Newspaper Page Text
F.irsrib liwruv New, - Friday. .Iww 12,1 MS
Polo Club
hopes better
weather is
on the menu
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The Polo Club of Atlanta is
ready to try and kick off their
1998 season again Sunday at their
facility in the Polo Fields subdivi
sion.
Weather permitting, that is.
Last week’s scheduled opening
date was a washout - but not
because Sunday's weather was
bad. In fact, there wasn’t a cloud
injhe sky.
But Friday’s downpour was too
much for the fields to handle.
Polo Club Director Kim
Domenicone said safety id always
be the overriding factor when it
comes to scratching a game.
“Even if it’s nice the day of the
match, if it’s too wet or too slip
pery we have to cancel,” she said.
Running, stopping and turning
on a wet surface is tough enough
for a human, but the difficulty is
much greater for a half-ton polo
pony carrying a 200-pound polo
player. One slip could be cata
strophic for human and horse.
It’s the players themselves who
make the final decision. “We
don’t want either getting hurt. It’s
not worth it,” said Domenicone.
The 1997 season had more than
its share of rainouts. The first
month or so was canceled while
Mother Nature had her way with
the fields. But with forecasts for
sun for this week, the season
should open Sunday.
Polo may be an expensive sport
to play, but it comes with one of
the cheapest tickets in town.
Prices are $5 per person at the
gate. The real deal is the sls per
vehicle ticket. That price doesn’t
change - regardless of how many
people get jammed into a car.
For those who are unfamiliar
with the rules and flow of the
game of polo, a season guide is
available at the concession stands.
See POLO, Page 2B
WEEK IN SPORTS
MkJQNi 12
Swimmhg
■4lWg W(MS W. Gainesville, i
Cunmine City Pai Pool, 5:30 p.m
Iwarmup), 6: 15 pm, {start).
'■
|m|OLl3
BASSMASTER
KMart at Lakeland Maze, 9
IJSCA SpeedWoek June and test
Htns, Raasway
Park, Cumming Country
Fairgrcmk,ajday. *?""
MIN. JUN. 14
Paso
la Quinta Inn Dqy, Polo Club of
<st and Maiors
wang
JSCA Speed Week tune ord test
rum, MQQMA's Gmwwg Raceway
IS
■pwctWeek competitio-
■■•A f s Cuming Raceway I
Z2ZL
T "■'
Big weekend is ahead for youth racers and anglers
NGQMA hosts
JSCA Speed Week at
Cumming Raceway
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
Junior Sprint Cars of America (JSCA)
has chosen the North Georgia Quarter
Midget Association’s premier facility for
its biggest event.
The Cumming Country Fairground’s
_ , B B Photo/Stephen Underwood
Showing em how its done
New Waves coach Steve Pettit (on deck with white cap) coaches his swimmers, allowing a top
student to demonstrate his entry dive during practice this week.
Riverbend Club events
are a balm for hunter’s
summertime blues
Like many hunters, I don’t
quite know what to do during
the summer except fish. Don’t
get me wrong, fishing is great -
and so is the all-important
archery practice before bow
season starts.
I have always enjoyed going to
pistol ranges during the summer
months, but punching paper tar
gets can get old.
But last Saturday, I discovered
the sport of tactical pistol shoot
ing at the Riverbend Gun Club
- and I think it is the perfect
cure for the summer doldrums.
Even though the sport always
looked interesting on television
(we get the outdoor channel in
Dawson County), I always fig
ured that in order to compete
_<_ . . , . Photo/submitted
The good old days
A reproduction of one of Larry Arnold’s paintings depicts the Atlanta Crackers*
games at the old Ponce De Leon ballpark
* '■ ?
Adult Park and Rec
softball standings
PAGE2B
Cumming Raceway Park will be the host
site for the week-long 1998 JSCA
National Speed Week Championship,
beginning Saturday.
Quarter Midget racers will begin arriv
ing from all over the United States on
Saturday, with the weekend designated for
sign-ins and tune-and-test days, with the
racing action to begin on Monday morn
ing.
The event will be the biggest the
NGQMA has ever held, with 75-100 cars
expected to come in. Yet it still will hardly
match what the still-young local group
See SPEED, Page 2B
Jim VOw
Riley
you had to have a $4,000-plus
.38 Super 1911, all tricked out
to look like something from
Mars.
I discovered, to my enjoyment,
that this is not the case. Most of
the shooters were competing
with near-stock weapons, and
my Glock 23 was perfectly at
home with the other shooters’
guns.
See RILEY, Page 2B
_. Photo/submfcted
Right on target
Forsyth County News hunting columnist Jim Riley (left, shooting) competes at the Riverbend Gun
Club last weekend in a tactical pistol shoot.
By Alton Bridges
Sports Correspondent
One of the artists who has shown his art
work at the annual Cumming Arts and
Craft Fair for the past two years has given
fans of the great past of baseball some
dung to inspire their memories.
When Larry Arnold, a South Carolina
artist, travels to Georgia and particularly
to the Atlanta area, he brings prints of
some of the old baseball parks in the old
Southern Association that he has painted.
One of the most popular prints is labeled
“Crackerball,” depicting the Ponce De
Leon Ballpark that was located across
from the old Sears store on Ponce De
Leon Avenue in Atlanta.
“Many people see these prints and want
to talk about the old ballparks and the
BASSMASTERS’
Casting Kids will be
at Lakeland Plaza
Special to the,Forsyth County News
Local youth, ages 7-10 and 11-14, will
have an opportunity to test their casting,
pitching and flipping skills at this week
end’s stop of the BASSMASTER
Casting Kids Competition tour.
This Casting Kids event will be held
SPLASH! Waves
are rolling again
By Stephen Underwood
Sports Editor
The Cumming Waves swimming
team had a banner year in 1997,
and with another full roster of 130
athletes, they appear poised to do
the same in 1998.
Veteran head coach Nancy
Horton stepped down at the end
of last summer, following many
years of meritorious service - and
one of the team’s best seasons
ever. But a staff led by new head
coach Steve Pettit has guided
another capacity group of Waves
off to a fast start.
The Waves whipped Dacula last
Saturday and have another busy
schedule this summer, highlighted
by a defense of their hard-won
NGSL title and the state meet.
“It’s a pleasure to be a part of
this program,” said Pettit as his
team prepared for weekend meets
at home vs. tough Gainesville
Old Southern League ballparks
live on in Arnold’s paintings "
Local player excels
with Ga. Magic
RAGE2B
Saturday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the
Cumming Kmart in Lakeland Plaza. The
contest is free and open to the boys and
girls accompanied by parent or guardian.
.“The BASSMASTER Casting Kids pro
gram is a wonderful event that has many
benefits,*’ commented Forsyth County
Bass Club chapter president Jackie
Bennett, the sponsors of the event. For
more Information, call (770) 781-9911.
Youth will be judged on their basic cast
ing, pitching and flipping skills - as well
as learning about fishing, conservation
and protection of the outdoors. They will
See FISH, Page 2B
Friday night and at Mountain
Park Sunday. “The kids swam
really good against Dacula.”
Pettit, whose experience
includes NCAA Division I col
lege swimming and leadership of
the Dunwoody Dolphins for seven
years, has three assistants. They
include Jon Newcomer, returning
coach Candace Erickson and for
mer swimmer Kiki Halthen.
Many of the top Waves have
returned from last year - most in
new age groups - and are, well,
making waves again in *9B.
The fastest of all proved to be
Cara Rankart on the first night.
She swam 27.36 seconds in the
50-yard freestyle, 35.51 in the 50
breast, 33.68 in the 50 back and
3,1.27 in the 50 fly. All were the
best, in her 18-and-Under age
group and the best overall, boys
or girls.
See Page 2B
teams they used to play,” said Arnold.
“The baseball fans around Atlanta wete
very loyal Cracker fans and are very
knowledgeable about players who came
through Atlanta.” »
Many people remember the old park and
the great baseball teams the Atlanta
Cracker? used to put onto the field. *fii£
Crackers were the winningest team in Er
minor leagues for many years.
The people in Atlanta knew the ball
players and the ball players made a spe
cial effort to get to know the people. Some
of the future major leaguers who playeg gt
Ponce De Leon Park included Chink
Tanner, Hall of Famer Eddie Matthew,
outfielder Billy Bruton, pitchers Di£k
Donovan and Jack Fisher, managu
See ARNOLD, Page 2B
B