COMMENTARY
I know I could have something about the punishment Major League Baseball gave to Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, but that topic is being slapped, punched and kicked aroundDo you realize that we are not that far away from the start of several events in our society that affect the under-21 crowd?
We are 13 days from the first day of school in Coweta County and several of the surrounding counties? In South Georgia they don’t start until the end of the month but they get out later.
I digress a little bit but while there is still time for most of us to make that last trip to Florida and get in a little sun, there is less time to vacation for a certain group of young people and adults.
Beginning Thursday August 1, the following sports can OFFICIALLY begin their preparations for the 2013 season according to the Georgia High School Association rules.
- Football in pads
- Softball
- Volleyball
- Cross Country
- Cheerleading
- Riflery
- One Act Plays.
Before anybody gives me the “Literary is not a sport”, I can’t argue this because it is recognized by the GHSA which does govern athletics for the majority of schools in Georgia.
Anyway, you get the idea that in a couple of weeks, coaches and players will be out on the field ready to do what they do best.
Actually, some have already been working out or holding specialized games such as 7-on-7 passing tournaments (football) and summer league games (the school’s names are on the schedule but they are not in uniform and the rules differ some).
Besides a date open the calendar, there are other signs that the start of certain sports are in the area.
Monday morning, football coaches of Region 3-AAAAAA met with the media that will be covering them in a breakfast meeting.
I attended those meetings for years but we usually had lunch because anyone who has ever written a sports story knows that we are creatures of the night and getting up early is something we are not capable of handling.
Maybe that’s what the coaches had in mind when the time for this get together was set.
Take it from this veteran concerning the meeting, the coaches are at least more entertaining than a politician telling you what he will do if elected.
My favorite coach at “story time” was Lovejoy Wildcats head coach Al Hughes who brought vigor to poor mouthing his club.
For a number of years, the Wildcats dominated what was a formidable Region 4-AAAAA with East Coweta, Newnan and a few other teams that were pretty decent.
Anyway, the Wildcats would be stacked with a strong quarterback, quality receivers and a good running back in their spread offense but Hughes never agreed.
He would tell you that his quarterback couldn’t throw, the receivers couldn’t catch and the running back was slower than molasses.
At the end of the meeting when media and coaches selected the order of finish for the teams, it was a solid bet that he was going to pick his team to finish dead last with an 0-10 record.
That year, the Wildcats would finish 10-2 or something like that and would end the season in the second round of the playoffs.
However, one year Hughes picked his team to finish last like clockwork and he nearly became a prophet.
The Wildcats had a lot of problems keeping players healthy especially at quarterback and finished the season at 3-7 or 4-6.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats were moved to another region the next year in one of the realignment plans the GHSA has and they would struggle for awhile.
They did return to prominence a couple of years ago and last year came within one quarter of winning the AAAAAA state title at the Georgia Dome.
Maybe he went back to picking his team to finish last in whatever region they have been in (in 2012 they were Region 2) because it seems he becomes a sly fox while his players make him look like a crazy uncle.
Who knows, but that is what makes this time of year fun and something to look forward to witnessing.
