Back to the Diamonds

This past weekend Vine-Ingle Little League and the Freedom Park softball season kicked off. I am a big fan and often sit diamond-side to watch our nieces and nephews work their magic on the field. It's such a mainstay of spring and the passion and emotions can run as high as watching the Braves in a pennant race! One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is watching t-ball. If you're ever having a bad day just go out there, have a Coke and watch the kids wrestle the others on their own team for the ball...it's really cute.

But there is one thing that never ceases to frustrate and disappoint me at the same time...parents and fans that yell disparaging remarks at coaches, umpires or even the kids themselves. When I first saw this inappropriate behavior I had to do a double take. I mean really, these are kids and volunteers out there playing the game because they love it. Baseball and softball at this age has got to be the purest form of the sport. And the last thing kids need is anyone putting extra pressure on their shoulders.

Now let me say a couple of things here: one...I don't have kids, so I don't know the joy and probably the frustration of coaching the little guys off the field and away from their coaches. And secondly let's face it... we're in the middle of the NCAA tournament. And if you've gone to any high school or college basketball games, heckling is getting to be a common place in the landscape and some of it is really funny.

But this year, can we make a pact? Don't chew out the little guys on the diamond, don't rip the umps over a call, and most importantly enjoy this special treat for what it is...the future boys and girls of summer learning life lessons through playin' ball.

See ya on the diamond!
Suzanne

Oh Where, Oh Where did My Soaps Go!

March Madness is here and for those who work in the Eyewitness Newsroom it brings with it a dash of anticipation but also a touch of dread.

The anticipation comes from watching a slew of games waiting for those magical moments that make the NCAA tournament the spectacle it is. The magic comes in the form of an underdog upsetting a powerhouse or a young coach outfoxing an old veteran. The magic is provided by young men who ran and sweated and lifted weights for hours on end in hopes of getting the opportunity to play the game they love on a grand stage.

The dread comes in the form of callers demanding to know where their soap operas are as the first two days of the tournament play out on CBS and 13WMAZ in the afternoon and at night. For these folks the thrill of the NCAA Tournament is lost amidst the desire to mingle with the Young and the Restless and party with the Bold and the Beautiful. Trust me no amount of explanation will quench their desire to experience one more chapter of One Life to Live.

But rest easy my soap friends, come Monday your favorites will return but here's hoping you'll put down the phone long enough to begin to understand why so many people get caught up in the Madness of March.

Frank Malloy

Take a Kid Fishing

Many of you know I grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. My love of fishing was geographic and genetic. My Dad and I would get up on the weekends at five thirty in the morning. Dad and his friends would load up our boat, scramble up some eggs in the microwave and we'd head off to the docks. That's when he'd bring out the cast net and throw it into the water scooping up bait fish for the adventure. My brother and I loved working the fish out of the net and throwing them into the bait bucket. Then as the suns rays began to dance across the Gulf of Mexico we'd head out to deep waters looking for grouper, tarpon and well lets face it...anything that hit our poles.

I loved these trips and attribute my love of fishing directly to Dad. The guy had huge amounts of patience. Between my brother and myself it always seemed like Dad didn't get to use his rig much because he was baiting and untangling our lines. He never complained, well okay maybe now and then when we'd drag in a salt water cat. Those monsters can get down right nasty, but that's another story for another day.

My point in sharing these childhood memories is this. When the weather gets warmer think about taking a kid fishing. Central Georgia is full of ponds and lakes filled with brim, blue gills and yes...those catfish! And, sure, kids and fishing take a good bit of work. But if you make the investment you may never know what it means to a little angler.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has a program called "Take a Kid Fishing". You can go to their website at gofishgeorgia.com for more information. Click on the fishing tab across the top and then you will find an entire page dedicated to kids fishing and events. They even have a kids fishing awards contest. Look below and you'll find one event that's happening in Dublin in a few months. It's never too early to plan.

Who knows years from now your kids may recall fond memories of the time you shared together!

Talk to you later,
Suzanne

Good Sport...Bad Sport

"Good game, good game, good game...", the words trailed off my tongue without thinking as I aimlessly slapped high fives with the opposing team. I performed this task at the end of every baseball, basketball, football and soccer game that I was a part of since I was in kindergarten. It was explained to me that, that's good sportsmanship. Giving your opponent thanks, or a compliment, after competition.

Coaches embedded this behavior into me. My parents commanded nothing less. And as a elementary school student athlete, my biggest concern was knowing if I didn't shake hands, that meant no after game snack of a juice box and little Debbie snack cake, so I would "good game" anybody that came into my line of sight.

But, as those years faded away, I grew older...still participating in sports and started to see the larger signs of bad sportsmanship. Things like trash talking, hot dogging, throwing equipment, etc. I'm not saying these things never happened before, but, quite honestly, I never paid attention previously.

With age, the games grew faster, more intense and still featured the routine post game handshake, but the attitudes were different across the board. Some guys whining about bad calls, complaining about playing time or just taunting their opponent for winning.

Recent events, like the latest Superbowl with Peyton Manning walking off the field without congratulating the Saints, or during the 2009 NBA Eastern Divisional championships, when Lebron James (no relation) was lambasted for exiting the court without performing the post game "good sportsmanship ritual" and the latest "poor example"...Team Canada’s women’s hockey team celebrating with cigars and alcohol on the ice after the game, have forced me to re-evaluate my idea of proper sportsmanship.

I had the opportunity to play football under two no nonsense head coaches on both the high school and college level. During my prep days Coach Robert Davis often told us to talk with our "Riddells" (helmets). It's a phrase I still use today. And at GSU, Coach Paul Johnson, preached a blue collar, bring your lunch pail to work mentality which gave me a greater respect for the game, for all the players involved and more importantly the sport.

So when I see a T.O. rant, a Manny staring out a home-run to show up the pitcher, or how the #99 car flips the #12 car because of juvenile road rage, I think back to the 2007 Little League World Series, where Team USA happened to be a bunch of kids from Warner Robins and they embraced Team Japan in one of the most emotionally televised examples of "good sportsmanship". It reminds of the old Russell rule that was enforced while on the banks of beautiful Eagle Creek during my college tenure at Georgia Southern..."Do Right!" Period. It just doesn’t take much to follow that order.

So as basketball season is winding down and baseball is coming into full swing, I encourage us all to re-evaluate the importance of "good sportsmanship". Eyes are watching. Let's just play ball!

Taylor County Golf Course Gets GSGA Rating

I know about this time of the year golf fans are just chomping at the bit for warmer days to spend on the fairways and greens around Central Georgia. Well here's a bonus for you.

About a year ago we brought you the heartwarming story of how a good many folks in Butler and Reynolds all banded together to revive their nine hole golf course. These folks put in back -breaking manual labor. They cut down trees, turned their noses up at snakes as they drained and unchoked weeds from the waterways, and painstakingly picked weeds off the greens with little pocket knives. Then, if all of that doesn't seem like enough work, they brought in bulldozers and created a nice sized driving range.

With a budget nowhere close to what they spend on the course at the Masters, the town folk even volunteered their time to work at the pro-shop. It was a great effort and now it's playing off. Recently the Georgia State Golf Association accepted the Reynolds Golf Club into their ranks. This is a big deal because membership provides a variety of benefits and services. If you go out there you can now utilize the computerized handicapping service.

It's not many times we see an entire county rally together and work hard to preserve history and make their recreation facilities a better place for the community.
But I think we can safely say that Reynolds has scored an eagle in their efforts.

By the way if you want to visit the course it's on Hwy 128 N in Reynolds, Georgia. And if you're looking for a cheap round, drive the extra miles, it will only cost you fifteen bucks for nine holes, twenty for 18, and that includes the cart.

See ya next time,
Suzanne