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PAGE 2B FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Wednesday, April 7, 2004 Local Sports Braves 400 Club, Hot Stove League to host events The Braves 4(X) Chib will host its annual preseason luncheon featuring sports writers giving their thoughts on the upcoming season on Thursday, April 8, in the 755 Club at Turner Field. The cost is S2O. Also, Forsyth County Hot Stove Night at the Rome Braves will be Saturday. ’ April 24. Tickets are $lB each, including pregame meal of hot dogs, hamburg ers, chicken and BBQ. por information, call Johnny Tailant for tickets before April 19 at (770) 887-5537. Adult baseball league forming A new adult baseball league associated with Stan Musial Baseball is seeking teams in Forsyth and sur rounding counties to begin play in late spring and sum mer of 2004. For more infor mation. call Dennis Holbrook at (770) 887-4036. Park and Rec Challenger Softball The Forsyth County Parks and Recreation Department is hosting Challenger Softball on Thursdays. April 15. 22 and 29. and Tuesdays, May 4 and 11 at Central Park Field No. 3 from 6:30-8 p.m. There is no charge. Everyone who attends will receive a T-shirt on Tuesday. May 11. The event is open to all special education students, grades K-12. It's Time to LA|FI TNE S S SPRING HltO 1-800-LAFITNESS* www.lafitness.com f"'11If " PER WEEK! I m With a one-time low / w ■ initiation fee of $169. x I "~r~ ' I A FREE Racquetball and Basketball Court Use \ w It , J (where available with membership). 4 Pone week pass i V 4 ’ jV*- I Redeem by 4/30/04 ' I ■“■ I . (Ji XhfrJ" 1 J M I LA| FITNESS 4 I iflPy jB 't *’fw*’* * | 1-800-LAFITNESS • www.lafitnMs.com B- „ W ■ s M I S?™* ,n, ° LAFlln«B»® Sports Clubs #nd 'trtwn this ONE PASS for you end afn«nd Must b« M tout 18 YWI I ’ H ” W V A 1 01 *9* * ,rxl •*<** drtvor • licotw or ofhor government teeued picture ID. Sale* preeentetionrtour I MJ.-. ’ ■ ' I .°°*l may be presented Redeemable by non member* only One peat per person, every 8 Z I uMafNFI M , rn< n ’ h « ?••• Activation hour* Sam to Rpm Facilitie* and claaee* va-y from club to club Not avaHable for re*a<e nr I I '•deemable for cash Ertra charge for eome amenitie* B I j2T w «Jfc® lißin-JB 4 I jMbL HOLCOMB BRIDGE PERIMETER PT/DUNWOODY I ' „• ■ • Li I 1475 Holcomb Bridge Rd. 1155 Mount Vernon Hwy.,#6oo fW£l\ *> I (770)640-8137 (770)350 4951 I JOHNS CREEK ROSWELL WEST | 11720 Medlock Bridge Road 4801 Alabama Rd. * ®l3 ■MWKf <77o> 623-9433 (678) 494-6464 * HHHSI VsBBiM PEACHTREE CORNERS SUGARLOAF k 7050 Jimmy Carter Blvd #llß 1860 Duluth Highway (770)797-2661 (770)822-2533 life LIMITED TIME OFFER. Membership offer based on the purchase of a new Easy Start monthly membership of a one time initiation fee of $169 and $39 per month ■k per person. Must pay first and last month's dues plus the initiation fee to join. Membership includes free racquetball and basketball court use, and Kids Klub- jkfc jMMJr ll k babysitting (one child per membership). “Leagues extra. Facilities may vary Monthly dues must be paid by one account and deducted by automatic trans V ,er " orn checl<in 9- savings. Visa, Master Card, American Express, or Discover account Offer not available at our Elite locations Discount is not available in ..V 1 S omblna,ion Wl,h o,her discounted rates including group rates and family add on specials. Call club for details “Extra charge for some amenities Rates may ' z -" : be subject to change without notice. Braves’ division streak goes bust this year So this is it. Mark it down now lest we forget amid the excitement of the pennant race and the tumult of the playoffs. Make a special note to remind yourself come October what a strange and unusual year 2004 became: The Year the Braves Didn’t Win The Division. Talk is cheap on opening day, find every year the pun dits assure us that the Braves long run is over. Yet for the last 12 years in a row. when the dust has cleared, the Braves remained division champions. Remember a couple of years ago, when the Mets became the chic pick to unseat the Braves? They brought in Mo Vaughn. Roberto Alomar. Roger Cedeno, and Jeromy Bumitz to get them over the hump. Did they ever. They haven’t been out of last place since. Last year, they imported Tom Glavine in time to wit ness the worst season of his career. And this year they won’t be much improved. Their new doubleplay combination of Kaz Matsui and Jose Reyes didn't play a single game together this spring. Can't wait for the fun to start the first time they try to turn two. Sprinkle in Mike Piazza at first base, and the infield becomes ground under repair. These guys are so bad that owner Fred Wilpon (he went to high school with Sandy Koufax!) addressed the team at spring training with these encouraging words: “We want STOVE from 1B ning on a group trip to see the Rome Braves on Saturday. April 24. Since the group of Forsyth County baseball enthusiasts first got together in 1992. they have made reg ular trips to minor league ballparks across the South east. Denton v J Ashway vjf to play. . meaningful games." Wow. Talk about inspiration! Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! Talk about last place! The Montreal-San Juan Expos are still in the hemi sphere, as well as the division, still multi-lingual and multi domiciled. They still have the venerable Frank Robinson in the dugout, piloting the ship of fools. They don’t have Vladimir Guerrero, their best hitter from a year ago. They don't have Javier Vazquez, their best pitcher from a year ago. In their place, les Expos picked up household names like Nick Johnson, Tony Batista, and Carl Everett, always a calming influence in the clubhouse. The only meaningful games these guys will play will be against the Mets. Next up are the Marlins, who do have a nice team. And one that might have a chip on its shoulder. "When people looked at us and called us the Miracle Marlins, I think they forgot that from May 23rd on. we had the best record in base ball," growled manager Jack McKeon. The Marlins’ strength lays in the starting rotation of Series hero Josh Beckett. Brad Penny, rookie sensation Dontrelle Willis, and Carl And with the Greenville Braves on their way to Memphis, it never hurts to have another minor league ballpark within close prox imity. "Maybe we need to get one at Mary Alice Park," Tailant joked. "That would be a good place. I need to tell [Cumming Mayor H. Ford Pavano. And A.J. Burnett could be back by summer. But their catcher is gone, which could make a huge dif ference to a young staff. And Ivan Rodriguez took his bat with him. They’ll also miss Derrek Lee and Juan Encarnacion in the lineup, and Ugueth Urbina and Braden Looper in the bullpen. Sorry. I just don’t see this team rolling through the league like it did a year ago. All of which brings us to the Phillies, this year’s chic pick to unseat the Braves. Mind you, these clowns fin ished 15 games behind the Braves a year ago. a develop ment so revolting that they demolished their stadium. They also went out and added Billy Wagner and Tim Worrell to replace useless closer Jose Mesa. But who cares if they saved a combined 82 games last year? They won’t save that many coming out of the same bullpen. Besides, how good can any bullpen be that includes Roberto Hernandez among its denizens? The lineup is no great shakes, and some guys, like Pat Burrell and David Bell, are coming off horrible years. They don’t run and they can’t field. The starting rotation? Fair at best. The manager? Combustible at least. Combine a new ballpark with great expectations and two expen sive closers you can’t reach, and Larry Bowa will have this team imploding by the All- Star break. Gravitt] that’s what we need." Tickets for the April 24 event are $lB. which includes a pregame meal of hot dogs, hamburgers, chick en and barbecue. "Last year, we had about 60 [members attend] because we kind of combined with the 400 Club," Tailant said. "We’ll probably have that All of which leaves the division to the Atlanta Braves for the 13th straight year. The Braves lost a bunch of offense. But we’ve seen how a couple of young guys—Rafael Furcal and Marcus Giles—can energize an entire lineup. Now, let’s add Adam Laßoche, Johnny Estrada, and Mark Deßosa to the mix, and see if a little youthful enthusi asm doesn’t spark some excitement. Questions abound about the frailty of J. D. Drew, but this guy is on the verge of a healthy, break-out, MVP-type season. He should combine with the Joneses to provide the division's most productive outfield. The Braves starting rota tion should also be the divi sion’s most reliable. And the bullpen benefits by the old Branch Rickey maxim: adding by subtracting. Greg Maddux had become quite a drain on the pen with his six inning stints. And any bullpen with out Roberto Hernandez and High and Away Ray King is improved. But the Braves also added Chris Reitsma, a nasty set-up man, in front of John Smoltz, baseball’s best closer. And stirring the mix is Bobby Cox. the best manager in baseball over a 162 game season. After 12 years, it still looks like the Braves are the real chic pick. When not practicing his avocation, Denton Ashway practices his vocation with the law firm of Ashway and Haldi in Cumming. many this year, or maybe even more." And not only will those in attendance get to watch the Rome Braves, but they'll also get to see Tailant's son. Smith, in action as the team’s mascot. Romey the Brave. For information on the trip, call Johnny Tallant for tickets before April 19 at (770)887-5537. BASS from 1B retrieve. Most anglers seem to think that the more casts they make the better their chances, but during Lanier’s prime crankbait period, that is certainly not the case. It is imperative that one finds the “happy medium” to be suc cessful. The retrieve must be just fast enough to allow the crankbait to dive and wiggle, but not one bit more than that. Only the trial of success or failure will show a fisher man when he has achieved the proper speed. Best places to cast are usually points and coves above Browns Bridge in the beginning of this period, but within a week, it won’t mat ter which end of the lake one chooses. Red clay banks seem to have more bass than rocky or sandy ones. It’s best to use spinning tackle with eight-pound test line to'be more efficient and allow the lure to go deep enough to attract the bass. Smaller diameter lines will let the lure go even deeper, but one is more at risk of los ing fish and lures with the lighter lines. If an angler casts directly at the bank, finds the right speed of retrieve, and dili gently works the proper places, he can expect to catch 10 to 25 spotted bass and a few other species of fish in an 8-hour period each day for the next couple of weeks. As soon as the surface tempera ture all over the lake reaches 60 degrees, however, one can put the crankbaits away and learn a new method for the next part of the spring sea son, but I'll save that one for another article. Bill Vanderford has won numerous awards for his writing and photography, and has been inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Guide. He can be reached at (770) 289-1543, JFishsl @aol.com or at www.fishinglanier.com.