Each of the 10 nights 🌙 on The Hill with Cindy Edwards gets underway, and the initial conversation directs my level of energy. That is just a fact, so today has already been a long day, so I couldn’t leave it to chance.
I walked in a straight line in the direction of our SRO, Chris Mabry. Mission Accomplished !!!!
Let’s do this !!!!!
Pre – Match trivia….
How many Lady Cavaliers can you name from this classic pic 📸 from 2003 ???
5:02 – end of 1st set, CCMS holds on 25-23.
5:32 – Dalton Intermediate 25 – 20. On to the third set….
Quick note 📝 before I start this one, Ron Cochran was to be #3, but his story has some items that go with it back at home.
I am creating this one while sitting in my car 🚗 waiting for my wife to emerge from yet another of her medical appointments. Nowadays, it feels like one of us is getting treated for something on a daily basis, but there is no room for sadness on a place designed to be the happiest site on earth.
While any calendar will show that Rick Nester is older than me, that’s not true when you look at it from the wear and tear / miles put on my body over the years.
See, Rick Nester is extended family to me, and everyone should know the rules about family – it’s okay for me to pick on them, but I’m not going to handle it well if someone else does.
Case in point 👉, if you looked up the phrase – Married Up ,
You would see a photo 📸 of Rick Nester!
Still don’t know what he did or say back in the day to land the Big Prize but…..
You that are going to follow the story until all 25 have been written might pick up on the fact that a large number of these people fall into one of two categories – disliked or considered irrelevant. I can’t help that because some things are non-negotiable…
I will spare people the 1,000 word sermon on why I believe in Rick and DONNA Nester by trimming it down to this.
No part of what took place on Sunday afternoon happens without Rick offering me his venue and his backing….
For the middle school team, it’s Family Night on the baseline introduction ceremony, and for the two older teams, it’s Besties Night 🌙.
To define Besties, that is for the players to invite people that are part of their lives to join them on the court. See, for the first few matches, I have been dictating who stands with them ( Moms, Dads, grandparents, and siblings), but tonight they get to choose !
It can be someone from one of the first four categories or just their Best Friend(s). The energy in our introduction process all three times sets the tone in regard to the positive energy in the building !
I will not utter a single word to disrespect our guests tonight because that is not what this is about, not even a little. The reason why is those little girls / young ladies all belong to someone as well. Their parents work for a living, just like ours do and they drove down, bought a ticket 🎟 to watch their pride and joy play volleyball 🏐.
Please notice the excitement that I add every time one of our players scores a point but also notice that nothing is said when we get a point because of an error made by a Bobcat.
Again, my absolute favorite part of working with Cundy Edwards is she holds a prayer circle 🔵 and invites the other team to join in because it is the Christian ✝️ thing to do. It’s my job to both Amp up or kiddos and protect theirs.
I will add one more thought process on the subject. The young lady who just hit the ball into the net is well aware that she made a mistake and let her team down. Do we really need to taunt her by shouting or chanting, ” There’s a net there”?????
Using a different approach, here I will select Mr Painter ( Heidi’s Dad ) as my example. I’m not sure that over the past four years, we have exchanged 100 words, but we have made eye contact, and I believe that he is appreciative of my efforts to add joy to his little girls game day experience. It’s a mutual respect thing that goes unspoken, and I value that a great deal.
The next step to that is this: What would any parent in the gym tonight come home from work and find their little girl crying 😢. Coach Edwards tells me that Mr Painter is a farmer out near me, which means he understands what it is to put in a hard day of work.
When you find out that the emotional well-being of the pride and joy of your life is crying because she got an answer wrong in class and the teacher led a chant of, ” You’re the Dumb Kid, You’re the Dumb Kid. And then the others joined in…..
Yes, it is exactly that. Bullying is bullying and it’s NEVER cute or okay. It’s just not.
Here in a few hours, I will get dressed 👗 and head over to The Hill to host three volleyball matches and I will do EVERYTHING within my power 💪 to make the night as enjoyable as possible for everyone who walks through the gym door 🚪. At the end of the night, I hope I have said, ” How ’bout them Lady Cavaliers ” three times. But if not, I will still feel good for trying hard to put an umbrella of protection over as many current and future Lady Cavaliers + Bobcats as possible !
I’m already excited about the number of fans that might be there at 4:30 !!!
Psalm 22:24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
Howard Mayo and his Motovational Nugget for the Day :We have another volleyball 🏐 triple header tonight on The Hill !
It was back in 2015 when Chris Graham and I were down in Greensboro, North Carolina, covering the Men’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for his online newspaper 📰, called the Augusta Free Press.
Now, when I get to finish my seventh and final book, people will read a great deal more about Crystal Graham because she is one of my pick – six. God placed six people in my life at various times that combined to carry me to the life I have lived.
Most people have short-term memories or something I like to call 📞 – What have you done for me lately folks. The series of events that involved Crystal took place two decades ago but will never be forgotten.
More about her later, though, because this story is about being overqualified for a job that nobody wants you to have anyway.
We had what felt a solid decade-long run and with 50 years of writing ✍️ stories, Chris Graham is still my first choice as an editor, without a doubt.
Now, back to that night in Greensboro, it was the first of two times that we made thar trip together, and both years were lifelong memories.
My motto has always been Duke, UVA, and wherever I stay. To translate, it is those two schools 🏫 and then you do everything you can to support the school closest to you.
Graham and I would share a laugh about the fact that we both treasure our University of Virginia degrees ! The one he earned and the one I bought, by sending the fifth of my five children to The Grounds.
We share our love ❤️ for the Hoos but have a slight difference of opinion on life down in Bull City.
Duke had just finished up a win over NC State in the QF when Chris asked me to pen 🖊 a column about the upcoming NCAA tournament for Coach K and his Blue Devils.
My Motto
I have to stop and give credit to both Jimmy Buffett, who was my writing mentor, and the Greatful Dead for that line in a song 🎵. I never followed the Dead, but Jimmy did a great cover of the song.
Some people think there clever, I know that I am so there is that. It was a fun, fun piece to write back then.
What happened next….
I happened to be up there for the National Championship game, and I still have the Natty Ring 💍 from it.
I went from writing ✍️ that story and watching 👀 it play out over a three week span to trying hard to convince a local Junior Varsity Basketball coach that I’m qualified to be his beat writer.
Talk about a downhill career projectory…
Our paths don’t cross very often anymore because we are chasing very different things as we enter the last leg of our journey called life. I should say that I’m doing that anyway.
There is a great line about my sole baseball hero, Greg Maddux. It goes like this…. Greg Maddux won four straight Cy Young awards, but Cy Young couldn’t win four straight Greg Maddux awards.
Chris Graham is fighting a fight that you either love him for or hate him for, but I promise you that nobody else can be Chris Graham.
See, Chris is a Democrat and I have never voted 🗳 in my life, just declaring that my trust is in God. But my mission in life is not that different from his and his bride. They are searching for accountability while I’m searching for equality. It’s just not that different….
So, next time someone wants to question who I am or what I’m qualified to do, here’s my thought.
Let me know when you wrote a story that helped a legendary coach win his fifth and final Natty.
Crystal Graham, you are forever a part of my success story, and I love ❤️ you for that ! And always will.
Chris Graham, keep fighting for your beliefs !
Everytime that I hear that opening line in his post game presser, I smile 😃 and then I say, Thank You, Chris Graham !
