The past five years have been quiet an experience for Lin and I here in Carroll County, Virginia. With Allen Worrell breaking his news about this being his final edition of The Carroll News, its finally time to state the obvious in regards to our efforts going forward.
The amount of stories that have moved from our site over to the newspaper 📰 is North of 200 now and the reason why our relationship has worked so very well has been the mutual respect yowards each other and the unquestionable appreciation for ALL things Carroll County.
I have been in the newspaper 📰 business for just shy of 50 years now and the end of this week will be a first for me as I witness a Friend leave from dual roles – both the Editor of the News and of the Sports. I am not sure if folks realize the hole that Allen Worrell will be leaving behind here in a few days.
Some will reflect back on Craig Worrell and the end of his time at the Gazette. Completely different set of circumstances as Craig was covering Sports for three different communities ( Incredibly Well) and the Newspaper made the decision to simply shrink the amount of Sports coverage they were offering.
Allen was responsible for the full Boat 🚢, so the folks down in Mt. Airy cannot simply reduce coverage as a whole, they will need to find a replacement for Allen and it will almost certainly come from outside the Community of Hillsville.
Now someone will have to learn the County, the School Board, the Board of Supervisors and the inner workings of Carroll County High School, both Athletics and Education. Having just spent five years trying hard to do just that, I will pray 🙏 for the next person as they prepare for this monumental task.
Allen Worrell has spent the past two decades making tough decisions about what belongs in the Newspaper 📰 and what doesn’t. I have thoroughly enjoyed trying hard to scoop up as many things as I could to help him in his quest. But now our time together is down to just a few days and as I head towards The Hill to announce three Volleyball 🏐 matches and create one final story about them to submit to Allen, its time to poetically share my thoughts –
THANK YOU SIR for everything 🙏 you have given this community and Godspeed on your journey going forward!
Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Thank You Sir !
School Calendar 📅 gets a Day of Rest!
Going to borrow from the old Game Show, Let’s make a Deal for today’s story. Do you want what’s behind Door 🚪 #1, Door 🚪 #2 or Door 🚪 #3 ???
During my lifetime of following Duke University Football, I was blessed to actually spend time around quite a few of these young men through interview processes for various media outlets.
My favorite time was interviewing Thad Lewis post-game while wearing his jersey. I still remember the day that I was first told the story about a Zero Star 🌟 recruit from Charlotte was going to try and walk-on for Head Coach David Cutcliffe.
What does a Zero Star 🌟 recruit mean ? In a system that ranks players on a scale from Zero to Five, it means that after finishing up High School, NOBODY wanted Daniel Jones to play College Football for them.
By comparison, Cana’s Isaiah Easter, who has one month of playing quarterback in his High School career, would have a greater chance of going to college than Danny did back then.
The link above is the highlight real of Jones during his time at Duke ( 2016-2018). The highlight real omits the game where a Bronco Mendenhall coached defense at the University of Virginia picked him off six times in one game. Cut left Jones in for the rest of the afternoon and he continued to grow as a player.
We were in Lafayette, Louisiana the day that Jones led us to a win in the Walk-on Independence Bowl and then he left early for the NFL draft. Jones was somehow drafted sixth overall by the New York Giants. Traded in my Duke Jones jersey for a Giants #8 jersey and continued to cheer him on. How bad was his time in New York ? People felt the need to walk past me when I had his jersey on and say ‘ less than nice things” to me.
Fast Forward to this year, when Danny Dimes signed a 1-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts and won the starting job. I wasn’t sure if he would ever be given a true second chance in the NFL but if he did, I knew that I wanted to be there for it.
Opening Day and we gobbled up five tickets 🎟 and headed to Lucas Oil Stadium for the game with the Dolphins 🐬. Marion Harris joined us that day and his first NFL game was quite the coming out party 🥳 as Danny Dimes turned into Indiana Jones !!
Week 2 he did it again this time against the Denver Broncos and he sits second overall in passing yards and has Zero turnovers. The team made history by not having to punt a single time during its first two games of the season.
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Now, we have come full circle 🔵 and we have 3 choices for Sunday September 21st, 2025
Door #1 – Nashville, Tennessee
Nissan Stadium 🏟 is actually closer than Lucas Oil Stadium! This magnificent run cannot last forever, can it ? Go to the game and soak it in!!!
Door 🚪 #2
Drive to Buffalo 🐃 Wild Wings, order a Cheeseburger 🍔 and watch the game on a Jumbo Television 📺 !! Not as fun as Door #1 but still fun.
Door #3
Vickey Ritchie is hosting another Carroll County Special Olympics Basketball 🏀 practice today from 2-4 pm and this week’s theme is Stitch.
I have never met a person who my thought process lines up with like it does with Vickey Ritchie, not even close.
Sorry, Daniel/ Danny / Indi, but know that I will be pulling for you today but doing it from Hillsville Elementary School, standing next to a Lady doing God’s work !
A.S.P.N on The Hill 