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Sports
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MONEY TIME Present for the presentation oj a $1,500
check from Weyerhaeuser to the Perry Recreation Depart
ment are Danny Redmond, chairman of the Perry Recre
ation Commission, Jody Johnson, director oj the Recre
ation Department, Perry Mayor Jim Worrall, Janet
Weyerhaeuser shares $1,500 with
/ *
Perry Recreation Department
From Staff Repoktc
Several members of the Perry Recre
ation Commission were on hand Dee.
29 when Janet Mcßanie of the Weyer
haeuser Company Foundation present
ed a check for $1,500 to (he depart
ment.
Jody Johnson, director of the depart
ment, said the funds will be used to
purchase piping and materials to add
an irrigation system to soccer fields at
Perry struggles in holiday games with Northside
By ALLINE KENT
Home Journal Sports
“We are stniggling right now..’we
have been struggling." That was how
head Panther basketball coach Carl
Thomas summed up his team’s loss to
Northside Dec. 30. "The struggling
starts with me."
"We have gone through a spell for
awhile where we have been practicing
well and not playing so well," Thomas
said.
Perry seemed to have broken their
State all-time best athletes includes many famous stars
Now that we've reached the end
of the 1900 s, I thought it would be
interesting to look back through
history and look at some of the
greatest athletes the state has
produced over the decades
True, we have to depend on sta
tistics and hearsay in the case of
many of our greatest athletes.
Keep in mind, many of the stars
who perform, or who have per
formed, in Georgia weren't Geor
gia natives, so they don't quality.
Ty Cobb would certainly have
to make the list. The Royston
native is one of the all time great
major league baseball players and
an original member of the base
ball Hall of Fame. 1 lis career bat
ting average of .367 is the best in
baseball history. 71 years after
his retirement in 1928.
Cobb help ed fund establish
ment of the Ty Cobb Healthcare
System in his hometown of Roys
ton. At one time, the state had an
official museum of Cobb memora
bilia in Royston but closed it
about 20 years ago during a bud
get crisis.
Herschel Walker used his
amazing athletic ability to become
perhaps the best football player
ever to don the red and black at
the University of Georgia. As a
freshman. Walker led Georgia to
the national championship, and
as a junior won the Heisman tro
phy as the best college football
player in America. Walker enjoyed
a long and successful profession
al career with several teams.
Bobby Jones’ credentials as the
best golfer of all time are indis
putable. Jones, as an amateur,
entered 21 of golfs major tourna
ments. and won 13 of them. He
won the grand slam in 1930 and
retired at the age of 28.
Jones grew up in Canton where
his family was in the tcxti! husi
ness. The golf course then r
named for him. Jones earned
both Rozar Park and Creekwood Park.
He said city of Perry and community
volunteers would install the equipment
to save on the total cost of the project.
Mcßanie said the foundation was
“pleased to present this check to the
Perry Recreation Department."
Weyerhaeuser, with a major pulp
processing plant at Oglethorpe, has
provided substantial donations to the
department in the past.
losing streak early in the game as Kris
Asbury hit a trey to open the game.
I’erry’s defense kept Northside from
scoring until several minutes into the
game.
Although Northside came on strong
when they started. Perry retaliated and
held their own. Whenever the Eagles
would tiy and pull away, the Panthers
would close the gap.
Until the third quarter, that is, when
Northside dominated control of the ball
and the scoreboard.
Phil
Clark
Hume
Journal
Sports
degrees from both Georgia Tech
and Harvard, where he earned a
law degree. He co-founded the
Augusta National Golf Club and
the Masters Tournament.
Wyomia Tytis of Griffin is one of
the most remarkable athletes ever
to come from the state, lyus was
the first runner ever to win back
to back Olympic Gold medals in
the 100-meter dash, winning in
1964 in Tokyo and in 1968 in
Mexico City.
Fran Tarkenton, who was still
called Francis when he played at
Athens High School and the Uni
versity of Georgia, helped lead the
Bulldogs to the 1959 Southeast
ern Conference championship. He
went on to lead the Minnesota
Vikings to three Super Bowls,
although his team lost all three.
When he retired in 1975,
Tarkenton was the NFL’s all time
passing leader, and because of his
scrambling ability, was the all
time rushing leader among quar
terbacks.
Paul Anderson of Toccoa looked
like anything but ari athlete with
his short, bulky frame, but in
1954 he became the first person
to exceed 1,000 pounds in the
Olympic lift. Anderson set world
records by pressing 402 pounds
and jerking 425.5 pounds in
1955.
Dubbed the "world’s strongest
man . Aiderson used his tame to
gain financial backing to establish
Home Journal Photo by Jj Johnson
Mcßanie of Weyerhaeuser, Bob Malone, past chairman of
the Recreation Commission, Perry City Councilman Bobby
Glover and Mike Hardin, a member of the Perry Recreation
Commission.
the Paul Aiderson Youth Home in
Vidalia.
Luke Appling played shortstop
for the Chicago White Sox from
1930 to 1950. He owned a .310
lifetime batting average, with two
American League batting titles,
including his .388 in 1926, the
highest by a shortstop in the cen
tury! In 1984, at age 75, Appling
hit a home run off Warren Spahn
in one of those Cracker Jack
senior all-star games!
Johnny Mize of Demorest was
one of my all-time favorite base
ball players, with the St. Louis
Cardinals, the New York Yankees
and the New York Giants. Mize
was a good hitter for average, with
a .312 lifetime average, but he
could also hit for power, leading
his league in home runs on four
different occasions. The left hand
ed hitter was nicknamed “The Big
Cat".
Mel Blount of Vidalia became
one of the NFL’s all time great cor
nerbacks during his 14-year
career with the Pittsburgh Steel
ers.
Teammate Jack Ham once said
of Blount, “if you were to design a
prototype for an NFL cornerback.
you'd use Mel Blount".
Blount was elected to the NFL
Hall of Fame his first year of eligi
bility.
Bill Elliot of Dawsonville was
the dominant NASCAR driver dur
ing the mid-80s. Earning the
nickname "Awesome Bill from
Dawsonville", Elliot won the 1985
Winston Million and the 1988
Winston Cup points champi
onship. He won 40 NASCAR
races.
Roger Kingdom of Vienna was a
football and track star in the early
80s. He earned a scholarship to
the University of Pittsburgh, but
when he was redshirted as a
freshman, he gave up football to
concentrate on track.
K > '■p | _- ■'
Page 5
Wed., Jan. 5,2000
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall said, “Wey
erhaeuser has been a consistent sup
porter of the recreational complex for
many years and we very much appreci
ate their donation."
Weyerhaeuser employs several Per
ryans at the Flint River Operations
plant. The company has some 400
workers at the Oglethorpe plant. Wey
erhaeuser will celebrate 100 years as a
company Jan. 18.
Thomas called Northside, “easily the
best team we have played against this
season
Andrew Scogin continued his scoring
lead for the Panthers, picking up 18
points in the contest. Michael Robin
son added 13 of his own.
Region play resumes this week with
Panthers starting a string of region
games including Dodge County on Jan.
7 at home.
See PANTHERS, Page 6
Houston Him Jams!
Reporter finds fun
atmosphere at Perry
Panther practice session
By ALLINE KENT
Horn JouajtM. 8t»o«Ta
Sunday afternoon and
Monday afternoon, I spent
watching Coach Carl
Thomas take his Perry High
Panthers
through
their drills
during one
of their reg
ular prac
tices before
region play
resumes
this week.
I had pret
ty much fig
ured how
practice
would unfold; a lot of hollering
and screaming about past
mistakes, a lot of kids hanging
their heads down low after
being bawled out.
What 1 saw was nothing
like that.
Thomas and his two
assistants. Coaches Hardy
and Sherwood, seemed to
have only one goal on their
minds , to bring out the
best in their players. Period.
Yes, they play Dodge Jan.
7. Yes, this is a Perry team
that has had more successful
seasons. But the emphasis
seemed to be on improving
the kids game without much
mention of past failures.
The players entered the
gym and spent the first 20
minutes or so on their own
without their coaches even
in the gym. 1 was ready for
intense. 1 was ready for seri
ous work. What I got to
watch was “fun.”
The young men were
laughing, smiling, even jok
ing around with each other.
They spent the time
applauding each others
skills, and as teen-agers will,
applauding themselves. They
laughed at their mistakes.
'lTiey showed off a little for
each other. They had fun.
When Thomas entered
the gym, the attitude in the
gym didn't cease. Although
he spent some time in seri
ous conversation about
upcoming games and goals
for the team, the manner
was still low-key and play
ful. The players returned to
The decision was a good one for
Kingdom. He won the Olympic
gold medal in the 110 meter hur
dles in 1984 and 1988, the first
back-to-back winner in the event
since 1960. He set the world
record in the event in 1989. King
dom still holds the Georgia High
School Association state record
for class AA schools in both the
100 hurdles (13.7) and high jump
(610"), both set in 1981.
The fieldhouse at Dooly County
High School in Vienna is named
for Kingdom.
William Andrews of Thomasville
went on to an outstanding career
at Auburn before joining the
Atlanta Falcons, where he became
a crowd favorite. Andrews rushed
for more than 1.000 yards during
four different seasons, but earned
his reputation as one of the most
punishing blockers in Falcon his
tory.
Buford's Cindy Brogdon was
one of the best high school bas
ketball players ever produced in
the state. Brogdon began her col
lege career at Mercer, but trans
ferred to the University of Ten
nessee where she was a three
time All-American.
Another of the state's best bas
ketball players was Cairo's Teresa
Edwards. She was an All-Ameri
can at Georgia, has been a mem
ber of the U.S. Womens' team for
16 years, and if she makes the
2000 Olympic team, Edwards
would become the first basketball
player to appear in five Olympics!
Louise Suggs is simply the best
golfer ever to play the game. She
won 14 titles as an amateur
before dominating the profession
al ranks. Suggs was a founder of
the LPGA and a charter member
of it's Hall of Fame after winning
50 LPGA events including eight
majors! Suggs is also a member of
the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Atlanta native Marty Marion.
the floor and continued
practicing shots taking
along with them their good
natured attitude.
They did the things that
you expect to see at basket
ball practice and they did
them as a team. There didn’t
seem to be much emphasis
on starters and nonstarters.
Thomas expected and got
the same level of determina
tion and participation from
each young man there.
Thomas took the players
through their offense, begin
ning with his starters, but
began substituting almost
immediately. I was very
impressed with how the
young men who were not on
the floor were studying the
moves of the ones that were
while hanging on to every
word of their coaches.
The longer the kids were out
on the floor, the more intense
the practice became. The
mood elevated as the kids got
tougher and played better. You
could see the change of emo
tion in their faces, you could
see it in the way they played.
It seemed to me, as I
watched the team, that
those three coaches had
much higher goals than a
winning basketball season
and making it to the state
tournament. Here were men
who wanted to help develop
better students and finer
citizens. Basketball was just
a means to the end.
After the practice was
over, I got an opportunity to
speak with Ramon Foster, a
junior on the team. This is
Foster's first year as a play
er after spending last year
as one of the managers. His
comments on the practice
and the Panther team prob
ably summed my own
thoughts better than any
thing 1 could write.
“For us, practice is full
speed the whole time. There
no trips to the foul line, no
time outs. We are at con
stant movement.
“As a team, we have a
clear mind and a will to win.
We are all real good friends
and stick together. All we
want to do is put Perry on
the map. All of us"
BP» -■- **"**■' Jf£s9i
Kent
who played at Tech High and
Oglethorpe University, became
one of the best shortstops in
major league history. Nicknamed
"Mr. Shortstop" while enjoying a
long career with the St. Louis Car
dinals, Marion was an eight-time
all-star, and won the National
League MVP award in 1944.
Marion was also known by his
friends and teammates as “Slats"
because of his slim, 6’5" frame.
Griffin’s Jesse Tuggle is a great
example of getting the most out of
your ability. After being named
his team’s MVP in high school,
Tuggle was a three-time all-con
ference player at Valdosta State
University. As a member of the
Atlanta Falcons, Tuggle has been
among the best linebackers in the
NFL, and is the leading tackier
among active NFL players.
Aitonio McKay was another of
those high school track phenoms
who went on to further stardom.
Mckay was a member of the U.S.
Olympic gold medal winning 1600
meter relay team in both 1984
and 1988, and like Kingdom, still
holds a couple of Georgia High
School Association records for
class AA schools.
He set the 200-meter record of
21.4 and the 400-meter record of
46.98 while running for Roosevelt
High School in 1982.
W.L. “Young” Stribling of Bain
bridge won 225 fights as a profes
sional. losing 13 with 15 draws. A
member of the International Box
ing Hall of Fame, Stribling’s
biggest moment of glory came in
1931 when he lost to Max
Schmeling for the world heavy
weight championship. Stribling
boxed out of Macon.
Finally, I think I would include
Norm Nixon of Macon, one of
Southwest Macon's all time
greats. Nixon played 10 years in
See CLARK, page 6