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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
I J9© *■ 5
HH.J Don Moncrief
Tennis head coach Kerry Bacon assigns players to court during a practice last week on
the Warner Robins Recreation Department tennis courts.
TENNIS
From page 1B
Southern Sectionals, which
will be held in Chattanooga,
Tenn., in August.
The Warner Robins
Recreation Department is
the local sponsor.
Last year in the 18-and
under division, Bacon put
together a team of players
from Northside and Houston
County - mainly because
they were familiar with each
other, he said - and they
captured first. At the same
time, a team he put together
- in the same age group
- containing Westfield and
Perry athletes took second.
Team members are as fol
lows:
10-and-under
Brad Sanders (captain)
Rachel Bridges
Stephanie Campbell
Betty Cantrell
Hannah Livingston
Valerie McLure
A.J. Blankenship
Dylon Jones
Brennen-Sanders
Corey Smith
Austin Mathis
12-and-under
Adam Dalton (captain)
Rey Holcomb
Jordan Rigdon
Morgan Meilinger
Lindsay Pratt
Taylor Williams
Dominic Luppino
Cody Norris
David Vassey
T.J. Wilkason
Jennah Rigdon
Laura Whyte
14-and-under
Jenny Deighton
Blair Gamble
Erin McLure
Emily Pearson
Jessica Rigdon
Mike Cantrell
Kayla Donaldson
Judson Humphries
Parker Lyons
Cody Pratt
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HHJ/Don Moncrief
ABOVE: Players work on charging the net and then maintaining position once there.
Richard Skillen
Kamen Woolery
18-and-under
Catherine Causey
Katie Causey
Colby Wilkason
Sagen Woolery
Sophia Uddin
Jenna Ziesenhene
Joseph Allen
Dan Grace
Kyle Yawn
18-and-under
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Don Moncrief
Dylon Jones returns a shot.
Michael Thompson (captain)
Sarah Dunn
Beth Johnson
Anna McCarthy
Sydney Talton
Abby Campbell
Josh Milam
Kelvin Oliver, Jr.
Matthew Heath
Nathanial Silva
Peter Tran
John Tran
Will Spence
SPORTS
MONCRIEF
From page 1B
it would be a good idea to
have a Public Affairs and
a Chaplain representa
tive (probably so he could
pray for the Public Affairs
person) competing on the
team.
And as it so happened,
Moody Air Force Base was
representing Air Combat
Command and the PA
requirement was for a mas
ter sergeant. Guess who was
the only master sergeant in
ACC stationed at Moody?
“Congratulations boy,
welcome to the team.”
I’ll try not to bore you
with all the gruesome
details (although I see some
of you are already asleep)
even though I’m getting
kind of senile and I guess
remembering the “good old
days” is just our way (see
“Glory days”).
There’s actually a sports
tie if you can wait out the
90 percent “other.”
Anyway, as part of
our training we used to
“deploy” to bare-base quar
ters (translated: “We’ve got
to get them away from the
bars if we’re ever going to
get them in shape.”). While
there, we also used to get
up at “too doggone early” 5
a.m. (something I still say
to getting up these days at
4:30 a.m. - except not in as
pleasant terms).
Then we’d work out at
the gym for an hour and a
half before running a mile
and a half ... through the
desert in New Mexico and
the snows of Alaska - in one
day - without our shoes.
Just kidding about the
locales, timeline and the
absence of footwear (we
wore sandals), actually we
only went to Florida and
North Carolina.
But once we finished with
our workout, we worked
- by doing them over and
over and over and over,
again - on our events for
the competition. Hey, I was
PA. In PA I escorted the
news media. I wrote stories.
I gave tours. I didn’t carry
fire hoses with my gas mask
and chemical warfare suit
on. I didn’t build offices for
Pete’s sake.
But I did then (and some
times - like in the case of
building offices, it was: “Be
careful what you ask for.”
Me: “So, who’s going to be
the first to go in there?”).
The bottom line was,
once I finished the obstacle
courses, putting up cam-
MAJORS
From page 1B
Nathan Dempsey added a pair of singles
and a round-tripper. Warner Robins had 17
safeties in the contest.
Public Notice
Destruction of Records: Student with Disabilities
The Houston County School System, Student Services for
Exceptional Children, intends to destroy specific records that were
collected, maintained, or used in the provision of a free appropriate
public education for students with disabilities. This notice is in
compliance with all policies and procedures that were approved as
part of the Georgia Special Education State Program Plan that are not
Inconsistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. (20
U.S.C. 10111420)
Special Education records set to be destroyed are those for
students who we enrolled at a special education program and have
birthdays that are from September 2, 1977 thru September 1, 1978,
and are no longer needed for education purposes. Speech records for
students who were enrolled in speech only programs with birthdays
that are from January to December 1978 are also no longer needed
for education purposes are also set for destruction. The system plans
to destroy these records September 10, 2005, unless there has been a
request for a due process hearing. If you as the student or parents of
the student want copies prior to destruction, you should contact the
Office of Dr. Ruth O’Dell, Assistant Superintendent of Student
Services, 478-988-6213.
20463
Lean, muscular,
I looked Hke Don
Knotts on
steroids.
ouflage, digging holes (yes:
you heard it here first - Air
Force people digging holes),
basically all the dirty jobs
(“Hey, let’s get Mikey.”)
they had been doing for
years but now they had a
scapegoat, I was a FIT mon
ster.
Lean, muscular, I looked
like Don Knotts on steroids.
And by the way, I finished
third in all three of my “PA”
events (the other guys found
out it was a mistake to put
me on the roster to help out
with some of theirs) out of
all the commands plus a
unit from Norway and the
United Kingdom.
So, why am I telling you
this?
Because, and some of you
are going to be mad that I
didn’t just come out and say
it to start with (I got started
and couldn't shut up; call it
exhaustion of working 12+
hour days while without a
full-time coworker), but all
this time I’ve spent out at
the local ballfields lately,
watching the football and
softball players prepare for
the upcoming season, has
gotten me to daydreaming.
Could I do it?
In a George Plimpton
kind of way, could I get out
there at the ripe old age of
48 (I just had a birthday,
so maybe that’s what this
is all about) and do what
they’re doing?
Could I?
So, I thought about it long
and hard and even played it
out in my mind.
The best thing I could
compare it to in regard to
experiences - other than my
middle school playing days
- was basic military train
ing, but I figure it would go
something like this ...
Day one: I’m in the Perry
weight room. It’s a shock
- one because I’m dressed
in a football outfit and two,
because this is not my alma
mater.
Suddenly my calm is shat
tered by a sonic boom.
“Moncrief! You lift
weights like a girl! (Note: I
for one never thought that
was a bad thing). Those
are barbells, not dumbbells.
Cody Price got the start and struck out
six in two and a third innings. Stuckey
struck out three and Dempsey put down
a pair.
THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2005 ♦
You’ve got to put more than
10 pounds on them to get a
workout.”
Later on that day:
“Moncrief! We don’t do
girl pushups here.” A lit
tle while later: “Moncrief!
You’re supposed to tackle
the dummy, not the other
way around.”
And then later: “Moncrief!
Where are you going? The
running back position is on
offense, you fool.”
“Moncrief! You’re sup
posed to tackle, not evade.”
“Moncrief! The Xs and
Os are not tic-tac-toe mark
ers.
And finally at the end of
the day: “Moncrief Don’t
shower with your darn
underpants on.”
My ego bruised the night
would probably go like this.
My wife: “Moncrief
You lift trash like a girl.”
(Nothing new there, by the
way.)
My daughter: “Daddy!
That’s why I love playing
dolls with you. You play like
a girl.”
Weeks would go by, once
again me working it all
out in my mind. My name
would be uttered (cursed)
more than the school mas
cot but I wouldn't quit.
Then, on some fate
ful football night, I would
hear this from the coach:
“Moncrief Grab your hel
met. You’re going in (every
body else had food poison
ing - don't look at me).”
The public address
announcer would tell all
else you needed to know.
“There’s the kickoff. It’s
deep into the endzone.
Moncrief has it. Moncrief
has it?
“He’s on the 5. He’s on
the 10. Uh oh, folks. Here
comes the defense catching
up. Now he’s in trouble.
Those old bones probably
aren’t going to be able to
hold up against a 300-
pounder.
“He jukes one, then
another. He’s on the 20.
He’s on the 30, the 40, the
50!”
You know what comes
next. “He-could-go-all-the
way.”
And I do. Touchdown!
Piece of cake.
Yes, I say to myself, I
could do it. Once you’ve got
it, you’ve got it. It may have
taken on the disguise of a
potbelly now, but it’s still
in there.
And “The Boss” played
on ...
3B