About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2018)
SPORTS Bill Murphy Sports Editor | 770-718-3415 | sports@gainesvilletimes.com Unties gainesvilletimes.com Friday, December 7, 2018 SOCCER Associated Press Atlanta Chiefs’ forward Peter McParland, rear, heads the ball past San Diego Toros’ fullback Miroslav Milovanovic (2) during the 1968 North American Soccer League championship game in Atlanta. Remember the Chiefs as United plays for MLS title PAUL NEWBERRY pnewberry@ap.org Dick Cecil still has the championship trophy, tucked away somewhere in his home, a cher ished prize that has been reduced to bits and pieces by the ravages of time. He’d like to get it fixed up, maybe give it a place of honor at Manuel’s Tavern, a famed Atlanta watering hole. “It needs to be on display,” Cecil says. Indeed, it does. When Atlanta United takes the field in Satur day night’s MLS Cup championship game, you’ll hear a lot of talk about this city — once dubbed “Loserville USA” — seeking only its second major league sports crown. They’ll point to the 1995 Atlanta Braves as the only barrier to a total title blackout in a place that has known far more agony than triumph. Well, let’s not forget the Atlanta Chiefs. Fifty years ago, in a fit ting bit of symmetry, an upstart soccer team in a fledgling league gave an up- and-coming city a reason to cheer. The Chiefs won the very first title in the North American Soccer League, beating the San Diego Toros 3-0 before a crowd of about 15,000 at Atlanta Stadium. When it ended, those fans — small in num ber, but eager to celebrate — stormed the field. Afterward, there were champagne toasts in the locker room. And then? Well, that’s about it. “A lot of people back in 1968 thought God did not intend Southerners to play soccer,” said Bob Hope, who was the Chiefs’ right-out-of- college public relations director. Cecil, the team’s vice president and chief architect, still has some team memorabilia in a small building behind his house, which serves as his office and a de facto museum of Atlanta sports history. He shows off a ball signed by all the Chiefs players, their signatures still as legible as the day they put pen to synthetic leather. He still has a gold medal awarded to the champions by the league office (“We bought all the play ers rings, but they really just wanted a medal,” Cecil says, chuckling at the cultural divide between American-based sports and the rest of the world. “I doubt anyone ever wore one of those rings.”) Cecil also has a picture of a bunch of smiling young men posing behind their trophy (still intact) on that glorious September night in 1968, when Atlanta was on top of the American soc cer world, whatever that was worth at the time. I Please see CHIEFS, 2B HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Nominations for Gainesville High’s inaugural Hall of Fame due Jan. 1 The deadline to nominate players for the Gainesville High athletics Hall of Fame is Jan. 1. The eight-member inau gural class (six athletes, one team and one athletic sup porter) will be inducted during a ceremony April 20 at Scott’s Downtown in Gainesville. To be eligible, a candidate must have graduated from either Gainesville High School or the former E.E. Butler and Fair Street high schools no less than 10 years before induction. Candidates will be consid ered for either their athletic achievements or “outstand ing service to athletics in Gainesville.” Each inductee class will also include a team that “achieved and per formed at the highest level of competition.” Nomination forms are available at the school’s athletics website: www. gainesvilleredelephantathlet- ics.com. For more information, con tact Gainesville athletics direc tor Adam Lindsey at adam. Iindsey@gcsskl2.net. Compiled by Bill Murphy GEORGIA BULLDOGS An exciting bowl awaits JOHN AMIS I Associated Press Georgia players huddle in the end zone after a touchdown from tight end Isaac Nauta against Alabama during the SEC Championship on Saturday in Atlanta. Despite missing playoffs, Sugar Bowl a good consolation For three quarters of Georgia’s gut- wrenching SEC Championship loss to Alabama, it appeared the Bulldogs were destined to return to the College Football Playoff for the second-straight season. Head coach Kirby Smart’s squad had a stranglehold on the Tide’s explosive passing attack, while quarterback Jake Fromm and Georgia’s running back platoon seemed to push Nick Saban’s supposed unbeatable team around at will. But then starting Alabama quarter back Tua Tagovailoa went down with an injury, forcing backup Jalen Hurts to come in and prompting a collective groan among Georgia fans who had seen this story before. “Backup Alabama quarterback leads Tide to comeback win over Georgia” is an all too familiar headline to sup porters of the red and black, and after Round 2 of last year’s National Champi onship game ended in similar fashion, the easy reaction would be to trash your No. 1 foam fingers and “We want Bama” signs and move onto basketball season. But that instinct would be wrong. Sure, football in general may be painful right now, (bonus points in that column if you’re also a Falcons fan) but there are still plenty of reasons to stay with the Bulldogs through their Sugar Bowl game against Texas on New Year’s Day and finish your spectating season off strong. Below are just a few: NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesvilletimes.com Previewing the stars of tomorrow Contrary to what many Georgia fans may choose to believe, the world did not come to an end following the Geor gia loss and subsequent ousting from the CFB Playoff, and there will, in fact, be Bulldog football next year as well. With championship qualification no longer in the picture, Smart will have an opportunity to see how younger play ers respond to the biggest stage, and I’d guess he’ll take it. Expect to see a bit more of Justin Fields than you got in the SEC Champi onship game. The bowl game will also serve as a prime opportunity for future stars to burst onto the scene, an occurrence which Georgia fans don’t have to look too far into the past to find. In the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl, then freshman wide receiver Terry Godwin was coming off of an ultimately disap pointing first-year campaign. But after catching one touchdown and throw- MIKE STEWART I Associated Press Georgia offensive lineman Solomon Kindley (66) lifts Georgia wide receiver Mecole Hardman (4) after Hardman’s touchdown during the first half of against Austin Peay on Sept. 12 in Athens. ing another during the Bulldogs’ bowl game, Godwin won MVP honors and eventually turned into an offensive cor nerstone for the team. Looking for this year’s Godwin is reason enough to tune in and see what happens. Setting up a rivalry While nothing is official, Georgia and Texas are reportedly working on a home-and-home series a couple years ■ Please see GEORGIA, 3B LAKE LANIER FISHING REPORT Bass fishing strong for those who hrave the weather BY ERIC ALDRICH For The Times Lake Lanier continues to hover less than a foot below full pool at 1,070.57 or .43 below the normal full pool of 1,071. Lake surface temperatures have registered from as low as 49 degrees to a high of 55 degrees this past week. The main lake and lower lake creeks are clear in some areas and stained in other locations. The upper lake and rivers remain stained to very stained. The Chattahoochee below Buford Dam is stained, but is starting to clear as lake turnover finishes up. Check generation schedules before head ing out to the river below Buford Dam at 770-945-1466. I am now offering instructional trips for bass fishing. Email me at esaldrich@yahoo. com or PM me on Facebook. Costs are $200 for a half day and $300 for a full day. These costs are for two anglers and I offer certificates that can be used for Christmas gifts. Bass fishing is good for anglers that are tough enough to fish in these cold and some times rainy conditions. Bundle up in layers and finish with a waterproof outer skin to stay warm enough to enjoy the day! For the most part we are still concentrat ing on the ditch bite. Get out in time so that you can be fishing productive areas at safe- light. Bass feed at different times of the day, but you can usually catch a few up shallow before the sunrise. Start out close to shallow, rocky banks where these ditchers enter the lake. Cast crank baits, under spins and jerk baits directly to the shore. I love to slow crank a SPRO Little John or McStick 110 when targeting these early morning shallow bass. Cast these lures so that you dig bottom on the beginning of your cast. Most strikes occur as your lures deflect off of rocks or right after they break free from the bottom. This week it seems as though Lake Lani er’s spotted bass are relating more to the sides and dropoffs of the ditches than the deeper centers of the ditch. Quality electronics outfitted with detailed mapping, like a Platinum Navionics or the new C-Maps Lake Insight chips, will greatly benefit anglers to find the “sweet spots.” Look for curves and bends in the ditches that have the steepest drop as fish will use these as resting points as they move from shallow ■ Please see FISHING, 2B
