About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (June 23, 2022)
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. DAWSONVILLE METAL PRODUCTS Your Metal Roofing Specialist 706.265.3099 82 Etowah River Rd. Dawsonville, GA Frank Guarnieri O: 706-692-9826 C: 404-825-2675 CITGO Station 45 E Church St. Jasper, GA 30143 Quality Work at an Affordable Price fguarnieril26001@gmail.com 70 Plus Years Experience Bell's Family Delivery — Med Synchronization Auto Fill — Mobile App Also Featuring Ice cream — Sandwiches — Gifts 578-454-2300 bellsfamilypharmacy.com 4875 Hwy 53 E. 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