My day began at NC State watching Concord. Head Coach EZ Smith holds a special place in my heart from an all-access piece he let me do two years ago, when they began their playoff run en route to their first championship. That year Concord played at Wake Forest, so I was not able to be there to see it happen, so I wasn’t going miss my chance this year, and what a game it was. I arrived just after the half and it appeared the Spiders had everything well in hand but ended up having to go to overtime to lock down the second title for Coach Smith and his Spiders.

After the game I had to shed my professional hat for a moment to give the big guy a hug and tell him congratulations. Coach Smith is someone, who if you know him at all, you want to hug him! His kids were so excited, he had three vertically challenged rookies try to give the 6’4” coach the Gatorade ice bath and they nearly cut his head open when they smacked him with the cooler. It was all amazing to see and very heartwarming.

I left our crew at NC state to cover the Catholic game which did have the same happy ending and I know that coach Oddo and his team will be in the thick of the hunt again next year. I next traveled over to Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium and made it just in time for the West Charlotte game which was not as fun to watch, sorry to say. The team they faced, Greenville Rose is like the Independence of the 4A ranks, riding a 36-game winning streak and back-to-back championships coming in. I can say however that despite the cold temperatures the West Charlotte band had it going on and the team did put up a fight giving the Lions a lot to build on going into next season.

With the temperature dropping Independence kicked off around 8 p.m. and the Patriots took care of business. No disrespect to Riverside but the Championship game had been the week before against Butler. The atmosphere of the game was nowhere near the atmosphere of Memorial Stadium and the game wasn’t nearly as exciting. While there was plenty of excitement from the players at the end, Coach Knotts was the most reserved I have ever seen him after a Championship game, and I have interviewed him after the last six. To me watching him coach his teams and conduct business is a little more like watching a gladiator vanquish his foe. It’s impressive and you certainly recognize the skills and intellect at work.

It was a great Championship Saturday, three of our area five area teams brought home the hardware, and the following Sunday on Sports Extra two of the coaches came in studio with their trophies to talk about the win. It was a great end to a great season of high school football and I can’t wait for next year when we get after it week after week on the Friday Night Blitz.

Many times when I go on TV or write a blog it’s easy for me to get lost in the work of it and forget for a moment that whatever I’m covering has as much impact on fans as it does me. The joy for me is in the doing of it, not thinking about who may be actually paying attention to it.
While perusing through our message boards, I saw this response to one of my Blitz Blogs…it read as follows:

Hi, I'm a civilian contractor working in Iraq just outside Baghdad. Can't wait to hear about the Charlotte area football teams and State Playoffs. Other than my family and friends, I miss Charlotte area football the most. Often times while being attacked we sit in the bunker and talk about High School Football and I always have the most to brag about. Go Independance, West Charlotte, Catholic, and Concord. I hope we make it a clean sweep. Will check Sunday morn. We're 8 hours ahead.
Posted by: Mike Lewallen at December 9, 2006 12:36 PM

First I hope that Mike was checking WCNC for all the updates on scores, and I hope that the three out of five championship results brought some joy to his day. As for Mike, I can’t begin to tell you the feelings it brings to me to know that my work in a small way mattered to him while he is working and sacrificing for me and all of us in such a dangerous environment. I have so much respect for all our people trying to make a difference in the world and places like Iraq, soldiers and civilian contractors alike.

I really love my job. I get to watch sports and many times be at great sporting events for a living and then turn around and share my take on it. While I’m still adjusting to how fast the internet makes that possible, whenever anyone responds to any story I cover, especially like Mike’s response, it’s the biggest gift I could ever receive.

Thanks for watching, thanks for reading and thanks for all the feedback!

Happy Holidays!

Ira