See Ya 2011

See Ya 2011. For some it has been a good year and for others it's just another year. I don't know if you have any one thing that really sticks out most in the year of 2011. For me, well to tell you the truth, I can even remember too much of this past year. But there were a few things that come to mind as I watch all these new year's bowl games on the tube tonight.
As for college football, it's been a good year for me being a Tiger fan. Clemson won the ACC and reach as high as number 7 in the AP polls of college football. Now I await to see if the Tigers can post an 11th win to cap off this season this coming Wednesday night in the Orange Bowl. Great season Tigers!!
As for baseball, this article isn't all sports but starts that way, the Braves did their usual job of stinking towards the end of the season. Baseball for me wasn't a total loss however as Madison County's Jake Westbrook made us proud by winning a key game in the world series paving the way to the Cardinals winning it all. Way to go Jake!
As for more of my highlights of this year, I have been able to get back into writing for the local newspaper here where I live. I have been writing opinion columns and helping cover a few sporting events. So subscribe to the Madison County Journal (http://www.mainstreetnews.com/) !!!! There's some free advertising!

My daughter Hannah is wrapping up her final year of middle school. She has loved playing volleyball and tennis for the Mustangs and now keeps her fingers crossed hoping she'll be part of the high school volleyball and tennis teams in the next school year. Thanks to Michelle Garrison and Shelley Parham for introducing Hannah to volleyball!! I had hopes for basketball but hey, I can't complain and I am gonna brag on my daughter in this article because it's not published in the paper so I can do that! I am very proud of Hannah!  She has enjoyed playing volleyball and tennis and has played really well. I can do without her playing basketball because I just want her to play something she can enjoy! She is also making good grades most importantly!!!!!!!
 Thank you to coach Rusty Beasley for allowing her to be part of the Mustang tennis team as well. And I thank you even though you are a former Georgia Bulldog.
Hannah celebrated her 13th birthday in 2011 and has started her teen years. Wow, where have the years gone!

In 2011 my niece Emily has been part of the Georgettes dance team at UGA and has done a really good job performing. Again, I am not and will never be a Georgia Bulldog but I am proud of her.
In 2011 I have logged in 22 years with my job with the Athens/Clarke County Government. I had to say farewell to my supervisor of 21 years this year as well. She was more than just a supervisor to me, she became family.

On a sad side of 2011, we lost an outstanding young man Tyler Moon. Even though I never got the opportunity to meet him-I know he was one special guy. I have never seen someone so young have such an impact on a community and a school as he did. His baseball and football jerseys were retired at the middle school as a tribute to him.
We also lost Buddy Christian this year. Buddy was a Madison County resident and a officer with the Athens/Clarke County Police. He was shot and killed in March of 2011 in the line of duty. Again, I am amazed at the impact one person can have on not just his community but the Athens area as well. I stood on side of the roadway watching as hundreds and hundreds of police cars from all over lined the Atlanta Highway following Buddy's funeral. A great tribute to a man that lost his life protecting and serving. It has also been amazing to read and hear of how not only this community but places all over the southeast have pulled together in support of Buddy's wife Melissa and their two small children.

Well I hear fireworks cutting loose outside-scaring my dogs to death so the hour must be near. So long 2011. Happy New Year to all my friends and God Bless!

With Owens gone, where do we go from here?

 

Published in the December issue of the Madison County Journal. To subscribe to the Journal visit http://www.mainstreetnews.com/

By Dallas Bordon

For those who added to their Christmas list for a coaching change in the Madison County football program, their wish was granted a little over three weeks early. In the meantime, those who stood behind Coach Randall Owens and his efforts didn’t wish for the same outcome, but figured it was time for a change. The resignation of Owens now leaves the BOE with the task of filling another football head coaching job at Madison County.

Owens steps down after eight seasons that saw the Raiders post a 36-46 record and make appearances in the playoffs in 2005 and 2006 during that time. After starting his Raider career with a record of 26-16 in his first four seasons, his teams managed only 10 wins in his next four seasons and had the Raider faithful voicing concerns for a changing of the guard. Owens, who will temporarily remain the athletic director at Madison County, leaves the sidelines prior to the Raiders moving into a new classification system that will have them listed as one of the largest 4A schools compared to being one of the smallest. The change of classifications should favor Madison County in the upcoming seasons but the changes will have to take place under a new head coach.

I am not one nor will I ever be one to write anything bad about any coach in our school system. I have always tried to respect our coaches and I know their jobs are tough. That does not mean that I always agree with what they do or how they do it. I am right there with most when it comes to second guessing a coach at times. But admitting that point, I do know that there isn’t a coach around who is perfect or makes the right choices all the time. If that were true, there wouldn’t be so many coaching changes around us today. I can imagine that a coach’s job is very tough. The job can be difficult and the demands are not easy for any coach to fulfill. It could be simple on the other hand; win all your games or at least over half for a few years, get into the playoffs or win a state title and your job is safe. On the other hand, post a 10-30 record in four years, which included a 3-17 record in the past two years and you become one of the latest casualties of football coaching. In such a demanding sport as football is to us in the South and the need to be a winner, there is little room for error. We demand perfection and we demand wins. So now where do we go from here? What will our demands be for the person that fills the vacancy of Owens who becomes Madison County’s fifth coach to exit since the departure of Brady Sigler in 1989.

There are many questions to be answered in the next few weeks or months. What will our expectations be of the new football coach? How much support to the MCYA, a program which many feel Owens failed at supporting, will the next coach be willing to give? Will this next coach install the right personnel on the field? Will he produce wins, make the right play calls? The list goes on and on.

To date (according to the Georgia High School Football Historians Association) Madison County has no region titles or state championship trophies to put in the trophy case. Other coaches prior to Owens, dating back to Ralph “Red” Simmons in 1961, have all made attempts to bring home the hardware. During those years Madison County has posted an overall record of 152-167 that includes just nine winning seasons and seasons finishing at .500. So needless to say, we’re well overdue.

Dallas Bordon is the former sports editor for The Danielsville Monitor/Comer News and a regular columnist for The Madison County Journal.

College Bowl Season

Little Caesars Bowl: Purdue 37 Western Michigan 32
Gildan New Mexico Bowl: Temple 37 Wyoming 15
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio 24 Utah State 23
New Orleans Bowl: Louisiana-Lafayette 32 San Diego State 30
Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl: Marshall 20 Florida International 10
Poinsetta Bowl: TCU 31 Louisiana Tech 24
Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State 56 Arizona State 24
Hawaii Bowl: Southern Miss. 24 Nevada 17
Independence Bowl: Missouri 41 North Carolina 24
Belk Bowl: NC State 31 Louisville 24
Military Bowl: Toledo 42 Air Force 41
Holiday Bowl: Texas 21 California 10
Champs Sports Bowl: Florida State 18 Notre Dame 14
Alamo Bowl: Baylor 67 Washington 56
Armed Forces Bowl: Brigham Young 24 Tulsa 21
Pinstripe Bowl: Rutgers 27 Iowa State 13
Music City Bowl: Miss State vs Wake Forest Dec. 30
Insight Bowl: Oklahoma 31 Iowa 14
Car Care Bowl: Texas A&M 33 Northwestern 22
Sun Bowl: Utah 30 Georgia Tech 27
Hunger Bowl: Illinois 20 UCLA 14
Liberty Bowl: Cincinnati 31 Vanderbilt 24
Chick-Fil-A-Bowl: Auburn 43 Virginia 24
Ticketcity Bowl: Houston 30 Penn State 14
Gator Bowl: Florida 24 Ohio State 17
Outback Bowl: Michigan State 33 Georgia 30
Capital One Bowl: South Carolina 30 Nebraska 13
Rose Bowl: Oregon 45 Wisconsin 38
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma State 41 Stanford 38
Sugar Bowl: Michigan 23 Virginia Tech 20
Orange Bowl: West Virginia 70 Clemson 33
Cotton Bowl: Kansas State vs Arkansas Jan. 6
Compass Bowl: Southern Methodist vs Pittsburgh Jan. 7
Godaddy.com Bowl: Arkansas State vs Northern Illinois Jan. 8
BCS National Championship: Alabama vs LSU Jan. 9

Remembering "The Barn"

Column published in The Madison County Journal. To subscribe to the Journal visit http://www.mainstreetnews.com/

By Dallas Bordon

There’s no place like home. Now that basketball season has tipped off I can’t help but remember the old days of Raider basketball in “The Barn.” I’m of course referring to the former home of the Red Raiders; the old high school gym that sits in the parking lot of the Lady Raider softball field.

The front of the old gym has the “Class Of 1966” stamped high above the main entrance but the walls surrounding the old barn have seen its share of exciting times dating back to the late 50’s. Many former players, fans and students can recall the noise level in the building reaching a point to where you could feel it in your chest. A high level of cheering and taunting that was so loud that you were lucky to hear the blowing of the referee’s whistle.

I moved to Madison County in 1987 and witnessed my first Madison County game in the barn the following year. I’ve attended many high school basketball games at much larger schools while living in Augusta, but nothing compared to the noise level of those games in that old Madison County gym. The success of the (26-3) 1988 Raider team filled the barn full of parents and fans not only from Madison County or the opposing team followers but from surrounding counties. Basketball fans trying to catch a glimpse of Charles Wilkes’ 1988 Raiders who went on to win the state championship by defeating Marist 73-60 at Alexander Memorial Coliseum in Atlanta. Those followers, either pulling for Madison County or just those interested in watching that title team play, came in groves hoping to see the rafter shaking slam dunks from Arlando Bennett and Keith Gantt. I have heard the stories of fans being turned away at the doors because of the filled capacity of the building that included standing room only. I can remember the cars forced to park roadside along Madison Street because of the filled parking lot. The excitement level of those years was something to see. Names like Bennett, who went on to play for Georgia, Sheila Collins, a member of the 1981 state champion 30-0 team, who ended up at Tennessee under Pat Summitt are just a couple of names that had the crowds jumping. So many games and so many players that wore the Red & Grey are etched in the memory of the old barn.

Not to be lost in the memory bank was Coach Leon Fitzpatrick’s years which included a 164-17 run during the years of 1978 through 1985, twice being ranked at number 3 in the state polls. The boys’ success in the barn included a 23-3 1981 season under Phil Thornton capped off with Wilkes’ state champion ’88 team. 

 One vivid memory I have of a game in the barn was a comeback win against Monroe in the mid 90’s. Trailing by seven points with 10 seconds left, the Raiders rallied with the help of two straight three pointers from Ron Kelley. Kelley ended the game hitting 2 of 2 shots from the free throw line that gave Madison County the win and kept them in the rankings. That wild comeback sent fans pouring onto the court. It was like a scene taken out of the movie “Hoosiers.”

There are only a few of the older gyms like the barn left that are still in use by high schools. Old rival schools such as Franklin County and Hart County are among two of the older gyms still in use today. Royston’s play by play radio announcer called it a “Coliseum Slam” from Keith Gantt that was part of the region title run for Madison County in 1988 at the Lion’s Den in Franklin County. Despite Raider memories held in that old gym like Gantt’s monster dunk that night, nothing compared to what happened in “The Barn” on many nights.

Dallas Bordon is the former Sports Editor of the Comer News/Danielsville Monitor and a regular columnist with the Madison County Journal.

What's recycled in Georgia, stays in Georgia

Published in the Madison County Journal a month ago. To subscribe to the Madison County Journal visit www.mainstreetnews.com

By Dallas Bordon

Suki Janssen is the Recycling Coordinator for the Athens/Clarke County Government. If you visit her office you might see anything from a lamp stand made of glass bottles to a flower pot made of bottle caps that hold aluminum flowers made from shredded coke cans. These are among many more reusable items that prove the point; there is a use for almost everything that we might toss into our trash cans. Over the years recycling has been a popular growing industry. While Janssen’s office decorations might just be a minor use for items, there are many other products we throw away daily that can be recycled into reusable items such as the carpet we walk on. 

There are some people that might not understand the importance of recycling. It’s not just the tossing items into bins for recycling that Janseen views the importance of but it’s also the facts such as how it helps Georgia’s economy and helps save landfill space. Most residents don’t realize that recycling creates jobs for Georgians. Workers are used to pickup, transport and sort items at many facilities around Georgia such as right here in Athens.

You take the recycling of plastics for example. Georgia’s recycled plastic industry employs 36,398 Georgians with a payroll of $874.7 million and accounts for $1.55 billion in annual product sales in Georgia. Georgia’s glass industry employs approximately 600 Georgians and the paper industry employs 25,000 plus Georgians and accounts for $10 billion in annual product sales in the state.

Statistics also show that the most valuable recycled item is aluminum, in which 48 thousand tons of cans are disposed of in Georgia, has an estimated market value of 80 million dollars. The aluminum recycling industry in Georgia employs more than 100 people and has an annual payroll and tax contribution of $7,000,000. “What’s recycled in Georgia stays in Georgia.” Georgia has many recycling centers throughout the state that handles our recycling needs. With the huge number of facilities in Georgia, the product such as aluminum cans are usually recycled and back on the store shelves within 60 days. And when you think of the impact of one recycled can here’s a fact for you; recycling one can saves enough energy to run a computer for three hours. Also, recycled aluminum conserves 95 percent of energy it takes to create cans from raw materials.

Let’s take a look at the benefits of recycling paper. 1.9 million tons of recycled paper is thrown away each year right here in Georgia. Forty percent less energy is used when making paper out of recycled materials instead of using trees. Seventy gallons of water is conserved when using recycled materials to create paper. Just think about this; recycling five pounds of paper conserves enough water to offset the water you use in a typical shower in the morning.

Like paper and aluminum cans, the recycling of glass serves a huge purpose to all of us. An estimate of 240,000 tons of glass is thrown into landfills each year in Georgia. The manufacturing products from recycled glass conserves one third of the energy it takes to manufacture the same product from raw materials. Next time you flip on a 100 watt bulb think about this fact; recycling one glass bottle conserves enough energy to light that 100 watt bulb for four hours.

Another type of bottle, the plastic type, one recycled bottle alone conserves enough energy to run a television for 1.5 hours. Right here in our state, one million tons of recyclable plastics are thrown away each year. Of the plastics recycled over twenty five percent of all number one plastic bottles are part of that carpet you might standing on while reading this column. One half of all polyester carpeting is made from recycled plastic beverage containers right here in Georgia.

So there’s a risk we take next time we toss a recyclable item into the convenient trash can. “What’s recycled in Georgia stays in Georgia,” in one means or another.

Dallas Bordon is the former Sports Editor of the Comer News/Danielsville Monitor and a regular columnist for the Madison County Journal.