I wanted to toss out what I believe would be a fun idea 💡 as a way to pay tribute to Alyssa Ervin through our Student section. 15 points is what is needed so if we have 15 pieces of poster board handy we could have some fun.

 I love the energy of the chanting and here’s how it would play out….

Poster Boards needed 15.

Written on them would be as boldly as possible – 14,13,12 11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,00000!!!!

Give a sign to 15 different students and there will be math involved !!!

Ervin opens up with a 3-pointer and the person holding the sign for 12 holds it over their head and the group yells 12 and stomps their feet. We continue the process until we hit Zero.

 Alyssa is not done playing this season = she is going to raise the number to a point that it might not be broken again. That means this could very well be a piece of History that many of us will never witness again.

 Let’s trade out the You can’t Do That chant long enough to create a memory that could last a lifetime !

 Again, math would be involved but no cost because I would happily buy the poster boards.

 The problem is I have zero pull with our Student section but maybe someone reading this does ???

 A lot of things happen on a regular basis, like Davis Reitzel dunking a basketball 🏀, Emma Leath striking out a batter, Corrie Delp running 🏃‍♂️ fast or Jabin Talley serving an Ace.

 But what is going to happen tonight is the definition of One & Done. I will tag a few people when I share this in hopes of it landing in the right set of hands ✋.

Maybe the back up plan is to have adults participate instead. Again, Math is involved……

 A great way for us all to participate in a moment that I don’t think or feel will take place again on The Hill, at least not in my lifetime.

Getting to look behind the curtain of the efforts of these two young Men was such a treat. Ethan -:the one question you asked about my Father 👨 that I couldn’t answer correctly was AT – my Dad was an Aviation Technician.

 Both of these young men were polished in their efforts and if they want to hear anymore of the journey I would jump at the opportunity.

 I don’t know either of their sets of Parents personally but I want to say to each of them that they raised some pretty sharp young men !

https://theridgepodcast.com/

The link to their efforts…

Something I try to avoid using in my writing ✍ is what I call “Score Book” writing. Sadly, the only way I can provide coverage for our JV Boys 👦 tonight is to do it out of a score book that Coach Jason Stockner sent me. My rule of thumb is that if you’re going to do it as a last resort, then go ahead and acknowledge the fact. Here we go, starting with the thoughts of Coach Stockner –

“Here’s the book from tonight. We lost by six. We just didn’t shoot well from the field tonight. Probably shot a little over 10% from the three point line tonight. The adjustment I made in the second half was to have our guys penetrate and if they couldn’t get to the basket then kick for an open three. In hindsight probably should’ve said no threes since we we weren’t making them. We did execute the foul to make them beat us from the foul line late in the game to cut it to six but couldn’t make shots to get closer. Frustrating loss. Two games left in our season.”

Thank You Coach Stockner !

Next up – Assistant Coach Ryan Largen –

” Tough loss on the road tonight. Anytime you are out rebounded and allow the other team to get second chance shots, you put your back to the wall. We have a couple of days of practice to regroup and work before playing Radford next week.”

Thank You Coach Largen !

  Carroll County… 6 2 13 20 – 41

  Patrick County..10 10 9 18 – 47

  Carroll County – Hayden Jackson 12, Dane Leonard 10, Trace Reavis 6, Colton Gravley 6, Blake Reed 4, Landon Kinder 2, Landon Phillips 1.(41).

Great insight from both Coaches ! The first thing that jumps out from the information is that we scored just 2 points in the second quarter and just 8 in the first half all told. Coach Stockner spoke of his halftime adjustments and they clearly worked as the Cavaliers outscored the Cougars 33-27 after the break!

 Next thing that I would look at is who was still playing hard at the end ? It would appear that answer is the entire team. Fourth quarter points, Jackson 6 of his 12, Leonard 3 of his 10, Gravely 5 of his 6, Reed all 4 of his points.

 The Cavaliers well behind early and trailed 20-8 at the break. Coach tweaked his game plan in the lockeroom and his players played hard until the horn sounded.

 We appreciate your efforts !

The toughest challenge Allen Worrell faces on a daily basis is that he can’t self report. What does that mean ? Allen has a job that comes with adult responsibilities and he has to keep his newspaper 📰 afloat in a time where that in itself is a challenge. I know this because I have spent my entire life in the same business. Chris Graham of the Augusta Free Press is a long time friend of ours and he runs a full blown online Newspaper 📰 that covers both News and Sports. Chris and Crystal Graham built what they have from scratch and I feel honored to have played a small part in it over the years. What is the difference between the three of us ? Chris Graham is working for himself and gets to interject his thoughts into his work. Some folks love Chris for his style while others not so much. Freedom of the Press has more than one meaning.

 Choosing between creating anew online newspaper 📰 or a Community Blog was the easiest decision of my life. First, I am no where near as smart as Chris Graham and second I want to only write Positivity and get to choose my topics. I, like Chris, don’t answer to anyone when it comes to what I want to write about. I have so many less readers than I could because I am Choosing the path that I am but fortunately I am not chasing numbers, just joy.

 Now let’s look at the third person in this equation, our friend Allen Worrell. Each week Allen is asked to produce a Community newspaper for a Community that is not all that small. Allen is incredibly limited in his space from week to week and often doesn’t know until the last moment how much space he has to fill on a given week.

 I’m only going to brush up against the story about what recently happened with Craig Worrell and that’s for two reasons, first I admire Craig and I’m trying to establish a relationship with him and second, its his story. But I will mention that later tonight Craig Worrell is being honored by Carroll County in the highest way possible, putting him into the CVHS Hall of Fame shortly after the Gazette made the decision that they didn’t need his services anymore. While it felt personal to many, it was a case of Dollars and Cents for the folks at their home office 🏢.

I will add that in form of a quiet protes. I haven’t read the Gazette since.

 Allen Worrell is trying his best to keep a Newspaper afloat in a time where even the largest newspapers are scrambling to keep their head above water. I will even offer up an example from my end in that I recently wrote a story on what I called the First Family 👪 of Basketball. I like the piece (I have an incredibly high opinion of my own writing) and its currently sitting in Allen’s inbox 📥. I understand that it will eventually find its way into the newspaper, when Allen has room for it. I could have written ✍ the Gettysburg Address but it wouldn’t matter because “it’s only a blog”. I will patiently await my turn because of my level of understanding of his situation.

This week’s edition of The Carroll News has five stories in it with my Byline on them because Allen had more space to fill and I was happy to help him out. The two of us are trying to team up for the betterment of the Community we call home 🏡. One of the agreements we have is that we won’t write the same story. We aren’t competing with each other, its just that the bigger stories are his to write. You witnessed that both with the Samantha Reed story this week and again tonight with Alyssa Ervin and the Hall of Fame ceremony. I won’t write about tonight because its a bigger stage and those belong to Allen. So tonight I will just be in the building on The Hill going 15,14,13,12,11,10………

 To bring it full 🔵 I will use the GoldieLocks analogy.

 Chris Graham is a incredibly talented writer without fear in taking a stand so his bed is too hard.

Jerry Carter is trying to be a Greater Fool so he tries to avoid having an opinion – his Bed is way too soft.

 Allen Worrell is a great guy 👦 trying hard to service his community in a part of our Industry that is wilting away right in front of our very eyes 👀. He’s just right… and that is part of the story about how he ended up as Table Master at Table 6 and why anytime I’m holding a 🎤 at a Carroll County High School 🏫 sporting event and he’s there as well I acknowledge him and ask for a round of applause 👏. If you had spent 40+ years in the Newspaper business as I have and understood just what all he’s and his plucky side kick are up against, you might to cheer him on as well !