Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
Sports
IB
Thursday, July 30, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
r‘V
Ben Munro
From the
sports desk
Amused by
Spurrier’s
snub of
St. Tebow
You would have thought
Nelson Mandela had been put
back in prison given the recent
outrage surrounding St. Tim
Tebow not being — gasp! —
a unanimous first-team pre
season All-SEC coaches’ pick.
Where there’s a good con
troversy in the SEC, you’ll
always find the old ball coach
Steve Spurrier, who snubbed
Tebow on
his ballot at
no. 1 quar
terback.
Give
him credit.
The for
mer Gator
coach's “fun
and gun”
offense may
have lost
some horse
power while
at South
Carolina, but Spurrier can still
entertain.
Of course. Spurrier claimed
he delegated his ballot to an
athletic association official,
not realizing the omission
of the Gators’ much-too-dis-
cussed star quarterback when
he signed off on it.
Yeah, right.
And Urban Meyer really
needed those “timeouts’’
against Georgia last year.
Spurrier, the so-called “Evil
Genius,’’ always knows what
he’s doing.
There appears to be grow
ing tension between Spurrier
and Florida, where his legacy
as a player and coach is fast
being eclipsed by St. Tebow
and Pope Urban Meyer.
For starters, Florida's 56-6
unholy drubbing of Spurrier's
Gamecocks in 2008 was no
coincidence. Meyer wanted
to send a message — in
third person, of course — to
Spurrier: "Urban Meyer is the
god of Gator football now.’’
Months later, Meyer tried
to alienate one of Spurrier's
former Gator quarterbacks,
Shane Matthews (who does
sports talk radio), after a cri
tique of Florida’s offense last
year.
“If you want to be critical
of a player on our team or a
coach on our team, you can
buy a ticket for seat 37F —
you’re not welcome back in
the football office,’’ Meyer
said in an Orlando Sentinel
article in May.
Clearly, no ego here.
Then, it was Spurrier's turn.
He publicly rehashed rumors
that Meyer will bolt for Notre
Dame one day, which prob
ably chapped Meyer.
Now, Tebowgate. Anybody
think it’s funny that Spurrier
didn’t vote for the Gator that’s
surpassed him in popularity?
Of course. Spurrier (at least
publicly) begged for forgive
ness and changed his vote to
Tebow. But the prankster had
his fun in the process.
As for the bigger picture,
the silly public outcry created
by Tebowgate did nothing but
intensify the Gators' preseason
hype that much more,
Florida might be the best
team since the 1995 Nebraska
Comhuskers, but if one
doesn't think Florida and all
its players walk on water, it’s
a national incident and you
will be called out for it.
Perhaps all that attention
creates a sense of entitlement
for the Gators and Tebow. You
know what happens when
people start feeling a sense of
entitlement and privilege.
So thanks. Spurrier, for add
ing yet another distraction in
Florida’s rock star preseason.
And thanks, as always, for
being entertaining.
Ben Munro is a reporter for
The Madison County Journal.
Football
Coach says Raiders ‘more unified’ this year
Preseason practice starts Monday
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
There’s at least one sign that Madison
County's 2009 campaign might go better than
last year's 2-8 affair:
Everyone's getting along better.
"It seems to be a little more cohesive group
this year,” sixth-year coach Randell Owens
said. “The 11 th an 12 th grade group seems to be
a lot tighter. A lot more unified.”
Madison County suffered its first losing sea-
‘09 OPENER
•Season opener: Madison Co. vs. Rockdale
Co., Aug. 28, Danielsville, 7:30 p.m.
son under Owens last year, losing its last seven
games of 2008.
As the team prepared to head to team camp
at West Georgia this past week, Owens said this
year’s group appears to be without the divisions
that perhaps hindered previous squads.
"It seems like a closer-knit group without
— See Football on Page 2B
The Madison County football
team is trying to recover from its
first losing season since 1999.
Madison Co. all-stars
lltUAlii*
Madison County Little League softball all-stars (L to R) Cheyenne Pridgen, Kristen Moran, Haley Gordon and
Brianne Carr congratulate Moran after a defensive play in Friday night’s state title game. Ben Munro/staff
Runner-up repeat
•INSIDE: See more pics on Page 3B
State tide slips away from Madison Go.
all-star squad in 6-1 loss to Warner Robins
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
WARNER ROBINS - Beach vacation plans put on hold due to
all-star season can now be booked.
The Madison County Little League softball all-stars won’t
be trekking to the A L00K BACK 0N THE SEASON
regional champi
onships in West
Virginia after a
6-1 loss to Warner
Robins in the state
finals Friday.
"We pushed
them to the ‘if
(necessary) game’
and thought we
were going to get
them, but they
were a good team,” manager Jay Pridgen said.
Another second-place finish was bittersweet — perhaps more
bitter than sweet — for a Madison County team with designs on
winning the state title that eluded them last year. Madison County
fell 7-1 to Pioneer Little League in the finals a year ago.
This time around, Madison County fell behind 6-0 in the cham
pionship game before plating its only run in the final inning. The
— See Little League softball on Page 2B
DISTRICT
MC 22, Hart Co. 0 (June 29)
MC 12, Franklin Co. (June 30)
MC 15, Rabun Co. 0 (July 1)
MC 14, Habersham 1 (July 2)
STATE
MC 8, Harris Co. 0 (July 19)
Warner Robins 3, MC 1 (July 21)
MC 14, Harris Co. 1 (July 22)
MC 6, Warner Robins 4,10 inn.(July 23)
Warner Robins 6, MC 1 (July 24)
Madison County Little League softball all-star
first baseman Alexis Damron applies a tag at
first base Friday in Madison County’s state title
game against Warner Robins.. Ben Munro/staff
Racing
Colbert’s Collins takes third at Lavonia
Some children ride with their favorite
driver, Kenny Collins, of Colbert.
Kenny Collins enjoyed a third-place finish
in the Crate Late Model race Saturday night
at Lavonia Speedway, marking the top perfor
mance of any Madison County driver at the
track this weekend.
Other local drivers included Chad Hoopaugh,
fourth, Enduro: Comer’s Chuck Finch,
sixth, Enduro; Comer’s Larry Parham, ninth,
Enduro; Comer’s Mark Parham, sixth, Crate
Late Model; Colbert's Robin Collins, seventh.
Limited Late Model; Comer's Jimmy Little,
fifth, Stock Four; and Colbert’s Cody Segars,
sixth. Young Guns.
Lavonia Speedway will be closed for the
next three weeks, but the action will continue at
Hartwell Speedway beginning next week when
it will host its back-to-school bash.
The action will return to Lavonia Speedway
Aug. 22 with a $3,000 purse in the Super
Late Model race along with extra cash in all
classes.
— report submitted by Heather Rhoades
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