Harris Teeter Celebrity Classic

I've played in the JDRF's golf tournament for about five years now. It's always a great time. The Panthers Coach, John Fox (with me, left), is the celebrity chair and he brings out some fun players. There are a lot of kids there - the inspiration for the tournament - and it's always incredible to meet them. In years past, I've interviewed many of these children and their parents about their experience with diabetes. Of course, this year has special resonance for us. It's hard to believe we're not just participants in these fundraisers - we're now beneficiaries. I emceed the dinner after the tournament and talked about Benny's diagnosis and what our life's been like since then. I got to talk with the new backup quarterback for the Panthers, David Carr. Like us, he has a little boy with diabetes. Everyone wanted to meet Carr, of course, and he couldn't have been nicer. It was a terrific outing. Oh, except for the lighting, thunder and torrential downpours. We haven't had rain for weeks - the drought is so bad, Union County is fining people for flouting the water restrictions. So of course, when we went there to play golf, the skies opened up. We had an hour delay to start and then had to stop play twice due to lightning. Finally, around 5pm, it all cleared out and we finished the round. Hard to complain, though. Longview is a spectacular course. Slade & I got to spend the afternoon together, along with the managing partner of our restaurant, Steve. We also played with Roger & Duck Costner from Brothers Air & Heating. Duck usually plays righty but he's left handed. He bought a set of lefty clubs and played with them yesterday for the first time. It wasn't pretty - but it was lots of fun. The tournament raises quite a bit of money, about $150,000. You can see some pictures on our website; I'm the drowned rat standing next to John Fox.