Newspaper Page Text
4B
♦ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2005
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Houston
County swim
mer Winfield
Tufts Jr. takes
a pause from
practice Feb.
2. Having
qualified in
the 100 free
style and as
a member of
three relay
teams, he
will represent
the Bears
this weekend
at the state
swim meet in
Westminster.
HIM Joe Seraey
He's 'Tuft' enough
HoCo swimmer puts the 'moves' on competition
By JOE SERSEY
HHJ Sports Writer
WARNER ROBINS -
Winfield Tufts Jr.
knows what it's
like to be the new
guy. He has been in three
different high schools in
four years.
His father, Winfield Tufts
Sr. is a colonel in the Air
Force and serves at Robins
Air Force Base.
But Junior’s last move was
the toughest.
His family was stationed
at Robins then moved to
Nebraska.
Tufts made friends, com
peted at the high school level
in swimming and baseball,
and then before his senior
season returned to Robins.
All the while, he didn’t
miss a beat.
“When it’s happening it’s
the worst,” Tufts said of
changing house numbers,
“Moving from Georgia to
Nebraska was the worst
thing, then moving from
Nebraska when I was start
ing to fit in was tough.”
He was the captain of the
Bellevue West High School
swim team his junior year
and qualified for state in 100
freestyle and 100 backstroke
as early as his sophomore
year there.
He entered Houston
County High School in the
fall and joined the swim
team.
“I was the new guy who
jumped right in,” Tufts said.
“For a while, I was down,
but I decided to make my
senior year fun. You can’t
dwell on the past.”
The contenders
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Warner Robins High School will be well represented at the state swim meet this week
end at Westminster. Competing for the school, and hoping to secure a place in the
finals Saturday at 6 p.m. are from left: Mallory Shirah, Shannon Sulik, Sophia Uddin,
Abigail Cunningham, Jessica Hall, Maya Uddin, and Ben Culpepper.
PERO
From page 2B
Houston County then
opened the fourth quarter
with an 8-2 run and out
scored Valdosta for the dura
tion of the quarter 21-10 for
the win.
Neither team could ill
‘I was the new guy who jumped right in.
For a while, I was down, but I decided
to make my senior year tun. You can’t
dwell on the past.’
- Houston County swimmer Winfield Tufts Jr.
He continued his swim
ming career for the Bears
and qualified for state in the
100 freestyle and as a mem
ber of all three relay teams:
200 medley, 200 freestyle
and 400 freestyle.
“My brother (sophomore
Cameron) starts the relay,”
Tufts said, “and I finish it.”
But Tufts is also a shark
on the mound. He is a pitch
er/first baseman and plans
to play for the Bears.
Despite his success in the
pool, Tufts says he prefers
baseball, but he is realistic
as to his chances for a schol
arship.
“I went to a Division I
camp this summer,” Tufts
said. “That’s where reality
hit me.”
Tufts plans to attend col
lege and has already been
accepted at Mercer and
Georgia Tech but admitted
he would follow the scholar
ship offers in either swim
ming and baseball.
“My dad looked at the
times of the freshmen at
Georgia Tech,” Tufts said,
“and I’ve swum faster times
than some of them.”
His mother went to Mercer
and his father to Georgia
Tech. Now, the pressure
is on. His 1240 SATs and
27 ACT give him plenty of
afford to miss any free throws
down the stretch and both
were plenty accurate.
The Wildcats were 4-for-4
(10-for-21 overall) while the
Bears were 11-of-13 (18-for
-22 overall).
Warren Gregory also put
options. Wherever he goes,
he wants the chance to walk
on, however, he said.
At present, Tufts is focused
on swimming and even when
the season and his high
school career is over, he said
he sees the sport as a life
long activity.
“I’ve met guys in Nebraska
who swim in the senior
Olympics,” Tufts said.
“Swimming’s done a lot for
me. It’s taught me about
hard work, how to balance
academics and sports.
“I learned how to organize
and use my time wisely.”
His organizing skills are
evident at Bears basket
ball games. He was one of
the organizers of the HoCo
Locos, the student fans that
make their presence felt at
every home game and most
local away games.
“I like to have fun,” Tufts
said of his participation and
compared it to swimming.
“I enjoy the unity from the
swim team.”
Tufts stands tall in his
faith and commitment to
God, family and team. With
his swimming skills and
pitching prowess, he plans
to make his senior year a
success.
He’s found a home in the
Bears’ Den.
up double digits for Houston
County. He had 10.
Valdosta had three play
ers duplicate those efforts
other than Tillman. Brandon
Williams had 14 while
Stephen Colbert and Brian
Brown each had 10.
SPORTS
NBA rookies endure lyithearted hazing
By RON HIGGINS
Scripps Howard News
Service
Antonio Burks
thought he had
slipped under the
radar.
The Grizzlies’ first-year
guard from the University
of Memphis didn’t believe
his rookie hazing would go
beyond getting doughnuts
for the team. Or carrying
veteran Lorenzen Wright’s
bags filled with a computer
and DVDs on road trips.
Burks had been very care
ful until the day he left his
truck keys in his coat in his
locker. And that’s all the
opening Bonzi Wells need
ed.
Burks walked to his truck
and discovered his entire
front seat and half of his
back seat had been filled
with popcorn. Not just
sprinkled on the seat. Filled
to the window sill.
Welcome to the world of
the NBA, rook.
“I’m going to get them
back,” Burks vowed.
That may not be wise.
Unless you’re a protected
rookie - meaning a certain
veteran likes you so much
he won’t let other veterans
pick on you - a rookie can
expect to do whatever a vet
eran asks.
Bring doughnuts. Put
the daily newspaper in the
vet’s locker. Cany a vet’s
bags on road trips whenever
required.
“Everybody got me when
I was rookie,” said Wright,
who spent his rookie season
in 1996-97 with the Clippers.
“My name was Rook the
whole season. They never
even used my freakin’ name,
I didn’t get called Lorenzen
once my whole rookie year.
“I had to get out of the
plane one time when it was
snowing and help take bags
off the plane and put them
on the bus. I had bags of my
own. I’d have two or three
people’s bags.”
So how did Wright survive
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it?
“The veterans would take
you out and pay for your
dinner,” he said. “If you
mess with the rookies a bit,
you’ve got to reward them,
too. I don’t mess with them
bad, as long as they do the
little stuff we ask them to
do. But last year, our rook
ies Dahntay Jones and Troy
Bell were acting up, so ...
“Someone got my keys and
filled my car with popcorn
all the way to the headrest,”
said Bell, who was released
this preseason by the Griz.
“It was terrible - buttered
popcorn all over my leather
seats. I thought ‘Ren was
involved and maybe (James)
Posey.”
Well, James?
“I don’t remember,” said a
laughing Posey.
Posey recalled his own
rookie hazing with the
Nuggets in 1999-2000.
“They had a big strong
guy like Roy Rogers, and
he and some others would
hold me down in a cold tub
full of ice for two minutes,”
Posey said. “Or I’d be tak
ing a shower and someone
would throw a bucket of ice
on me.”
Posey wasn’t as fortunate
as Earl Watson and Jason
Williams. In their respective
rookie seasons at Seattle
and Sacramento, each had a
veteran protector.
“I was the first rookie
point guard they had that
Gary Payton actually loved
and respected,” said Watson,
a rookie with the Sonics in
2001-02. “Gary didn’t have
me to do anything. He said,
‘You’re with me.’ He had
second-year guys getting
him food. He loved me. He
called me his little brother. I
didn’t have to do anything.”
Williams’s rookie season
was 1998-99, the year the
NBA played an abbreviated
season because of a labor
troubles. His veteran was
Chris Webber, and since
J-Will had a penchant for
delivering C-Webb the ball
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David Lee Prince
Wanted for interfering with public utility
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WR
Tom Wayne Rowser
Wanted for violation of probation (for
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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
when and where he wanted
it, all was good.
“But we had this one
rookie, Ryan Robertson,
who didn’t want to bring
doughnuts when the veter
ans asked him,” Williams
recalled. “So they got hard
on him. They made him
bring some every day. They
didn’t even have to ask him
the second half of the sea
son. He just brought them.
Two dozen doughnuts a day
adds up on a rookie’s con
tract, especially for a sec
ond-round pick.”
Wells, an instigator of Griz
rookie pranks, went through
a few himself as a rookie
with the Trail Blazers in
1998-99.
“I did my share of getting
USA Todays, coffee, dough
nuts, anything they ever
needed on the road,” Wells
said. “I don’t care if its 3, 4
or 5 in the morning, I better
get up and do it. And I did a
lot of that.
“The trick of this rookie
hazing thing is to be orga
nized. Find out what every
body likes, make a list and
come prepared. The first
week they caught me. From
then, I was prepared.”
For a rookie, the best thing
about hazing is it lasts just
that first year. Then, if you
stay in the league, a veteran
can get payback on rookies
the rest of his career.
There is one other way
for a rookie to avoid hazing.
Become a starter immedi
ately, like Shane Battier and
Pau Gasol for the Griz as
rookies in 2001-02. Battier
and Gasol earned All-Rookie
first team, and Gasol was
the league’s Rookie of the
Year.
“About the only thing, I
had to sing in front of the
team, some soul classics like
‘Let’s Get It On’ and ‘Let’s
Stay Together’,” Battier
said. “And that was about
it. They knew that Pau and
I were going to play 40 min
utes a night, so they left us
alone.”
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Gaildino Rchellao
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LKA: 70 block of Red Fox Run,
WR
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William Sellers
Wanted for violation of probation (for theft by
taking)
LKA: 500 block of Leisure Lake Drive, WR
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Wanted for violation of probation
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LKA: 1100 block of Second St.,
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