In any type of sports, winning a state championship is a memorythat will last a lifetime, not only for players and the coaches, but thecommunity they belong to.

This past Friday Night, the 1982 Laurel County Cardinalswere honored before the North and South Game in London.  Players from across the country, as far asLos Angeles, California flew in to relive the memory of winning a statechampionship.

And what a memory it was. Paul Andrews, who is infamous in the state of Kentucky High SchoolAthletics threw in a half-court shot at the buzzer to break a 51 all tie againstNorth Hardin to give the Cardinals a State Championship.  Andrew’s game winner is forever known as “TheShot Heard ‘Round the Commonwealth.

The atmosphere was incredible.  At the time, North and South were just LaurelCounty.  (They split in 1992.)  Both teams wore replica jerseys with Laurel Countywritten on the front instead of the school they play for.

Because Friday night wasn’t a North or South thing.  It was a Laurel County thing.  The Community loved that team and I think it’ssafe to say Eastern Kentucky was pulling for the Cardinals to cut the nets downin 1982.

I talked with Andrews, who we will hear from Monday about “TheShot” and he said he didn’t know if the shot was good when he took but “It feltgood.”  It took him just a brief momentto realize what he had accomplished before his teammates tackled him incelebration.

The game Friday night between the Jaguars and the Cardinalswas so fun to cover because of having that team there being honored.  Even some of the cheerleaders from 1982 werein attendance to get the full effect. They wheeled the 1982 State Championship trophy and had a photo opportunitywith the team and Coach Chuck Broughton.

It happens everyday for people in the Sports Media Business.  You get to have fun when you cover thesethings.

And for me, Friday night was no exception.