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THURSDAY. JUNE 23. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3B
Continued From Sports Page
Gartrell on Steph Curry as a transformer
CONTINUED
Minister’s Comer
TOP Gun title going to the
best pilot. The air base had
the nickname of Fighter
Town USA.
Maverick is a hot shot
pilot who comes to compete
to be the TOP Gun. His
buddy is Goose and is the
RIO Radar Intercept Officer
for the plane.
In the movie their F-14
has engine trouble and both
eject but Goose gets blasted
out, hits the canopy and is
killed. Maverick has a hard
time with his death.
During the training Mav
erick had a running ego battle
with fellow pilot Iceman al
though he did give Maverick
some empathy on Goose’s
death. They were bitter ri
vals.
Fast forward 36 years or
so and Maverick gets called
back to Fighter Town to train
the Navy’s top pilots for a
special mission. His old foe,
Iceman, is now an admiral
and is the one responsible for
Maverick being sent to train
the pilots. One of the new pi
lots is Goose’s son and he has
some differences with Mav
erick.
As the story unfolds Mav
erick flies the mission and
goes down. Rooster, Goose’s
son, comes to get him and he
too, is shot down. Just as they
are about to be killed another
fighter Hangman ... egotisti
cal, self-centered, it’s all
about me ... shows up and
saves the day for the downed
pilots.
Top Gun is exciting with
jets but the story to me is
about relationships formed as
friends. They were at each
other’s throats but in the end
they would and did risk their
lives to save each other.
There were tears in my
eyes throughout the movie
because, like Maverick, I
have hurt when I lost a
friend. Have you?
Maverick’s love of flying
was not appreciated by the
Navy because he did not fol
low the rales. I have broken
some rales (not laws) follow
ing my heart and caught the
wrath of the establishment?
Have you?
At the end they all come
together because their differ
ences have been put behind
them for the common good.
Are there some differences
we need to put behind us?
The scripture above is
about two friends from oppo
site camps. Jonathon is a son
of Saul and is in line to be the
next king but when he sees
and hears David’s story about
defeating Goliath he vows to
be his friend, stating “may
the Lord take vengeance on
David’s enemies.”
Fast forward and now
King Saul (Jonathon’s dad) is
out to kill David but Jonathon
is helping him avoid the as
sassins because of their
friendship. He could have
been King but saves David’s
life.
“The top level of friend
ship in the Bible is friendship
as association plus loyalty
and plus affection.” We see
this relationship with David
and Jonathon and the Top
Gun characters.
They show friendship to
be more than acquaintances
... what kind of friend are
you?
Let’s not pretend that
we’ve never seen such a
player with the skills for the
perimeter and the paint
though. Although James if
more muscular at six feet,
nine inches and 250 pounds,
Irving “Magic Johnson” was
unique for his time too. At six
feet, nine inches tall and 220
pounds, Johnson’s speed, vi
sion, and shooting made him
a great point guard, but his
stature allowed him to battle
centers as well.
James has 19 season in the
NBA and won four titles.
Johnson only played part of
14 years and led the Lakers to
five rings.
that’s because the track is
now dismal because of its
repave and reconfiguration in
2017). These races have all
had many passes and battles
throughout the field, multiple
different leaders, and exciting
finishes.
Speaking of different
leaders, that’s another big
positive of the season and the
NextGen car - the parity. This
season has had some of the
best parity we’ve seen in a
long time; so far through the
first 16 races, there’s been 12
different winners and 4 first-
time ever winners. We’ve
also seen a good variety of
teams ran up front like Hen
drick, Joe Gibbs, Stewart-
Hass, Trackhouse, Team
Penske, and RCR. Through
out much of the Gen 6 era, it
was mostly the same power
house teams, usually Hen
drick and Joe Gibbs, running
up front, so there wasn’t
much variety in the winners.
But this season has been foil
of many different people run
ning up front, contending for
wins. If there’s one thing we
can say about the season so
Then, there’s Bill Russell.
The six foot, 10 inch for
ward could battle the giants
inside, baffle guards with his
elusiveness, pass off and
shoot from anywhere long
before the 3-point line. His
11 championships in only 13
seasons lead them all. During
that span, Russell scored only
14,520 points, but he grabbed
21,620 boards (second only
to Chamberlain at 23,920).
He added 4,100 assists too.
Just imagine if Russell
played for 20 years.
If we discuss modestly
sized guys who totally trans
formed basketball, John
Stockton (6’1”) must be
far, is that it’s not only been
good racing throughout much
of the field, but it’s also been
really good racing up front.
Now even though this sea
son and the NextGen car has
proven to be a big success so
far, there is one negative that
comes with the car. While the
racing has been really good
and entertaining for the most
part, the least exciting types
of tracks this season have
been at the shorter kind of
tracks. For example, Mar
tinsville, which is a track
known for bumpin’ n ban
gin’, exciting races and fin
ishes, was without a doubt
the worst race of the season.
That race had little passing,
you couldn’t put the bumper
to anyone to pass them, and
was all around a very un
eventful and unexciting race,
especially by Martinsville
standards. Most of the other
shorter track races this season
haven’t been that great either
and most of them have also
been some of the worst races
this season, Richmond
wasn’t that exciting either
and was only saved by the
mentioned. He scored 19,711
points in 19 seasons which is
remarkable, but he was so
much more than a scorer.
When it comes to players
who facilitated scoring,
there’s Stockton with 15,806
assists and then, there’s no
body else even close. Jason
Kidd in second place has
12,091 assists. No other
player in history has over
11,000 of them.
These few players trans
formed basketball during
their careers and as you can
see, my list is short. To omit
Steph Curry from it would be
wrong.
differing pit strategies in that
race, Phoenix was pretty un
remarkable, Gateway was de
cent too but was only
memorable because of Chas
tain and Hamlin, and Dover
was good but not that good.
It’s been ok with the shorter
track racing this year, but
considering how short track
racing was the best kind of
racing during the Gen 6 era
and when the other types of
tracks have been great so far,
there is something that needs
to be fixed about the
NextGen cars at shorter
tracks. But thankfully, that’s
a small issue and it definitely
doesn’t take away how good
the racing has been this year
for the most part.
Next week, we head back
to racing in the Music City in
Nashville, Tennessee. It’s an
other somewhat shorter track
on the NASCAR circuit, so it
may not be that good but you
never know, it could surpass
our expectations.
Next week - Ally 400 at
Nashville
Technical Advisor — Scott
Korowotny
Seniors church events
All events in the seniors church events cal
endar are open to both men and women re
gardless of church affiliation. Please email
events to articles@pickensprogress.com
Ongoing Events
Fellowship Presbyterian Church
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. -
Dancercize - In its 4th year, this popular
class is still a fun way to exercise.
4th Monday of each month, 10 a.m. -
Bible Study and missions outreach, both lo
cally and internationally.
Episcopal Church of the Holy Family
Legacy Ladies - 2nd Monday of the
month at noon at the Conference Center.
Newcomers bring their own lunch and enjoy
making new friends. All ladies are invited.
Yoga - Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m.
at the Conference Center.
Gentle Yoga - Tuesdays at 11:15 a.m. at
the Conference Center.
Tai Chi - Saturdays at 11 a.m. at the Con
ference Center
Welcome Hands Quitters - 1st and 3rd
Saturdays of the month at 10 a.m. in the
Parish Hall.
Prayer Shawl Ministry’ & Pet Ministry’ -
Last Monday of each month 10 a.m. - noon
in the church office to knit and bless com
pleted prayer shawls and to make pet blan
kets for blessing and distribution,
representing the caring hands of a caring con
gregation.
Concert-Evensong series to resume: In
fall 2022-spring 2023 Holy Family will re
sume the popular Sunday afternoon Concert-
Evensong series with this abbreviated
schedule:
•October 16, 2022
•December 18 (Lessons & Carols), 2022
•February 19, 2023
•April 16,2023
Presbyterian women
host blood drive
Share the Good News
Church listing are free.
Send to articles©
pickensprogress.com
Continued From Sports Page
Racing report on season thus far:
16 races and 12 different winners
By Connie Kirk
Roll up your sleeve. Pump
up your veins. The Presbyte
rian Women of Fellowship
Presbyterian Church are host
ing our First. Ever. Blood.
Drive. On Tuesday, July 19
from 1 to 5 p.m. in our Fel
lowship Hall, the Red Cross
will be on hand to hold your
hand while you give blood to
those who need it the most.
Sign up. Schedule your ap
pointment. Invite your family
to sign up. I am immune de
ficient and need a blood-
based product weekly. I can’t
give blood but maybe some
one in your family can. Invite
your friends and neighbors to
sign up.
Online go to www.Red-
CrossBlood.org. Our sponsor
code is: FellowshipPres-
Jasper. Find a convenient ap
pointment. Click the button.
Commit. Or you can also call
1-800-Red-Cross.
Each donated pint of blood
can help save up to three
lives. Touch my life and
many who live right here in
Jasper.
Join us on July 19. The life
you save may be your own.
Continued From Sports Page
O’Neill on how to fish lake turnover
season comes, but you
should know that fishing
during this period can be
good if you understand it.
While the waters tend to
get a bit stained up the
rivers, fish are still eating
and are out there for the tak
ing. However, you might
want to switch up your tac
tics a bit. Because of the
water mixing, the game fish
expand their depth ranges.
This means that you
want to be versatile, which
makes them catchable in
both shallow and deep
water. A few years ago, dur
ing the month of July at
Lake Lanier midday, I
caught a 12-pound striper at
97-feet on a giant spoon and
several at 10-feet on jigs the
same day only a couple of
hours apart.
Locate the temperature
thermocline, and often
you’ll find fish, especially
during the summer months
when they are seeking the
coolest water that still has
decent oxygen saturation.
Once you locate where the
fish are suspended in the
water column, then you’ll
know exactly what depth to
fish at, and increase your
chance of success out on the
water.
O'Neill Williams, born in
Atlanta, is host of O'Neill
Outside, which reaches
277,000,000 subscriber
households weekly on FOX
Sports Southeast and oth
ers.
His latest book, "O'Neill
Outside, People and Places
Along the Way" can be pur
chased at oneilloutside.com
and Amazon.
Find out more or contact
him at O'NeillOutside.com.
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