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1B July 13, 2011
Terry Johnson 2B
Public Record 3B
Sportz Quest 4B
Classifieds/Public Notices 5-12B
($JJ X £x
Jeter’s milestone
softens the cynic
F br years, baseball was my favorite sport, mainly be
cause it was the one I played growing up. It also
helped that my favorite baseball team, the Atlanta
Braves, won the division title during every completed
season from the time I was in first grade to the time I
was a senior in college.
But sometime about three or four years ago, my interest in
baseball began to wane a little. I think this mostly came
about because my favorite thing about
baseball was always the statistics. Once
the steroid era came about and men like
Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Roger
Clemens began presumably tainting
baseball's record books, it rendered the
game's historical stats somewhat moot.
Then, about the same time, baseball's
writers seemed to decide as a group that
alleged steroid users were not
welcome in the Baseball Hall of
Fame even though there was no
steroid testing at the time and it
is entirely unclear which players
were even using drugs. For many
years, I felt the Hall's rich history was compromised by the
Hall's exclusion of the game's most famous gamblers,
Shoeless Joe Jackson and Pete Rose. I especially thought
Rose belonged since he was caught betting on baseball dur
ing his managerial days, not his playing days.
Now the writers seem intent on keeping all-time greats like
Bonds and Clemens on the periphery of the game, and to me,
it feels as if the Hall has lost all meaning.
These issues, coupled with the Braves' slippage to medioc
rity, drew me away from the game. About a year ago, I even
wrote in this space about how little I cared about steroid-user
Alex Rodriguez's pursuit of 600 home runs. It seemed as if A-
Rod's chase of Bonds' all-time record was just one cheater
chasing another, and it all felt meaningless.
Well Saturday was a day that was entirely different to me.
Like most Southerners, I dislike the New York Yankees, but I
have always respected the Yanks' star shortstop Derek Jeter,
who collected the 3,000th hit of his career on a long home run
to leftfield at the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday.
Jeter, who is one of the most polarizing athletes in sports
history to fans and pundits alike, has always been a class act
on and off the field. Jeter's pursuit of 3,000 has been long and
tiresome to many Yankee haters, but for once, I was glad that
someone who appears to have stayed above the steroid fray
was getting his just due.
Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski, who is 25 times the
wordsmith I will ever be, wrote a brilliant column last week
in which he described Jeter as the "most present" player in
baseball history because of the team he plays for, the position
he plays and the 24-hour ESPN-era in which he plays.
Well, I for one am glad Jeter has been so "present" for the
last 16 years, even though he probably cost my Braves a cou
ple of World Series rings.
Jeter's model of excellence as a team leader and on-field
performer is one that should be replicated as long as the
game is played. And for at least one day, Jeter's five-hit mas
terpiece Saturday reminded me why I once loved baseball
and hopefully will again someday.
Local All Stars set a
new county record
For the first time ever, all seven All-Star teams from
Monroe County eligible to compete in state baseball or
softball tournaments qualified for state, according to
Monroe County Recreation Director Desi Hansford.
The 8-under, 10-under, 12-under and 15-under soft-
ball teams all qualified for the state tournament but
have all completed play as of Monday, Hansford said.
The 11-12 baseball team played at the state tourna
ment in Augusta over the weekend and earned 17-8
victory over Norcross and a 6-5 victory over Collins
Hill on Saturday. The 11-12 team combined for 10
strikeouts and 23 hits in the Saturday sweep. Monroe
County's Tyler Skelton hit a home run in each game,
while David Murdock hit a homer in the win over
Norcross.
The 11-12 team then followed up the victories with a
5-4 win over Columbia County on Sunday, accumulat
ing six strikeouts and eight hits in the win. The win
guaranteed the team will at least finish in the top-six
in the state.
The Monroe County 7-8 year-old baseball team and
9-10 year-old baseball teams each finished second in
the district and also advanced to the state tourna
ment. The 7-8 boys team completed its season at Pike
County while the 9-10 boys team is scheduled to play
this weekend in Albany.
Hansford said the state champion for each baseball
age group is eligible for the national Dixie Youth
World Series.
For team pictures and more information about the
local baseball and softball All-Stars, check future edi
tions of the Reporter.
Carroll makes ace
Ray Carroll of High Falls made a hole-in-one at the
fifth hole at Hickory Hill Golf Club during a tourna
ment on July 7. Carroll used a 5-iron on the 146-yard
hole.
Among his playing partners were Mel Suddeth and
Gary Crawford. It was Carroll's seventh career hole-
in-one. Carroll said Superior Court Judge Byron
Smith was the winner of the tournament.
CITY OF FQRSYT1
Former MP basket
ball star Xavier
Chambliss has re
turned to his home
town of Forsyth,
where he has joined
the city fire depart
ment. Chambliss re
cently responded to
his first house fire.
He used to light up a gym,
now he puts out the fire
BY RICHARD DUMAS
Xavier Chambliss first
received notice around
Forsyth for his exploits on
the hardwood for Mary
Persons High School. Now
he is becoming known for
his talents in a truck, not
just any truck, but a
Forsyth fire truck.
Chambliss, 24, a former
basketball star at Mary
Persons, has been working
full-time for the Forsyth
Fire Department since the
start of the year. Chambliss
is merely following in the
footsteps of his father,
Elliott, a battalion chief
with the Monroe County
Fire Department.
Chambliss said responding
to a fire gives him a similar
adrenaline rush to when he
was playing basketball for
Mary Persons in the mid-
2000s.
"It's an exciting job," he
said of firefighting. "It's
never the same. You never
know what to expect."
Chambliss said he has
already seen some harrow
ing things in his first few
months on the job. On the
same night in late April
when tornadoes hit High
Falls, a tractor-trailer burst
into flames on the off-ramp
of Exit 186 in Forsyth.
Chambliss said he and some
other Forsyth firefighters
were just sitting around
anxiously waiting to see
how bad the storm was
going to be and how they
could help out when they
were forced into action after
the tractor-trailer caught
fire.
"It was kind of a shock,"
Chambliss said. "It wasn't
something we were expect
ing."
Chambliss said he also
responded to his first house
fire several weeks ago.
Even though his father
has served as a firefighter
for about 30 years,
Chambliss said he did not
always aspire to be one him
self.
After being a four-year
starter at point guard at MP
from 2002-06, Chambliss
played Division III basket
ball for a year at Eastern
Mennonite University in
Harrisonburg, Va.
Chambliss' playing career
came to an earlier than
anticipated conclusion when
he injured his shoulder just
a year into his college
career. Chambliss said he
returned home to Forsyth to
see what he wanted to do.
In the next several years,
Chambliss worked several
jobs, including at Morgan
Ford, Grits Cafe, Georgia
Power and at a Macon-
based moving company,
before deciding last year to
enter firefighting.
Forsyth fire chief David
Herndon said Chambliss
has quickly taken to his new
occupation.
"He's going to be a great
firefighter," Herndon said. "I
can see him eventually
being in a leadership posi
tion."
Herndon described
Chambliss as being "enthu
siastic" and a "hard worker."
"It's a good thing he's
here," Herndon said.
Chambliss is not the only
member of his immediate
family who works for the
city of Forsyth. His mother
Angela is a meter reader for
the city.
Chambliss said he would
eventually like to do some
thing else his father does.
Elliott Chambliss has
served as an assistant varsi
ty basketball coach for Mary
Persons for nine years since
his son was a freshman.
Xavier Chambliss said he
too would like to coach bas
ketball on the side in the
future.
Elliott Chambliss said
some of the same traits that
proved effective for Xavier
on the court will help him as
a firefighter.
"He's always been tough-
minded and calm,"
Chambliss said of his son.
"He's just been a strong kid
in everything he's been
involved with."
MP’s Rowland qualifies for Showcase
MP rising junior Katie Rowland has been selected for this
week’s Elite Eighty Showcase in Woodstock, where she will
be evaluated by scouts from at least four Georgia colleges.
BY LAURA CORLEY
For the first time ever,
Monroe County will send
one of its own softball
players to the Elite 80
Showcase at Twin Creeks
Park in Woodstock on
Wednesday.
Mary Persons’ rising jun
ior Katie Rowland, 16, was
one of 80 chosen out of
about 320 girls to partici
pate in the showcase.
Rowland attended a camp
at Kennesaw Mountain
High on June 30, where
she was selected because
of her exemplary skill and
knowledge of the game.
“She’s worked hard- and
all that hard work has
paid off for her,” Mary
Persons softball coach
Ronnie Shipman said.
The Elite 80 Showcase is
produced by the Georgia
Dugout Club, an organiza
tion used by college scouts
and high school coaches
from all around the state.
Participants in the show
case invite scouts to watch
them play. Rowland said
she invited scouts from
North Georgia College,
Mercer University,
Kennesaw State
University and University
of Georgia.
Rowland began her soft-
ball career when she was
eight, playing for the
recreation department and
advanced to a traveling
team when she was 12.
Rowland is now on the
varsity team at Mary
Persons and was an assis
tant coach last season to
Synergy, a 12-and-under
traveling team from
Forsyth.
County native ready to rumble
Local legend Billy Black to perform in Macon on July 23
Local wrestler “Bad Boy” Billy
Black will be performing with other
well-known wrestlers at an upcom
ing show in Macon.
Black, who teamed with Joel
Deaton to form the tag-team cham
pionship duo The Wild Bunch, will
be appearing at the Anderson
Conference Center on Eisenhower
Drive in Macon on Saturday, July
23. Doors will open at 6 p.m.
Black, who was born and raised in
Monroe County, now lives in Macon.
He said fans have been craving a
return to "real wrestling," so the
once-powerful Georgia
Championship Wrestling promotion
group has started back up with new
shows scheduled around the state in
2011.
Georgia Championship Wrestling
ceased to exist when wrestling
entrepreneur Vince McMahon
bought GCW's time slot on TBS for
his fledgling World Wrestling
Federation in 1984.
Black, who has been wrestling pro
fessionally since 1989, said his
father initially trained him to wres
tle. Black has since performed in
Japan, Korea, Mexico, Canada and
all over the United States.
Among the wrestlers expected to
attend the Macon show are: Tony
Atlas, Abdullah the Butcher, Micah
Taylor and John Slater.
Black said he invites all of his fel
low Monroe Countians out to to see
the show, which will raise money for
Goodwill. Fans will have the oppor
tunity to meet the wrestlers as well.