Newspaper Page Text
May 24, 1968
Steve Ellerbee
Sports Editor
From the Bench
Is It Time for A Change?
The sports staff of the West Georgian polled some 324 students on
the campus. These students were asked two questions concerning
men’s athletics at this college.
The first question was: What conference do the men’s athletics par
ticipate in? Name it. This question was asked of 227 boys and 97
girls. Of the 227 boys, 138 knew the conference and 89 did not. Of the
girls, only 20 knew the name of the conference and 77 did not.
The second question was asked of only the people who answered
“yes” to the first question. This question was: Would you be in favor
of pulling out of theGIAC and playing an independent schedule against
larger schools ? Of the 158 “yes” answers 90 boys said that this
school should pull out of the conference, while only 48 said “no.”
Fifteen of the 20 girls said “Yes,” while five said we should stay
where we are.
YES VOTE
The totals showed that the students were in favor of pulling out by
a vote of 105 to 53. Some of these students gave their reasons as to
whether or not we should make this move. The following are some of
these reasons.
In opposition there were statements such as: “No, not until we
scholarship all sports.” Another in opposition was, “No, why get beat
worse than we already do.”
Those for playing independently said, “Yes, so we can see and play
against better competition,” or “Yes, only if scholarships were
raised.” Another statement for pulling out was, “Yes, it would give
the school a bigger and better name.”
From this proof given and these statements made, I personally
think that this school needs to pull out. Competition just isn’t stiff
enough in GIAC conference play. The following proof is evidence of
what I have stated.
PAST TWO YEARS
West Georgia participated in seven athletic sports in the confer
ence. These are cross country, track, volleyball, basketball, base
ball, tennis, and golf. Last year West Georgia took five out of seven
conference championships.
This year we took four out of seven firsts. We won cross country,
track, volleyball and baseball. The school also took second in tennis
and basketball moved from last place last year to fourth this year.
With this evidence goes my own opinion that we should pull out of the
GIAC in favor of playing schools more our own caliber.
First, consider these last two years’ records in conference play,
then ask yourself the question. Should West Georgia’s men’s athletics
pull out of the conference in favor of an independent schedule? Think
about it.
WAR A Awards Given at
Annual Awards Banquet
West Georgia’s Women’s Athletic and Recreational Association
held its annual banquet on May 15 at the Tasty Grill in Carrollton.
It proved to be a gay event as the room was decorated with bright
spring flowers to match the youthful glow of the girls attending the
banquet.
After the dinner awards were
presented to those girls who ac
cumulated the required points.
These points are received by at
tending WARA functions, each
person receiving five points for
every meeting. Those girls re
ceiving an emblem for from 200
to 400 points were Nancy Burton
(230), Laura Helton (200), Mar
garet Hughes (200), Debbie Pen
der (220), Jan Rowland (205), and
Kay Cauthorn (215). Gwen Mur
phy and Carol Shaw received let
ters for 460 and 405 points, re
spectively. A pin was awarded to
those girls compiling from 600
to 1000 points. They included
Carol Witt (605), Charlotte Brown
(610), Jane Booz (735), Sonja
Holtzclaw (625), and Sally Smith
(795). April Fields was the only
member to receive a key for over
1000 points. She boasted 1140
points in all. The highest honor,
a plaque, was received by Peggy
Stubbs with 1405 points.
HIGHEST AWARDS
The two most cherished awards
are the individuals who are cho
sen by the Officers of WARA for
their loyalty, cooperation, and
assistance. For Athlete of the
Year, the officers unanimously
chose Jane Booz, a senior from
Rome, Ga. Carol Witt was also
unanimously chosen for Member
of the Year. She is a senior from
Bowdon, Ga.
New officers for the 68-69
school year were installed. Peg
gy Stubbs, vice-president, ad
vised Charlene Bowen on her new
duties as the new President, Mar
garet Hughes took over as Vice
president; Jan Rowland accepted
the office of Secretary-Treasur
er, and Charlotte Brown became
the new Intramurals Manager.
The tapping of the Chieftains
for next year was of interest to
everyone for these girls are to be
in charge of their dorms for next
year. Their duties are to pro
mote as much participation as
possible in WARA activities.
The entertainment for the ban
quet was provided by Karan Fan
ning, playing the guitar and Mar
gie Mills-, ( who sang.
THE WEST GEORGIAN
4$
v ~ ~ iM^MMßl^Bill^^^BMMWiiwi
PiHHkS
• " TjPTMfc^
MIKE MURPHY, Braves’ catcher, rounds
third in a decisive victory over Valdosta a
few weeks ago. Mike got several hits in the
Baseballers Lose Controversial
Decision in NAIA Regional Play
The West Georgia Braves went
to Georgia Southern on Friday
and Saturday of last week for the
NAIA regional playoffs. After
losing the first of the three game
series, the Braves came back to
win the second. The third, and
probably the most controversial
game of the season, was lost in
the rain of South Georgia late Sat
urday afternoon.
In the first game on Friday,
Buddy Murphy lost a tough 4-0
decision. Buddy allowed only
eight hits, but Southern collected
four runs to West Georgia’s none.
The only hits for West Georgia
came from the bats of Danny Sel
lars and Verland Best.
Billy Merritt gave up only four
hits in 11 fine innings of baseball
in the first game on Saturday.
The Braves won the game 3-2
with ten hits to support the fine
pitching performance. Leading
hitters for the Braves were Jim
Braves Pitching and Hitting
Stats Show Winning Form
NAME AB R h HR SB RBI AVE.
Brown 67 16 24 1 6 15 .358
Bowen 47 5 16 0 0 10 .340
Murphy 56 9 19 0 0 9 *339
Best 102 17 33 0 11 9 .324
Sellars 104 20 33 2 17 * 10 .317
Fowler 91 20 28 0 7 18 .308
Pace 39 5 12 0 1 8 .308
Porter 82 12 25 0 8 15 .305
Posey 26 11 7 0 6 3 .269
Meyer 89 13 23 2 6 13 .258
Marshall 97 11 24 0 7 12 .247
TOTALS 913 158 267 5 73 130 .292
NAME IP H ER SO BB REC. ERA
Meyer 9 4 0 10 3 1-0 0.00
Royal 22 13 2 18 6 3-0 0.81
Lewis 26 1/3 13 4 34 20 1-1 1.37
Merritt 56 1/3 39 9 51 11 5-2 1.43
Collins 16 2/3 11 3 10 3 0-2 1.62
Tarpley 30 1/3 19 6 34 22 4-1 1.78
Murphy 79 57 20 91 43 5-5 2.27
/TOTAL/ *, v 3S?-2/?.V. 155, , , 44,, ,348, , ,108
NAIA Regional games played this past week
end at Georgia Southern.
Fowler and Mike Murphy. Each
had two hits, and Fowler scored
two of the three runs.
THIRD GAME
The third game was started by
Gerald Lewis on the mound with
Buddy Murphy coming in in the
eighth inning and allowing two
runs. Murphy took the loss which
was his second of the series, 3-2.
The Braves only had three hits,
while Lewis and Murphy only al
lowed five. Jim Fowler, Verland
Best, and Mike Murphy had the
hits.
The Braves had a lead going in
to the eighth inning. The rain was
coming down so hard that it was
running off the bills of the caps
in streams. The mound was so
wet that the pitchers were falling
when they threw. No one could
understand why the umpires
would not call the game. The fact
remains that they did not and the
Braves were defeated in the bot
tom of the ninth inning.
Page Seven
This year’s Braves missed the
NAIA regional championship by
only one half of one inning. It can
be said that the conditions pre
vailing and not the players them
selves, caused the loss.
This weekend’s action gave the
Braves a 19 wins and 11 loss
record for the year. The team
should be commended for its ex
ceptional play and tremendous
desire shown in the playoffs with
Georgia Southern.
Athletes Get
MVP Awards
The second annual awards ban
quet was sponsored by the let
ter men’s club. This banquet was
held on Tuesday night at Tanner’s
Beach. Most Valuable Player
awards with letters and sweaters
were awarded to athletes of West
Georgia College. Letters were
given to first year lettermen,
while second year lettermen re
ceived sweaters and letters for
the sweaters.
Most Valuable Player awards
went to three girl’s sports and
eight men’s sports. In girl’s vol
leyball the award went to April
Fields, last year’s woman ath
lete of the year. In girl’s basket
ball the award went to Vicki Fos
ter, and Kay Cauthorn received
the award for girl’s tennis.
In boy’s tennis, Ken Dixon took
the MVP Plaque after a fine sea
son. Phil McGhee took the swim
ming award as did Phil Herring
in golf. In baseball Jimmy Por
ter, senior shortstop, took the
plaque, while Danny Kelly was
the most valuable player in vol
leyball. Finally Dan Parrish re
ceived the award in the sport of
basketball.
All the new lettermen were ini
tiated on Tuesday afternoon. Ev
erything was fun and games de
spite some of the initiation exer
cises. The banquet and initiation
ended with food cooked at the
beach after the meeting.