You've gotta watch this video. It's of a coach (Mike Gundy from OSU) lecturing a sports writer in the Oklahoma Media (Jenni Carlson). She wrote an article full of rumors about one of his players, Bobby Reid. Keep in mind that Jenni Carlson is sitting in the room while he is ripping her apart. I say good for him. He had the guts to stick up for his player in such a public way. He called her out and he should have! I'd let my kid play for this guy...

I have Carolina Panthers tickets available for this week's game against Houston and also Tampa Bay. I have two tickets for each game (good seats - I'm a PSL owner). The tickets are $43 each ($86 for both). No single tickets. You can buy for either game. Cash or check.

Let me know asap if you want them - they won't last long! Email me at jimmy@rockyriverchurch.com.

This morning we wrapped up our summer All-Star tour. It is really bittersweet for me. While it will be nice to move on and focus on other things, I am going to miss "my" boys. This summer has not only been a learning experience for me but it has been a real pleasure too. It has been a summer I will never forget.

We played 12 games and lost 12 games. But, not to try to downplay the fun and importance of winning ballgames, the scoreboard does not have the final say over wins and losses. My goal for our team was to give some kids who didn't make the HYA A-team the opportunity to play some tournament ball and get the experience. That happened. And, the wins might not have shown up on our scoreboards this summer, but they will on future scoreboards at Harrisburg (HYA) and wherever else Cameron, Kyle, Jake, Lucas, James, Cory, Matt, Dillon, Caleb, Rohan, Corbin, Jackson, and Bradley are playing. My point is that these boys have gotten better - so much better - and that will show up in the years to come as they help other teams become winners.

Our team is going to get together again in the next week or so to shake hands and get trophies and all that good stuff. I'll say it again when we're together but let me say it here too; our boys are the best. They are fighters and they never quit. That means they have heart. And, in my opinion there's not a better bunch of players and assistant coaches anywhere.

Thanks again to our players, assistant coaches (JJ, Keith, Rick and Wayne), our scorekeepers (Maureen, Tom and Alex), and our PARENTS. Ya'll are the best!!!

One of cool things about July 4th yesterday is getting to hang with Mike Minter (Panther's Safety). This is a pic of me and Mike.

We just finished up our 7/8 tournament at Hickory Grove Baptist Church. Our boys didn't win a game but they played with heart - lots of heart. If they were giving out trophies for kids who give it their all then our boys would get the "big" trophy.

I have learned over the last couple of weeks (with my Shockers – who refuse to quit) that you're not a loser until you quit. That's something I've heard all my life but because I've usually played on winning teams I never had to believe it until now (now that I'm a part of a team that is not winning games). I'm having to believe in principles, not just the "usual" results of wins and losses.

David Rial, the tournament commissioner, said it best when he gave us our 5th place trophies today. He said of all the teams he's seen this week (29 of them), our team, and parents, and coaches have shown the most class. He said (and I believe him) that he was proud to have us in the tournament. In my opinion it doesn't matter what the dang score board says - WE ARE WINNERS!

WAY TO GO SHOCKERS (Brad, Jake, Cory, James, Cameron, Kyle, Dillon, Jackson, Rohan, Matt, Corbin, Caleb, Lucas, Coach JJ, Coach Keith, Coach Rick, Coach Wayne, Maureen - our All Star scorekeeper, our PARENTS, and Annie - our bat girl)! You have one proud coach! Chins up boys! We'll give em' a fit at the Harrisburg tournament...!

MAN! We lost a close one tonight. The Midland Tigers beat us by two runs. It came down to the last at bat. We had two innings where we let them score a pile of runs while we had an inning or two where we didn't score.

Anyway, I am so proud of our boys. You guys played like Champions tonight! Way to go boys...!
-Coach Britt

My All-Star Team, the Harrisburg Shockers, played our first game tonight. We got beat by the Winecoff Warriors but we played like champions. We had a couple bad innings that hurt us but we learned a lot and we're getting better. We are a young team with lots of potential. I am very pleased with our boys and parents. WAY TO GO SHOCKERS! We'll get em' tomorrow night...! We're going to have a great summer of baseball.