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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2008 THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 5A Other Views Remembering John Parks I t was not the news I had expected to hear moments before going to cover a Jefferson business luncheon. It was the sobering news that one of the people I had admired the most from my years in radio broadcasting had passed away. John Parks, who for many years was a mainstay on the north Georgia airwaves, had stepped on a rainbow due to natural causes on Jan. 2. His last day on the air prior to his passing was New Year’s Day. I didn’t have much time to react, as I had about 10 minutes to get to the luncheon. As I sat there, dutifully tak ing notes while attempting to eat lunch, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering back over the years. John’s career exceeded 30 years. He held a masters degree in jour nalism from UGA, and had written for magazines, as well as working in public relations and advertising. But radio seemed to be his niche. He worked at numerous radio stations in the Atlanta, Athens and Gainesville markets. He was enter ing into his 15 th year with Jacobs Media in 2008, with most of those spent at WDUN in Gainesville. That’s where I met him. John could be a grizzly bear, but if you were on his good side, he’d stick with you through thick and thin. There were several times over the years where I would need a favor, be it personal or profes sional. For example, when I was the news director at WCON in Cornelia, if a story broke in John’s area and I needed audio for my own story, I knew I could count on John to help me get it if he had it. And the street went both ways. I would give audio or a heads-up on stories to John when I wouldn’t give them to anybody else. The only cross words I can remember receiving from John came because of someone else’s actions. I was working the week- end over night shift at WDUN, which was then and is today a news/talk station. When the morning guy went on vacation one week, John was tapped to take his place. I was tapped to take John’s shift overnight through the week. I told John to just leave me a list of what needed to be done. Otherwise, I’d just proceed as I did on the weekends. That first night came, and there was no list in my box. Figuring that meant proceed as usual, I did just that. Unknown to both myself and to John, some wise guy had thought it would be a good joke on both of us to steal the list from my box and dispose of it. So when John came in and asked where all the recordings I was to have made were, I had no clue what he was talking about. “Why didn’t you follow the (expletive deleted) list I left you?” he roared. When I told him there was no list, he went and looked in the box himself. He then angrily told me to just go home, he’d find a way to take care of the now missed recordings. Later in the day, John called me at home to apologize for going off on me, and to tell me that he had discovered who the guilty party was, and would “deal with them.” From that point on, John and I were friends, and would always look out for each other. There were little things here and there. John uncharacteristically overslept one night, and was an hour late to relieve me. When he finally showed up, he asked “Why in the world didn’t you call me?” I told him I had things under con trol, and figured he needed the sleep. He appreciated that, but still insisted I call next time. John and I were conspiratorial, which should come as no surprise to anyone who worked with us. A few years ago, we worked together on producing high school football broadcasts. We would shoot pri vate messages back and forth from our respective broadcast booths, sometimes about the games, some times about things that went on during the broadcasts, but never, ever, without an element of humor. I think the best laugh I got out of him one night was when a post game highlight show was being broadcast on both stations. The hosts of the game were a little inexperienced, and were apt to be overly excitable. I sent the mes sage to John that we needed to tell them “...we have a perfectly good transmitter. We don’t need them to yell so the listeners can hear them.” I can still see him leaning over the board, laughing and shak ing his head. John was also pretty quick with a comeback. After another similar broadcast that had not gone so well (the term “train wreck” was used several times), John looked at me and said a line he was infa mous for, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” There are so many stories, and they are all flooding back. But the best thing I can do is just to say thank you, John. You taught me a hell of a lot, not just about the business, but about being a good friend, and somebody who can be relied on no matter what. It’s a lesson a lot of people in the world could use. Unfortunately, there’s now one less person to teach it. After they made John Dean Parks in 1946, they broke the mold. Take care, my friend. Call me if you need me. Brandon Reed is a reporter for Mainstreet Newspapers. E-mail comments about this column to brandon@mainstreetnews.com. brandon reed Amazed by media’s coverage of this year’s presidential race Dear Editor: I am amazed by the media. Fred Thompson finishes third in Iowa and Fox News and the cookie cutter media ignores him com pletely; interviewing Amnesty McCain who finished just under Thompson. It begs the question; who is just reporting and who is trying to manipulate coverage for the candidates? We report; you decide; I don’t think so. Even Ron Paul is conveniently ignored although he finished the Caucuses very respectfully. I think Ron Paul is very naive in his belief of ‘if we leave the terrorists alone, they’ll leave us alone.’ But I do think that since he has a grass roots movement that isn’t to be ignored, he should have more media cover age. Thompson, my candidate of choice, is also ignored. Thompson cannot be touched by the media on his issues, so they bypass him altogether. This will only be effec tive if Georgians decide to let early states pick the candidates for them. I issue a challenge: turn off your biased TV coverage (that includes Fox News), turn off your little radios and research the candidates yourself. Go to each one’s official website, read what they themselves are say ing about the issues of our day and decide for yourself. I have a friend who is waiting to see who will come out on top in New Hampshire, Florida and South Carolina before deciding for whom to vote. That’s akin to becoming a Brave’s fan after the 1991 season. Show some guts, show some common sense, for Heaven’s sake, and vote the can didate who best represents your values, not the projected winner. More food for thought: health care seems to be a major issue this election. If you’re one of those who think the federal government should control healthcare consider this: you criticize the government for their ineptness in the aftermath of Katrina, so why would you allow them the power and control over your healthcare? It makes no sense. We can only make a difference if we stop being sheep and follow ing the crowd. Be your own per son. Vote on February 5, vote for YOUR candidate, no one else’s. Sincerely, Laura Whatley Alto That's right... EVEN small ads CAN GET ATTENTION Let us help you market your business. MainStreetNews.Com Now In Commerce Esquire Insurance No Driving Record Too Good Or Too Bad Over 40 Companies Represented • Progressive • Mercury • Travelers & More We offer: • Commercial Insurance • Auto • Home • Life • Health Mon.-Fri. 9am-5:30pm • Sat. 10am-1pm 950 S. Broad Street • Commerce, Ga 706-335-0881 Wrestling team deserves support Dear Editor: The crowd murmurs amongst themselves as they wait for the start ing whistle. They look for the com petitors, now walking to the center ring. With a short whistle blast, two figures move toward each other with great intensity. Arms outstretched, the two are slapping, poking and prodding, waiting for a chance to shoot in, to dominate their oppo nent. Is it the Roman Coliseum with gladiators competing for their life? Or perhaps the television showing the latest installment of the WWF, as the men insult one another and then proceed to jump from ropes and hurl chairs and other obstacles at each other. Neither. It is your local high school gymnasium and your favorite wres tling team is now competing. Aw, shucks, you think, how bor ing. A couple of teens rolling around a mat while their parents look for something to cheer about. Not really. The WWF has nothing on these guys. The only thing you won’t find is the insults, jumping from ropes and throwing of chairs, at least on the mat. Actually, bad sportsmanship is not tolerated, so nothing is thrown, at least not in sight of spectators. But the excitement is there, and it is actu ally 100 percent totally real. What do you watch the fake stuff for? Blood and guts, knocking peo ple unconscious, inhuman acts of strength and determination, and fan tastically fit athletes. You’ll find it all right here and there is never a script. It is all real, unre hearsed and it is the kid next door (or the cute guy in your algebra class). Yes, it’s high school sports; totally unpredictable, but just as exciting as those football games that the whole town seems to flock to. Yep, every Friday night in late fall hundreds of local folks turn out to see their favorite game, chat with the neighbors and enjoy watching the kids duke it out on the football field. Later they turn out for the basket balls games, rooting their teams on as they enjoy the sport. But when you look to that same gym during the wrestling matches, you’ll only find a very select few in the stands. Mostly parents and only a few of those even. Some simply can’t bear to watch their boys fight for their life out there, but the devoted do show up, if only to be sure that they are available in case of emergency. What I don’t understand is why thousands of my neighbors watch the fake stuff on TV, knowing that it is all staged, but don’t go out to support the neighbor kid, who is doing it for real. He’s really working it, without resulting to insulting behavior. The truth is he’s working 10 times harder than the actors on TV are. The blood is real and it happens often. The guys just take their lim ited ‘blood time’ to try and stem the flow before walking back into that ring and taking even more punish ment. The only sound you’ll hear from the competitors is the occa sional grunt, which is amazing given the horribly contorted positions that they often end up in. If my nose was pressed to my upper thigh while my arm was pulled backward behind my head, I believe that I’d be scream ing at somebody! If you do hear a cry in pain, it is usually well earned and muffled, as these boys don’t want to give in to any pain. It usu ally means that something is terribly wrong and usually leads to the ref stopping the match to check on the boy. Usually they resume, still in pain and endure until the end of the match. Such bravery most of us have never known. It is rare, but does happen every once in a while that someone actu ally gets knocked unconscious. It is terribly frightening. On the occasions that I have witnessed it, the whole gym falls totally silent as the trainers and coaches tend to the injured. It is not a part of competition that any of us like to see. These occurrences usually follow those acts of incred ible strength in which one opponent picks up the other and throws them down. There are rules about throws and they are usually followed, but these accidents still occur. I do have to say, I love to see them throw an opponent down, as long as it’s not a Banks County student being thrown. Having the strength to pick up another person of your same weight and throwing him or placing him down on the mat in a controlled fashion shows just how strong these guys are. No matter if they are 105 pounds, our 285 pounds, it still amazes me. Our heavyweight (285 pounds) has his signature move; a bear hug with a throw. Imagine hav ing a 285 pound teenager crashing down on your chest as your back smashes to the mat. It’ll take the life right out of you. It usually does for his opponents and ends the match pretty quickly, all seemingly without much effort on T’s part. Some of these wrestlers are so quick that it boggles the mind. How do you go from being on your hands and knees, with someone on your back, holding your arm and body down, to being in the totally reversed position in less than a second? I don’t know, but they do it. I don’t know the names of all the moves but they are impressive, nothing like the slow, cumbersome, showy antics you see on TV. Don’t be deceived, this is a very physical and dangerous sport. You only have to sneak a glance at these wrestlers’ faces to see. Few go unscathed. Most carry a black eye, swollen lips and eyebrows, gouges and scrapes and bruises. Their backs carry the marks of the mats, finger nails, shoelaces, and headgear (the only safety equipment they use). Their knees have mat burns, their legs are bruised and their fingers usually are swelled as well. These boys are not wimps! But of course it’s not all blood and guts. Just the sheer competition is exciting. Seeing them fight, as the spectators urge them on is thrilling. Parents shouting, fans screaming, it is just as deafening as a basketball game. I love to glance around at the fans during these matches and watch them. So many, me included, can be seen straining and leaning, urging the wrestlers on, willing them to strain even more and trying to help them along telepathically as they themselves contort in sync with the wrestler. I find myself tired from straining, leaning and sympathetic clenching as I watch. The courage of these boys is strong, their commitment great and their dedication to their sport unwav ering. They deserve the same amount of commitment from their commu nity as the other more popular sports receive. The wrestling team actu ally had a better record last year than either the football or basketball teams from BCHS. They broke old records last year and continue to break them this year. I believe they deserve at least a small bit of inter est from those of you who have not taken the time to see them in action. There is only one more opportu nity to see them compete at home. January 22 will be the last home match this season. But if you catch the bug and decide you need more, there are more matches at other schools in January and continuing on into February. Come on out and see this amazing display of strength, determination and courage. I am positive that you will go home with a new respect for what they endure. Just be glad that, unlike me, you don’t have to sit in that tin can of a bus with them on the long ride home. If it weren’t for the lighthearted conversation, I swear I’d pass out from the stench! Sincerely, GayLynne Wright Homer