Grant County News Article about Brave at Heart Oct. 30, 2019

3rd Annual Grant County Braves Alumni Shootout Oct. 19,2019

Grant County News Article page 1. Oct. 30,2019

Grant County News Article page 2. Oct. 30, 2019

Brave at Heart

If you want to order a copy of Brave at Heart please click on the link below.
Thanks!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brave-at-Heart-The-Story-of-the-Sherman-County-Braves/283588216413?hash=item42072cc65d:g:2fwAAOSwMsZdXefc

I have created a brand new FB page for my book about the 1979 Grant County Braves that will deal with all aspects of the story. It will also deal with the writing process and how Brave at Heart:The Story of the Sherman County Braves came to be.  There will also be relevant photos and behind the scenes details.  So if your interested in the story of the 1979 Grant County Braves or if your a fan of basketball in general Brave at Heart is worth checking out.  And maybe give it a like.

https://www.facebook.com/BraveatHeartbyTimothyBurgess/?modal=admin_todo_tour

Thank you so much for pledging support and preordering copies of Brave at Heart: The Story of the Sherman County Braves. We have reached our initial funding goal far quicker than we expected thanks to your generous support. With each additional preorder and pledge through the rest of the funding period, we get the opportunity to make our initial first edition run of books larger, allowing us to reach a larger audience. In addition to that, additional funds raised will allow us to explore different material options as far as paper and binding quality and look into perhaps a run of hardback copies in addition to the planned paperback. Stay tuned  for more details and we look forward to getting you all your copies of this amazing story ASAP.

Pregame Huddle

Chris Simpson injured his ankle late in the season and can be seen on crutches, and in street clothes in this photo of the pregame huddle.

Excerpt from Brave at Heart: The story of the Sherman County Braves.

 "Before we begin in earnest, let’s set the stage a little, high school basketball in Sherman County in Kentucky in the late 1970s was a big thing. ESPN: The World Wide Leader In Sports would not launch until four months after we graduated in September of 1979. There was no social media, no smart phones, no internet; home computers were still unheard of. It was a goddamn stone age. All mail was paper and not E. We only had five TV channels, three VHF, two UHF and the UHF channels were fuzzy. There were no DVDs, or Blu-rays and only thing that was streaming was the creek that ran behind our house. If you wanted to see a movie you got in the car and drove to one of the new multi-plex cinemas or local drive-in. It was a different time to say the least. And people had to take their entertainment as they found it especially in the wintertime.   

Now in Kentucky everyone enjoys basketball on all levels, God love ‘em.  At Sherman County High School back then we had no football team and in Kentucky it’s basketball that makes the mare go ‘round. So when November of 1978 came along, people in Sherman County were looking forward to the upcoming basketball season. The team had matured and they promised to be entertaining to say the least. They had finished the previous season at 12 wins and 13 losses and had been runners up at the 32nd District Tournament.  

No one in the county was looking forward to the season more than our basketball Coach. He couldn’t wait for his 1978-1979 Sherman County Braves to take the floor. He had 4 returning seniors and a deep bench. This year’s crop of Braves was the best group of shooters that he had ever coached. Coach had been preaching the gospel to some of these guys for going on 3 years and they were thoroughly prepared. All they needed was another team in front of them. They had been running up and down the steps in the gym since July and they were chomping at the bit to get started.  

When the school year began I had no idea what was in store for me. No idea whatsoever how my life would be changed by this Sherman County Braves basketball team. That year I was a senior, who hadn't done anything special. If anything I was running an overt campaign for 1979 class clown. I had discovered as a little kid that I could make people laugh and so I went with that. In high school I had the reputation of being stuck up, which I didn't learn until after it was too late to do anything about since I’d already graduated. I also had a reputation for being a bit of a wild man and for causing the Sherman County high school authority figures bucket loads of trouble.  

Back then there were no middle schools in Sherman County. Only four elementary schools that were still on the old fashion system of graduating kids from the eighth grade and sending them directly to high school. Throwing them all together on a hot day in August and calling them freshmen. So the friendships we had formed in elementary school became more important to us on that warm summer morning known far and wide as the first day of school. We viewed kids from other parts of the county with a jaundiced eye and it would take a while for all of us to feel comfortable together. When you’re a freshman you just want keep your head down and survive. But by our senior year we’d forgotten all that who came from which part of the county crap. After three years of the familiarity that high school breeds we’re all from the same spot, and damn proud of it. Sherman County High School.  

In December of 1978, half way through my senior year my world as just another Sherman County senior with a pretty face changed entirely. For the most part it happened almost overnight. One day I was just another guy going to class and putting in his time and the next day I’m the Sherman County Brave, the school’s new mascot. I had purpose and new friends, I had excitement and drama, I had duties and more new friends. I was part of something bigger than anything that I had ever been a part of in my life, family aside. I had a locker in the main locker room, I had my own uniform complete with war bonnet and there were cheerleaders in short skirts and all I had to do to fulfill my duties was to be myself. It was the best job I ever had! Being part of a team is like having a second family, and my second family was just like my own real family. It was big, it was boisterous, it was loud and it liked to show off. The only difference was that my second family could play basketball like nobody’s business and my first couldn’t. I saw it all from the inside. I was there, court side, the locker room, and traveling with the team to away games across the width and breadth of northern Kentucky. I saw it all and I’m here to tell you brother it was fun..."

The Venture Home News Presents Doc makes a promise! The Venture Bros. ...