Congratulations to the University of Arkansas @ Pine Bluff Golden Lions for their first-ever NCAA tournament victory. The team beat Winthrop Tuesday night.
The Golden Lions will face Duke next. More info soon.
Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category
61-44 UAPB advances to play Duke
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010UAPB basketball team shines
Monday, March 15th, 2010
It saddens me, as a Hog fan, that the Razorback basketball team won’t be making an appearance in this year’s NCAA Tournament. It’s probably just as well, though, considering how badly the team played at season’s end.
Look to the Delta now.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the 2010 SWAC Tournament Champions, will face Winthrop of the Big South Conference in the opening round game of the Big Dance.
The winner will face *gulp* No. 1-seeded Duke.
Hopefully, the Golden Lions can pull of a win against Winthrop and go on to give the Blue Devils a shock. Being a Pine Bluff native (born there but moved away when I was 6) I still identify with this raspy Delta city, and hope that this basketball team can offer a little bit of hope to the Bluff.
Click here for more. Game time is 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Washington Middle School Spring Carnival
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Michael Orrell/Between Editions
The Washington Middle School PTA sponsored a Spring Carnival Thursday evening at the campus of Washington Middle School. The event featured all sorts of activities for children young and old. Participants had a chance to take a swing at a car with a sledge hammer, while others holla-hooped for prizes, chomped for apples, or had thier hair colored for the occasion.
Lady Dragons 4 Taylor 3
Friday, March 12th, 2010
Michael Orrell/Between Editions
Junction City third baseman Kelsie Hodge waits for the ball while Taylor’s Jaci Simmons attempts to reach base safely. Courtney Lowe smashed one over the fence that helped push Junction City Lady Dragons past Taylor 4-3, Thursday in Junction City.
From Dragons to Hogs
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Two Junction City High School seniors formally signed with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team today.
Byran Jones and Alan Turner are set to become Hogs when they graduate this May.
National Signing Day across the country meant athletes could sign written commitments for the first time.
Jones (6-2, 290) was the No. 1 ranked lineman in the state this year while Turner (5-11, 190) was rated as an overall athlete, running back and safety. The two signed letters of intent in front of a packed multipurpose room at the high school.
Congratulations, guys. And Woo Pig Sooie!
El Dorado youth wins national NFL contest
Monday, January 18th, 2010
Alexandra Greer poses with a football she won at the New Orleans competition. (Lemon/News-Times.)
Greer, 13, won the NFL’s Punt Pass and Kick national competition (13 and 14-year-old category) Sunday in San Diego. She earned the right to compete in the finals after placing third at the regional event held late last year in New Orleans.
Greer and her mother are currently on their way back home to El Dorado, and I’ll have an interview with them as soon as I can. Look for more in the News-Times in coming days.
‘Jerry’s World’ astounds
Monday, January 11th, 2010
From afar, it appears on the North Texas plains like an alien battle craft ready to soar into the deepest regions of the universe — the house that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built.
Cowboys Stadium.
I’ve been a Cowboys fan for most of my life, so you can imagine the excitement I felt Saturday when I attended the Dallas/Philadelphia game at the new Cowboys palace.
It’s a modern-day Roman Coliseum, and its cavernous interior, replete with acres of glass, shimmering steel and the largest high definition video board in the world will leave you wondering where to focus your eyes first.
The sweetness was even greater as the final score hit the record books: Cowboys 34; Eagles 14. It marks the first time the ‘Boys have won a playoff game since 1996.
The end of the Cowboys/Eagles game from Between Editions on Vimeo.
I captured this end-of-the-game video with a point and shoot camera. There doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the stadium, and no matter where you are — even from a half-mile away — the video board dominates.
Photos and video content by John Worthen.
Dragons seal second straight state title
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Click here for more on the Dragons’ impressive year. They beat Bearden Saturday in the State 2A playoffs 24-14.
This game was a bit bittersweet for me. I work in Union County, and Junction City is on my beat, but my dad is the band director at Bearden Schools. I announced for the Bearden band at halftime, and was hoping that the Bears could pull out a state championship win for the first time in school history.
But it just wasn’t in the cards for the Bears. I bestow congratulations on Junction City, and Coach David Carpenter, for not only a great season, but for what appears to be a true dynasty in Arkansas 2A football.
Carptenter is to JC what Paul “Bear” Bryant was to the University of Alabama. And that’s no understatement. His hard-driving style mirrors Bryant’s, and the JC teams he has coached deserve every accolade they have received.
The State 2A title Saturday was hard fought, and the best this year at War Memorial Stadium, according to the official public address announcer in the press box.
Bearden lost the ball several times during the first half — costly turnovers that sealed their fate in the end. I take my hat off to the Junction City Dragons for taking full advantage of these mistakes. Good job, men. A great show, and a great day for Union County. First the El Dorado Wildcats, and now the Dragons.
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Photo credit: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Benjamin Krain
El Dorado coach Scott Reed celebrates with his son and QB Taylor Reed after winning the 6A high school football state championship against Pine Bluff 27-20. This marks the first time since 1958 that the Cats have won a state championship. Congratulations!
Memphis bound? Likely, yes
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009Well Hog fans, it’s looking more and more like the Arkansas Razorbacks will play Jan. 2 in Memphis at the Liberty Bowl. Click here for more.
Hogs likely to appear in Liberty Bowl
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Sports soothsayers around the country seem to think that the University of Arkansas Razorbacks will appear in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis on Jan. 2, and they’re likely to face The University of Houston.
The Hogs, 7-5, would have gone to the Capital One Bowl in Florida had they held on to beat LSU Saturday. What a heartbreaking game that was….
There was some brief talk that the Razorbacks would be picked up by the Cotton Bowl, but the Dallas Morning News is reporting today that Ole Miss has filled that bowl’s SEC slot.
It will be interesting to see how the Hogs’ Liberty bowl berth will affect SeaPort Airlines’ business — if at all.
I’m thinking about going to the game, and flying seems much more appealing than the long trek down I-40.
$300 for Southwest Classic tickets?
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
I think not.
I thought it might be fun to travel to the new Cowboy Palace in Dallas Oct. 2 to see the Hogs take on the Aggies in the “Southwest Classic.” That is until I found out it will cost $300 per ticket to see the game.
My question: Where is all this money going? And how can anyone justify that kind of ticket price for a collegiate sporting event?
It’s outrageous. This just furthers my opinion that big sports are shutting out the common, everyday fans. They ought to be ashamed.
Former J.C. basketball star still making news
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
James Anderson, the former Junction City High School basketball standout, on Thursday was named to the USA Men’s World University Games Team. He will be a junior this year at Oklahoma State University.
At the tryouts Anderson competed with basketball players from Arizona, Purdue, North Carolina, West Virginia, Marquette and other colleges.
Anderson, a 6-6 guard/forward, will compete with the USA team at the 2009 men’s basketball competition July 2-12 in Belgrade, Serbia, with 23 other teams from around the globe.
Interviewing a legend
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Photo by News-Times photographer Larry Singer. Me interviewing Barry Switzer.
Only two men in the history of college and professional football have won a Super Bowl and a college national championship; one of them was in El Dorado Thursday night.
Barry Switzer, former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and Dallas Cowboys, spoke to a crowd of approximately 80 people at the Union County Fairgrounds Activity Building as part of a fundraising event for Main Street El Dorado.
The evening was dubbed a “Night of Champions.”
Switzer, a native of Crossett, has ties to many different communities in South Arkansas, including Junction City, where his parents were married, and El Dorado, where he got his start playing football at Retta Brown School.
Flying into South Arkansas Thursday evening from in Norman, Okla., where he lives in retirement, Switzer said he felt like he was coming back home.
“It’s so great to be back, and as I look out at the crowd here, I see so many of you who are friends and family,” Switzer said. “I’ve decided to live out the fourth quarter of my life in Oklahoma, but I’m nowhere near the two minute warning and I’m planning on overtime.”
Switzer, 71, spoke mainly about his life and career in football, telling the crowd that he enjoyed cutting his sports teeth in El Dorado.
Switzer said he bought his first set of football equipment at Hibbet Sporting Goods in El Dorado and was looking forward to playing football at Barton Junior High before his mother told him they’d be moving back to Crossett.
He graduated from high school there, then went on to start a successful career as a Razorback football player at the University of Arkansas.
But he regretted leaving El Dorado.
“I really was sorry that I didn’t get to finish out my school years in El Dorado,” Switzer said. “I remember Barton Junior High had just been built, and I was so excited to be there.
“I was standing in front of my locker right after school started and my mom came up to me and told me to pack my books up and take them to the office. I was devastated. I often wonder how my life would have been different if we had stayed in El Dorado.”
On football, Switzer said his philosophy when coaching at the University of Oklahoma was to nurture young men and help them become better football players on the field, as well as good, productive citizens off the grid iron.
Switzer said the chief difference between college and professional football is the bond between coach and player.
“In the pros, I didn’t know about their families, their hobbies, their interests or any of that,” Switzer said. “It didn’t matter. And I didn’t care. But in college and high school, a coaches role is more than just winning football games. In the pros, you are there to win a Super Bowl. Sure you want to win games in college, but I had those kids 24/7 365 days a year. We only played 12 games a year, but they were mine all year long. That’s the difference.”
Switzer won three national championships with the Sooners then went on to win a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys in 1995.
A giant gold and diamond right on his left hand, which he flashed repeatedly with pride during his speech, is a constant reminder of the game. The Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Boxl XXX 27-17.
“I had a great time with the Dallas Cowboys,” Switzer said. “I still remember getting the call from (Dallas Cowboys owner) Jerry Jones asking me if I’d take the job. I asked him if it was vacant, and he told me no. I told him to call me back when it was.”
That call came just a few days later after Jones cut Jimmy Johnson as the team’s leader. Coincidentally, Johnson is the only other coach who has won both a national championship and Super Bowl.
Switzer said he and Jones still talk occasionally, and the pair had dinner recently at Jones’ home. Switzer stays in contact with dozens of people from his playing and coaching days, and his phone book is full of former players. He said he’ll never forget them.
“I’m always there for them, and I always will be,” Switzer said. “I’ll never stop being their coach.”
The Super Bowl XXX ring.
I’ll be there tonight
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009I can’t wait. I grew up idolizing the Cowboys, Switzer and Jimmy Johnson.
