Newspaper Page Text
Houston Baily TJmmutl
FRIDAY,
DECEMBER 29, 2006
The Home Journal's
SANDLOT
ON DECK
High school
basketball
Today
■ Northside at JB Hawkins tour
nament, teams and times to be
determined
Saturday
■ Northside at JB Hawkins tour
nament, teams and times to be
determined
IN BRIEF
Waterford to hold high
school golf conditioning
Waterford Golf Club will hold
high school golf conditioning in
January (Tuesday for Houston
County, Wednesday for Warner
Robins and Thursday for
Northside).
It is set to be held from 4-
5 p.m. For additional details,
ask your coach or e-mail PGA
Professional Krag Woodyard at
pgaprokrag@pga.com or call
him at 478-447-9399.
YMCA has job opening for
fitness director
The Houston County YMCA
is now accepting resumes for
the position of full-time Fitness
Director. Qualified candidates
possessing a strong desire to
build a quality program, man
age their own department and
be part of the national and local
YMCA movement may submit
their resume to Jim Mercer, CEO
at jmercer@hocoymca.org.
Salary and benefits are com
mensurate with experience,
education, certification and a
proven track record. Resumes
will be accepted until Jan. 5,
2007 with the position start date
to be mid-to-late January.
Red Cross to hold
inagural bowling tourney
The Houston-Middle Georgia
Chapter of the American Red
Cross will hold its inaugural
“Roll into the New Year" Bowling
Tournament Jan. 20, 2007.
The tournament will be held at
the Gold Cup Bowling Center on
Russell Parkway and will start at
10 a.m. and last until 1 p.m.
The entry fee is $l5O for
a six-person team. It includes
pizza and soda. Registration will
be available on the day of the
tournament. Visit www.middle
georgiaredcross.org for a regis
tration form or call 923-6332 to
sponsor the tournament.
Museum to host its
annual walk/runs
The 11th annual Museum of
Aviation Foundation marathon,
half marathon and 5K run/walk
will be held at the Museum of
Aviation Jan. 13, 2007.
All three courses are USA
Track and Field certified and all
threes are also run on Robins
Air Force Base. Runners and
walkers whose registrations are
postmarked by Jan. 5, 2007 are
guaranteed, according to the
release, a “quality colorful long
sleeve shirt on race day." A $5
surcharge applies for registra
tions after Jan. 5, 2007.
Entry fees are SBO for a relay
team, S4O for the marathon, S3O
for the half marathon and $lB for
the 5K run/walk.
A variety of trophies/awards
will be offered. The start time for
the marathon and half marathon
is 8 a.m. The 5K run/walk will
start at 8:15 a.m. Each marathon
and half-marathon runner will
receive a medallion with ribbon
as they cross the finish line.
On-line detailed race informa
tion can be found at http://robin
spacers.org or www.museumo
faviation.org. Race packets may
be picked up at the Museum of
Aviation Century of Flight Hangar
on race day only between 6:30-
7:30 a.m. A picture ID is required
at registration/check-in.
To register or for more infor
mation call Race Director John
Hunter at 478-926-6686 (day) or
478-953-5335 (evening) or email
him at hunterjh@cox.net.
Or, contact June Lowe or Mary
Lynn Harrison at 478-923-6600
or email MaryLynn.Harrison@m
useumofaviation.org.
Warner Robins squads sweep Dublin!
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
With nothing but Region
1-AAAAA contests facing
them once the new year gets
underway, Warner Robins
High’s basketball teams put
the 2006 part of the sea
son to rest Wednesday with
a doubleheader sweep at
Dublin High.
Pierre Miller hit seven 3-
pointers on his way to 33
points as the Demon boys
Robins Air Force Base athlete selected to All-Armed Services team
By PAUL ROSS
Senior airman, 116th Air Control
Wing Public A ffairs
Sometimes a little motiva
tion is needed.
This was the case for an
Airborne Weapons officer
who was recently selected
for the All-Armed Services
team after helping the Air
Force team go 5-1 and win a
gold medal in the All-Armed
Forces tournament.
Motivation for Tysen Pina,
a first lieutenant with the
128th Airborne Command
and Control Squadron, a
unit of Robins Air Force
Base’s 116th Air Control
Wing, came in the way of
disappointment when he was
cut from his seventh- and
eighth-grade school basket
ball teams and it has stuck
with him for years.
“(Being cut) fueled me
for a long time and I lead
my recreation league teams
both years in scoring and
one to a championship,” said
the Roswell native. “My dad
coached me in eighth grade
and I finally made the ninth
grade team.”
His motivation turned into
a successful career includ
ing many broken records at
Sequoyah High School in
Canton, four years of varsity
at the Air Force Academy,
selection to the All-Armed
Service Team in 2004. And,
he won the gold medal in
the SHAPE International
Tourney in Mons, Belgium.
(Despite being selected to
this year’s squad, Pina could
not participate in the tour
nament due to work com
mitments.)
“I had several offers to
play in college but I chose
the Air Force Academy
because I wanted to be a
pilot. Basketball has always
been second in my life;
when I was younger, base
ball was my first love and as
I matured flying became my
passion but it was always
there when I needed it.”
The power forward and
On OTs In football, the mercy rule in basketball and Marshall
It’s just as the old saying goes:
Some rules were made to be ...
ridiculed.
The arguments rage over and
over that the state of Georgia -
more specifically
the Georgia High
School Association
- has rules here
and there that
make absolutely no
sense whatsoever.
Sometimes I have
to wonder if cer
tain rules are put
in the books with
the hopes that they
Matthew Brown
Journal Sports Writer
will never have to actually come into
play. One such rule states that any
state championship football game
ending with a tied score after regula
tion play does not go into overtime.
Instead, the GHSA declares both
teams involved as co-champions.
It would easy to assume that such a
rule was only recently installed along
rL v S
Warns* Robins
girts 49. Dublin 36;
Demons 72, Irish 62
points. Coach Chip Malone
gave some playing time to
substitutes at the end, but
Dublin could only pull as
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Contributed
Tysen Pina, an Air Force first lieutenant and an Airborne Weapons Officer with Robins Air Force Base’s 11Gth Air
Control Wing’s, 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, slam dunks the ball against the All-Navy team dur
ing the All-Armed Services tournament recently.
center competes for a few
simple reasons.
“(I compete) because com
petition is in all we do in the
Air Force and I feel basket
ball sharpens my skills on
the jet,” said Pina. “All the
lessons learned on the court
can be directly applied in
the air. It’s the reason I love
doing what I do, everyday is
different and full of different
pressure filled challenges,
scenarios and crews.
While basketball helps
sharpen his job skills, his
job helps him keep a good
Sports
topped the
Irish 72-62.
Warner
Robins,
which led
44-30 at
halftime,
had an
advantage
as big as 28
"I happen to have It
on good authority that
after that 2004 game
in Hawkinsville, most of
the people in the stadium
had no idea there would
not be overtime."
with the advent of these expanded
playoffs and the installation of the
overtime procedure named after
either Kansas or Nebraska. But it
doesn’t look like that’s the case, not
according to the archive list of state
football champions at GHSA.net.
This list shows that in the 1950 s
there were three such championship
games that ended in ties: Rossville-
LaGrange (1955), Carrollton-
'"We executed well on offense. We still
didn't rebound the way I want us to, but
we played good defense. We changed
things up to try to throw them off
balance."
- Warner Robins boys head basketball coach Chip Malone
close as the 10-point final.
Kenny Willis had 12 points
outlook on the game.
“Flying also puts basket
ball into perspective as just
a game,” said Pina. “The
loser gets to go home to
their families, but in war
the loser doesn’t go home.
It kind of takes the pressure
off of missing a free throw.”
Before competing on the
All-Air Force team the Pina
keeps his skills honed with a
rigorous training schedule.
“When I’m getting ready
for All-Air Force, I’m in
the gym at 5:30 a.m. every
morning lifting and getting
Statesboro (1956) and Avondale-
Thomasville (1958). After 1958, and
before 2006, the records show three
more instances of co-champions:
Griffin-Valdosta (1978), Kendrick-
Lakeside (1991) and Hawkinsville-
Clinch County (2004).
I happen to have it on good author
ity that after that 2004 game in
Hawkinsville, most of the people in
the stadium had no idea there would
not be overtime. My source told me
that, when regulation ended, both
teams gathered at their respective
sidelines as if to discuss what to do
in overtime.
But apparently somebody knew
different, and eventually the fateful
announcement was made that there
would be no more action.
This year we had an unprecedent
ed situation with not one, but two
state championship games ending
with a tied score. Again, probably
not something the GHSA offices
anticipated ever happening.
and Ryan Reid 10.
“We executed well on
shots up before work,” he
said. “I would play for three
or four hours with the guys.
Then go home to eat and
lastly a distance run before
bed time.”
The accomplished ath
lete’s success could not have
been possible without those
around him.
“My supervisor, Capt. Scott
Greathouse, was instru
mental in helping me to get
ready, he allowed me to work
through lunch some days in
order to get out an hour
early so I could lift before
SECTION
B
offense,” said Malone. “We
still didn’t rebound the way
I want us to, but we played
good defense. We changed
things up to try to throw
them off balance.”
The coach added that, in
addition to Miller’s hot out
side shooting, the Demons
were able to score several
transition baskets in the
first half.
The Warner Robins
See S WEEP, page tB
playing in the afternoons,”
he added. “My squadron
supported me the whole
“My commander, Lt. Col.
Joseph Schmidt, was at
almost every game and fully
supported the application
process, my director of oper
ations, Lt. Col. Christopher
Edling, was in it all the way.
It went all the way down
to the airmen in my shop,
Senior Airmen Timothy
Walseth and Wallace Cloudy,
where in on it.”
Pina gives some insight
See TEAM, page iB
Does this mean that the powers
that-be, at the annual meetings,
must address this situation and take
the appropriate steps? Or do they
tell us, “It doesn’t matter if all five
games in one year end in ties, this is
the way it’s going to be.”
Whether you individually agree
with this policy or not, you have
your reasons. Just like the GHSA
has its reasons for setting things the
way they do.
I have been fortunate to cover four
state championship football games
in Georgia since the 2000 season
with the team I was focusing on win
ning three out of four. As much as
games like these deserve winners, I
have to wonder if it’s riguc altering
how they play (like starting on the
25-yard-line) in order to determine
something so important.
Yes, the current overtime format
does give each team equal shots
at scoring. Whereas sudden death,
See BROWN, page iB