the greater good of the team, not the stats of a single player.

The fact that more people don’t know the Alan Knight that my family and I do is another terrific example of a bad beat. Just not one that I will have to watch over and over and over again. Five yards away from winning and six plays later, down 14 points…..only my beloved Duke University Football team.

Jeff Burner and John Galle, back in the day.

Outside of Alan Knight, I am not sure if there is a high school coach that I spent more time with than Jeff Burner. There were a number of reasons why we were in the same gym and later at the same Dennys restaurant in Mount Jackson.

First, the Northern Virginia Daily was located in Strasburg, 30 miles one way from Quicksburg. Mike Petre and later Chuck McGill would always cover the Generals in every sport, but the actual staff could be put to use closer to the newspaper.

Secondly, if you looked up the word personable in the dictionary, you could see a picture of Coach. From Day one, Burner treated you like you mattered, and his athletes would run through a wall for him, Shoot, his beat writer would as well. The only drawback to the system would be that the stringer would cover the team during the entire regular season but a staffer would take the baton for the post-season games.

Burner coached like his life depended on it, and outside of a few exceptions, he did so with much height on his roster. His teams back then were scrappy and looked to create havic, just like the guy in the insurance commercials you see on television today. The style was an acquired taste but not always easy on the eyes or easy to follow.

The exception to the rule was his four years coaching one, Kallie Hovater ! Kallie was an absolute beast on the basketball court, from start to finish.

The Mayor of Quicksburg was something I tagged on Jeff early in our relationship. See. 178 is the total population still today in 2026, and Burner has coached for 36 years now. Some of the things he would do is support his players year around, not just during basketball season. This carries over to long after graduation from SJHS as he knows who they married, the names of their children, and if they have a pet or not.

When the school was looking for some fresh things to teach its students, it turned to Burner, and he proceeded to create some new curriculum. Years later, I was able to pitch in with one of those classes.

Jeff is married now to Amy, and their two kiddos are enjoying their time at the school. It has been from a distance, but watching the progression has been a treat.

While we all claim Kenny Brooks, the current Kentucky Women’s Basketball coach, Burner is the one who actually attended classes with the former James Madison University and Virginia Tech coach.

Mom and Dad were always a great conversation, and his brother was as well. Everything and everyone that came into contact with the mayor was better for it !

This photo was taken right after we completed the Carroll County High School book on Basketball. Lin had just delivered his copy to him as what Basketball junkie wouldn’t enjoy a great read?

The similarities between Hovatter and Alyssa Ervin are numerous. Driven individual who played the game the right way are the all-time scoring leader at their high school, Boys or Girls. Both even spent time at Elon University along the way. If not for Chad Coffee and Buffalo Gap…..

But this is supposed to be a book about softball and baseball, right ?

Burner filled in at the school in other sports, and one of them was softball. While he admitted to not getting the best of Alan Knight very often, he did have one fond memory from the diamond.

” Basically, as we came off the bus, a lady was there with a cake in the shape of a 200. She said it was to celebrate Coach Knight’s 200th win. In truth, I don’t know if he had already gotten it before or later, but our girls took it personally. We ended up winning somehow, and our girls cheer was “Put the cake in the Freezer!”

The story came full circle a few years ago when we selected Jeff Burner as our initial  Person of the Year for OneofUs.Care. It was one of the easiest decisions that I would make.