*r The "Acorn never falls far from the Big Oak Tree" By JOHN ALLEN Special 10 The Chronicle ? This old saying has always been one of the corny ones that the old people in my neighbor hood in Chicago used to say to express actions of the child in relations to the training they receive from their parents. Another one used to be the, "Lightning doesn't ever "strike twice in the same place". Well corny or not those old sayings were dispelled at the recent FRANK SPENCER TOURNA MENT, Dec. 28-30, at the LJV M Coliseum. It occurred when a young man from Reynolds High School walked away with the MVP tro phy - his name Travis Holcomb Faye. This young man's efforts, combined with the excellent team-first attitude of the Reynolds High School team, ended an unbeaten string for the Parkland squad, which was rid ing the crest of popularity with, the Winston-Salem locals. Just when everyone had writ ten off the Reynolds squad, along comes a young man with a goal - that is, to win a championship that his father won twenty years earlier. Yet, not only did he and Jiis teammates win the trophy, history was made when he and his father became the first 'father and son' MVP's of this tourna ment. As quoted in several news articles, " he wanted to win just to surprise all the Parkland fans" and return the role of top dog in the Forsyth County to the Reynolds Demons. Yet, when he won the award the reaction on his face was riot one of overall joy, but the reflection that of a work man being acknowledge for doing something that he loves. Although, some might view his walk to accept tfie trophy had an air of arrogance, it really appearared to be a walk of humility because there was no histrionics and he "knew that Without the swarming team defense of-his teammates and the, outside shooting of Brad Tuttle, his number one goal would not have been accomplished. Which brings us to the tree that this "acorn" fell from and learned several hard lessons. The big oak tree is really a big fella named Walter Faye. Faye won the Frank Spencer MVP award in 1978, when his North Forsyth team won the Frank Spencer Tournament. Walter has been active in youth sports in Winston-Salem for nearly jl decade, including winning a pres tigious AAU National champi onship in 1996. Last year, he coached the girls' team at Bishop McGuinness High School and is serving as the newly-appointed boys' coach at the school this season. He probably never told Travis to go out and win the title to be like him, or try to win the MVP so that the two could make histo ry. His advice was simple. There are people out there who don't believe 'you can lead and are doubting the ability of your team. His task was to rally his team mates together and lead by exam ple. By doing so he would show his toughness and determination. Push, prod, tease, cajole - do whatever it takes to make your team a champion. But above all else, remember that you cannot achieve your goal without the others around you believing as you believe. Well in the end "lightning did strike twice", "the acorn didn't fall far from the tree" and history was made at the LJVM. But truly more important than that was the lesson learned from father to son. Setting goals and realizing that you need the help of others to make your goals a reality created a real life father to son lesson in life culminating, in the awarding of a trophy. What a story line? Maybe we can make a movie out of it. Naw, why don't we just congratulate the acorn and the big oak tree. Neal from page Bl "That's a good situation for mer'me said. "By the time I come up I might be able to jump right in." Over his four year career at Dudley he amassed 248 tackles-. 26 sacks and 9 fumble recoveries with one returned for a touch down. It was in his last year as a Panther that Neal had his biggest season. He led the team in tack les with 103, sacks (8) and tied for fumble recoveries (4). despite being doubled teamed constant ly Because of his accomplish ments on the gridiron weal, rated as one of the top seniors in the state by Super Prep Magazine and was chosen to represent the Tar Heel state in the Shrine Bowl last month, where he served as a l :?: 1 -7? team captain. That is'an accomplishment Ferguson says was very rjiucfy warranted: . 4 "He's a hard worker," Fergu son said. "He puts-the time in. Everything he's got he deserves." Ferguson h?s watched Neal grow on the field and in the classroom and believes ECU did a good job to snatch him. up. "He's a good kid," Ferguson said. "He's easy to work wi^Jv He's a 'Yes sir-no sir' kid. Every body likes- Virgil."' With school starting back this week, Neal said he plans to lock himself in the weight room for the rest of the school year and get ready to leave for Greenville in the summer. "1 feel that all the sweat and tears I shed on the football field and in the classroom has finally paid off," he said. 4 The Chronicle The Choice for African-American News and Information '*"> j * Subscribe Today, Call: 722-8624 * 0 wscLpon@nefunlimited.net ? ? ?kL* |rl ?fre'-ft**'"'- *** , i ? 617 North Liberty Street Winston-Saiem, NC 27102 Facsimile: (910) 723-9173 i . * > V 1W n I J pp ' * Photo by Brace Chapqian Holcomb-Foye (far la ft) and his teammates took homo the spoils after winning the Frank Spencer Classic. Holcomb-Faye from page Bl teammates. "All along we said that we were a more balanced team," he said. "We knew they only had two really good players and we felt like we had a team full of good players." ? Holcomb-Faye's 19-point effort in the championship game gave him 60 for the three tourna ment games. He also came through with a host of strong defensive plays and distributed the ball well on his way to being . named MVP. "I thought he played better than he has at any time this sea son," West said. "He gave us everything he had. There were times when he carried us." By doing so, Holcomb-Faye joined an elite group of MVP winners that includes former ACC players Brian Howard, Ranzino Smith, Kevin Thompson and Donnie Seale. He also joins ranks with his father, Walter Faye, who led North Forsyth to the tourna ment championship in 1978. BlffW 111 ALL VEHICLES CI'IB' ARE $9,999 Woe OB LESS! 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