Well in respect to former columnist David Friedman, I’ll spend this week hopping around in the world of sports…

Interviews

Two of the best kids in the Roanoke-Chowan area were the subjects of feature stories in the pages of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald last week. Jessica Johnston of Lawrence Academy and Trey Denton of Bethel Assembly Christian Academy each reached milestones in their careers.

Johnston was named Female Scholastic Athlete of the Year and co-Female Athlete of the Year at Lawrence’s athletic banquet while Denton’s number was retired at Bethel.

While their athletic accomplishments were certainly enough to merit the stories, I enjoyed doing them because of the people.

Both Jessica and Trey are good people from good families and I enjoyed spending time talking with them about their athletic careers. They are fine people and I wish them success as they head off to college.

NBA Finals

My friend and co-worker Curly Morris and I had a running feud about the finals of the National Basketball Association.

While I admit Curly knows far more about the NBA than I do or ever will, I came out on the winning side as the Miami Heat knocked off Dallas in six games.

I am a huge fan of Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning and less so of Shaq. It is because of those loyalties I stood firmly behind the Heat winning the finals despite all the verbal barbs thrown at me by Curly and his cohort in crime, Patrick Bryant.

Well, guys, I won this one!

NHL Finals

I know absolutely squat about the National Hockey League. I couldn’t tell you a single player on the roster of the Carolina Hurricanes, despite being chided by friends to learn them.

Still, I am proud of the Hurricanes and their victory in the Stanley Cup finals. I always claim they are my favorite hockey team, but I really couldn’t tell you one thing about the league.

Despite that fact, I am glad North Carolina finally has a championship in a pro sport. It’s a nice thing to be able to lay claim to.

Ninth place

Another young man who has steadily improved his stock locally is Mike Williams of Hertford County High School.

The track standout has been among the top jumpers in the area throughout his senior year and earned a scholarship to attend North Carolina A&T University. His success landed him in the Nike Outdoor Nationals where he finished ninth with a jump of 22′ 4&uot;.

Williams will be a special college athlete if he works hard and puts him mind to it.

NC General Assembly

To say that I’m disappointed in seeing the North Carolina General Assembly get involved in setting conferences for the N.C. High School Athletic Association is an understatement.

Legislators have no place in high school athletics. If they want to get involved, maybe they should end having four high schools in a county the size of Martin or three school systems in Halifax County.

Who knows, maybe they should even get involved in helping low-performing schools.

Athletics was the last bastion of life the General Assembly wasn’t involved in where schools are concerned. Now they’re in that too.

It’s an embarrassing day to be a North Carolinian.

Contact Me

Questions? Comments? Snide remarks? All are welcome.

You can reach me at thadd.white@r-cnews.com or call me at 332-7211.

Be careful out there and be good sports.