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PAGE 4B
BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2008
Announcers add to enjoyment of sports
I n my opinion announc
ers in sport can add
excitement to the
games they are calling in
such a way that you remem
ber those games the rest of
your life.
I know that they have done
that for me. I’ve tried my
hand, or should I say my
voice, at broadcasting some
games for both Winder-
Barrow and Apalachee and I
tried my best to be as profes
sional as I could, using some
of those great sportscasters
as role models.
There weren’t the multi
tude of games on TV when
I was growing up as there
are now so the main guys I
remember listening to were
Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee
Reese for baseball and Ray
Scott for the NFL.
Later on, I got used to
hearing Curt Gowdy, Jack
Buck, Bud Palmer, and A1
Trautwig. And in the 80s
some of the greats of today
began their careers.
Voices like the mag
nificent A1 Michaels, Dick
Enberg, Vern Lundquist,
and Pat Summerall. You’ll
notice I didn’t include Brent
Musburger, who currently
works for ABC and ESPN.
Never cared for him as a
sportscaster.
But my all-time favorite
announcer is Keith Jackson.
His home-spun manner and
euphemisms like, “Whoa,
Nellie!” and the way he
would draw out the word
"fum-bleee!” have become
famous.
There is no doubt that a
good broadcaster can make
a dull game good and a good
game even better and some
times they can do this with
one call. There have been
some memorable ones over
the years.
When Bobby Thompson
hit "the shot heard round
the world” for the New
York Giants, Russ Hodges
screamed the now famous
line “The Giants win the pen
nant! The Giants win the
pennant! The Giants win the
pennant!”
The incredible kick
off return in the Stanford-
California game produced,
"The band is on the field!
He’s running into the end
zone! Bears win! Bears
win!”
And no matter the year,
when the horses enter the
final turn of the Kentucky
Derby we hear, “Down the
stretch they come!” adding
excitement to an already
exciting event.
I have my own list of mem
orable calls that stand out to
me for various reasons. The
biggest condition
that I have regard
ing these calls and
including them on
this list is that I had
to hear them first
hand.
Many of the great
calls of sport come
to us only after they
have occurred but
I heard all of these
as they took place.
I’ll give you two of them
this week and I’ll share my
final two with you next week.
Maybe you remember some
of these as well.
“LOOK AT THE MILLS!
LOOK AT THE MILLS!”
The 1964 Olympics, held
in Tokyo, were the first
Olympics I remember watch
ing with any great interest.
I was 17 at the time and I
guess my political and patri
otic juices were beginning to
bubble up. I took great pride
in watching our American
athletes show superiority
over the rest of the world.
Superiority in everything
but distance running. And
when the 10,000 meter race
started that day, the only
hope we had was a native
American by the name of
Billy Mills.
The pre-race favorite, Ron
Clarke from Australia, main
tained the lead and was only
being challenged by three
other runners but one of those
was Mills.
On the last lap, Clarke
pushed Mills out of his lane
and it looked like Mills was
out of it. But on the back-
stretch, running around other
runners being lapped, Mills
came charging down the final
100 meters to win at the
wire. Bud Palmer was call
ing the race for ABC and
his voice showed the excite
ment of the moment but it
was an unknown voice in the
background yelling, "Look at
Mills! Look at Mills!” that
everyone heard.
No one has ever owned up
to being the person shout
ing those words but it’s
one of my most memorable
moments because with those
words of pride, I realized just
how important sports was to
this country.
We may try to be cyni
cal when it comes to the
pride we feel for our nation,
but admit it, you cheered for
Michael Phelps, too.
“DOWN GOES
FRAZIER!
DOWN GOES
FRAZIER!”
There are many times in
sports when I find myself
pulling against a particular
individual or team as much
as when I am strongly for
someone.
I have never
been a Yankee
fan and I still
take great joy in
watching them
lose.
Up until last
year, this was
somewhat diffi
cult because I am
a big Joe Torre
fan, which made
it difficult for me to watch
him lose. Now, my hated
team is the Dallas Cowboys
but, particularly, their mav
erick owner, Jerry Jones.
When you keep putting thugs
and selfish "me first” players
on your team, you get what
you deserve.
In 1973 the individual I
pulled against was Joe
Frazier. Not because he was
a bad guy. He wasn’t.
I pulled against him
because two years before he
had beaten Muhammad Ali
in their classic boxing match
in Madison Square Garden.
Still undefeated two years
later, Frazier was now set to
defend his heavyweight title
against the former Olympic
champion, George Foreman.
Foreman had been impres
sive and was also undefeated
(37-0 with 34 knockouts)
and the fight was billed as
the Sunshine Showdown in
Kingston, Jamaica.
It was never even close.
Foreman came out throwing
punches that rocked Frazier
sending him to the canvas
six times during the first two
rounds.
The final devastating blow
was an uppercut that liter
ally lifted Frazier off his feet.
When he fell to the canvas,
the legendary Howard Cosell
(you either loved him or
hated him) shouted, “Down
goes Frazier! Down goes
Frazier!" The enemy was
defeated and I jumped for
joy.
It was a year later before
Ali could regain his title by
defeating Foreman in the
famous Rumble in the Jungle
but that Cosell’s call signal
ing the defeat of the hated
Joe Frazier will always go
down as one of my favorites.
More next week. Until then,
that’s my opinion and I’m
sticking to it.
Next week I’ll take a look
at two more memorable
sports calls. Until next time,
thanks for letting me share
my opinions with you.
Winder resident Randy
Blalock is a contributing
columnist for the Barrow
Journal. E-mail comments
about this column to rblal-
ock@ mindspring, com.
randy
blalock
WBHS to host football banquet Thursday
Student-athletes involved in the Winder-
Barrow High School football program will be
recognized Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in a ceremo
ny at Winder First United Methodist Church.
Varsity and junior varsity football players
along with student trainers and managers will
be recognized. Varsity and junior varsity cheer
leaders will also recognized during the banquet
along with others who have contributed to the
program during the 2008 season.
ST. ANTHONY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS MARKET
You are cordially invited to attend the annual
Christmas Market at St. Anthony’s Episopal Church
to be held Sunday December 7, 2008 from 12-5 p.m.
Handcrafted and food items created by the many talented artists at St. Anthony’s will
be available for purchase for your gift-giving and decorating joy.
Father Christmas will be available for your
seasonal photo sittings between 3-4 p.m.
Join us for a delightful holiday luncheon
between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
St. Anthony’s Episcopal Church - 174 St. Anthony’s Drive - Winder
(down the hill from Winder-Barrow High School)
For more information, please contact the church office at
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
AHS gears up for tough stretch
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
It was Sunday evening and
Apalachee High School var
sity boys basketball coach
Kevin Morris was prepar
ing for the busy week which
awaited his team.
The Wildcats, which opened
the season with an easy win
against
Class A
Commerce,
have had
several
days since
playing
that contest
and held
four days
of practice
last week,
taking only Thanksgiving day
off.
Now Morris was set for
three games in the following
week which will no doubt
provide a test for his squad.
A road game was sched
uled for Tuesday at Rockdale
County with a trip to
Loganville Friday and a home
game Saturday against Salem.
All three are against Region
8-AAAA crossover oppo
nents.
“Rockdale and Salem are
very athletic,” Morris said
Sunday night. “Loganville is
very fundamentally sound and
plays very hard. This will be
GUARD PLAY
Apalachee High School’s
Dillon Moon (3) dribbles
inside against Commerce
in the Wildcat’s season
opener. Coach Kevin
Morris’ team had several
days off following the first
game of the season.
Photo by Jessica Brown
three very big tests.”
Apalachee will be without
the services of point guard
DeVaugh Kilgore, who suf
fered a hip flexer during the
first layup during warmups
against Commerce.
“At this point we are play
ing point guard by commit
tee,” Morris said. “Hopefully,
we can get through it until he
heals up.”
During four days of prac
tice last week, the Apalachee
coach said he had to instill a
little motivation for his team
during the second half of
Wednesday’s session.
Following the day off for
Thanksgiving, practice was
better on Friday, the coach
said.
The Wildcats are prepar
ing at this point for their
subregion games against
Clarke Central, Cedar Shoals,
Winder-Barrow, Habersham
Central and Madison County.
Apalachee plays each of
these teams twice. Crossover
games will be played against
Loganville, Monroe Area,
Salem, Rockdale County and
Heritage.
The crossover games will
count only in case of tie
breaker scenarios.
Morris said his team will
play Loganville and Monroe
Area twice since the schools
are located so close to each
other but only one game of the
series will count for crossover
purposes.
Coming
ugi
• Friday @ Lo
ganville, 7 p.m.
•Saturday, hosts
Salem, 6 p.m.
•Tuesday, @
Monroe Area,
6 p.m.
Lady Wildcats work on eliminating fouls
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
After winning its season
opener for the only the sec
ond time in school history, the
Apalachee High School girls
basketball team is taking it
“one game at a time.”
That is the strategy of Lady
Wildcats coach Michael Parks
as he prepared his team for a
full slate of games this week.
"We are progressing,” Parks
said. “We have watched the
film of the Commerce game
and have been working on our
press and working on being
in the right spots when we
apply it.”
The Lady Wildcats were set
to scrimmage the Apalachee
ninth grade boys team
Monday, a strategy Parks like
to employ.
Parks has also begun calling
fouls in practice in an effort
to cut down on the number
whistled against his team in
games.
“We have seen what we
need to work on after review
ing the first game,” the coach
said. “Our schedule is going
to get tough real fast.”
EVANS JEWEL BOX
“Doumtoum Winder”
INVENTORY
CLEARANCE SALE
40% ■ 60% OFF!
CLOSING OUT
All China, Silver, Crystal, and Giftware INCLUDING:
Waterford, Arthur Court, Lenox and ALL Christmas Giftware.
With deep sadness we are closing out our
Bridal and Giftware Departments which
have been a tradition at Evans Jewel Box
for over 50 years.
All Diamond Jewelry, Watches, Earrings, Bracelets,
Cultured Pearls, Honora and Lorenzo.
20% - 40%
OFF
h 0 ® jfof
ChT is
Please Come In And Register For:
• 1/2 Ct. Diamond Pendant
• $250 Gift Certificate
1/2 Ct. Pair Of Diamond Earrings
• $100 Gift Certificate
No purchase necessary.
To be given away December 24, 2008.
Must be 18 to win.
e ^i ce
55 N. Broad St. • Downtown Winder
770-867-3761