Jim Murray Memorial Scholarship Essay
“Now, as the ball soared toward the rim with a parabolic grace that belied the frenzy of its launch and the weight of the dreams it carried, we all watched. We somehow dared to hope this shot would go in. Not just because we wanted it so badly, but because Marcus wanted it, and he deserved it more than anyone.”
Cost of winning: UNC’s growing athletics budget puts students on the hook
“In 2005, UNC athletics generated almost $55 million in revenue. By 2015, that number rose to almost $90 million, mirroring the boom seen almost universally across college sports. Yet collectively, students in 2015 paid two and a half times more in fees — almost $250 per student per year — than their counterparts a decade earlier.”
“The same things go through Mya Daye’s mind every time she races. Don’t false start. Don’t let nobody pass you. Run your time, not your opponents. Just get through it.
Finish.
The senior sprinter from Northern Vance crouches down in her stance, limbs braced against the blocks, muscles coiled and ready to explode. A gunshot rings out — just like it did outside a party in Greensboro eight months earlier on a cool October night.”
‘I had the lottery of friends’
“The first time Austin Murphy hit a home run this season, his mom was in the hospital.”
“Alston’s never forgotten that match, though he admits he tries not to think about it. The hurt of being on the outside looking in is still too real. Since that moment, though, that laser-focused mind has turned to the one thing that will right that wrong in his eyes. Not just a state championship, Alston doesn’t want rings or medals or adulation, but his name on a blue banner hanging forever in the gym at Southern Vance.”
Local football coaches deal with low turnout
“As the players finish their stretches, head coach Darry Ragland pulls up in his car and surveys his team. Ragland was brought back to Southern Vance to help restore the Raiders to their once mighty ways in football, when they were a consistent winner and made an appearance in the 2006 state championship game.
Back then when Ragland was offensive coordinator, the first day of practice would bring more than 70 kids out to the field eager to suit up in Southern Vance colors. But on Monday, only 23 players showed up.”
Concussions demand football change
“A voracious reader, Hood already knew a lot about the concussion controversy the sport of football has found itself embroiled in for more than a decade. Personal experience sharpened the lesson. The former Eagle Scout could tell something was amiss. The brain he previously had such command of seemed gummed up and inefficient.”
An agency’s oversight: How NCAA enforcement policies failed to catch scandal at UNC
“One day, someone will tally up all the mail that comes into the NCAA office in Indianapolis and discover it circles the globe twice — or some other preposterous factoid. But in 2010, there was just another full inbox for an NCAA enforcement staff member to go through, with an email from Mary Willingham.”
Unlikely recovery not without pain for UNC defensive tackle Naz Jones
Hey, Kenny. Hey, Naz.
The trainer takes a tube about six inches long marked “Enbrel” from the fridge and gives it to North Carolina’s star defensive tackle. His hands envelop it completely. He takes the top off of the tube to expose the needle, swabs a bared thigh with an alcohol wipe — this week it’s the right leg, next week it’ll be the left — and sticks the needle into the muscle.
It takes 15 seconds, tops. After almost 170 injections, Naz has gotten quite good at this. It’s pain now or more pain later. And it’s been a long time since he wasn’t hurting.”
They also learn how to pee standing up.
But when the time came for North Carolina punter Corbin Daly to learn what every man must learn, it wasn’t his father who taught him but his single mother Maria Daly, who demonstrated to her young son by using a banana.
‘She’s pretty much taught me how to do everything,’ Corbin said.”