Economic Impact

Whether we want it to be this way or not we live in a time when every penny counts.  Every time you fill up with gas there is a deep hole in your pocket.  Our community was dealt another blow this week when four hundred Centura Bank employees were given the pink slip.  We must all in our own way must make the best of the hand we are dealt, and survive.

This year through not only having a very good basketball program the Gryphons were invited back the the Holiday Tournament in Raleigh.  Along with the Nash County Tournament being at Southern Nash  Rocky Mount is faced with only eight home basketball games this year.  All eight need big crowds to help pay the freight to support not only basketball but every sport the school supports for our children.

This past week the Gryphons opened conference play against Fike and then on Wednesday met the Bears of Hertford County in a non conference games.  This puts two of the eight games back to back in the middle of the week.  I dare say I doubt more than three hundred paid each night.  Then on Friday at Nash Central  the gate was closed early and people turned away due to an over flow crowd.

There are six Friday night games within the conference schedule until the end of the season.  Four of the Big East schools are from Nash County while there are only two from Wilson so having a balanced schedule is almost impossible.

Nash Central, Northern Nash and Rocky Mount need to only play against each other on Fridays. You can just about guarantee  a sell out on a Friday for four of those games and that means you get two of them at home. If Hunt and Fike play each other on Fridays that leaves them with four other Fridays.  The logical answers is Southern Nash play the Wilson  Schools in two of them.  Then two of the Rocky Mount schools can fill in the other two Fridays.

Budgets in Washington, Raleigh and on the County and City levels are being cut due to the lack of income or enough tax dollars to support every give away program under the sun.  Our children are not give a way programs.  They are our future of our nation.  We need every seat filled to make sure that the physical  education of our youth  are sustained.  We are already a nation of over weight individuals or to be blunt fat people. Having no athletic teams not only would make us fatter earlier but many students desire to even go to school would be lost.

Our educators need to be smart  how they spent our money and how to get more of it.  Having been a salesman for much of my life I have always known how much 15% of anything was. If no one shows up on a Tuesday  to watch a game that really is of not much interest then there is no income to buy more baseballs.
Why not have something like students get in to a weekday game for $2.  $6 is a lot for me  so I know the average student would rather spend $6 at McDonald's over going to a unimportant game.  It is of course not an unimportant game to those who play.  The only thing that Rocky Mount got from the sell out at Nash Central last Friday was a win.  There was no cut for Rocky Mount after the game.

I like what many schools have done by having shootouts at halftime to raise a few dollars.  Even some do 50/50 raffles.  There is not many times that you try to go into a store  there isn't someone near the door raising money for good causes.  Our children are the best cause I know off.  It doesn't matter how important any event is, we need to be there to support our children.  Their jerseys say Rocky Mount, Northern or Nash Central  Going to a basketball game buys tennis balls as well as every item used by our children playing the game they are best at representing us. Let's don't let them down.

This week Rocky Mount only plays once and that is Friday at Hunt.  Exams are this week so only one game and on the road.  Hunt boys are 2-0 so the Gryphons will be playing for the outright lead in the conference.  Hunt girls lost by double digits to Northern so Rocky Mount and Northern already are at the top waiting to play each other maybe three more times this year.   Home or away support our kids, our nations future is at stake.