I’m a member of a very active and successful Red Sox fan club. One of the friends of the club has been an inspiration to us and has, as we now know, been an anonymous donor of thoughtful gifts to help members and to contribute to charities such as the famous Jimmy Fund.

At 3:30 p.m. on Father’s Day, Scott Davenport, passed away surrounded by family and friends after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

In making the announcement to the club, Sean Bunn, who serves as Red Sox Nation Governor for North Carolina, a team out-reach program, wrote:

“I’ve learned a lot about how to be generous even in the smallest things, about how best to savor moments, and about how to treat each day as a gift. He had a distinct and profound impact on my life, and I hope to remember those lessons every day and pass them on.

“I know that Scott savored every last moment of his August 2009 trip to Fenway Park, and that he represented all of us quite well when he threw out the first pitch of this current, exciting Red Sox campaign. When it counted, we all knew that Scott would be able to deliver.

“I take comfort in knowing that my fellow Sox fan was able to see two Red Sox Championships in his lifetime, and that Dustin Pedroia and the Red Sox won a late-inning thriller yesterday afternoon in the last game he was able to watch on TV with his family.”

To read a March article about Davenport, please click here. To see a Triangle Red Sox Nation photo gallery tribute to him, please click here.

Thoughts and prayers go out Scott Davenport’s family.

Bobby Hutchens, director of competition for Stewart-Haas Racing, lost his wife to cancer last December and has decided to stay home in Winston-Salem with his two sons rather than join the racing team in California this weekend.

He is attending a father-son basketball camp at Wake Forest with his 12-year-old son. The other son just completed his freshman year at NC State.

To read more about this touching story, please click here.

Well, I waited all day for our soccer expert to post something here but, alas, you’re stuck with me – someone who watches soccer only in support of the United States.

I even went to XL Soccer World in Raleigh to watch the U.S. match against Slovenia and I enjoyed the atmosphere. I might not know a lot about soccer but as soon as Slovenia scored first, I told the person next to me, “oh well, this is going to be another tie.”

I admit that I thought it would be a 1-1 tie but it did end in a 2-2 tie, a scoring bonanza by World Cup soccer terms. And it should have been a 3-2 U.S. victory save for a referee who nullified the goal for no apparent reason. A Sporting News article posted at 11:15 p.m. says, “It’s still unclear why (Referee Koman) Coulibaly disallowed Maurice Edu’s 86th-minute strike, which could have given the U.S. a remarkable victory.”

The official is likely to be barred from the rest of the World Cup, Yahoo Sports is reporting. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, my unknowledgeable self was spouting off about how that referee was terrible. Even I could tell. Unfortunately, it cost the U.S. team a victory. Of course the U.S. has got to stop getting behind early.

As for the events at XL Soccer World, I must say that the Cary-based Railhawks soccer team is really trying hard to promote itself. Dozens of kids in soccer camp and several of us big kids were treated to the Railhawks mascot and giveaways and an appearance by one of the key Railhawks players.

While I’m not really interested in the Railhawks, and I’m not real fond of the club’s efforts to attract Spanish-speaking-only illegal aliens, I admire their enthusiasm and hard work. I wish them well in getting American citizens interested in their product. How the U.S. team does in the World Cup will undoubtedly affect the interest in the Railhawks and all soccer-related businesses in the area. And they know it.

Those who like to talk about sports and support local sports teams have been joining the Raleigh Sports Club for years now – with the club having grown from a handful of people to more than 400 today. But perhaps the biggest selling point is the wide variety of well-known speakers.

The club, which has hosted notable sports figures such as baseball hall of famer Stan Musial and basketball analyst Dick Vitale, has already lined up NC State football coach Tom O’Brien, NC State basketball coach Sidney Lowe, new ECU basketball coach and former UNC star Jeff Lebo and Duke football coach David Cutcliffe for this fall.

The club is making a pitch for UNC coaches Roy Williams and Butch Davis too. But frankly some of the best insider information they hear comes from lesser known speakers who are experts in recruiting or are sportswriters or broadcasters. They are less guarded and don’t have to worry about quotes inspiring opponents.

Lunch meetings are held at Highland United Methodist Church at 1901 Ridge Road in Raleigh. For more information, go to the Raleigh Sports Club Web site. Take a look at the big names that have spoken to the club over the years by clicking here.

An overlooked outlet for sports in Wake County is racin’ on Friday nights at the Wake County Speedway. I have lived in the area for more than 20 years and threatened to go dozens of times – and finally did so last Friday night. And, I’m going back again.

I probably still would not have gone had my son not been a fan of Lighting McQueen – the animated movie car. I knew he’d love it. He did enjoy the racing (and the snow cone) but he was getting tired because the finals in each division didn’t even start until his bedtime. So, we missed the wild finale race. Luckily, some newspapers still cover local racing and I got a good review of the evening from The Herald newspaper – click here to read it.

The atmosphere was true blue traditional America, complete with a prayer and the singing of the national anthem prior to the racing (plus, a family friendly area where there is no alcohol or profanity allowed). We sat in regular seating and weren’t bothered – except for a whiff of tobacco smoke every now and then.

In a time of globalization dominance and politically correct celebrations of diversity of other cultures which have recently come to the area, it is nice to see a throwback night of good ole Southern culture racing at Wake County Speedway, now in its 48th consecutive year.

It’s an inexpensive night of entertainment – especially if you take advantage of the buy-one-get-one-free coupon on the Wake County Speedway Web site. Military personnel get discounts, kids five and under are always free, and children 12 and under are free with a five-dollar-off coupon on the Web site. You can even bring in a small cooler, filled with food and drink. Try it out.

The next sporting event I’ve threatened to attend, but never have, is flat-track women’s Roller Derby. When I get around to it, I’ll let you know what I think of that.

Former UNC player Ethan Albright, 39, may have played his last game as a long snapper in the NFL, just two years after making the Pro Bowl team. The Washington Redskins’ new coaches have brought in free agent snapper Nick Sundberg, who was signed as a rookie in May 2009 and then waived by the Carolina Panthers in September 2009.

Albright, who started out as a tight end with the Tar Heels, moved to the offensive line and started his long career as a deep snapper. The 16-year NFL veteran had been with the Redskins since 2001 and was considered the model of consistency over his career. He did have a high snap on a field goal attempt last season but the holder Hunter Smith, also a casualty of the new coaching regime, got the ball down fine only to see the 23-yard field goal shank off the leg of Shaun Suisham in an overtime loss to eventual Super Bowl champs New Orleans.

Albright, who lives in Greensboro, has not been picked up by any other team and is a free agent. While the Redskins have cleaned house, having gotten rid of 16 players from last year’s roster, I’d like to see them consider bringing Albright back if Sundberg doesn’t work out. Long snapper is a position that can be played by a 40-year old and the Redskins need to have some consistency and continuity. They already got rid of several other character guys like Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright and Cornelius Griffin.

While there needed to be changes in the Redskins and while new coaches want to bring in their own people, I’m not sure I’d toss aside someone experienced like Albright for someone like Sundberg, who hasn’t played in an NFL regular season game and ended last season on the Ravens’ practice squad.

I’m not sure if today’s athletes are more wide open than athletes of yesterday but the Internet certainly exposes them more – so to speak.

NC State softballer Lauren Peters (pictured right) made frathousesports.com’s All Hot Team and was featured in a seven-picture layout online where she shows a lot of skin. The reserve outfielder finished the season for the 28-27 Wolfpack batting only .154 but she did have 33 putouts.

Meanwhile, UNC coach Roy Williams told his players, particularly Dexter Strickland, John Henson and Larry Drew Two, to tone it down with the online Tweets. He met with the team earlier this week to give them guidelines on what not to write on Twitter. The players’ Tweets certainly personalize the team but the Tweets can also be embarrassing, inappropriate and provide fodder for opponents and opponents’ fans.

Apparently, the last straw for Williams came when several of the players took part in a jokefest about why the Wear twins left the Carolina program. Williams himself Tweets but very rarely. Since January, Williams has posted four Tweets totalling just more than 80 words.

After the meeting with Williams, Henson – whose dirty-dancing with bikini-wearing babes pictures made the rounds on the Internet recently – and Strickland released a Tweet which read, “Well, coached (sic) just talked to us about twitter and told us we offend some people n what not so this is a farewell to bein’ myself.” Then, they wrote, “Yeah these people be emailin coach n stuff smh….self expression is a birthright and something you did PRIOR to hoopin…” Sounds a little bitter and snarly, not to mention the spelling and grammar errors.

Maybe they should be schooled in how to communicate as much as what they communicate.