This is the 50th anniversary of the first Glenvar High School football team and one of its members, Dennis Layman, is trying to get the band together. The team will have a reunion the weekend of November 2nd when the Highlanders host Radford in the last regular season football game of the year. Layman is hoping as many of those original players as possible can attend. The team was coached by long time Glenvar coach, teacher and administrator Richard Pitts. If you were on that team or would like more information about the reunion please call Ronnie Sink at 540-3803623 or 540-520-1788.
THE CIRCUS WON’T COME HERE
I was hoping that Paul Manafort trial was going to be moved to Roanoke, like his lawyers wanted. That would have been pretty cool. As you likely know if you follow the news, Manafort was scheduled to go on trial in Washington for inappropriate financial and international dealings before he pleaded out late last week. However, before that happened his lawyers wanted to move the trial to a different location, one “more conservative” than the Washington, D.C. area. Roanoke was the site most often mentioned. Honestly, I didn’t quite know how to take that. I think Manafort’s folks saw us as a bunch of country hicks with “Make America Great Again” hats and bib overalls. Still, it would have been fun to have the attention of the world focused on us here in the Roanoke Valley. Can you imagine walking into Mac & Bob’s and seeing Peter Alexander and Hallie Jackson sitting down to a lunch of Kendal Zones? Maybe Tucker Carlson would be showing up at the Salem-Blacksburg game this Friday on his night off. It would have been great for the hotels and businesses in the valley. Who among the traveling circus wouldn’t want to stop by Spartan Silk Screen to pick up a shirt or hat as a memento of their stay in the Roanoke Valley. The Salem Farmers’ Market would be buzzing with “Fake News” people buying cookies and vegetables on Saturday morning. Oh well, Manafort ruined all that when he pleaded out. Too bad, seems like his folks have a lot of money to spend and we could’ve used that in this downtrodden corner of Hicksville where they expected to find a clueless jury. By the way, can you get an ostrich coat at the West Salem Wal-Mart? And tell President Trump we’ve got the cart gassed up for him at the Salem Municipal Golf Course. ANTHEM
To me, the NFL national anthem thing is much adieu about nothing. If everyone would just ignore it, it would go away and die a peaceful death. However, when our president continues to tweet about goings on in the National Football League when more pressing issues should be on his agenda, it’s going to become a story.
We’re going into week three of the NFL season this week and I haven’t heard much about the anthem stuff, which is good. I turn on the TV to watch the football games. If someone wants to protest, that’s his right, but I’m all in for the game, not the anthem protests or, for that matter, the halftime ceremonies and pregame regalia. Just give me football and nothing but football and I’m happy.
NOT A WOMAN THING
This was a few weeks ago, but I was disappointed when Serena Williams tried to make her public rant at the U.S. Open into a sexist thing. She claims her actions wouldn’t have been penalized as harshly if she were a man. However, did you see how she acted? To me, there’s no reason to act like that whether you’re man or woman. Former RC basketball coach Page Moir and I had a discussion about things like this when he was coach here. The Maroons had a soccer player at the time who would curse the officials up and down, but always end it with “sir” and he’d get away with it. If Page had said the same thing he would have been hit with two technical fouls and escorted out of the gym immediately, whether he ended it with “sir” or “and here’s $500 dollars for your trouble.” Why does Serena think it’s sexist to be punished for something she shouldn’t have done in the first place? Draymond Green gets fined when he acts like that. I wonder what kind of fines get meted out in the WNBA, or do they? Maybe those players act a little nicer, although that’s hard for me to say because I haven’t watched a lot of those games. Act civil and be a good sport and it won’t matter if you’re a man or a woman or what color you are. It’s as simple as that.
