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Inside this section • Classifieds • Legals B Section December 29, 2016 Pickens Middle School wrestling rolling The Pickens Middle School wrestling team had a successful weekend placing 2nd in the Region Dual Championship and 3rd as a team in the Tra ditional Championship. Individual accomplish ments are as follows: 1st Place: Nick Cord ay (79); Andrew Burrell (139); Justin Pumarejo (14 7); Kelly Dover (155) 2nd Place: Isaac Howard (165) 3rd Place: Chase Nelson (102); Austin Ritchie (110); Tristan Ab bott (118); Sy Chadwick (180); and Sam Stout (275) 4th Place: Zade Morgan (72) PHS Basketball Schedule PI IS basketball teams were off last week for the Christmas holidays. The teams will begin playing again on Wednesday, Dec. 28th at the Fannin Holiday Tournament Wed 12/28 TBA Fannin Holiday Tournament Away — — Thu 12/29 TBA Fannin Holiday Tournament Away — — Fri 12/30 TBA Fannin Holiday Tournament Away — — Tue 1/3 6:00 Sonoraville Home Girls 4:30 Fri 1/6 7:00 *SE Whitfield Away Both 4:00 Sat 1/7 6:00 Adairsville Home Both 3:00 Tue 1/10 6:00 *LaFayette Home Boys 4:30 Fri 1/13 7:00 *Gilmer Away Both 4:00 Tue 1/17 6:00 Adairsville Away Boys 4:30 Fri 1/20 7:00 *NW Whitfield Away Both 4:00 Sat 1/21 3:00 Sonoraville Away Both 12:00 Tue 1/24 6:00 ^Heritage Away Girls 4:30 Fri 1/27 6:00 *Ridgeland Home — — Sat 1/28 — Creekview (JV girls only) Away Girls 11:30 a.m. Tue 1/31 6:00 *SE Whitfield (Sr. Night) Home — — Mon 2/6 TBA Region Tournament TBA * denotes Reuion contest Racing Views Racing to the New Year As we get ready for the 2017 racing season we will be reflecting on what the final results were for 2016. As we assess the results of the last season we will be re membering the good, and there was quite a bit of good, along with the bad, sadly to say there was some of that too. The good will out weight the bad by a large amount. To start with NASCAR seems to be beginning to get “The Chase” right. Now that they have added a “Chase” to the other two series, the Xfinity Series and the Camp ing World Truck Series it has added drama to the usually boring points races there. They have adjusted on what they want in the cars of the Cup Series until they have seemed to have made the cars very equal. And the drivers of the Cup cars have been heard about what they want to feel in the cars and this has worked in the fans favor. This past season was the most competitive I can remember in some time. Now lets get the drivers healthy and keep them that way for the entire season so that we can see good racing. The season started in Cup with Tony Stewart being in jured in his final season as a driver before retiring. This did not allow the fans in some locations to give Tony a send off like they had given other drivers such as Jeff Gordon who retired the sea son before. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a concussion and was out for the end of the season so this star was unavailable to the fans for much of the year. As bad as that was for Junior it was a chance for Jeff Gordon to come back and drive in his place. This allowed one star to substitute for another star. Junior is now said to be healthy and ready to get back in the driver's seat at Daytona in February. Sprint left NASCAR as the title sponsor after the 2016 season after a run of 13 years from 2004 when they came to the sport as the Nex- tel Series. The new sponsor will be Monster Energy and the series will be known as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. As Monster Energy will be only the third title sponsor in NASCAR history, Winston and Sprint, it will be interest ing to see how they promote the sport. With NASCAR working on making the fan experience more interactive it will be a challenge to Mon ster Energy to keep the en ergy flowing. Several driver changes are in the cards for the 2017 which will be interesting to see how they play out. Sev eral new drivers are getting a chance to prove themselves in great equipment. Several veteran drivers are on the edge of not having their great equipment for much longer as well. The rookies will have to show their worth quickly or they will be going back to the lower divisions and to lesser rides. This will be happening in all three NASCAR series. Two big questions for the 2017 season are how will Stewart-Haas Racing per form in the switch to Fords and how much will the driv ers at Rousch Racing per formance do toward keeping the doors open at that fran chise? Ford has expanded their fleet of race cars as their ex isting teams are faltering. Both Rousch Racing and Petty Enterprises had poor years in 2016. The only Ford teams to excel were Penske Racing and Woods Brothers. The blue oval wants a cham pionship for the manufac turer but they are going to have to up their game in all the teams to make that hap pen. Maybe Santa will bring the Ford teams a gift of 20- 30 horsepower? Is it time that Dodge will come back to NASCAR rac ing? Without an engine pro gram in the Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series it would seem hardly likely. When they do return it would be after success in both those series to make the move Cup racing again. But stranger things have hap pened. The Ice Bowl at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, AL will be the big show for the year at the track with opening practice on both Thursday and Friday, January 5 and 6. Heat races will take place on Friday and Saturday, January 7 and 8, followed by feature racing on Saturday and Sun day. The month of February will be a full one for racing in South Georgia and all over the state of Florida. The Golden Isles Speedway in Brunswick (Waynesville), GA will start the new year with their Super Bowl of Racing on February 8-11. This is the biggest event of the year for the track and they use it to set the pace for the balance of the year. From Crate Late Models and Top Gun Sprints, to UMP and EBRP Open Wheel Modifieds and B MODS, to Lucas Oil Dirt Late Models to 360 Sprint Cars and Florida Mini Sprints East Bay Raceway in Gibsonton (Tampa), FL will give you plenty of racing action to start your season. The other tracks in Florida such as Volusia Speedway in Barbersville; Bubba Race way Park in Ocala; North Florida Speedway in Lake City; and Ellis Speedway (formerly Lake City Speed way) in Lake City will all be releasing their schedules shortly. Bubba Raceway Park will host the 4th Annual Hangover Classic for Thun der Stocks and Hobby Stocks on January 5-7 with Thurs day night January 5 being a practice night. You know the drill, call before you go or at least check your track out on their web site before you go for any changes to their sched ules. Send us your comments, questions, answers, or cor rections to P.O. Box 1522, Woodstock, GA 30188-1522 or to our email at Jcable- man@aol.com. Sports Fanatic By Tommy Gartrell Columnist 2017: A Sports Fantasy Gather the kids, cousins and coon dogs! Finish your jowls, peas and greens be cause it's once again time for my yearly predictions from the sports world. This annual event brings incomparable delight including unquench able and hysterical giggling not to mention rolling eyes. apprehension and duplici tous confusion. Despite ardent dedication, insight and conviction, my past prophecies proved as accurate as a bent-barreled smooth bore musket. Nonetheless, I abandoned my past practices such as consulting witches, war- locks or Vegas odds makers. Now, I find it far more practical and just as precise to utilize the time honored and fail safe "WAG" method for my fan tastical 2017 clairvoyance. Alabama defeats Clemson in the College Football National Champi onship game to win yet another na tional title. Unfortunately, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is se verely injured during the celebratory Gatorade bath. The Atlanta Falcons soundly thrash the Saints to seal the second seed in the NFC playoffs, but lose to Dallas in the NFC Championship. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones then announces that quarterback Tony Romo will start their next game. Dallas goes on to the Super Bowl, but the New England Patriots win that game 35-17. Afterward, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick removes his mask and stilts to reveal that he is in fact the Jedi master Yoda. Jimmie Johnson wins the Daytona 500 in February. In college hoops, UCLA trips Duke University to win the NCAA Basket ball Tournament. The Atlanta Braves win 14 of their first 20 games to seize the NL East lead, but fade by midsummer due to injury and inexperience. The Golden State Warriors capture the NBA crown over the Toronto Rap tors in five games. Kevin Durant is named Most Valuable Player. The winner of the MLB All-Star game is... It doesn't matter because it is only an exhibition game once again, finally! Chicago repeats as World Series Champions. The Cubs outlast the Boston Red Sox in seven games in cluding a snow delayed ballgame. Georgia finishes second in the SEC East despite a wealth of returning starters and the second best recruiting class in the country. The Dawgs avenge this year's loss to Georgia Tech though by destroying the Yellow Jack ets 55-6 in Atlanta and taking the gold from atop the capitol dome during the aftermath. Alabama, Michigan, Florida State and Oklahoma State reach the college playoff in 2017. I do not recommend wagering any money based on these predictions and remind you that past performance is no indication of future returns. How ever, I am grateful for all of my loyal readers, and I wish each of you a joy ful and prosperous new year. Here's to 2017! May it be a damn sight better than the last year... See Gartrell on Page 2B