Always a pleasure

I hope by now you have become familiar with my weekly column. I appreciate all the kind words and emails in response to my first three weeks as a pseudo-journalist. I must admit I’m having fun. I love to write about young athletes. We have the best kids in the state right here. Our schools are terrific and the coaches are top drawer. Like you, I take great pride in being a resident of Fayette County.

I love good news. I guess that’s why I love writing about young athletes. In a culture dominated by situation ethics, prejudice and terminal stress, I sometimes lose sight of all that is good; I don’t want to live that way. I want to capture all the relationships, adventures and achievements that make life worth living and inspire me to reach for more and give more. In spite of Ted Turner Television, there are stories to be told of great character, courage and compassion. These stories happen every day. They happen in your neighborhood. They are born from within the hearts of young athletes who have burning desires to reach for the impossible, to believe in the invisible and to risk the unthinkable. These are our kids.

The most honorable are the recent high school graduates of our Fayette County Schools who have given their lives on the battlefields of the Middle East for freedom around the world. They are my heroes. I know they are your heroes. Theirs is the greatest demonstration of bravery we will ever know. I speak for all Fayette County when I say to those parents who have lost their sons and daughters, thank you from the deepest and most grateful part of our being. We will never forget.

Hooray for Lauren Cartwright! She is the most prolific swimmer in Fayette County history. She is just a junior and well on her way to becoming one of the top swimmers in the country. She swims for Starr’s Mill. We’re doing cartwheels for Cartwright!

Ya gotta love Whitt Jones at Starr’s Mill. The guy has continually found a way to take average talent and peak just at the right time of the year to advance to the girl’s basketball state play-offs. I wish he had the same luck in his dating life… (He knew that was coming!)

Andre Flynn and the Fayette County Tiger basketball team finished the season with an overall record of 24-3. He did it with several big-time football signees. Brandon Henderson is headed to play football for Mississippi State, Channing Welch is headed to Furman University and Jeremiah Enloe signed with Georgia Southern. The neat story here is that athletes are allowed to excel at more than one sport. Way to go Coach Flynn and head football coach Tommy Webb!

Sandy Creek may be home to the single best athlete in the county. Brent Brewer was the best local senior football prospect I saw this entire past season. He is one of the top dozen high school baseball prospects in America. I’ve interviewed him several times and he is such a polite young man. Best of all, he is a stellar performer in the classroom. We’re bustin’ with pride Brent!

The Whitewater junior class is awesome. They have had the advantage of varsity coaching since their jailbreak from middle school. These kids are good at everything! There is not one weak sports program at Whitewater High. They are quality kids and very tight knit. It’s fun to be around their program. Next year, expect a lot of GHSA hardware handed over to the Wildcats.

Maybe the best kept secret in Fayette County is the Lethbridge twins at Our Lady of Mercy. This dynamic duo is double trouble times four! Yep, four! Both boys are freshmen. Jake won the region cross country title...his brother Matt won the state title! Both played on the varsity basketball team this season (Jake was a starter with a nice 3 point jumper). Jake and Matt are already prepping for a "run" at the two mile Class A state title in track. Did I mention they both start on the varsity soccer team, too? Between them they will be awarded eight varsity letters. In their spare time they're busy being very good students. Busy Bobcats indeed!

I have just begun with my grandiloquence goodwill. Now, I’d like to hear from the grandstands. Email me the triumphs of human spirit, above and beyond efforts, acts of honor and small miracles that manifest themselves everyday on the field of competition right here in Fayette County…and perhaps even on the battlefields far, far away.

My e-mail address is at chaltalkrock@comcast.net