5 FEB 07: "LITTLE" BIG TOWN
Football?! You want to talk about football? I saw a touch football game Sunday afternoon at Midland Academy - but those guys probably didn't realize the N.B.A. game had been moved to WXTX.
BLOG EXCLUSIVE: I went to Midland Academy Sunday (and admittedly lost my way in the process) for Little League baseball, not football. After all, area college teams opened their new seasons over the weekend. You could tell by how sunny and warm it was, couldn't you?
Midland Academy hosted the final day of registration Sunday for Northern Little League - in the breeding ground of the 2006 Little League World Series champions. Yet surprisingly, no one was playing baseball outside the school. There was that touch football game, a few people working on soccer - and I guess it was too cool for children to go outside for parking lot street hockey.
Northern Little League President Curt Thompson told your blog registration is up more than ten percent this year, which is something he expected after last year's success. The final total may top 700 players - which may be enough to have a team for every merchant at Columbus Park Crossing.
But Curt Thompson says the growth goes beyond Northern. He told me the world championship "is having a positive impact on the city of Columbus" - meaning all leagues. For instance, Peach Little League has more children registered. So the walkers and runners around Lakebottom Park will have to watch their step even more than usual this spring.
You may have wondered if any of last year's Little League World Series title team can come back this year. Curt Thompson said two players were eligible, but neither will return. Mason Myers's family has moved to Atlanta - the closer to all those congratulatory events, I suppose.
Josh Lester could have returned to Northern Little League as well - but Curt Thompson says he's moved on to "travel ball." I think this is different from choosing basketball over baseball....
There was one big question on my mind when I went to the Northern Little League registration. Had the rules for choosing All-Stars changed in the off-season - in response to criticism by "The Courier" and others about last year's championship team being all-white? With no Rainbow/PUSH Coalition picket line outside the school, one might have assumed that....
That's where Curt Thompson told me something I hadn't realized before. The Northern All-Stars who won the world title last year were selected almost entirely by the PLAYERS - by the children, and not the grownups. If they can choose a lineup this well, I may hire them to manage a "fantasy league" for me.
Curt Thompson explained the All-Star selection process was turned over to Northern players a couple of years ago to avoid "all the politics, the negative side." But the manager and coaches were able to add one or two picks of their own. If Hollywood worked this way, maybe "Dreamgirls" would be up for Best Picture at the Oscars after all.
But Curt Thompson noted the Northern Little League had NO African-American players last year, for selecting All-Stars. He said that could change, because several African-American children were in lower-age leagues and are "moving up through the ranks." So if Muscogee County schools teach about Jackie Robinson during Black History Month....
Midland Academy was set up for more than Little League registration -- as Northern souvenirs also were on sale. Curt Thompson told me that's still going well. So if you're waiting for championship outfits to show up at Big Lots for half-price -- maybe you should try in June.
With registration finished at Northern Little League, this week is "tryout week." Everyone who signed up must go through two workouts, unless they signed up for T-ball. Those games can be the most fun to watch, you know - with children sometimes running in wrong directions, it's like watching a real-life "Simpsons" cartoon.
After the tryouts, next Monday will be the first "draft day" for the Northern Little League coaches. They'll select players for teams - and Curt Thompson admits there could be some trading along the way. As long as no child is swapped for a Stevie B's pizza party, I guess that's OK....
The Northern Little League web site is counting down to the season's opening night on March 9. That seems awfully early to me - but then, I played youth softball in the Kansas City area. Sometimes you didn't even turn on the air conditioner for the summer until June.
E-MAIL UPDATE: The hubbub in Hurtsboro seems to have eased in the last week. We've only received two e-mails from there - and of course, the Constable was a contributor:
HI-HO, Sir Richard:
Thanks for your Monday Edition! I'ts appreciated! I don't expect you to break your "routine" with this this submission but I wanted to touch on a couple of points - and fill you in on my next move.
I will be brief and to the point! In your latest BLOG [29 Jan] you questioned my lack of response to the claims that "Concerned" is making against me. Simply put - I will not dignify the vilification of my character by a anonymous author with a retort!!!
I have two questions? #1 - Why wont "Concerned" sign her name? #2 - Why doesn't the "Mayor" (notice the spelling!) speak for herself? It's PUZZELING isn't it.
Constable R.J. Schweiger....
So the "Concerned Citizen" does not want a name revealed, and R.J. Schweiger does not to respond to anonymous accusations. I think I've seen this somewhere.... yeah, in fact I saw it Sunday. Mike Matusow won "Poker Superstars III."
I thought I'd mentioned earlier why the "Concerned Citizen" wants to remain anonymous. He or she fears retaliation from Constable Schweiger - the way Schweiger supposedly retaliates against other people in Hurtsboro he doesn't like. After all, a man who "sleeps with dogs" could take them for hungry walks as well.
As for Hurtsboro Mayor Sandra Tarver - I guess I'll take part of the blame there. I have not contacted her about all of R.J. Schweiger's complaints, and she has not contacted me. Maybe she's so busy running the town that she doesn't have time to read the blog entries posted at the post office.
R.J. Schweiger sent us a second, admittedly "different" e-mail this past week -- with a recorded western song called "The Old Saddle Tramp." It's too big a file to post, but it's about a drifting cowboy with a soul that not even Satan would claim. I don't know if the Constable is singing it, wrote it, simply likes it -- or if he thinks it applies to the Hurtsboro Mayor.
(Constable Schweiger's e-mails also hinted a U.P.S. delivery was coming for me - but none had arrived as of Sunday night. Maybe the parcel service is waiting for a couple of other orders from Hurtsboro, to justify spending the gas money.)
We've received no comments from "the other side" in Hurtsboro in the past week. But then again, maybe that side is waiting for Constable R.J. Schweiger's upcoming arraignment in Russell County Court. If the town suddenly seems deserted Tuesday morning, try checking 14th Street in Phenix City.
Now that we've handled Hurtsboro, let's check other highlights from the weekend:
+ Which business in the Bibb City area has a sign offering "free concrete rubble?" Not even New Yorkers were this tacky, after the September 11 attacks....
+ The Ledger-Enquirer had a front-page story on how Columbus gas prices tend to be higher than those in surrounding cities. That'll teach that newspaper - because the Petro station we mentioned Sunday knocked its price up a penny already.
+ The Columbus First Seventh-Day Adventist Church began a Sunday series on classes on having a "healthy lifestyle." The Adventists say should eat more fruits and vegetables, and keep meat to a minimum. Someday I need to ask them why Jesus didn't feed the 5,000 with figs and vegetarian baked beans.
+ A Clay County, Georgia teacher was suspended for shutting up a grade school student's month - with duct tape. This is what can happen when high school girls are allowing to wear duct-tape prom dresses.
+ The Atlanta Hawks beat New Jersey in overtime 101-99, on a last-second shot by Tyronn Lue. Whereupon his teammates yelled, "Lue-Hoo!"
+ Instant Message to everyone who survived the tornadoes in central Florida: I should have told you this sooner - but a man in my church congregation says everyone should leave the state. He says all of Florida should be left empty, so hurricanes and storms can ravage it. And he said this with a straight face - but for some reason NOT in one of his sermonettes.
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