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PAGE 4B BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2008 The good, bad and ugly of2008 W ith the 2008th year since the birth of Christ coming to a close for this old world, I thought it would be a good time for us to look back on everything that happened in the sports world this past year. I am always amazed by these reviews because it never fails that I am reminded of an event that took place that I have completely forgotten about. 2008 was certainly a roller coaster year filled with lots of ups and downs for any fan. But, to me, it was all too much like an old Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.” THE GOOD There are the championships and one gets decided even before the New Year is out of diapers. The BCS was a mess with nobody stepping up and claim ing themselves as the absolute best. Every team in the nation, for the most part, had at least one loss and even most of the top contenders had two. The computers decided that LSU and Ohio State should play for the title much to the chagrin of the two teams who probably were playing the best football in the nation at that time: Southern Cal and Georgia. I was not one of those that thought Georgia got robbed. If you can’t win your own conference, and two losses to South Carolina and Tennessee had sealed that fate, you shouldn’t play for the National Championship. LSU embar rasses OSU again (Florida had done it the year before) and wins the title. A few weeks later, the sur prising New York Giants com pleted their year by doing what no one had been able to do before: defeat the New England Patriots. Amidst a controversy caused by an accusation of cheating, the Patriots had not lost a game all year. Very few gave the Giants any chance. But baby brother Eli Manning and a defensive powerhouse on the verge of retirement, Michael Strahan, had different plans. A good defense, which stifled Tom Brady all night and a late TD pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress (remember that name for later) gave the Giants the improbable Super Bowl win. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. I thought I’d include this for the eight people in Barrow County who cared. The greatest three weeks of the sports year, in my opin ion, took place again this past March with March Madness. The tournament brackets had plenty of upsets with Davidson being this year’s Cinderella team advancing all the way to the Elite Eight. But in the end, the Final Four of Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, and UCLA played for all the mar bles in San Antonio. Kansas, under the direction of Coach Bill Self, held off Memphis in the championship game. The NBA has lost a lot of its luster to me and one reason is that the season is so blasted long. Basketball is a winter sport yet, the way they draw out the playoffs the sea son doesn’t end until June. The Boston Celtics proved that great athletes who forget about playing for themselves and play as a team can prevail. No one believed that a team with Paul Pearce, Ray Allen, randy blalock BUY BARROW! This Ad Space Can Be Yours For Only Call Susan Treadwell at 770 867 HEWS (6397) for details. Limited time offer! Barrow Journal A Better Newspaper at a Lower Price 77 East May Street • Winder, GA 30680 770 867 NEWS (6397) WWW. BarrowJournal com Gene Upshaw: Hall of Fame line man in his own right but also prominent as the President of the Player’s Union for the NFL. Bobby Murcer: how would you like to take over for Mickey Mantle but Murcer did it play ing great centerfield for the Yankees. Jim McKay: the and Kevin Garnett could be cohesive together. There weren’t enough points to go around to keep all three happy. These three knew, how ever, what so many athletes of today do not — that you play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the one on the back. They beat the Lakers and Kobe in the finals and that made me extra happy. Before you go thinking I’m a Kobe-basher, let me set the record straight. I was very proud of the way that he and the others selected for the Redeem Team represented us in the Olympics. They methodically and skillfully dismantled everybody in their way and cruised to the Gold Medal. The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series but per haps the best story from the past baseball season was the rise of the Tampa Bay Rays. With the smallest payroll in baseball, the Rays beat out the free-spending Red Sox and Yankees. Proves what you can do when you don’t have a bunch of prima donnas in the club house. Tiger Woods’ miraculous victory over Rocco Mediate in the US Open has to be a high light of any sports year. Like him or not, and I happen to think he is the greatest player to ever strike a golf ball, it was a gutsy performance. In spite of severe pain from a knee that would later require surgery. Tiger proved that his mental capabilities might even be better than his physical ones. I hope he’s back soon. It’s been boring without him. And the biggest Good of the year: the eight Gold Medals won by Michael Phelps in the Summer Olympics. There is very little that I can add to what has been recorded legendary voice of Wide World of Sports. It’s a shame that we not only have the element of illegal drug use in human sports, but it even reared its ugly head in horse racing this year. After cruising through the first two races of the Triple Crown, Big Brown was a woeful last in the Preakness. Even though he had suf fered an injury during train ing, explaining much about his performance, it was also discovered that his trainer had been using banned substances to help with the pain. There is definitely one man in sports that no one is luke warm about. You either love or detest Bob Knight. When he stepped down from coaching last year, half the room cheered and half the room cried. I, personally, think he brings what is needed in sports: dis cipline. I don’t always agree with his methods but his results speak for themselves. THE UGLY Vick gets sentenced and begins serving time. Marion Jones is convicted and she goes to jail. Roger Clemens sits before a Senate Subcommittee saying he “misremembers.” The only good thing about those hearings was to look at Debbie, his wife, sitting behind him. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Finally, the debacle of Pacman Jones and Plaxico Burress. On second thought, they’re not worth wasting good column space on. I hope you and yours have a wonderful and prosperous 2009. Offseason continued from IB How much emphasis does Davis put into weight training? The Wildcat coach says his players even lift on game days. “Weight training is a big part of the reason we have been successful,” the coach said. “We have talented players as well, but we also work very hard and that starts in the weight room.” Davis said the players have had a strong first half of the school year in the weight room and the coach looks for that to contin ue for the remainder of the 2008-09 school year. During the last three years Apalachee has enjoyed success at the state weight lifting meet. The team will compete once again in early March at the area competition followed by state later in the month. Honors continued from IB “I am very proud of them,” Davis said Sunday. “It is a good thing for them and a good thing for our team. It is also good for our program as a whole and good for Apalachee High School. It is good to open the newspa per and see Apalachee High School mentioned with some of the best football programs in the state.” Seven Wildcats were named to the All-Northeast Georgia team, published by the Athens Banner-Herald. In addition, six AHS players were recently named to the All-Region 8-AAAA team. Gresham was named to the All-Northeast Georgia team on defense along with Corey Love. Winder-Barrow High School’s Jonah Huggins was named All-Northeast Georgia first-team defense. Huggins had 74 tackles and four sacks in 2008. Making the second-team All-Northeast Georgia squad were John Ansley, Christian Hoard, Jeff Haney and Joey Gebo. Winder-Barrow’s Chris Wragg was named honor able mention receiver. Wragg had 400 yards receiving with three scores this past season for the Bulldoggs and head coach Ben Corley. Gresham (first team defense) was named All- Region along with John Livesay (Special Teams Player of the Year) and John Lee (running back). Haney, Hoard and Deonte Will were named second team All- Region. “We had a special group of seniors this year,” Davis said. “This group believed in me when they didn’t have to. I had never been a head coach when I arrived at Apalachee four years ago. They believed in me and the coaches even after we went 1-9 our first season. We then made the playoffs three years in a row.” BETHLEHEM First United Methodist Church Preschool and Kindergarten* We offer an affordable program with low student-teacher ratios serving children ages 2 through 5. Winder resident Randy Blalock is a contributing col umnist for the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to rblalock@ mind- spring. com. Music ~ Physical Education ~ Spanish Come Tour Our School! 2 year program - Must turn 2 by December 31 Kindergarten - Must turn 5 by November 1 709 Christmas Ave. • Bethlehem, Ga. 30620 770-867-3724 Certified by the United Methodist Preschool Association of the North Ga. Conference as a “Program of Excellence for Young Children” 73^ as the greatest single accom plishment of any athlete in the history of sports. Remarkable. Simply remarkable. THE BAD Here’s a list of just some of the prominent sports personali ties who died this past year: Sammy Baugh: legendary quarterback, defensive back and punter for the Redskins in the 1940s Dock Ellis: Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher who once claimed that he threw a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. Pete Newell: basketball coach; developed the “big man” game into what it is today Don Haskins: coach of the first all-black basketball team to win the NCAA champion ship. TAKE THE DAILIES COMFORT CHALLENGE 30 PAIRS FOR $15 A refreshing new way to WEAR CONTACTS. It’s simple. During your eye exam, ask your Eye Care Professional if DAILIES 1 AquaComfort Plus™ is right for you. For a limited time, enjoy a one-month supply (two 30 packs) for just $15!' 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