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July 16,2008 Section B The Banks County News Sports Editor: Chris Bridges Contact: 706-367-2745 www.mainstreetnewssports.com First Ten ★ ★ ★ chris@mainstreetnews.com BY CHRIS BRIDGES True fans will always stick by Falcons I f the pro football experts are anywhere close to correct, the upcoming season is not going to be pretty for the Atlanta Falcons. I’ve seen forecasts which call from 6-10 at best to 1-15 at worst. Most of the time predictions typi cally fall somewhere in between so I guess we are realistically looking at finishing in the neigh borhood of four wins. Six or seven wins is probably asking for too much and most NFL teams are going to win more than one game. Even franchises that have fallen on the toughest of times find a way to win two or three contests in a 16-game regular season. Flow did the Falcons get in such shape? As is typically the case, many factors are involved. A series of bad decisions have been made, all of which have added to the pyramid which has caused the organization to reach this level. Of course, it could be said the franchise has been cursed since it began operations in the 1960s, but let’s focus on the current times since Arthur “Mr. Flome Depot” Blank bought the franchise. Showing his inexperience in running a pro football franchise, Blank’s first bad decision was fir ing Dan Reeves, a Hall of Fame coach. Blank’s decision was wrong to fire Reeves and he then got the next two hires to replace him wrong. Jim Mora turned out to be wrong although I don’t fault Blank completely because on the surface it seemed like this hire had a chance to be successful. Then, of course, we had the Bobby Petrino disaster which left many people in NFL circles wondering if Blank really knew the difference in a nail apron and a coach’s headset. This was a true disaster of a hire if there ever was one. Let’s hope Blank’s fourth decision concerning head coaches is one where he gets it right with Mike Smith, who arrives by way of Jacksonville. Blank also was made to look like a fool by Mike “Public Enemy #1” Vick. This thug, who is still sitting in jail where he truly belongs, played Blank and all of us for fools. Have no sympathy for Vick in this case and have a only the smallest amount of it for Blank although the owner’s will ingness to shell out the millions for his quarterback was a little on the risky side to be sure. The drafting of Matt Ryan from Boston College was a good move, however. The selection showed those clueless enough to think Vick might actually put on a Falcon uniform again that the organization has moved on. All of this brings us to the sum mer of 2008. Many bad decisions have been made in recent years. The great thing about the NFL is that is really doesn’t take that long to turn things around. Look at the New Orleans Saints from 2006. A team which most experts figured would win five games at best went to the NFL Championship contest. There is hope for the Falcons. The true fans will stick with the Birds this season, even if they only manage to register one or two wins. Count me as one of those “true fans.” Chris Bridges is sports editor of The Banks County News. Contact him at 706-367-2745 or by e-mail at chris @ mainstreetnews. com. All-Star Tournaments Champions: 9-10 All-Stars capture softball state title BY CHRIS BRIDGES When all was said and done, the Banks County 9-10-year-old All-Stars stood victori ous as state champions. Coach David Kennedy’s team captured the GRPA Class C state title this past week end winning three games including a 10-7 victory against Butts County in the final outing. This marks the second consecutive season the 9-10-year-champions have repre sented the Banks County Parks and Recreation Department. In the opening game of the state tournament, Banks County recorded a 15-3 win against Pike County. The following game saw Banks continue to be impressive at the plate with a 25-6 win against Jefferson. The final game was somewhat closer but Kennedy’s squad was still able to post the three-win win to clinch the state champion ship. Members of the state championship winning team include Abby Baird, Kayla Berry, Mallory Coker, Kaitlyn Duncan, Anslee Foster, Gabby Kennedy, McKenzie Kennedy, Summer Lord, Taylor Parson, Alex Pritchett, Riley Scroggs and Bayleigh Watson. Rodney Foster and Ricky Duncan also helped coached the 9-10-year-old All-Stars. In other Banks County All-Star action, the 13-14-year-old All-Star baseball team fell to Druid Hills 11-0 Monday. The team was sched uled to play again Tuesday against Bartow American. A win Tuesday would have put the Banks team in action Thursday at 2 p.m. The 13-14-year-old team members include Thomas Ward, Jay Coen, Taylor Foster, Avery Chastain, Jamerson Flynn, Jared Clark, Tayler Hewell, Tyler Hellmeister and Blake Allen. The All-Star team is coached by Jeff Coen and Cranley Ward. See next week’s edition for an update on the progress of the local 13-14-year- old All-Star squad. Pride of Summer: Working in the Trenches FIRST PLACE SHOWING Members of Banks County High School's championships tug-of-war team competed in Walhalla, South Carolina at a recent lineman challenge. BCHS was the overall winner of the 11 -team event. Photos by Melissa Hester In Walhalla; South Carolina... Leopards win first place in lineman challenge BY CHRIS BRIDGES The Banks County High School lineman traveled out-of-state for their second com petition this summer. This time the Leopards who compete in the trenches returned home with a first- place showing. Members of the BCHS football program traveled to Walhalla, South Carolina recently for a lineman challenge and showed they weren’t satisifed with an earlier second-place showing at a competition at Gilmer High School. Traveling just across the South Carolina state line, the BCHS contingent won it all in the competition which showcases strongman events for offensive and defen sive linemen. Events ranged from the 185-pound bench press all the way to the old-fashioned tug-of-war. BCHS was led by a senior group with just one year of experience at these competitions and emerged with an over all score of 85. The closest team to the Leopards was Class AAAA Daniel High School which compiled 70 points. Host Lineman Challenge Members of the BCHS football team captured first place at a Lineman Challenge held in Walhalla, S.C. recently compiling 85 team points. Walhalla was third with 53 points fol lowed by AAAA Gaffney with 49. The only other Georgia school compet ing was Hart County, a AAA school. The Bulldogs were sixth with 44 points among the 11 schools competing. Coach Blair Armstrong’s team was first in several team events included the bench press, five-man sled push and tug-of-war. In the bull pull, Tyler Hulsey and Thomas Baker dominated all competitors but one with three wins each. Baker qualified for the championship round and almost pulled out the overall win despite having a 50-pound weight disadvantage. See Linemen on page 2B DRIVING WITH FORCE Tramaine Mayfield shows his strength in the one- man sled competition in South Carolina. BCHS taking part in new Gladiator Wars BY CHRIS BRIDGES The Banks County High School football team has been at war — with itself. The new competition involves everything from 55-gallon drum rolling, relay races with buckets of water, relay races with dumbbells, bag jumps, sled pushing, tug-of-war and more. The players are divided into teams and compete approxi mately every two weeks. This new competition the Leopards are involved in is called Gladiator Wars. The event is held on Friday morn ings for athletes who are not on vacation, play ing baseball or basketball. Teams are drafted and then “go to war” although in a friendly sort of way, coach Blair Armstrong said. BCHS held the first competi tion on the same day as the initi- tal Helmet Buddies. The winning team consisted of Billy Dunn, Nick Sosebee, Alex Banks, Nathan Mathis, Jon Gailey, Matthew Patton and Josh Staats. The runner-up team was made up of Lyn Hester, Kane Duncan, Zach Sprayberry, Hunter McLane, Tramaine Mayfield and Zach Reichert. Recently, the BCHS football pro gram held another Gladiator War outing with a winning team which had to have a tie-breaker to deter mine the victor. All the teams were within striking distance of first place going into the final event. The team which emerged in first place consisted of Justin Bowen, Tyler Husley, Dylan Lackey, Jeremy Greenway, Cody Evans, Abner McCright and Andrew Hudson. The runner-up team at the most recent event included members Demetric Dempson, Thomas Baker, Barry Whitfield, Kenny Langston, Nathan Mathis, Logan Prater and Eli Autry. The Gladiator War championship will be held Friday, July 25, from 9 a.m. until noon at the BCHS prac tice field. Countdown to kickoff: 44 DAYS Local Racing Seasoned equipment leads to victory at Atlanta Dragway BY AMY GLOVER Special to the BCN The three car-class winners in Saturday night’s Atlanta Dragway Summit ET Series action used “well-seasoned” vehicles, proving one doesn’t need the latest technology and fancy equipment to win. Super Pro winner Joshua Cohen of Lawrenceville secured his first victory with a well-seasoned 'll Camaro. Running in only his sixth race, Cohen pulled off a beautiful win with a .0004 margin of victory, running a 5.13 on a 5.08 dial, against Woodstock’s Michael Morris, who ran a 6.73 on a 6.70 dial in his ’01 Undercover Dragster. Jim McKelvey of Snellville and Ashley Hancock of Commerce placed in the semifi nals. Long-time racer Kelly King, from Stockbridge, showed up his shinier opponents in the Pro class with his well-worn ’74 Vega Wagon. King won with a tighter package, run ning a 7.12 on a 7.06, against Brian Lyle, who ran an 8.06 on a 7.98. King remarked on the visual status of vehi cles, saying, “A clean car doesn’t win races.” Two previous event winners, Howard Warren of Douglasville, and Justin Buchanan of Six Mile, S.C., ended their night in the semifi nals. In the Sportsman class, another long-time racer, Randy Franklin of Loganville, broke out less (16.69 on a 16.84) in his 314,000 miled '19 Chevy C-10, than his friend of 30 years, John Snapp of Conyers. Snapp ran a 16.69 on a 16.84 dial. Franklin said that while he has had his fair share of the runner-up position, this was his first win at Atlanta Dragway. D.A. Streber, of Greenville, S.C. placed third. Dallas racer Jeff Shropshire won in the Motorcycle category, pulling off a 15.04 on a 14.84 dial against Homer’s Howard Bowman. Bowman, riding his wife’s ’06 Harley, finished in a larger overshot of prediction, running 9.77 on a 9.60 dial-in. Steve Jackson, from Bogart, was the semi finalist of the category. Competition was shortened from six to four classes this weekend due to the Atlanta Dragway Junior Dragster team representing the track at the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, PA. The top ranking junior dragster driver was Brandon Thompson from Douglasville, who finished as a quarterfinalist in the 16-17 cat egory.