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FRIDAY,
JANUARY 12, 2007
The Home Journal's
SANDLOT
■' WMVbIwV
ON DECK
High school
basketball
Today
■ Warner Robins at Valdosta.
6 p.m.
■ Jones County at Northside.
7 p.m.
■ Central Fellowship at
Westfield. 6 p.m.
■ Perry at Peach County, 7
p.m.
■ Lowndes at Houston County,
7 p.m.
Saturday
■ Perry at Northside, 6 p.m.
High school
wrestling
Today
■ Perry at Area Duals at Henry
County (through Saturday)
Saturday
■ Perry at Area Duals at Henry
County
■ Northside at Area Duals at
Upson-Lee, 10 a.m.
High school
swimming
Saturday
■ Houston County and Perry
at Panther Wolfpack Invitational
in Augusta, time to be deter
mined. (Note: Warner Robins
was also slated to compete at
the tournament but. according to
coach Barbara Hawkins. “We are
instead going to the Statesboro
Invitational.” That is slated to
take place today at 6 p.m.)
IN BRIEF
Westfield association to
hold basketball games
The Westfield. Beechwood.
B : ver Alumni Association is
sponsoring its annual alumni
basketball games to be held Feb.
10 in the Westfield Gymnasium.
The girls' game will begin at 5:30
p.m. and the guys' game will fol
low immediately. The entry fee
this year is sls.
Wayne Morris Ford will pro
vide the T-shirts for the players.
The proceeds will benefit the
Perry Animal Shelter. Alumni
interested in playing should
contact sto!lesdn@westfie!dsch
ools.net or 987-0547 to sign up.
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.
The tournament will be held
at the Gold Cup Bowling Center
on Russell Parkway and runs
from 10 a.m.-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.middlegeorgiaredcross.org
for a registration form or call
923-6332 for more.
YMCA extends
membership offer
The YMCA has extended its
membership sign-up offer until
Jan. 31. Typically, a family
membership consists of an SBS
joiner's fee plus the first month
of S4B. Under the promotion,
you pay SBS.
WRALL to temporarily
waive late fee
In Wednesday's Houston
Daily Journal story “Warner
Robins American Little League
holds registration” it was
reported those taking advan
tage of Saturday's registration
will be charged a $25 late fee.
According to league president
Roman Jones, the late fee has
been waived and will NOT BE
CHARGED until AFTER this
Saturday's registration.
Waterford to hold high
school golf conditioning
Waterford Golf Club will hold
high school golf condition
ing this month. It is set to be
held from 4-5 p.m. For more,
ask your coach or e-mail PGA
Professional Krag Woodyard at
pgaprokrag@pga.com or call
him at 478-447-9399.
The Thundering Herd
HoCo YMCA chief exec officer reflects on his days at Marshall
By MATTHEW BROWN
Journal Sports Writer
In his adult life, Jim
Mercer has spent his
time with a worldwide
recognized organization
known for building strength
in communities. That qual
ity, the desire to help build,
was evident back in his days
as an aspiring college foot
ball player, for he chose to
attend a school in need of
helping hands.
Today, Mercer is the chief
executive officer of the
Houston County YMCA,
a position he took over in
July 2006. Back in 1972, this
standout football player at
Mt. Lebanon High School in
western Pennsylvania signed
to play for Jack Lengyel
at Marshall University in
Huntington, W. Va.
Over the recently complet
ed holidays, Mercer, like sev
eral others across the nation,
saw the retelling of the trag
edy suffered by the Marshall
community in 1970 in the
film, “We Are Marshall.” It
was about a plane crash that
killed 75 people, including
Thundering Herd players
and coaches, and the push
to keep the football program
alive in 1971.
“At that age ... I was 17 at
the time it occurred ... I knew
it occurred, but being young
I didn’t have the sense to tap
into what was going on, just
like any other young person
in the United States,” said
Mercer. “We were aware of
it, and I never dreamed that
was actually going to be the
school that I would play for.
It was a very unique experi
ence in my life.”
Mercer described his high
school in the Pittsburgh sub
urbs as one that was strong
in academics and athletics.
It was definitely a place,
he said, where if you didn’t
have the grades, you didn’t
play sports.
tit
You could still feel it and
sense it. It was still only
about 16 months from the
time it occurred to the time
I played. It was still about
trying to field a team, still
about putting a program
back on track.
w w
A Stone's throw
5-year-old enjoys success on the racing circuit
By DON MONCRIEF
Journal Sports Editor
When the trophy is bigger
than you, then you know
you’ve accomplished some
thing.
Such is the case for 5-year
old Zack Stone and his big
gest prize to date: An approx
imate five-foot award - that
for placing third this past
year in the 4-6-year old divi
sion of the summer series at
High Falls. (It should also be
noted he entered the series
late.)
High Falls is one of two
places he races, the other
being locally at International
City Raceway MX Park in
Warner Robins. He has a
handful of “his-size” tro
phies from there as well as
some more from High Falls.
He is currently
See RACING, page iB
Sports
I ||
Journal Matthew Brown
Jim Mercer stands next to some of his Marshall memorabilia. Houston County’s YMCA director spent three years at
the college.
But play Mercer did,
and in fact he was part
of the first football game
ever held at Three Rivers
Stadium. He would use the
locker that later belonged
to Pittsburgh Steelers star
running back Franco Harris,
and he returned a kickoff 80
yards for a touchdown in the
game.
Lengyel, played by
Matthew McConaughey
in “We Aire Marshall,” vis
ited the Mercer home in Mt.
Lebanon to recruit the half
back prospect after the 1971
season. As was shown in
the movie, Lengyel and his
staff ventured beyond West
</l" BMW A -
I glj ££ ? Aft. ** 4susEmw
Contributed
Zack Stone stands next to some of the trophies he has won motorcycle racing.
Virginia looking for players.
Mercer’s part of the coun
try is known for producing
MARSHALL
Contributed
Mercer returns a kickoff.
such quality quarterbacks as
Joe Namath, Joe Montana,
Johnny Unitas and Dan
SECTION
B
Marino.
So Mercer would be
See MARSHALL, page lB
Womeirt sports
teams deserve
a better future
What does it take for
wom
en’s
sports to
get the
same
recogni
tion as
men’s?
This
question
came to
my mind
recently
Joe Sersey
Journal
Correspondent
when I heard that the
Charlotte Sting of the
WNBA announced that it
was ceasing operations.
When the Hornets of
the NBA moved to New
Orleans, the Sting stayed
behind and became
See SERSEY, page iB