Newspaper Page Text
Brian jj
mT Lawson
Sports editor
Cabrerra
Morales '92
I was going to rank the top 10 or
so sports stories of 1992, but since
I always find fault when others do
it, I decided to recall some of my
favorites and let the readers decide
the order of importance.
Any look back at '92 has to start
with Frankie Carbrerra's pinch hit
single and Sid Bream's improbable
run and slide to glory. I've been
watching sports regularly for 20
years and that was the most excit
ing ninth inning I've ever seen.
When the inning started with
Terry Pendleton's getting his one
millionth clutch hit of the season,
the door of possibility swung open
slightly. When Chico Lind booted
Justice's grounder it looked like fate
was doing the Chop. Things pro
gressed and when Brian Hunter
stepped to the plate it looked like a
foregone conclusion. But Hunter
failed to deliver and we were left
with a little known, very seldom
used catcher to hang the season on.
It was so improbable, so close to
the snapping jaws of defeat and de
spair (remember those scenes from
that bar in Pittsburgh) and so wake
up the house exhilarating that I will
certainly be telling the story to my
future generations well into dotage.
They'll certainly ask over and over
again, "Sid who? If he was so slow
how could he have outrun a throw
from a guy who's in the Hall of
Fame? Everybody knows Barry
Bonds was the best left fielder in
baseball for 10 years."
I'll smile and say, "Well here's
how it went "
Pablo Morales winning the gold
medal in the 200 meter butterfly
was a wonderful moment. What
usually happens in the Olympics is
an athlete is judged by that one per
formance, regardless of how much
time they put in training and how
great they were in other races.
After two painful Olympic
disappointments he had quit the
sport to go to law school. His
decision to come back after a two
year layoff looked ill-advised and
his days of glory in unforgiving
world of big time athletics appeared
to be over.
I've thought a lot about what it
must have been like for him to be
staring into the water thinking
about his mom and the prospect of
failing for a third time in the
biggest race of his life.
But instead of letting the incredi
ble pressure beat him, he swam a
brilliantly and won the gold.
It is rare when circumstances fuse
together to produce a perfect ending
and so it's especially beautiful to
watch when it happens.
A story that received tons of atten
tion and produced a lot of commen
tary was Magic's decision to play in
the All Star game and the
Olympics.
When he was voted to the All Star
team it seemed like a wonderful end
to a great career. There were a lot
of questions about his health and
the safety of the other players.
He looked much sharper than he
should have and just to remind peo
ple about his greatness he hit three,
three pointers in a row to end the
game.
He played on the Olympic basket
ball team and seemed to have done a
lot of work towards destigmatizing
AIDS.
That wasnt' entirely the case how
ever. Buoyed by his basketball per
formances, Magic decided to end his
retirement and rejoin the Lakers.
Immediately there were questions
and concerns. A few players pub
licly complained, many others
whispered to reporters and Magic
Johnson decided that he couldn't
ever simply be a basketball player
again.
So he finally hung it up within a
few months of his chief nemesis
Larry Bird. They'll always be
linked together by their fans. Most
of us who started as fans of one
them ended up fans of both. My fa
vorite sports memories are of
Magic and the Lakers beating Bird
and the Celtics. I'm sure there are
plenty of people on the other side
as well. They'll be missed.
Garrison Hearst nearly won the
Heisman Trophy and probably
would have if he had gotten enough
carries to do some damage against
Florida
Mike Tyson, Jerry Glanville, Pat
Dye, the USA womens basketball
team and Dominique Wilkins all
had year's they would rather forget.
Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux,
the Miami Hurricanes, Carl Lewis
Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Jerry Rice
demonstrated their greatness once
again.
The lead for '93, Braves win series!
(
WHS snaps skid, beats Flint River 41-40 Wednesday
By BRIAN LAWSON
Sports Editor
Westfield snapped a three game
losing streak with a 41-40 win
over Fint River Academy Wednes
day night.
Shane Hester led the Hornets with
10 points. Geoff Hill had nine
points including back to back three
pointers in the third quarter.
Austin Abney, the Hornets lead
ing scorer on the season was held to
seven points, but his fifteen foot
. V.:
• 'oi ||a pW''" ||^ :
tzj- i<r ■ ■
W ;
'■« *:'• v • % ' ||
■ '■■■ < T
■
ipU
Lon Talton nils a lay-up against Flint River Wednesday. WHS won 41-40.
Middle Georgia Adult
Baseball League looking
for teams, players
The Middle Georgia Adult Baseball
League is entering it’s second sea
son and will hold a meeting for new
players and coaches Sunday, Jan. 10
in Macon.
The league is open to any player
18 years or older.
According to league commissioner
Rudy Brown the league has already
added five new teams and is plan
ning to play a 25-30 game sched
ule.
"We're really growing and we're
inviting players and teams from the
middle Georgia area who are inter
ested in playing baseball to attend
our first meeting. We will hold a
meeting for players who are not af
filiated with a team from 2-3 p.m.
and a coaches meeting for current
teams and anybody who has formed
a team from 3-5 p.m." Brown sa'd.
Teams will establish a home field
in their area and the league includes
teams from Warner Robins and Ma
con.
'92, from 1B
cess to their depth. The Lady Pan
thers placed six runners in the top
13 finishers. Melinda Howard led
the way with a third place finish.
Perry clinched the title when Laurie
Coffee, Uli Abratis and Hillary
Smith claimed spots 6-8.
WHS Softball
The Lady Hornets again made the
GISA playoffs and they crushed
Westwood 17-1 in their opening
game.
Report ; from 1E
Suwannee, Fla. - Sand Trout have been biting extremely well
on live shrimp. One boat reported catching 263 pounds of Sand
Trout on Wednesday. Hedfish has been plentiful using live
shrimp. Sheepshead have been moving in and are starting to
bite well. Weather has been warmed up after a cold front ended
Tuesday.
• Reported by Bill's Fish Camp
jumper with 2:07 was the game
winner.
Flint River had the ball with un
der a minute to play but Abney
produced a turnover when he pres
sured Ashur Lawland into a five
second violation with :45 to play.
After a Hornet miss with 15 sec
onds left, Flint River set up for a
last shot.
The Wildcats were unable to get
into their offense and Lawland's last
second shot fell short to seal the
a-x-w-.-Xv. .
The season is expected to last
from May to September and the
championship scries will be held at
Luther Williams Field in Macon.
Games arc played on Saturdays
and Sundays in a double header
format.
For 20 years, the league was
known as the Middle Ccorgia Adult
semi-pro league, before breaking
with the NABA to reduce costs.
League fees have not been deter
mined, but Brown said it is a one
time fee that covers all related ex
penses and each player is given a
contract.
For more information, call Rudy
Brown at (912) 474-0383.
The league meeting will be held at
Shoney’s Restaurant 2495 Pio
Nono Ave. in Macon.
"We've established a quality
program and we’re hoping to draw
players from all over the area.
Please call me if you have any
questions or arc unable to attend the
meeting," Brown said.
The team was led by April
Horsting who batted .484, Laura
Langston who hit .413. and Laurie
Thompson who swung at a .402
clip.
Westfield's season ended with a
tough loss to Stratford. The teams
split the first two games before
Stratford captured the third game in
nine innings, 3 to 2.
The Lady Hornets finished 13-13,
but 10 of their 13 losses came to
the GISA final four participants.
win for the Hornets.
Westfield led after one quarter 13-
5 behind a pressure defense which
created problems for the Wildcats.
Flint River adjusted in the second
quarter as the Hornets offense went
cold. The Wildcats led at halftime
23-18, after outscoring Westfield
10-5 in the last three minutes of
the half.
The Hornets regained control in
the third quarter behind Hill's two
three pointers and four points each
from Hester and Lon Talton.
Get the only weekend
sports news in Perry
in
The Houston Home
J ournal
The latest %
on scores, as mL&
players 4§|| >
and the
outdoors.
Intresting stories by
Bobby Tuggle
and
John Trussell.
*
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1993
April Horsting is Westfield's leading scorer.
Lady Hornets shut down Flint River
in the second half, win 34-25
By BRIAN LAWSON
Sports Editor
The Westfield Lady Hornets used a
pressing defense in die second half
to carry litem to a 34-25 win over
Flint River Academy.
The Lady Hornets bottled up the
Lady Wildcats in the second half.
Flint River scored nine points in
the second half and had a stretch of
three minutes where they were un
able to get a shot off.
The Hornets defense was sparked
by Jennifer Smith who slowed
down Lisa Alexander in the second
half.
Alexander scored 12 points in the
first half, but unable to gel un
trackcd witlt Smith guarding her in
the second half.
"We used the press to try and get
into the flow of the game. We won
because of some good individual de
fense, especially by Jennifer and a
an inbounds play we scored six
points off of. We were not men
tally ready to play and we're not
getting the play out of certain indi
viduals on this team, who are ca
pable of so much more. II we score
34 points against the Macon
schools we're going to get drilled.
But we've got three non-region
games next week and there's a lot of
season left," Coach Donna Camp
bell said.
With Westfield leading 26-24 at
the 5:15 mark, Horsling picked up
her fourth foul and had to leave the
game.
During the 3:40 Horsling sat out,
Westfield increased their lead to 30-
24 behind a lay-up by Langston
and jumper in the lane by Jill Barr.
Following Barr's shot, Westfield
scored four more points to put the
game away.
From the 7:12 mark of the quar
ter, the Lady Wildcats did not score
agains until Holly Hatchett hit a
free throw with 22 seconds left in
the game.
3B