Featured Stories
Olympic Festival Excerpt
East Team Coaching Staff Jim Cutler Ed Sullivan Mack Shupe
So, I started hitting fielding practice to the players in the Astrodome, certainly a dream for any baseball coach. I hit balls to the infielders and then to the outfielders. After several minutes, I was ready to bring it home so I hit the ball to the third baseman. When the ball came home to the catcher, who was Jesse Levis, he looked at me and said, “All right Coach, let’s see what you got.” I said, “What do you mean Jesse?” He said, “I want you to hit a popup straight up in the air.”
To knock the ball straight up in the air for a catcher to practice catching it simulates a pop fly. Hitting a pop up for a catcher is extremely difficult to do if you are standing at home plate. I said, “Jesse, I’ll just throw it up in the air.” He said, “No, I want you to hit it.” By this time there were about 35,000 people in the stands who were waiting on the Astros, so I was a bit nervous. Nevertheless, I went ahead and took the fungo bat and took a mighty swing. I was saying to myself, “God, just let me hit it straight up in the air.” Instead of going straight up in the air, however, the ball went out towards the scoreboard over the top of the center fielder’s head. I heard some laughing in the stands and I assumed it was because of my hit. More determined, I prayed again, “God, just let me hit it straight up in the air.” So, I took another swing and the ball did exactly what it was supposed to do. It went straight up in the air and Jesse was there to catch it. Jesse then said, “Coach, you can’t do that again can you?” So, I hit another one straight up in the air and I was feeling really good. Then, the other catcher said, “Coach, are you going to hit me one too?”
To knock the ball straight up in the air for a catcher to practice catching it simulates a pop fly. Hitting a pop up for a catcher is extremely difficult to do if you are standing at home plate. I said, “Jesse, I’ll just throw it up in the air.” He said, “No, I want you to hit it.” By this time there were about 35,000 people in the stands who were waiting on the Astros, so I was a bit nervous. Nevertheless, I went ahead and took the fungo bat and took a mighty swing. I was saying to myself, “God, just let me hit it straight up in the air.” Instead of going straight up in the air, however, the ball went out towards the scoreboard over the top of the center fielder’s head. I heard some laughing in the stands and I assumed it was because of my hit. More determined, I prayed again, “God, just let me hit it straight up in the air.” So, I took another swing and the ball did exactly what it was supposed to do. It went straight up in the air and Jesse was there to catch it. Jesse then said, “Coach, you can’t do that again can you?” So, I hit another one straight up in the air and I was feeling really good. Then, the other catcher said, “Coach, are you going to hit me one too?”
Wolf Moon Excerpt
Peaks of Otter
Sharp Top Mountain, one of the two peaks that make up the Peaks of Otter, is located next to the Blue Ridge Parkway, about eight miles from Bedford, Virginia. It rises 3,862 feet high and is paired with its twin peak, Flat Top, which rises 4,001 feet high. Through the years, Sharp top has captivated a lot of people. Thomas Jefferson was so impressed with its size that he thought it was the tallest mountain in the United States and in 1815 used chains and trigonometry to estimate the height of the mountain. In the mid-19th century, Bedford citizens thought Sharp Top was the “loftiest” mountain in Virginia. Around 1852-1853, the citizens of Bedford took one of the granite rocks from Sharp Top, also known as Otter’s Summit, and sent it to be displayed in the Washington Monument. The inscription on the rock reads, “FROM OTTER’S SUMMIT, VIRGINIA’S LOFTIEST PEAK. TO CROWN A MONUMENT TO VIRGINIA’S NOBLEST SON.”
But what I really want to tell you about is something that has been known only to the old lofty mountain and four young men. It was about 45 years ago that four Bedford County Public School educators flew off the mountain. It was a cold January Sunday night around 1976. School had been canceled on Monday because of the snow and cold. The plan was to drive up to Sharp Top Mountain from Bedford, take our sleds with us, hike all the way to the summit, and then sleigh ride down the 10-foot-wide road that was used to transport sightseers by small bus. It took us over two and a half hours to make the trip up the mountain carrying our sleds. It was a Wolf Moon and standing on the summit we could see for miles, 360 degrees in every direction. The Shenandoah Valley was to the north, Lynchburg to the east, Smith Mountain Lake to the south, and Roanoke to the west. As we came off the summit and to the top of the road, we noticed the road was like an ice rink. That week it had snowed about eight inches, melted, and refrozen.
The Miracle of Plastic Surgery Excerpt
Cherie
The birthmark was called a hemangioma, which is a vascular tumor. There are some hemangioma types that are flat and under the skin. Other types are raised and are above the skin. Some types of hemangiomas will fade away in time, but other types of hemangiomas will not fade and can become serious as they grow. Cherie’s type of hemangioma was growing out of control and there was concern that her left eye, nose, and mouth could soon be impacted by it. The specialists had recommended that the hemangiomas, particularly the one on the left side of her face be radiated to slow down the growth. The hemangiomas on the top and left side of her head responded to the radiation, but the hemangioma on the left side of her face was unresponsive and continued to grow. After several more radiation treatments, we learned that our daughter had been given too much radiation and the hemangioma on her face had become infected and was extremely painful for her. She cried a lot and we did not know how to console her. To make matters worse, her arms had to be put in splints so she would not pull on her face.
We tried to lead a normal life and keep active, but people were cruel sometimes. When people saw our daughter, they could not help but stare and then point and ask questions like, “What is that thing on her face?” Some people were even afraid of her thinking she had some type of contagious disease. Cherie’s disfigurement became so disruptive we started staying away from public places.
