Wake is playing at High Level

Two weeks from tonight at the Rocky Mount Shrine Club the 2008 football Gryphons will hold their awards night and honor a very special football team.

It begins at 6.30pm and the cost is $10. The dinner will be Chicken and hog. This is a chance for all Gryphon fans to actually see the faces of these young men that you may only know through their number on their jersey.

Just ten days ago Boston College could do no wrong in beating Carolina in Chapel Hill. Last night BC looked as if they were helpless in trying to figure out how to attack the Deacs. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons have speed at every position. If I had a vote I would vote Wake Forest the #1 team right now.

Wake travels to Clemson Saturday and one team will have a loss. That will be one more than either has right now combined.

College basketball now starts in early November and doesn't end to the first weekend in April. I don't care how good you are that is such a long period that everyone has a bad day along the way.

It is still too early to think anybody could go undefeated so Wake has a long way to go.

Duke continues to play good defense and win at Georgia Tech. Head to head against Wake Duke will be too slow to beat the Deacons.

Testing finishes today in the county so basketball cranks up again Friday night as the Gryphons host Southern Nash.

During a slow period like this for sports it gives me and opportunity to tell you of one of the most unusual events that I ever cover on the radio.

The Ahoskie Rotary club use to put on a race every Saturday after Thanksgiving which at the time was the oldest continuous race in North Carolina. They had a 10k,5k and a one mile fun run.

There was a time when radio stations covered events because it was part of the community and in a small town like Ahoskie watching the stop light change was news.

The management at the station called me on a Friday afternoon and asked if I would be interested in doing the race live from 12-2 on Saturday.

Back in the good old days as we like to remember them there were no cell phones. The ticket booth had a telephone jack where I hooked up my equipment. I had a 100 foot microphone cord in which I could walk 100 feet outside the gym and walk inside at the end of the event to hear the awards presentation.

I think this was 1984 but I am not 100% sure. High noon I come on the air and tell everyone what we are going to be doing for the next two hours? Talking. 12.10 was the start of the 10k race. 80 runners or so from all across the state were running. I had no idea who any of them were there was no line up. all I knew was #313 pinned on their chest.

The starting pistol sounds and off goes 80 runners who circle the parking lot once and disappear down highway 561. I now have about 25 minutes to describe a race that I can't see and I don't know who they are running.

I would say that there were 500 people there that day either to run or watch friends or loved ones run. Before the day was over I interviewed every one of them to fill the time.

By the way since this was a last minute deal there were no commercials to break back to the station for just describe a race that was three miles down the road from where I was. When ever I needed a drink of water I worked my way to the water fountain in the gym lobby an people got to hear me drink water live on the radio.

They say you learn more when working under pressure. I learned a lot that day.