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♦ FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007
2B
Lady Bears win in overtime
From staff reports
Houston County’s girls team held off
Coffee Tuesday in a Region 1-AAAAA
matchup at Coffee.
The difference in the ballgame per Lady
Bears head coach Sid Baxley: “We scored
last.”
Considering the final score was 50-49
and that it went to overtime, nothing could
be truer.
Houston County led 10-8 after one but
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takes a pitch
from Reggie
Oliver (12).
Oliver is
the same
quarterback
depicted in
the movie
“We Are
Marshall”,
as leading
the team
to that win
against
Xavier.
Contributed
MARSHALL
From page iB
in a position to tell those in
Houston County if Lengyel
was indeed the type of char
acter as McConaughey por
trayed him on the big screen.
He said movie watchers saw
a “comical” side to the coach
that neither he nor other
Marshall players ever really
saw in real life.
“If that indeed was part of
his personality,” said Mercer.
“Or if McConaughey kind of
embellished on that, added
his own flavor to it.
“But they were a great
bunch of coaches. They were
individuals that I think
helped build character in
me as a young person as
did my high school coaches.
I matured more when I hit
that point, having had that
experience coming from a
high school system where we
won every game ... won state
championships ... going to a
school that in the ’7os had
the losingest record in col
lege football history to being
one of the most dominant
and successful in the ‘9os.
“I was just blessed and
honored to be a part of that
in a small way.”
Viewers of “We Are
Marshall” also saw a cam
pus and community that
was still grieving well over a
year after the crash.
“You could still feel it and
sense it,” said Mercer about
his arrival to Huntington
even later. “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.
I played with Reggie Oliver
(the Herd quarterback from
the movie), was one of his
running backs. Some of the
other ball players depicted I
knew from playing, but they
were a class ahead of me.”
Mercer also has “vivid”
memories of the commem
oration of the fountain in
the student union during
his freshman year. This is
the fountain that serves as
a memorial to the crash vic
tims and is turned off at a
certain time of the day. He
also knew Terry Gardner,
who caught the winning
touchdown pass against
Xavier for Marshall’s first
win since the tragedy, and
assistant coach Red Dawson
(played by Matthew Fox),
who left the program after
the 1971 season.
“It was an exciting time
for a young person,” said
Mercer, who got to start as
a freshman as the NCAA
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trailed 20-17 at the half. The scored was
tied at 28 after three and 40-all at the end
of regulation.
Tonia Williams led Houston County’s
effort with 22 points. Jaquala Berry had 18,
Janesa Johnson 12 and Chanel Crosskey
7.
There was no word from Bears head
coach Greg Nix on how his squad did but it
was reported on the Georgia Varsity Sports
Vent website that Houston County lost to
their Trojan counterparts 71-68.
"Any of us who followed were ones who
wanted to help bolster that program and
make a difference as best we could."
-Houston County YMCA chief executive officer
Jim Mercer
allowed Marshall to use
first-year students starting
in 1971. “Which to me was
part of the intrigue of going
there. That probably was
the biggest carrot followed
by the neat opportunity to
help be a part of building a
program. Even at age 18 I
had a sense to understand
that was something impor
tant to do.”
Mercer had offers to visit
Boston College, Pittsburgh
(where his brother played
linebacker), Virginia Tech
and South Carolina. His
father was a college profes
sor, but the son had a vision
to pursue a career in recre
ation.
“I didn’t know that we
would not have a winning
program (at Marshall),”
said Mercer. “I didn’t think
about that. I think it was
the uniqueness of what hap
pened, as I’m sure it was to
many of the ballplayers who
went there. I’m sure many
of them had good offers, but
I think it was the chance to
help make a difference.”
Mercer admits that
Marshall “got beat up a lot”
in his career. He did, for
a brief time, hold a “dubi
ous” NCAA record for the
most kickoff return yards
in a game, a record that
would be broken by anoth
er former Steelers great,
Lynn Swann. Mercer only
played three years with the
Thundering Herd due to the
way in which his academics
were progressing. He does
admit the only way he would
have gone to college is with
the football scholarship he
received from Lengyel.
“I work better under pres
sure, taking classes, so the
more class credit hours I
took the better grades I
got playing football,” said
Mercer. “When I would fall
back in the off-season to a
minimal, my grades would
drop. I escalated my classes,
particularly when I entered
my major, recreation admin
istration, and sometimes
took the equivalent of one
year in one semester.
“Therefore, I had going
into my senior year my
internship to do, and I
could graduate. So I opted
out of the fourth year of
my scholarship and did my
internship in Mt. Lebanon.
Sometimes I look back on
that and think whether I
regretted doing that, but I
think God has a plan for
everybody.”
For Mercer, that plan
included meeting his future
wife, raising his family and
serving now 27 years with
the YMCA. He spent the pre
vious seven years with the
YMCA of Coastal Georgia in
Savannah, the 13th oldest
branch in the country. He
has also worked in Waycross,
Gastonia, N.C., Knoxville,
Tenn. and Pittsburgh.
What Mercer says he got
from Marshall was a great
education in the classroom
and lessons in leadership on
the football field.
“To play alongside some
pretty brave young men
who came in the class before
and others that followed,
there were some great role
models in some of the play
ers who befriended me as a
young freshman and having
confidence in me,” he said.
“Playing for coach Lengyel
and the other coaches ...
helped teach me leader
ship and a lot of values. Not
more than what my par
ents taught me and what I
learned from my hometown.
It was just that next stage
in my life where being able
to play major college foot
ball was unique and then
working under stressful cir
cumstances in a program
like that ... it was not about
me, I think it’s about these
guys who are depicted in
the film.
“Any of us who followed
were ones who wanted to
help bolster that program
and make a difference as
best we could.”
Nate Ruffin was one of the
surviving members of the
1970 Marshall team depict
ed in “We Are Marshall.”
It was a sad moment for
Mercer when he learned
that Ruffin has passed away,
a fact revealed at the end of
the movie.
Mercer also recalled the
anxiousness felt in 1973
when Marshall traveled by
plane for the first time since
1970. He said all road trips
were taken by bus until the
Herd played at UNLV He
said the biggest concerns
were shown during the flight
home to the same Tri-State
Airport as the 1970 flight
was headed.
SPORTS
Here are the results of the
QaSports.com Wrestling
Coaches Poll for the week
beginning Monday:
Class A
1 Jefferson
2 Bremen
3 Gorddn Lee
4 Social Circle
5 Trion
6 Bowdon
7 Commerce
8 Mt Zion, Carroll
9 Eagles Lndg Christian
Acad
10 Pelham
Class AA
1 LaFayette
2 Lovett
3 Wesleyan
SERSEY
From page iB
part of Robert Johnson’s
investment in the new NBA
Bobcats.
Since money is the root of
all athletic endeavors, and
money is related to atten
dance, like the six degrees
of separation, fans refused
to separate themselves from
their money for tickets to
Sting games.
That could be because the
team won only 17 games the
past two seasons. That’s the
total number of games a team
plays in a season.
For a paltry $3.5 million,
someone could own the fran
chise and build a winner, but
that doesn’t mean the fran
chise would succeed.
People don’t go watch
women play.
The WNBA has been in
business for 10 years and its
average attendance league
wide peaked in 2002 at
2,391,972. That’s only 9,344
people per game.
In 2006, the Detroit Shock
led in attendance at 159,453
for the year or 9,380 per
game. The expansion Chicago
Sky managed only 3,390 per
game in 2006.
The WNBA isn’t the first
stab at women’s pro basket
ball. In 1976 an eight-team
league lasted one year. The
league tried again in 1980
and 1984 and collapsed both
times.
It wasn’t until the NBA got
involved that the WNBA got
started and has survived.
It seems that team sports
struggle more than individ
ual sports. For example, golf
and tennis are thriving.
RACING
From page iB
preparing to attempt to
qualify for the Air Nautiques
AM A Amateur National
Championships, which
are held on singer Loretta
Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane
Mills, Tenn. According to the
championship website, 64
area qualifiers and 13 region
champions get the chance to
compete at that level. Stone
will take his shot at Bremen
Race Park at the Southeast
Amateur Regional June 23-
24.
Stone’s journey into motor
cycle racing came around six
months ago and can be cred
ited to his father.
“He saw his dad’s bike (in
storage) (his father used to
race ... more on him to fol
low) and said, ‘I want one
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4 Toombs County
5 Cook
6 Dublin
7 Darlington
8 Buford
9 Pepperell
10 Morgan County
Class AAA
1 West Laurens
2 Gilmer
3 Cass
4 Columbus
5 Henry County
6 Hardaway
7 West Hall
8 LaGrange
9 Eagles Landing
10 South Effingham
Class AAAA
1 Eastside
The LPGA’s event atten
dance has risen 12 percent
in the past year with a 20
percent increase in television
views.
Women tennis players earn
the same prize money as the
men in many tournaments.
But the sports scene is lit
tered with the remains for
teams and leagues that have
tried to crack the profession
al sports racket.
The WUSA soccer league
collapsed after only a few
years, and the Silver Bullets
baseball team lasted only four
years and found it couldn’t
compete against men at even
the lowest pro level.
There is the National Pro
Fastpitch league, hut women
face some unique challenges
when it comes to getting rec
ognition for their sport.
According to a Wikipedia
article at one point the
Olympic committee required
gender verification for female
competitors.
This so-called sex test
ing began after the 1966
European Track and Field
Championships because sev
eral of the best women ath
letes from the Soviet Union
were suspected of being
men.
The first testing method
required the women to walk
naked in front of a panel
of gynecologists. Evidently
after viewing the Eastern
European contestants, most
of the doctors went blind
because a laboratory test was
soon initiated.
That test lasted until 1992
and ceased after it was dis
covered that the test results
of more than 500 athletes
were abnormal. The IOC dis
continued testing in 1996.
of those,”’ his mother, Judy
said. She is a surgical nurse
at Taylor Regional Hospital
in Hawkinsville. The father,
Jamey, is a business owner.
All three have been residents
of Perry, “forever,” Judy said.
They obliged in regard to
the bike and his racing days
began.
It was a “nervous” time at
first, Judy explained, “but
he’s been progressing and
getting better and better.
“He knows how to fall,”
she said. “And he’s getting
his balance ... I’m feeling bet
ter about it.”
Of course she, especially
with her background, added
she would always be at the
track when he raced “just in
case he falls,” she said.
Jamey, who used to race
when he was about 13 or
14 also broke his bike back
out, Judy said, but “only” to
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THE HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
2 Stockbridge
3 Alexander
4 Cherokee
5 Starr’s Mill
6 Woodland
7 Lakeview-Ft Oglethorpe
8 Northwest Whitfield
9 Woodv/ard Academy
10 Ringgold
Class AAAAA
1 McEachern
2 Parkview
3 Collins Hill
4 Walton
5 Union Grove
6 Harrison
7 Camden County
8 Grayson
9 Kell
10 Brookwood
All of that exposes the
indignities women face in
order to compete, but gen
der when properly presented
sells.
Think of the tennis’s
Williams sisters and Maria
Sharapova.
According to an article
by Anna Kessel for “The
Observer,” women are con
stantly being pressured to
use their sexuality to gain
recognition for their sport.
That has even extended
to Britain’s squash where
in 2001 a 23-year-old Vicky
Botwright was persuaded to
pose in a black thong and bra
combination.
The media storm gave the
sport more attention than it
wanted and Botwright, who
was the 18th ranked squash
player in the world, lost her
place on her team.
Today, Botwright is ranked
fifth in the world but sel
dom gets any mention in the
British press.
Denise Lewis became one of
Britain’s most famous female
athletes when she posed top
less for a magazine wearing
only body paint in the colors
of the Union flag. She went
on to win the gold medal in
the heptathlon at the Sidney
Olympics.
“You must win titles oth
erwise you’re seen as a babe
first,” she was quoted by
Kessel.
Take Anna Kournikova for
example.
Maybe that’s why women
professional sports teams
have so much trouble get
ting support from the paying
public. The American public
can’t see past gender. That’s
a blind spot that hurts every
body.
use it to help teach his son.
He, along with a friend, Judy
said, has undertaken those
duties.
Despite his early success,
nobody in the Stone family
- well, maybe Zack whose
favorite hero is 15-time
national motorcross cham
pion Ricky Carmichael - is
thinking this is what he will
do for a living.
After all, he’s just a Perry
Primary School kindergar
tener.
“He’s still just a kid,” Judy
said. “He likes to color with
crayons. And he likes play
ing those PSII and X-box
video games. He likes to go
to school.”
And right now his partic
ular career choice is to be
a plastic surgeon. And why
not? He’s already carving out
a pretty good niche for him
self.
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