Attention North Davidson and Mount Tabor parents!

My friend Dana Warren has been busy this season capturing the images of your student athletes, band members and cheerleaders.  Please check out his website, www.DEWshots.com/sports to check out all of the images from this season.  He's been kind enough to enhance this blog with his work, and I'd appreciate it if you paid him a visit!

Black Knights Escape Spartans, 20-14

The undefeated North Davidson Black Knights defense once again proved to be the difference en route to a 20-14 victory over Mount Tabor in the third round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs.  Senior Devonte Moore rushed for 94 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore lineman Shy Tuttle added one of his own to pace the Black Knights.

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.

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 

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.

Almost Friday- Reagan vs. Davie

Marching orders have been given, cameras recharged and research begun as Finally Friday! heads to Pfafftown for this week's game between the Reagan Raiders and Davie War Eagles.  This is technically my second trip to Reagan, the first being their week one trouncing of the Glenn Bobcats.  At the time, however, there was no blog and @FinallyFri336 was mere hours old.  I also had the privilege of seeing the Raiders on my second trip to North Davidson a couple of weeks ago, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

ND vs Reagan Pregame

Pop Quiz! Caroline Wooten- North Davidson High School

When anyone asks me what I like best about covering prep sports so far, I have an easy answer: I'm constantly reminded that our community is filled with bright kids who are into much more than video games and Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

In fact, later today I will be creating a separate page strictly to display this season's Pop Quiz! participants.  I would encourage all visitors to this blog to read through each profile, even if it is about a student at a rival school. Each student's answers have been impressive in his or her own way, and this week's entrant is no different.

This past weekend, I got an unsolicited email in my inbox that said the following:

"Hello, my name is Caroline Wooten, and I am a varsity cheerleader at North Davidson High School. I just wanted to thank you for featuring North Davidson on your blog for the past two weeks! We're having a very good season, so I hope you drop by another game soon! Your blog is great and I'll make sure to tell everyone about it! Keep up the good work and have a great day!"

What?

I was shocked and moved at the same time.  I immediately asked Caroline if she wanted to participate in our Pop Quiz! and she readily accepted.  To my ultimate delight, Caroline fits right in with all of our other participants this year...but I'll let her tell you.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Caroline Wooten!

March on, Black Knights

One of the things I missed last week was the marching band.  With all the Homecoming festivities going on, I think I heard them play the National Anthem and that's it.  I'm a sucker for a good old marching band, and the Marching Black Knights did not disappoint.  They were absolutely fantastic!

See for yourself:

Taking the Field!



Once the smoke clears, the Black Knights gather in the endzone before taking the field.  If you watch closely, in one of the videos I (barely) capture one of the cheer squad executing a perfect layout!



Knightly Images

Here are a few of my favorite images from last night's game.  DEWshots captured over 200 images from last night's game, so I would suggest heading to his website and spend some time looking through them!



It's Knight Time!

One of the things I lamented not capturing was the pre-game entrance extravaganza that goes on at North Davidson.  If someone has better video, please pass it on and I'll post it!

Suddenly Saturday

I once again had the pleasure of spending a Football Friday in Welcome, North Carolina watching the North Davidson Black Knights run their record to 8-0 in front of their adoring fans.  This time, I brought my HD video camera to capture everything I missed last week! 

Additionally, my friend Dana Warren of DEWshots.com stopped by to capture some images for his award-winning photography portfolio.  I think he intended to stay for only a little while, and I saw him and his trademark hat on the sidelines for the duration.  He was just as impressed with North Davidson as I told him he'd be!  DEWshots is the preferred photography source for Finally Friday! and I encourage you to check out the scores of images Dana took from last night's game.

I'll be posting both photos and video this morning for your viewing pleasure!

Thanks so much to all the folks at North Davidson for their hospitality, and for my friends over at www.ourNDsports.com for all their help this week!  What a great two weeks of football!

In the meantime, you can read Doug Mead's game report from last night's 45-14 Black Knight rout over a talented Reagan Raider group here.

-John

A Conversation with OurNDSports.com

As I happily noted earlier in the week, I'm headed back to Welcome this week to cover the North Davidson/Reagan game.  This time, I hit up our friends over at www.ourndsports.com for some insight into what makes Black Knight football such a special experience.  Thanks to those guys for their thoughtful answers and their wonderful hospitality!

Back to School- In the Bleachers' Michael Felder!

Today, Finally Friday! is happy to introduce a new feature: Back to School!  I've had so much fun with the Pop Quiz feature that I decided to profile some former student-athletes who have gone on to bright futures and get their recollections of their days on campus.  We couldn't ask for a better victim, er, participant to kick things off, either. 

If you are a sports junkie like me, chances are you follow @inthebleachers, the Twitter handle for college football writer extraordinare Michael Felder.  Not only is he the lead national college football writer for Bleacher Report, his website is home to one of the most popular podcasts in college football.  He is also a prolific tweeter, and should be your go-to guy if you want a blow-by-blow of the Today Show or Archer.  However, please don't ask him to analyze college basketball.

On second thought, please do...it's very entertaining to the rest of us. Anyway,

Ladies and Gentlemen:  Michael Felder!

1) Identify yourself!

Michael Felder: East Meck 2003, UNC-Chapel Hill

2) Exactly how big is your sports media empire?

Empire is so misleading; I just do a little bit of stuff for a lot of bit of folks. My main job is as lead national college football writer for Bleacher Report. I also own and operate InTheBleachers.net, contribute at Crystal Ball Run and do plenty of radio and podcasting as well. I'm happy in my little corner of the internet.

3)  You were kind of a big deal in high school, which is hard to do in the ultra-competitive arena that is Charlotte football.  I read where you were actually nominated for the Wendy's High School Heisman at one point.  How does a student-athlete deal with those kinds of accolades and attention while staying grounded and taking care of business?

Honestly, for me it never seemed like that stuff was that big of a deal. My head coach, Scott Stein now at Sun Valley, and my parents didn't exactly let me get over skis in that arena. It also helped that I had this truly burning desire to be the best I could. For me, football was an exercise in hard work and I always wanted more success, more wins and the like.

Oh and my parents were both teachers while I was in school. They've since moved to administration, but during that time they were teachers and school always came first and it wasn't really a negotiable thing.

 4) As a former college athlete, do you ever have the opportunity to counsel young players on what to expect with the recruiting process and the transition to college?

I've done it at times in the past. I like getting out and talking to kids; the good thing about my folks being involved in schools as administrators is there is always a student of their's that i can help and they don't hesitate to ask. For me, honestly, the recruiting process and transition always is secondary to taking care of business in high school and picking the right school. If you can do those first two things, the recruiting process and transition become so much easier.

5) What, if anything, do you miss about Football Fridays in high school?  Was it a positive thing for you or stressful because of all the attention?

I miss winning the most. That's plain and simple. The attention didn't matter to much, I went out and played football for my teammates and they were the only people I was concerned with. The stress was very real from an internal standpoint. My team was 3-8 when I was a freshman playing varsity and as we got better, eventually going 14-2 my junior year, I knew I didn't want to feel that losing feeling of my freshman year ever again. So I put a lot of pressure on myself and worked overtime because I didn't want to be the reason we didn't win every game.

6) I have to ask, since I've asked everyone else: One Direction or Justin Bieber?

Gimme the Biebs! Saw both of them perform during my daily Today Show viewing and Bieber easily blew away the EuroPop sensation.

7) You tweet a lot, and you specifically tweet a lot about food.  I'm headed to North Davidson this week, and they have a healthy tailgate scene (you'd love it- the town smells like barbecue).  Care to share a tailgate recipe with my readers?

I'm a North Carolina boy, through and through, so I've got to go with pulled pork. On Saturdays when I'm not traveling and I'm home all day I like to put a pork shoulder on the smoker in the early morning. Let him cook low and slow for several hours and then enjoy with some Eastern NC sauce lightly doused on it.

8) Do you find you like football better as a player, a fan, or a sportswriter?  The one thing I worry about as a budding writer is that I'll lose my love as a fan.

Player, then sportswriter and last as a fan. Truth be told I've never had the big fan experience that most folks have had so I don't really get into it that way. I went from playing and watching critically to writing and watching critically; I've never had that "just follow the ball" and "soak it all up" element to football viewing.

There are a lot of writers that are still as fan-ish as anyone, if you want to retain it you most certainly can.

9) We have an epidemic right now of played-out cheers in both high school and college student sections.  If I hear 'Seven Nation Army' one more time I may snap.  Any ideas to help reverse this trend?

Haha, turn your ears off? Honestly, I have no clue. We hear the same songs, the same generic cheers all over the country. I doubt they'll go away; and when they do a new one pops up to replace it. For what it's worth, I'm a big fan of "Hold That Line" and "Sack That Quarterback."

10) Finally, if you have one piece of advice to give to a current student-athlete, what would it be?

You get out what you put in. For me that meant blood, sweat, tears, a little vomit and a lot of time; but what I got out of it was an unbelievable high school football experience. I have really good high school friends who put in less, got less out of it but they were happy with what they received from a sports experience as well. I truly believe that as long as you're happy with what you're putting in; being true to yourself about what it all means to you, that you'll come away with a fulfilling experience.

I'd like to thank Michael for graciously answering our Back to School questions.  He's a good sport and a great writer!

For more on Michael, please go to the links I posted above, or search for his stuff on the Interwebs.  He's not hard to find at all! 

Knight Time, Redux

Somebody pinch me.  I must be dreaming.  I must be, because I thought for SURE that this week's contest between the Reagan Raiders and the North Davidson Black Knights was in Pfafftown.  There's no way I could be lucky enough to head to Welcome two weeks in a row to enjoy some Black Knight hospitality. Right?

I was wrong.

I'm coming back.  Someone warm up the grill for me!

John

Suddenly Sunday

True Southern football is an all-consuming experience best characterized by cool weather, hot grills, and a passion that is without rival.  On Friday night in Welcome, the best of Southern football came together to produce a hard-hitting conference opener that saw the host North Davidson Black Knights finally topple the Mount Tabor Spartans in a 7-6 defensive struggle.

The scene I encountered on Friday night was straight out of a Hollywood script.  Although the weather was less than favorable (a line of thunderstorms had delayed kickoffs across the central Piedmont), I followed a long stream of taillights bound for a singular destination.  I exited my car, saw the bright lights of Palmer Field in the distance, and was immediately overcome by the wonderful smells of fried chicken and barbecue.  The fact that the Spartans were in town promised a special evening of football, indeed, but the atmosphere was heightened by the fact that the Black Knights were also celebrating Homecoming.

I have been searching all season for "the buzz", the feeling I get when the football stars align and produce a special night.  North Davidson delivered within thirty seconds of my arrival.

After setting up shop in the press box, I grabbed my toys and went hunting.  It was not long until I encountered a group of students hovering by the end zone watching their "guests" warm up.  I enjoyed a good conversation with Caleb and his friends.

One of the things that Caleb (middle) let me know was that their chief rivalry was now Mount Tabor.  When I was in high school, the rivalry between North Davidson and Lexington was fraught with intensity and bad intentions.  Now, things have changed.  The link above should play in your favorite media player.

At halftime I sauntered down to the field to make a visit to the student section and met some really enthusiastic students who were more than happy to talk to Finally Friday!.

Hopefully I get some Pop Quiz! contestants from this year's Homecoming Court.  I will post them as soon as I get them back.  In the meantime, Mason Linker of the Winston-Salem Journal provides the particulars of the game here .  I am always happy to share a space with someone I can learn from, and Mason is no different. 

Pregame Images from Palmer Field



Welcome to Palmer Field!



Black Knights getting ready



Midfield on a wet night- great drainage!



My office for the evening.  Thanks, ND!

The Spartans in hostile territory

Tabor getting ready!

My new friends Caleb and Co.!