Book #6 in our set of seven is no different than the first five. It is not being created to generate any amount of income. This book will be made available to the folks that helped create it at no cost. What makes this one different from the other five is we are building it right in front of you!

Anytime you see a story that begins with the words ” Diamonds 💎 are a Girls Best Friend,”you are reading 📚 part of the book.

The goal of the book is to capture some of the best stories that I have witnessed across a lifetime of attending, watching, or announcing softball or baseball games. The relationships and the personal stories often trump the event itself, and it’s been a treat to work with so many people on this.

The harsh reality is that I should have finished this one 12 months ago, but we ran into a number of people that have chosen to not offer their take, and then you reboot your thoughts and adjust them one more time.

There is no one story that will appear in this effort that is powerful enough to warrant a stand-alone book, but when they are strung together, I believe that it will be a fun read.

Carroll County High School Softball won the very first State Championship in 2015 and it moved Cavalier Park from a ball field to a park that resembles one you would find on a college campus.

Page County High School Softball went from not having a field back in the early 1980s to the one they have today. All of this happened under the guidance of Alan Knight, but he knows that he was just the captain of the ship.

Ralph Viafora, Roy Cardin, Arthur Campbell, Megan Gordon, Dennis Zimmerman, Big Daddy Hendrick are just some of the key players.

Spending 12 years inside the Valley Baseball League, 19 years with Lawrence Nesselrodt at West Virginia Tech, a decade with Chris and Crystal Graham, are three more categories that sneak in right behind the first two.

How about the various newspapers that we partnered up with over the years ? Not all 20+ make the story, but Allen Worrell, Pappy Meade, Chuck McGill, Craig Worrell, and John Galle certainly do.

The past four days have been nothing less than exhausting, but there is such a thing as a good form of exhaustion. Here in a bit, we will pack up and head in the direction of Duke University Medical Center for the next sit-down with the brain 🧠 doctors. That is a different type of exhausting, but it still provides hope.

Yesterday afternoon, the Grahams were kind enough to offer up a conversation that lasted just short of three hours. The purpose of the chat was to try and reaffirm what the goal is here in regards to the final two books ?????

The goal is not to land on Oprah’s sofa or the New York Times best sellers list. It’s not to unload a bunch of hot takes or create water cooler gossip. The goal when you write a book should be to enjoy the art of telling a story !

The difference here, with this one, is that it’s being done right in Plain Sight ! By the time that the book is complete, the majority of the people that will throughly enjoy it will have already read it.

The example I will use is Amy Gaskins, one of three daughters of Roy. I sent her one of the completed sections, and she noticed a very important missing detail. I need everyone who is involved with this to do the same. I make the adjustments before the editor scoops up all of the stories and creates the actual book.

God has blessed me with a multitude of opportunities to absorb life, and I have interacted with some Top Shelf people along the way. Some of these stories are designed to make you laugh, and some will make you feel the bond that makes the story relevant.

Over the years, I have been asked why I tend to treat everything that I write about, like it’s the seventh game of the World Series ? My answer is because it is to someone…..

I have to focus on what I have been blessed with, the ability to tell a story in a manner that will bring joy to one’s heart!