Franklin's 'Battle of the Bell' Game an Annual Success

It’s always been known that two wrongs don’t ever make a right. However, in the case of Thursday night’s sixth annual Battle of the Bell, two “rights” combine to make something truly great.  

After creating separate fundraising basketball games that featured teachers as the participants, Franklin High School and Franklin Middle School opted to share the spotlight and pit their faculty against one another with the intent of donating the money raised to the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.   

To call that choice a success would be a serious understatement.

While becoming arguably the most popular and highly anticipated event at either school (much less in the community all together), the proceeds made from ticket and T-shirt sales along with straight donations have raised over $27,000 over the past five games dating back to 2006, with the 30,000 dollar plateau set to be eclipsed this time around.  

Thursday, the middle school captured its fifth consecutive victory (after the high school won the inaugural event) with a 62-59 marathon victory as Tim Gordon provided the decisive points in the final seconds of the fourth overtime.

Although each faculty is highly competitive and desperately wants to restore the ‘bell’ (an actual Liberty Bell replica that resides in the winning team’s school) to its proper home, everyone in the gym is on the same side in the fight against cancer.

“That’s how we promote—two schools, one cause, it’s all to go for cancer research,” said Larry Zucerkman, head of the guidance counseling office and a mainstay on the middle school squad. “On a personal level, cancer impacts everybody. I’ve lost relatives very recently, and family friends as well, to cancer. So we promote it to kids. Every kid will be impacted in their life by cancer. This is a way to empower yourselves and make a difference.”   

Throwing down dough for a great cause is already incentive enough to contribute, but that doesn’t stop the schools’ faculty from going all-out to set up one awesome event.

You’ve got your cheerleaders providing the pep, a DJ supplying the music and a group of teachers and administrators on each side that do really want to win. 

The result is one amped Franklin High School gym with everyone there to raise money for the future while at the same time honoring those lost at the school and in the community in past years to the disease.

“The first year we did [the game], that was the year my mom passed away. That one had special meaning to me,” said Rich Reed, the high school’s athletic director, who along with Zuckerman helped start the inter-school game.  

“Everyone has a story to tell. I made it personal. What I didn’t realize is that once I came out and said that’s what I was going to do, I found comfort that everyone [in some way] had experienced the same tragedy. It meant a lot to a lot of people.”  

Like Zuckerman said, everyone will be impacted by cancer at some point in their life, and that’s why if you look at the team rosters centered in the game program, you’ll find not only the number, height and alma mater of each player, but also a quick word on why participating in the game is meaningful to them.

Many of the faculty participants make mention of family and friends who lost their battles with cancer, while others cite their desire to simply contribute to the cause.

The V Foundation, which has raised over $70 million for cancer research since its onset in 1993, is named for late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano, who delivered a heart-churning speech at ESPN’s Espy Awards 18 years ago while accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award. 

Ultimately, Valvano lost his battle with cancer less than two months after his infamous speech, however it was there he uttered the words, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up,” a phrase the graces the walls of Franklin High School, the pages of each program and the minds of every faculty member who plays in the game and every student or parent that attends it—you can feel it in the atmosphere.

“It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my teaching career,” Reed said. “It gets bigger and bigger every year. It’s spreading that it’s a good, fun atmosphere and everyone is doing it for the one cause. It’s rewarding, to see how many people are there. You can sit back and watch and say all the money today is going to the Jimmy V Foundation.”  

It’s easy to tell that neither the high school nor the middle school are “giving up” any time soon.