Very few people in their lifetime will have as big an impact on a city and university like Dick Price. His passing Monday night left a huge void on the Norfolk State sports scene.

Dick Price made a name for himself as a great coach. But he was much more than a coach. He was a teacher and leader and a role model. The best coach is someone who inspires and takes young athletes to higher levels. The best coach is someone who shows young athletes the secret to success. The best coach is someone who elevates athletes, teams and programs to great heights. Dick Price did all of that.

A child of Norfolk’s Lamberts Point, Dick Price began his coaching career at NSU in 1964 as head track coach and an assistant under former football coach Bill Archie. Price was elevated to head football coach in 1974 and promptly coached the Spartans to 3 straight CIAA Championships between 1974 and 1976. His track teams won two division 2 national championships despite not having a track.

Price retired from coaching in 1983 and remains NSU’S winningest football coach with a career record of 62-41-4. Fifty-three of Price’s former football players entered the ranks of professional football.  Price became the school’s athletics director in 1989, a post he held until 1999. The school’s current football stadium, which opened in 1997, is named in Price’s honor.

Price won numerous awards for his storied career as a coach and administrator. In 1979, he was named the Virginian Pilot’s “Sports Figure of the Decade.” Price is a member of the NSU Athletics Foundation Hall of Fame, The CIAA Hall of Fame, The Hampton Roads African American Sports Hall of fame, and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

1n 2003, Price became the first ever black president of the Norfolk Sports Club.

Current Norfolk State Athletic Director Marty Miller first met Price back in 1964. Miller told me yesterday that there was nothing Price would not do for the University and that he was a true Spartan. A true Spartan that made a huge impact on thousands of lives. Dick Price was priceless for the University and will be greatly missed

That huge sigh of relief you may have heard or felt today was from dozens of parents, students, teachers and coaches across Hampton Roads following National Signing Day. Imagine having the next 4 or 5 years of your college education payed for free of charge! In these tough economic times, its hard to put a price tag on that.

Football players across the area signed National Letters of Intent today and quickly sent them thru the fax machine to their college choice. It’s a ritual played out each year across the country. It’s the final process of years of hard work on both the field of play, the weight room and in the classroom.

As a highly recruited athlete myself, I remember signing day like it was yesterday. It was one of the biggest days of my young life and the sense of relief was enormous. The long and frustrating recruiting process was finally over and the next chapter of my life was clearly ahead of me. Not only was I proud of my accomplishments, I felt a great sense of pride for being able to help out my parents. Yes I know how these players are feeling today and when I see the smiles on the parents faces, I can recall the joy felt by my mother and father who were at my side the day I signed with Virginia Tech.

National signing day marks both the end and beginning of a long journey. These players have put in countless hours to get to this point in their career. Now with their high school career almost behind them, it’s time to focus on the future and where their next challenge lies. While all of these kids were stars in high school, they will quickly find out that it will be tougher to distinguish themselves at the next level. These players will quickly find out that everybody on the field of play is an All-Something player. And if they thought they got hit in high school, wait until a seasoned college senior gets a running start and welcomes them to the college game!

But that’s a lesson to be learned tomorrow. These college bound student athletes can enjoy what they have earned today and for each player who signed to play college football, enjoy the day and feeling because you earned it.

I take that back! Not a slap in the face, but more like a King Kong sized shot to the gut! You know the kind of power punch that makes you keel over and utter, “ugh!”

That’s just what it would feel like for every Washington Redskins fan if FOX Network decides to broadcast the Dallas Cowboys game against the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday, instead of the Redskins finale against the 49ers.

Yes we all know which is a better game, but this is Redskins territory! Don’t let the transplants fool you. They will bark until they are blue in the face about how Hampton Roads and all of Virginia roots for America’s team. Hogwash! What about the Baltimore Ravens or even the Carolina Panthers. There are two teams nearly as close as the Redskins, but they have yet to make any kind of impact here in the 757.

So how is it that the great state of Texas with its unpredictable and topsy-turvy football team can influence what fans here in Redskins territory will watch come Sunday? Sure the Redskins are all but done for the season, but at least they were not billed as Super Bowl contenders like the Boys. And now America’s team has to beat Philly on the final day just to make it into the playoffs? That’s not how a Superbowl team gets into the post season. Remember how the Ravens ran right up the middle on the Boys. Like that’s not gonna happen Sunday against the Eagles!

Rock the vote Redskins fans and show the Cowboy fans which team rules Hampton Roads.(Keep quiet Steeler fan, we know your here!)

As of right now we may not know which game FOX is going to air here come Sunday, but one things for sure, there is going to be a lot of upset fans this weekend. Feel free to give me a call and voice your opinion. By the way, I’m off this weekend!

Happy Holidays and go Redskins!

I wish I had a dollar for each time I heard Frank Beamer say, “We have to get the best players in the 757 area if we hope to win.” He’s not alone. Just recently JMU head coach Mickey Mathews told Ahmed Fareed how important recruiting Hampton Roads has become. Mathews plucked an overlooked diamond in the rough in quarterback Rodney Landers from Tallwood High School and Landers almost led the Dukes to the national championship game. Such a bummer that Landers suffered an ankle injury early on against Montana in the national semifinal.

But getting back to Beamer and his Hokies. For years the Gobblers cornered the market here in the 757 area, but not this year. That honor goes to those savy Virginia Cavaliers. Just as the Hokies snagged the best players from the area, the Wahoos did just the opposite. Al Groh and his crew rarely captured the best players from this area, until this year. Six local studs have committed to play for Virginia and one big fish is still out there. You know, the Army All-American who recently led Phoebus to the state title. Landing Tajh Boyd would put the Cavaliers over the top and give them thier best haul in Hampton Roads in recenty history.

Tajh, if your listening, Virginia would be a great fit for you. And thats coming from a Hokie!

If Boyd ends up choosing Virginia, he would join Javonti Sparrow from Western Branch, Laroy Reynolds from Maury, Jontel Evans from Bethel, LaVonti Battle from Phoebus, Perry Jones and Tim Smith from Oscar Smith as part of Virginia’s class of 2009. Thats a pretty impressive group.

The Hokies will not come away empty handed this year. They have received committments from Telvion Clark from Granby, James Gayle of Bethel and Tyrel Wilson from Hampton. All three are defensive brutes who will fit nicely in Bud Fosters quicksilver defense.

Now both the Hokies and Cavaliers will put their spin on why they recruited who and why they did not get such and such. That’s just the way it is. But one things for sure, if it comes down to numbers, more players chose to play in C-Ville than the Burg. That should be concerning for you Hokie fans out there. But then again, until Virginia wins on the field of play and beats the Hokies, I guess it doesnt really matter!

Who has the better football team? Is it Phoebus or Oscar Smith? You can debate this all you want, but the sad reality is, we’ll never know. The only way to get a true answer to that age old question is for those two teams to play each other, and that’s not gonna happen.

Thanks to breaking up schools in divisions, the two best teams in Hampton Roads rarely play each other. So as it stands, Phoebus is the best Division 5 team in Hampton Roads. Oscar Smith is king of Division 6.

But wouldn’t be great if after the season these two teams squared off and decided who was the real king of high school football in Hampton Roads? You could rent Dick Price Stadium at Norfolk State, hype the game and sell it out as the High School Super Bowl. Pundits would say that adding one more game to the grueling schedule would be too much for these kids to handle. Hogwash! These seniors would love to play one last football game in front of thousands of local fans.

There is so much debate over college football and how they crown a champion. The BCS has it’s flaws. Some say adding one more game to the college schedule is the answer. How about doing the same here in Hampton Roads for high school football?

Sure I know having one extra game to decide the true Eastern Region Champion will never happen and that means we will never know who the better team is between Phoebus and Oscar Smith. But I guess we don’t need to have an extra game, because everybody knows that the Phantoms would crush the Tigers!