Day: October 29, 2025

How about an Evening edition of the Morning 🌄 Brew ? Happy Birthday Kristy Jones, Howard Mayo – Allen Worrell and the World 🌎 of Vickey Ritchie never fails to Amaze me…..

Earlier today when we shared the Morning 🌄 Brew, it was missing the entry from Girls Basketball Coach Howard Mayo.

  Due to contract demands for the space we failed to sign on Allen Worrell to stand next to Coach Mayo. Worrell was asking for more money 💰 than we had left in our N.I.L fund and it appears that he will be transferring to Louisiana State University.

The old Photo 📷

  When the news broke that our Cross Country runners were being given the day off, the story had it being weather related. We found out later that it was so Trenton Newman could properly Celebrate his Mother’s Birthday 🎂…

Last night 🌙 I was along for the support as Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 Coach Vickey Ritchie was heading to Galax for another event that is near and dear to her heart ❤. My blind faith in “Little Ritchie ” is unconditional and to this point has never let me to a place where I don’t feel better for having been there.

The Classic, Little Feet, Boo Ridge, Hoops at VT and VMI are a few on the list and last night we added the 9th Edition of SuperFit at Power Up Oct.

First up, Stephanie Burnette was on hand with one of her Pups 🐶. Neat, Neat Lady that has a disposition about her that is impressive as the day is long. And that’s before the part where she is a fan of Duke University gets added in.

Next Lady is the owner of Power Up Oct, Josee Williams. Another partner in the process and her and Coach enjoyed telling the stories about how their friendship developed over the years.

Theresa Talley was there and naturally that led to having some fun with ” Money ” Talley which naturally included a poke or two and the expense of Mr.T.

I wasn’t sure what exactly my role in assisting Vickey but after setting up my speaker and listening to Kyla Ford, it became clear that my job was to soak in her energy. Kyla has an ability to make everyone else near her feel better.

Normally when I am helping Vickey, I shy away from pictures 📷 because of the depth of the stories and people involved is sometimes highly sensitive but know that these are all good to share.

Two of these three tidbits are very tongue and cheek and one is the real deal. If you’re not sure which is which then you probably stumbled into the wrong place 🤔…

It’s time for a Top Ten list and today its about why we Love 💘 Anthony Barnes and his Cavaliers!

One of my favorite things to use is a take on David Letterman and his Classic Top Ten List. Tomorrow afternoon I will cross paths with our Head Coach in between Cross Country and Middle School Girls Basketball. Coach is having an informal scrimmage with our neighbors from Fort Chiswell at 4pm. The visit will be short but a visit just the same.

Without further ado.. the Top Ten reasons I Love Anthony Barnes and his program…

#10 – Relationships are built from within and they have lasting impact. A great example to start with is Greg Talley while Jabin was playing and Doug Reitzel when Davis was playing. Getting Jabin back involved this season is pretty cool.

#9 – Everything that Coach does is tied directly to the roots of his program and its history. A great leader taps into the program he or she is responsible for.

#8 – Jason Stockner… Is it possible to find someone who is more Carroll County than Coach Stockner ? Personal note : Jason would appear higher on the list once he shares more stories…

#7 – Blue Collar – Barnes is Old School / Throwback and leads his team in the same manner. It’s relatable to everyone involved !

#6 – The upcoming season ! Nobody gets to decide the perfect place or time to exit but if Barnes wanted to he could have rode off into the Sunset 🌇 after making it to the State Tournament last year. No Six Seniors, No Kris Richardson – it would have been easy to check out.

Now the Top #5…

#5 – Coach Brown, Coach Phillips – From Day #1, Barnes was hyped about adding Darian Brown to his staff and young Mr Phillips comes from the Paul Nester Family 👪 🌳…

#4 –  Mama Smoot and her fellas! Russell, Brayden and Bryce….

#3 – Anthony Barnes and his Unfinished Business….

Before he was a Rock 🎸 Star 🌟 and Quarterback, little Isaiah Easter was just a little brother to Kaylee Easter.

#2 – Anthony Barnes and I share a common denominator. We both want his players to have the best opportunity to succeed well beyond their playing days on The Hill. Our work together the past few years has been priceless. Watching the growth of the players in his program and getting the opportunity to play a small part in it has been gratifying.

Drum Roll Please….

#1 – Kris Richardson – There’s simply nobody in Carroll County that I match up with in a better manner than my neighbor and friend, Kris Richardson. Separately Kris and I are enough to deal with but on the rare occasion when we are together it can be a bit much. Barnes and his level of tolerance for the two of us is the definition of putting the well being of the program ahead of his own ego…in a word…PRICELESS

  Ladies and Gentlemen, 10 reasons why we Love Anthony Barnes ❤. Coming soon to a Gym near you !!!

”

From : Coach Barnes

” Thanks Jerry ! I appreciate the story, at the end of the day I want my players, former players and Coaches too take away something that stays with them in their next phase of life .”

Welcome 🙏 to the way too early Morning 🌄 Brew for Wednesday October 29th, 2025

Cool 😎 Graphics coming from our neighbors in Southwest Virginia!

As we mentioned earlier in the week, our Cross Country runners 🏃‍♂️ will not race today with the hopes that tomorrow might provide better conditions.

The Schedule 📅 still shows a Junior Varsity Football game on tap over in Martinsville against the Bulldogs.

Being that its  only 3:30, I am hoping that Travis Osborne and Howard Mayo are still hours from waking ⏰ up. I will plug 🔌 in the Photos 📷 for their spots and circle back with the material later this morning.

Howard Mayo with his Motovational Nugget
Travis Osborne with his Bible Verse 🙏 of the Day :

Psalm 29:11 The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.

Breakfast with Coach Nester is on the Horizon !

We will have some tweaks to the format to roll out on November 1st and trying to make sure that all of the I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed before then.

Have yourself a Blessed Day 🙌