More Than Just A Game

A legacy that will live forever.

He may be gone now, and has been gone for 25 years, but my father will be remembered, for several different reasons, but this one emblem will keep his name alive forever.

That emblem is, of course, the Brackman Cup, in which the Covington Cougars and Alleghany Mountaineers battle for each football season under the Friday Night Lights.

The Brackman Cup is named in memory of my father, Emory W. Brackman, who was the Voice of the Covington Cougars on WKEY radio, and also was the Sports Editor of the Virginian Review, and also the Pastor of Dunlap Christian Church in Alleghany County.

Yes, he represented a lot of things to a lot of people, but to my late brother Stephen and I, he was Dad. To my mother Joy, he was her husband, and to my uncle Jim, he was a brother, and to my Grandparents, Clate and Glenna, he was their son.

That’s why the Brackman Cup is special to us, because he was everything and more to our family. Dad was still working in all of the aforementioned capacities, until his untimely and sudden death in the early morning hours of Sunday, April 14, 1996 at the age of 53.

Our lives were changed forever, and our hearts were broken.

The next month or two are a blur, but during our grieving process in the Summer of 1996, an idea was brought to us about possibly having a trophy that the two schools would battle for each year, and have it named in his memory and for all of his hard work he performed covering local sports all of his adult life, since his teenage years.

Dad put his heart and soul into every facet of his work, and the Brackman Cup is the perfect symbol to keep his memory alive for generations.

My mother Joy, who was married to my father for 22 years at the time of his passing, had the following thoughts to share about him, and the Brackman Cup.

“In looking back over the years since Emory’s death, I remember many important activities that impacted his life and the community.

He always yearned for the day that a trophy or emblem or some type of recognition could happen to honor the winner of the Alleghany vs. Covington winner each year.

It is an honor and a privilege for our family to receive recognition for him in this manner. He would be very humbled.

Not only did he serve as Sports Editor and Voice of the Cougars, but he also coached Little League basketball, Pastor of Dunlap Christian Church for 25 years, and was the President of the American Heart Association’s Alleghany Unit as a volunteer, achieving all of our goals for many years in various activities.

We also appreciate this opportunity to give insight into who he was, since it has been 25 years since his passing, there are a lot of young people in our area now who were not born yet at that time to realize what his impact meant, and to them, Brackman may only be just a name on an award, but to parents, staff of the schools and members of the community who were here then, they realize who the Cup represents.

Our thanks to Derrick Barr for initiating this idea with approval of both school systems. This is an achievement the players, staff, and students will always remember!”

The only sad part of this story is what took place on July 9, 2004, when Alleghany High School, who was in possession of the Cup at the time, was broken into and vandalized, and along with damage done to the facilities of Alleghany High School and Jackson River Technical Center, the Brackman Cup was stolen during this crime, and the whereabouts of the Cup was not known for several days after.

We were heartbroken and also angry that it was desecrated in such a way, and it honestly felt like a personal attack.

Thankfully, through the hard work of law enforcement and dive teams, the Brackman Cup was located and recovered from the bottom of Pike’s Pond on Selma/Low Moor Road on July 15, 2004.

A total of five individuals were arrested from this incident, and our family is appreciative to those who retrieved the Cup from the bottom of that location. We know it was a labor of love and respect of those who went of our their way to bring the Brackman Cup back to where it rightfully belonged.

A heartfelt thank you also goes out to Gray’s Fine Jewelry in Covington who repaired the damage done to the Cup. Those responsible had arbitrarily thrown it 20 feet from the edge of Pike’s Pond into six feet of water. The Cup had separated itself from the wooden base, and a new base had to be made and fixed back onto the Cup.

To this day, it is in very good shape, and it’s a very hefty trophy, especially when you lift it in the air, which I have been known to do on a few occasions.

Getting back to the topic of how the Brackman Cup came to be, the idea, as mentioned by my mother, was the brainchild of Mr. Derrick Barr, a former member of the Alleghany County School Board, and co-owner of WKEY radio at that time in 1996. Mr. Barr presented a letter to each of the Alleghany and Covington School Boards, proposing the institution of the Cup, stating in a letter that the memory of Emory Brackman and all of the good he did for the community and the youth of the area, and his memory could be perpetuated by donating the trophy in his honor to the winner at the annual AHS vs. CHS Backyard Brawl contest.

The Brackman Cup, in the words of Mr. Barr, would give young people and communities a tangible symbol to rally around and an opportunity to initiate new positive traditions in the spirit of the former Little Brown Jug of the Covington/Clifton Forge High School rivalry.

The presentation of the Brackman Cup concept was brought before each school board of Alleghany and Covington, and passed unanimously by both.

The first Brackman Cup game was held September of 1996 and the Alleghany Mountaineers won the inaugural game, 14 to 7 at Mountaineer Field in Low Moor.

It was thrilling to be out on that field during halftime of that game with my mom and my brother when the Cup was revealed and introduced with the principals of each school, and Derrick Barr. I was a sophomore at Covington High School, and a member of the band, and although I was on the opposing end, I watched with pride as the players on the Alleghany side held up the Cup in excitement and were celebrating with it.

Looking to more recent events going on around the Highlands and our schools, we realize that there soon will not be a game contested between Alleghany and Covington high schools, as they are set to become one in the next couple of years.

Our hope is that the Brackman Cup be placed in a prominent location in the new high school with a picture of him, and a description of who it represents and what it means those who have had possession of it over the years, for the next generations of students to read and learn about.

In closing, Dad was a very busy man in many different areas of his life, but he always took time and cared for and loved his family first of all. My Mom, my late brother, who passed away two years ago on August 21, 2019, myself and our entire family appreciated all of his hard work and dedication in all that he pursued, but most of all, what he meant to us as a husband, father, brother, and son. Emory Brackman was a pillar of this community, and a giant of a man, and we loved him with all of our hearts and miss him just as much now, if not more than we did when he passed.

We, as his family are proud to be a part of him, and proud of the legacy he has left behind. His time on this Earth may have been short, but it was well lived and he is now enjoying his rewards in Heaven.

The Brackman Cup means the world to us his family because he was our rock, and our leader. When game time rolls around each year, it’s a very emotional time, and at the game, it feels as if he’s there beside us, cheering along with the crowd.

We are proud and blessed to be Brackman’s and to have his legacy live on in this way.

I am thankful to have been given this opportunity to share with you about who he was and the life he lived, because to the Brackman Family, it’s more than just a game!