Once again the efforts of so many in this county and the surrounding counties have not went unnoticed. Last week ESPN Sports Center came to the town of Clay to put together a feature on the Panther football team as well as the Richwood and Hoover teams and the energy of so many to get these football teams back on the fields this season after the devastating flood. According to ESPN producer, Jonathan Whyley, they talked to coaches Saban and Fisher and decided to do a little research on what they had told them. After their research, ESPN decided that the extreme resilience of the people of West Virginia was a story that needed to be told, and that they were here in Clay County to do what they could to tell the story of how the people here and the surrounding counties have pulled together for the common good. ESPN reporter Marty Smith was also on hand to conduct the interviews.
After interviewing some of the team and coaches, the cameras took to the field to get the Panthers in a little action before packing up and heading home. It is good that the story be told by ESPN so that everybody everywhere will know that no matter what circumstance people find themselves in, you can always dig out and rebuild, but it takes work and a lot of people that have one thing in mind and that is generosity and a sense of duty to our fellow man. Alas, now it’s time to hit the gridiron and get down to some head banging football action so that all those efforts by so many that have been much talked about have not been in vain. It is time for football, and the first game of the season is this Friday at home against Fayetteville. Lets fill the stands and get this year’s Panthers started on the right track and grab a win. The last meeting between the two teams resulted in a loss for the Panthers; come this Friday its time for revenge.
