Newspaper Page Text
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, December 18, 2003
Local Sports
Basketball
• North Forsyth at North Springs,
Friday, Dec. 19,6 p.m.
• South Forsyth at Riverwood,
Friday, Dec. 19,7 p.m.
• Forsyth Central at Lumpkin
County Christmas Tournament,
Friday-Saturday, Dec. 19-20,
TBA.
• South Forsyth at Norcross,
Saturday, Dec. 20, 5 p.m.
Wrestling
• The South War Eagles will host
the South Forsyth duals on
Saturday, Dec. 20,
10 a.m., featuring Forsyth Central
and six other varsity teams.
• North Forsyth hosts a quad-meet
against Northgate, Gilmer and
Lumpkin, Saturday, Dec. 20, 9
a.m.
Basketball camp
taking applications
Applications are now being
evaluated for the Ten Star All-Star
Summer Basketball Camp. The
camp is by invitation only. Boys
and girls ages 10-19 are eligible to
apply.
Past participants include:
Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan,
Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse.
Grant Hill and Antawn Jamison.
Players from 50 states and 11
foreign countries attended the
2003 camp.
College Basketball scholar
ships are possible for those players
selected to the All-American team.
A camp will be held this sum
mer in Atlanta.
For more information, or a free
brochure, call (704)373-0873.
Travel baseball
tryouts slated
The Georgia Buzz’s 12-U and
13- travel baseball teams will
soon be hosting tryouts for the
spring 2004 season at Dwight
Terry Park in Canton. Call (770)
578-1996 for information.
Tryouts slated for
14- hoops
The Forsyth Bulldogs 14-U
boys YBOA basketball team is
hosting tryouts for experienced
players for its upcoming season,
which begins March 2004. Tryouts
will take place in December and
January. For more information,
contact Dave Clark at (770) 855-
1626 or (770) 886-1395 after 6
p.m.
YMCA indoor
soccer signups
The YMCA is currently tak
ing registration through the end
of December for its indoor soc
cer program, which focuses on
the character values of honesty,
respect, responsibility and car
ing.
Children will learn about
team work and build self confi
dence.
For more information, con
tact (770)888-2788.
Park and Rec
hosts clinics
The Forsyth County Parks
and Recreation Department is
hosting two camps during the
upcoming holidays.
• The Fast-Pitch Clinic cov
ers beginning pitching for ages
7-12. Coach Geldhart from
Young Harris College is the
Instructor. The program runs
Dec. 29-31 from 9 a.m. until
noon. The fee is S6O.
• The Christmas Soccer
Camp runs Dec. 29-31 from
7:30-11:30 a.m. at North Forsyth
High School. The clinic is led by
Lady Raider head soccer coach
Erik Moore. The fee is SIOO. For
information on either camp, con
tact James Parks at (770) 781-
0 2215.
Sports EXTRA
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A time for giving
By Eric Goodwin
Knight Ridder/T ribune
The holidays are here and that
means it’s time to break out the wal
let and do some shopping! If a
NASCAR fan is on your list, don’t
worry there’s plenty of stock-car
related merchandise to choose from.
NASCAR products run the gamut
from soap to electric guitars. The
hardest part may be figuring out
where to begin. Here’s a list of gift
ideas to get you pointed in the right
direction.
THROWBACKS
• If sales of retro-styled football
and basketball jerseys are any indi
cation, so called “throwback” items
are here to stay. With R.J. Reynolds
bidding farewell as primary sponsor
of NASCAR's top series after a 30-
year run, why not give your Ibng
time racing fan something to com
memorate the Winston era? One idea
is a NASCAR Winston Cup
“Original Logo” longsleeve T-shirt
from the NASCAR.com Superstore.
This officially licensed shirt features
a screen-print of the first Winston
Cup logo on the shirt’s front and a
large screen-printed graphic featur
ing a vintage car on the back.
$19.99, store.nascar.com
So many bowl games, so little time for predictions
The only usefulness I can see in a
bowl game is that it pads someone’s
pockets. But, it is college football
and that means fans are interested in
the outcome of most of the
matchups. With this in mind, lets
take a look some of the bowls and
project a winner. (OK. I know every
body does it. Just humor me!)
The Hawaii Bowl will be played
on Christmas night in Honolulu and
will feature the home-standing
Rainbow Warriors and those fear
some Houston Cougars. Any excuse
to get out of Texas for the holidays is
a good one. Unfortunately, the
Cougars will be concentrating on all
those grass skirts and not the grass
on the gridiron. Take the Warriors.
Northwestern will battle Bowling
Green in the Dec. 26 Motor City
Bowl. Two questions immediately
come to mind: Why are Bowling
Green’s uniforms red? Why would
any postseason contest hard up
enough to invited Northwestern be
worthy of our attention? One team
will win, but who cares which one?
The Dec. 29 Alamo Bowl is so
prestigious that the Nebraska coach
got fired for being invited. Let’s
move on.
Navy and Texas Tech hook up in
the Dec. 30 Houston Bowl. Navy
coach Paul Johnson will be a big
name one day. Anyone who can lead
1964 Nell Bonnett Cheville die-cast
coin bank
• If your fan is a true-blue stock
car racing fan, then they’ll be sure to
appreciate the 1964 Neil Bonnett
Cheville die-cast coin bank from
Action Performance. The 1:24 scale
replica features a hood and trunk
that opens, plus a detailed interior.
The coin bank has a key to make
sure your loose change is secure.
$29.99, www.qvc.com
• Fans who don’t go back quite
that far with the sport but still know
a thing or two about their NASCAR
history will enjoy Action
Performance’s Cale Yarborough
Winston Cup Victory Lap die-cast
car. The 1:24 scale car is a tribute to
the the three-time champion and a
replica of the car driven at last
August’s Darlington race to com
memorate 33 years of Winston Cup
history. It features detailed graphics
and manufacturer specific engine
detail. $59.99, www.qvc.com
Danny
Daniels
a service academy into the postsea
son knows what he’s doing. Tech is
favored. Don’t buy it. .
Texas deserves better than a trip
to San Diego and the Dec. 30
Holiday Bowl. The Longhorns are
favored by 10 over Washington
State. That’s about right.
Auburn was ranked No. 1 in some
preseason polls, yet the best the War
Eagles or Plainsmen or Tigers can do
is to spend New Year’s Eve in balmy
Nashville’s Music City Bowl.
Tommy Tuberville’s group is happy
to be anywhere for the holidays and
T'. ’ erville is tickled pink to have a
job. Auburn celebrates big time at
Wisconsin’s expense.
If there’s anyplace less desirable
than Nashville in late December, it’s
Memphis and the Liberty Bowl.
Southern Miss and Utah have been
sentenced, I mean invited, to put on a
show in the 35-degree temperatures.
At least Memphis is warmer than
Provo. Utah wins.
Arkansas, one of the worst teams
in the SEC, tangles with Missouri,
GAMES
• Speaking of throwbacks, classic
board games never go out of style.
For fans who enjoy traditional
games, USAopoly’s NASCAR
Checkers is a perfect match. The
game features custom checker pieces
sculpted to resemble the Goodyear
tires used on stock-cars and comes
in a collectible tin. $14.95,
www.usaopoly.com
• However, if your fan is a video
gamer and owns a few racing games,
put him more in the action with a
Thrustmaster racing wheel game
controller.
The com
pany features
a full line of
officially
licensed
NASCAR rac
ing wheels for
Play Station 2,
Xbox, PC and
The Thrustmaster
Pro Victory Wheel
for the Xbox retails
for $59.99.
Macintosh
computer systems. Each wheel
varies, but all include internal vibrat
ing motors that allow players to
“feel” every bump in the road. Some
models include foot pedals for even
more realism. $24.99 to $99.99,
depending on model and game plat
form, us.thrustmaster.com
one of the worst teams in the Big 12,
in the Independence Bowl. Might be
the most boring matchup this side of
Memphis/North Texas. Missouri
wins, but no newspaper will care
enough to print the score.
Tampa will be the scene of the
Outback matchup on Jan. 1 between
Florida and lowa. The SEC East is
shaping up to be the most competi
tive division in college football for
the next several seasons and the
Gators will prove they are again a
force to be reckoned with.
Orlando's Jan. 1 Capital One
Bowl landed Georgia and Purdue.
The Bulldogs will be one of the
favorites to win the national title in
2004 and they begin their quest with
a convincing victory over the
Boilermakers. UGA still needs to run
the ball better.
Some will tell you the National
Championship game will be played
Jan. 1 in Pasadena when Southern
Cal meets Michigan in the Rose
Bowl.
The Wolverines take all the heat
off the BCS with an upset and give
ABC’s Sugar Bowl ratings a big
boost.
The Jan. 1 Orange Bowl has what
once was a marquis matchup. Florida
State and Miami are both on their
way back to the top of the polls.
However, neither are there yet. It will
Lanier
National
under new
ownership
From staff reports
BRASELTON Though one of
the nation’s top weekly short tracks
recently experienced a change in
ownership, the management, premier
facilities, and action-packed racing
which fans have come to expect at
Lanier National Speedway remains
unchanged.
An investment group, led by
Donnie Clack, has purchased the
.375-mile oval from Dave Liniger Sr.
General Manager Stan Narrison
remains in place and says the high
standards in place at the track, which
opened in 1982, will continue to be a
priority.
“We’re excited to have local own
ership and to know there is a com
mitment to keep the racing program
consistent as it has been,” Narrison
said.
Lanier National Speedway will
continue to operate as a NASCAR
sanctioned short track. The NASCAR
Dodge Weekly Series returns to the
north Georgia track in 2004.
“We are extremely proud to be
operating in conjunction with the
premier stock car sanctioning body
in the world,” Narrison said.
Last season's Budweiser Pro Late
Model champion, Richey Etheridge
of Flowery Branch, recently learned
how lucrative winning a track title at
Lanier National Speedway can be
when he was awarded more than
$28,000 in cash and prizes at the
November awards banquet.
The Checks to Cash Spring
Explosion season opener is set for
Saturday, March 27.
The program will include a 150-
lap Pro Late Model race which pays
$4,000 to the winner. The event will
also feature the popular United
Sprint Car Series. As an added
bonus, fans will be treated to a
sl,ooo-to-win demolition derby.
A total of 23 events makeup the
the 2004 schedule at Lanier National
Speedway. Touring series such as
ASA, the USCS, and the Southern
All Stars will visit the Braselton
track.
Pro Late Model, Trucks, Sports
man, Sportsman, Modified Minis,
Factory Fours, X-Karz, and Legends
all return in the weekly lineup in the
upcoming season. Pro Late Model
drivers have a chance to pocket extra
money in the Super Six series.
Lanier National Speedway is
located just minuter northeast of
Atlanta off Interstate 85 at exit 129
on Hwy. 53. Call (770) 967-8600 for
additional information.
be instant offense in Miami and the
Seminoles will win a game which
will carry a lot more weight a year
from now.
Ole Miss, thanks to Archie and
Olivia Manning’s offspring, will be
making their one and only post-New
Year’s Day bowl appearance at Jan.
2’s Cotton Bowl.
It’s usually cold in Dallas around
this time of year, but the Rebels
don’t care. Eli and Company will be
giddy at the expense of Oklahoma
State.
The Peach Bowl, set for Jan. 2,
has Tennessee and Clemson in what
could be the biggest mismatch of the
bowl season. Tennessee wants to
make a statement while the Tigers
are happy to be playing anybody.
Volunteers’ announcement will be
loud and clear. Phat Phil’s boys are
back!
Tempe’s Fiesta Bowl offers the
best weather and, probably one of the
best games. Ohio State gives Kansas
State a jolt of reality.
The Big One has LSU and
Oklahoma on Jan. 4 in the Sugar
Bowl. The Sooners are still the best
team in the country and they will
prove it to Tiger fans.
Danny Daniels, sports editor at
the Barrow County News, con
tributes his regional wrapup once a
week.