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PAGE 2B —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JUNE 29. 2017
2017 Madison County Soccer Camp
The Madison County Recreation Department recently held
a Soccer Camp the week of June 20-24. Travis Moak, Lee
Reno and Randall Ballenger.
The participants learned the fundamentals of soccer includ
ing dribbling skills, passing and shooting. All the kids seemed
to enjoy the skill activities and water day, officials noted.
This year’s campers were Lee Aaron, Bryer Autry, Landen
Bradberry, Blake Brown, Luke Brunson, Whitley Bryant,
Seth Cassidy, Haden Cheek, Charlie Ciurczak, Carlee Coo
per, Patricio Cortez, Victor Hajdu, Ansley Kate Harris, Brean-
na Harris, Kenzie Harris, Landon Hartman, Austin Irvin, Ava
Kellar, Emma Kellar, Dylan Kesler, Elijah Neal, Madolyn
Price, Cash Pruitt, Mauricio Ramos, Kaleigh Sauls, Alari
Sieverding, Nathan Smith, Braxton Sorrow, Bryson Sorrow,
Sawyer Thomason, Thomas Whitfield, Caylon Wideman and
Jarah Wideman.
“If your child did not attend Soccer Camp this year and
you would like for them to come next year, please check
our website for camp information in early 2018," recreation
department officials said.
Madison County baseball ends
summer schedule undefeated
After a short break, Mad
ison County baseball was
back in action with summer
practices after concluding a
nine-game schedule a couple
weeks ago.
The Red Raiders won all
nine of their games includ
ing a win over Region
8-AAAA foe North Oconee
and teams like Banks, Hart,
Franklin and Elbert counties
who made the playoffs in
their classifications.
Madison County head
coach Chad Gillespie said
that because of the short
break between the end of
the 2017 and the start of
summer ball, his team was
already in mid-season form.
“The players showed us
what we needed to see,” said
Gillespie. “With going deep
in the playoffs and going
right into summer baseball,
younger guys got to play
a lot.”
Of the younger players
that weren't major parts of
the 2017 team, Gillespie
said he was most impressed
by Adam Echols, Joe Lucas
and Logan Brown. He went
Jost Cotton fields a ball during one of Madison County’s summer baseball games.
Photo by Kyle Funderburk.
as far as to say that Lucas
would be a force to be reck
oned with next season.
He also was impressed by
Echols being able to play
multiple positions, mostly at
shortstop and second base.
And he said Logan Brown
showed a ton of improve
ment in areas where he was
lacking this past season.
Gillespie believes that
overall the team will be a
tick under what it was in
2017 without Dylan Gentry
and Aubrey Davis on the
mound. In spite of that, he
thinks that the team can have
a better record because the
pitching will be strong again
and hitting will be better
after kids work out and get
stronger through the rest of
the summer and in the fall.
Steve Oney’s stories brought life to the page
NBA Draft signifies
change and new faces
As dismal as the NBA
playoffs were perceived by
some in the sports world, I
believe it’s fair to say that
last Thursday’s draft was
quite the opposite of dismal.
In fact, it was downright
exciting, in my opinion.
Sure, the top-four picks
were a fore gone conclusion
by the time the draft start
ed. But, I was looking and
thinking
beyond just
draft night
itself. I M Y
believe this
is the first
draft since
2003 that
the Associ
ation may
see a siz
able shake-
up due to
the players
who were drafted.
The Philadelphia 76ers
drafted Markelle Fultz No.
1 overall. They drafted from
the first position last year
and took Ben Simmons. In
2014 and again in ‘15, the
76ers drafted from the No. 3
spot and selected Joel Embi-
id and Jahlil Okafor, respec
tively.
The Los Angeles Lakers, a
cornerstone franchise in the
NBA, selected hometown
player Lonzo Ball with the
No. 2 pick. It hasn’t been
Lonzo, though, who stole
the headlines but rather his
father, LaVar Ball, making
the news with his rants and
raves, like, “My son will
only play for the Lakers,”
and “Back in my heyday, I
would kill Michael Jordan
one-on-one.”
To Lonzo’s credit, he
seems pretty soft-spoken and
can play on the court. But,
after being drafted last night,
his dad threw out the guar
antee that Lonzo will lead
the Lakers to the playoffs as
a rookie. The 76ers, specifi
cally Simmons and Embiid,
responded via Twitter. Sim
mons said, “Crazy pills" of
LaVar’s guarantee. Embiid
said to Simmons, "Please
dunk on him (Lonzo) so
hard that his daddy runs on
the court to save him.”
I liked it. The NBA could
have the start of a new rival
ry brewing. No, it’s not a
stretch to say that. These
players are all around the
same age give or take two
to three years. They’re all
talented. If their teams per
form, and their leading the
way, lookout is all I can say.
It could be a rivalry like
the Golden State Warriors
and Cleveland Cavaliers.
What about the Cavaliers
and the Boston Celitcs? It
could definitely be these
rivalries because of all the
young players involved.
It’s not the NFL where the
teams and fans and coach
drive the rivalry. Individu
al players tend to drive the
rivalries.
At No. 3, the Celtics, who
were the No. 1 seed in the
Eastern Conference, select
ed Jayson Tatum. This selec
tion helps get a team from
the doorstep of the NBA
Finals to possibly knocking
the door off of its hinges.
In his only season at Duke,
Tatum played almost 34
minutes and averaged nearly
17 points a game. For the
Celtics, adding more points
from the forward and center
positions will help boost the
offense. If they sign Gordon
Hayward in free agency, the
Celtics will have
the most tal
ented team not
named Golden
State.
Josh Jackson
was drafted No.
4 overall by the
Phoenix Suns.
He joins Eric
Bledsoe and
Devin Booker,
which is quite
the backcourt.
With that, and if Jackson
turns out to be a legit play
er down low, the offense
should open up more for a
team that has pieces and is
figuring the puzzle out.
Those four players seemed
to single-handedly make
this draft special. That’s
not mentioning DeAaron
Fox, who went No. 5 to
the Sacramento Kings. Fox
outperformed Ball twice last
season in college and maybe
isn’t getting the respect the
four above him are getting.
Last year’s draft didn't
exactly have the pop like this
year’s. The top-four players
drafted were Simmon, Bran
don Ingram, Jaylen Brown
and Dragan Bender. They
all went to went to the same
four teams in the same exact
order as this year’s draft:
76ers, Lakers, Celtics and
Suns.
The 2015 top-four picks
were interesting with
Karl-Anthony Towns,
D’Angelo Russell, Jahlil
Okafor and Kristaps Por-
zingis. Towns and Porzingis
seem to be the two bright
stars after two seasons. As a
whole, the four didn't have
the pop like this year’s top
four.
Now, the recent draft
classes including this year’s,
will need time to acclimate
to the NBA and establish
themselves. Time is definite
ly something needed when
comparing the classes. But,
again, this year’s top four
seems to head a draft class
that has something special
about it.
As mentioned earlier, this
was the best top-heavy draft
since 2003. In that draft,
LeBron James became a
household name in the sports
world. He was drafted No.
1 overall by the Cavaliers.
In his time in the league,
James has won three NBA
titles, he’s a three-time NBA
Finals MVP, a four-time
NBA MVP, a 13-time All-
Star, an 11-time All-NBA
First Team recipient and was
named Rookie of the Year in
his inaugural season.
Like James, Wade is also a
three-time champion.
— See “Phelps” on 4B
My
View
When the world changes,
the wizened soothsayers
would advise one to hop on
board and carry on. But if
you are long in the tooth,
you might be wont to speak
up, “Oh no, I like my coffee
the way I have
always drank
it.”
Change is
inevitable and
resistance to
change is also
inevitable
which is why
I belong to
the minority,
which laments
the downturn
with maga
zine publishing. “Sports
Illustrated”, for example,
has been a companion for
almost as long as it has been
published. SI was great at
covering events, insightfully
illuminating a championship
even a week later.
What set the magazine
apart, however, were those
long bonus pieces, which
flowed page upon page until
you knew the subject and
the writer as well — to the
extent that you felt con
nected to the subject. Those
pieces were so glamorous
ly presented that you felt
you climbed Mt. Everest
with Edmund Hillary, you
fished for a bonefish at Ted
Williams’ elbow as he artic
ulated the science of hitting
and you gloried in the narra
tive of Jesse Owens whose
performance at Berlin was
a spiteful rebuke of Adolph
Hitler’s Arian creed.
Steve Oney, who is a
proud graduate of the
By Loran Smith
University of Georgia’s
Henry Grady School of
Journalism, can take you
there as well as any maga
zine writer ever could. He
has written a book, the best
of his magazine efforts from
the past,
“A Man’s
World.”
As touted
by Mercer
University
Press, Oney’s
“stories
bring to life
the famous
(Harrison
Ford), the
brilliant
(Robert Penn
Warren), the tortured (Gregg
Allman), the controversial
( Andrew Breitbart) and the
unknown (Chris Leon, a
20-year-old Marine Corps
corporal killed in the Iraq
war).’’
Oney has put his best piec
es into a book and you can
enjoy a fireside connection
with his works, “A Man’s
World,” for a modest $26.
Just two vodkas if you are
taking respite at the bar at
an upscale restaurant. Vodka
really won’t quench your
thirst; Oney’s manuscript
collection, for sure, will
make you pine for more.
While Oney is not a
mean-spirited writer, he,
nonetheless, has a penchant
for asking his subjects to
submit to self-examination
and wants to allow the read
er to “know” his subjects.
Probing questions reveal
illuminating thought. Oney
has done that well enough to
win awards for his descrip
tive prose and insightful
perusals.
Oney lives in Los Angeles,
to be more specific,
Hollywood Hills, with his
decorator wife, Madeline
Stuart, whose interior design
and architectural portfolio
make her as acclaimed and
successful in her world as
Oney is in his. While he
is chasing down stories
from down the street to
Saskatchewan, she is happy
to be embedded in her own
environment where the final
score has no impact on her
life or imagination.
Oney is a good conver
sationalist, which I think
is an interviewing plus and
helps bring insight into his
subjects. He enjoys remi
niscing about his life and
times, sharing with good
friends the triumphs and few
missteps along the way. He
often harks back to a time
on campus when he plumb
bobs for an emotion or
thought which become an
asset as a writer. Friends are
worthy companions.
You never know when
a conversation will lead
to a story. Story telling
is fun whether it is for
hire or relaxation. Oney
takes unending pleasure
in sojourns back home to
Athens. He remains enam
ored with an afternoon
between the hedges. He
loves to hear the chapel bell
ring. Carrying him back to
dear ole UGA means you
may carry him back to the
Varsity. He likes that too.
This is a man who has
depth and his magazine
pieces reflect his serious
bent. A writer never stops
dreaming and Oney wants
more of himself. Already
he has had a bang with his
highly regarded treatise on
the murder of Mary Phagan
and the subsequent lynch
ing of Leo Frank, “And the
Dead Shall rise.”
If you take respite in “A
Man’s World,” you could
double your pleasure — you
could also spring for a copy
of “And the Dead Shall
Rise,” and let this versatile
writer make your day.
Loran Smith provides
a column for MainStreet
Newspapers Inc.
Red Raider of the Week!
Dan Lampe
Madison County High School
Dan Lampe coached the Madison
County girls’ basketball team into
the Class AAAA Elite 8 on 2017.
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