Posted 09/25 at 11:03 AM (0) Comments

Though full-time sports writing is no longer my gig, I suppose I can now consider it a hobby, like golf. The biggest difference is I haven’t broken any golf clubs or sworn in a press box.

I remember my days on the Opelika-Auburn News sports staff when I begged folks to help cover football games on Friday nights. It’s a helpless feeling. The schools demand coverage, but there are only so many bodies to do it. Someone generally got left out. So when our sports staff asks me to cover a game, I remember when I asked and the compassionate side comes out.

Tonight’s game brings me to Garrett Stadium in Phenix City where Stanhope Elmore visits Central. Not sure why Central is called Central. Why not Phenix City High? Just wondering. Central is a very antiseptic name. Give it some character and hometown pride. I suppose for years it’s been Central, so the directional location name now has its own tradition.

Does it ever.

Central has produced a boatload of college and NFL stars, including Woodrow and Eddie Lowe, James Joseph, Ed King and a few others I’m sorry that I can’t name off the top of my head on a Friday morning. I remember the old days when Wayne Trawick coached the Red Devils. He always produced winners and is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in state history. I was on the sidelines that cold December afternoon in 1993 at Legion Field when the Red Devils up-ended West End for the Class 6A state title. I believe the score was 12-7.

There were some big-time talent on that team. Wide receiver Shedrick Dixon may no longer be a household name in these parts, but back in the day, Dixon was as good as they come. I can’t forget the night he and quarterback Griff Gordy hooked up for a couple of touchdowns to beat Terrell Owens and Benjamin Russell in the playoffs. Dixon was as good or better than TO.

I miss the old days and I look forward to going to Garrett Stadium tonight. Hope the folks at Waffle House across the street don’t tow my car. The last time I covered a game at Central was in the mid-1990s when Opelika visited for a big-time matchup. Central won that night in a defensive struggle. Those Trawick-Spence McCracken games were classics.

I was supposed to cover a game there last year, except two hours before kickoff I learned my water heater leaked throughout the house. That was bad night. I didn’t go to the game that night after all.

Hope the house is OK this time.