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Sports BVetoF. L Roley I Sports editor I You Still Have A Long Way To Go, Baby For most of the sports history of the United States, it has always been the boys who got to play. After all, girls stayed home, learned to cook and clean, and grew up to be women. Perhaps according to modem mythology the only area mom wanted to relive through her daughter was the selection of a hus band. Maybe that is the reason we have all those mother-in-law jokes. But, boys, on the other hand, were required to compete in sports. And God could only help the boy who had as his father the frustrated athlete, the father who spent his childhood sitting on the bench while others got glory on the playing fields. If women competed in sports, their femininity was challenged, they were called tomboys, or worse. The rules of the women's games were structured so as to not require the women to be more athletic than what they absolutely had to be. Take basketball, for instance. Men had the full run of the court, able to play a full-court game, mov ing in the half-court without restric tion. Women, on the other hand, were limited to a half-court game, at least in the beginning of organized play. In the have court, women were lim ited to zones, or boxes, drawn on the court. No fast break, no motion of fense. Basketball, as played by women, was far different than the sport played by men. And, in some sports, we still see the same differences based on gender. In tennis, for instance, men will piay the best of five sets while women will play the best of three sets. Perhaps there is a reason that I can not see in the different lengths of the games; but, women run 26 miles in a marathon, the same as men. There is a famous ad that tells women, "You've come a long way, baby." In sports that is true. Women's sports have changed dramatically in the past few decades. There are more opportunities than ever for women to compete, some times even against men. However, women’s sports are still far behind men's sports. And, I'm not just talk ing about the way the University of Georgia pays the coaches of its women's teams. Men's sports are still the focus of most programs. Women's sports are still given many of the scraps. Being from Alabama, I will use the state as an example. In basket ball, the state produces enough talent to fill the rosters of eight Division I basketball teams. Two of those teams, Alabama and UAB, are regu lar participants in the big dance the NCAA holds at the end of the year. Auburn and South Alabama have made appearances in the dance. However, the job that Joe Ciampi has done at Auburn with the women's program is nothing less than exceptional. For years, his teams have been at the pinnacle of women's basketball. However, he doesn't recruit in the state of Al abama. And neither does any other coach at an Alabama school who wants to have a winning season. I talked to Ciampi last year. The reason, he said, was that very few high schools in Alabama took women's sports seriously, giving them good coaches and spending money on the teams. I highly doubt Georgia is any dif ferent Just look at the high schools in this area. Men in the spring can par ticipate in baseball, soccer, golf, tennis and track. Women can partici pate in soccer and, I suppose, base ball, but they have to compete against men for a position on the team, golf, tennis and track. Only in golf, tennis and track do women compete against women. In the fall, while the men are playing football, the women can play softball. In the winter, both men and women can participate in basketball. Men have soccer and baseball in the spring. What do the wmuon have? Don’t get me wrong. I realize that there are physical differences between men and women. These physical dif ferences generally mean that men are stronger and faster than women. That is why it is unfair to require women to compete against men for Please see Roby, page 7A Panthers Sink Pirates In Region Game By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor On Thursday, the Perry Panthers played themselves out of the re gion, dropping a 7-1 decision to Fitzgerald. On Saturday, the Panthers played themselves back into the region hunt, whipping the Appling County Pirates 7-1. "We’ve got to put wins (up) against the teams we can compete with,” said Bob Jones, Panther head coach. Jones said that he scouted the Ware County/Jones County game Friday night "They're exceptional ballclubs. They are fundamentally sound. They've played together for three-four years." The Panther coach said that it was hard for freshmen and sopho mores, which make up the bulk of Perry's team, to compete against a senior laden team. "1 think that we ML U t l \ * Hfc*. ■*■ ” SH &* >f|i aw jfc- — ~' Wht i * . var Hornets Stung in First inning By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Westfield could have easily taken Friday afternoon off. John Milledge took advantage of an Hornet error, three walks and a wind-blown homerun to take an early 4-0 lead. Two innings later, Milledge would add a single run to pad their lead to 5-0. However, the Hornets stayed for the rest of the game. Although Westfield would not come away with a win, the Hornets would score three runs, while Jake Walls and Brian Staines would shut Milledge out for the rest of the game. Westfield would end Friday with another tough loss, falling to Milledge 5-3. "I thought it would be one of those days were we would get blown out,” said Westfield coach Bert Brown. "We were down 4-0 be fore we ever came to bat "But, the boys didn't give in. It would have been easy to fold in the tent and toll over and play dead." m" "W.**■ ** ' &SL uA ■; -9H 4H ferial - / w " %■: ■wcA AHKhmi \ i - ■ -- ? ;>% : ' • Dallas Waldrip arrives home In front of an errant throw from short against Bleckley County Monday afternoon. have the capability to be a great ball club in the future," he said. "We could very well be 3-0 in the sub-region,” said Jones. "This win keeps us in the playoff picture. We have to win games like this." Jones went on to say that his team had an outside chance at win ning the region playoff, but only if they made it the playoffs. "Once you get in the dance, it doesn't mat ter who you're partner is," he said. The Panthers started quickly, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first Travis Cantrell led the game off for Perry with a single to right He went all the way to third when the Pirate right field mis played the ball. Terry Yawn ripped a single to right to score Cantrell. After a single by Jason Brett, Dallas Waldrip reached on an error by the Pirate third baseman to load the bases. A line-drive double play Please see Panthers, page 7A Even with the loss, Brown saw improvement from his club. "We played good in the late innings of the ballgame," he said. "That is something we didn't do in the first four games.” Early in the season, the Hornets would scrap in the first four-to-five innings before fading in the last few innings. Brown added that he got some questions answered in his mind about his team, saying that he would make some adjustments to his lineup in the coming days. "We are a better baseball team than what we are playing right now,” said Brown. "It's difficult to put a finger on it” Through five innings of play, Milledge had produced all the of fense. The Hornets had men on third in the second and fourth in nings. However, both threats came with two outs, allowing Milledge to easily snuff out the fire. In the fifth inning, however, the Hornets finally found their offense. Houston Times- Journal , SMS' - ■*' I . w j Appling County's Mark Beach prepares to tag himself out as he was trying to steal second against the arm of Derrick Oliver. With two outs, Michael Davis reached on a walk. Troy Nuss later joined him on base after being hit by a pitch. Both Hornet batters scored on Jake Walls’ double to left Westfield would take advantage of three Milledge errors in the sev enth to put the game in doubt. With one out Davis would reach on an error by the Milledge third baseman, who would commit all three errors in the inning. Davis went to third when the Milledge thirdbaseman misplayed a Nuss ground ball. One out later, Sheldon Shelton would get Davis in, again off an error by the Milledge thirdbaseman. However, John Starley, who went the distance for Milledge, was able to get the final out on a pop out to first to end the game. Lon Talton broke out of a slump to lead the Hornets at the plate with two hits. Davis started the game for the Hornets and took the loss. In three Please see Hornata, page 10A Wednesday, March 23,1994 - I -w Smt»> ' ■ Wf JPjh H^H F jK||HB >Js§plS®ll *; -: t , Brian Staines releases a pitch against John Milledge In the late Innings Friday afternoon. Royals Rule Panthers By VETO F. ROLEY Sport* Editor The Perry Panthers collected 12 hits Monday night to Bleckley County's four hits. Yet, the Panthers lost the non region game 11-9, as Perry com mitted nine errors, had one passed ball, two wild pitches, gave up 15 stolen bases, seven walks and two hit batsmen. "We forgot to bring our gloves," said Panther head coach Bob Jones. "We had a little bit of offense, but no defense what-so-ever. "We didn't charge ground balls. We had several short-hops to first base. A couple of times we didn't even make a throw. "We had mental and physical er rors with the glove. We played very poorly in the field. It was the poor est I've seen this year, without doubt. "It was quiet sad." However, the game was not without its bright spots for the Panthers. Coming into the game with only three pitchers, Jones could have found himself a fourth arm who could put some innings in on the mound, saving Troy Davis, Dallas Waldrip and Jason Brett Outfielder Jamie Walker started the game on the mound for the Pan- page 6A Perry Country dub Clubhouse Ribbon Cutting Golfers at Perry Country Club will have a new place to come In after 18 holes. The club cut the ribbon on Its new clubhouse Satur day afternoon. there. In his three innings of work, Walker ga'*s up six runs, one earned, on only one hit He walked six batters, while striking out one, and hit one batter. He was victim ized by five Panther errors and one passed ball. "Jamie Walker did a commend able job,” said Jones of his con verted outfiekkr. Although the top three batters in the Panther order went a combined one-for-13, the trio of Waldrip, Ja mal Reynolds and Joaquin Gonzalez collected 10 of the Panthers 12 base hits. "Those three guys hit the ball well," said Jones. "I expect Dallas to, and he does. I'm very pleased with Jamal and Joaquin, TTiey hit the ball in clutch situations." Though Perry would eventually give the game away through its play in the field, the Royals started the first by trying to give the game to Perry. Perry would take advantage of five Bleckley County miseries after Travis Cantrell led off the game with a single to score seven runs in the first. Waldrip and Gonzalez would contribute run scoring sin gles in the inning. Pitas* sat ffoya/a, page 10A