Labron Lusk🏴‍☠️

With gratitude, optimism is sustainable. -Michael J Fox

[SEC Network @SECNetwork]

Roll Tide 🐘

Alabama is the only D-I program to make the CFP, men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournament, WCWS and MCWS‼️

[Bailey Lusk @baileylusk7]

Bailey Lusk class of 2028.

[Justin Bowen @CoachJBowen]

Boaz High School girls basketball is hosting a shot clock play date on Monday… I need one girls team to come play one game, could possibly do two if needed. Please let me know asap! Had a team drop today.

[McAbee @McabeeP]

Former Albertville 3 sport star. https://t.co/xrnrkyVCXw

[AHSAA Radio Network @ahsaaradio]

AHSAA Coaches Spotlight presented by Drive Safe Alabama - Buckle up every trip, every seat!
Congratulations to coaches John Taruc of Springville High School and Chad Hall of Boaz City Schools for being named the North Softball Coaches for the North South All Star Sports Week.
Graphic and photo courtesy of Pure Game Sports Network

[Labron Lusk🏴‍☠️ @LabronLusk]

Value the opportunity, not just the outcome! Proud to be a small part of Boaz Pirates Softball 2026

[Terri Green @TerriGreenUSA]

Another video of the Super Delta over Pensacola Beach today with U.S. Navy Blue Angels and Air Force Thunderbirds.

[Meat Church ™ @MeatChurch]

He is risen.

Happy Easter everyone!

[Erik Kimrey @ErikKimrey]

🧵 (0-19) A thread of quotes to honor Coach Lou Holtz and his time at South Carolina. Some funny, some serious… but mostly funny! 🧵

[Labron Lusk🏴‍☠️ @LabronLusk]

@MSPtakeover @KelseyABurden Sounds about right…Hometown-Tuscaloosa but goes to Thompson HS in Alabaster. I really wished people would stop taking advantage of these “disadvantaged” youths that can drive over two hours to/from HS each day. 🙄

[Travis Akers 🇺🇸 @travisakers]

A message from a Kindergarten teacher:

After forty years in the classroom, my career ended with one small sentence from a six-year-old:

“My dad says people like you don’t matter anymore.”

No sneer. No malice. Just quiet honesty — the kind that cuts deeper because it’s innocent. He blinked, then added, “You don’t even have a TikTok.”

My name is Mrs. Clara Holt, and for four decades, I taught kindergarten in a small Denver suburb. Today, I stacked the last box on my desk and locked the door behind me.

When I started teaching in the early 1980s, it felt like a promise — a shared belief that what we did mattered. We weren’t rich, but we were valued. Parents brought warm cookies to parent nights. Kids gave you handmade cards with hearts that didn’t quite line up. Watching a child sound out their first sentence felt like magic.

But that world slowly slipped away. The job I once knew has been replaced by exhaustion, red tape, and a kind of loneliness I can’t quite describe.

My evenings used to be filled with construction paper, glitter, and glue sticks. Now they’re spent filling out digital reports to protect myself from angry emails or lawsuits. I’ve been yelled at by parents in front of twenty-five children — one filming me with his phone while I tried to calm another child mid-meltdown.

And the kids… they’ve changed too. Not by choice.

They arrive tired, anxious, overstimulated. Their tiny fingers know how to swipe a screen before they can hold a crayon. Some can’t make eye contact or wait in line. We’re expected to fix all of it — to patch the gaps, heal the trauma, teach the curriculum, and document every move — in six hours a day, with resources that barely fill a drawer.

The little reading corner I once built, full of soft beanbags and paper stars, was replaced by data charts and “learning metrics.” A young principal once told me, “Clara, maybe you’re too nurturing. The district wants measurable results.”

As if kindness were a weakness.

Still, I stayed. Because of the small, holy moments that no spreadsheet could measure —
a whisper of, “You remind me of my grandma.”
a shaky note that read, “I feel safe here.”
a quiet boy finally meeting my eyes and saying, “I read the whole page.”

Those tiny sparks were my reason to keep showing up.

But this last year broke something in me.

The aggression grew sharper. The laughter in the staff room turned to silence. The light went out of so many eyes. I watched brilliant teachers — my friends — vanish under the weight of burnout, their joy replaced by survival.

I felt myself fading too, like chalk on a board that’s been wiped one too many times.

So today, I began my goodbye. I pulled faded art off the walls and tucked thirty years of handmade cards into a single box. In the back of a drawer, I found a letter from a student from 1998:

“Thank you for loving me when I was hard to love.”

I sat on the floor and cried.

No party. No applause. Just a handshake from a young principal who called me “Ma’am” while checking his notifications.

I left my rocking chair behind, and my sticker box too. What I carried with me were the memories — the faces of hundreds of children who once trusted me enough to reach out their hands and learn. That can’t be uploaded. It can’t be measured. It can’t be replaced.

I miss when teachers were partners, not targets. When parents and educators worked side by side, not in opposition. When schools cared more about wonder than numbers.

So if you know a teacher — any teacher — thank them. Not with a mug or a gift card, but with your words. With your respect. With your understanding that behind every test score is a heart that cared enough to try.

Because in a world that often overlooks them, teachers are the ones who never forget our children.

[Zach Dougherty @Zach_Dougherty8]

Don’t just work hard, compete.

“Competing is about mindset; it’s about showing up with an intense focus on being your best.”

-@BallisPsych

[Lane Kiffin @Lane_Kiffin]

Let them go!! They are just slowing you down from the best version of yourself.

[Lawrence Tynes @lt4kicks]

Every young athlete should listen to how Jameis responded to being QB3.

[Black Knight Nation @BKKnightNation]

Nothing like #ArmyFootball locker room after historic win over Power Four team

“I’m gonna fight until I can’t fight no more” is back.

[Coach AJ 🎯 Mental Fitness @coachajkings]

Jay Wright literally revealed the ONE thing you control when nothing goes your way.

[Boaz Lady Pirates Basketball @Boaz_LadyBB]

Last Summer workout of the year. #BuiltByBoaz

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

John Gruden Gold.

1. Everybody has dreams. I’m in to nightmares.

2. Are you invested in the TEAM?

3. Communication is not good enough, anywhere.

4. There is a big difference between good and great.

[Justin Bowen @CoachJBowen]

Check out the video of our Shoot-A-Thon fundraiser! This event has been a staple for me the last several years and always does really well. Also helps to connect with our parents and the community! #SailsUp

[Ryan McGee @ESPNMcGee]

If you know me, then you know my love for the Men’s College World Series, especially its history. I love this piece for the 75th anniversary of the CWS in Omaha. Thanks to our entire ESPN crew for penning this love letter with me. #MCWS