Searching for the Truth
Archive for Magnolia Sports
October 14, 2007 at 12:11 pm · Filed under Magnolia Sports
So here’s a link to my published story on two Madison Central kids and their dreams of dirt bike success.
And here’s the unedited version.
By Martin Kester
mkester@mcherald.com
Earthworms are known to emerge from their dirt homes to the surface after a rainstorm. Those same conditions, however, draw motocross riders from their homes to the dirt.
“We’re out after any rain storm,” said Johnny Moore, a senior at Madison Central. He practices with junior Mason Hume at a course built on the property of the latter’s grandfather. “It makes the track better.”
Officials at the 13th annual Branson (Mo.) USA National Motocross Championships likely dampened the track before the self-proclaimed “Grand Finale of Amateur thru Pro Competition” got underway on Thursday.
Hume and Moore, who routinely compete in motocross events throughout the year, traveled north for Branson after winning races at the Mississippi State Championships at Golden Pine Raceway in Prentiss last weekend.
“Last year I was ranked sixth in my class, but I got hurt and couldn’t make it back to nationals,” Moore said. “I won two titles at Branson last year, so I’m hoping to go back and clean sweep everything.”
Moore finished first in the 250 cc Intermediate (B class) Stock and the 250 cc Non-Professional Open, one of four races Hume will compete in this year.
“We used to just race trails and have fun,” said Hume, who started riding when he was 4. “When my dad got Got Gear, that’s when we really started racing a lot more.
“The trails were getting kind of boring and the jumps make racing a lot more fun.”
Scott Hume, who saved money from cutting grass when he was seven for his first mini-bike, created the jumps on the practice course to mimic those from various tracks they’ve raced.
“As we’ve traveled throughout the country, we’ve had different sections of different tracks these guys have had a hard time mastering,” said Scott Hume, owner of Got Gear and the main sponsor for both riders. “We’re constantly changing it and if they master it, I’ll build it bigger so when we do go to national events we’ll be competitive.”
Tommy Moore, Johnny’s father, grew up in Canton and competed on and with dirt bikes since he was eight years old. Now the service manager at Got Gear, he moved within a mile of the Hume’s course so his son could get better.
“To make it on the national level, you have to ride two, three times a week,” Tommy Moore said. “I never practiced on anything like this.”
“We built it back (last) September and it’s helped out a lot,” Johnny Moore said. “If it wasn’t for out here, I wouldn’t be as fast as I could be.”
It’s the high speeds and higher jumps that test the spirit of mothers like Shannon Hume.
“I like it because he enjoys doing it and he’s good at it,” Shannon Hume said, “but it’s still nerve-wracking to go to the races and watch them do it.
“You just cross your fingers they’ll be safe for the entire race.”
That safety is only an illusion as each rider has missed events due to broken bones; yet show no fear getting back on the bike.
“I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been hurt and every time, I come back stronger,” said Johnny Moore, who’s cracked five bones in 14 years.
Mason hadn’t suffered any ailments until last year when he fractured his leg and broke his collarbone, two bones in his hand and his ankle in three places.
“I wasn’t big enough to handle it,” he said about moving from an 85 cc to a 250 cc. “That was part of the reason.”
The main part is the allure of ‘big air’, hitting an incline and launching oneself into the atmosphere with only personal conviction available to bring you down safely.
“When you hit a jump, you have to know you’re going to land correctly,” Scott Hume said. “If you don’t think you will, you’ll crash.
“Confidence is as big as riding skill in a sport like this.”
Both Hume and Moore are confident they’ll return with awards from this weekend, but regardless of the outcome they’ll be back on their practice course to continue a dream.
Especially after it rains.
Common terms for MotoCross Rookies:
Motocross – A contraction derived from the words “motorcycle” and “Cross country” due to races being held on enclosed off-road courses.
cc – Short for cubic centimeters, this is commonly used to designate small engine sizes. At the Branson USA National Motocross Championships, there will be races ranging from 65 to 450 cc.
Double – Two jumps back to back, regardless of the size.
Triple – Three jumps back to back, regardless of the size.
Whoop – Little hills, about 1 to 2 feet high, on a straightaway. “You can have anywhere from five to 20 in a row,” Tommy Moore said. “Ideally, you can pull the front wheel up and just the back wheel hits.”
Rhythm – “That’s just when you have three to five jumps in a line,” Tommy Moore said, “and you just catch a rhythm going through it, jumping two or three at a time.”
Table top – A steep incline that flattens out before a similar decline. “The deal is to land on the down side of it,” Tommy Moore said. “Not on the top side.”
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Now playing: Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon/Mars Needs Women/Thunder/Losing Control/Mother Earth
via FoxyTunes
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Now playing: Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon/Mars Needs Women/Thunder/Losing Control/Mother Earth
via FoxyTunes
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Now playing: Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon/Mars Needs Women/Thunder/Losing Control/Mother Earth
via FoxyTunes
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Now playing: Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon/Mars Needs Women/Thunder/Losing Control/Mother Earth
via FoxyTunes
June 27, 2007 at 7:24 am · Filed under Magnolia Sports
I’m a sports writer, so that means I try to keep most of my stories simple, plain and informative about sports.
Of course, there are those who view games as a link to real life, not to mention all the real live people who play sports for more than just fun and entertainment.
I was lucky enough to run into two different sets of people recently and write about them, so enjoy.
Striking out Diabetes
and
a wonderful family, the Rogers, who recently were honored in Idaho as the Most Caring Coaches…
June 27, 2007 at 7:24 am · Filed under Magnolia Sports
I’ve got a dream to travel from the various futbol cathedrals scattered throughout Europe.
It started with me playing FIFA Soccer in college, but then morphed into a legit dream, chalk full of using specific recording equipment, a grant/stipend from the NEA/NPR to finance the whole thing and give it an outlet, while I was writing/blogging for a publication upon my return.
Well, all of that would have to start with me covering professional soccer in the US, kind of like this…
And any editor worth his weight will look for side notes from the game to fill space, what the industry, or better known as the business, calls a notebook.
It’s three small notes, which was visable in the print edition, but our website people are lazy, what more can I say. It should look something like this…
Crowd size sets record
By Martin Kester
mkester@mcherald.com
Jacob Lawrence, a St. Joseph graduate who plays soccer at Bowling Green State, was on the field for 90 minutes in Brilla FC’s 0-0 tie with New Orleans.
Nevertheless, he took time to admire the fans at Mississippi College’s Robert Longabaugh Field.
“I was thinking Wednesday night, people are working, some people have summer school,” Lawrence said. “I really didn’t think the crowd was going to be this big at all.”
“I’m really blown away,” said Rusty Bryant, president and general manager of Brilla Soccer Ministries. “I thought being a Wednesday at 5 p.m. as hot as it is, it was going to be tough.”
The first-year franchise record crowd of 1,187 impressed the guests from New Orleans.
“I love what’s happened here. You can be really proud of it,” said Kenny Ferrell, co-owner and head coach of the Shell Shockers.
For their first three years in the league, the Shell Shockers played home games at Pan American Stadium in the city, but Hurricane Katrina forced the team to move to Muss Bertolino Stadium in Kenner, La., 13 miles west of New Orleans.
“Our attendance numbers have been between 250 and 400,” said Amanda Miller, general manager of the New Orleans Shell Shockers, “but we’ve only had three home games.”
Brilla will play there on June 29, the third of four consecutive road games before a final three game home stand to end the regular season.
Sharon Bishop of Clinton watched a majority of the record crowd enter Mississippi College’s Robert Longabaugh Field as one of many Brilla volunteers.
“The whole family is usually here,” said Bishop, whose daughter Erin works as the Women’s Team Ministry Assistant of Brilla Soccer Ministries and heads the volunteers for Brilla FC games. “It’s exciting to see the sport is continuing and I think it’s really wonderful that you can play soccer and be a Christian as well.”
Youngest daughter Noele Bishop was in attendance, but dad Mike couldn’t make the game because he was at work. Susan was a little surprised by the total numbers, but not shocked when she sees familiar faces.
“A lot of the folks that attend have children who play,” Bishop said. “I teach at Lovett Elementary (in Clinton), so I see a lot of my past students that I can remember played soccer, but we get out-of-towners as well.”
Brilla president and general manger Rusty Bryant concurs, feeling the team is for the soccer community of the metro-area.
“I don’t know a lot of these people and I’ve been in Clinton my entire life,” Bryant said. “I love getting to meet these new people and the excitement is definitely not just here in Clinton.”
Two years ago, Jacob Lawrence ended his high school career at Millsaps College’s Harper Davis Field, losing the 1A/2A/3A state championship to crosstown rival St. Andrew’s.
Dwyane Demmin coached the St. Joseph graduate, but now they both play as center back defenders for Brilla FC.
“It’s obviously different. I was taking orders from him a year ago, and now we’re giving orders back and forth,” said Lawrence, who finished his first year at Bowling Green State. “We make a good set back there.”
Both Lawrence and Demmin, each standing over 6-foot-2, moved into the box for each of the five corner kicks during Brilla’s 0-0 tie with the New Orleans Shell Shockers.
“We had a couple of corners that we miss-hit,” Lawrence said. “Those are really good opportunities and we can’t squander those because we have a lot of big guys in the box, especially coming out from the back.
“It’s a long run to go in for a corner kick, then we just loss the opportunity. Once we get a better service, I think we’ll be alright.”
June 16, 2007 at 6:52 am · Filed under Magnolia Sports
Industry lesson #62
If you get copy in early, especially anything previewing a future event, you can expect to see it used. Whether that’s by your company or elsewhere, it’s always good to get your work in early to get it out to the public.
Like this. which is slightly different than this.
The same can be said for these two articles, the game stories from the previews before.
Here’s the shorter C-L version, granted they cut for space and the longer version from the Madison County Herald, which has still been left off their site.
You would think I didn’t work there…
June 9, 2007 at 10:16 am · Filed under Magnolia Sports
No, this isn’t Funk Doctor Spot and his cronies calling out “Two for $5″. This is your beloved blogger has two stories in the Clarion-Ledger today, both about baseball and here’s the links.
Saints’ trio takes detour to TeePee and South surprises coach with 20-hit barrage
Emjoy my joy.
April 12, 2007 at 10:09 am · Filed under Magnolia Sports, News of the Day
Our staff photographer reminded me that I wrote about the lack of black athletes playing baseball last year, right around the same time Major League Baseball was ready to honor Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier.
He’s right and I feel wrong. Wrong that I’ve let this issue die from these pages for that long because it’s bigger than that.
“When you look at, not just high school, but look at the professional ranks. It’s not just blacks, it is whites also,” said Levi Lewis, head baseball coach at Lanier High in Jackson, MS. “Baseball is dying in America and we don’t care. We’re not doing anything to save it.”
You can only save something that wants to live, and former pros are trying to determine just that. In last week’s Boston Glove, Meridian native Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd was attributed to having plans of building an independent league ballpark in Mississippi, with hopes of drawing the community back into the game.
“My kids will play baseball. Ken Griffey’s kids, Barry Bonds’s kids, they’ll all play baseball because it’s handed down,” said Boyd, who played for the Boston Red Sox (1982-89), Montreal Expos (1990-91), and Texas Rangers (1991). “Because of the challenges of surviving in our society in the past 15 or 20 years, we’ve skipped a whole generation of people passing baseball down to their kids.
“We’ve got to make them realize again how important it is to our history.”
Jonathan Howard’s history has him learning baseball at the YMCA and playing in the North Jackson baseball league as a youth. He moved to Ridgeland as a two-sport athlete, excelling on the diamond and the gridiron.
“I really loved it,” the Ridgeland High senior said about football, “but I had to stop playing.”
Howard was forced to stop after his neck snapped while making a tackle as a junior.
“My neck snapped back and my whole body got numb. This happened a couple of times, but I never knew what was happening,” said Howard, who still has a visible scar after a plate was put in to replace a disc between the 3rd and 4th vertebrae. “It was real narrow and my spinal cord kept hitting it. The doctor said I was one more step away from being paralyzed for the rest of my life.
“He said I was born with it, but I don’t know.”
He does know that next year he’ll be playing baseball for Holmes Community College, one reason Howard likely would have chosen baseball regardless of the injury and subsequent surgery.
“Baseball is a great opportunity to go to the next level,” Howard said. “I think African-Americans should get into it because there’s a better chance for them going than relying on football and basketball all the time.”
The numbers back him up. The National Basketball Association has only two rounds for their annual draft, with those left on the outside looking in destined for low-level professional leagues at home or abroad. The National Football League’s draft may last two days, but it’s only seven rounds to help fill the 55 final roster spots available on any team. To fill the numerous levels of baseball’s minor leagues, which Branch Rickey created the framework, there are 50 rounds in MLB’s First-Year Player Draft.
Rickey didn’t have to use one of those picks to sign Robinson to a minor league contract in 1945. He didn’t even have to negotiate financial terms with the Kansas City Monarchs, the Negro League team that Robinson was playing with at the time.
“There’s a lot of money involved,” Howard said. “That’s why I think a lot of African-Americans don’t put the time into it because you have to buy bats, gloves and some people don’t have the money.
“But people in the Dominican Republic are using their bare hands and they’re still getting it done, so it’s not an excuse.”
The excuse I hear when I’m sitting at games is the same thing I hear about soccer, that the game is too boring, it doesn’t move fast enough and it’s hard to understand. But it may be as simple as monkey see, monkey do.
“You don’t have parental involvement like we used to,” Lewis said. “Now parents are involved with basketball, especially when you go to your black schools.
“Basketball is the number one sport and baseball is like the bowling team,” he added. “It’s not prioritized, so if the adults look at it like that, then the students will look at it like that.”
If those students don’t start looking at baseball as a priority, in the future the only Americans in baseball will be the ones in the stands, and that’s the truth.