If you are a fan of the Rocky Mount Gryphon football team the name of Mickey Linberger has become a very familiar name. The last two years the Gryphons have played Linberger and the South Point Raiders the last game of the year in the 3A state title game.
Linberger has announced at the age of 62 that he was retiring as head football coach at South Point. Linberger 1972 graduate of South Point returned back to South Point high school in 1983 serving as a teacher from 1983 to 2006. He coached the baseball team from 1984-2005 winning 370 games losing 214.
He joined the coaching staff in football in 1984 serving as an assistant coach. He became offensive coordinator from 2003-2110. 2011 was named head coach in 2011 and had a coaching record of 70-15 in his six years as head coach.
During his South Point career he has been a part of four state football titles starting in 1972 as a player,then as an offensive coordinator with titles in 2003 and 2009. Now he walks away after a title over Rocky Mount in 2016.
Trying to catch up on all those postpone games while football was playing almost to Christmas the Gryphons played a home game Saturday afternoon against Smithfield Selma and the Gryphons head into exam week with a win 75-55 over the Spartans.
I hope you got a chance to view the sports section of the Rocky Mount Telegram Sunday and saw the article on the Southern Nash Foster family who endured this fall during football season what no family wants to ever have to go through.
To review during the week out of school while eastern North Carolina recovered from Hurricane Matthew the Fosters decided to spent a weekend at the beach. The car that oldest son Zack was driving with his mother Kim in the car ran into mechanical trouble swerved into the median on I-40 jump the guard rail and hit head on into a tractor trailer. Both were air lifted to a Wilmington hospital where both had major injuries.
Father Brian head coach of the Firebird's stepped away from coaching for two weeks to be with the two as they struggled to survive. Little brother Matt in order to keep up in school lived with other coaches while dad looked after Kim and Zack.
What impresses me about their ordeal is their faith in God shines through loud and clear. Have you ever wondered for those of you that don't believe why it seems that people of faith endure during troubled times much better than those that don't believe. The reason those that don't believe try to make themselves happy while those that look to God try to make God Happy. Those that believe in themselves can never be satisfied. There is always something else needed to keep them happier.
Ethan Joyce did a great job on the article. He is rather new at the Telegram but he showed us all what he is capable of doing. You need to read it if you haven't.
Monday, January 16, 2017
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