Gryphon Undefeated Girls Tennis Start Playoffs

There is one thing about playoffs in the so called minor sports that the state doesn't mess around with the seedings  like they do in  basketball, baseball and football.  The state can make income from ticket sales of the three major sports but women's tennis let's put all the number one seeds against another number one and get this playoff over with as soon as possible.

Tennis has this strange set up that today  when the playoff starts that is the day teams compete against teams and on Thursday each tennis player plays either singles or doubles working their way through the brackets.

The brackets have been release in girls tennis and undefeated Rocky Mount gets a handful right out of the gate in the duel matches.  They play once beaten Jacksonville in the opening round of the playoffs  Today at 4pm at Rocky Mount.  Rocky Mount in the seedings process is #1 seed.  Jacksonville #1 in their conference has the third best overall record in the east.

Fike who only lost to Rocky Mount during the season is 16-2 on the season as a second place team they get to travel to Northern Guilford 12-5 on the season but conference champs.  Barring rain by midnight there will only be  eight teams left in the duel matches in the east.

If you were not there Friday night Rocky Mount's homecoming was one of the largest crowds  since the move to the new school.  Public schools are fighting budget cuts from the state and even from the county.  It is vital that people go to football, basketball and baseball games so the funds receive through the gate helps pay for every sport on any campus in Nash County.

I was on the far sidelines but I heard after the game that there was at least two fights in the bleachers on the Rocky Mount side.  Then there was the chase.  Early in the third quarter a few plays after Rocky Mount kicked off to Hunt I saw a young person running across the field an at that second I thought they were running out to pick up the kicking tee that may have been left after the kickoff.

Just about time where the tee should have been I noticed that two police officers in pursuit of this person.  He ran across the field as both teams were about 30 yards down the field.  Once past the bench of Hunt he cut to the right and was running down the track in front of the Hunt crowd when Athletic Director Mike Gainey called out on the PA for someone to tackle the boy.

Several people made moves but by this time the young man was out of gas and fell face first on the track where the officers handcuffed him behind the Hunt  bench but totally  in front of the Hunt crowd.

The referee held up the game waiting for the officers to remove  the indivual.  They started moving him and near the goal line still on the track they took him down again and the ref delayed the game until he was totally  removed.

If you think that fights are funny or the chase was hilarious you need to think again.  There were many people who were going to their first game in several years but the fights and the flight across the field they will never attend a game again.  Just think of the future dollars lost from uncontrolled people who have no respect for anyone except themselves.  Most folks at the game did not feel safe and will have to think hard about going to any game ever again.  Now this is not a Rocky Mount problem alone.

My favorite newsman of all time was Paul Harvey.  I heard him say many times self government will not work without self discipline.  Our country has lost self desipline.  We only care about ourselves and don't care what our actions do to others.

We must as a society that gets control of ourselves and respect others.  If we don't high school sports will only be played by those who will have to pay as if they were a travel league teams.  No one will be allowed to watch because security can't be controlled with idiots watching who don't respect others.