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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 CO (/) < < (/> o o X o CO o o < DO CD CD O 5 o CD O) c cr> *3- x LU * CD Oh i C CM V) 1_ o b o w J2T C CD fij □Q ca . (/) UD ' o < m CO 00 w OJ -T oo <7> £ 1 01 co 8 ° <■ % i lVJ ww w.ta n gerouttetcom fitly direct from Wra manutattumr