Join the pep rally should the Gryphons return triumphant

At least two bus loads of fans will be leaving Rocky Mount High School Saturday afternoon for the state 3-A title game.

The number of fans driving to Chapel Hill may number in the thousands.

Now, if the Gryphons should come home triumphant Saturday night, fans returning to Rocky Mount are charged with one more job.

Drive straight to Rocky Mount's gym and join in the fun of a pep rally for the team. The more the merrier.

If you were in the parking lot at Gryphon Stadium on Saturday, May 31, 2008 when the Rocky Mount baseball team returned home with their championship trophy, you had to be beaming with pride for the boys. Twenty-six years of state title emptiness was subsided.

And when the great one, former head baseball coach Pat Smith, spoke to the crowd as daylight was waning, he was as emotional as I'd ever seen him in his tenure here.

The NCHSAA doesn't allow fans on the floor after a championship game, so fans and players can't exchange hugs and good wishes.

So when this prep rally ends, should RM win, gather on the floor like RM fans traditionally do after every home game, grab a player and give him a handshake or hug.

They will have deserved it!