Opinions & Ideas
PAGE 4 - HOGANSVIL HOME NEWS - MARCH 28, 2002
THE HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS
usPs 620.040
A 6rhns 1
MIKE HA.
PUBLaStrJAoVERTISING DIRECTOR
JOHN KLae¢OALL
AS,DCIATE PUBLISHER]EDITOR
ROB ICHARnSON
Assls'rArr EDrrOR
JAYNE N
BUSINESS MANAG
Phone (706) 846.3188. Fax (706) 846-2206
P, O. Box 426
Hogansvflle, Georgia 30230
Why Be an Umpire?
Love of the Game
It's funny that sometimes,
the more things change, the
more they stay the same. That
certainly holds true in youth
baseball and softball.
Every year at this time, I
go to the "junk" room in my
house, take out my plate gear,
get out my uniform, polish my
shoes and head out every
Saturday morning to call base-
ball and softball at Moultrie
Park in Hamilton. Although, as
an Umpire, you get.screamed
at by the players, coaches and
fans, there's something that just
continues to drive you out there,
Being an umpire is some-
thing that not ever person can
do, but certainly something that
everyow should try. Believe it
or not, I umpire because of the
That's the only reaso
Some people think um4ires
are out there to make money,
that's not true, because of the
expense involved in umpLm_g.
The expenses of equipment,
travel, training all adds up and
I can assure you an umpire usu-
ally spends about as much as
he makes each year.
rrFUNNY how I gotinto
umpiring. For 16 years I
coached youth sports. I saw my
share of good umpires and
"Whi/e mostpeo-
p/e don00 think so, an
wnpire hates to ca//
strike three on a
understandit, unless you'vehad
the privilege to umpire at some
point andtime, whenaplay hap-
pens, you don have time to
think about which team youYe
calling out or safe, you don't
have time to think about who
the player is, the coach is or
anything else. You simply look
at the play, make a determina-
tion as quickly as you can and
call what you see It's that sim-
ple, there is no other thought
some that I thought were not process involved.
so good umpires. I decided that
I would begin umpiring to make
a difference. While I think I
have, it's funny what Fve
learned.
One thing I've learned is
that almost every umpire I've
ever met, loves the game. You
have to in order to spend the
time it takes to learn every rule
and regulation and the abuse
that goes along with it.
The other things I've
leanmd, is that all umpires I've
ever met, really care about the
players. While most people
don think so, an umpire hates
to call strike three on a child,
hates to call a child out, and
above an, hates to see either
team lose a game,
After a game, the umpires
sit around and talk about the
action, the si that arese
in the game, how they can deal
with it better the next game,
and above all what they can do
to improve. Most often, the
upsetting that happen
between umpiregand players,
umpires and coaches and
umpires and fans i# usually
quickly forgotten, at.least by
the umpire.
WHE aIINgS DO hap-
pen on tbe field, tbe mnpire is
charged with taking control.
People sometimes forget that
this is a child's gameand should
betreatedassuck Often, coach-
es, players and parents think
that umpiresare caU agamt
a certain team, a certain coa
a certain player. None of that
is true.
While most people don't
The best way to explain it
is like this. When a fly ball is
hit to a center fielder, he or she
has a split second to determine
where the ballis, to get intoposi-
tion and make the play. An
urn#re is doing the same thing.
It's all reaction to the play, not
a thought process.
DO UMPIRES MAKE mis-
takes? Oh yeal WeYe human,
just ever,one era.
However, when considered
how many calls an umpire
makes in a game, I would say
¢ie or two mistakes is a pretty
good percentag
You see, when an umpire
calls behind the plate in a Little
League game, he sees an aver-
age of five pitches per hatter.
He also sees an average of five
hatters from each team per
inning or tea in a inning. Now,
that's in an average game. A
high scoring game would be
much more.
However, that means that
an umpire sees SO pitches per
inning. If he six innings,
that's 3OO pitches calle Then
he usually makes at least five
other cans dur each inning.
To make a long story short, on
an average an umpire makes
about 3 calls per game, Now,
out of 350 calls, if he gets two
wrg, that's still atx 99,5 %.
That's a pretty good average.
So, the next time you're
involved in a youth game, think
aboOt this, and maybe you won't
be so quick to judge an umpire.
Remember, he or she loves the
game, works hardandcalls only
wbat they se
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Wher6to Draw the Line on
As far as I know, my late
grandfather never read The
New York Times. He read the
Bible, the Market Bulletin
and a Sears Roebuck catalog,
but I just can't picture him
dealing with the likes of R.W.
Apple, Jr., William Safire and
Flora Lewis.
I think he would have
been astounded ff he had ever
picked up a Times, as I did
the other day, and read a
front-page story about how
scientist have been fooling
around with his most unfa-
vorite fish, the carp.
The Times story, dis-
played at the bottom of the
left of page one, explained
how scientists have taken a
growth gene out of trout and
have implanted it in carp, thus
making it possible to grow
bigger carp.
"Who in the devil," my
grandfather would have said,
peering over the top of the
Times, "would wanta bigger
carp?"
My grandfather was a
kind and gentle man, but
there were a few things he
hated.
Among those were opera
singers on The Ed Sullivan
Show. Jehovah's Witness and
carp.
"Sorriest fish there's ever
been, the carp," my grandfa-
ther would say. "It's too hard
to clean and too bony to eat."
On one of our fishing trips
to Sibley's Pond, something
grabbed my hook and down
went my cork.
I ran backward with my
cane pole in order to pull my
fish out of the water. But when
I landed my catch on the bank,
my grandfather took one look
at it and growled, "All you got
is a carp. Throw it back."
With that ' background,
then, it should come as no sur-
prise that when I read the
Times story I, too, reacted
"Who in the devil would want
a bigger carp?"
Italked to several fishing
experts to find out. One,
Charles Salter, fishing writer
of The Journal/Constitution
in Atlanta, told me Orientals
treat carp as a delicacy.
He even said that during
the Vietnam War, Lyndon
Johnson send fish experts to
that country to help the
natives produce more carp.
Mr. Salter did, however,
agree there has been some
hostility toward the carp in
this country, and he also said
the carp was difficult to clean.
(You bleed 'em," he said. Ugh.)
I also read a piece by a
veteran outdoor writer
Charlie Elliot, who defended
the carp, saying if prepared
correctly it makes a delicious
meal that carp are fun to fish
for because they will bite any-
thing, such as doughballs
made of everything from
cornmeal to powdered crack-
ers, peanut butter, onions and
Jell-O.
Perhaps I could have
changed my grandfather's
mind about the carp had the
Times story broken while he
was still alive.
"You know the Times," I
could have said to him." 'All
the news that fit to prinL"
"That's one thing," my
grandfather likel
have said, "but 'all
that's fit to eat' is
BY SPECIAL
MENT WITH HIS
DEDRA, THE
CARRYING
GRIZZARD,
NEARBY
BECAME THE MOST !
READ GEORGIA
HIS
BUT HE
BELONGED
GEORGIA, OF
WROTE SO
WHERE A PORTION
FROM
HOGANSVHE IS
HIS HONOR. THE
GRIZZARD
ESTABIJSHED
EDITING
BELOVED
ABLE FOR SALE
BOX
31118-1266
Here's My Fred Dawley
Almost every day or night
I find myself heading south
out of Manchester into Talbot
County via Highway 41 on
various assignments for the
newspaper. It is almost as ff
my vehicle can guide itself
down the road after many
years of travel. Even before
I became editor of the Talbot
County legal organ, I combed
Talbot County looking to buy
veneer logs.
Forties and extends to the
present day. Just this past
week I was in Probate Judge
Slade Johnson's office where
we were reminiscing about
bygone days. Fifty years now
seems only a few days flash-
back of life.
This past week on my
trips south, I noticed the
cleaning and clearing of an
area just over the mountain
once known as Dawley's
Junkyard I have been told
that Fred Dawley served on
a German submarine during
World War H, but was never
able to substantiate this
report. I do know that Fred
Dawley spoke broken English
as most nationalized citizens,
and had a "short fuse," and
was a good citizen as far as I
knOW.
Fred Dawley had a
teenage son named Bill who
was among the first 25
employees we hired when we
began operating the veneer
mill in May, 1959. It was
through son Bill I got to know
Fred Dawley. From time to
time we would purchase used
parts from him.
As far as I know Fred
Dawley was an honest man,
who quoted you a fair price
and was not known to haggle
over prices. It was Dawley's
price, or no sale!
Back in the early sixties,
I had a logger with a person-
ality just the opposite of Fred
Dawley. No mater what price
you quoted him he wanted to
question the offer. Jimmy
Hendrix was a good logger
and equally honest, but just
could not refrain from ques-
tioning any offer anyone
would quote.
Late one afternoon whae
working in the woods, a tree
limb fell on the windshield of
his log truck and shattered it
to pieces.
The next morning
Hendrix and I went over the
mountain to confront the
elder Dawley about a wind-
shield for his truck. We found
"Late one after-
noon while working
in the woods, a tree
limb fell on the
windshield of his
log truck and shat-
tered it to pieces."
exactly what we were look-
ing for and sought Fred
Dawley for a price on the
windshield.
Dawley joined us at the
site of the windshield and in
his typical broken English
said, "Twenty-five dollar?"
Hendrix and I both knew that
a new'windshield for his truck
would be over one hundred
dollars, but he could not resist
the temptation to ask for a
lower price.
"You don't think
twenty-five dollar?"
Fred Dawle,
the case, the
taking up valuable :
his yard. Then he
down and picked
size
windshield to
Fred Dawley
leaving us standing
pile of broken glSS
mouths open. Ler
Hendrix
for a new
truck.
Isn it strange
th_g
by the side
the mountain can
memories at
old? Fred
several years ago,
are many Fred
ties still around in
county area.
As I looked
cleanup crew
junkyard last week
about this
also wondered
windshield
thought about
did not. No
stand.
Has Spring Sprung In Your
There is a popular song
that is sung around Christmas
time that says, "This is the
most wonderful time of year."
Truly Christmas time is won-
derful, but spring isn't bad
either. What a joy it was to
drive down Main Street the
other day and see all the beau-
tiful sights of spring. The bud-
ding flowering trees, the
blooming flowers, and bush-
es. Even the sight and smell
of freshly cut grass. If we
would just take the time and
use the senses that God cre-
ated us with, then we could
realize and appreciate the
goodness of God in our lives.
Christmas and winter is won-
derful, fall and Thanksgiving
is wonderful, summer and
July Fourth is wonderful, and
spring and Easter is wonder-
ful. God has blessed us with
four seasons to savor and
enjoy. We know the seasons
are from God because His
word tells us in Genesis 8:22,
"While the earth remaineth,
seedtime and harvest, and
cold and heat, and summer
and winter, and day and night
shall not cease."
All around us the signs of
spring are appearing, as the
dead things of winter are giv-
ing way to the new life of
spring. The pleasure of new
life is a pleasure that only God
can give. Without the Lord
above who controls it all and
keeps this universe together,
there would be no springtime
to enjoy. The joys of waking
up to the singing of birds, the
smell of honeysuckle, the
blowing of a soft breeze and
the colors of eye pleasing
flowers are simply blessings
of the new life that our
Heavenly Father gives in
springtime. It seems as if
nothing could be better. But
we/comeyour/ett00.
Please mail
The Hogansville Home News
P. O. Box 426. H Gcocgia 30230
Please fax them
7O6.846-22O6
believe it or not, it can get
better. The same new life that
you enjoy secondhand (that
is seeing other things coming
to new life), you can enjoy
firsthand (that is you your-
serf coming to new life).
The Bible tells us in
Second Corinthians chapter
five and verse 17, "Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all
things are become new." John
also tells us in his gospel that
Christ came that we might
have life and that we might
have it more abundantly. Just
as life seems to wake up in
the springtime, we as human
beings can experience a life
even greater than spring
affords. The life that appears
in the spring will grow dur-
ing the summer, but when
winter comes, it will "die"
again, But the new life that is
to be found in Christ, is a life
that will never die. As a child
of God you can
time like life
out of the year.
John 10:28, "And
them eternal life;
shall never
word perish means
rience ruin or
The green grass
brown,
maywither,
10se their leaves
of a believer, there'
end to that new life.
says, "But
keth of the
give him shall
but the water that
him shall be in hint
water springing
lasting life."
Just as we
up in your
ing light of the
refreshing
Life of spring, but it
the Son of
of spring can be
"For God so loved !
that he gave
ten son, that
beeveth in him
perish, but have
life." The same
Christ whether
summer, winter or t
