Month: August 2026

The Top 16 Women’s Basketball 🏀 teams are about to gather over in Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪 for 10 days !

There are three terrific reasons to grab the passport and head over to Germany for the FIBA tournament that begins at the end of the week.

Reason # 1 – Kelsey Plum will always remain in the top spot of female athletes for me, and if her lower leg 🦵 injury allows, she will once again be putting her talents on display. Plum turned 32 this week, which in real life is still relatively young, but by Basketball standards, not so much.

Reason #2 – Coach Lawson is leading the team once again, so that means that my favorite coach in the sport will also be making the trek over to Europe 🇪🇺. The fact that Lawson is at Duke University might have led me to pay more attention to her initially, but the fact that she is the real deal as a leader is the most important part of the equation.

Reason #3 – If Plum is my All-Time favorite women’s player, then Chelsea Gray is my favorite one to wear the colors at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Gray is 33 years old now, and like Plum, this figures to be her final opportunity.

  The only reason for not going can best be summed up by borrowing from one of the Indiana Jones movies. ” Snakes 🐍, why did it have to be Snakes 🐍?”

Germany 🇩🇪, why does it have to be Germany 🇩🇪 ?

  The initial trip to Germany years ago was to visit one of the children who was stationed there at the time, and it makes the one and done list. Driving 🚗 on the Autobahn was a blast, but if there’s going to be another 12 hour flight ✈️ somewhere, it won’t be back to Berlin.

Lawson coaching both Plum and Gray will be priceless to watch, even if it’s just on a television 📺…

A tip of the cap to Peaches 🍑 and Herb way back in 1979. Undefeated, and it feels so good ! Ferrum College goes the distance in their season opening win and follows with a four set victory…

The song 🎵 was reunited, but it fits perfectly here for the Lady Panthers after they rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to win  their season opener versus Carolina University on Saturday.

Post-match Prayer Circle !

The volleyball 🏐 will continue over at Ferrum into the early evening as the tri-match is just getting started. I’m not sure if match two and three will live up to the opening back and forth affair, but it should be fun just the same !

Spartanburg Methodist and Carolina University ( Bruins) are the other teams in action 🎬 today.

Carolina University swept Spartanburg Methodist College in the middle match to draw a split for the day.

Spartanburg Methodist College pushed Ferrum College to a fourth set in the final match of the event. The Lady Panthers slipped in the second set (23-25) before storming back with authority to close out the day, winning the third and fourth sets by scores of 25-10 and 25 – 11.

The Lady Panthers return to the court on Tuesday night at 6 pm, and something tells me that the Harris family will have little trouble finding their way to the match. Both Adrienne and Natalie spent four years performing as Wasps during their stays at Emory and Henry University.

Vickey Ritchie isn’t just a once a week coach, and the proof this time is in the 📸📷…

Tomorrow afternoon will be the rare fifth Sunday afternoon practice in one calendar 📅 month for Coach Vickey and our Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 program. Technically, it could happen up to four times a year, but it is happening for sure in August.

When we say our goodbyes 👋 shortly after 4:00 pm on Sunday afternoons, we head in our separate directions but still try and show support for each others efforts when time allows for it.

One night this week, Vickey spent hours with a panel of judges as she prepared for the AG Fair.

The photos 📸 above are from Wednesday at the Fair as a large number of members of our group gathered in celebration at the event.

In her own words :

Over 45 people—-athletes, unified partners, parents, grandparents, family members, caregivers—-showed up this afternoon to walk with Carroll County Special Olympics in the opening parade for the Carroll County Agricultural Fair.  What a blessing!  There was no way to get a good picture that showed every face of such a big group as we lined up, but Samantha Lark-Smith took this one and then I dissected it a little. 

     I appreciate each and every one of you, and we ALL really appreciate the Fair, including CCSO, in this parade every year alongside ROTC, the band, the cheerleaders, the royal court, and FFA.  Myra Leonard makes it a point each year to make sure we know we are invited!

Fast forward to this morning 🌄 and it was once again off to the races 🏁

Vickey Ritchie is on a mission, and it runs parallel with my own. It feels like a blessing 🙌 that the two overlap with each other, every now and then !

October 2nd – Little Feet

October 10th – Boo Ridge 5K

Two big days on the horizon, but rest assured, Coach won’t have a great deal of downtime between now and then.