CHRISTIAN COACHES CORNER   Sam Wright is the head boys track coach and assistant football coach at Benton Academy. He has also coached at Hinds Community College, Copiah Academy and Prentiss Christian School. A Forest Hill and Mississippi State graduate, Wright is also a Mississippi Private School Association official. He attends First Baptist Church of Yazoo City.         I had Godly parents and was blessed to have them. I love God and God has done a lot in my life. Every day I try to bless Him in my life. I try to do the right thing, but all of us fall short of the glory of God.    Six years ago, I would grab a beer and watch TV, but God got my attention one day and said, Hey, Sam, what are you doing? You need to change the way you are living. I changed that day and have been living for God every since.         God is working in a lot of different areas in my life and I tell my family members and my students what God can do for you. I try to guide my players and hope they listen to what I tell them about God. You never know who is listening or who will be touched by what you say. When I was at Hinds, I had one of our athletes (Cedric Ledlow, a distance runner) asked me about God and I told him what I could. What I said convicted him to learn more about God and now he is a pastor in Florida.          My favorite verse is Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.         THE NEW COVER       Victories in Metro Jackson magazine's new issue is being printed and the cover is shown above. Clockwise, starting in the top left corner, Mark Buchanan of Pearl High and Hinds Community College, Dan Hall of Madison Central High and Samford, Ala., University, Justin Mapp of Northwest Rankin High and the Chicago Fire and coach Jan Sojourner of Jackson Academy. Chad Bradford of Byram High, Hinds CC, Southern Miss and the Baltimore Orioles (traded to the Tampa Bay Rays last week) is in the center. Victories photo editor Bob Smith took the photos of Buchanan, Mapp and Sojourner. Bill Barksdale took the photo of Hall and Todd Olszewski of the Orioles took the photo of Bradford. Mike Wharton designed the logo. Chad Tyler designed the cover.   BRADFORD TRADED FROM O'S TO RAYS         Major league pitcher Chad Bradford of Byram High, Hinds Community College and Southern Miss, is on the cover and is featured in the next issue of Victories in Metro Jackson magazine.        But Bradford is playing for a new team. He traded from the last-place Baltimore Orioles to the first-place Tampa Bay Rays August 8. The magazine was already headed to the printer when Bradford was traded so it will be a collectors item with his Orioles uniform on in the photos.            Bradford had a 3-3 record with a 2.45 earned run average in 47 relief appearances for the Orioles this season. He has appeared in 68 or more games in five of the past six seasons, and he finished third among American League relievers with 78 appearances for the Orioles in 2007. The trade "caught me off guard," Bradford said in a story on the Tampa Bay Rays website. "I was just going home for a day off, see the kids, and I got the phone call. It caught me off guard. After the deadline passes, you kind of catch your breath a little bit and see what's going to happen. ... I've spent a few days in the air. ... I feel all right. I'm just excited about being here. Being with a first-place team is unbelievable. All of a sudden one day you're not and the next day you are [in a playoff chase]. It kind of lights a fire under you. You're ready to go out there and get after them."       Rays manager Joe Maddon said Bradford would primarily be used against right-handed hitters.       Bradford make his debut with his new team one day after he was traded and pitched two shutout innings to get the win over the Oakland A's in an 11-inning game. VICTORIES HITS HATTIESBURG       Victories in Metro Jackson will be sold at Lifeway Christian Store in Hattiesburg when the next issue comes out in the next few weeks. The store is located near the Turtle Creek Mall in east Hattiesburg. Hattiesburg residents will be most interested in the feature on Southern Miss alumni Chad Bradford, now a major league pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles. Also, pro soccer player Justin Mapp is featured in the next issue and his brother, Chris, lives in Hattiesburg. The Lifeway Store in Hattiesburg is the third Lifeway in Mississippi to carry the magazine. The other two are in Jackson and Tupelo. Victories is now sold in 17 locations, 14 in the Metro Jackson area and one each in Starkville, Tupelo and Hattiesburg. Go to the "where to buy" section on the left side of this page to view the entire list. Please pray for Sharon Cannon          Victories in Metro Jackson magazine is asking its readers and subscribers to pray for Sharon Cannon, mother of Jackson Academy graduate Rob Cannon. Cannon, who was featured in the first Victories in Metro Jackson magazine in 2003, said his mother has been in a coma since early March. She was having back surgery, went into cardiac arrest and has been in a coma since then. Rob said that her organs are normal and they are praying for her brain to recover. Rob said that they don't know what's going to happen, but knows that God is with us.          We thank Rob for his witness for Christ and his strong faith with his mom's condition. We know that God is a very powerful God and He can do amazing things.          Rob was a three-sport athlete at JA and one of the top athletes in the Mississippi Private School Association when he was in high school. Rob graduated from Mississippi College and has worked in the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center's emergency room. He is a member of First Baptist Church of Brandon.          Read more about Rob by clicking on the featured stories section on this page and scroll down to Rob's story or do a search for him. You can read the story about Rob that was in the first Victories magazine.