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)
In its first match since last year’s state semifinal appearance, Saint Jo hosted Bryson Aug. 11 and took a 25-13, 25-12, 25-21 win over the Cowgirls.
The Lady Panthers lost some talent to graduation but have five seniors ready to have a successful season. Savannah Hil, one of the five, got Saint Jo rolling offensively with a four-point serving string, including a pair of aces. Abby Carter’s kill and Kamron Skidmore’s block helped put the Lady Panthers up 5-2 in game one.
Hadleigh Moore added a four-point string of her own to extend the lead to 10-3. Tatum Morman’s pair, helped by a Hill kill, gave Saint Jo a 14-5 lead. Bryson got within five before a Hill 3-pointer, with help by a Carter kill, put the lead back at 18-10.
After an Olivia Johnson kill broke serve, Jordyn O’Neal served up the final five points, with Johnson providing a kill to move things along.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Despite being the smallest school in the Brock varsity classic volleyball tournament, the Lady Indians finished 4th out of the eight teams there.
After losing to the host team in its first pool play match Aug. 14 18-25, 14-25 and also to Class 3A Wall 12-25, 8-25, Nocona rebounded to close out pool play with a 20-25, 25-23, 25-20 win over Christoval. Sy Parker had 16 kills and 7 blocks in the three matches. Raylea Bowles had 12 kills, 17 digs and served up three aces. Maddyn Bowles had seven kills and 14 digs while Paige Davis had seven kills and 15 digs. Baylee Thomas added 11 digs.
From the setter spot, Kasi Castro had 20 assists, served up five aces and contributed 14 digs. Leah Meekins added 18 assists and six digs during the three matches.
To open Saturday’s bracket play, the Lady Indians posted a 25-18, 18-25, 26-24, 25-19 win over Fort Worth Christian. Castro staked Nocona to a 2-0 lead in game one. Kills by Parker set up pairs of points from Raylea Bowles and Leah Meekins helped Nocona negate an early deficit and take a 10-9 lead.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
County football teams had their first scrimmage of the season Aug. 14 with mixed results.
Forestburg hosted Azle Christian and Victory Christian. Under a new system with new head coach Cori Hayes, the Longhorns looked pretty good in the coach’s eye.
“The first team looked good,” Hayes explained. “Overall we need to work on our pace and blocking assignments and blocking assignments. Overall we looked good for the new regime.”
Forestburg hits the road to scrimmage Newcastle Aug. 21.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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