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4A From Pudge Heffelfinger to The Saints m The NFL recently hit the New Orleans Saints hard for their bounty system, which paid defensive players to injure opposing players badly enough to knock them out of the game. The penalties included various suspensions, draft pick forfeits and a $500,000 fine. All the participants deserved their punishment, but really, today’s heavily armored football players, from high school to the pros, are total pansies compared to Pudge Heffelfinger. William Walter “Pudge” Heffelfinger played guard for Yale in the 1890s. His nickname came from his then impressive bulk: he was about 6’3” and 195 pounds, roughly equivalent to today’s 300-pound lineman. In those days, foot¬ ball teams were beginning to use mass momentum plays such as the Flying Wedge, in which blockers linked together to form an inverted V; the ball carrier followed his blockers inside the wedge. Pudge broke up one early Flying Wedge by throwing himself full force at the point of the wedge, collapsing it in a tangle of bodies. Heffelfinger had contributed to creating a monster. Mass momentum plays led to violent collisions between defense and offense, with many players faring worse than Heffelfinger; there were dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. Players had no Peach Publishing Bob Tribble Mitch Tribbk President Vice President Frances Tribble Secretary • Judy Robinson.......................... General Manager/ Publisher jrobinson@theleademibune.net • Renee rgoggins@theleadertribune.net Goggi ins Office Manager • Donna Trussell.......................... .Business Manager dtrussel@thclcadcrtribune.net • Victor Kulkosky..................... News Editor victork @ theleadertri bune net • Mandy mandy@thcleaiertribune.net banning................Marketing Executive/Advertising • Billy Powell............. .........Columnist • Claire Houser Dodd .......Columnist • Tara Mercer............. Circulation Manager • Emily Griffin......... ......Reporter • Billy Powell........... .....Columnist • Jeff Cook............. ......Columnist • Jeff Holland......... ......Columnist • Dan Gatlyn............ .......Columnist • Tim Lewis.............. .......Columnist HOW TO SUBMIT LKTTfRS We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor, letters should not exceed 350 words and must indude the writer’s name, address and telephone number. A II letters printed in The Leoder Tribune will appear with the writer's name and hometown - we do not publish anonymous letters. The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity, letter writers are asked to submit no more than two letters per person per month We con not guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific date. The leoder Tribune prefers that letters be typed, letters to the editor are published in the order they ore received as space permits There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-moil it to news@theleodertribune.net, moil it to The leoder Tribune at 109 Anderson Ave, Fort Volley, GA 31030, or drop it off at 109 Anderson Ave in Fort Volley- between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. OUR POLICIES: Signed letters to the editor welcomed. Please include address and phone number. Liability for an error will not excede the cost of space occupied by the error. We cannot beresponsibie for return of pictures or material unless stamped, return addressed envelope is included. The Leader-Tribune, a periodical. Postage paid at Fort Valley, USPS (307740) mailed at Fort Valley. Oa. is published weekly for $25 JOO per year by Peach Publishing Company, Inc 109 Anderson Avenue. Fort Valley. Oa. (478) 825-2432 Fax (478) 825-4130. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: 109 Anderson Avenue, Fort Valley. Ga. 31030 Member of The Georgia Pma Association The National Ncwswag AMocurinr OUR GOAL The Leader-Tribune is published proudly for the citizens qf Peach and adjoining counties by Peach Publishing Company, Inc. Our goal is to produce quality, profitable, comnumity oriented newspapers that you, our readers , are proud of. We will reach that goal through hard work, teamwork , loyalty, and a strong dedication towards printing the truth. ♦ MARCH 28, 2012 Opimioat expressed I y writers on this page are their mm and not necessarily those of The Leader-Tribune padding and helmets in those days College football violence in the late 19th and early 20th cen turies also included deliberate targeting of particular players, on coaches* instructions. Outright assaults on the field were part of the arsenal. In 1905, 18 young men died from football related injuries. President Teddy Roosevelt, certainly no bleeding heart, even threatened to ban the sport if the colleges couldn’t clean up their act. Roosevelt was a fan and former player, he found the game manly and believed it instilled good character traits of teamwork and perseverance; and he wanted to save the game from itself. It took a few years, but football eventually cleaned up its act, although it remained a rough game. Yet here we are again; delib crate violence that crosses the line in the pros, and many of the same issues that the NCAA dealt with in its early years, such as recruiting irregularities and college players getting “paid” in various underhanded ways. The Penn State scandal brought up urice again the issue of college sports programs and their offi cials wielding too much power. Here in Peach County, this paper dutifully joined the hoopla of College Signing Day, when several of our best lYojan seniors announced their commitments to various college football pro grams. We celebrated their past achievements and cheered those young men as they took their next step toward what we habitually proclaimed to be a bright future. Yet they will be heading into college athletics, which the news tells us, over and over, is plagued with corruption, academic fraud, exploitation of players and abuse of power. A Trojan or two could even make it into the NFL, where we have seen players getting bonuses to deliberately injure other players. Local coaches assure us repeatedly that they strive to build young men's character through sports, and I believe them. However, football has contradictions built into it. We all admire players and teams that persevere, that overcome challenges, that defy expecta tions and go to some deep, inex plicable well to summon the means to win. Somehow, their striving becomes our striving; their overcoming becomes our overcoming. But, if we join the individual players and the team, then we are also part of the game as we cheer a hard hit that’s heard throughout the stadium. We deliver that hit along with the player on the field. Where do we cross the line between “hard, clean hit” and “$1,500 for a cart off’? I don’t know where that line is, but the players and coaches on the Saints who ran that bounty system crossed it, and the same impulses drove them to it that drive every other par ticipant, on field and off. Years earlier, those players were lion ized as “inspiring young men” with “bright futures.” They became hired thugs instead. Years after his playing days, a middle-aged Pudge Heffelfinger scrimmaged with the current Yale team. After he injured several players less than half his age, Pudge was asked to take it easy. He still remembered his lessons. Pray our Trojans remember all of theirs. _ Are You Prepared for Longterm Care Costs? M ii’CATiO t> ihunr l plumm-t Like everyone else, you hope to remain physically and financially independent your entire life. And you may well achieve this goal. Nonetheless, the future is not ours to see, so you’ll want to prepare yourself for as many contingencies as possible one of which is the high cost of long-term care. As you may know, long-term care primarily refers to nurs¬ ing home expenses, but it also includes services provided in your own home. In either case, though, it could be expensive. The national average rate for a private room in a nursing home was more than $87,000 per year in 2011, according to the 2011 MetLife Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs. The same survey found that the aver¬ age private-pay hourly rates for home health aides and home¬ maker companion services were $21 and $19, respectively. With luck, of course, you won’t need to worry about these types of expenses. But consider this: People who reach age 65 have a 40% chance of entering a nursing home, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. And about 10% of those who enter a nursing home will stay there five or more years. Clearly, if you take no steps to prepare yourself for the poten¬ tially devastating costs of an extended nursing home stay, you could be jeopardizing the assets you’ve worked so hard to accumulate. Even worse, if you run through your money, you might end up creating a finan¬ cial and emotional burden for your grown children. Unfortunately, many peo¬ ple assume that a federal or state government program will Concerned About Better Home Town and CVB I was greatly saddened to read in the Byron Crossing Newsletter (April 2012) that the Community Easter Egg Hunt has been canceled for this year. This has been a highly antici¬ pated event for the children in Byron for many years and some parents had already placed the event on their schedule. How sad is it that it is being can¬ celed just because one employee left? This event has been spon¬ sored by the Better Hometown Program (BHT). In recent years the BHT has been merged with the Byron Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and there is still an employee currently working under that Authority. For whatever reason this person is not abie/willing to participate in the egg hunt but surely someone, groups, orga¬ nizations or volunteers could have stepped up to continue this annual tradition. Having done the egg hunt for years as the BHT manager, I know it’s not that hard, throw out some eggs for the kids to pick up and yell GO when it's time to start. In this same newsletter is an article about a volunteer meeting held March 13, where 25 citizens attended, I wonder if any were asked to help with the Egg Hunt to avoid the cancellation? What I find more disturb¬ ing i* the fact that the CVB is funded by tax money, allocated by the City of Byron through a negotiated cataract. This year. 2012, there were i involved in the negotiations but an agree was finally reached. In the contract between the City and the CVB dated March 12, 2012, it states the Authority shall “promote, sponsor and coordinate events in the down¬ town area such as but not limited to, the Easter Egg Hunt, Nightmare on Main Street and the Christmas Parade, in a recorded meeting held February 17, 2012, it was specifically mentioned by CVB Authority representatives that if they did not receive full funding, then they, the Authority, would not be able to put on the Easter Egg Hunt and other downtown events. The City gave them the full funding requested in the amount of more than $132,000 and less than 30 days later, the CVB cancels one of the events they used as a negotiation tool with the City. There are currently four vacancies on the CVB Board but I did contact the other members currently serving-Jeff Owens - chairman, Jimmy. Walker, Michael Chidester, and Mike Patel. I was unable to reach Bill Gresham. There is some dispute as to whether the board approved the cancellation of the Egg Hunt. TWo of the members stated they were unaware the hunt had been canceled; one told me the Board had voted to cancel it. The bottom line is, there was no need to cancel this event. If no volunteers could be found, certainly some of the unused salary from the depart¬ ed employee could have been used to pay sotneooe to make sure this event still happened. The CVB office is current¬ ly boused in the Peach Stops. The Pastor And TheMfisicD‘irector iated. The following Sunday he told the congregation that unless something changed between himself and the music director he was considering resignation. The entire church gasped when the music director led them in “Why Not Tonight." No one in the congregation was surprised when a week later the pastor resigned his pulpit, explaining that Jesus had led him there and that Jesus was leading him away. However, it would have been better for everyone if the choir director had resisted the temptation to close with “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.” A church in another small community had recently called a new pastor. The youip pastor was visiting the homes of his members. At one house no one seemed to be at home after knocks on the door. He took out his card and wrote "Revelation 3:20” on the back and stuck it in the door. When the offering was pro¬ cessed the following Sunday at the morning worship service the pastor found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, “Genesis 3:10.” When the pastor took out his Bible to check out the citation he broke out in gales of laugh¬ ter. Revelation 3:20 begins by saying, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” Genesis 3:10 says, “I heard your voice in the 5 The story is told about a feud that occurred between the pastor and the music director of a church in a small com¬ munity. It seems that the first hint of trouble came when the pastor preached one Sunday on dedicating yourselves to service and the choir director chose to sing, “I Shall Not Be Moved.” Trying to believe that it was a coincidence, the pastor put the incident behind him. The following Sunday the pastor preached on giving. Afterwards the choir squirmed as the music director led them in the hymn “Jesus Paid It All.” By this time the pastor was losing his patience. Sunday morning attendance at the church swelled as the tension between the two con¬ tinued to build. A large crowd showed up the following Sunday to hear the pastor's sermon on the sin of gossiping. The choir director followed with the selec¬ tion of “I Love To Tell The Story.” The pastor was totally humil- help them pay for their long¬ term care expenses. However, Medicare pays only a small portion of nursing home costs, and to be eligible for Medicaid, you would likely have to divest yourself of most of your finan¬ cial assets. Consequently, you'll probably need to find another way to pay for long-term care. Fortunately, there are invest¬ ment or protection vehicles designed specifically to help you meet long-term care expenses. Your financial advisor can help you pick the option that’s most appropriate for your individual situation. Having the ability to pay for long-term care is obvious¬ ly important. But other issues may also enter the picture. For example, if you need to enter a nursing home, you may be suf¬ fering from a physical or mental disability that might prevent you from handling your own affairs. This impairment could prove disastrous to your finances — which is why you can’t afford to take that type of chance. Instead, consult with your legal advisor to determine if you can ben¬ Letter Tn IfU EjCita'i sharing space with the non¬ profit art gallery. The Cow and the Calf. Are tax dollars merely paying for an employee to keep the doors unlocked at this location? We have other events in Byron such as the Farmer’s Market scheduled to start sometime in April and The Battle of Byron in May. Will the CVB not participate in these events as well? Last year the CVB received $117,000 in funding. Only $1000 was used for the Battle of Byron as a sponsorship. If you are as concerned as I am about the Easter Egg Hunt being canceled and the future of other projects coordinat¬ ed through the Byron Better Hometown program. I urge you to contact the board members along with Mayor Larry Collins and Councilmen Farrell Bass, James Richardson. Michael Chumbley, Mark Waters and Michael Chidester and let them know how you feel about this issue or to volunteer to fill the vacancies on this board or even help with any of the projects so we can ensure we have activi¬ ties in our community for its citizens. Joan Hayes Byron Byron Post Office Is OPEN To the editor Last year the Postal Service relocated letter carriers from the Byron Post Office to the Fort Valley Post Office as part of an efficiency move to address our financial shortfall. Some local citizens have THE LEADER-TRIBUNE garden and I was afraid for I was naked.” A GOOD CHRISTIAN MAN In 1946 he opened a diner in Atlanta called the Dwarf Grill. The place was tiny, therefore the name fit. He was a good businessman and an even better cook, serving good food at rea¬ sonable prices. The business grew but not fast enough to move out of the original small space it occu¬ pied. Then about 15 years later just as burgers began to grip the nation, he had a crazy idea. Instead of a quarter pound of beef on a bun, why not sub¬ stitute a plump, juicy boneless breast of chicken? So in 1968 he introduced the original Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. After that, he opened the first Chick-fil-A restaurant in Atlanta's Greenbriar Mall. Shortly thereafter his chicken sandwich really took off and Chick-fil-A restaurants opened across the country. Today millions of people enjoy the original Chick-fil-A sandwich still being cooked Truett Cathy’s special way. Cathy is a good Christian man, does not allow his restau¬ rants to open on Sunday and his son lives on a farm in Fayette County. efit from a durable power of attorney a document that lets you delegate your financial decisions to a relative, close friend or anyone else you might choose. None of us like to think about spending time in a nursing home or needing round-the-clock care in our own homes. However, life is unpredictable. But even if you can’t avoid the need for long-term care, you can take steps to help reduce the finan¬ cial strain it can cause you and your family. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Jeff Holland. For ques¬ tions, please refer to the Call A-Pro section for my contact information. Thank you! Jeff Holland Financial Advisor Edward Jones 4535 Forsyth Road Suite 2 Macon. GA 31210 (478) 757-0210 www.edwardjones.com incorrectly assumed that the Byron Post Office would be closing as part of this action. This is not the case. The Byron Post Office will continue to serve more than 1,100 Post Office boxholders and local customers during its regular hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday. In addition, customers in the Byron delivery area may con¬ tinue to pick up left notice items at the Byron Post Office so they don't have to travel to the Fort Valley Post Office. I apologize for any confusion this may have caused to our local customers. Sincerely Laura Jones Byron Postmaster Region 6 T-SPLOST projects Approved If you,want to complete all the projects approved on the Region 6 • Middle Georgia T-SPLOST constrained project list, your county is going to need more money. There is a $525 399.933 shortfall from the GDOT projected costs (cost - $1J071,159391) of all the projects and dollars commit¬ ted to all the projects (com¬ mitted - $545,759398). These are based an 2011 numbers. Therefore only 51% of the proj¬ ects are completely paid for by the new T-SPLOST tax. The counties in Region 6 will need to make up the dollar shortfall Letters Continued to page 9_