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SPEAKING OF SPORTS
SPEAKING OF SPORTS
By Leonard Shapiro
So who knew the Middleburg area would all of sudden become a big-time sports hotbed, and we’re not talking about cricket either, a very sore subject we’ll be happy to pitch somewhere else.
How else to explain bumping into a Heisman Trophy contender while we were having dinner at a Marshall hamburger joint a few weeks ago. That would be Blake Corum, a senior-to-be running back at the University of Michigan and a likely first-round NFL draft pick next spring.
Blake, featured in the winter issue of ZEST, grew up in Marshall, went to elementary and junior high school in Fauquier County and came home for a family visit over the July Fourth holiday. A sweet kid built like the proverbial brick you-know-what, his handshake felt like a tightening vise. He’s also fully recovered from knee surgery that sidelined him late last season.
In the final week of July, another soon-to-be shining sports star was back in the area. That would be Jordan Miller, who grew up just outside Middleburg, attended nearby Banneker Elementary and graduated from Loudoun Valley High before leading the University of Miami’s basketball team to the NCAA Final Four in March.
Described by his college coach as the most under-rated player in the country, Jordan, featured in our spring edition, was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, the 48th player selected. And ZEST readers can be assured we’ll keep you posted on both Corum and Miller’s progress with future stories.
Stay tuned.
As for this issue, we have another remarkable athlete on the cover. That would be Ambassador Richard Viets, who began riding horses at age eight, was a talented polo player and is still galloping along as an enthusiastic fox chaser at the ripe young age of 92. With no sign of slowing down, either.
We’ve got a gorgeous photo spread involving some two-and four-legged athletes, most notably a couple of young mules and their recent interaction with a group of local cyclists on a back road near Rectortown. The two-wheeled crowd was asked to help acclimate the young mules to people on bicycles, and they all behaved like champions.
Plenty of champions will be recognized during Labor Day week as they compete in the 124th Warrenton Horse Show. John Toler, a widely-regarded Fauquier historian and long-time ZEST contributor, has a lovely piece on its past, and future.
Lots of history was on display in early July with the official opening of the Middleburg Museum, and we’ve got the fabulous photos to prove it.
And finally, we’d be remiss not to mention this issue will mark the start of our fifth anniversary year. The magazine began with the inaugural August, 2019 issue, and over that span, the hope is we’ve put lots of ZEST in your reading life, with plenty more to come.
