College Football's National Signing Day came and went and what a day it was here in the Valley.  Football has always been strong in these parts but a class of 5 kids signed full scholarships, while 1 player (Derek Crosen of Sherando) accepted a spot as a preferred walk on at William and Mary.

My day started at 8 o'clock at Sherando where tight end Brian Barlow signed with JMU,  while Markeith Brisco and Joey Christine accepted scholarships to Norfolk State University.  The thing I'll always remember is the looks of pride coming not only from parents (and rightfully so, their kids are going to school for free!) but also the coaches.  These coaches put hours and hours into all their players and every once in a while its rewarded with something tangible like a scholarship. 

At 12:30 I made my way over to Millbrook for Butch Kaczmarzewski's signing.  Butch is the type of player you wish you had 11 of as a coach.  He was all over the field this past year on special teams, defense and offense.  He'll head to VMI where he's hoping to make a big difference for a rebuilding program.

At 3:30 we went over to Handley for the biggest signing of all...  Quarterback J.J. Dorsey will head to West Virginia where he'll probably end up on the defensive side of the ball.  I know he'll be a good player wherever he ends up, but I hope Bill Stewart finds a way to get the ball in J.J.'s hands.  If you saw him play at all over the past few years you know just how dangerous he can be.

Overall it was an awesome day.. congrats to the parents, players, and coaches.  Each one of these kids has put in a ton of time in the weight room and deserves all the accolades they get.

 I also have to give a shout out to some of my colleagues.  My first signing day ever took place at my last job in Dalton, Georgia.  It's funny how certain events remind you right away of another time and place.  My 16 months in Dalton was great, professionally I learned a lot, but I also got to work with some great up and coming sports talent.  Kyle Burger and I formed the "WDNN Sports Team" while we were in the big D and Kyle is now tearing it up at WAAY in Huntsville, Alabama.   Scott LaPeer came in a few months later to fill the hole left by Kyle and he has since moved on from Dalton to Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  Scott and I shared an office in Dalton and I don't remember a single minute where we weren't making fun of each other and having a great time.  Finally Jamison Coyle made the always popular switch from News to Sports towards the end of my tenure in Dalton, and although Coyle is a Red SAWX fan (with his Boston accent that pops up every now and again) he's a good dude and has since moved to Terre Haute, Indiana... where he is now Sports Director.  Anyway signing day will always make me think of Dalton so I figured this was a good time to give a shout out to all my buddies who started their careers in the rolling hills of Northwest Georgia under the fearless leadership of CALVIN R. MEANS, Dave Elliot, and Mark Burnett and weater dude Cedric Haynes.  One Love DALTON!!!