Newspaper Page Text
The Madison County Journal
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Vipers strike in tourney
The Vipers, a travel baseball team
with several Madison County
players, won a recent tournament
2B
IB
Thursday, August 13, 2009
www.MainstreetnewsSPORTS.com
Ben Munro/ ben@mainstreetnews.com (706) 795-2567
Power ratings
of disgust: How
do the Bulldogs’
opponents rank?
Much of college football
fandom is devoted to visceral
hate of rival schools.
Outside international soc
cer, there’s not another sport
where there’s more ill will
wished upon others.
And I’m guilty as charged.
These days,
we use com
puter ratings
to rank college
teams' ability.
So could we
rank level of
disgust, too?
Yes, we can
— and I have.
Collaborating
with a team
of top-flight
Princeton
mathemati
cians, I've written a complex
algorithm to rank Georgia’s
12 opponents from least
offensive to most offensive, I
listed our findings according
to this ranking, not the order
in which they fall on UGA’s
schedule.
Scores are based on a 1-100
scale. If you don’t like your
team's rating, contact the
guys at Princeton.
•Tennessee Tech — If
you’re a Georgia fan, you
better hope there’s no reason
to hate the Division I-AA
Golden Eagles. Hate factor:
00.1.
•Arizona State — Hard to
get worked up over a team
two time zones away Hate
factor: 12.4.
•Vanderbilt — The
Commodore fans remain nice
— even if Vandy wins. Hate
factor: 21.7
•Kentucky — Vanderbilt's
first cousin with a little more
talent. Big Blue fans generally
don’t trash talk — in football,
that is. Hate factor: 31.6.
•Oklahoma State — This
is where it starts to get
unpleasant. “Sir Rants-A-
Lot,” aka coach Mike Gundy,
offers a lot not to like. "He’s
a man!,” and his team scored
a 40 on our scale. Hate fac
tor: 40.0
•Arkansas — Arkansas
fans have the potential to get
downright nasty if they win
based on that God-awful call-
the-Hogs cheer. Hate factor:
45.4.
•South Carolina — No
team takes more pride in
fair-to-middling results.
Annoying, but sufferable —
until they beat you. Hate fac
tor: 51.5.
•LSU — This powerhouse
with ill-tempered fans would
have rated much higher if not
for the whipping it put on
Georgia Tech in the Chick-
Fil-A Bowl. Hate factor:
79.6
•Tennessee — There’s that
nine-game winning streak the
Vols once held over Georgia.
And then there’s Lane Kiffin.
Hate factor: 88.4
•Auburn — The Tigers’
discord with UGA dates
back to 1892, thus giving it a
high score on our scale. But
Auburn and Georgia should
call a temporary truce since
both have bigger fish to fry.
Hate factor: 88.5.
•Georgia Tech — Georgia
Tech fans are too obsessed
with the Bulldogs to even
know what division in the
ACC their team resides. Plus,
this is the football program
that gives its players rings for
beating Georgia. Hate factor:
99.9 (Note: My dad went to
Tech, so I respect the school,
just not the Yellow Jacket
sports and fans.)
•Florida — Well, the
Gators scored off the charts
and melted down our com
puter system. Hate factor:
Incalculable.
Ben Munro is a reporter for
The Madison County Journal.
Ben Munro
From the
sports desk
The Madison County football team has just over two weeks
to prepare for its Aug. 28 opener with Rockdale County. Ben
Munro/staff
Football
First game full of unknowns
Raiders prepare for season opener vs. Rockdale
COMING UP
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Raider coach Randell Owens
knows Rockdale County coach
Michael Etheridge is partial to
a Wing-T offense and a 3-5-3
defense.
At least that's what he’s expect
ing to see when Etheridge’s
Bulldogs break the huddle Aug.
28 in Danielsville in the first
game.
■ Madison Co. vs. Rockdale
Co., Aug. 28, Danielsville,
7:30 p.m.
"But will they do that?”
Owens asked rhetorically. "Is
this going to be the year he
changes something?”
Such is the mystery of prepar
ing for the season opener: More
time to practice, less known
about your opponent.
“There’s pros and cons either
way,” Owens said.
Madison County has just over
two weeks left to prepare for the
Bulldogs, who beat the Raiders
25-14 last year.
While Owens has been
studying Rockdale County
film, it’s footage from last
year, so it’s outdated.
That makes it a bit harder to
assess this year’s Rockdale
— See ‘Football’ on page 2B
2009 Softball Preview
Ready for another run?
Raiders good,
but must
stay healthy
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Madison County might
possess one of the best soft-
ball teams in the region but
will need to avoid the injury
bug this year like it’s the
swine flu.
The Raiders, 24-11 in
2008, remain largely intact
from last season, but dress
just slightly over a dozen
varsity players. That leaves
little room for injury.
“Our key, I guess more so
this year than in the past, is
just staying healthy,” 12 th -
year coach Doug Kesler
stressed. “We’re only going
to dress 14 kids on the var
sity.”
Madison County opens up
Monday against Heritage
with many of last year’s
faces taking the field.
In the infield, four-year
starter Katie Bohn (catcher)
and second-year starter
Olivia Duncan (second
base) return to familiar ter
ritory, but Brandi Osborne
moves from first to third,
Abby Atkinson shifts to
shortstop and Elizabeth
Whieldon takes over at first.
Renee Ellisor is working as
a back-up catcher.
In the outfield, Sam
LaZear is penciled in to
start in center, but Timia
Skelton, Haley Peeples and
Ariel Bates are battling for
the remaining two outfield
slots.
"We feel like we were
going to be pretty good
defensively,” Kesler said.
“We ought to be strong up
the middle. You always look
to be strong up the middle.”
Madison County should
also be formidable from the
mound where the Raiders
return all pitchers, except
for Megan Kesler.
Erin Gibson, the likely
opening-day starter, is
joined by Sarah Smith,
Madison County softball senior Erin Gibson zeros in on a pitch during batting prac
tice. The Raiders enter the year following a 24-win season in 2008. Ben Munro/staff
COMING UP
^ Softball season opener: Madison
County @ Heritage, Aug. 17
■ Tournament: Madison County hosts
the annual Madison County Leadoff
Classic at the Madison County Recreation
Department. The Raiders start play
Thursday, Aug. 20.
Cortney Boggs and Emily
Mann on the Raider staff.
Offensively, Madison
County welcomes back
most of last year's lineup
— one that produced 11
run-rule shortened victories
— as it looks to contend for
a division title.
"It’s all about timely hit
ting, being able to perform
with a little pressure on
you,” Kesler said. “That’s
what it’s all about.”
As for the competition,
the Raiders finished second
last year in 8A-AAAA and
should find themselves in
a three-way fight again this
year with Apalachee and
Habersham Central for the
division crown.
— See ‘Softball’ on page 2B
RAIDER SOFTBALL
ROSTER
1 Erin Gibson (Sr.) P
2 Abby Atkinson (Jr.) SS
3 Sam LaZear (So.) OF
4 Brandi Osborne (Jr.) INF
6 Katie Bolin (Sr.) C
7 Timia Skelton (Jr.) OF
8 Sarah Smith (Jr.) P-OF
9 Elizabeth Whieldon (Jr.) IB
11 Cortney Boggs (Jr.) P-INF
15 Haley Peeples (Jr.) OF
18 Ariel Bates (Sr.) INF
22 Emily Mann (Jr.) P-INF
32 Renee Ellisor (Jr.) C
33 Olivia Duncan (So.) INF-C
Head coach: Doug Kesler
Asst, coaches: Ken
Morgan, Michael Thomas,
Sarah Owen and Lee Anne
Austin
Student Assistant:
Samantha Wyatt
Former Raiders
CALLOWAY
Galloway
continues
career
in Texas
Madison County High
School’s all-time hit
leader has revived his
baseball career in the
Lone Star State,
Calloway, who col
lected 123 hits for the
Raiders from 2001-
2004, is playing inde
pendent league baseball
for the San Angelo Colts,
a member of United
League Baseball.
Independent league
teams are professional
organizations but not
affiliated with Major
League franchises.
Calloway joined the
Colts in July and was
hitting .286 through his
first 21 at-bats. That
included his first profes
sional homerun.
He also has three
RBIs.
Calloway is one of
three catchers on the
Colts’ roster, starting in
some games.
Calloway played col-
legiately for Southern
Tech and Emmanuel,
but went undrafted this
spring.
“He just thought it (his
career) was over since he
didn’t get in the draft,”
Calloway’s mother,
Donna Calloway, said.
“But his agent called
him and told him that he
wanted him out there (in
San Angelo).”
Calloway seems to be
making the most of the
opportunity.
Donna Calloway said
she listens to her son’s
game via the internet
and announcers out there
seem impressed with the
rookie catcher.
“The radio people
are really talking about
him,” she said.
Old school softball
Former Raider
softball player
Shelley Bates
scores a run
Saturday
in Madison
County’s alumni
softball game.
Twenty-six for
mer Raiders
attended the
reunion, span
ning all the way
back to members
of the original
fastpitch softball
team from 1998.
Ben Munro/staff
Middle School Softball
Softball Mustangs off to fast start
Madison County
Middle School
goes 3-1 to take
tournament title
The start of the Madison
County Middle School soft-
ball was as successful as it
was eventful.
The team picked up three
wins and played in two extra
inning games over the week
end to win the Northeast
Georgia Middle School
Classic.
Stephens County hosted the
event.
Madison County opened
with a nine-inning, 4-3 win
over West Jackson Friday
and followed that with a 7-0
stomping of Franklin County
Saturday to advance to the
finals.
There, the Mustangs again
faced West Hall, which fought
out of the losers’ bracket to
earn the rematch.
Madison County dropped
the first finals contest, fall
ing 4-3 in a 10-inning game.
However, the Mustangs
turned around and won the “if
necessary” game 5-1 to clinch
the title.
"Strong pitching and timely
hitting were the keys to the
weekend success,” said coach
Phillip Archer, who’s in his
first year with the program.