Post Election Blah's

The election is over, winter is on the way and I am three weeks away from hip replacement surgery. There are more than a few things on my plate to keep my thoughts from wandering: Will I have a job after the new commissioners take office Dec 1? They made a lot of noise about making changes in my department and beefing up the efforts. I have to ask the question: exactly what do they want? If they want someone to promise hundreds of new jobs and tons of new investment, they have the wrong person. They can certainly find someone that will make those promises but delivery is a different issue. There are too many variables in today's economy to guarantee results. What I promise is that we will be positioned to make a run at new companies, we will market the area aggressively and leave no stone unturned in our efforts. I don't believe they will find anyone with more passion, knowledge of the local market, warts and all. I hope common sense prevails and not political gamesmanship.

Basketball season is just around the corner. I find it curious that my beloved Heels throttle UNCP and the headline in Charlotte Disturber reads: Heels weakness exposed. They won by 40 without the NPOY for heavens sake. Yes I know the battle on the boards was closer than it should be but this will be corrected and the missing parts will be back on the court soon. Heels will be a handful and it will take either an extraordinary effort by someone or a really off night to beat them.

Hibriten Panthers are the number three seed and maybe the best 2AA football team in the West. Time will tell and even if they are, Reidsville looms as the "Beast of the East" I am very proud of the efforts of the players and impressed that the coaching staff has started to show some flexibility after several years of being stubborn.

On a less upbeat note, I have been emailing with some of the Chowan Football coaching staff. It seems that their stories change quicker than the weather. I am sorry to see my son's football career seemingly come to a halt but am still puzzled by the many mixed signals he received from this school. I mean, they doubled his football money, he was first team throughout the spring, the line coach had good things to say about him, he worked his tail off during the summer and he was demoted to 4th team before the first day of fall practice. This was not a powerhouse and the players they played in front of him were either freshmen, retreads from other positions or imports from their previous program.

The only answer I received and the only one I will likely ever get was that both Jacob and I were under "mis-perceptions" and that he really shouldn't have been a starter last year. I was told he was a good player on paper but couldn't sustain blocks in their new offense. I would like to point out that the players on the field couldn't only not hold their blocks, they couldn't get to the defensive players to slow them down. I hate to be told a line of BS and would have a great deal more respect if they just told me that they didn't want him on the team because they felt he was a link to the past. If this year is any example of what the school can expect in the future, then this group will soon be the past and I hope forgotten as a bad dream. It will, however, come to late to help my son or the other players along with him that have been ignored, bullied and forgotten on the sidelines during this miserable campaign. One last note, after professing to be all about making sure the athletes received and education, one of the coaches had the audacity to complain about Jacob missing practice due to him having a late afternoon class. These are student athletes and earning a degree is what it is all about! He questioned how committed he was to the team. I ask how committed are they to producing quality young men? My respect level has sunken below the point of no return and come December, Jake can shake the dust from his feet. I hope the AD steps up and takes care of the other returning players, as they might not be so lucky to have other options.