When you set out a plan to shine a spotlight on 12 separate games in a 12 Day window sometimes its a challenge to choose where to go on a certain day but that was not the case on Tuesday night.
After spending the afternoon at Averette University and then watching the Duke Men play on television that night, I joined the rest of the basketball World in cheering along for Steph Curry as he set out to become the All-Time leader in 3 point shots made in the NBA.
The Curry family mirrors my other favorite Sports families – The Mannings. The first thing they have in common is my link with both came as huge fans of the Father’s careers. Archie and Dell where players I respected a great deal then they just happened to later have children that turned out to be athletes of their own.
The Shenandoah Valley is full of people that knew and competed against Dell while he played at Fort Defiance and amazingly enough most want to talk his ability to throw a baseball ⚾️ back in the day.
One person went on to tell me that his greatest high school memory was getting a base hit in a game that Dell pitched in! Who Knew??
While I have never personally met any of the Currys its been nothing but fun to follow along and when little brother Seth joined the brotherhood at Duke after his freshman season at Liberty it gave me a greater opportunity to watch him develop his own game.
The fact that Steph didn’t end up at his parents school in Blacksburg was possibly understandable in that he was somewhat undersized by ACC standards. But after he flourished at Davidson I would have driven to the Family 🏡 and signed the younger one on the spot – even if he wasn’t a ballplayer yet!
In my eyes the most impressive thing about Seth’s older brother is how he uses his fame and fortune to try and make the World 🌎 a better place!
Credit to Mom and Dad for raising such a pair of Sons and while I only own 6 sports playing cards I proudly state that one of them is Dell Curry. So naturally I am going to cheer for both of his Sons.
I remember a few years back when the current Coach of Golden State back then (Mark Jackson) stated he might be coaching the greatest shooting backcourt in the History of the NBA. The Splash Brothers (Klay Thompson & Curry) were fun to watch for sure but many a folk laughed loudly at the statement back then. Those who laughed back then might not be so quick to laugh now ???
Charlotte was home for the family so when it was time to find a College Steph picked one built on the beautiful shores of Lake Norman in Davidson College. I was very familiar with the school because one of my All-Time favorite characters first put the school on the basketball map. Charles ” Lefty ” Driesell ” was more known for his efforts at Maryland and James Madison University later but he led the Cats to and through their initial Glory Days.
I always Loved Lefty and that only grew when I found out he played for and graduated from Duke University back in the 1950’s. Going down Interstate 77 after my Doctor appointment would be nothing short of a treat. The Ladies were set to tip-off at 11:00 am against Appalachian State so there was another reason to watch – the Mountaineers. Appy State is the school I suggested as a new addition to the ACC that would bring back more local interest and great rivalries that the league used to have in abundance.
Everyone that would laugh that idea off probably wouldn’t have let tiny Wake Forest in to the Party back in the day. Today’s sports world is centered around Bigger is Better and the number of televisions that are within 50 miles of the Campus..
Lefty, Steph and Appy being in the house so the only thing that could make the day more special would be if my co-pilot Rob Sisk could somehow find the streaming video of the game and join the contest.
Rob had to dig deep but eventually found the contest on ESPN+. Kudos to him for going the extra step and of course for his time and energy. The first thing Rob noticed was the size of the crowd and how much bigger it looked than the Wake game did two days earlier.
The steps to success in Davidson ‘s effort to give both teams the feeling of a large crowd was three part. Step #1 – have an impressive midsized arena with a quality team playing in it. Step #2 – close off the upper section on one side and actually roll back the upper on the other side. Step #3 was to bring in local elementary school students and fill the lower part of the arena and let them be LOUD!
It worked to perfection and added bonus of they were actually cheering at the right times. I’m not sure if the 50-100 adults there to watch the Ladies play were enjoying the noise as much as I was but I think the teams did!
I will add a few pics from the day and a small note about one of them that stuck out to me was the fact that Dell’s Son and his wife played a major part in the recent renovation of the Court. Don’t think that will come as a Surprise to anyone.
A.S.P.N on The Hill 