For three of our county teams, this Friday marks the end of the 2019 regular season.
What seemed to just begin a couple of weeks ago has passed in the blink of an eye, and next week we will be thrust into the postseason. While Vardaman still has one regular season game left after this week, the signs of football season coming to an end are starting to appear.
I became a student in the Calhoun County School District in August of 2013, making this my seventh football season to see first-hand in the county. There have been ups and downs for all four programs here, including winless seasons and a state championship in that span. Still, the tradition has remained. Each fall, we get geared up once again for our school and community and represent our colors with pride.
What makes this week more palatable is that each team has the hope of continuing to play next week. Bruce, Calhoun City and Calhoun Academy are all in their respective playoff pictures, and Vardaman travels to Noxapater next week to conclude its regular season, so the season isn’t over yet. Still, it’s gone by fast, and before we know it, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball will be firing up in Calhoun County.
It feels even stranger to say that this year will complete my sixth as the Voice of Vardaman Ram Football. What began as a high school sophomore playing with his voice on a microphone turned into becoming the announcer for a high school’s athletic programs.
While I no longer bear that title in sports outside of the gridiron, continuing my role for the Rams has been and will continue to be one of the greatest pleasures in my life. That paired with my newest role here at the Calhoun County Journal has helped me see into this county’s programs in a way I never thought possible.
Now is probably a good time to address the coaches and players in our county as well. You have been nothing but hospitable to me since I took this job, and for that, I am grateful. In today’s trying times in an era of media distrust, I think it’s important to remind ourselves that journalism is our friend, not our enemy. This also applies to sports. Coaches opening up their offices and players opening up their minds to me and other local media gives our programs an opportunity to tell their own story, and, ultimately, that’s what the public wants to hear.
You all have a story to tell, and I’m blessed to play a part in telling it, whether it be from the press box or in the newspaper.
You can email John Macon at jmake2016@gmail.com