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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2008 SPORTS NOTICES THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS PACE 3B • 2008 Deer Hunt For The Handicapped[ Dec. 7 9-20 The DNR announces that applications are being accepted for the inaugural Banks County Deer hunt for handicapped hunters. The hunt will be held at the Windmill Farm location. Applicants must possess a hunter education certificate before applying. The hunt is planned for hunters permanently confined to wheelchairs, but other disabilities may be considered. Additional requirements can be found on the application forms. Deadline for applications is 4:30 p.m., Dec. 3, at the Banks County Extension Office located at 413 Evans Street in Homer. Applications are available at the Banks County Extension office, the Wal-Mart at Banks Crossing, and at Shuler’s Great Outdoors at Banks Crossing. For more information contact the Banks County Extension Office at 706-677-6230. • Christmas Tree And Wreath Sale The BCHS football program is sponsoring a Christmas tree and wreath sale to benefit the 2008 Season Banquet for the athletes. Orders are open through Friday, Nov. 21. Orders can be picked up between 5 - 9 p.m. Dec. 5, at the Ag Barn at the high school, or between 10 - 2 a.m. Dec. 6. Also on Friday, Dec. 5, there will be an evening of fun for all Banks County children. Enjoy a visit with Santa, craft table, cookie decoration, cake walk, jumping machine, hay ride and more. Parking is on the Ag bam side of the school as the festivities will take place on the bus ramp side. AMERICA’S GAME The Evolution of Baseball — Part IV I have endeavored in parts one, two and three of this series, to examine how various aspects of baseball have evolved throughout the last century. Part one examined the development of the hu man body over the past one hundred years by comparing the starting ros ters of the Braves from 2008, 1958 and 1908. Part two examined the size of ballparks since 1908. Part three examined other aspects of the game such as travel distance and time zone changes, sports medicine and the ath lete’s body, safety equipment, free agency and various means to create “part time” ballplay ers. In the final series, Part Four here, I’ll draw some conclusions as to fundamental changes which have taken place in the game over the past 100 years. First, players are bigger and ballparks are smaller. Obviously, that means that more balls are flying out of the ballparks through out America. Players are taller and arm exten sion is greater. Increased weight of the players, coupled with greater arm extension produces a greater ability to drive the ball further. Fenc es have been contracting at an alarming rate, perhaps as much as twenty-five feet since the 1950s. Twenty-five feet may not seem like much, but it is a tremendous amount in a game known as the game of inches. In 1901, only .59 home runs were hit for every 100 at bats. In 1958 that figure had grown to 2.67. In 2008, 2.97 home runs were hit for every 100 at bats. The long ball is getting longer. Second, it is difficult to conclude one way or another if travel distance significantly af fects players. While it is true that players travel more often and at greater distances than be fore, comfort in travel has also improved. Ho tels offer luxurious rooms and facilities, with much greater amenities that in the 1950s, and certainly greater than 100 years ago. Third, ballplayers are playing longer. Jamie Moyer, who pitched in this year’s World Se ries, was forty-five years old when he let go of the first pitch to start game three. It is get ting very common to see players now at forty plus years of age still contributing. Old timers Ralph Kiner retired at 33, Joe DiMaggio at 37, Warren Spahn at 34, and Whitey Ford at 39. However, older generations did have a few that went into their forties - just not as often as we see today. Ted Williams was 42 when he retired. With the advent of sports medicine and its entourage of specialists, and more protective gear, today’s players are more likely to be able play longer - if they want to and if they are good enough - than players of the past. Fourth, despite the ability to play longer, performance and physical health cannot trump management’s growing discontent with “bad boys” in the game. Here, Barry Bonds is a good example. Many teams could have used Bonds in the 2008 season. Bonds was always good for 150 walks even if his home run days were numbered. Not one team touched him. The prospect of losing fans who disliked the trial-bound Bonds was not worth the money. Even Ty Cobb may have had trou ble landing a team in today’s environment. Fifth, and here’s a real mystery: every team holds a battalion of pitchers, each individual hurler having his own specialty and pitching only a few innings each week. We should see these individuals playing not into their forties, but into their sixties. Yet pitchers come and pitchers go. Here today, gone tomorrow. Or, in the case of some we’d like to see go (like Jo Jo Reyes), they hang on like a cancer. The horde of pitchers coupled with the DH rule and pla- tooning signals longer careers for many play ers. Perhaps the starkest difference in ballplay ers from forty years ago is their growing inde pendence from management. With free agency and the proliferation of professional agents for ballplayers, teams are unable to, and sometimes unwilling to retain players who are asking too many dollars and, in some cases, unreasonable peripheral terms. The Manny Ramirezs of the game are able to command just about what ever they wish in a contract. Players now move frequently and have less loyalty to a team and their fan base. And more and more, those fran chises willing to shell out mega bucks for top players, like the New York Yankees, are able to stack the line-up with an all-star team. What has not changed, mercifully, is the ba sics of the game, DH and interleague play not withstanding. After one hundred years, bases are still 90 feet apart, three and two is still a full count, and no matter what any politician says, you get only three outs. Banks County resident John Rieken is an avid baseball fan. E-mail comments about this column to jrieken@windstream.net. Get the local school church, sports ani other community news delivered to your home each week! Just clip the coupon below to begin saving today over the newstand price! Name Address. City State .Zip. Subscription rates for The Banks County News are as follows: $19.75 per year for Banks and adjoining counties; $17.75 per year for senior citizens in Banks and adjoining counties; $38.85 per year for delivery elsewhere in Georgia; $36.85 per year for delivery elsewhere in Georgia with senior citizen discount; $44.50 per year for delivery out of Georgia; $42.50 per year for delivery out of Georgia with senior citizen discount; $42.20 per year for the military with APO address. Enclosed is my check for! Expiration Phone or □ MC or □ VISA # MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. 33 Lee Street, P. O. Box 908 Jefferson, GA 30549 706-367-5233 Fax: 706-367-8056 Website: www.mainstreetnews.com Football continued from page IB PROTECTING THE QB Lyn Hester (68) keeps a Calhoun defender from breaking through on QB Chris Porter (10). Photo by Justin Poole By The Numbers The Calhoun game didn’t offer much in the way of favorable stats for Banks. Chris Porter’s seven attempts at passing were canceled out, and the rush ing game was hampered as well. Justin Beasley was the workhorse carrier, handed the ball for 25 carries and a gain of 130 yards. Demetric Dempson did a share gain ing 19 yards on six carries, with Dylan Lackey’s four carries picking up another 19 yards. Clay Frink aver aged 8.5 yards per carry on two carries for 17 yards total. On the defense Billy Pinson picked up nine tack les followed by Bill Redmon with eight, and Tyler Hulsey with seven. Kane Duncan and Matthew Patton each picked up five tackles. BCHS Season Stats Wins 6 Losses 5 Region seed 4th Total points - score 306 Total points - allow 277 Passing att. 107 Passes comp 48 Interceptions 15 Rushing att. yds TD Beasley 271 2161 24 Bonds 102 624 6 Special PATs FG Hulsey 13/20 1/1 Ewing 4/5 Hester 8/9 Receiving rec. yds TD Duncan 19 298 6 Beasley 13 205 0 Smith 6 108 0 Defense tac. TFL sacks Pinson 117 4 3 Patton 73 3 2 Hulsey 71 5 5 Duncan 69 1 Redmon 45 2 Armour 63 1 2 Hester 52 7 9 Frink 38 6 Season: 528 29 21 Basketball continued from page IB region wins in the process. Boys’ coach Mike Ruth was unable to be reached for com ment on his expectations for the team this year. With several returning players, many having to shed the football pads for shorts, the roster has several key players. The boys get on the court Monday and Tuesday at the Jackson County Thanksgiving Tournament. After the holi day. Banks County will return to the court against Lakeview Academy. The Leopards host the Dec. 1 game with tip-off for the Lady Leopards at 6 p.m. with the Leopards’ game to follow. Date Opponent Nov. 24 @ JCCHS Tourney Dec. 1 VS. Lakeview Dec. 5 @ Rabun Co. Dec. 6 vs. Jackon Co. Dec. 9 vs. Union Co. Dec. 12 @ Prince Ave. Dec.16 vs. Rabun Co. Dec. 19 @ Piedmont College Jan. 7 vs. Riverside (boys) Jan. 9 @ Union Co. Jan. 13 @ Oglethorpe Co. Jan. 16 vs. North Oconee Jan. 17 vs. Stephens Co. Jan. 20 vs. Jefferson Jan. 23 @ Dawson Co. Jan. 27 @ East Jackson Jan. 30 vs. Fannin Co. Feb. 3 vs. Oglethopre Co. Feb. 6 @ North Oconee Feb. 10 @ Jefferson Feb. 13 vs. East Jackson Feb. 16-21 Region Tourney Grapplers continued from page IB The returning grapplers from last year include: Sophomores Justin Fincannon, Viet Pham, Bret Wood, Jordan Waters, CJ Pilcher, Cody Turner, Avery Tench, Jeremy Greenway, Josh Miller, Isaac Mayfield, Jon Gailey, Matthew Patton and Nathan Mathis. Juniors Nathan Holloway, Paul Newell, Clint Caudell, Jacob Bolton, Evan Gossitt, Jared Gregory, Travis Betts and Jorge Diaz. Seniors Wesley Angel, Demetric Dempson, Stephen Giles, Tyler Goodson, Tramane Mayfield and Simon Hurtado. QUAUIFIERS Returning state quali fiers include Dempson, Gregory and T. Mayfield. Last year, Dempson and Gregory placed at state. NORTH GEORGIA ORTHOPAEDICS General Orthopaedics Surgery Joint Replacement Arthritis Treatment Sports Medicine Fracture Care Office hours: Monday - Wednesday Friday Ronald A. MacBeth, M.D. Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon Brian Hamon, Orthopaedic Physician Assistant Certified "Always acceptlwy wewpatlewts" 638 HWY 441, DEMOREST I ACROSS FROM HABERSHAM MEDICAL CENTER I 706.754-8400 SATELLITE OELICE AT TOCCOA CLINIC ON THURSDAYS