Local sports; The ‘greatest’ debate; Turning to Spring
Sports at the local level
There are so many outstanding accomplishments by teams and individuals on the local scenes. It will be left to those who write the news to relate those events and accomplishments to the fans of Gordon County. Alex Farrer and those associated with him do an outstanding job in getting the reports, results and details to local fans.
Due to many personal physical shortcomings (Hope on a short term basis) and other circumstances I saw the fewest actual events of our youngsters this past year than at any other time in my life.
The fine coverage offered by Alex Farrer pretty much kept me in pace with both teams and individuals and their accomplishments during the past fall and winter season. To a certain degree, Alex set aside his enthusiasm for the North Carolina Tar Heels, the Atlanta Falcons, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, and the Braves and put the news of our locals in front of us in a timely and won- derful manner.
The demands of that local level never come to an end; those demands increase with the changing of season as you will see in a later section of this column.
Who or which is the greatest?
Claims and boasts abound as to who is the greatest athlete or which is the greatest team. I will not deal with the specific claims I heard recently on the local level; just be mindful that recently heard were “outrageous” claims about teams and individuals in the past (and I mean distant pass) in comparison to teams and individuals on the modern field of competition. The claims will not stand up under scrutiny.
Let’s move to a bigger area of consideration. In a recent article the point was emphasized that Michael Phelps was the greatest swimmer of all time. Long ago this writer advanced the position that Johnny Weissmuller was the all-time greatest swimmer; Weissmuller was the first movie Tarzan of my young life and the story of his accomplishments from his youth in the Chicago area were a matter of awe. Before I leave this point let me congratulate local swimmers on their recent accomplishments. It took time into my 30s but I came to deeply appreciate all that is involved in become an outstanding competitive swimmer.
I want to share with readers some facts about Phelps and his development and accomplishments which should challenge us all. Give diligent attention to what the points made as the writer said, “People love to have debates about who’s the greatest of all time in any given sport; maybe it’s because you don’t even have to be an expert to get in on them. All you need to know is the yardstick for success.” The report went on to say, “That’s what makes Michael Phelps special. There’s no debate. He’s the greatest swimmer and most decorated Olympian of all time: 28 medals won over four different Olympic Games, 23 of them gold.”
That last statement combined with another by the writer demands attention by parents and youngsters: “It turns out, Phelps worked hard on his craft.” Find me that outstanding athlete and I will show you someone who “paid the price to be good.”
The Big season of Spring Sports
There is a statement in the Bible saying, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved (Jeremiah 8:20). Let me adapt that and say fall and winter sport seasons are past (or ended) and big shows are just beginning. Of course that last statement applies to activities in our schools and amateur undertakings. The professional sports long ago quit recognizing the traditional time frames of seasons for their sports.
Our schools have put aside their basketball, wrestling, and swimming pursuits to give attention to the big one of baseball. Then there are sports of every interest, many involving boys and girls teams and events: Consider track and field, soccer ball, tennis, and golf.
The most devoted fans of young athletes are their parents and grandparents. But whoever you are, pull for your school and its teams. The emotion involved has to be good for the heart.
Greg McEntyre and the big fan
This past weekend possibly has been the toughest of my life. My nephew Greg McEntyre passed away last Wednesday. I give him attention in this sports section because of his intense enthusiasm and support for the State Champion Calhoun High competitive cheerleaders on which his daughter Kacee McEntyre was a member. I did not see him at any of the meets but everyone always told me I should have been to witness him as he cheered the team on.
I wrote my weekend column last week on Wednesday, the day Greg died. He was undergoing his heart operation when I wrote. I will write my last words in a “letter to Greg” for this Saturday’s column. I thank everyone for support offered to me and my family.
— Jerry Smith is a lifelong resident and former teacher and coach in Calhoun and Gordon County. He writes one weekly sports column and one weekly news column for the Calhoun Times. His views and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Calhoun Times and its staff.