Last night in Miami, the Heat hosted and defeated the Washington Wizards, 152-136. Jaime dropped 32 points, and the impressive thing about his efforts was what happened next.
It would have been easy enough to go to South Beach ⛱️ with the fellas and celebrate the night away. Nope, this young man found his way across the bottom of the country and was in the arena when his little sister dropped 21 to lead her team to a national championship !
The Heat is scheduled to play on Tuesday up in Toronto, Canada 🇨🇦 so there’s another long flight ✈️ but he wasn’t going to miss out on his little sisters moment to shine !
One question that I ponder every time I am covering a sports team and their season ends, does the typical fan continue to follow the sport or not ?
A few years ago, the Northside Vikings came to Cavalier Park for a regional semifinal game against our Lady Cavaliers. The visitors left that day with a victory by the slimmest of margins, and a couple of weeks later, I smiled after Northside steamrolled the rest of the field and won the Softball State Championship.
The next opportunity to see this play out was the season before last when Anthony Barnes led our basketball program back to the State Tournament after a considerable absence. We fell that night up at Penn Laird to a talented Spotswood High five and two games later, the Trailblazers were celebrating in Richmond after their State 👑.
This year, we followed the Lady Blue Devils of Duke University Women’s Basketball team in a manor that we hadn’t been able to do before. It included a bazaar eight game trek that took us to games in Paris, France 🇫🇷, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Lynchburg. Heck, we even played a game inside of a Hotel 🏨 ( The Greenbriar Resort ). We saw them play Stanford University out on The Farm 🚜 in Palo Alto and naturally a few times inside Cameron Indoor Stadium 🏟.
Last Sunday, the team watched their season end in the Elite Eight for the second straight year. Last year, it was Dawn Staley and South Carolina that advanced to the Final Four in our place, and this time, it was the UCLA Bruins that did the honors.
We had hoped to be in the building with them when the ride ended but chose instead to attend Coach Barnes’s annual banquet.
Since the moment that our 10 point lead turned into a 12 point setback, I have been pulling for the Bruins to be the team that cut ✂️ down the nets in Phoenix.
It would have been okay if Dawn had been holding the scissors ✂️ for the fourth time because the former Hoo is a class act. But my heart ❤️ was with the Bruins. We missed the first half due to assisting Vickey Ritchie with our Special Olympics Easter celebration, but the second half has been a fun watch.
UCLA is a team with seven seniors, and each one has a story. Up 29 (67-38) with 6:31 left to play, it appears that for the third time in four years, a team I pulled for with my heart ❤️ and soul, at least can say, ” It took the eventual Champs to end our season.”
I’m not sure if it helps others, but it helps me !
” Donovan Vogler JROTC” was the short text message that I received from Marion Harris during the just completed Chorus trip to New York City. I had reached out to Marion because Chris Manley had mentioned that one of his Raiders was missing when we took our photo 📸 of the cadets a few days ago.
I would love to be more precise about when we took the photo (I think it was Thursday), but the last few days have been a blur.
Marion took the time to track down the information during their trip to the Big Apple 🍎 because he knew it mattered to me for the story. Mr Manley spoke very highly of the young man 👨and if he is dedicated enough to split time between Patricia Lineberry and JROTC, he is clearly talented !
We arrived home late last night after announcing a doubleheader up in Beckley, West Virginia. The idea 💡 of waking up at the Crack of dawn was anything but appealing to put it mildly, yet it is Easter.
Thanks to the direction of Mr Bo Goins back when we first arrived here, I have spent the past six Easters by attending the Sunrise 🌅 Service conducted by Pastor Stephen Puckett here in Laurel Fork, Virginia.
Stephen and I are connected in so many ways, but the main two are ministry and Carroll County Schools. Brother Puckett has one monumental advantage in his world 🌎 because he has a very clear title on both ends. When folks see 👀 him, they aren’t wondering who he is or why is he there ?
The ” Minister of Kindness ” could be a moniker for my efforts with OneofUs.Care. Things get a little bit trickier on the school side of things, though, and it varies depending upon which of the three seasons we are in at the time.
After the message this morning, Lin and I were sitting next to Stephen’s father, who is still very much a character and across from a young lady that we will call Chase’s Mom.
We were having a meal that had been prepared by many people and made with love. The conversation switched ⚙️s when Mr Puckett mentioned to the young lady about her son that is now old enough to drive. It turns out that the same young man 👨 is also in JROTC.
God had opened 🙏 up a window 🪟 and while tired, I immediately thought back to stopping what I was doing the other day long enough to create a post for Mr Manley and his group. Getting to share the story and the photo with Mom was a blessing 🙌 and it turned out Grandma and Grandpa were nearby.
For the next 5 to 10 minutes, life was as uplifting as can be. It’s Easter, and you’re in a church ⛪️ with an opportunity to share your thought process about the manner in which you’re trying to serve God.
Young Dakota Walls is also celebrating Easter !
The Vickey Ritchie portion of this story is that our Angel 😇 on Earth will be making sure that every one of our Special Olympics Athletes has an Easter experience. A combination of Easter Egg 🥚 hunt and Basketball 🏀 practice is slated for this afternoon.
Per the norm, Vickey won’t know how many will attend until they walk through the door. Yet, somehow, Coach will adjust to the numbers and make sure everyone leaves feeling included !
A nap and then a trip to assist an Angel in her efforts and then another nap after the second half of South Carolina and UCLA.
Matthew 28:6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Marion Harris added one final picture 📸 from NYC and confirmation that the travelers returned to The Hill safely !1 vs 1 in the Women’s Basketball National Championship game.
Easter is a day where you hope everyone can reflect on the reason why we celebrate it and spend it with family !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 