The photo 📷 of me on the left was taken just before we moved out to Orcas Island 🏝. Tipped the scales ⚖ at 339 and my Doctor was telling me that I would stroke out any day now.

After taking every ounce of thought process I had and turned it into an effort to literally save my own life, you see the end result on the right – me having shed 140+ pounds.

Now, living on a Resort Island off the Coast of Canada 🇨🇦, it was time to finally kick back and enjoy five Kiddos and nine Grandchildren + my new found Health. A smarter person would have called in a Win but when the Washington Post reached out for some assistance I felt that I had one more PUSH left in me.

I promised myself that I would take all of the money 💰 that my working as an Independent Contractor and give it away. The goal was to raise the Bar on Education, on Equality, on Kindness through a network so strong that it could stand completely on its own – free of dependency of any form of Social Media.

The goal was to take every single thing that I had been apart of in the past and roll it into a High School version of ESPN. The bonus being we were going to simultaneously increase what we can teach the Students.

I had a plan, financial backing for the plan and proof that each part of the plan had worked in previous places. The site that I’m typing this on has been part of my life for close to 20 years now and it will remain a part of it as long as I can still carry a thought but for the rest of it, November 3rd is the back end date. The date has been on the Calendar 📅 for some time now because it coincides with the end date for my contract.

While there’s no sorrow for the efforts, I can accept the fact that it will end with me being no closer to reality than it was four years ago.

I absolutely treasure the group of dedicated people that jumped on board as readers. Even though I consider myself a Wordsmith, I am at a loss for words when it comes to that topic.

The goal was to build a team, very much like I had witnessed up in Strasburg, Virginia. Thirty or so people with each one of them with a different skill set that they would be willing to share for the betterment of others.

The goal was to have one site where people could go on in the morning 🌄 with their drink of choice and catch up on everything that happened the day before. There would be no ads and no Bullys to be found, just pride in who we are and everything we can accomplish.

If I couldn’t build said Team while I had access to $150,000.00, I don’t like my chances of doing it without it. Know that I tried with every ounce of my being. Many a day, beyond being reasonable to myself in regards to my Health. Speaking of which, I need a nap before heading up to Pulaski so I will stop ✋ for now.

Congratulations 👏👏👏 to Head Coach Emily Dinsmore and our Lady 👩 Mountaineers on their 1-0 MAC road victory over Kent State on Friday afternoon.

Five straight victories by a combined score of 15-3 has the team sitting atop the conference standings at 4-0

Before and After….

App State will make a stop ✋ in Lynchburg on Sunday afternoon to play a non-conference tilt with the Liberty University Flames. The two teams played a scrimmage at The Rock during the pre-season and Sunday should be a great test for the team.

Looking ahead to next Sunday, barring an Upset, I will get to have the honor of announcing a sporting event that includes the current #1 ranked team in the Nation ! The University of North Carolina Tar Heels currently hold down the Top Spot so for the next eight days its absolutely GO HEELS!

October 13, 2024 is also going to be a significant day for our team as it will hopefully 🙏 mark the return to its Home complex that sits high up on the hill. Our games last weekend had to be moved to neighboring Schools due to the flooding.

Congratulations 👏👏👏 on the Big W up North and Best of Luck on Sunday ! Counting the days until we can all get back to Dr Jan C Watson Field…..

Texas, BYU, Miami, Indiana and Duke University Football are the five FBS schools 🏫 that are 5-0 !!!

Not sure if anyone would have been able to pick out that group of teams..

Today its the folks from Davidson College that opened their doors 🚪 to us as we try to bounce back from the devastating flood waters in Boone.

Bellamine left Louisville, Kentucky on a chartered Bus 🚌 five days ago and when they leave later today they will have to take the long way back to the Bluegrass state.

First Touch took place at 12:07 pm and we remain scoreless at halftime.

After today I get to return to Laurel Fork while the team heads back to see what is salvageable back on Campus.

One thing for sure is that our facility sits at the Top of the Rock so we know that its safe but that’s about all we know for sure.

App State takes to the road for our next three matches, not returning home until Sunday October 13th when the University of North Carolina comes to town for a rare appearance.

Goal App State – #1 – Bridget Donovan from #21 Noah Ginjaume Matas at 1:35 of the 3rd !!!

Apologies for the delay but the folks back home are working on rescheduling events.

6:26 – 4th – Goal for Franziska Heyltjes of Mulheim, Germany 🇩🇪, her 1st career Goal, 2-0 !!!

3:53 – 4th, Frederique Grimbergen of the Netherlands 🇳🇱 puts the biscuit in the basket 🧺 3-0

1:37 – FINAL 3-0 !!!!

USA Field Hockey has a smurf Blue astroturfed practice facility on the Campus of North Carolina – Charlotte. Its located 2 hours and 8 minutes away from something that most people will never have to live through.

Head Coach Emily Dinsmore and her Staff recruited this roster from around the World 🌎 on the promise that coming to Boone, North Carolina would be live changing. Nobody could have possibly foreseen the recent events that not only flooded downtown Boone but absolutely leveled neighboring towns.

Central Michigan University and Appalachian State University are getting ready to play a MAC conference game here at 1pm. That’s assuming that everyone can get here safely. Charlotte isn’t the issue, getting here is but I think that escaping the harsh reality of the situation for the next 90 minutes could be just what the Doctor ordered!

Here’s hoping 🙏 for a break from the current situation 🙏…

The path for Central Michigan University to get to Charlotte. Flight ✈️ to Charlottesville ahead of a match at James Madison University. Then it was back to Hooville where the team spent the night 🌙.

The University of Virginia opened their facilities so that the Chippewas could hold a Saturday practice while the dust settled in regards to the flooding in Boone.

Next up, CMU chartered a Bus 🚌 and traveled to High Point, North Carolina. Second Hotel 🏨 of the trip then finish the drive down to the campus of UNCC. After the match the team climbed back on the Bus 🚌 for the short ride over to CLT and then a flight ✈️ back to Michigan.

Next up, the officials. Bob Bowden and Craig Kalbfleisch live in Louisville, Kentucky. The left their home town after being green lighted by ASU, got within shouting distance of Boone before be turned back. They then circled back to try a second option but once again were turned back and this time returned to the Bluegrass state.

The next time they left it was on a Jet Airliner ( Steve Miller Band).

Mentioning Louisville, the opponent for our Friday match was Bellamine, the second most famous school in Louisville. Their team was already in Boone at a Hotel 🏨 on Thursday night as they were slated to play Friday in Boone and then Sunday at Davidson College.

Stuck in a Hotel 🏨 with no power and no food, Bellamine (pronounced Bell-ah-men) hung out and did the best the could. While we were busy playing Central Michigan University today they were 21 miles to the north at Davidson. The homesteading Wildcats held on for a 2-1 victory, the identical score as our victory over CMU.

The Bellamine website now lists Davidson campus as the host site for tomorrow’s make up match. That was a possibility because the field at UNCC wasn’t in a position to be watered, which is a major part of playing Field Hockey on astroturf.

Exit Davidson (the team, but not the School) and Central Michigan University from the equation. Now its time for Bellamine – App State tomorrow at Noon, location to be determined shortly.

Next up we need to explain why there’s a facility for Field Hockey 🏑 on a college campus that doesn’t field a team ?

It’s the Training center for the USA National 🇺🇸 team. The facility is designed for practice and drills but not necessarily for matches. There are no Bleachers or concessions and as we noticed, no Flag pole. But the folks there were Top Shelf in making the field available to us on very little notice. Incredibly Gracious folks for sure.

Bellamine has to be worn out and ready to go back to Kentucky. App State doesn’t have much of a Home to go to right now and that’s why getting to play a game had to help our mindset or as I said earlier, therapeutic.

When our Coach was visiting our players in their homes back before they committed to App State, I feel there wasn’t a page in the brochure mentioning Mud Slides or flooding included.

Coach Dinsmore and her staff were very present today for a group of College Student Athletes that have had their Worlds 🌎 turned upside down this week and I am pretty sure that they are better for it.

Tune in tomorrow for the next page in the journey !