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Sports
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Sports Briefs
• The City of Port Wentworth Recreation Department will be
accepting baseball, softball, and T-ball signups through
March 15th. The ages are 4 through 14 years of age. The cost
is free and only Port Wentworth residents are allowed to
play.
• The Effingham YMCA Golf Classic will be held at the Lost
Plantation Golf Club on Friday, March 10th. All proceeds
will benefit the new YMCA facility. The event is a four man
scramble, Captain’s Choice. Foursomes can sign up for
$250, individuals for $70. Individual prizes include a
chance to win a new 2006 Ford Ranger Supercab and a new 2006
Ford Focus with a hole in one, courtesy of Springfield Ford,
and also two trips are available for other holes in one.
Also prizes for closest to pin on two holes, men’s longest
drive, women’s longest drive, and many door prizes. For
more information, please call 826-2199.
• The Joe Street Memorial Baseball League Sign-ups &
Tryouts will start 2/19/06 through 2/26/06 @ 1PM at Sol C.
Johnson High School. 28 & older baseball players,
average age is 44. Skill not as important as desire to play.
League is a MSBL affiliate. League runs from April to
October. Games are Saturdays and Sundays with a few mid week
games. For more information, please call 655-4727.
• Wilderness Southeast is pleased to present this
program in conjunction with Ft. McAlister State Park.
“Explore the Salt Marsh By Land and Sea” on Sunday,
February 19, 2006 from 2:00 - 5:00 pm.
Walk and paddle with a naturalist guide to learn about and
experience the dynamic and fascinating salt marsh ecosystem
which has supported humans on this coast throughout history.
Group size: 4-16. $30 per person fee includes canoe rental
and basic canoeing instruction. Meet in parking lot at
Fort McAlister. Reservations required. Call
912-897-5108.
• Wilderness Southeast invites you to join “Ducks on
Holiday” on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2006 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm
This is the time of year when coastal Georgia plays host to
thousands of ducks escaping frozen rivers and lakes.
Join a Wilderness Southeast naturalist guide to get
acquainted with some of the 15 different species of diving
and dabbling ducks that hang out at the Savannah National
Wildlife Refuge. Meet at the Laurel Hill Entrance to the
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, S.C. Hwy 170.
Suggested donation $10. Limit 15 people.
Reservations required. Call 912-897-5108.
• Wilderness Southeast “Blackwater River Paddle” on
Ebenezer Creek on Saturday, March 4, 2006 from 8:30 am -
12:30 pm
After simple canoeing instruction, your Wilderness Southeast
naturalist guide will lead the way downstream past cypress
and tupelo in their new spring green. Look out for
turtles, kingfishers and early spring migrating songbirds.
$30 per person includes canoe rental & basic canoeing
instruction. Reservations required. 6 -16
people. Call 897-5108.
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• Wilderness Southeast Savannah’s Herb ‘n Parks on Saturday, March 11,
2006 from 10 am - 12:00 noon.
Join a WiSE naturalist guide for this entertaining and informative ramble
through historic Savannah’s green spaces. You’ll discover the trees,
vines, shrubs and even weeds that offered early inhabitants food, clothing,
medicine, and more. Meet at Forsyth Park Fountain. Cost $10 per person.
Reervations requuired. Call 897-5108.
• Junior Group Tennis Programs: This afterschool and weekend program is for
students ages kindergarten through 12th grade and will be at various sites
throughout Savannah. A typical program is $45 for six sessions and includes a
racquet. Play starts February 11th. Contact Phyllis Greene at 961-9862
or 507-9862 or e-mail
ctcsavannahga@prodigy.net
for information and registration for all programs.
• Junior Team Tennis: This popular league begins March 5th. Sign up on a
team or ask to be placed on a team. Contact Phyllis Greene at 961-9862
or 507-9862 or e-mail
ctcsavannahga@prodigy.net
for information and registration for all programs.
• Adults Workout With a Racquet: Cardio Tennis is a fun, group activity
featuring drills aimed at giving players of all abilities a high-energy
workout. $10 sessions will be held throughout the year. For this and other
adult tennis programs contact Phyllis Greene at 961-9862 or 507-9862 or e-mail
ctcsavannahga@prodigy.net for
information and registration for all programs.
High School Sports
By C. Edward Wilson
Coach’s Corner
Congratulations to Coach Jack Miller. It seems retirement was only a pause
from his illustrious coaching career at Savannah Christian Preparatory School.
Miller will be taking over the coaching duties at Saint Andrews on Wilmington
Island in the coming fall of 2006.
I had a chance to interview Miller before his retirement a couple of years ago
and he didn’t particular want to retire at the time, but the school wanted
to go in another direction with the football program. The team came up with a
nine-game winning streak in his final year before losing to Toombs County.
Miller will have to do a lot of work for the Saints, who play in the South
Carolina Independent School Association.
Bob Herndon will be leaving South Effingham to take over the helm of the
Benedictine Military School football program. Herndon had a most successful
career at South Effingham and the Cadet program needed a breath of fresh air,
since former coach Tommy Brackett seemed to be on the out-and-out with some of
the alumni.
“We are not used to having a .500 season around BC,” some one of the
alumni, who wished to remain anonymous. “We put too much emphasis on making
this program one of the best in the state.”
Grove’s football and basketball coach Karl DeMasi will be having
arthroscopic surgery next week to alleviate some of the pain in one of his
knees. DeMasi tried to put off the surgery for as long as possible, but he
couldn’t hold out any longer. Good wishes coach and get back on your feet as
soon as possible.
Boy’s basketball
The Groves’ boy’s basketball team will have a tough assignment on the road
this week, but will have a chance to pull off a number of upset if things go
according to Coach Chuck Smith.
Taking a page out of former University of Nevada at Las Vegas coach Jerry
Tarkanian’s Rebel teams of the late 80’s, Smith has his Rebels running
full throttle from the beginning to the end of games, which sometimes leaves
the other teams winded. Hopefully that style of play will cause some of the
teams to not catch a breath on the way to defeat.
The Rebels will play Newnan at 7 p.m. on Friday night. while Beach travels to
Star’s Mill High. In Savannah, Savannah High will host Fayette County at 6
p.m., while Johnson will host Mundy’s Mill at 7:30 p.m.
The only two girl’s team left, Beach and Savannah High, will try to advance
to the next round. The Lady Bulldogs will be at home against Star’s Mill,
while Savannah High takes on Newnan on the road. Effingham County will have to
travel to Americus to play Sumter. All of the games will be on Saturday night.
Coach John Wooden
by Curtis E Bagwell
On the 21st of the month, the best man I know will do what he always does on
the 21st of the month. He'll sit down and pen a love letter to his best girl.
He'll say how much he misses her and loves her and can't wait to see her
again.
Then he'll fold it once, slide it in a little envelope and walk into his
bedroom. He'll go to the stack of love letters sitting there on her pillow,
untie the yellow ribbon, place the new one on top and tie the ribbon again.
The stack will be 180 letters high then, because the 21st will be 15 years to
the day since Nellie, his beloved wife of 53 years, died.
In her memory, he sleeps only on his half of the bed, only on his pillow, only
on top of the sheets, never between; with just the old bedspread they shared
to keep him warm.
There's never been a finer man in American sports than John Wooden, or a finer
coach. He won 10 NCAA basketball championships at UCLA, the last in 1975.
Nobody has ever come within six of him.
He won 88 straight games between January 30, 1971, and January 17, 1974.
Nobody has come within 42 since.
So, sometimes, when the Basketball Madness gets to be too much -- too many
players trying to make Sports Center, too few players trying to make assists,
too few coaches willing to be mentors, too many freshmen with out-of-wedlock
kids, too few freshmen who will stay in school long enough to become men -- I
like to go see Coach Wooden.
I visit him in his little condo in Encino, 20 minutes northwest of Los
Angeles, and hear him say things like "Gracious sakes alive!" and
tell stories about teaching "Lewis" the hook shot. Lewis Alcindor,
that is...who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
There has never been another coach like Wooden, quiet as an April snow and
square as a game of checkers; loyal to one woman, one school, one way; walking
around campus in his sensible shoes and Jimmy Stewart morals.
He'd spend a half hour the first day of practice teaching his men how to put
on a sock. "Wrinkles can lead to blisters," he'd warn. These huge
players would sneak looks at one another and roll their eyes. Eventually,
they'd do it right. "Good," he'd say. "And now for the other
foot."
Of the 180 players who played for him, Wooden knows the whereabouts of 172. Of
course, it's not hard when most of them call, checking on his health, secretly
hoping to hear some of his simple life lessons so that they can write them on
the lunch bags of their kids, who will roll their eyes.
"Discipline yourself, and others won't need to," Coach would say.
"Never lie, never cheat, never steal," and "Earn the right to
be proud and confident."
If you played for him, you played by his rules: Never score without
acknowledging a teammate. One word of profanity and you're done for the day.
Treat your opponent with respect.
He believed in hopelessly out-of-date stuff that never did anything but win
championships. No dribbling behind the back or through the legs. "There's
no need," he'd say.
No UCLA basketball number was retired under his watch. "What about the
fellows who wore that number before? Didn't they contribute to the team?"
he'd say.
No long hair, no facial hair. "They take too long to dry, and you could
catch cold leaving the gym," he'd say. That one drove his players
bonkers.
One day, All-America center Bill Walton showed up with a full beard.
"It's my right," he insisted. Wooden asked if he believed that
strongly. Walton said he did. "That's good, Bill," Coach said.
"I admire people who have strong beliefs and stick by them, I really do.
We're going to miss you." Walton shaved it right then and there. Now
Walton calls once a week to tell Coach he loves him.
It's always too soon when you have to leave the condo and go back out into the
real world, where the rules are so much grayer and the teams so much worse.
As Wooden shows you to the door, you take one last look around. The framed
report cards of his great-grandkids, the boxes of jellybeans peeking out from
under the favorite wooden chair, the dozens of pictures of Nellie.
He's almost 90 now. You think a little more hunched over than last time. Steps
a little smaller. You hope it's not the last time you see him. He smiles.
"I'm not afraid to die," he says. "Death is my only chance to
be with her again."
Problem is, we still need him here.
"There is only one kind of a life that truly wins, and that is the one
that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an
aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere. Material possessions,
winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord,
because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters." - John
Wooden
Passed along by Mark Parker
Bean Spouts
So, I was in town last weekend to surprise my Mom for her birthday, and I want
to say “thanks” again to my good friend Dawn for giving me a place to
crash.
I think my surprise worked, too. Mom looked very happy to see me, and we had a
nice visit.
It was also great to see so many of my friends- and a good time was had by all
when we got together Friday night. Those of you who couldn’t join us- well-
I guess there’s always next time.
I was also very lucky coming home. As I was sitting on the train, waiting to
ride home from the airport Sunday morning, it started to snow. I had just
missed getting stuck by that snowstorm that crippled so much of the country.
(No, it didn’t snow that hard here, but there wouldn’t have been anywhere
to land the danged plane)...
Am I the only person who really doesn’t care if Saddam Hussein is on a
hunger strike? Let him starve...
I think Attorney General Alberto Gonzales drew an extremely unfortunate
parallel when he said the United States’ holding of suspected terrorists was
akin to the country’s detaining enemies in World War II.
I say unfortunate because- even though I’m pretty sure they’re talking
about POW’s- it tends to make one think of thousands of Japanese Americans
rounded up and sent to internment camps.
The United States is currently holding about 520 prisoners from more than 40
countries at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Gonzales drew the parallel in remarks made in response to heavy criticism in
Europe where activists decry the length of time inmates have been held and say
prisoners’ rights to a fair trial have been ignored.
Gonzales has said the difference between the United States and many European
countries was that those nations view terrorism as a crime, whereas the U.S.
views the fight against terrorism as a war...
Did you about the New York City teenager who took a tumble out the window of a
moving bus and landed on the New York State Thruway?
Seems the young man lost his balance when the chartered bus swerved to change
lanes and was sent out the bus’ bathroom window.
The young man was taken to Albany Medical Center for treatment. He had been at
the state Capitol to lobby with a group on the issue of AIDS.
Out the bathroom window? That’s so funny, I can’t even come up with a line
for it...
Oh, wow. I just heard a commercial for a car show at the Georgia World
Congress Center this weekend that will feature an appearance by former actor
(and Congressman) Ben Jones.
Yee-haw. I guess they’re really pushing for that NASCAR museum...
Did you hear about the guy in Florida who asked for leniency from a judge
because he was “truly sorry for (his) actions," and he didn’t
remember what happened that day because he was “addicted to drugs and had
been using cocaine and heroin” the day he abducted the child.
Joseph Smith was convicted of not just murder, but the rape as well of an
eleven year old girl in February of 2004.
Smith added he didn’t “remember much of that day” as he addressed the
judge and cried as he said he was afraid his death would affect his children
and his mother.
"I don't ask for mercy for myself, but for my family," he said.
I don’t want to sound like some sadist, but let‘s hope the judge doesn‘t
fall for that crock! We can all chip in and send his family a card...
The Federal judge presiding over the trial of convicted September 11
conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui barred the defendant from being present during
jury selection for the trial that will decide if he gets the death penalty.
For the second week in a row, Moussaoui was escorted from the courtroom after
shouting "I am al Qaeda" during proceedings.
District Judge Leonie Brinkema called a hearing Tuesday to ask Moussaoui if he
could behave during jury selection.
Moussaoui did not respond directly but proceeded to make further outbursts,
saying “I want to make it known, like I've been trying for the last four
years... that these people are not my lawyers.”
"I am al Qaeda. You, you, you- for me you are the enemy," he said,
gesturing at his lawyers.
Brinkema gave Moussaoui the option of sitting quietly during the jury
selection process or watching proceedings on closed-circuit television in a
cell in the courthouse.
Moussaoui said he wanted to leave the courtroom, then screamed “you're going
to take care of my death” as he was led away.
“God curse you and America!” he shouted from outside the courtroom.
Guess what, pal? He did- by burdening us with a creep like you...
A New York City man convicted of allowing his pet Chihuahua to die of
starvation has been sentenced to 350 hours of scooping poop from the city's
dog runs.
The man was also sentenced to three years probation, barred from contact with
dogs for three years and ordered to appear before a Bronx Supreme Court Judge
every two months.
The man was charged with animal cruelty after leaving his dog locked in his
apartment for more than a week without food and water.
That is a truly sh- um- never mind...
Actor Franklin Cover, who played Tom Willis on “The Jeffersons” died last
week at age 77.
Cover passed away due to complications from pneumonia at the Lillian Booth
Actor's Fund of America home in Englewood, N.J., "Entertainment
Tonight" reported Friday...
Braves’ news.
Pitchers and catchers report this week- and the rest of the
team next week. Thank goodness...
Falcons’ news.
QB Michael Vick said the sprained right knee he suffered against Minnesota was
more severe than he ever let on, and prohibited him from being the threat in
the 2005 season that he had been in the past.
Vick said it was the injury- not offensive coordinator Greg Knapp‘s system-
that kept him from developing in the team’s version of the West Coast
offense.
In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Vick went on to say he
is “lost” wondering about the team's overall philosophy- and can’t
understand why the passing game doesn't feature more short, slant patterns
like most West Coast offenses.
Coach Jim Mora responded to Vick’s statements by saying that the team
doesn’t “run the West Coast offense. Greg (Knapp) and I have said that
from Day One. Our offense is tailored to the skills of our players. That's one
of the reasons we've risen in rankings from 29th before Greg took over the
offense to 12th this past season and we expect to get much better.”
Still- hearing your team’s QB say he’s “lost” certainly can’t make
you feel good about their chances next year...
Former wide receiver Billy "White Shoes" Johnson was named the
team's assistant strength and conditioning coach last week, moving from the
front office.
Johnson had served in the team’s player development department for the past
13 seasons.
Johnson replaces Rocky Colburn, who left the team to take over as head
strength and conditioning coach at the University of Alabama.
“Billy knows our players, understands our culture and has spent a
significant amount of time working with our team in the weight room,” coach
Mora said...
Coach Mora has dismissed rumors that running back Warrick Dunn will be traded
before next season.
Dunn, who put up a career high rushing total, will account for $8 million
against the team’s 2006 salary cap.
Mora said in an e-mail to the AJC last Thursday that Dunn “epitomizes what
we believe an Atlanta Falcon should be both on and off the field. He has been
one of most productive players over the past two seasons and is a great fit
for this offense. I'm excited to see him out on the field helping us win games
again in 2006."
I wonder if he feels lost in the offense? Probably not...
Mo’ football.
Derrick Brooks- playing in his ninth straight game- was named the Pro Bowl MVP
and helped the NFC defense lead the charge to a 23-17 win over the favored
AFC.
Brooks had a 59 yard interception return for a touchdown in a game that saw 10
turnovers.
The game was the lowest scoring Pro Bowl since the AFC's 23-10 victory in
1999. The teams had averaged 73.7 points in the past six games.
Michael Vick threw a 14 yard TD pass to Falcons’ teammate Alge Crumpler with
2 seconds left in the first half...
The Raiders re-hired their former coach Art Shell in a move owner Al Davis
hopes will “get that nastiness of the Raiders back.”
Davis admitted Shell was the team's second choice for coach, but said he had
"never forgiven (himself)" for firing Shell after the 1994 season.
The team has gone through five coaches in 11 seasons since firing Shell- whose
last coaching job was with the Falcons five years ago...
From the Olympics.
Poor Michelle Kwan. Guess she’ll have to console herself with the sweet
endorsement deals she’ll be signing. Or, she can call me...
Bode Miller, Bode Miller, Bode Miller, Bode Miller. Shut up already. Actually,
I kind of feel the same way about Kwan- I’m just tired of hearing about them
both...
Dawn and I were watching some of the Olympics’ stuff Saturday. Well, it
wasn’t really coverage- it was more like an endless parade of talking heads
without any actual sporting events.
I guess that’s how they manage to drag the games out to those two or three
weeks...
Racin.’
Jeff Burton will be the pole sitter for Sunday’s Daytona 500 after posting a
189.151 MPH lap in qualifying Sunday.
Burton will be joined by Jeff Gordon on the front row of the “Great American
Race.” The rest of the field will be determined later this week.
The green flag drops Sunday at 2:30...
From the ice.
The Thrashers went into the Olympic break with two straight
wins, and stand 26-26-6, good for third place in the Southeastern Division.
They return to action March 1st at Buffalo...
So, that’s about all for this week, boys and girls. I'll be back next time
with more news, notes, and rumors from the sports world. As always, send your
questions, praises, or gripes to
RobBeanSports@yahoo.com,
or via snail mail to:
Bean Spouts
c/o Spirit Newspapers
P.O. Box 33
Pooler, GA 31322.
God, bless America.
Webmaster@TheSpiritNewspaper.com
Copyright © 2005 WWW.THESPIRITNEWSPAPER.COM.
All rights reserved.
Revised: February 16, 2006
