Harnett Central will benefit from Bill Wyrick

Bill Wyrick, as I reported on this website on Thursday, has accepted the defensive coordinator position at Harnett Central. Wyrick spent 12 years at Western Harnett, the last seven of which he served as the head football coach.
Wyrick is easy to get along with and a media member’s dream. He’s articulate, always makes time for [...]

Bill Wyrick joins Harnett Central staff

A little bit of breaking news to throw out there. The Herald should have a story about this very soon.
Bill Wyrick, the former head coach of the Western Harnett Eagles, has accepted a position at Harnett Central to be the Trojans’ defensive coordinator.
Wyrick has coordinator experience, having served as the DC at Western Harnett when [...]

Mickelson endears because he takes chances

This is why fans line up to high-five Phil Mickelson.
In a scene that easily could have been a rebroadcast of the 18th hole two years ago at Winged Foot, there was Way Left Lefty, in the rough deep in the trees well left of the fairway.
Having pushed another critical tee shot — Mickelson stepped on [...]

Let’s be clear about sports message boards

I feel like I need to make sure I’m clear about something regarding Sunday’s column: there are indeed redeeming qualities to message boards, even message boards about high school sports.
I wrote that in the middle of Sunday’s column, writing that there are a lot of worthy topics, information and spirited debates on most of the [...]

An emotional time for Southern Lee’s football staff

Southern Lee has a new football coach.
The Lee County Board of Education signed off on Southern Lee’s recommendation to hire Bill Maczko on Tuesday to replace Bryan Lee, who resigned in March to move closer to his family in southern Illinois.
Maczko has served as the Cheraw, S.C., linebackers coach for the last four seasons, all [...]

The All-Star Race diary

A few more comments about Saturday night’s All-Star race…
The only thing stopping Kyle Busch from winning a Sprint Cup championship this season is equipment. If he can keep from blowing engines and stay away from any other fluky things, he’s going to coast to the title.
He is on a different level right now than anybody [...]

Thank You

Wow.
I mean it.
Wow.
As I’ve written this week, Mother’s Day isn’t an easy one for me anymore. 
It used to be, though. My mom’s birthday is May 21, so I could always combine her birthday and Mom’s Day into one big celebration. And it was always a great day when we celebrated both of them. Always.
(I just [...]

A break from the norm

I realize that the world doesn’t revolve around me, and I realize that my column is typically a sports column — at least it is about 50 out of 52 weeks a year.
And I know that Sunday’s column isn’t one for everybody, and actually, may have only been for me. Maybe that’s what this space [...]

Yes, Virginia, you can pull the keeper

I’ve always wondered, and now I know.
I never grew up playing soccer. I may have been the only one in my demographic never to have even stepped onto a soccer field as I was coming up, but I’ve covered the sport since college.
Still, I had always thought that a team should pull the goalkeeper late [...]

The Goal of Youth Sports

I’ve learned a lot about myself during my daughter Allison’s first foray into organized athletics.
I’ve always pledged to myself that I’d never be one of those parents, the ones who yell too much or get too involved in how their child is performing on the field.
Allison played in the under-5-year-old league of the Sanford Area [...]