It's Official Brown Wants To Be A Pirate

Rocky Mount rising Junior J'Kyra Brown told ECU Women's basketball coach  Heather Macy on Monday that she wants to be a Lady Pirate in  the fall of 2013.  Brown who has had college coaches swooning since eight grade decided that ECU was the place for her.  Brown who suffered a major knee injury before her freshman basketball season says that ECU was the only school that stay in contact with her while she was rehabbing.  She has always loved ECU and why not play where you love it.

NFL football teams have started making cuts even before the first preseason games that start on Thursday.  There is good local news.  Washington Redskins still have Tarboro's Shaun Draughn listed and jersey #23 will be his number when the Redskins host the Steelers Friday night.  Former Gryphon Travis Cobb was not among the 12 players released by the Bears on Monday and Tuesday so he should be on the field for the Bears  this weekend.

If players have been to practice  the required amount of time then Tuesday was the first day most high schools could start scrimmaging , praise the Lord so far North Carolina has no known deaths Related to heat stress.

I guess most of you have heard by now the football player from Hobbton High in Newton Grove who has Downs Syndrome.  He just turned 19 recently and by rules of the North Carolina Athletic Association no player is eligible if he turns 19 before August 31st of each school year.  Brett Bowden who has been on the Hobbton varsity for the last two season can not play this season.  I support the rule.  There are just sometimes life doesn't seem fair and this seems to be one.

Wednesday the Big East coaches will be meeting at Fike High School  during media day.  All sports coaches will vote on who they think it the best in the league from Football, Volleyball, Tennis, soccer and cross country.

I haven't had a chance to congratulate former North Carolina linebacker Chris Hanburger who was inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame over the weekend in Canton Ohio. I never met Hanburger but  in one of those odd sort of way our paths crossed.  If you are a regular reader of this blog I told you of the death of one of my favorite Ahoskie High football players who died in the spring of 2010.  Spencer Barrow.

Spencer was an All State football player from Ahoskie and Chris played at Fame Hampton High in Hampton Virginia.  Hanburger was drafted in the army and entered UNC after his tour and was a freshman center/linebacker for the Tar Heels the same year Spencer arrived in Chapel Hill.

  Summer practice of their freshman years there is a one on one tackling drill where Hanburger is the tackler and Barrow the runner.  They collide and as Spencer tries to wiggle free  he breaks his leg and never plays another play for the Tar Heels.  I had a personal hatred for Hanburger as a nine year old  until he was drafted by my beloved Redskins and all was forgiven.