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INSIDE THIS WEEK
The Madison County Journal
Sports
MCYA sign-ups are Sat.
Sign-ups for MCYA football and cheerlead
ing are slated for Saturday. See
Sports Shorts for more details.
IB
Thursday, July 9, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Small-school
McNair was
as good as
advertised
The violent and untimely
passing of former All-Pro
quarterback Steve McNair
might be a bit lost in the
proverbial shuffle given the
recent string of sad events.
At this point, we’re becom
ing desensitized to celebrity
deaths since we’ve had five
in the last two weeks: Ed
McMahon,
Farrah
Fawcett,
Billy Mays,
McNair and,
of course,
Michael
Jackson,
whose death
overshad
owed them
all. A quick
aside about
Jackson if I
may: “Beat It” is the greatest
pop song of all-time.
But back to “Air McNair.”
He took the college foot
ball world by storm in 1994
as an unlikely candidate for
the coveted Heisman Trophy.
Unlikely, because he
played for Division I-AA
Alcorn State. The Heisman is
reserved for the big boys of
Division I-A.
I was anti-McNair in 1994
because he racked up insane
yardage against helpless
small school defenses. I felt
he didn’t deserve his press
clippings.
After all, Alcorn
State played in the tiny
Southwestern Athletic
Conference, so McNair
wasn’t exactly earning his
gaudy stats against the likes
of Florida State, Miami or
Nebraska — the heavy
weights of that day — or
even Temple for that matter.
Yet, ESPN would drool
over his highlights (he totaled
nearly 6,000 yards that sea
son), and I still remember
the Sports Illustrated cover
that declared, “Hand him the
Heisman.”
I saw him play once on
television that year, and he
completed an incomprehen
sible 52-of-82 (82 passes!)
for 514 yards in a 63-20 loss
to Youngstown State in the
Division I-AA playoffs.
Still, I shied away from the
bandwagon.
“He'll be a bust in the
pros," I predicted.
So much for my ability to
assess talent.
McNair was selected third
in the 1995 NFL draft, and
over the next 13 seasons,
threw for 31,304 yards,
earned four Pro Bowl selec
tions, one co-MVP honor
and became the face of the
Tennessee Titans franchise.
But McNair's enduring
moment came in what could
be termed “the best loss of
all-time.”
With Tennessee down
23-16 late to St. Louis in
Super Bowl XXXTV, Air
McNair drove his team 87
yards in the final 1:48. But
his final completion to Kevin
Dyson came one yard short
of the goal line as time ran
out.
It’s arguably the best
Super Bowl we’ve seen, and
McNair nearly supplied the
greatest moment in NFL his
tory. He certainly earned my
respect.
Tennessee might have
come up one yard short that
night, but McNair clearly
didn’t when it came to foot
ball.
This much is obvious as
McNair leaves behind his
legacy: The kid from Alcorn
State proved a lot of us
wrong.
Ben Munro is a reporter
for The Madison County
Journal
From the
sports
desk
State All-Star Tournament
Jr. Leaguers take title
Madison County team
The Madison County Junior League
softball all-star team starts state tour
nament play Saturday after winning
the District 7 title last week.
With only one other foe in the
district tournament, Rabun County,
Madison County won twice in a
best-of-three series to take the cham
pionship.
Madison County beat Rabun
County 7-6 Monday in the tourna
ment opener and won game two
heads to state Saturday
on Tuesday, 11-5, to close out the
series.
Jessica Allen homered and also
pitched to highlight Madison
County’s game one victory.
Kayla Argo toed the rubber in game
two in Madison County’s six-run win
in the series-clincher. At the plate,
Haley Andrews provided an inside-
the-park homer as Madison County
— See Junior League page 2B
The District 7 champion Madison County Junior League all-star softball team
includes Amber Toole, Megan Moon, Amber Fitzpatrick, Haley Andrews, D.J. Rucker,
Jessica Allen, Kayla Argo, Chelsea Ford, Megan Boswell, Elizabeth Stoyle, Candice
Hammond and Taylor Garrison. Tim Brock and Allen Ford coach the team.
Madison Co. all-stars
Ansley Damron rounds third base last Thursday in the Madison County Little League softball all-stars’ 14-1 district championship win over
Habersham County. Madison County starts state tournament play July 19. Ben Munro/staff
Madison Co. blasts foes 63-1 during district title march
•Gov. Sonny Perdue drops in
on all-star team, PAGE 1A
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
T he final run tally for the District 7 Little
League all-star softball tournament is not
a typo: Madison County 63, Opponents 1
Madison County steamrolled its way to another
district banner, beating its foes by an average of 15.5
runs a game.
Manager Jay Pridgen said that stat about says it
all.
“There’s no sense in picking out any one girl or
five girls to talk about because every girl on the
team hit,” Pridgen said. “Every girl on the team did
everything I asked of them.”
Madison County starts its pursuit of a state title
July 19 in Warner Robins, taking plenty of ammuni
tion with it to the state tournament.
The entire roster is batting at least .500. Some
girls are hitting .750 or .800.
‘They have just been crushing the ball,” Pridgen
said.
The mound work isn’t shabby either.
The team’s ERA is 0.00, since the lone score
allowed at district was the product of an error.
“You can’t beat that,” Pridgen said.
— See Little League softball all-stars on 2B
Racing
Bray first in Firecracker
Hull's Royce Bray scored a huge
win Saturday at the FASTRAK
Firecracker 100 event at Hartwell
Speedway, overtaking Brandon
“Combread” Haley late to earn a
$5,000 payday.
Though Bray grabbed the check
ered flag, Brandon “Combread”
Haley led the majority of the race.
But Bray, the 2008 FASTRACK
points champion, was never far
behind, waiting for just the right
moment to make his move.
With less than 10 laps to go
Bray shot to the high side and
— See Bray page 2B
^irrtiiwbLI
Hull’s
Royce Bray
is pictured
with the
$5,000
winner’s
check from
Saturday’s
Firecracker
100.
Submitted
photo/Carolyn
Whitlock