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Two college football games caught my attention this past Saturday and for those of you who read my column even on a semi-regular basis, you won’t be surprised.

The first game was the annual clash between Army and Navy. To me, this is probably the best rivalry in college football. I know people in this neck of the woods will talk about Alabama-Auburn or Georgia-Florida or Georgia-Georgia Tech or Clemson-South Carolina, but I’ll take the passion put forth by the Cadets and Midshipmen any day. [Full Story »] 

Enthusiasm is a big part of a high school athletic program.

It is a necessary ingredient in building a program. While the Winder-Barrow High School football team finished 1-9 last fall, enthusiasm has been rampant this offseason for coach Ben Corley’s team. [Full Story »] 

Kristi Reed was going to be a major part of what we were planning to do with the Barrow Journal.

For months Kristi had been helping us get things established as we prepared to launch our print edition of this paper last fall. She was the driving force behind our paper when it was a website only and she was set to make the move with us from our sister publication, The Braselton News, to the Barrow Journal once the new print edition began.
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Even before the 2009 season began, Winder-Barrow High School baseball coach Brian Smith had a feeling the battle for the postseason was going to be a tough one.

The Diamond Dogg coach knew there was simply too much talent, too many quality teams in Region 8-AAAA for it to be any other way. With the final stretch of the regular season now coming into view, Smith’s preseason forecast is becoming more accurate with each passing game.
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Has it really been 14 years since a power hungry athletic director, with executor’s axe in hand, changed the course of men’s basketball at the University of Georgia?

With the Bulldog program in the process once again of trying to find a new head coach (I assume the powers-that-be are because no word about the so-called search is known) one can’t help but think back to a coach who provided the program with stability, success and leadership not seen since his unjust firing in the early spring of 1995. [Full Story »] 

It’s not as easy as some folks think to build a successful high school athletic program.

Oh, there are some who think all it takes is a magician to get the job done. You know, all the coach needs to do is dress in a cape and a top hat and wave a magic wand and presto, an undefeated season appears in a puff of smoke.

Back here in the land of reality, however, things don’t work that way. It takes plenty of good-old fashioned hard work and that’s what you are getting from the players on coach Mike Cavey’s Apalachee High School squad. Already, the 2009 Diamond Wildcats are making inroads this season and don’t be surprised to see even more accomplishments marked off before all is said and done this spring.

AHS earned its initial region win of the season last Friday after pitcher Justin Shultz threw a gem against Cedar Shoals. It was the first time in five years the Wildcats held an opponent scoreless. When you are building a program from the ground up like Cavey is doing, this is no small accomplishment to be sure. [Full Story »] 

For most anyone who calls themselves a fan of the gridiron, making a trip to the Super Bowl would have to be considered the ultimate prize.

Ben Corley now knows that feeling as he and a friend took in Super Bowl XLIII recently. The Winder-Barrow High School football coach admitted it was fun “to be a part of the biggest sporting event on earth.” [Full Story »] 

Hard times have fallen on the men’s basketball program at the University of Georgia.

While there was some cause for hope after last spring’s miraculous run through the SEC tournament, the disappointing 2008-09 season has cause Dennis Felton to be shown the door. (It should be remembered that Felton’s severance package for failing at his job outweighs what most people get for succeeding at theirs.) [Full Story »] 

Wins have been somewhat difficult to come by for the Apalachee High School Lady Wildcats this season.

However, if one looks beyond the record for the 2008-09 campaign, a bright future is on the horizon for a program that is still attempting to establish an identity. Competing at the Class AAAA level, AHS coach Michael Parks is having to go into basketball battle with perhaps one of the youngests teams in Northeast Georgia. [Full Story »]