Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, August 04, 2011, Image 17

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Newspaper Page TextInside this section • Classifieds • Legals • Real Estate B Section August 4, 2011 PHS fall sports to begin By Don Bryant With school now in session, the PHS sports teams are gearing up for their upcoming seasons. Throughout the summer months the PHS Dragons have been hard at work with condi tioning drills and weight training. Beginning on Wednesday the Dragons will begin practice in full gear as they prepare for their August 18 pre-season home match-up against West Hall. The Dragons will be led again by Coach Steve Sewell. Joining him on the sidelines will be as sistant coaches Michael Bail, Sam Wigington, Duane Cronic, Adam Wharton and Joseph Mullins. Other coaches will be Daniel Culbreth and Stephen Hunter, both former PHS stu dents and players. The Dragons will kick off the season on Friday, August 26, as they travel to Dawson. This year’s PHS girls softball team will be headed by Coaches Jason Nunn and Ann Wall. They will begin play on Tuesday, Au gust 16, at Fannin. Jesse Scott will coach the cross-country team and once again Coach Todd Geren will head up the PHS volleyball pro gram. Their first match will be August 12 at home against Our Lady of Mercy. To mark 9/11 anniversary, Jasper business owner prepares for Atlanta to New York bike ride Freedom riding father and son. Jon Hudgens and his son, Ian, plan to join a group com posed mostly offirefighters riding to New York on bikes to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. By Dan Pool, editor dpool@pickensprogress.com A Jasper business owner and his son have the distinction of being the oldest and youngest participants in the Freedom Ride - a 1,035 mile bicycle ride leav ing Atlanta August 26 and rolling into New York in time to com memorate the Sept. 11 attacks. Jon Hudgens and his son Ian are both signed on as riders in the crew that began planning with just a simple idea of two fire fighters making the ride with lit tle accompanying fanfare to mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks which destroyed theTwin Towers. The simple idea hatched by Mike Palmeri, owner of Cartecay Bike Shop in Ellijay, and a fel low Atlanta firefighter has since taken off. “It’s something that has gained a life of its own,” said Hudgens, who owns the Art of Hair on Cove Road. The elaborate multi-day event has around 20 participants, in cluding other riders (mostly fire fighters), plus an array of support personnel and sponsors. Hudgens, at 62 is the oldest, said he had been “somewhat talked into it” by a fellow biker - the coercer has since dropped out. But once on board, Hudgens got excited by the challenge and the trip. Hudgens noted he hadn’t had a real vacation in a decade and why not take off and spend more than a week on two-wheels heading to New York. His son, Ian, the youngest rider at 22, got excited hearing his dad planning for it and even though Ian wasn’t a road cyclist decided he would join m. During a training ride last week, Hudgens was cruising around Jasper while this reporter tagged along. Hudgens, who looks and rides like someone 20 years younger, wasn’t exactly flying on that ride, mentioning that the 300 miles he had logged the week before had drained some of the spring from his legs. He also wanted to pace himself that Friday as he intended to roll consecutive 100 mile plus days that weekend. Hudgens has ridden more than 100 miles in a day (a Cen tury as cyclists refer to it) on nu merous occasions but he has drastically ramped up his train ing to be able to handle the day- after-day of 100 plus miles needed to reach New York from Atlanta in only 16 days. Hudgens said he and his son both have connections to New York and going back to com memorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed 3,000 is a draw. “I used to be a bike messenger in New York and the thought of riding to New York and then rid ing in New York is appealing,” he said. Ian was born there and the route will go right by the hos pital. Hudgens said the toughest riding will be the more than 460 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway with its steep grades, through that section every man will “climb” by themselves and then re-group at the end point each day. “After we get off the parkway, the group will be more like a pack of 15 riders working to gether,” Hudgens said. Cyclists get an advantage by trailing each other closely to cut down on the wind resistance with each rider “pulling” by riding in front. When Hudgens tells his friends and clients at Art of Hair about the ride, “most people say I’m crazy.” Hudgens said he has never done an event this long, but he comes somewhat prepared with a background in adventure racing, as a former Georgia duathlon (biking and running combined) champion and a former cross country coach for Etowah High School. Hudgens said this ride is just one of those things you have to go out and do. Riding with Hud gens, he remains calm, almost lackadaisical on grueling climbs and in grueling conditions. Even if he isn’t the fastest, Hudgens might be one of the toughest rid ers. He’ll, without any drama, tell about a ride on a particularly hot day when took a wrong turn, ran out of water and got so dehy drated that he temporarily lost a portion of his vision - as though this happens regularly to other cyclists. Hudgens’ advice for riding the long hills may serve him well on this ride, “You don’t have to get to the top first, you just have to get there.” For more information to help sponsor the Freedom Ride, see www.freedomride2011 .com. A going-away party/fundraiser for Hudgens is being planned for August 18. Details will be re leased later. Lot for sale (7.75 acre) Off of Grandview Road, across the road from lake, near dam (close to back gate of Bent Tree). Easy access. Very secluded, surrounded by conservation land. Nice ridge running center of property, mostly hardwoods, down sloping. REDUCED AGAIN! $6,200. A share of Class A stock in Grandview Lake Corp. also available to give full use of Grand view Lake only 2 minutes away. 770-893-7230 GREAT VIEW OF SHARPTOP MOUNTAIN NFL Football Games are on By Don Bryant After 4-1/2 months of labor talks between NFL owners and players, both sides finally struck a deal last week to lift the lock out that threatened the upcoming football sea son. Last week, NFL owners voted 31-0 to ratify a 10-year labor deal with players who also approved it on Monday. This new deal runs through the draft in 2021 when the NFL will be 101 years old. With this agreement reached between the owners and players, the game will look the same on the field. However, there will be significant changes in how the league conducts business. Both parties can point to vic tories with the new agreement beginning with the owners who gain a higher percentage of all revenue. The owners will re ceive 53 percent and players will receive 47 percent. The old deal was closer to 50-50. Spending will be down for first-round draft picks. For years, owners and some veterans were upset that top draft picks instantly became some of the highest paid players at their positions. With this new agreement, each team will be assigned an amount that it can spend on its rookies depending on draft posi tions. Rookies can still be part of the negotiating process, but there is now a hard ceiling to prevent untested players from signing lu crative contracts. Last season, the Rams awarded No. 1 pick Sam Brad ford $50 million in guaranteed money. In 2009, Georgia QB Matthew Stafford signed a con tract worth $41.7 million in guaranteed money. This year, No. 1 pick Cam Newton signed a deal that will pay him $22 mil lion over four years. Under the new agreement, this year’s first-round picks must sign four-year deals that include a fifth-year club option. If that option is exercised, it would pay the top 10 picks the average of the top 10 veterans’ salaries at that position. Players selected 11 through 32 will earn an average of the top 3 through 25 salaries at their positions. No. 2 overall pick, Von Miller, received $21 million guaranteed over four years from Denver. While in 2010, the No. 2 pick, Ndamukong Suh, re ceived a five-year deal worth $40 million guaranteed and as much as $68 million overall. Closer to home, former Geor gia player Kris Durham, fourth- round selection of Seattle, signed for four years for $2,504 million. He was the 12th re ceiver chosen in April’s draft and went 107th overall. Georgia player A.J. Green, the first re ceiver chosen, went fourth to Cincinnati and signed a four- year $19.6 million contract. Under the new agreement, players got the owners to com mit to spending nearly all of their salary-cap space in cash and changes were made to in- season and off-season practice rules in order to make the game safer. Players can be kept on the field for only four hours with shortened training camps. It will affect how rosters are put to gether as kickoff is just around the comer. World Swimming Championship New face of swimming By Don Bryant With a solid showing in last week’s World Swimming Cham pionships held in Shanghai, American Ryan Lochte may be on the verge of replacing Michael Phelps as the best com petitive swimmer in the world. In 2004 Lochte won the SEC and NCAA titles in the 400 indi vidual medley while a sopho more at Florida. In the same year he made the Olympic team by finishing fourth in the 200 free and finished second to Phelps in the 200 individual medley at the Trials. For the next four years it seemed that Lochte would finish second behind Phelps in head-to- head competition in nearly every major event. In the 2004 Olympics, Lochte started to shine as a world-class swimmer as he picked up a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay and a silver in the 200 in dividual medley. In the 2008 Olympics in Bei jing, Lochte picked up another gold in the 200 backstroke and the 4x200 freestyle relay and a bronze in the 200 and 400 indi vidual medleys. In the 2009 World Champi onships, Lochte picked up a gold in the 200- and 400-meter indi vidual medley, 4x200 freestyle relay, 4x100 freestyle relay and a bronze in the 200 backstroke. In this event, Lochte set the cur rent World record in the 200 in dividual medley. Last season, Lochte won six gold medals in the year’s biggest competition, the Pan Pacific Championships, and in the short- course World Championships held in a 25-meter pool becom ing the only swimmer to break individual world records in the post-rubberized swimsuit era. In last Tuesday’s World 200- meter freestyle, Lochte beat his teammate Michael Phelps to win one of the most highly awaited races of the World Champi onship. Lochte touched in at 1: 44.44 seconds with Phelps tak ing silver in 1:44.79 In last year’s U.S. Champi onships, Lochte beat Phelps in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke. In the Pan-Pa cific Championships he won six gold medals to Phelps’ five. For the second time in three days, Lochte defeated Phelps in world record time. Last Thurs day, he claimed gold in the 200- meter individual medley. On Friday, after winning the 200 backstroke he competed in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay where he put on a gutsy perform ance as he carried his teammates to victory in the event after Phelps and Ricky Berens lost the lead. He trailed France’s Fabien Gilot by half a body length until the final 100 meters where he moved ahead and finished strong for the win. Since the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Americans have won this event in every interna tional competition. Heading into this Monday’s conclusion of the World Cham pionships, Lochte has collected five medals including four gold and the only World record so far. With the London Olympics a year away, the rivalry between Lochte and Phelps could take on a new meaning. Lochte may be the new face of American swimming. There may never be another Michael Phelps who won 8 medals in Beijing and has a record 14 Olympic gold medals. He has lit tle left to prove in swimming. Lochte has won three gold medals, including one individ ual. He may have not peaked yet. Phelps has stated that he plans to retire after the London Olympics. First soccer practice this Saturday Sign-up underway for new fall baseball, softball program By Angela Reinhardt, staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com According to Pickens County Recreation Department Director Melinda Goss, several more teams are needed for the new fall baseball and softball programs before sign-up deadline later this month. “This is the first year we’ve been able to offer this program,” Goss said. “We had received a lot of requests and calls from people who wanted them, so we thought we would go ahead with it this year.” Goss said there are now two teams registered for the program, but the rec department will ulti mately need four teams in each age group. There are four age groups in total: 7-8; 9-10; 11-12; and 13- 14, with 10 to 12 players on each team. Deadline for registration is August 19. Individuals cannot sign up for fall baseball and softball; they must sign up by teams. If you are interested in playing but do not know a coach or team to join up with, Goss said you can contact the rec department to be put on a list coaches can pull from if they are in need of more players. Cost for participating is $50, which does not include the uni form. Goss said the department will see how much interest there is in the programs this year before making a decision about bring ing them back for another sea son. Fall soccer begins this weekend This Saturday, Aug. 6, rec soccer players will dig in for the first practice of the season. Goss said registration num bers are down a little from 2010, with 20 teams registered this year. These numbers are down three or four teams from last sea son. The fall soccer season will run through mid November. You can contact the Pickens County Recreation Department at 706-253-8862 or visit their website at www.pickenscoun- tyrecdept.com for more informa tion. Barrel racing and pole bending practice Riders may participate in barrel racing and pole bending practice on the 1 st and 3rd Saturday of the month at Talking Rock Arena, 2019 Antioch Road, from 6-10 p.m. - $15. Must have current coggins. Riders under 18 must have parent sign waiver. This will be a great time for all ages and all levels of riders. Call 706-253-7778 for rain out updates or questions or find us on Facebook.

Georgia Historic Newspapers

Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current, August 04, 2011, Image 17