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Sports
Here's hoping
O.J. is found
not guilty
OJ. Simpson was slick.
He could cut through opposing
defenses with the greatest of ease.
He was a artist with the football,
long after the game granted on the
passer the title of team leader.
Give OJ. a sideline, and he
could put six on the board quickly.
If he ever made it past the defensive
line and linebackers, there would be
considerable time before defenders
had a chance to run him down.
Simpson did something that no
other back ever did, or has done
since. Maybe, Eric Dickerson broke
his single season running record,
but it took him 16 games to do it.
O.J. used just 14 games to go over
2,000 yards.
After his career, Simpson con
tinued in the public light, landing
several commercial endorsements,
small acting assignments and
commenting on pro sports.
However, the newest obstacle
facing OJ. will not be so easily
avoided as a safety's arm tackle or
the chair in the Avis commercials.
Late Friday afternoon, the Hall of
Fame runningback was arrested for
the murder of his ex-wife and her
friend.
1 hope that OJ. is innocent of
the charges. However, if reports I've
read in the daily press are true, it
does not look good for him.
And, it does not take a Sherlock
Holmes to make that statement.
After all, it is hard to explain such
items as a bloody mask, glove and
floorboard. And, yes, Simpson's
trip to Chicago was pre-planned;
but, the limo driver said that Simp
son was late to the ride, and showed
up sweaty and agitated.
Supposedly, the murder weapon
has been found—in Chicago, in a
lot where someone said a man fit
ting Simpson's description appeared
early Monday morning.
I was hoping that the police
were trying to mislead their real
suspect It would not have been the
first time a police force had fed mis
leading information to the media,
focusing their attention on one per
son, while the police investigated
another person.
I hope that Simpson is not
guilty of the charges filed against
him.
*****
Both Westfield and Perry are
without softball coaches.
Joy McNeil was fired after seven
campaigns at the Panther helm,
while Donna Campbell resigned to
pursue a masters degree after nine
years at Westfield.
Westfield has interviewed several
coaches to fill the position left by
Campbell. I know on a couple of
times, the Hornets were hoping to
have a coach, only to have the per
son turn the offer down, or find that
Perry couple makes Classic,
winning final Sinclair tourney
Last weekend marked the end of
the qualifying tournaments for the
Guys and Dolls Tournaments held
at Lake Sinclair.
Going into the tournament, Su
sanne and I knew we could only ad
vance to the Classic by winning.
To be able to qualify for the Clas
sic, a couple would have to finish
in the top 12, or win a tournament.
Since we were in 33rd or 34th place
after the fourth tournament, the
simple arithmetic isn't hard to fig
ure.
Our intentions were to go for
broke, and give it our best shot. I
had scheduled most of the week off,
hoping to spend as much time as
possible on the lake.
Monday morning I woke up
with a terrible sore throat and
cough. The next five days were an
eternity. Not only was I trying to
doctor this creeping crud, but also
trying to dodge thunderstorms
nearly everyday.
During the first part of the week,
I was able to catch a lot of small
bass; but, nothing that would win
the tournament.
On Friday, Susanne joined me
and we decided to check out one last
place that we have fished off and on
for many years. This particular
hump had given up some really
good quality bass from time to
time.
On the first cast that Susanne
made, she hung into a moving log,
which turned out to weigh just shy
of seven pounds. We knew then we
had a chance if the fish would hold.
t * Veto F. L
Roley I
Sports editor ■'
the candidate really did not fit into
the Hornet’s scheme.
From what I understand. Perry
will soon name a new head softball
coach. Through the grapevine, I
hear that she is a former standout at
Warner Robins, and plays fre
quently in Perry.
Will bring you more as I hear
more.
*** * *
The Houston County Board of
Education gave its coaches and ath
letic directors a boost in supple
ment this week.
While I believe that sports is not
the most important thing a kid can
do, you will rarely hear me say that
sports are completely irrelevant to
growing up. I believe that sports
teaches some very important
lessons, lessons-that are not neces
sarily learned in the classroom.
For instance, sports teaches
competition and fairplay. When a
person gets out into the real world,
he will find many of life's pleasures
alloted one the bases of skill. He
will also find that it is better to
play by the rules, for those who
don't play by the rules are eventu
ally found out. Sports also teaches
teamwork, the importance of get
ting along with bosses, the impor
tance of following directions, the
importance of being prepared, etc.
and etc.
A lot of people will also com
plain about the athletic director hav
ing his classes dropped from four to
three per day. Well, the AD is re
sponsible for the oversight of the
total athletic program and budget.
And, that no longer is football,
basketball, baseball and track, with
football, usually, being the most
important sport.
Where I came from, Prattville,
Al., the AD was a full-time coach,
with no teaching duties. His entire
focus was on the athletic program.
The same can be said of Peach
County schools.
High school coaching will not
make someone rich, unless it's at
that rare school or system where the
contract is negotiated between the
school and the coach. You have to
coach because you love it.
*****
While I’m at it, I need to clarify
something from a few weeks ago. I
gave the figures generated by the
athletic departments at each of the
school.
Now, I realize that the board of
education does not provide any
money for athletics. All the money
spent at the schools reflect the gate
and other fund raising activities by
the teams. However, I still find it
interesting that Warner Robins has
a budget of $166,000, while North
side has a budget of $95,000.
Very interesting.
Gone
OfF^Fishing
lly v David and
I .jJmSIiM Susanne Andel
Tournament morning, we raced
our 200 horsepower Ranger boat as
hard as it would to to that spot and
settled in for the day. Within a cou
ple of minutes, I boated the first
fish, which weighed over two
pounds. Very soon after that Su
sanne caught a bass over five
pounds.
We made a decision then to stay
there the rest of the day. By 10
a.m., we had the five fish limit in
our live well.
We kept fishing throughout the
day trying to catch a larger bass to
cull out some of the smaller ones.
As it turned out, all the other fish
we caught were smaller.
We thought all along that we
had about 13 or 14 pounds of fish,
and that Susanne had another shot
for the "Big Bass." We ;honcstly
didn't think that we had enough to
win, thinking someone else would
surely have 16 or 17 pounds.
As the other 84 teams began to
weigh in, our chances to win be
came more and more of a reality.
Towards the end of the day, two of
the teams had not weighed in, and
we were concerned about them be
cause of their notoriety on Lake
Sinclair.
Finally ilicli weight was
■1 k ■ .11 —:9k “
Coach Carl Thomas explains the game of basketball to Perry players at the Macon
County High School basketball camp.
Dodge and Perry meet in camp
By VETO F. ROLEY
Sports Editor
Area fans got a preview of next
year's sub-region battle when a
group of potential Dodge County
players took on a group of players
trying to break into the lineup of
Carl Thomas in a basketball camp
at Macon County High School this
week.
Perry ended the camp with a 6-2
record, with both losses coming to
the team from Eastman.
Both Perry and Dodge County
arc moving down in classification
next year, from AAA to AA. With
the move down in classification,
Dodge County and Perry will be in
the same region.
Last year, a senior group of Pan
thers ran off with the region title,
with a young Dodge County group
coming in second. The Indians put
a team on the floor that included
two sophomores and one freshman,
while Perry had five seniors in their
top seven players.
Dodge County and Perry are
picked to be the two best teams in
the sub region in the coming sea
son.
"I think that you are going to
have to say (as a result of the camp)
that Dodge will be the favorite in
the sub-region," said Perry coach
Carl Thomas. "Dodge is going to
be as tough as nails."
In the second game, the team
from Perry opened up a quick first
half lead on the Eastman five. With
recorded, and it was official—Su
sanne and I had won the last quali
fying tournament, which also quali
fied us for the Classic to be held in
September. Susanne also won the
S4OO "Big Fish" award for the gals
in the second straight tournament.
Our catch was 14.76 pounds.
Other top finishers were Charles
Ray and Mony Clary of Dou
glasville, with a catch of 12.68
pounds; Jimmy and Jeanne Millsap
of Canto, with a catch of 12.28
pounds; Tony and Brenda Floyed of
Powder Springs, with a catch of
11.46 pounds; and Ronnie Waits
and Laura Greer of Norcross, with a
catch of 10.70 pounds.
Classic qualifiers for the 1994
season are Jimmy and Jeanne Mill
sap, Mack and Mary Heath of
Faibum, Ronnie and Wanda Gabriel
of Winterville, Jerry and Linda
Brumfield of Doraville, Jimmy and
Nancy Windham of Bonaire, Roger
and Che Snipes of Gainsville, Mike
and Patti Brock of Ackworth, Eddie
and Nancy Hollway of Conyers,
Ricky and Karen Price of Ack
worth, Gary and Diane Hill of
Lawrenceville, B.J. and Shirley
Noble of Dallas, Nolan and Jennie
Stoner of Canton, Bob and Tricia
Wcinges of Douglasville, Ollie and
Annie Ruth Wilson of Riverdale,
Danny and Betty Thurman of
Cartersvillc, and us.
Who knows, maybe we'll get
lucky at the Classic, although we'll
be up against some of the best fish
ing teams in three states. Until next
time . . . we've gone fishing.
Houston rimes-Journal
a little over eight minutes left to go
in the opening half, Steve Whitman
finished off a fast break to give the
Perry team a seven point advantage,
15-8.
Although the players from
Dodge County would come back to
within three, Garnet Curry would
come back with six consecutive
points, and Eugene Arnold had two
as Perry opened up a nine point
lead, 25-16.
However, Dodge used the
lessons that Perry taught many of
their players during the regular sea
son and put together a strong run
toward the end of the half, cutting
the Perry lead to one at the end of
the half, 27-26.
With seven-and-a-half minutes
left in the game, the Perry team
was trailing only by three, 39-36.
But, then the Eastman team showed
that it learned the lessons from a
year ago in detail, putting Perry
away with a 25-8 explosion.
"Down the stretch, they (Dodge)
did almost everything well," said
Thomas. "They played so well that
there was almost nothing that you
could do.
"However, some of our early
mistakes fueled the early momen
tum of their play." Thomas said
that Perry turnovers led to the first
three baskets of the Eastman's final
eight minutes. "They turned a very
close, competitive game into a
route," said Thomas.
Did you know? —facts from baseball
Winning streaks
In 1916, the New York Giants
had two of the longest winning
streaks of any ballclub in Major
League history.
In May, the New York team
reeled off 17 consecutive wins.
Later in September, the John
McGraw coached team was unbeat
able for the month, winning a
record 26 consecutive games. All
told, the Giants combined for 43
consecutive wins in two streaks.
A first place team, right?
V ' %
Stew...
$4,500 to the Perry Classic
Jon Loftls (right), president of the Loftls Corporation, presents Perry Country
Club head professional Bill Hobbs with a $4,500 check for the Perry Classic, which
will be held In July.
Page 6A
Saturday, June 18,1994 " Houston Times-Joumal
"The game sums everything up
for this summer," said Thomas.
"We have a lot of talent, potential
and a long way to go. We don't
have game experience.
"A lot of what they do next year
will come down to what I do," said
Thomas, who said coaching would
make or break next year's Perry
High School team. Many of the
members of the team Thomas took
to Montezuma were trying to make
the Panther team.
Arnold and Curry led the Perry
team with 12 points each, while
Corey Duncan scored six. Three
other players scored for Perry.
Thomas' team was hampered by
the absence of three key players.
Stan Gann was at a golf tourna
ment, Kiwaukee Thomas was at a
quarterback camp and Derrick Webb
was not in camp. Thomas said that
all three easily factored into the top
eight, with two being potential
starters.
Although the final few minutes
of the game against Dodge were not
good, Thomas said that he had good
feelings about his team's willing
ness to come from behind, noting
that in three of his team's six wins
they had to come back to win.
"Three of the six games could’ve
gone the other way," said Thomas.
"We made the plays and won them.
We showed a lot of determination.
We are developing the attitude that
we don’t like to lose."
Wrong.
In other games the Giants played
that year, they were just short of
terrible, winning only 43 out of the
remaining 106 games. Their 86-66
record was only good enough for
fourth.
Perfect in relief
The bill for the June 23, 1917,
game between the Boston Red Sox
and Washington Senators promised
to be a good pitching matchup with
tough lefty Babe Ruth occupying
the mound for the Boston team.
However, the great Ruth would
Graffiti
wins title
By JIMMY SIMPSON
Staff Writer
It was the perfect ending to a
storybook beginning.
Having paced the field to win 13
of their first 14 games in the
regular season, Graffiti Hair Salon
reached into its offensive arsenal to
also claim the top spot in
postseason action Thursday at
Ochlahatchee Park with an 18-5
win over First Family Finance.
The junior league softball team
scored a total of 64 runs in three
outings in a double-elimination
tournament to go undefeated among
a trio of other teams.
Erupting for six runs in each of
the first two innings, Graffiti had to
withstand two potential late-inning
rallies by First Family to work its
way out of a jam.
First Family loaded the bases
with only one out on two different
occasions, only to have two great
defensive team efforts by Graffiti
silence its bats.
Graffiti finished the tourney at 3-
0 and 16-1 on the year. First
Family held onto a 2-2 mark in
tournament play, and was 5-12-1
overall.
In a Wednesday match-up to
determine who would advance to the
championship game, First Family
fought off Pennington 111 Plumbing
for an 18-14 victory.
The former group of players
fought back from a 12-6 deficit after
four innings to tie the game in the
top half of the fifth inning of play.
Pennington 111 had the potential
runner in scoring position with two
outs in the bottom half of their
inning, but could not get her across
the plate.
First Family then erupted for six
runs in the very next frame, and
then held off Pennington in their
final at bat to claim the win.
Pennington finished the tourney at
1-2 (7-10 overall).
Second-round action Tuesday
favored Graffiti and First Family.
Graffiti continued to stay in the
winner’s bracket with a 17-1 win
over Pennington 111. First Family
managed to squeak past Family
Footwear by a final of 8-7.
Deadlocked at 1-1 after one
frame, 2-2 after two innings, and 6-
6 after the third go-round, First
Family finally managed to score
twice in the fourth round and hold
on for the win. Family Footwear
finished the tourney 0-2, but 5-10-1
overall.
only last one batter, getting ejected
from the game after arguing a four
ball call to lead-off hitter Ray
Morgan.
Ernie Shore was brought in from
the bullpen to pitch for the Red
Sox. Morgan was thrown out at
second on a steal attempt. Shore,
pitching without being allowed to
warm up, silenced the Washington
bats, getting the next 26 batters out
in order.
Because of his work that day.
Shore is the only relief pitcher in
Major League history to get credit
for a perfect game.