Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 15A
Outdoors With Skipper
Youngster carries on tradition of hunting
S ome time ago I wrote a
story about visiting my
son’s neighbor’s new
place in Franklin County.
Andy Peck calls it a “cabin” but
it’s more like a mansion to me, a
real beautiful place. I told about
our going quail and pheasant hunt
ing.
I recall Andy and I standing on
his porch overlooking the Broad
River as he pointed out a stand
across the river. Well, this stand
proved to be a good one for his
teenage son Drew.
Drew really loves to be in the
woods hunting — especially deer
hunting. A couple of weeks ago,
on Dec. 15, Drew decided to hunt
the stand across from the house. In
all his past times hunting from this
particular stand, Drew had seen
nothing. In fact, it had been two
weeks since he had tried it.
Not seeing many deer from other
stands, he figured he would check
this one out once more. Arriving
The
Great
Outdoors
By Skipper Smith
706-677-1520
around 6:30 in the morning, the
weather was cloudy with rain
approaching. The temperature was
in the 40s.
After an hour of patiently wait
ing, he heard leaves crunching on
his right. Looking in that direc
tion, he saw a deer trotting, but
couldn’t make out as to whether it
was a buck or doe. He stood up to
get a better look, as the deer came
closer. The deer had now slowed
down to a walk. Drew saw more
than ears on its head, and realized
it was a nice buck. Slowly raising
his rifle, Drew waited for the right
moment. Coming closer on a trail,
the big deer was now broadside.
The buck stopped, with the main
part of his body hidden by a tree.
Drew took a quick aim at what
he could see —the deer’s neck —
steadied his rifle and squeezed off
a shot. The eight-pointer dropped
in his tracks with that excellent
aim. That’s some good shooting,
but I remember how good he was
with a shotgun at flying quail also.
Drew said he was shaking a lot
afterwards and was real excited
about the whole matter. I would be
too, with a nice buck like that.
Well, by the time you read this
story, deer season in the Northern
Zone will be over. There are
a couple of weeks left in the
Southern area. Let me know if
you close out with a nice one.
Skipper Smith is an outdoors
columnist for The Banks County
News. Let him know about your
hunting or fishing adventure at
706-677-1520.
High School Wrestling
Mat Leopards finish third at Keen Classic
BY CHRIS BRIDGES
While the annual Jefferson High
School Keen Classic was not as
large as in years past, Banks County
High School coach Kasey Hanley
was still proud of his team’s third-
place showing.
The Mat Leopards just missed fin
ishing as the tournament runner-up,
falling to Commerce High School
41-39 in a match for second place.
The matchup between the rivals
came down the final match with
the Mat Leopards needing to gain
a pin in order to win the match.
BCHS earned a win in the match
but did not compile enough points
to overtake Commerce who won by
two points.
“We showed a lot of heart in that
match,” Hanley said. “We really
closed the gap against Commerce
from when we wrestled them earlier
this season.”
BCHS opened the Keen Classic
with a 39-38 win against Social
Circle High School. It was the sec
ond time in as many matches the
Mat Leopards defeated Social Circle
by a single point.
In the second round, BCHS fell
to host Jefferson 72-12 as An Pham
(130) and Wesley Angel (145) were
the only Mat Leopards to record
pins.
Prior to the event in Jefferson, the
BCHS wrestling team finished third
at the Tommy Warren Invitational
hosted by Oconee County High
School. The team wrestled five dual
matches at the event and captured its
first team trophy. The Mat Leopards
opened with wins against Monroe
Area and Social Circle before falling
to a strong Henry County squad.
BCHS then bounced back to take
wins against North Oconee and
Oconee County. The win against
Oconee County was the match for
third place.
“We’ve been in situations before
where we’ve finished fourth and
they’ve only given out three tro
phies,” Hanley said. “Several times
we’ve been just a few points from
earning a trophy. We had some bad
luck along the way. Our wrestlers
were real excited about winning it.”
In recent action, BCHS also com
peted in a tri-match with Buford
and Morgan County High School.
The Mat Leopards defeated Buford
while falling to Morgan County.
Hanley’s team is now preparing
for the Georgia-Carolina Classic at
Hart County High School Saturday.
Several quality teams are entered in
the event including Clarke Central
and Jackson County, Hanley said.
Recreation dept. hosting baseball, softball registration
Major League Baseball
Examining the highs and lows of2007
I ’ve always been a National
League fan. I loved the
Milwaukee Braves as a
kid and the Atlanta Braves as
an adult. I always rooted for the
National League during the All
Star game and the Fall Classic.
This year’s Classic was tough to
watch. It was a battle scene played
on a baseball field in which my
choice — Colorado — was totally
destroyed. Ugly. Ugly indeed.
Noteworthy also was the pre
dictability of the match-up. The
Red Sox came on like a runaway
freight train, while one only
expected a minimum performance
from the Rockies. Between naps
while watching the series, there
were moments of measured excite
ment, such as the free Taco Bell
give away. The national fast food
chain announced it would give
away one free taco to anyone and
everyone in America if a player
stole a base in the fourth inning of
the second game. Jacob Ellsbury
obliged by stealing second base in
the fourth inning, the first stolen
base of the World Series, bringing
the first real roar of appreciation
from fans across the country. I did
collect on the deal, receiving my
free taco the following Tuesday.
Looking past the rout and crispy
taco, the Series did bring some
record-breaking moments:
•The last two World Series victo
ries by the Red Sox have been via
a sweep. (In fact, three of the last
four World Series champions swept
the series.) Boston manager Terry
Francona has been at the helm for
both Red Sox titles, making him
the first manager in baseball histo
ry to go 8-0 in his first eight World
Series games. Commenting on
his eight consecutive series wins,
Francona remarked, “It doesn’t get
old.”
•Several of the games played
in this series were played at the
highest altitude in series history.
(Remember, Denver is the “mile
high” city.) Before Saturday’s
game, the highest altitude for a
series game was 1,117 feet in
Phoenix.
•Okajima became the first
Japanese-born pitcher to play in a
World Series game. He struck out
four, including former Japanese
star Kaz Matsui.
•The Red Sox are the first team
in MLB postseason history to
score 10-plus runs in three straight
games.
The series also brought some
near record-breaking moments:
•The Red Sox finished with the
second-highest batting average
(.333) in World Series history.
Only the 1960 Yankees (.338) hit
better.
•Boston’s pitcher Lester’s win
means the Red Sox’s starting
pitchers won all four games of the
World Series.
•Since divisional play in 1969,
only four teams’ starting pitchers
won all four games of the World
Series -- ‘07 Red Sox, ‘95 Braves,
‘89 A’s and ‘69 Mets.
•The Red Sox finished with 18
Diamond
Talk
By John W. Rieken
doubles, one off the Series record
by the 1946 Cardinals and 1910
Philadelphia Athletics.
Although several sportscasters
said this was a terrible series, I
disagree. It was not suspense-
packed like so many series are.
Not all series can match the magic
of a Don Larson perfect game
(1956) or a bottom of the 9th Kirk
Gibson walk off home run (1988).
Anyway, the 56 Yankees or the 88
Dodgers never had James Taylor,
a lifelong Red Sox fan, to sing the
national anthem as Taylor did in
game one this year.
Baseball, much like any other
sport, is what you want it to be.
If one can’t find excitement in
a game, one looks for the story
lurking behind the scenes. Boston
Pitcher Jon Lester is a great exam
ple. Lester pitched six scoreless
innings in game four, setting up
the Red Sox win and series sweep.
Last year at this time, Lester was
undergoing chemotherapy for can
cer.
So for the second time in four
years, the Red Sox are World
Series champions. This is a
remarkable feat since Boston had
not won a series from 1919 to
2003. That is 84 years without
a title, rather reminiscent of the
Cubs. We baseball fans now await
the winter trades and deals which
will shape the races next season.
Banks County resident John
Rieken is an avid baseball fan.
The Banks County Parks and Recreation Department
will host baseball and softball registration beginning
Monday and continuing through Friday, Feb. 15.
Registration fee for both sports is $40. Age control is
May 1 for baseball and softball.
For additonal information, contact the recreation
department office on Thompson Street in Homer at
706-677-4407.
Review... continued from page 14A
The new head coach also imme
diately reached out to coaches at
Banks County Middle School.
“For the first time in three years, I
feel the middle school program is part
of the high school program,” BCMS
football coach Vince Lehotsky said.
“The most notable difference has
been the amount of communication
that the middle school staff and the
high school staff have had. Coach
Armstrong and his staff have been
more than willing to help the middle
school in any way possible.”
Offseason work for 2008 is under
way as Armstrong’s Leopards will
continue to compete in Region
8-AA.
BCHS Girls... continued from page 14A
Lauren Kennedy added seven
points in the win Saturday with
Lindsey McDuffie scoring five.
Samm Kennedy, Allison White
and Lauren Gibbs each scored two
while Jessica Grisham added one.
The Lady Leopards opened the
Commerce tournament against
Social Circle High School Friday.
The Lady Redskins have been a
perennial playoff team in Class A
for several seasons under the direc
tion of coach Crystal Wood. SCHS
is having another quality season to
this point in 2007-08.
“They were probably the quickest
team we’ve played,” King said after
the 66-44 loss. “We actually led
four minutes in but they made some
good adjustments.”
Saxon led BCHS with 17 points.
Lauren Kennedy finished with six
followed by White and Hunter
with four each. Evans and Gibbs
both scored three while McDuffie,
Samm Kennedy and Brittany Cook
all scored two.
BCHS will have several days off
before playing subregion foe Rabun
County Jan. 11.
“Our offense is getting there and
we have made some improvements
on defense,” King said. “We need to
learn to be patient. We will continue
working on fundamentals which
should help us down the road. We
are getting better guard play and
our post play has been pretty solid
all year.”
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