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This weekend will be a historic
one for the Bethel Wildcat baseball team, win or lose.
The Wildcats have a shot at
winning the KIAC crown, something that's never happened
at BC before. But you could sense early on that this
team had the potential for a late-season run.
The Wildcats loaded up the
schedule with ranked teams, NAIA D-1 opponents and
legitimate national contenders. They sputtered at the
start, but turned things around and have won 16 of their
last 20 games and fashioned an 11-1 conference mark.
The good thing about loading up
your worksheet is that you won't see anything any better
the rest of the way. I think the high standards set by
BC coach Glenn Hayes and staff and their equally high
expectations have paid off on the back end of the
season.
No longer are these guys
intimidated by anyone. They won't see anything any
better than what they've already experienced.
Bethel will battle Spalding in
Louisville Saturday. The Wildcats will spar in an
unusual tripleheader. Spalding is 9-1 in the league; BC
is 11-1. It's like the Yankees and Red Sox with Bucky
Dent. This is what baseball is all about.
But no matter what happens, this
BC team has much to be proud of.
* * *
To be honest, I didn't pay much
attention to this past weekend's NFL draft, except to
note that no University of Tennessee players were taken
on the first day.
Note I said first day, not first
round. All 32 NFL teams picked from college football's
best and not one UT player could be found. Then the next
round had exactly zero Volunteers on the board.
Tennessee didn't register on the NFL radar screen until
pick 136 - the fifth round- when defensive back Gibril
Wilson went to the New York Giants.
When you consider that players
from Montana State, Western Michigan and Tusculum were
drafted before Tennessee players, I'd say that it's a
clear indication that Tennessee is not the revered
program it once was.
Tennessee's foibles these past
two years may have cost some players a sizeable NFL
bonus. All they need do is look in the mirror.
* * *
I've noticed in the sports pages
of several area newspapers horrible grammatical gaffes.
I don't claim to he Edwin Newman, James J. Kirkpatrick,
Norman Mailer or even Lydel Sims.
But in the past six months or
so, I've seen horrid examples of lousy subject-verb
agreement. Phrases like, "the team was ran off the
field," or "he has ran a 4.4 40" made my skin crawl. I
even saw a story that read: "the fans must have went
home happy."
Ugh.
I can't believe that I seen that
kind of stuff in journalism.
Eh, just kidding, folks. My
apologies to Diana Crawford...my senior English teacher
at McKenzie High School (yes, ma'am, I know it's a
sentence fragment...sheesh.)
* * *
There is nothing that I could
possibly say that would do honor to the memory of former
NFL star Pat Tillman. He is the former Arizona State and
Arizona Cardinal football standout who, after fast
approaching superstardom, bailed on the millions offered
by pro sports and opted to serve his country.
He was tragically killed,
fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan.
I remember when he announced his
intentions. I was stunned and thought it was a publicity
stunt, but found out later that it was true patriotism
that drove this young man. He rejected any press
coverage of his enlistment.
Tillman's sacrifice sort of
makes me feel small and insignificant, not to mention
quite selfish. He was a throwback to the days of World
War 2, when duty, honor and country weren't just themes
in country music songs or phrases used in vain during
political campaigns. Duty, honor and country was
Tillman.
He ranks right up there, in my
mind, with Davy Crockett, Teddy Roosevelt, Alvin York
and Audie Murphy. He is a true war hero. |
