Tim Crothers

1 month ago | ourstate.com | Tim Crothers |Lauren Eberle |Brad Campbell |Mark Kemp

In the waning seconds of NC State’s ACC Tournament semifinal game against Virginia last March, Wolfpack guard Michael O’Connell found himself the poster boy for the concept of luck. At the game’s final buzzer, O’Connell hit a jumper that one broadcaster reflexively deemed a “lucky shot.” I’m not sure why, but in that moment, that common phrase struck me like a bolt of Malcolm Gladwell. For the first time, I asked myself, “Wait, what exactly is luck? Do I really believe in luck?

Aug 26, 2024 | ourstate.com | Tim Crothers |Lynn Wells |Hannah Lee Leidy |Brad Campbell

Chip Hester had a vision. There were days during that long week back in September 2020 when the thermometer touched 90 degrees and the eastern North Carolina humidity felt thick enough to chew. Hester, the coach of the newly reestablished football program at Barton College in Wilson, drove one tractor and Todd Wilkinson, the school’s director of athletics, drove the other.

Mar 25, 2024 | ourstate.com | Tim Crothers |Andrea Weigl |Katie King |Katie Kane

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Peter Dromgoole. That much we know. Beyond that, like all cool legends, the facts grow progressively elastic. Evidently, Peter, the son of a prominent Virginia family, grew restless of his overbearing father and, in 1833, decided to set off to Chapel Hill for university. Peter liked to party, and he supposedly failed his entrance exam.

Dec 13, 2023 | keysweekly.com | Karen Newfield |Ali Hazelwood |Tim Crothers |Stefan Zweig

Check & MateBy Ali HazelwoodMallory Greenleaf hasn’t touched a chessboard in four years. Obsessed throughout childhood, too many bad memories linger to face those 16 pieces again. The loss of her father, her mother’s health and her two younger sisters’ demands fill her days. As her best friend Easton prepares to leave for college, she begs Mallory to help her with a fundraiser chess match to raise money for a good cause.