I so hoped the N. C. State basketball team might win it all in the Final Four. But wait! Which team, the men's or women's? Both earned tickets to this year's Final Four.

So, remember on Monday night, after the Men's Championship game is over, and they are playing the song, One Shining Moment", just remember that all the teams who participated in the tournament are honored, not just one.

And if your school did not even make the tournament, as mine did not, remember also the words, "Wait till Next Year"!

Think about what these young people, at every school, have accomplished this year...competing and doing their best, often against tremendous odds.

They learned, sometimes the hard way, the importance of passion and persistence, unselfishness, winning and losing with grace.

Sometimes, as we grow older, we forget the lessons learned in our youth. Watching the games of March Madness, for both women and men, we see once again these attributes never grow old.

To the months of March and early April, "thanks for the memories".

Josh Traeger, a resident of Traverse City, MIchigan, by way of Pennsylvania, Wake Forest University, law school in Chicago, Air Force JAG, and ultimately senior trial lawyer, knows well the life stress of being a trial lawyer, and more specifically. a prosecutor of some of the most awful crimes that exist.

Sometimes traveling away from home for at least 200 days a year, he would leave his young wife and small son while he prosecuted murder cases and many trials of child sex abuse cases as well as those dealing with child pornography.

He learned well the art of connecting with children, helping them to tell their stories. But the stress of it all took its toll, not only on him, but also his family.

After leaving JAG, he felt guilt for not being a prosecutor any longer and slowly descended into depression, too much drinking and for a time, lost his way.

But over time, Josh and his family, now with the addition of a young daughter, reconnected to a happy and rewarding life.

He saw a second chance for himself, and he took it. Full of honesty and good advice, hear Josh tell you his story.

What is it that we can learn from our Youth on questions of fears and overcoming them?

How important is it that we have a full and purposeful life? How do we get that?

Does faith play a part in all of this?

Are you afraid of change and doing new things?

What are the fears of your life?

These questions, and more, are topics in this new Podcast on Unafraid!

How many fears do you have? I have many, including a fear of heights, seeking to please people way too much, getting older and not as well balanced as I used to be. Riding bikes is a challenge.

We worry about so many things...the future, our health, change, the economy, a constant stream of breaking news, getting older, getting sick, not being here one day. You name it, if there is a fear, someone you know likely has it.

So, what do we do? Is there a way to face our fears and ultimately gain freedom from at least some of them.

I believe all of us are stronger than we think we are, that we can face fears and work through many of them.

First, we must admit, at least to ourselves, that we have them. Then we much not stick our head in the sand, but rather confront them, and if we are fortunate, expose some, if not all, of them for the imposters they are.

We face each day and do the best we can. We do not quit. Perseverance is key.

We will never get rid of all our fears. But we can lessen them. I explore some of them and ways to do that in this podcast. I hope you will take the time to join me in listening.

The bumper sticker in the fall of 1972 was short and simple..."Robert Morgan Keeps His Promises".

Running for and winning re-election as North Carolina's popular Attorney General, Robert Morgan was at the pinnacle of his political success.

His political secret was the same as his personal one...he kept his promises, all his life.

He was Attorney General, United States Senator, Director of the SBI, lawyer, and an unconditional friend to me and countless others, in good times and bad.

He was a Man for all Seasons and kept his promises and his word. He made tough political decisions that were not always popular. He rarely backed down.

He tried his best, and when that was not good enough, he would try again. He never gave up.

These are my personal reflections of those times.

This past Saturday was the 54th anniversary of the deaths of Colette, Kimberley, and Kristen MacDonald. Convicted by a jury in late August, Jeffrey MacDonald was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences. He is still alive and serving time in a federal prison in Maryland.

This podcast is not about the facts of the case as those are well known. Rather, I attempt to answer what has made this case live for so many years in the hearts and minds of so many people.

All murders are horrendous and tragic. No one deserves death that way.

I am haunted by the belief that Colette, herself, in the last minutes of her life, why her husband Jeff, the father of her two little girls, was brutally ending their lives.

We will never know for sure. We can only guess or speculate. The prosecution of MacDonald and its aftermath, in terms of appeals and motions for new trials have kept the case alive.

It is often said and written that Jeffrey MacDonald will never give up. I should add, however, neither will the government. It has always been a fight to the finish!

Bernie Carbo made Boston Red Sox and World Series history in Game 6 of the 1975 Classic, hitting a two-strike pitch for a three-run home run with two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, evening the score with the favored Cincinnati Reds, leading to an extra inning win for the Red Sox.

That swing of the bat landed Bernie Carbo in the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame.

Bernie would play 12 major league seasons before leaving baseball, addicted to drugs and alcohol.

While in the hospital recovering from it all, he was told about and finally discovered Jesus Christ as his Savior. That experience saved Bernie, allowing him time and the chance to turn his life around.

Now, and for many years, he has given, and continues to give, scores of speeches to whomever will listen. Through the founding of Diamond Club Ministry, he hosts once a year a three-day Fantasy Baseball Camp for young people and their families.

Bernie uses the game of baseball to teach these people about his relationship with Jesus.

As Bernie tells it, "I tell the greatest story ever told through the greatest game ever played.

Meet and listen to Bernie Carbo, starting Monday, February 12.

We all tell stories, almost every day of our lives, to most of our friends and many of those whom we have just met or known for long. It is what we do.

Trial lawyers do this for a living, in opening and closing arguments to judges and juries.

In a book titled In the Interest of Justice - Great Opening and Closing Arguments of the last 100 Years, Joel Seidemann, then an Assistant District Attorney for Manhattan selected 15 cases to include in his book.

They are the two verdicts in the O.J. Simpson case, the Oklahoma City Bombing trial, In the Name of 6 Million, the trial of Adolph Eichmann and the Jeffrey MacDonald triple murder case.

I hope you will sit back and listen to the words of lawyers trying to win their cases, each passionate in the cause of their clients.