Finally Friday! Best of 2012



After much careful thought, deliberation and dart-throwing I'm pleased to announce my "Best Of" winners for the 2012 regular season.  I can't reiterate enough how much I enjoyed going to all the different stadiums and meeting the students and student-athletes!  You should all be very proud.  Anyway, here's the list. 

Don't hate.

Finally Friday! Year-End "Awards" Nominees

Since the amount of money in Finally Friday's budget is equal to the amount I get paid for the blog (hint: $0.00), I have no fancy plaques or framed certificates to give out to our deserving winners and finalists for the first "Best of Finally Friday!" awards.  You can simply take pride in the fact that a truly independent observer like myself appreciates what you do and how you do it.

North Davidson Celebrates on Friday Knight!

In the frenzied aftermath of North Davidson's title-clinching victory over Davie on Friday, I had a chance to take a couple of videos and interview some of the Black Knight athletes.  Erin Andrews I'm not, but I enjoyed talking to this year's conference champions!

North Davidson vs Davie Pregame Video

Now that my knees don't hurt from running up and down the sidelines all night on Friday, I found time to piece together the all the video and audio I took.  Let's start with the scene prior to the kick.  Make no mistake, this was as fine an atmosphere as you'll find at a game on ANY level. Here's what I saw during pregame on Friday:

Suddenly Saturday- North Davidson v.Davie Recap

  

Emotions ran high at War Eagle Stadium for the contest between the War Eagles and the Black Knights from North Davidson Friday night, both on the field and in the stands.  Davie High's venerable stadium was filled to capacity on both sides, with considerable spillover in the SRO areas in the end zone.  The game lived up to the hype as the Black Knights eventually prevailed 34-24, wrapping up the Central Piedmont 4-A championship and a perfect season in the process.

Thank You- An Announcement

I started this little blog on August 24th of this year.  I didn't know what I was going to do so I decided to let you, the readers, tell me what you liked.  I hope that it has evolved into something that you all enjoy.  Apparently you do, or so my page view statistics tell me.  In fact, after nine weeks I can now go to different stadiums in the area and people know what the blog is about before I have to explain myself.

The only way that happens is by word of mouth.  Your mouths.  So, thank you.  My social media experiment has been what I consider a huge success. I'm very grateful that so many people are paying attention.  The season isn't over and I already can't wait for next year!

In fact, it's been successful enough that I started looking at avenues to "broaden my horizons".  Sixty days after opening Finally Friday!, I was happy to be announced as the new women's basketball writer for www.bloggersodear.com. Blogger So Dear is the Wake Forest community on SB Nation, a national online platform for sports media, and the premier independent site for Demon Deacon coverage. 

Those who know me understand that covering sports has been a dream of mine since childhood.  Thanks for helping me keep my silly dream alive. 

Now, this blog isn't shutting down.  At all.  Why would I do that when I finally just figured out what I was doing?  The only thing getting adjusted will be my basketball coverage.  My plans for covering high school hoops have obviously been canceled (for the most part).  I've got a wife and family and, um, want to keep them.  However, I do have a plan to keep the blog updated and fresh.  So don't go anywhere!

Now if you'll excuse me I have to get some work done before I head over to Mocks Vegas.  Rumor has it there's a football game over there tonight!

- John 

So Nice, I Posted it Twice- the Catherine Wayne Pop Quiz!

Beach Night!

I love it when a plan comes together.  My idea for the Pop Quiz! segment was to find the best and the brightest students that our area high schools had to offer, and give them a chance to represent their schools and themselves in an online forum. So far, I've yet to be disappointed.

This week's participant comes to us from Mount Tabor High School, at the recommendation of Principal Ed Weiss himself.  She is the President of the student body which, as I found out, entails so many duties that I included a link to the full description.

Frankly, she humbles me a bit.  As a matter of fact, everyone I've interviewed to date has humbled (shamed?) me.  When I was in high school, my responsibility list was as follows:

Go to school.

Work at the car wash across from school.

The end.

Anyway, before I get too wistful about my own shortcomings, I'm happy to introduce you to Miss Catherine Wayne.  Cat?

 

The Monday Mix- Davie vs Reagan

The night fell with such a quickness and crispness that it felt like...well, football.  It was Finally Friday and I was hanging at the home of the Reagan Raiders to watch what many felt was the game of the week in the Central Piedmont Conference.  For some reason, Reagan AD Alexis McCoy gave me access to the press box for the evening (for which I am eternally grateful).  The box was bustling with activity, as it was accommodating two radio crews.  One crew was from WSJS-600, which was doing its game of the week and the other was from WDSL-1520 from Davie County.  It was packed and there was certainly a buzz about the place.

Now this is cool, Reagan

No need to write anything here:

An Open Letter to Reagan High School

Dear Reagan Raider Nation,

During the first week of the football season I was asked by WXII to cover your game against Glenn and provide some details for the highlight show.  I sat in the stands (live tweeting the game) and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere and, of course, the football.  A week later, this little blog was born and I was off and running.

Fast forward 7 weeks and I am finally making my return visit to Pfafftown and I want nothing more than to showcase the Reagan Raiders and their incredible fans!  So this is my plea to you, dear Raiders.  I'm asking you to help me, help you.  Because you see, my friends, things have changed around these here parts.

End-of-Year "Best Of" Lists

In the next two weeks I'm going to publish a list of the "Best Of" what I've seen this season.  Boy, is there a lot to choose from.  However, I offer this one caveat:  I've been to multiple places multiple times, and I've seen multiple schools multiple times.

So, my sample is limited in scope. 

Or, you could look at it this way:  I've been afforded ample time to closely examine most of the schools in the running.  Except Bishop McGuinness, who is at worst going to finish second in Cheer of the Year voting.