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PAGE 2B I - FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, April 21,2004 Local Sports 5K run honors local man The Jay Cullen Memorial 5K race, to be held Saturday. April 24, at the First Baptist Church of Cumming, will honor the local cyclist Jay Cullen who was recently killed by a motorist. The race begins at 8 a.m. Raceday reg istration lasts from 7-7:45 a.m. and costs sl7. Interested parties can also register online at www.active.com. For more information, con tact the First Baptist Church. (770)887-2428. ASA set to host summer camps The Atlanta Soccer Academy. Forsyth County's new soccer club, is hosting Summer Camps this season in Cumming. The first ses sion runs June 21 -25. There will be sessions for players in age divisions U 6 to U 8 (from 9 a.m. to 11 am).U9 to Ull (9 a.m. to noon) and Ul2 & up (4-7 pm.). The camp costs S9O for U6-U8 participants and is $ 125 for players aged U 9 & up. The ASA's second camp runs July 19-23. This camp is involved with the Atlanta Silverbacks profes sional club and will take place at Forsyth's Pinecrest Academy. The Silverbacks camp has two sessions: 9 a.m. to noon (cost. $100) and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (cost. $185). Call (770) 557-0430 or visit www.atlsoccer.com. Cumming Waves to host registration The 2003 NGSL Champion Cumming Waves swim team w ill host open enrollment for the 2004 sea son on Saturday. April 24. from 9 a.m. to noon. Enrollment and swimsuit fit tings will be at the Cumming Parks and Recreation office on Pilgrim Mill Road. Fees $ 120 for the first child and sllO for additional children. A copy of the swim mer's birth certificate is required at registration. Call Jeff McLean, (770) 886-5251. 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. Call Dennis Holbrook at (770) 887-4036. sgg Now registering foru BS H w ej-Gorv\ e [M ■ TO CAt'A't* H M*A*D (Music,Art, Drama) “ June 7-11,9 AM-12 Noon S ql - Cost; S4O - Sing together, experience handbells A recorders, hear professional concerts, create art work, and prepare a short musical presentation Clay Camp - July 6-8,10 AM-12 Noon - Cost; S4O Local artist Kathy Wert will lead in techniques to I create colorful clay art - Creative Ministries Camp - June 29-July 1, 9-30 AM-12 Noon - Cost; S4O - Local Artist Karen Lucci will present Bible Stories and themes to "un cork" creativity with water colors The above camps are for Grades 3-6 (fall placement) Creative Ministries Camp - June 15-17, 9 30 AM-12 Noon - Cost: S4O - Local Artist Karen Lucci will present Bible Stories and themes to "uncork" creativity with water colors. For Age 4-grade 2 (fall W ■ placement) Vacation Bible School - Cost: sls (includes T-shirt) June 21-25, 9 AM-12 Noon or July 19-23,6:30-8:30 PM Join us for an exciting adventure on Lava Lava Is land! Explore the life of Jesus through music, crafts, mission study, story telling and recreation. For age 4 -grade 6 (fall placement) |BS Cumming First United Methodist Church M 770 Canton Hwy • Cumming, GA 30040 Questions? Call: (770) 887-2900, ext 220 If the Braves can believe in themselves, why can’t the fans? The naysayers, the faint hearted, and those of little faith were out in full force Friday as the World Champion Florida Marlins hit town. Why. to hear the talk, you’d have thought the Braves would be better served by just forfeit ing the three game set and sav ing wear and tear on their players. _ Even the Braves them selves seemed taken aback by the Marlins juggernaut. "Not every team has the confidence the Marlins do,” noted a wide eyed Marcus Giles. "It’s some thing we need to have, too. Confidence is a tough thing to beat, and a tough thing to develop." “They have that air about them right now, and rightfully so," chimed in Mark Deßosa. "They're young, confident, and aggressive. And they’ve got pitchers hitting better than me! On the bench last year, we watched them and said. 'This team will become a monster if they ever put it all together.' And they have.” Florida landed in Atlanta with an 8-1 record, a seven game winning streak, a three game division lead, and a fran chise record 30 consecutive scoreless innings streak intact. READY from IB title contender: talent, desire, coaching and plain old luck. Mark Richt seems to have a firm handle on his team, and his cool exterior Should help deflect the impending weight of expectations. The 25.000 or so attendees to Saturday's spring game can certainly attest that the Dogs have the requisite skill and desire. But whether that last ingredient ("old lady luck" as the gravely voiced Munson might say) joins the mix is anyone's guess. Because while teams can make their own. there's a chance that Georgia will need UCLA to upset USC or even Tennessee to knock out Florida. There's also the injury sit uation that all fans red and black became too familiar with last season. You can't w in championships when half the team is on the trainer's table. If the Dogs suffer a repeat of last season's attrition, the hype could turn out to be just that, “hype." But if Georgia's luck holds, Saturday showed that tickets could be awfully hard to come by in Athens this fall. David Greene, who could leave Georgia as possibly its best-ever signal caller, looked sharp, going 11-for-13 with two touchdowns. His Denton J Ashway X&f Their team earned run average of 1.22 was worthy of the Dead Ball Era. The Braves, meanwhile, had sputtered to a 4-5 start, doing a little bit of hitting (all at once, when it did come) and virtually no pitching. Staff aces Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton looked incapable of retiring the Toledo Mud Hens. Closer John Smoltz was sur rendering a home run every inning. Suddenly, the Braves were looking at having their confi dence completely eroded, being buried in the standings, and having the Marlins sym bolically sweeping away the Braves as Division Kingpins. Suddenly, this was as big a series as April can afford. Leave it to Smoltz, to sound the rallying cry. "We need to chop 'em down. We’re getting ready to go on a long road trip, and we need to keep our heads above water. It'd be real nice to be playing good baseball.” Thank you. Dr. Smoltz. By slimmed-down profile signi fied that he is indeed ready for his final campaign between the hedges. The receivers, despite a couple of early drops, looked good, making big plays when they had chances, as did the running backs (the Dogs may have found a strong 1-2 com bination in Kregg Lumpkin and freshman Danny Ware). The only question on offense remains a banged up line of scrimmage. With two starters (Bartley Miller and Josh Brock) already roaming the sidelines, Georgia lost another when the mammoth Max Jean-Gilles went down with an ankle sprain not to worry, Gilles should be fine come September. But the depth situation has got to be a concern. The defense also has some questions along the line, namely whether they’ll have enough quality depth at tackle. Georgia also sports a young set of cornerbacks. But other than that, the Bulldog defense showed that it may, indeed, be even better than last year. Odell Thurman and Thomas Davis while they were allowed found their way into every play with the usual results (I'm sure Lumpkin's bell is still ring ing) before hitting the bench es early. As for David Pollack, the senior sparkplug Sunday afternoon, the Braves found themselves in an impromptu mosh pit at home plate, a joyous group that just couldn’t stop jumping up and down, hugging and slapping each other on the back. The Braves, mind you. They mobbed Andruw Jones, who moments earlier had motored around the bases and slid home with the win ning run, sealing the three game sweep, boosting the Braves confidence, and send ing them on the road playing good baseball. Yes, it’s only April, only a 3-2 win, but don’t think this wasn’t big. When’s the last time you saw the Braves act like little leaguers at the Dairy Queen? The ’95 Series, maybe? In fact, this series might have been the call to arms. Though no one else seems to, these Braves now appear to believe in themselves. And if they’re going to be dethroned as division champs, they’re going down hard. Sunday’s game was so big that Giles, the fuzzy-cheeked, ever-grinning second baseman. managed to get himself tossed out of the game. Yes, the third strike called by plate umpire couldn’t even get into the con test. Pollack dressed but was held out, offensive coaches noting that they were tired of him blowing up every play up before it even developed. • Saturday showed that there are many good things to come this fall, but it also served as a scary reminder of just how fragile that success could be. The Dogs have, possibly, more depth than at any time in recent history, but as all Bulldog fans learned last sea son. it takes more than just depth to win. To go all the way, you need a little luck too. Get that, and Georgia may find themselves in the middle of a champi onship hunt in 2004. events seminars Unless otherwise noted, all seminars are free. 31 c Ver I colorectal cancer | Who’s at Risk? Early detection and treatments may make a difference in the eventual outcome of colorectal cancer The five-year survival rate is about 90% for people treated in an early stage, before it has spread, but only about a third of colorectal cancers are found that soon. Join colorectal surgeon Dolford S Payne, MD for a discussion of detection, diagnosis and treatment. When: Tuesday, April 20 and Tuesday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m Where: North Fulton Regional Hospital, Second Floor, Classroom D Call: (770)751-2660 for registration and information arthritis | Hip and Knee Pain Kim Yourick, PT, MBA discusses hip and knee pain, joint pain, arthritis treatment options, surgery, rehabilitation and nutrition. When: April 29, May 27, June 24 Where: NFRH Medical Office Building, 2500 Hospital Boulevard, Suite 400 Call: (770)751-2660 for registration and information weightloss | Bariatric Surgery Weight Loss Program Coordinator Belencia White, RN discusses surgical weight loss options for those 100 pounds or more overweight. When: Seminars are offered each month. Where: 11685 Alpharetta Highway, Suite 165, Medical Arts Center Building Call: (770)751-2660 for registration, dates, time and information North Fulton Regional Hospital < fener www.m>rthftlltonf«gloMl.com Georgia Chris Guccione was both high and outside, but when was the last time a bad call induced a Brave to toss equipment on the field in protest? And there was Mike Hampton, he of the robust 16.20 ERA coming in, out pitching the Marlins Brad Penny (1.80). At least until Kevin Gryboski relieved in the eighth, just in time to surren der a tying, pinch-hit homer to Ramon Castro. But the Braves pulled the game out when Miguel Cabrera lost Johnny Estrada’s fly in the sun, and Andruw Jones beat two perfect throws to the plate. Gee, that sounds like the Braves of old: making the opponent pay dear ly for any mistake. Saturday, it was Russ Ortiz, he of the robust 6.75 ERA coming in, outpitching World Series hero Josh Beckett in a 4-1 Braves win. Beckett had been nearly unhittable, coming in with a microscopic ERA of 0.64. That jumped to 2.21 after the Braves tagged him for four runs in six innings, including homers by Chipper Jones and gadzooks! Jessie Garcia. Friday night. Jaret Wright overcame some early shaky fielding with six solid innings, Eli Marrero and Chipper g<w 1 hhhbbl / iJh s Mr Hr / L I Qjraf y’a £ S jr j ~ , ••• A , .J.' jP % Photo/David McGregor Starting fullback Des Williams is tackled by Demario Minter and Thomas Davis. added two-run homers, and Smoltz came on to save the 5- 4 win without incident. And don’t forget, this team still isn’t healthy. Rafael Furcal, out a week with a weak back, returned Sunday only because of Giles’ ejection. Chipper was carted off the field after reinjuring his ham string in the sixth inning Sunday. J. D. Drew has missed a week, and will doubtless miss more time. It’s his nature to be sidelined. Still, it was enough to get the Marlins talk ing to themselves. As center fielder Juan Pierre observed Saturday night, “Until some body knocks them out of the East, they’re the team to beat.” All of which brings us back to Dr. Smoltz. “This is not a team that can lose confidence in itself. It knows it needs to do certain things the right way. I see this team fighting for the things it has to get. But you watch this team from the start and you watch it grow.” Just as we watched the Braves confidence and passion grow over the weekend. When not practicing his avocation, Denton Ashway practices his vocation with the law firm of Ashway and Haldi in Cumming.