SPORTS
STORM CENTER: Choose your mascot wisely
On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting took place at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, S.C.
During a Bible study, a man opened fire with a handgun and killed nine people.
That man was Dylann Roof, who at the time was unemployed and living in a part of Charleston that’s predominantly African-American. Roof was later captured in a traffic stop on June 18 in Shelby, N.C., about 250 miles from the site of the shooting.
Roof then confessed to committing the attack at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in North Charleston. He’s scheduled to reappear in court on Oct. 23, 2015, and Feb. 5, 2016. His bond has been set at $1 million.
Roof had a “Confederate States of America” decoration on the bumper of the Hyundai Elantra he was driving at the time he was stopped.
This senseless tragedy has caused waves of emotion to wash over the country.
Nowhere was this more on display than in Fort Smith, Ark., which is where your current sports editor lived and worked in 2013 and early 2014.
I was a copy editor for the Times Record, building sports pages for the newspaper.
See, a Fort Smith school board committee passed a motion on Tuesday to ban the “Dixie” song during the 2015-16 academic year.
In addition, all Fort Smith Southside teams will no longer be called the Rebels as of 2016-17.
This motion was passed unanimously.
A school board member openly admitted the decision to remove the Rebel mascot stemmed from the mass shooting in South Carolina. Read more of this column in the weekend Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
The sports editor wonders if this mascot offends you, the reader? This is Fort Smith Southside’s mascot. Let him know at: bnewssports@gmail.com. We appreciate feedback. (Logo provided by the Fort Smith (Ark.) School District, no copyright infringement inferred)
Landry Norwood has agreed to become the new Head Boys Basketball Coach for Bowie High.
Norwood grew up in Paradise, playing a number of sports for the Panthers during his high school career. With a number of family members still in the area and the position coming open, Norwood applied and was hired.
“I know the tradition up here,” Norwood said. “I was glad (Athletic Director and Head Football) Coach Tyler Price felt he could put his trust in me.”
Bowie’s varsity went 2-10 last year, both wins coming against Vernon. Norwood spent five years as an assistant in Lipan before spending the next four years at Llano, three years as head coach. He said his last two years in Llano were rough after graduation of nine seniors his first year and a 26-7 squad.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News
Nocona came into game two of its Class 2A Division I bi-district series with Archer City looking to rebound from a 17-0 loss in game one.
The Lady Indians took a quick lead but the Lady ‘Cats had too much in the tank and knocked Nocona out of the playoffs courtesy of a 13-3, five-inning victory winning the best of three series, 2-0.
Kylea Wallace reached base on a second baseman’s error. With one out, M’leigha Franklin took a pitch over the wall in left field for a home run, igniting the Lady Indian crowd with a 2-0 lead.
Archer City prevented further damage by retiring the next two hitters. The Lady ‘Cats struck in the bottom of the inning for seven runs.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Culture. It’s a beautiful word.
Bowie Softball Coach Griffin Fields has been trying to install a positive, winning culture since taking over the job. For the first time since 2019, the Lady Rabbits qualified for the postseason, facing District 8 top seed Early in the bi-district round.
After beating the Lady ‘Horns 9-8 in game one of the best-of-three series April 23, Early came back and evened the series less than 24 hours later, 15-0. The Lady Rabbits used the aforementioned culture and got out to a quick lead in game three.
Bowie was then forced to come from behind for the second straight night. Kinley Baker, who had the game winning RBI in game one, came through again in game three and broke a 6-all tie with a single to lift the Lady Rabbits to a 9-6 victory in the finale.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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