Saturday, February 4, 2012
Gantt did something he'll always remember
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Chris Smith, the right choice for Raiders
Column published in a January issue of the Madison County Journal. To subscribe to the Journal visit www.mainstreetnews.com
By Dallas Bordon
Either you agree with the decision or not, Chris Smith is the Raiders’ next head man in charge. Smith was promoted from within the coaching staff and now has moved to the head of the class. Smith, a long time familiar face of Madison County, has replaced Randall Owens who stepped down at the end of the 2011 season.
Chris Smith is a 1992 graduate of Madison County and was a quarterback for the Raiders 1991 & 92. Smith advanced to the next level of play at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina before returning to Madison County as part of the Raider coaching staff in 1997 and has been part of that staff for 14 years. Now it’s Smith who has been given the chance to turn around a struggling Raider football program.
There will be some fans in Raider land that might not agree with his hiring but Smith is a good fit for Madison County. Those same people might have wanted to see a new face, perhaps an out of county coach step in. The advantage to hiring within is that Smith is very familiar with the program and has served in many positions on the staff over the years. He can see where the program needs fixing and will have a better knowledge of his players and personnel than someone coming from the outside. The players that are still in the program know and like him and on the flip side Smith is familiar with the players not just the current ones but the ones coming up through middle school and junior varsity. There are many advantages to hiring within the system and Smith could just be what the Raider program needs to lead them into the future.
One thing the Raider faithful has hoped for in the next man was someone who will be a vital part of the youth in Madison County. Smith, who has two children of his own that are in the recreation sports programs now, has big plans of involving the youth and getting them familiar with what Raider football is all about. Investing himself in the youth and the youth programs of Madison County will be something that we can expect to see Smith do.
Preparing the youth and helping those kids in the MCYA football program get the fundamentals needed and getting them prepared for the next step if they choose to do so is a very important ingredient to a successful high school program. Not only teaching the kids the fundamentals but perhaps holding coaching clinics can be a product that Smith will hopefully produce.
Sometimes it seems that a head high school coaches’ duties consists only on what happens on the high school level. But the requirements of that person should consist of showing a large interest in our youth and the training of those guys who have desires to play in middle and high school. This is what I think Chris Smith will bring to the table. He sees the importance of forming a winning tradition that starts from the ground up that all begins with the youth programs.
The interesting part of it all will be to see how a community starved for a successful football program will embrace the promotion of Smith and fully support his decisions. Will Smith produce a winner right away since he’s been part of the Raider staff for so many years and is familiar with the kids already? We won’t know that answer until the time comes but it’s certain that Smith loves to win and is a winning choice as head coach.
Dallas Bordon is the former Sports Editor of the Comer News/Danielsville Monitor and a regular contributor for the Madison County Journal.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The old Hart County Gym
Man I love these old gyms. I'm writing this trying to type on this small blackberry key pad that I can hardly see and waiting to cover the varsity Raiders' game. I am looking around this old gym in Hartwell that was built probably in the late 60's. I bet these walls have seen some history and some great basketball games. I remember the old rival games between the Raiders and Hart County of the late 80's when both guys' teams were ranked in the top five of the state. This old place was packed back then! Two teams that simply hated each other and always played their best games against each other.
I walked through the lobby area here looking at old team photos dating as far back as the 60's. This place is a shot taken right out of the Hoosier movie. The old smell of I guess what is mold maybe or a mixture of stale air. It's a great old setting for basketball full of memories. And I am also enjoying watching an old lady dance to the pre-game music. You know the same old lady that yells at the ref! Anyway, there aren't too many old gyms like this left.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
I walked through the lobby area here looking at old team photos dating as far back as the 60's. This place is a shot taken right out of the Hoosier movie. The old smell of I guess what is mold maybe or a mixture of stale air. It's a great old setting for basketball full of memories. And I am also enjoying watching an old lady dance to the pre-game music. You know the same old lady that yells at the ref! Anyway, there aren't too many old gyms like this left.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Friday, January 13, 2012
Resolutions are made to be broken
Column published in the Madison County Journal in January. To subscribe to the Journal visit http://www.mainstreetnews.com/
By Dallas Bordon
Out with the old and in with the new. As 2011 has come to a close, it’s time for us to make our new year’s resolutions. For some the list of resolutions we try to set out includes losing weight and developing a workout plan for the year. Both of which to me last as long as it does for me to write this column. I think at the start of every year I develop some plan in my mind of ways to lose weight and new ways to workout. Both of which end up just being a plan in my mind and usually only last about a month into the new year.
At the start of 2011, I purchased a stationary bike with hopes of setting up some kind of daily routine of exercising. My daily routine of using the bike worked for several weeks until I found reasons to justify why skipping a day here and there would be excusable. I had all the excuses figured out from having a hard day at work to doing yard work. Soon I began to realize that this new stationary bike might end up alongside of previous New Year’s purchases of a mountain bike and a treadmill which occupy my utility room at home.
Why do we make resolutions anyway? What’s behind the madness of thinking that a new year will bring in a new you? Whoever came up with this idea? A lot of times we set New Year’s resolution expectations way beyond what we know can actually be accomplished. We don’t ask anyone to hold us accountable for accomplishing our resolutions because we know in our minds, our plans won’t last.
As I drove from Augusta back to Colbert after visiting my parents for the holidays, I tried to remember the last time I accomplished my new year’s resolutions. Some resolutions were far fetched however like trying to grow hair on my head or trying to save more money. Both of which didn’t work over the past years. As for the hair thing, I gave that resolution up a couple of years back. I come to realize that it’s like grass; you can’t grow grass on hard ground just like my hair which won’t grow on a hard head. And as for the money part, the way the economy is today saving money is a lost cause. So there are two past resolutions that joined the many that have not panned out. Much like the resolutions of trying to remain calm during college football season which would be more than a resolution; it would be a miracle.
There are many New Year’s resolutions that get tossed around about this time of the year. Starting a new business or finding a new career, spending more time with the family, eating healthier, creating a facebook page or spending less time on facebook and the list goes on and on. With all the new technology of today, learning how to keep up with it all might be a good resolution within itself.
As for me, I think I’ll make the resolution to clean out the past resolutions in my utility room so I can make room for this year’s.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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