“I am an agent for change,” Charles Hopson said when he came from Portland, Ore., to interview for the PCSSD superintendent’s job in February, and since his hire, he’s done nothing to dissuade us.
He’s lengthened the elementary-school day—a change the reliably uncooperative leadership of the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers is trying to scuttle in court or on the picket lines—and he brought in some of his own people to streamline operations, a consultant in human resources and a race-in-schools consultant to try to minimize the disparities academically, in discipline and otherwise.
This school district has settled on a series of superintendents who simply weren’t up to the immense challenges, and plainly said the largest of those is to lead the divided and divisive school board, not to be jerked about by it.
There are essentially two models for running a school district and sad to say, the less democratic seems the best fit for this district right now—that is, if the guy or gal at the top is smart, creative, dedicated and inspired, and so far, we think perhaps Hopson is that guy.
This is still the Hopson honeymoon, but privately some board members are already grousing: “Hey, he works for us, we don’t work for him.”
It seems almost inevitable that he will be caught up in the blood sport that is PCSSD politics, but Hopson has installed his elements of his own team.
He’s brought in a technology expert from Portland.
He’s brought in a former lieutenant colonel as director of operations—the job he held in the military.
Hopson has hired a human-resources consultant and hired the author of “Courageous Conversation in Race” to hold workshops for his cabinet on the challenges of race in education.
Hopson is said to be very skilled at bringing people together, a calm and thoughtful man willing to listen to suggestions.
Those skills will be put to the test.
“He empowers people,” said one employee. “It’s part of the culture he’s fostering.”
Hopson is the professional here. Board members bank or own restaurant franchises or run small shops, work at Walmart, or assist airmen learning to fly C-130s on flight simulators at Little Rock Air Force Base.
But none are professional educators.
If all the dogs on a sled team pulled to a different point of the compass, ignoring the direction of the driver, the sled might go nowhere, or it might be pulled into a chasm or ripped asunder. Where it’s not going is the destination.
But when the driver sets a course and the team pulls together, the sled can reach its destination, directly and more quickly.
In some school districts—take Cabot and Lonoke, for instance—the superintendent leads and the board follows, questioning, offering alternatives and ultimately making the decisions.
Lonoke has for the past decade, first Sharron Havens and now John Tackett, set the agenda, presented a range of options, answered questions and gave the board the tools it needed to do the job. In turn, the board has given the superintendent the tools he needs to do the job.
Tackett has brought new ideas—most recently a pilot program using modified smart phones as handheld computers for all ninth-graders.
The superintendent is the professional educator. The other guys are farmers or bankers or businessmen.
None of the board members in Lonoke thinks he knows more about educating or leading a school district than the superintendent.
Then there’s PCSSD, where the board members seem to view professional educating, creativity and leadership as challenges to their authority.
This is a board largely comprising bullies intent upon getting their way, building schools in their own zones, securing contracts for their friends and who support the superintendent only as long as he supports their individual ambitions.
This is a board where the members see the superintendent only as an instrument of their collective will. And for the past few years, seldom has that will been collective.
Only a board as divisive and vindictive as this one could make the strident teachers’ union sympathetic.
We have a situation here where both the teachers’ union and the board are likely to see the progressive new superintendent as a threat to their power.
The only way to save this dysfunctional district is to get everyone pulling in the same direction, with the superintendent in the driver’s seat.
With apologies to John Lennon, all we are saying is give Charles a chance.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
TOP STORY > >Ancient lessons return to Cabot
By JOAN MCCOY
Leader staff writer
Although her work year hasn’t officially started, Cabot art teacher Katherine Karkkainen was on the job Monday at Junior High North. She had spent most of June in China and she was decorating her classroom with some of the things she brought back.
There was Chinese fabric for her bulletin board, a picture of a peasant wedding for the wall and brass letters in Chinese that stand for happiness and longevity.
“With our trade relations, it’s important that we understand their culture,” Karkkainen said.
Karkkainen was one of 14 teachers from across the state that made the trip arranged by UALR’s Global Program which paid most of the expenses with a grant from the Freeman Foundation. For about $700, she spent three weeks immersed in a culture that dates back 5,000 years.
Asked about the major differences she observed between the Chinese and Americans, Karkkainen said the expectations of the people were very different.
The cramming she did on China’s history and culture helped, she said, but did not completely prepare her for what she saw.
With populations of 20 million or so, “the cities are humongous,” she said, and very crowded. The apartments are tiny and almost everyone walks or uses public transportation because a car license can cost as much as $6,000.
Outside Beijing, where the Great Wall is located, she visited a remote farming village where Heifer Project International is working to alleviate poverty.
The residents were very welcoming and proud to show their two-room homes, complete with a large wooden platform that was the bed for the whole family, straw and mud jars for storing grain and large open-fire cooking pots, she said.
“We are a very wealthy country,” she said. “Even though we may be lower, middle income, we have so much and I probably will bring that to my students’ attention.”
In Chengdu, where the teachers visited classrooms, students and teachers cut short their vacation at the Dragon Boat Festival for the opportunity to visit with the Americans and practice their English.
“They were all out on holiday and they came in just for us,” Karkkainen said. “Can you imagine that happening here?”
Her trip included a stop in Shanghai for the World Expo and a visit to Wu Garden. In Chengdu, she saw the panda research and breeding facility. In Xian, she saw the Grand Mosque and the terracotta soldiers that were buried with Ginshi Huangdi, China’s first emperor.
And they traveled into the Himalayas to visit Zhongdian, which was renamed Shangri La for marketing purposes.
She was amused by the way the Chinese have embraced American culture. They have McDonald’s and Walmart and they play American rock music from the 80’s in some of their night clubs. Even the mannequins in their department stores were Anglo-Saxon, she said.
If the people gave her pause to reconsider exactly how much someone needs to be happy, it was the art that took her breath away, she said.
“It was like a wonderland because of all the art,” she said. “Everywhere you went there was art painted last week and sculptures from 5,000 years ago. For an art teacher, it was like candy land.”
Leader staff writer
Although her work year hasn’t officially started, Cabot art teacher Katherine Karkkainen was on the job Monday at Junior High North. She had spent most of June in China and she was decorating her classroom with some of the things she brought back.
There was Chinese fabric for her bulletin board, a picture of a peasant wedding for the wall and brass letters in Chinese that stand for happiness and longevity.
“With our trade relations, it’s important that we understand their culture,” Karkkainen said.
Karkkainen was one of 14 teachers from across the state that made the trip arranged by UALR’s Global Program which paid most of the expenses with a grant from the Freeman Foundation. For about $700, she spent three weeks immersed in a culture that dates back 5,000 years.
Asked about the major differences she observed between the Chinese and Americans, Karkkainen said the expectations of the people were very different.
The cramming she did on China’s history and culture helped, she said, but did not completely prepare her for what she saw.
With populations of 20 million or so, “the cities are humongous,” she said, and very crowded. The apartments are tiny and almost everyone walks or uses public transportation because a car license can cost as much as $6,000.
Outside Beijing, where the Great Wall is located, she visited a remote farming village where Heifer Project International is working to alleviate poverty.
The residents were very welcoming and proud to show their two-room homes, complete with a large wooden platform that was the bed for the whole family, straw and mud jars for storing grain and large open-fire cooking pots, she said.
“We are a very wealthy country,” she said. “Even though we may be lower, middle income, we have so much and I probably will bring that to my students’ attention.”
In Chengdu, where the teachers visited classrooms, students and teachers cut short their vacation at the Dragon Boat Festival for the opportunity to visit with the Americans and practice their English.
“They were all out on holiday and they came in just for us,” Karkkainen said. “Can you imagine that happening here?”
Her trip included a stop in Shanghai for the World Expo and a visit to Wu Garden. In Chengdu, she saw the panda research and breeding facility. In Xian, she saw the Grand Mosque and the terracotta soldiers that were buried with Ginshi Huangdi, China’s first emperor.
And they traveled into the Himalayas to visit Zhongdian, which was renamed Shangri La for marketing purposes.
She was amused by the way the Chinese have embraced American culture. They have McDonald’s and Walmart and they play American rock music from the 80’s in some of their night clubs. Even the mannequins in their department stores were Anglo-Saxon, she said.
If the people gave her pause to reconsider exactly how much someone needs to be happy, it was the art that took her breath away, she said.
“It was like a wonderland because of all the art,” she said. “Everywhere you went there was art painted last week and sculptures from 5,000 years ago. For an art teacher, it was like candy land.”
TOP STORY > >Strike possible over teachers’ hours in PCSSD
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Union leaders say that “many options” will be considered, including going on strike, when members meet Thursday to decide how to respond to the new bell schedule that will affect elementary schools in Pulaski County Special School District when school resumes Aug. 19.
At its monthly meeting last night, the PCSSD School Board discussed the revised bell schedule – which sets the start and end of the school day as well as bus pick-up times – and chose to proceed with the revised schedule, as recommended by Superintendent Charles Hopson.
After the meeting, Marty Nix, president of PulaskiPulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, would not say specifically if teachers might strike to challenge the new schedule, which in effect violates the existing contract the district has with its teachers. It forces teachers to now hold preparation periods during the lengthened school day rather than before or after the student day as their contract allows.
The new schedule will lengthen the school day by 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Some students will be getting on a bus as early as 6 a.m. with the new schedule.
Former Acting Superintend-ent Rob McGill in May had proposed the new schedule, but it has never come to a board vote. At the time, the majority of the board believed that the contract was no longer in effect and that the schedule had to be revised to comply with state law, which mandates teacher planning periods to be part of the school day.
Since then, Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox has ruled – for a second time – that the district’s contract with teachers is in effect and must be followed.
The change in the bell schedule will not lengthen the school day for teachers, Nix pointed out. “This is a parent issue that will affect students and teachers’ ability to teach effectively.”
Not only will students start the day earlier, some will be eating lunch at 10:30 in the morning. “Then they go to recess and then sit in class for hours at a time,” Nix said. “This is supposed to be good for student learning. I don’t think so.”
“The bell schedule affects thousands of people in the community,” parent Mollie Clower told the board. “Therefore, it is the district’s obligation to inform both parents and teachers and give them a chance to voice any concerns about such a change as well as explain the plan to administer the change prior to making such a change permanent.”
Clower’s two daughters, who attend Baker Elementary School, now catch the bus at 7 a.m., but with the new schedule will have that will change to 6:30.
“The new bell schedule will require them to wait in the dark for 157 days out of 179 days of school. The earlier time is not going to make smarter students, but fatigued students.,” she said.
“It will not be unreasonable students will be at bus stop at 6 o’clock,” PCSSD transportation director Brad Montgomery affirmed.
Teachers last week filed a class-action injunction against the district for changing the schedule, contending it is a violation of their contract. The prep period was also shortened by five minutes, from 40 to 45 minutes, as stipulated in the contract.
Those violations are “just the tip of the iceberg,” Nix said of the revised bell schedule. “There have been so many violations to the contract, I couldn’t even name them all,” Nix said. “According to every ruling from the court, the PNA is still in effect. That is not something that can be interpreted differently. It is totally unambiguous.”
Hopson said he would “let our legal team explore that,” when asked if he had any concerns that the revised bell schedule was violating an existing contract.
Hopson said he thought the new schedule was good for students, because it would mean an additional 200 minutes per week for instruction.
“Those minutes are necessary to address academic disparities as well as enrichment for TAG (talented and gifted) students,” Hopson said.
Hopson said that to revert to the old schedule so close to the start of school could be a burden for parents who have already made accommodations to the new one, but that “nothing is set in stone.”
The schedule change does not affect secondary schools because those teachers already had their prep period during the day.
Board member Gwen Williams spoke against the new bell schedule because of complaints from parents and because the change violates the current teacher contract.
Williams reminded the board that all certified staff should have 10 days to review any proposed policy change before a board vote. “That has not happened.”
Board president Tim Clark said he has gotten calls from lots of parents complaining about the bell schedule change.
“A whole lot of families are trying to renegotiate their morning hours, some will have to take off work earlier,” Clark said.
Clark said he favored Hopson working with the transportation department to refine the schedule to minimize impacts on families.
Williams said she was “still in awe that the district would not follow a judge’s order. “We have got to come together as a district or we won’t have a district. We have got to sit down and talk about and work this thing out. The contract and PNA is in effect.
Look into your hearts and do the right thing. In want school to open next week.”
During the board comment period, Bill Vasquez encouraged his fellow board members to take a couple of hours to read the existing agreement and become familiar with it.
“It affects the lives of 18,000 students, 4,000 employees and 2 and a half million taxpayers,” Vasquez.
Vasquez also spoke against the revised bell schedule.
“We are putting them in the dark for an extra month,” Vasquez noted. “In rural areas, there are no street lights or sidewalks.”
In other board business, board member Danny Gililland was elected to represent the board in continuing negotiations between the district and PACT on matters regarding the current contract. The vote was 4-3, splitting along lines either favoring continued union recognition or not.
District and union leaders are to set a date soon for when to resume negotiations.
Leader staff writer
Union leaders say that “many options” will be considered, including going on strike, when members meet Thursday to decide how to respond to the new bell schedule that will affect elementary schools in Pulaski County Special School District when school resumes Aug. 19.
At its monthly meeting last night, the PCSSD School Board discussed the revised bell schedule – which sets the start and end of the school day as well as bus pick-up times – and chose to proceed with the revised schedule, as recommended by Superintendent Charles Hopson.
After the meeting, Marty Nix, president of PulaskiPulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, would not say specifically if teachers might strike to challenge the new schedule, which in effect violates the existing contract the district has with its teachers. It forces teachers to now hold preparation periods during the lengthened school day rather than before or after the student day as their contract allows.
The new schedule will lengthen the school day by 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Some students will be getting on a bus as early as 6 a.m. with the new schedule.
Former Acting Superintend-ent Rob McGill in May had proposed the new schedule, but it has never come to a board vote. At the time, the majority of the board believed that the contract was no longer in effect and that the schedule had to be revised to comply with state law, which mandates teacher planning periods to be part of the school day.
Since then, Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox has ruled – for a second time – that the district’s contract with teachers is in effect and must be followed.
The change in the bell schedule will not lengthen the school day for teachers, Nix pointed out. “This is a parent issue that will affect students and teachers’ ability to teach effectively.”
Not only will students start the day earlier, some will be eating lunch at 10:30 in the morning. “Then they go to recess and then sit in class for hours at a time,” Nix said. “This is supposed to be good for student learning. I don’t think so.”
“The bell schedule affects thousands of people in the community,” parent Mollie Clower told the board. “Therefore, it is the district’s obligation to inform both parents and teachers and give them a chance to voice any concerns about such a change as well as explain the plan to administer the change prior to making such a change permanent.”
Clower’s two daughters, who attend Baker Elementary School, now catch the bus at 7 a.m., but with the new schedule will have that will change to 6:30.
“The new bell schedule will require them to wait in the dark for 157 days out of 179 days of school. The earlier time is not going to make smarter students, but fatigued students.,” she said.
“It will not be unreasonable students will be at bus stop at 6 o’clock,” PCSSD transportation director Brad Montgomery affirmed.
Teachers last week filed a class-action injunction against the district for changing the schedule, contending it is a violation of their contract. The prep period was also shortened by five minutes, from 40 to 45 minutes, as stipulated in the contract.
Those violations are “just the tip of the iceberg,” Nix said of the revised bell schedule. “There have been so many violations to the contract, I couldn’t even name them all,” Nix said. “According to every ruling from the court, the PNA is still in effect. That is not something that can be interpreted differently. It is totally unambiguous.”
Hopson said he would “let our legal team explore that,” when asked if he had any concerns that the revised bell schedule was violating an existing contract.
Hopson said he thought the new schedule was good for students, because it would mean an additional 200 minutes per week for instruction.
“Those minutes are necessary to address academic disparities as well as enrichment for TAG (talented and gifted) students,” Hopson said.
Hopson said that to revert to the old schedule so close to the start of school could be a burden for parents who have already made accommodations to the new one, but that “nothing is set in stone.”
The schedule change does not affect secondary schools because those teachers already had their prep period during the day.
Board member Gwen Williams spoke against the new bell schedule because of complaints from parents and because the change violates the current teacher contract.
Williams reminded the board that all certified staff should have 10 days to review any proposed policy change before a board vote. “That has not happened.”
Board president Tim Clark said he has gotten calls from lots of parents complaining about the bell schedule change.
“A whole lot of families are trying to renegotiate their morning hours, some will have to take off work earlier,” Clark said.
Clark said he favored Hopson working with the transportation department to refine the schedule to minimize impacts on families.
Williams said she was “still in awe that the district would not follow a judge’s order. “We have got to come together as a district or we won’t have a district. We have got to sit down and talk about and work this thing out. The contract and PNA is in effect.
Look into your hearts and do the right thing. In want school to open next week.”
During the board comment period, Bill Vasquez encouraged his fellow board members to take a couple of hours to read the existing agreement and become familiar with it.
“It affects the lives of 18,000 students, 4,000 employees and 2 and a half million taxpayers,” Vasquez.
Vasquez also spoke against the revised bell schedule.
“We are putting them in the dark for an extra month,” Vasquez noted. “In rural areas, there are no street lights or sidewalks.”
In other board business, board member Danny Gililland was elected to represent the board in continuing negotiations between the district and PACT on matters regarding the current contract. The vote was 4-3, splitting along lines either favoring continued union recognition or not.
District and union leaders are to set a date soon for when to resume negotiations.
TOP STORY > >Strike possible over teachers’ hours in PCSSD
By NANCY DOCKTER
Leader staff writer
Union leaders say that “many options” will be considered, including going on strike, when members meet Thursday to decide how to respond to the new bell schedule that will affect elementary schools in Pulaski County Special School District when school resumes Aug. 19.
At its monthly meeting last night, the PCSSD School Board discussed the revised bell schedule – which sets the start and end of the school day as well as bus pick-up times – and chose to proceed with the revised schedule, as recommended by Superintendent Charles Hopson.
After the meeting, Marty Nix, president of PulaskiPulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, would not say specifically if teachers might strike to challenge the new schedule, which in effect violates the existing contract the district has with its teachers. It forces teachers to now hold preparation periods during the lengthened school day rather than before or after the student day as their contract allows.
The new schedule will lengthen the school day by 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Some students will be getting on a bus as early as 6 a.m. with the new schedule.
Former Acting Superintend-ent Rob McGill in May had proposed the new schedule, but it has never come to a board vote. At the time, the majority of the board believed that the contract was no longer in effect and that the schedule had to be revised to comply with state law, which mandates teacher planning periods to be part of the school day.
Since then, Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox has ruled – for a second time – that the district’s contract with teachers is in effect and must be followed.
The change in the bell schedule will not lengthen the school day for teachers, Nix pointed out. “This is a parent issue that will affect students and teachers’ ability to teach effectively.”
Not only will students start the day earlier, some will be eating lunch at 10:30 in the morning. “Then they go to recess and then sit in class for hours at a time,” Nix said. “This is supposed to be good for student learning. I don’t think so.”
“The bell schedule affects thousands of people in the community,” parent Mollie Clower told the board. “Therefore, it is the district’s obligation to inform both parents and teachers and give them a chance to voice any concerns about such a change as well as explain the plan to administer the change prior to making such a change permanent.”
Clower’s two daughters, who attend Baker Elementary School, now catch the bus at 7 a.m., but with the new schedule will have that will change to 6:30.
“The new bell schedule will require them to wait in the dark for 157 days out of 179 days of school. The earlier time is not going to make smarter students, but fatigued students.,” she said.
“It will not be unreasonable students will be at bus stop at 6 o’clock,” PCSSD transportation director Brad Montgomery affirmed.
Teachers last week filed a class-action injunction against the district for changing the schedule, contending it is a violation of their contract. The prep period was also shortened by five minutes, from 40 to 45 minutes, as stipulated in the contract.
Those violations are “just the tip of the iceberg,” Nix said of the revised bell schedule. “There have been so many violations to the contract, I couldn’t even name them all,” Nix said. “According to every ruling from the court, the PNA is still in effect. That is not something that can be interpreted differently. It is totally unambiguous.”
Hopson said he would “let our legal team explore that,” when asked if he had any concerns that the revised bell schedule was violating an existing contract.
Hopson said he thought the new schedule was good for students, because it would mean an additional 200 minutes per week for instruction.
“Those minutes are necessary to address academic disparities as well as enrichment for TAG (talented and gifted) students,” Hopson said.
Hopson said that to revert to the old schedule so close to the start of school could be a burden for parents who have already made accommodations to the new one, but that “nothing is set in stone.”
The schedule change does not affect secondary schools because those teachers already had their prep period during the day.
Board member Gwen Williams spoke against the new bell schedule because of complaints from parents and because the change violates the current teacher contract.
Williams reminded the board that all certified staff should have 10 days to review any proposed policy change before a board vote. “That has not happened.”
Board president Tim Clark said he has gotten calls from lots of parents complaining about the bell schedule change.
“A whole lot of families are trying to renegotiate their morning hours, some will have to take off work earlier,” Clark said.
Clark said he favored Hopson working with the transportation department to refine the schedule to minimize impacts on families.
Williams said she was “still in awe that the district would not follow a judge’s order. “We have got to come together as a district or we won’t have a district. We have got to sit down and talk about and work this thing out. The contract and PNA is in effect.
Look into your hearts and do the right thing. In want school to open next week.”
During the board comment period, Bill Vasquez encouraged his fellow board members to take a couple of hours to read the existing agreement and become familiar with it.
“It affects the lives of 18,000 students, 4,000 employees and 2 and a half million taxpayers,” Vasquez.
Vasquez also spoke against the revised bell schedule.
“We are putting them in the dark for an extra month,” Vasquez noted. “In rural areas, there are no street lights or sidewalks.”
In other board business, board member Danny Gililland was elected to represent the board in continuing negotiations between the district and PACT on matters regarding the current contract. The vote was 4-3, splitting along lines either favoring continued union recognition or not.
District and union leaders are to set a date soon for when to resume negotiations.
Leader staff writer
Union leaders say that “many options” will be considered, including going on strike, when members meet Thursday to decide how to respond to the new bell schedule that will affect elementary schools in Pulaski County Special School District when school resumes Aug. 19.
At its monthly meeting last night, the PCSSD School Board discussed the revised bell schedule – which sets the start and end of the school day as well as bus pick-up times – and chose to proceed with the revised schedule, as recommended by Superintendent Charles Hopson.
After the meeting, Marty Nix, president of PulaskiPulaski Association of Classroom Teachers, would not say specifically if teachers might strike to challenge the new schedule, which in effect violates the existing contract the district has with its teachers. It forces teachers to now hold preparation periods during the lengthened school day rather than before or after the student day as their contract allows.
The new schedule will lengthen the school day by 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Some students will be getting on a bus as early as 6 a.m. with the new schedule.
Former Acting Superintend-ent Rob McGill in May had proposed the new schedule, but it has never come to a board vote. At the time, the majority of the board believed that the contract was no longer in effect and that the schedule had to be revised to comply with state law, which mandates teacher planning periods to be part of the school day.
Since then, Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox has ruled – for a second time – that the district’s contract with teachers is in effect and must be followed.
The change in the bell schedule will not lengthen the school day for teachers, Nix pointed out. “This is a parent issue that will affect students and teachers’ ability to teach effectively.”
Not only will students start the day earlier, some will be eating lunch at 10:30 in the morning. “Then they go to recess and then sit in class for hours at a time,” Nix said. “This is supposed to be good for student learning. I don’t think so.”
“The bell schedule affects thousands of people in the community,” parent Mollie Clower told the board. “Therefore, it is the district’s obligation to inform both parents and teachers and give them a chance to voice any concerns about such a change as well as explain the plan to administer the change prior to making such a change permanent.”
Clower’s two daughters, who attend Baker Elementary School, now catch the bus at 7 a.m., but with the new schedule will have that will change to 6:30.
“The new bell schedule will require them to wait in the dark for 157 days out of 179 days of school. The earlier time is not going to make smarter students, but fatigued students.,” she said.
“It will not be unreasonable students will be at bus stop at 6 o’clock,” PCSSD transportation director Brad Montgomery affirmed.
Teachers last week filed a class-action injunction against the district for changing the schedule, contending it is a violation of their contract. The prep period was also shortened by five minutes, from 40 to 45 minutes, as stipulated in the contract.
Those violations are “just the tip of the iceberg,” Nix said of the revised bell schedule. “There have been so many violations to the contract, I couldn’t even name them all,” Nix said. “According to every ruling from the court, the PNA is still in effect. That is not something that can be interpreted differently. It is totally unambiguous.”
Hopson said he would “let our legal team explore that,” when asked if he had any concerns that the revised bell schedule was violating an existing contract.
Hopson said he thought the new schedule was good for students, because it would mean an additional 200 minutes per week for instruction.
“Those minutes are necessary to address academic disparities as well as enrichment for TAG (talented and gifted) students,” Hopson said.
Hopson said that to revert to the old schedule so close to the start of school could be a burden for parents who have already made accommodations to the new one, but that “nothing is set in stone.”
The schedule change does not affect secondary schools because those teachers already had their prep period during the day.
Board member Gwen Williams spoke against the new bell schedule because of complaints from parents and because the change violates the current teacher contract.
Williams reminded the board that all certified staff should have 10 days to review any proposed policy change before a board vote. “That has not happened.”
Board president Tim Clark said he has gotten calls from lots of parents complaining about the bell schedule change.
“A whole lot of families are trying to renegotiate their morning hours, some will have to take off work earlier,” Clark said.
Clark said he favored Hopson working with the transportation department to refine the schedule to minimize impacts on families.
Williams said she was “still in awe that the district would not follow a judge’s order. “We have got to come together as a district or we won’t have a district. We have got to sit down and talk about and work this thing out. The contract and PNA is in effect.
Look into your hearts and do the right thing. In want school to open next week.”
During the board comment period, Bill Vasquez encouraged his fellow board members to take a couple of hours to read the existing agreement and become familiar with it.
“It affects the lives of 18,000 students, 4,000 employees and 2 and a half million taxpayers,” Vasquez.
Vasquez also spoke against the revised bell schedule.
“We are putting them in the dark for an extra month,” Vasquez noted. “In rural areas, there are no street lights or sidewalks.”
In other board business, board member Danny Gililland was elected to represent the board in continuing negotiations between the district and PACT on matters regarding the current contract. The vote was 4-3, splitting along lines either favoring continued union recognition or not.
District and union leaders are to set a date soon for when to resume negotiations.
TOP STORY > >J’Accuse: Smearing of general
By GARRICK FELDMAN
Leader executive editor
Air Force Gen. John D. Lavelle, who died more than 30 years ago, after he was falsely accused of insubordination, is a four-star general again.
President Obama last week restored the two stars that were stripped away from Lavelle in 1972, after the Nixon White House drummed him out of the Air Force for bombing North Vietnamese targets that were supposedly off-limits.
The media had portrayedLavelle as a rogue general who was running his own bombing campaign without approval from the White House and covering up those missions.
The controversy became known as the Lavelle Affair.
When the bombing campaign was exposed in the media, Lavelle was made the fall guy. After congressional hearings, he was demoted two ranks, to major general, and drummed out of the Air Force.
In fact, Nixon himself had ordered the bombings, but when the coverup was exposed, Tricky Dick made Lavelle take the fall.
It was one of the worst military scandals in U.S. history, entirely hatched in the White House, so you know Nixon had a hand in it.
Ever an officer and a gentleman, Lavelle accepted responsibility and took his punishment, although he’d tell reporters who asked that he was doing the White House’s bidding.
With the release of more Nixon tapes and a confession by former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, we now know what really happened: Nixon had ordered the bombing of some 20 North Vietnamese missile batteries even if they posed no danger to our pilots.
Why couldn’t our pilots target the missile sites?
Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his national security chief, had made a deal during peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese to ease up on the bombing campaign, unless our forces felt threatened.
But Nixon secretly sent word to Lavelle, the commander of air operations in Vietnam, that he could bomb anywhere he felt like it, so the general obliged.
Nixon, although devious as ever, felt some guilt about framing Lavelle. That didn’t bother Kissinger, who was probably in on the doublecross.
“I just don’t want him to be made a goat, goddamnit,” Nixon told Kissinger on the once-secret tapes. “It’s just a hell of a damn.
And it’s a bad rap for him, Henry.”
Kissinger, having helped wreck a general’s good name and career, said, “I think this will go away.”
But 35 years later, Laird told two writers for Air Force Magazine that Lavelle had done exactly what he was told: “The new orders permitted hitting anti-aircraft installations and other dangerous targets if spotted on their missions, whether they were activated or not,” Laird told retired Lt. Gen. Aloysius Casey and his son Patrick Casey, who wrote the Air Force Magazine article three years ago.
So even after that finding, it’s taken all these years to right a wrong. Lavelle was too much of a gentleman to fight to get his rank back, but when reporters asked him about Vietnam, he’d tell them he was doing what was expected of him.
Under different circumstances, he could have become Air Force chief of staff and perhaps even chairman of the joint chiefs.
But Nixon, Kissin-ger and Laird made sure that didn’t happen. What’s worse, his enemies in the military who resented his success in three wars didn’t mind seeing him punished for something he didn’t do.
A veteran of the Second World War, as well as the Korea and Vietnam conflicts, Lavelle was a brilliant military strategist who played by the rules set down by his superiors.
Lavelle died in 1979 at the age of 62, a broken man.
His son, John D. Lavelle, Jr. said, “In the end, I think he found comfort in knowing that what he did saved some airmen’s lives, and that was worth more to him than four stars.”
His friends and family stood behind him and helped clear his name and recovered the stars that Nixon and Kissinger took from him.
Like Col. Alfred Dreyfus in France before him, Gen. Lavelle was the victim of a miscarriage of military justice that took years to correct.
Dreyfus, released from Devil’s Island after 12 years of incarceration, saw justice triumph many years after he was falsely accused of spying for the Germans.
Lavelle wasn’t imprisoned, but he didn’t live long enough to see himself exonerated. His 91-year-old widow, Mary Jo, should accept the stars that the cabal in the Nixon White House stole from her husband so long ago.
Leader executive editor
Air Force Gen. John D. Lavelle, who died more than 30 years ago, after he was falsely accused of insubordination, is a four-star general again.
President Obama last week restored the two stars that were stripped away from Lavelle in 1972, after the Nixon White House drummed him out of the Air Force for bombing North Vietnamese targets that were supposedly off-limits.
The media had portrayedLavelle as a rogue general who was running his own bombing campaign without approval from the White House and covering up those missions.
The controversy became known as the Lavelle Affair.
When the bombing campaign was exposed in the media, Lavelle was made the fall guy. After congressional hearings, he was demoted two ranks, to major general, and drummed out of the Air Force.
In fact, Nixon himself had ordered the bombings, but when the coverup was exposed, Tricky Dick made Lavelle take the fall.
It was one of the worst military scandals in U.S. history, entirely hatched in the White House, so you know Nixon had a hand in it.
Ever an officer and a gentleman, Lavelle accepted responsibility and took his punishment, although he’d tell reporters who asked that he was doing the White House’s bidding.
With the release of more Nixon tapes and a confession by former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, we now know what really happened: Nixon had ordered the bombing of some 20 North Vietnamese missile batteries even if they posed no danger to our pilots.
Why couldn’t our pilots target the missile sites?
Nixon and Henry Kissinger, his national security chief, had made a deal during peace negotiations with the North Vietnamese to ease up on the bombing campaign, unless our forces felt threatened.
But Nixon secretly sent word to Lavelle, the commander of air operations in Vietnam, that he could bomb anywhere he felt like it, so the general obliged.
Nixon, although devious as ever, felt some guilt about framing Lavelle. That didn’t bother Kissinger, who was probably in on the doublecross.
“I just don’t want him to be made a goat, goddamnit,” Nixon told Kissinger on the once-secret tapes. “It’s just a hell of a damn.
And it’s a bad rap for him, Henry.”
Kissinger, having helped wreck a general’s good name and career, said, “I think this will go away.”
But 35 years later, Laird told two writers for Air Force Magazine that Lavelle had done exactly what he was told: “The new orders permitted hitting anti-aircraft installations and other dangerous targets if spotted on their missions, whether they were activated or not,” Laird told retired Lt. Gen. Aloysius Casey and his son Patrick Casey, who wrote the Air Force Magazine article three years ago.
So even after that finding, it’s taken all these years to right a wrong. Lavelle was too much of a gentleman to fight to get his rank back, but when reporters asked him about Vietnam, he’d tell them he was doing what was expected of him.
Under different circumstances, he could have become Air Force chief of staff and perhaps even chairman of the joint chiefs.
But Nixon, Kissin-ger and Laird made sure that didn’t happen. What’s worse, his enemies in the military who resented his success in three wars didn’t mind seeing him punished for something he didn’t do.
A veteran of the Second World War, as well as the Korea and Vietnam conflicts, Lavelle was a brilliant military strategist who played by the rules set down by his superiors.
Lavelle died in 1979 at the age of 62, a broken man.
His son, John D. Lavelle, Jr. said, “In the end, I think he found comfort in knowing that what he did saved some airmen’s lives, and that was worth more to him than four stars.”
His friends and family stood behind him and helped clear his name and recovered the stars that Nixon and Kissinger took from him.
Like Col. Alfred Dreyfus in France before him, Gen. Lavelle was the victim of a miscarriage of military justice that took years to correct.
Dreyfus, released from Devil’s Island after 12 years of incarceration, saw justice triumph many years after he was falsely accused of spying for the Germans.
Lavelle wasn’t imprisoned, but he didn’t live long enough to see himself exonerated. His 91-year-old widow, Mary Jo, should accept the stars that the cabal in the Nixon White House stole from her husband so long ago.
TOP STORY > >Departments respond to fires
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires.
CS and Z Fire Department responded to a house fire caused by a lightning strike off Poppy Lane, near Kerr Station Road, just outside Cabot.
South Bend, Ward, Cabot and Tri Community fire departments also sent tankers and firefighters to help battle the fire.
CS and Z Fire Chief Carl Stracener said when his department initially got the call around 3:30 p.m., dispatch said it was a grass fire, but when the two trucks of firefighters rolled up at the scene, it turned out to be a two-story home fully engulfed in flames and smoke.
“We couldn’t save it. It went fast,” he said. A couple lived in the home and wasn’t injured.
“The husband was sitting in a chair when the lightning struck, and the smoke caused him to get out in a hurry,” the chief explained.
Stracener said it looked like lightning hit the satellite dish and quickly followed the wiring all through the house.
At 7:30 p.m., the firefighters were still on the scene putting out hotspots.
Sherwood firefighters responded to three possible lightning strikes Tuesday afternoon but were able to confirm only one at 906 Dyson where damage was minimal.
Sean Clarke with the National Weather Service said the storm seemed to get worse as it moved northeast. It only dropped a trace of rain at Adams Field in Little Rock, 0.84 of an inch at North Little Rock (a new daily record for Aug. 10) and two to three inches in the Lonoke area.
He said the storm, at its peak, was producing 100 or more lightning strikes every four minutes. He said that count included cloud to cloud as well as cloud to ground hits.
The storms cooled off temperatures that were approaching triple digits. Area temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees cooler once the storm passed.
Leader staff writer
A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires.
CS and Z Fire Department responded to a house fire caused by a lightning strike off Poppy Lane, near Kerr Station Road, just outside Cabot.
South Bend, Ward, Cabot and Tri Community fire departments also sent tankers and firefighters to help battle the fire.
CS and Z Fire Chief Carl Stracener said when his department initially got the call around 3:30 p.m., dispatch said it was a grass fire, but when the two trucks of firefighters rolled up at the scene, it turned out to be a two-story home fully engulfed in flames and smoke.
“We couldn’t save it. It went fast,” he said. A couple lived in the home and wasn’t injured.
“The husband was sitting in a chair when the lightning struck, and the smoke caused him to get out in a hurry,” the chief explained.
Stracener said it looked like lightning hit the satellite dish and quickly followed the wiring all through the house.
At 7:30 p.m., the firefighters were still on the scene putting out hotspots.
Sherwood firefighters responded to three possible lightning strikes Tuesday afternoon but were able to confirm only one at 906 Dyson where damage was minimal.
Sean Clarke with the National Weather Service said the storm seemed to get worse as it moved northeast. It only dropped a trace of rain at Adams Field in Little Rock, 0.84 of an inch at North Little Rock (a new daily record for Aug. 10) and two to three inches in the Lonoke area.
He said the storm, at its peak, was producing 100 or more lightning strikes every four minutes. He said that count included cloud to cloud as well as cloud to ground hits.
The storms cooled off temperatures that were approaching triple digits. Area temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees cooler once the storm passed.
TOP STORY > >Departments respond to fires
By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires.
CS and Z Fire Department responded to a house fire caused by a lightning strike off Poppy Lane, near Kerr Station Road, just outside Cabot.
South Bend, Ward, Cabot and Tri Community fire departments also sent tankers and firefighters to help battle the fire.
CS and Z Fire Chief Carl Stracener said when his department initially got the call around 3:30 p.m., dispatch said it was a grass fire, but when the two trucks of firefighters rolled up at the scene, it turned out to be a two-story home fully engulfed in flames and smoke.
“We couldn’t save it. It went fast,” he said. A couple lived in the home and wasn’t injured.
“The husband was sitting in a chair when the lightning struck, and the smoke caused him to get out in a hurry,” the chief explained.
Stracener said it looked like lightning hit the satellite dish and quickly followed the wiring all through the house.
At 7:30 p.m., the firefighters were still on the scene putting out hotspots.
Sherwood firefighters responded to three possible lightning strikes Tuesday afternoon but were able to confirm only one at 906 Dyson where damage was minimal.
Sean Clarke with the National Weather Service said the storm seemed to get worse as it moved northeast. It only dropped a trace of rain at Adams Field in Little Rock, 0.84 of an inch at North Little Rock (a new daily record for Aug. 10) and two to three inches in the Lonoke area.
He said the storm, at its peak, was producing 100 or more lightning strikes every four minutes. He said that count included cloud to cloud as well as cloud to ground hits.
The storms cooled off temperatures that were approaching triple digits. Area temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees cooler once the storm passed.
Leader staff writer
A thunderstorm that rolled through Pulaski and Lonoke counties Tuesday afternoon averaged about 100 lightning strikes every four minutes and started at least two house fires.
CS and Z Fire Department responded to a house fire caused by a lightning strike off Poppy Lane, near Kerr Station Road, just outside Cabot.
South Bend, Ward, Cabot and Tri Community fire departments also sent tankers and firefighters to help battle the fire.
CS and Z Fire Chief Carl Stracener said when his department initially got the call around 3:30 p.m., dispatch said it was a grass fire, but when the two trucks of firefighters rolled up at the scene, it turned out to be a two-story home fully engulfed in flames and smoke.
“We couldn’t save it. It went fast,” he said. A couple lived in the home and wasn’t injured.
“The husband was sitting in a chair when the lightning struck, and the smoke caused him to get out in a hurry,” the chief explained.
Stracener said it looked like lightning hit the satellite dish and quickly followed the wiring all through the house.
At 7:30 p.m., the firefighters were still on the scene putting out hotspots.
Sherwood firefighters responded to three possible lightning strikes Tuesday afternoon but were able to confirm only one at 906 Dyson where damage was minimal.
Sean Clarke with the National Weather Service said the storm seemed to get worse as it moved northeast. It only dropped a trace of rain at Adams Field in Little Rock, 0.84 of an inch at North Little Rock (a new daily record for Aug. 10) and two to three inches in the Lonoke area.
He said the storm, at its peak, was producing 100 or more lightning strikes every four minutes. He said that count included cloud to cloud as well as cloud to ground hits.
The storms cooled off temperatures that were approaching triple digits. Area temperatures were 10 to 15 degrees cooler once the storm passed.
TOP STORY > >New commander shares optimism
By JOHN HOFHEIMER
Leader senior staff writer
A change of command at Little Rock Air Force Base is usually a pretty seamless affair, maybe never more so than when Col. Greg Otey passed the 19th Airlift Wing’s guidon to Col. Mike Minihan on Aug. 2.
Two big, affable men who have worked together and even slept in the same tent while serving as commanders in “the sandbox,” they are friends, Minihan said Tuesday.
Otey left after 19 months for a Pentagon assignment as division chief at Air Force headquarters.
Although Otey serves the joint chiefs, he is not part of the Joint Command that Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Mon-day proposed to abolish.
Minihan said he has spent the last week immersed in the different aspects of thebase. “The enthusiasm and pride (here) are nothing short of inspirational,” he said. “These young kids really know how to get the job done.”
HERK DRIVER
He said “herk drivers” always like to come back to Little Rock Air Force Base and he was thrilled to learn that the community had won the Abilene Trophy for 2009 as the most supportive Air Mobility Wing community.
He said now everybody in the AMC knows what a great community this is.
Minihan is impressed with growth in the area and on the base, including the new Joint Education Center, which Jacksonville residents taxed themselves to help pay for.
30 DAYS LEARNING
Minihan said he would spend the first 30 days learning the people, environment and mission.
“I don’t anticipate any large changes,” he said. “The wing has proven itself time and again.”
After that, he said he would put his own leadership style in action, “but along the same battle lines (as Otey) — mission, people, family and fun.”
It was obvious during the change-of-command ceremony that a great deal of friendship and respect exist between the two men.
“I met Col. Otey in 1993 (moving from) Pope Air Force Base to Little Rock. In 2003, we deployed and worked together. He was the squadron commander and I was one of his operations officers. We slept in the same tent. He was a phenomenal mentor.
He’s partially responsible for my being here.”
HEART OF A TEACHER
He called Otey “a gracious leader with the heart of a teacher.”
Minihan lived in Sherwood prior to assignment to base housing and married the former Ashley Mixon while here. They have three children, Adair, Mikey and Marley, and is the son of (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Kenneth and Barbara Minihan.
The three Minihan children go to school in Little Rock. Adair, the oldest, will be a sophomore at Little Rock Central, Mikey, 11, will attend the Lisa Academy North and Marley, 6, is going into first grade at the Lisa Academy.
“We are big fans of public schools,” he said, but particularly with Adair, wanted to assure a smooth transition when the family leaves in two years, to her senior year at some as-of-yet unknown location. “My daughter is on her eighth school, he said.
“I want to carry on where the Oteys left off,” he said. “I want to partner with the local community and provide a world class education for the sons and daughters of airmen.”
BEAT CANCER HERE
A marriage wasn’t the only life-changing event for Minihan when he first came to Little Rock AFB.
He learned to fly the C-130 Hercules and how to lead here, and he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer by a flight surgeon at what was then the base hospital.
He underwent two operations and radiation treatments here and recovered from the cancer.
As far as personal challenges, Minihan said he’d been “out of the C-130 business for four years, three with the Army and with the Strategic Air Command. Here I’ll get back in the tactical airlift business.”
Challenges facing the wing are increased mission set and infrastructure, including base housing.
Problems with privatization of housing plagued the base until Hunt-Pinnacle bought the contract from a failed developer.
“I’m going to be paying a lot of attention there,” he said.
He described the existing partnership with the 314th Air Education Wing and the National Guard’s 189th Air Wing as “thriving.”
“It is an honor to be here, to not only serve with the airmen — and when I say airmen, I’m talking active duty, Reserve, Guard, civilians, contractors, retirees — to serve here again is just a real treat for me — to partner with an award-wining community to make sure our airmen have everything they need to thrive,” Minihan said.
“I look forward to carrying the ball forward, where Col. Otey left off,” he said. “And to spending two long years enjoying my time here at Little Rock.”
Leader senior staff writer
A change of command at Little Rock Air Force Base is usually a pretty seamless affair, maybe never more so than when Col. Greg Otey passed the 19th Airlift Wing’s guidon to Col. Mike Minihan on Aug. 2.
Two big, affable men who have worked together and even slept in the same tent while serving as commanders in “the sandbox,” they are friends, Minihan said Tuesday.
Otey left after 19 months for a Pentagon assignment as division chief at Air Force headquarters.
Although Otey serves the joint chiefs, he is not part of the Joint Command that Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Mon-day proposed to abolish.
Minihan said he has spent the last week immersed in the different aspects of thebase. “The enthusiasm and pride (here) are nothing short of inspirational,” he said. “These young kids really know how to get the job done.”
HERK DRIVER
He said “herk drivers” always like to come back to Little Rock Air Force Base and he was thrilled to learn that the community had won the Abilene Trophy for 2009 as the most supportive Air Mobility Wing community.
He said now everybody in the AMC knows what a great community this is.
Minihan is impressed with growth in the area and on the base, including the new Joint Education Center, which Jacksonville residents taxed themselves to help pay for.
30 DAYS LEARNING
Minihan said he would spend the first 30 days learning the people, environment and mission.
“I don’t anticipate any large changes,” he said. “The wing has proven itself time and again.”
After that, he said he would put his own leadership style in action, “but along the same battle lines (as Otey) — mission, people, family and fun.”
It was obvious during the change-of-command ceremony that a great deal of friendship and respect exist between the two men.
“I met Col. Otey in 1993 (moving from) Pope Air Force Base to Little Rock. In 2003, we deployed and worked together. He was the squadron commander and I was one of his operations officers. We slept in the same tent. He was a phenomenal mentor.
He’s partially responsible for my being here.”
HEART OF A TEACHER
He called Otey “a gracious leader with the heart of a teacher.”
Minihan lived in Sherwood prior to assignment to base housing and married the former Ashley Mixon while here. They have three children, Adair, Mikey and Marley, and is the son of (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Kenneth and Barbara Minihan.
The three Minihan children go to school in Little Rock. Adair, the oldest, will be a sophomore at Little Rock Central, Mikey, 11, will attend the Lisa Academy North and Marley, 6, is going into first grade at the Lisa Academy.
“We are big fans of public schools,” he said, but particularly with Adair, wanted to assure a smooth transition when the family leaves in two years, to her senior year at some as-of-yet unknown location. “My daughter is on her eighth school, he said.
“I want to carry on where the Oteys left off,” he said. “I want to partner with the local community and provide a world class education for the sons and daughters of airmen.”
BEAT CANCER HERE
A marriage wasn’t the only life-changing event for Minihan when he first came to Little Rock AFB.
He learned to fly the C-130 Hercules and how to lead here, and he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer by a flight surgeon at what was then the base hospital.
He underwent two operations and radiation treatments here and recovered from the cancer.
As far as personal challenges, Minihan said he’d been “out of the C-130 business for four years, three with the Army and with the Strategic Air Command. Here I’ll get back in the tactical airlift business.”
Challenges facing the wing are increased mission set and infrastructure, including base housing.
Problems with privatization of housing plagued the base until Hunt-Pinnacle bought the contract from a failed developer.
“I’m going to be paying a lot of attention there,” he said.
He described the existing partnership with the 314th Air Education Wing and the National Guard’s 189th Air Wing as “thriving.”
“It is an honor to be here, to not only serve with the airmen — and when I say airmen, I’m talking active duty, Reserve, Guard, civilians, contractors, retirees — to serve here again is just a real treat for me — to partner with an award-wining community to make sure our airmen have everything they need to thrive,” Minihan said.
“I look forward to carrying the ball forward, where Col. Otey left off,” he said. “And to spending two long years enjoying my time here at Little Rock.”
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
SPORTS>>Summertime still beckons despite heat
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
“Oh, it’s not that hot out there — you’re just being a teeny baby.”
Those were the words from my grandma Bill to me about 30 years ago. It was the summer of 1980, I was seven years old, and yes, it was HOT outside.
But my dear old grandmother was right. I stayed in the heat, drank plenty of Kool-aid (we had no idea what Gatorade was in Floyd back in those days) and got acclimated enough to enjoy an adventure-filled summer of getting beaten up by my brother
Mike and being chased across the yard by my water pistol-wielding cousins.
Ah, the good times — the painful, humiliating good times we had.
I bring that up to remind you that in spite of the triple-digit temperatures we are currently experiencing, the window for getting outdoors and pursuing summertime fun is quickly closing. Before you know it, October will be here with its chilly mornings and evenings, and out will come the jackets and long-sleeve shirts.
Some people can’t get out because of health conditions, which is completely understandable. But for those of you who are sequestered indoors 24 hours a day simply because you don’t want to get hot, refer back to the first line of this column.
There’s plenty to do outside, and some of it can even be done in the shade.
The most obvious activity is fishing. Now, I’m no expert angler. In fact, I have about as much luck with fishing as Leader sports editor Todd Traub has with women.
But then again, I’ve never had a rainbow trout call the police on me and file a restraining order, so maybe it’s not quite that bad.
There are plenty of places to fish in this area, and plenty of different types of fish to pursue. Leader sales executive John Henderson, our resident fishing expert, recommends finding places for fishing which have brushy areas, and also said the end of the month will be good for catfish.
If trout fishing is more your style, the Little Red River is a great year-round getaway.
But fishing can also be done after cooler weather sets in. For me, summer is all about swimming at the lake.
Now, in my younger days, that meant a trip to Greers Ferry Lake in Heber Springs, but more recently, I’ve enjoyed semi-frequent trips to Indian Lake here in the Cabot area. It’s closer, less crowded, and now you can even eat a home-cooked breakfast on the deck of the owner’s house.
If the lake is not your style, there are also plenty of public pools in the area. That’s more for the kiddos, but the Jacksonville Community Center also has a pool that people of all ages use, and that one is even indoors.
Another of my favorite summertime activities is hiking, but that one is only for the bravest of souls.
This activity, more than any of the others listed above, requires a bit of precaution simply because it is easy to get stranded without water or communication. I strongly suggest places specifically designed for hiking such as Sugarloaf or Pinnacle mountains.
Those walks in the deep country can end in misfortune, and if you inadvertently end up on the wrong person’s property, it can end with someone playing a banjo while his buddy encourages you to make livestock sounds. Talk about your summertime blues!
Someone less adventurous but still fitness oriented can simply go to any of the area high schools and walk on their tracks. You might even get to take in a morning or afternoon football practice if you time it right.
But that’s only scratching the surface.
Space does not permit me to get into those cutthroat badminton tournaments going on across central Arkansas, not to mention the Jacksonville Sand Volleyball League. That is a recreation league, which plays volleyball matches at Foxwood every Wednesday night, and is run by none other than Steve Evans from Jacksonville Guitar.
So, if you happen to get burned out on volleyball, you could always ask Steve about the times he met Willie Nelson or that goofy Elvis impersonator guy.
But whatever you do, get out there and enjoy the summertime we have left. Because this last month or so of sleeveless-shirt, flip-flop wearing, dive board-springing weather will be gone before you know it.
Leader sportswriter
“Oh, it’s not that hot out there — you’re just being a teeny baby.”
Those were the words from my grandma Bill to me about 30 years ago. It was the summer of 1980, I was seven years old, and yes, it was HOT outside.
But my dear old grandmother was right. I stayed in the heat, drank plenty of Kool-aid (we had no idea what Gatorade was in Floyd back in those days) and got acclimated enough to enjoy an adventure-filled summer of getting beaten up by my brother
Mike and being chased across the yard by my water pistol-wielding cousins.
Ah, the good times — the painful, humiliating good times we had.
I bring that up to remind you that in spite of the triple-digit temperatures we are currently experiencing, the window for getting outdoors and pursuing summertime fun is quickly closing. Before you know it, October will be here with its chilly mornings and evenings, and out will come the jackets and long-sleeve shirts.
Some people can’t get out because of health conditions, which is completely understandable. But for those of you who are sequestered indoors 24 hours a day simply because you don’t want to get hot, refer back to the first line of this column.
There’s plenty to do outside, and some of it can even be done in the shade.
The most obvious activity is fishing. Now, I’m no expert angler. In fact, I have about as much luck with fishing as Leader sports editor Todd Traub has with women.
But then again, I’ve never had a rainbow trout call the police on me and file a restraining order, so maybe it’s not quite that bad.
There are plenty of places to fish in this area, and plenty of different types of fish to pursue. Leader sales executive John Henderson, our resident fishing expert, recommends finding places for fishing which have brushy areas, and also said the end of the month will be good for catfish.
If trout fishing is more your style, the Little Red River is a great year-round getaway.
But fishing can also be done after cooler weather sets in. For me, summer is all about swimming at the lake.
Now, in my younger days, that meant a trip to Greers Ferry Lake in Heber Springs, but more recently, I’ve enjoyed semi-frequent trips to Indian Lake here in the Cabot area. It’s closer, less crowded, and now you can even eat a home-cooked breakfast on the deck of the owner’s house.
If the lake is not your style, there are also plenty of public pools in the area. That’s more for the kiddos, but the Jacksonville Community Center also has a pool that people of all ages use, and that one is even indoors.
Another of my favorite summertime activities is hiking, but that one is only for the bravest of souls.
This activity, more than any of the others listed above, requires a bit of precaution simply because it is easy to get stranded without water or communication. I strongly suggest places specifically designed for hiking such as Sugarloaf or Pinnacle mountains.
Those walks in the deep country can end in misfortune, and if you inadvertently end up on the wrong person’s property, it can end with someone playing a banjo while his buddy encourages you to make livestock sounds. Talk about your summertime blues!
Someone less adventurous but still fitness oriented can simply go to any of the area high schools and walk on their tracks. You might even get to take in a morning or afternoon football practice if you time it right.
But that’s only scratching the surface.
Space does not permit me to get into those cutthroat badminton tournaments going on across central Arkansas, not to mention the Jacksonville Sand Volleyball League. That is a recreation league, which plays volleyball matches at Foxwood every Wednesday night, and is run by none other than Steve Evans from Jacksonville Guitar.
So, if you happen to get burned out on volleyball, you could always ask Steve about the times he met Willie Nelson or that goofy Elvis impersonator guy.
But whatever you do, get out there and enjoy the summertime we have left. Because this last month or so of sleeveless-shirt, flip-flop wearing, dive board-springing weather will be gone before you know it.
SPORTS>>Running back not a worry for Devils
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.
But Russell said there is still plenty of work to be done with the start of the season now less than three weeks away. The Devils have one full scrimmage under their belts, with plenty more to go in the coming week.
“It’s been better than I expected,” Russell said. “That heat, we had to be cautious with them and give them frequent breaks, but the effort, the intensity and concentration has been real good. I thought we had a real successful first week.”
The Red Devils have managed the heat well, with the exception of some scary moments for Fletcher Berkley, who had a couple of heat-related spells but has been treated and made a full recovery.
“It’s been a toll on everyone — it’s been a toll on me, it’s tough,” Russell said. “Yesterday until about 11, it was all go. And then it just seemed like it hit us all in the top of the head.”
In a new wrinkle, the Red Devils have two female players on the roster. Juniors Sarah Moncrief, a lineman, and Taylor Ruple, a kicker, have been practicing with the team since the first of August.
Moncrief, an advanced-placement student and transfer from North Pulaski, has been trying out for spots on the offensive and defensive line. Russell recruited Ruple, a standout on the Lady Red Devils’ soccer team, to try out for junior-varsity kicking duties this season.
“We heard she could kick, and we talked to her,” Russell said. “If they want to play, we’re going to take every precaution to get them out there. And the guys have really helped the situation.
“There were some concerns early with how the logistics of it would work — dress facilities and all this stuff, but we worked all that out, and everything’s going good.”
Russell said the defense has installed about 60 to 70 percent of its formations and plays. There are still a lot of vacant spots, which Russell said would be filled once everyone is evaluated and put at the most suitable spot.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea,” Russell said. “We’ve only had one major scrimmage. We’re getting a picture on defense of where the guys are fitting. Right now, we’ve got a strong safety that might be better at free safety, or an inside linebacker that might be a better outside linebacker, or vice-versa.
“That’s what we’re really trying to put the pieces together right now, putting them in the right positions based on their athletic ability.”
One position that appears set is running back. With proven seniors Antwon Mosby and John Johnson returning, as well as some talented underclassmen, the ground attack appears to be in good shape as the Red Devils transition from the Spread to a run-oriented offense.
“The offensive backfield, right now, is kind of by committee,” Russell said. “That’s a good thing to have, but it’s hard for coaches to figure out what player fits in which group.”
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.
But Russell said there is still plenty of work to be done with the start of the season now less than three weeks away. The Devils have one full scrimmage under their belts, with plenty more to go in the coming week.
“It’s been better than I expected,” Russell said. “That heat, we had to be cautious with them and give them frequent breaks, but the effort, the intensity and concentration has been real good. I thought we had a real successful first week.”
The Red Devils have managed the heat well, with the exception of some scary moments for Fletcher Berkley, who had a couple of heat-related spells but has been treated and made a full recovery.
“It’s been a toll on everyone — it’s been a toll on me, it’s tough,” Russell said. “Yesterday until about 11, it was all go. And then it just seemed like it hit us all in the top of the head.”
In a new wrinkle, the Red Devils have two female players on the roster. Juniors Sarah Moncrief, a lineman, and Taylor Ruple, a kicker, have been practicing with the team since the first of August.
Moncrief, an advanced-placement student and transfer from North Pulaski, has been trying out for spots on the offensive and defensive line. Russell recruited Ruple, a standout on the Lady Red Devils’ soccer team, to try out for junior-varsity kicking duties this season.
“We heard she could kick, and we talked to her,” Russell said. “If they want to play, we’re going to take every precaution to get them out there. And the guys have really helped the situation.
“There were some concerns early with how the logistics of it would work — dress facilities and all this stuff, but we worked all that out, and everything’s going good.”
Russell said the defense has installed about 60 to 70 percent of its formations and plays. There are still a lot of vacant spots, which Russell said would be filled once everyone is evaluated and put at the most suitable spot.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea,” Russell said. “We’ve only had one major scrimmage. We’re getting a picture on defense of where the guys are fitting. Right now, we’ve got a strong safety that might be better at free safety, or an inside linebacker that might be a better outside linebacker, or vice-versa.
“That’s what we’re really trying to put the pieces together right now, putting them in the right positions based on their athletic ability.”
One position that appears set is running back. With proven seniors Antwon Mosby and John Johnson returning, as well as some talented underclassmen, the ground attack appears to be in good shape as the Red Devils transition from the Spread to a run-oriented offense.
“The offensive backfield, right now, is kind of by committee,” Russell said. “That’s a good thing to have, but it’s hard for coaches to figure out what player fits in which group.”
SPORTS>>Running back not a worry for Devils
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.
But Russell said there is still plenty of work to be done with the start of the season now less than three weeks away. The Devils have one full scrimmage under their belts, with plenty more to go in the coming week.
“It’s been better than I expected,” Russell said. “That heat, we had to be cautious with them and give them frequent breaks, but the effort, the intensity and concentration has been real good. I thought we had a real successful first week.”
The Red Devils have managed the heat well, with the exception of some scary moments for Fletcher Berkley, who had a couple of heat-related spells but has been treated and made a full recovery.
“It’s been a toll on everyone — it’s been a toll on me, it’s tough,” Russell said. “Yesterday until about 11, it was all go. And then it just seemed like it hit us all in the top of the head.”
In a new wrinkle, the Red Devils have two female players on the roster. Juniors Sarah Moncrief, a lineman, and Taylor Ruple, a kicker, have been practicing with the team since the first of August.
Moncrief, an advanced-placement student and transfer from North Pulaski, has been trying out for spots on the offensive and defensive line. Russell recruited Ruple, a standout on the Lady Red Devils’ soccer team, to try out for junior-varsity kicking duties this season.
“We heard she could kick, and we talked to her,” Russell said. “If they want to play, we’re going to take every precaution to get them out there. And the guys have really helped the situation.
“There were some concerns early with how the logistics of it would work — dress facilities and all this stuff, but we worked all that out, and everything’s going good.”
Russell said the defense has installed about 60 to 70 percent of its formations and plays. There are still a lot of vacant spots, which Russell said would be filled once everyone is evaluated and put at the most suitable spot.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea,” Russell said. “We’ve only had one major scrimmage. We’re getting a picture on defense of where the guys are fitting. Right now, we’ve got a strong safety that might be better at free safety, or an inside linebacker that might be a better outside linebacker, or vice-versa.
“That’s what we’re really trying to put the pieces together right now, putting them in the right positions based on their athletic ability.”
One position that appears set is running back. With proven seniors Antwon Mosby and John Johnson returning, as well as some talented underclassmen, the ground attack appears to be in good shape as the Red Devils transition from the Spread to a run-oriented offense.
“The offensive backfield, right now, is kind of by committee,” Russell said. “That’s a good thing to have, but it’s hard for coaches to figure out what player fits in which group.”
Leader sportswriter
Jacksonville’s second week of August practice has exceeded new coach Rick Russell’s expectations.
But Russell said there is still plenty of work to be done with the start of the season now less than three weeks away. The Devils have one full scrimmage under their belts, with plenty more to go in the coming week.
“It’s been better than I expected,” Russell said. “That heat, we had to be cautious with them and give them frequent breaks, but the effort, the intensity and concentration has been real good. I thought we had a real successful first week.”
The Red Devils have managed the heat well, with the exception of some scary moments for Fletcher Berkley, who had a couple of heat-related spells but has been treated and made a full recovery.
“It’s been a toll on everyone — it’s been a toll on me, it’s tough,” Russell said. “Yesterday until about 11, it was all go. And then it just seemed like it hit us all in the top of the head.”
In a new wrinkle, the Red Devils have two female players on the roster. Juniors Sarah Moncrief, a lineman, and Taylor Ruple, a kicker, have been practicing with the team since the first of August.
Moncrief, an advanced-placement student and transfer from North Pulaski, has been trying out for spots on the offensive and defensive line. Russell recruited Ruple, a standout on the Lady Red Devils’ soccer team, to try out for junior-varsity kicking duties this season.
“We heard she could kick, and we talked to her,” Russell said. “If they want to play, we’re going to take every precaution to get them out there. And the guys have really helped the situation.
“There were some concerns early with how the logistics of it would work — dress facilities and all this stuff, but we worked all that out, and everything’s going good.”
Russell said the defense has installed about 60 to 70 percent of its formations and plays. There are still a lot of vacant spots, which Russell said would be filled once everyone is evaluated and put at the most suitable spot.
“We’ve got a pretty good idea,” Russell said. “We’ve only had one major scrimmage. We’re getting a picture on defense of where the guys are fitting. Right now, we’ve got a strong safety that might be better at free safety, or an inside linebacker that might be a better outside linebacker, or vice-versa.
“That’s what we’re really trying to put the pieces together right now, putting them in the right positions based on their athletic ability.”
One position that appears set is running back. With proven seniors Antwon Mosby and John Johnson returning, as well as some talented underclassmen, the ground attack appears to be in good shape as the Red Devils transition from the Spread to a run-oriented offense.
“The offensive backfield, right now, is kind of by committee,” Russell said. “That’s a good thing to have, but it’s hard for coaches to figure out what player fits in which group.”
SPORTS>>Limited supply of experience prime concern for Bears coach
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ tradition in athletics is pretty widely known.
But the feeling of leading a program steeped in tradition has escaped Bears coach Jim Withrow in the first week-and-a-half of August practice.
“It’s just like having an expansion team,” Withrow said of his inexperienced group. “There’s a lot of talent, just not that much experience. I like the group that we have, but right now, we’re just trying to get better from one practice to the next. We were a lot better on Friday than we were on Monday.”
Withrow made strides last week in his task of virtually rebuilding the offense and replacing the entire linebacker group from a year ago. Leading quarterback candidate Michael Maddox shone in the Friday afternoon scrimmage, as did fullback Greg Atchinson.
Maddox’s highlight was a deep completion to Anthony Featherston.
The defense has made strides of its own, but is still behind compared to the offense.
“Offensively, we executed better,” Withrow said. “As far as the defense, just getting lined up is half the battle right now. And that’s a long and tedious process.”
The Bears relied heavily on their defense to carry them through a number of close, low-scoring games last year, but with all four linebackers from 2009 now gone, the middle has been the main focus of rebuilding.
“That makes it tough,” Withrow said. “One of the things when you have guys for a number of years is that you just expect them to be there. You forget that you’re going to have to replace them at some point.
“I like the guys we have in there right now — they’ve got good speed, strong guys and good athletes. Once they settle in and get some experience under their belts, we’ll be a lot better.”
The corps consists of a trio of juniors, including inside linebackers Demarcus Willis and Trey Sims. Outside linebacker Willie Johnson is the third junior and is joined by senior Nate Clark.
And there is good depth developing behind the starters. Offensive starters Justin Cook and Greg Atchinson will back up Johnson and Clark at outside linebacker, though Withrow wants to limit the amount of time they defense.
Withrow is working a pair of sophomores to back up the inside and said those players are also making progress.
The plan this week was for a scrimmage to test the first team defense Tuesday and the first offensive group Thursday. As far as the wrinkles Withrow is adding, he said the basics are what it’s all about until the players get more experience and a better feel of what to expect on Friday nights.
“If we get on the bus the right way and don’t leave anyone at home, I’m giving everyone high fives,” Withrow said. “Our numbers are good, and I like the direction we are headed, so if we don’t panic early on, we should be in good shape.”
The Bears will hold Thursday practice from 5-7 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. because of teachers’ meetings earlier on those days.
Leader sportswriter
Sylvan Hills’ tradition in athletics is pretty widely known.
But the feeling of leading a program steeped in tradition has escaped Bears coach Jim Withrow in the first week-and-a-half of August practice.
“It’s just like having an expansion team,” Withrow said of his inexperienced group. “There’s a lot of talent, just not that much experience. I like the group that we have, but right now, we’re just trying to get better from one practice to the next. We were a lot better on Friday than we were on Monday.”
Withrow made strides last week in his task of virtually rebuilding the offense and replacing the entire linebacker group from a year ago. Leading quarterback candidate Michael Maddox shone in the Friday afternoon scrimmage, as did fullback Greg Atchinson.
Maddox’s highlight was a deep completion to Anthony Featherston.
The defense has made strides of its own, but is still behind compared to the offense.
“Offensively, we executed better,” Withrow said. “As far as the defense, just getting lined up is half the battle right now. And that’s a long and tedious process.”
The Bears relied heavily on their defense to carry them through a number of close, low-scoring games last year, but with all four linebackers from 2009 now gone, the middle has been the main focus of rebuilding.
“That makes it tough,” Withrow said. “One of the things when you have guys for a number of years is that you just expect them to be there. You forget that you’re going to have to replace them at some point.
“I like the guys we have in there right now — they’ve got good speed, strong guys and good athletes. Once they settle in and get some experience under their belts, we’ll be a lot better.”
The corps consists of a trio of juniors, including inside linebackers Demarcus Willis and Trey Sims. Outside linebacker Willie Johnson is the third junior and is joined by senior Nate Clark.
And there is good depth developing behind the starters. Offensive starters Justin Cook and Greg Atchinson will back up Johnson and Clark at outside linebacker, though Withrow wants to limit the amount of time they defense.
Withrow is working a pair of sophomores to back up the inside and said those players are also making progress.
The plan this week was for a scrimmage to test the first team defense Tuesday and the first offensive group Thursday. As far as the wrinkles Withrow is adding, he said the basics are what it’s all about until the players get more experience and a better feel of what to expect on Friday nights.
“If we get on the bus the right way and don’t leave anyone at home, I’m giving everyone high fives,” Withrow said. “Our numbers are good, and I like the direction we are headed, so if we don’t panic early on, we should be in good shape.”
The Bears will hold Thursday practice from 5-7 p.m. and Friday from 4-6 p.m. because of teachers’ meetings earlier on those days.
SPORTS>>Quarterbacks dueling at Lonoke
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
A shorter practice at Lonoke on Tuesday did not make for less activity.
In fact, it may have been one of the most productive days in the first two weeks of August camp for the Jackrabbits.
Head coach Doug Bost and the Lonoke staff held an abbreviated practice Tuesday morning before they were scheduled to take part in teachers’ meetings on the Harding University campus in Searcy.
Things concluded with a brief running drill just after 10 a.m., but the squad found plenty of time for two separate offensive drills and considerable special-teams work.
“This is the first day we’ve worked on special teams,” Bost said. “We went a good hour and 20 minutes, and went through every aspect of special teams. We know how important that is.
“We give kids a chance who maybe aren’t playing offense or defense, but have been working hard and showing us they want to play. We try to find a spot for them on special teams, so today was a good day to work on that.”
Lonoke’s trio of tailback candidates practiced handoff plays while the receivers caught passes from dueling quarterbacks Logan Dewhitt and Tarrell Watson.
“We’ve got a good quarterback battle going on,” Bost said. “We’re switching them in and out, so we’ll see how that plays out.
One does one thing good, and the other doessomething else good, and that’s why I’m giving them a fair share of reps here.
“It’s just even right now, I don’t know.”
One of the tallest orders for Bost has been to replace all-state tailback Brandon Smith. Juniors Keli Bryant and T.J. Scott, and sophomore Dre Offord have all spent time in that spot, and Bost said all three have excelled and that he has not ruled out the possibility of rotating all three.
There will not be a similar rotation at quarterback, however. Bost said one of the two would eventually earn the starting job before camp is over because he wants to give the starter time to get in synch with the receivers. But with the entire offensive scheme in place and 90 percent of the defense, the ’Rabbits are almost at the fine-tuning stage.
“We got the whole offense in after today,” Bost said. “We’ve got three weeks before we play, now it’s just keep running, doing the reps over and over and get everybody used to it.”
T.J. Scott, along with his duties at running back, will serve as place kicker for the Jackrabbits.
He was solid in short distance field-goal drills Tuesday, hitting 7 of 8 attempts from both hash marks and the middle of the field.
“The thing we’re really working hard with him this year is if we can get him to kick it in the end zone,” Bost said. “That’s a 60-yard kick, that’s tough, but he’s got plenty of power. He’s really practiced his field goals; we feel good about that.”
Lonoke almost got through the first week of practice injury free, but senior receiver Scott Smith broke his collarbone making an athletic catch in the final 10 minutes of Friday’s practice.
“It was a beautiful catch, but he broke his collarbone,” Bost said. “He’s going to be out five weeks, so we’re expecting him to be ready to play the third game against McGehee. I know it’s disappointing to him, but he knows it’s five weeks and he’s back in the game, so he’ll be alright.”
Leader sportswriter
A shorter practice at Lonoke on Tuesday did not make for less activity.
In fact, it may have been one of the most productive days in the first two weeks of August camp for the Jackrabbits.
Head coach Doug Bost and the Lonoke staff held an abbreviated practice Tuesday morning before they were scheduled to take part in teachers’ meetings on the Harding University campus in Searcy.
Things concluded with a brief running drill just after 10 a.m., but the squad found plenty of time for two separate offensive drills and considerable special-teams work.
“This is the first day we’ve worked on special teams,” Bost said. “We went a good hour and 20 minutes, and went through every aspect of special teams. We know how important that is.
“We give kids a chance who maybe aren’t playing offense or defense, but have been working hard and showing us they want to play. We try to find a spot for them on special teams, so today was a good day to work on that.”
Lonoke’s trio of tailback candidates practiced handoff plays while the receivers caught passes from dueling quarterbacks Logan Dewhitt and Tarrell Watson.
“We’ve got a good quarterback battle going on,” Bost said. “We’re switching them in and out, so we’ll see how that plays out.
One does one thing good, and the other doessomething else good, and that’s why I’m giving them a fair share of reps here.
“It’s just even right now, I don’t know.”
One of the tallest orders for Bost has been to replace all-state tailback Brandon Smith. Juniors Keli Bryant and T.J. Scott, and sophomore Dre Offord have all spent time in that spot, and Bost said all three have excelled and that he has not ruled out the possibility of rotating all three.
There will not be a similar rotation at quarterback, however. Bost said one of the two would eventually earn the starting job before camp is over because he wants to give the starter time to get in synch with the receivers. But with the entire offensive scheme in place and 90 percent of the defense, the ’Rabbits are almost at the fine-tuning stage.
“We got the whole offense in after today,” Bost said. “We’ve got three weeks before we play, now it’s just keep running, doing the reps over and over and get everybody used to it.”
T.J. Scott, along with his duties at running back, will serve as place kicker for the Jackrabbits.
He was solid in short distance field-goal drills Tuesday, hitting 7 of 8 attempts from both hash marks and the middle of the field.
“The thing we’re really working hard with him this year is if we can get him to kick it in the end zone,” Bost said. “That’s a 60-yard kick, that’s tough, but he’s got plenty of power. He’s really practiced his field goals; we feel good about that.”
Lonoke almost got through the first week of practice injury free, but senior receiver Scott Smith broke his collarbone making an athletic catch in the final 10 minutes of Friday’s practice.
“It was a beautiful catch, but he broke his collarbone,” Bost said. “He’s going to be out five weeks, so we’re expecting him to be ready to play the third game against McGehee. I know it’s disappointing to him, but he knows it’s five weeks and he’s back in the game, so he’ll be alright.”
SPORTS>>Panthers try to line it up
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Cabot is pretty sure who its quarterback is going to be.
The concern is who is going to block for him.
Coach Mike Malham said after practice Monday that Zach Craig, who has been working with Bryson Morris and Zach Brown at the position, would likely be the quarterback when Cabot opens the season against Jacksonville at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31.
Craig, who transferred from Monticello as a freshman and is blessed with the strongest arm, has improved his grasp of Cabot’s Dead-T offense and in running the option. It has helped Craig’s chances that Morris and Brown are needed in the secondary.
“He has a better arm and he’s getting better,” Malham said of Craig. “He’s running the option better. He’s a big kid, 6-2, about 195-pounder and he runs hard. He’s not as fast as I’d like him to be; he’s about a 4.85 somewhere in there.
“But he does things right and right now he’s got the edge because Bryson Morris and Zack Brown will probablybe starting in the secondary for us.”
Of equal concern to Malham is the offensive line. Among the 13 starters lost from last year’s team that reached the 7A state semifinals, three played up front.
Malham is looking at senior Tyler Tarrant to fill the vacant right guard spot while juniors David Boatright and Hayden Studdard are in the hunt to start at left and right tackle, respectively.
Tarrant, 5-11, 225 pounds, had a solid spring, Malham said.
“He’s got a chance to be pretty good, he’s come a long way,” Malham said.
Boatright, at 6-2, 270 pounds, is one of Cabot’s biggest available linemen.
“I don’t think he knows how good he can be yet,” Malham said. “He’s still feeling his way but he’s got good feet and we think he’s going to be a good one.”
Studdard is on the small side at 5-8, 203 pounds, but Malham said he liked his strength and quickness.
“He’s still not as aggressive as we want,” Malham said. “He’s a little hesitant and is feeling his way a little.”
Cabot is set at center, with senior David Young back, and at left guard with senior Nathan Cash. Tight ends Rod Quinn, last year’s leading receiver with 11 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown, and senior Jesse Roberts round out the line.
What concerns Malham is the offensive line’s depth. Behind the starters there just isn’t much to work with, he said.
“Right now, if something happened to one of our starters what we have to put in behind them isn’t what we’re accustomed to right now,” Malham said. “We’re not very deep.”
Malham acknowledged that it’s a little late to develop depth, something the Panthers tried to do in the spring.
“We worked on it last spring with the varsity and none of the others stepped up, which hurts you a little bit when there’s not hard competition for your starting spots,” Malham said.
“So now we’re looking at some sophomores, maybe one or two of those can step up but I really don’t see that right now. It’s thin.
“And it’s really, on both sides of the ball, it’s pretty thin.”
Cabot is a preseason middle-of-the- pack selection in the new 7A/6A-Central. The Panthers were 9-1 with their only loss to the Bryant Hornets on the way to winning the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central last year.
“We’re just trying to get a lot of reps,” Malham said. “We’ve got a lot of holes on defense. Offensively, our line, we’re trying to get three new guys ready to play on the offensive line. New quarterback. We’ve got a lot of reps on just fundamentals, doing the little things right.
“Just rep, rep, rep. Keep it simple, don’t try to overdo it. Learn something and then if we learn something well we can move on maybe to something else.”
The Panthers will have their picture/media day on Aug. 19 and will scrimmage Lake Hamilton on Aug. 23.
The Red/White game is scheduled for Aug. 27.
The season opener with Jacksonville is a non-conference game. Cabot opens its home schedule Sept. 17 against Springdale Har-Ber, which knocked the Panthers out of last year’s playoffs.
Leader sports editor
Cabot is pretty sure who its quarterback is going to be.
The concern is who is going to block for him.
Coach Mike Malham said after practice Monday that Zach Craig, who has been working with Bryson Morris and Zach Brown at the position, would likely be the quarterback when Cabot opens the season against Jacksonville at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium on Aug. 31.
Craig, who transferred from Monticello as a freshman and is blessed with the strongest arm, has improved his grasp of Cabot’s Dead-T offense and in running the option. It has helped Craig’s chances that Morris and Brown are needed in the secondary.
“He has a better arm and he’s getting better,” Malham said of Craig. “He’s running the option better. He’s a big kid, 6-2, about 195-pounder and he runs hard. He’s not as fast as I’d like him to be; he’s about a 4.85 somewhere in there.
“But he does things right and right now he’s got the edge because Bryson Morris and Zack Brown will probablybe starting in the secondary for us.”
Of equal concern to Malham is the offensive line. Among the 13 starters lost from last year’s team that reached the 7A state semifinals, three played up front.
Malham is looking at senior Tyler Tarrant to fill the vacant right guard spot while juniors David Boatright and Hayden Studdard are in the hunt to start at left and right tackle, respectively.
Tarrant, 5-11, 225 pounds, had a solid spring, Malham said.
“He’s got a chance to be pretty good, he’s come a long way,” Malham said.
Boatright, at 6-2, 270 pounds, is one of Cabot’s biggest available linemen.
“I don’t think he knows how good he can be yet,” Malham said. “He’s still feeling his way but he’s got good feet and we think he’s going to be a good one.”
Studdard is on the small side at 5-8, 203 pounds, but Malham said he liked his strength and quickness.
“He’s still not as aggressive as we want,” Malham said. “He’s a little hesitant and is feeling his way a little.”
Cabot is set at center, with senior David Young back, and at left guard with senior Nathan Cash. Tight ends Rod Quinn, last year’s leading receiver with 11 catches for 181 yards and a touchdown, and senior Jesse Roberts round out the line.
What concerns Malham is the offensive line’s depth. Behind the starters there just isn’t much to work with, he said.
“Right now, if something happened to one of our starters what we have to put in behind them isn’t what we’re accustomed to right now,” Malham said. “We’re not very deep.”
Malham acknowledged that it’s a little late to develop depth, something the Panthers tried to do in the spring.
“We worked on it last spring with the varsity and none of the others stepped up, which hurts you a little bit when there’s not hard competition for your starting spots,” Malham said.
“So now we’re looking at some sophomores, maybe one or two of those can step up but I really don’t see that right now. It’s thin.
“And it’s really, on both sides of the ball, it’s pretty thin.”
Cabot is a preseason middle-of-the- pack selection in the new 7A/6A-Central. The Panthers were 9-1 with their only loss to the Bryant Hornets on the way to winning the No. 1 seed from the 7A-Central last year.
“We’re just trying to get a lot of reps,” Malham said. “We’ve got a lot of holes on defense. Offensively, our line, we’re trying to get three new guys ready to play on the offensive line. New quarterback. We’ve got a lot of reps on just fundamentals, doing the little things right.
“Just rep, rep, rep. Keep it simple, don’t try to overdo it. Learn something and then if we learn something well we can move on maybe to something else.”
The Panthers will have their picture/media day on Aug. 19 and will scrimmage Lake Hamilton on Aug. 23.
The Red/White game is scheduled for Aug. 27.
The season opener with Jacksonville is a non-conference game. Cabot opens its home schedule Sept. 17 against Springdale Har-Ber, which knocked the Panthers out of last year’s playoffs.
Monday, August 09, 2010
TOP STORY >> Road repairs continue near Cabot schools
IN SHORT: Work crews hurry up with turn lanes and other improvements to make traffic flow better in growing city.
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
School starts in less than two weeks and workers are busy in Cabot on road projects to ease traffic congestion.
The work in progress includes a turn lane at Hwy. 321 and Kerr Station Road for Middle School South, a drop-off lane behind Southside Elementary to get school traffic off Hwy. 89 and completion of the roads for Mountain Springs Elementary, the new school that opens this term.
“We’re excited about getting these projects done before school starts to alleviate some of the traffic,” Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said.
Jerrel Maxwell, head of Cabot Public Works, said Friday that the turn lane at Hwy. 321 and Kerr is costing the city about $35,000. But the drop-off lane behind Southside isn’t costing the city anything. The city had to approve the work, being done by Tony Taylor, he said. But the school district is paying for it.
Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman said his workers are building a turn lane at Mt. Springs Road in front of the new elementary that will be completed by the time school starts.
“The schools and cities are all part of the county,” Troutman said. “It’s a safety issue with the buses turning.”
Troutman said he hasn’t figured the cost of the job. The money for the labor and materials came from his bridge and road budget, he said.
“If I have the money, I do the work,” he said.
Maxwell was hopeful that a traffic light at the intersection of Locust Street and Hwy. 367 would be in place be the time school starts Aug. 19, but Randy Ort, spokesman for the state highway department says there is no way that will happen.
Locust is a shortcut between the high school and the freeway.
A project will go out to bid in September or November, Ort said.
“The irony is that once the contract is awarded, it’s going to be several months before it’s completed even though the actual work takes only a couple of weeks,” he said.
There is no stock traffic light system. Everything, including the arm that holds the light and the signal box, is manufactured after the contract is awarded, he said.
The light that will make crossing Hwy. 367 easier won’t be up by the time school starts this year, but it should be up before it starts next year, he said.
In recent years, traffic lights have averaged $100,000. But Ort said inflation has increased the cost. However the light should still be less than $150,000. The state is involved with the project only because it is on a state highway. The city will pay 20 percent of the cost and federal government will pay 80 percent, he said.
By JOAN McCOY
Leader staff writer
School starts in less than two weeks and workers are busy in Cabot on road projects to ease traffic congestion.
The work in progress includes a turn lane at Hwy. 321 and Kerr Station Road for Middle School South, a drop-off lane behind Southside Elementary to get school traffic off Hwy. 89 and completion of the roads for Mountain Springs Elementary, the new school that opens this term.
“We’re excited about getting these projects done before school starts to alleviate some of the traffic,” Mayor Eddie Joe Williams said.
Jerrel Maxwell, head of Cabot Public Works, said Friday that the turn lane at Hwy. 321 and Kerr is costing the city about $35,000. But the drop-off lane behind Southside isn’t costing the city anything. The city had to approve the work, being done by Tony Taylor, he said. But the school district is paying for it.
Lonoke County Judge Charlie Troutman said his workers are building a turn lane at Mt. Springs Road in front of the new elementary that will be completed by the time school starts.
“The schools and cities are all part of the county,” Troutman said. “It’s a safety issue with the buses turning.”
Troutman said he hasn’t figured the cost of the job. The money for the labor and materials came from his bridge and road budget, he said.
“If I have the money, I do the work,” he said.
Maxwell was hopeful that a traffic light at the intersection of Locust Street and Hwy. 367 would be in place be the time school starts Aug. 19, but Randy Ort, spokesman for the state highway department says there is no way that will happen.
Locust is a shortcut between the high school and the freeway.
A project will go out to bid in September or November, Ort said.
“The irony is that once the contract is awarded, it’s going to be several months before it’s completed even though the actual work takes only a couple of weeks,” he said.
There is no stock traffic light system. Everything, including the arm that holds the light and the signal box, is manufactured after the contract is awarded, he said.
The light that will make crossing Hwy. 367 easier won’t be up by the time school starts this year, but it should be up before it starts next year, he said.
In recent years, traffic lights have averaged $100,000. But Ort said inflation has increased the cost. However the light should still be less than $150,000. The state is involved with the project only because it is on a state highway. The city will pay 20 percent of the cost and federal government will pay 80 percent, he said.
Friday, August 06, 2010
SPORTS>>Lions have more roar, personnel
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Searcy will have a few more helping hands in its quest to return to football glory this season.
There were 70 players reporting for the first week of practice. Of those, 23 were seniors.
The total numbers are up 17 from the start of last season. Even with improved numbers, second-year coach Tim Harper wanted to see more.
“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t have a few more,” Harper said. “But we had several move off. Some even went as far as Pennsylvania, but we’re excited about the ones we do have.”
One player generating plenty of excitement is junior quarterback Dezmund Stegall, who started at the spot for Harper last year as a sophomore. Stegall finished seventh in the statewide Top-Gun quarterback competition last month, and was in position to win it all before a shaky final event dropped him from second to seventh.
Stegall, 6-2, 205 pounds, is a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and baseball and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds.
“He’s got a super strong arm,” Harper said. “He’s looked good all summer. He took all of our snaps for us over the summer in 7-on-7.”
Senior linebacker Mike Brown is generating equal buzz on the defense. Brown, 6-0, 220 pounds, has earned a number of preseason accolades from various media outlets.
He is leading the way on a defensive unit that turned out two college players from last year’s team, Patrick Bingham (Harding University) and linebacker Larry Kilpatrick (Arkansas Tech).
Harper has enjoyed the improved numbers, but the work ethic of the players has impressed him most.
“Honestly, I feel like we haven’t missed a beat from where we were last season and in the spring,” Harper said. “We’ve had a lot of commitment from the players, especially the ones we are counting on the most.”
All 23 seniors had perfect attendance at summer workouts except for one who missed a single practice and was excused, and attendance was perfect for the whole team during the first four days of August.
“They are being really coachable right now,” Harper said. “I hope we have the success that usually follows this much hard work and dedication. Usually if a group gives this much effort and dedication to something, good things follow, and I hope that turns out to be the case for us.”
In the spring of 2009, Harper took over a Lions team that had suffered five straight seasons of two victories or less. In his first year, the Lions won four games and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2003 as they equaled the total number of victories the previous four seasons under Bart McFarland.
“That was definitely one of our goals last year was to point the program in a different direction,” Harper said. “It wasn’t necessarily a coaching problem as it was a community problem. We worked on everything from the players’ work ethic to the parents’ commitment.
“All of those things had to change and not be just a one-year deal, to where success was not something we have every once in a while but rather something we expect.”
The Lions overcame a scary situation Wednesday when senior linebacker Charlie Birmingham went down with cramps following practice and had to be taken to the White County Medical Center emergency room. He was back at practice Thursday but watched from the shade.
Harper said Birmingham would be withheld from practice until Monday as a precaution.
“We’ve been very fortunate to not have more than that,” Harper said. “We’ve been the hottest town in the state.”
Leader sportswriter
Searcy will have a few more helping hands in its quest to return to football glory this season.
There were 70 players reporting for the first week of practice. Of those, 23 were seniors.
The total numbers are up 17 from the start of last season. Even with improved numbers, second-year coach Tim Harper wanted to see more.
“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t have a few more,” Harper said. “But we had several move off. Some even went as far as Pennsylvania, but we’re excited about the ones we do have.”
One player generating plenty of excitement is junior quarterback Dezmund Stegall, who started at the spot for Harper last year as a sophomore. Stegall finished seventh in the statewide Top-Gun quarterback competition last month, and was in position to win it all before a shaky final event dropped him from second to seventh.
Stegall, 6-2, 205 pounds, is a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and baseball and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.63 seconds.
“He’s got a super strong arm,” Harper said. “He’s looked good all summer. He took all of our snaps for us over the summer in 7-on-7.”
Senior linebacker Mike Brown is generating equal buzz on the defense. Brown, 6-0, 220 pounds, has earned a number of preseason accolades from various media outlets.
He is leading the way on a defensive unit that turned out two college players from last year’s team, Patrick Bingham (Harding University) and linebacker Larry Kilpatrick (Arkansas Tech).
Harper has enjoyed the improved numbers, but the work ethic of the players has impressed him most.
“Honestly, I feel like we haven’t missed a beat from where we were last season and in the spring,” Harper said. “We’ve had a lot of commitment from the players, especially the ones we are counting on the most.”
All 23 seniors had perfect attendance at summer workouts except for one who missed a single practice and was excused, and attendance was perfect for the whole team during the first four days of August.
“They are being really coachable right now,” Harper said. “I hope we have the success that usually follows this much hard work and dedication. Usually if a group gives this much effort and dedication to something, good things follow, and I hope that turns out to be the case for us.”
In the spring of 2009, Harper took over a Lions team that had suffered five straight seasons of two victories or less. In his first year, the Lions won four games and qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2003 as they equaled the total number of victories the previous four seasons under Bart McFarland.
“That was definitely one of our goals last year was to point the program in a different direction,” Harper said. “It wasn’t necessarily a coaching problem as it was a community problem. We worked on everything from the players’ work ethic to the parents’ commitment.
“All of those things had to change and not be just a one-year deal, to where success was not something we have every once in a while but rather something we expect.”
The Lions overcame a scary situation Wednesday when senior linebacker Charlie Birmingham went down with cramps following practice and had to be taken to the White County Medical Center emergency room. He was back at practice Thursday but watched from the shade.
Harper said Birmingham would be withheld from practice until Monday as a precaution.
“We’ve been very fortunate to not have more than that,” Harper said. “We’ve been the hottest town in the state.”
SPORTS>>Badgers are tackling two-a-days head on
By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Many high-school football coaches fight the dilemma of shrinking rosters once August two-a-days start.
So it was a bit of relief for Beebe coach John Shannon on Friday morning when he had a head count of 56.
The Badgers started quickly on their preparation for the season with true two-a-day workouts. The sessions start with weightlifting from 6-7 a.m., with an on-field defensive practice that runs from 7:30-9:30 a.m.
Afternoon practice runs from 1:30-3:30 p.m. with a focus on offense.
“We’re practicing twice a day and lifting weights before the first practice,” Shannon said. “We’re putting our kids through basically a three-a-days practice every day, and they’re working hard.”
Shannon has stressed the importance of hard work since taking over in 2007, and said the current group has bought in to his philosophy early on.
“I’m real pleased with the way the kids are working,” Shannon said. “It’s been extremely hot, and we haven’t missed a beat.
We’ve been going twice a day, and the kids have worked harder than probably they’ve ever worked.”
The first three days were pads-free as mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association, but the Badgers wasted little time once the pads went on with a full scrimmage Thursday afternoon.
“I thought it was one of the best scrimmages we’ve had since I’ve been here in three years,” Shannon said. “The kids are competing hard, and we’re excited about where we’re at right now.”
Shannon put an emphasis on workouts and training during the summer, which has resulted in the offensive and defensive schemes being fully up and running. Shannon is also pleased with senior leadership, something else he stresses.
“Our juniors from last year really started making that transition in the offseason,” Shannon said. “This summer, we also had a five-day team camp over at Conway, so they had a lot of opportunities to step into that leadership role. That kind of helps speed the process along.
“We feel like we’re further along than we’ve ever been this time of year simply because of the stuff we did this summer.”
The summer heat is an obvious hindrance, but Shannon said year-round workouts, along with a watchful eye from the team trainer, combats many of the issues related to overheating. The staff also has an unlimited supply of sports drinks available to the players.
“We had them all summer long,” Shannon said. “Football now is a year-round sport. It’s not like it was back when I was playing where you show up for the first day of two-a-days and you haven’t done anything all summer.
“They’ve been doing stuff all summer, so that helps tremendously. We have a full-time trainer, Justin Shipp, who does a great job with our kids. We weigh them before every practice, and then we weigh them after every practice. And if they don’t gain enough weight from one practice to the other, then we hold them out, because they’re at risk.”
Beebe is known for its Dead-T running attack, which Shannon said has already taken shape. Senior fullback Colby Taylor will be the workhorse runner, but senior quarterback Scot Gowen is not far behind in his scrambling abilities.
Shannon said Gowen was potentially the second best runner in a backfield that could include a rotation of up to four halfbacks, including Jay Holdway, Matt Pursell, Michael Kirby and Dalton Wallace.
“It’s shaping up pretty good,” Shannon said. “Colby Taylor is fullback this year, and he’s running better than I’ve ever seen him run right now. In the halfback spot, we’ve got about four kids that we feel comfortable enough to rotate in there and not miss a beat.”
Leader sportswriter
Many high-school football coaches fight the dilemma of shrinking rosters once August two-a-days start.
So it was a bit of relief for Beebe coach John Shannon on Friday morning when he had a head count of 56.
The Badgers started quickly on their preparation for the season with true two-a-day workouts. The sessions start with weightlifting from 6-7 a.m., with an on-field defensive practice that runs from 7:30-9:30 a.m.
Afternoon practice runs from 1:30-3:30 p.m. with a focus on offense.
“We’re practicing twice a day and lifting weights before the first practice,” Shannon said. “We’re putting our kids through basically a three-a-days practice every day, and they’re working hard.”
Shannon has stressed the importance of hard work since taking over in 2007, and said the current group has bought in to his philosophy early on.
“I’m real pleased with the way the kids are working,” Shannon said. “It’s been extremely hot, and we haven’t missed a beat.
We’ve been going twice a day, and the kids have worked harder than probably they’ve ever worked.”
The first three days were pads-free as mandated by the Arkansas Activities Association, but the Badgers wasted little time once the pads went on with a full scrimmage Thursday afternoon.
“I thought it was one of the best scrimmages we’ve had since I’ve been here in three years,” Shannon said. “The kids are competing hard, and we’re excited about where we’re at right now.”
Shannon put an emphasis on workouts and training during the summer, which has resulted in the offensive and defensive schemes being fully up and running. Shannon is also pleased with senior leadership, something else he stresses.
“Our juniors from last year really started making that transition in the offseason,” Shannon said. “This summer, we also had a five-day team camp over at Conway, so they had a lot of opportunities to step into that leadership role. That kind of helps speed the process along.
“We feel like we’re further along than we’ve ever been this time of year simply because of the stuff we did this summer.”
The summer heat is an obvious hindrance, but Shannon said year-round workouts, along with a watchful eye from the team trainer, combats many of the issues related to overheating. The staff also has an unlimited supply of sports drinks available to the players.
“We had them all summer long,” Shannon said. “Football now is a year-round sport. It’s not like it was back when I was playing where you show up for the first day of two-a-days and you haven’t done anything all summer.
“They’ve been doing stuff all summer, so that helps tremendously. We have a full-time trainer, Justin Shipp, who does a great job with our kids. We weigh them before every practice, and then we weigh them after every practice. And if they don’t gain enough weight from one practice to the other, then we hold them out, because they’re at risk.”
Beebe is known for its Dead-T running attack, which Shannon said has already taken shape. Senior fullback Colby Taylor will be the workhorse runner, but senior quarterback Scot Gowen is not far behind in his scrambling abilities.
Shannon said Gowen was potentially the second best runner in a backfield that could include a rotation of up to four halfbacks, including Jay Holdway, Matt Pursell, Michael Kirby and Dalton Wallace.
“It’s shaping up pretty good,” Shannon said. “Colby Taylor is fullback this year, and he’s running better than I’ve ever seen him run right now. In the halfback spot, we’ve got about four kids that we feel comfortable enough to rotate in there and not miss a beat.”
SPORTS>>Sun Belt kicks off big bash of decade
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sportswriter
It’s hard to believe the Sun Belt Conference is celebrating its 10th year of football.
For the past 10 years, most people have acted like they didn’t know the Sun Belt HAD a football conference.
Of course I know better than anyone how Arkansas State plays in the shadow of the Arkansas Razorbacks, having covered the Red Wolves for nine-plus years at the statewide daily.
And that goes a long way toward explaining why the Sun Belt just doesn’t seem to capture the imagination and dominate the collective consciousness of the nation’s sports fans. All of the conference’s teams, like Arkansas State, have to battle for attention with higher-profile programs.
Middle Tennessee is overshadowed by Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee, and North Texas has to contend with the likes of the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and so on.
Miami, Florida State and the University of Florida hoard the headlines from Sun Belt members Florida Atlantic and Florida International, and when people think college football in Louisiana they think first of the LSU Tigers and not the Ragin’ Cajuns of
Louisiana-Lafayette or the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe.
Like any football conference, the Sun Belt has had its share of comings and goings, additions and subtractions.
Founding members Idaho and New Mexico State are long gone, while the Sun Belt has welcomed Alabama-based Troy (overshadowed by Alabama and Auburn by the way), the two Florida schools and Western Kentucky.
But when such moves are made, they don’t tend to shake things up and have the kind of repercussions seen as when, say, Arkansas bolted from the Southwest Conference for the mighty SEC in 1990.
That defection pretty much spelled the end of the SWC, which finally disbanded in 1996. And people are still wondering how it’s all going to play out for the Big 12 now that Nebraska has left for the Big Ten and Texas has decided to stay, partially because of a new Big 12 TV deal that could pay the school up to $25 million a year.
Has anyone noticed, by the way, that the Big 12 has 10 teams and the Big Ten now has 12?
There are 11 conferences, including the Sun Belt, in the Bowl Championship Series that determine the national champion, or try to. But let’s face it, if you’re not Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10, SEC, ACC or Big East, you aren’t considered a traditional, major college player and your odds at winning a national crown are long at best.
But that doesn’t mean, just because you’re the Sun Belt, you can’t have a rich, football-playing tradition of your own. So, 10 years after the football wing of the Sun Belt was founded with Arkansas State, North Texas, New Mexico State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee and Idaho, the conference is asking each current member to submit its greatest players, plays and moments to help honor the occasion.
When the conference began, it sort of had to borrow its history from the incoming schools, shamelessly claiming North Texas’ Mean Joe Greene, for example, as a Sun Belt alumnus.
But the conference has had 10 years to come up with a history of its own, and I know I’ve certainly seen some of Arkansas State’s best times.
If I were in charge of submissions, I’d have to put forward as the greatest play, Corey Leonard’s last-second, 53-yard hail Mary to Patrick Higgins that beat Memphis 26-23 at Memphis in 2006.
The greatest moment would have to be when Antonio Warren shook off a bad ankle and cracked into the end zone late in the game against North Texas to give Arkansas State the most important share of the 2005 conference title and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.
The Sun Belt also wants to comprise an all-decade all-star team from the rolls of former all-conference players.
I won’t hog space trying to name a guy for every position, but certainly Arkansas State is proud of record-setting passer Cleo Lemon, safety Tyrell Johnson, defensive linemen Corey Williams and Jon Bradley, tight end David Johnson and defensive end Alex Carrington. All have gone on to the NFL, with Tyrell Johnson drafted in the second round and Carrington in the third.
Each of the Sun Belt’s nine football-playing schools has players and memories like these, and the schools didn’t have to be major factors in the BCS equation to do so.
In the long run, it turns out even college football’s have-nots are really haves.
Leader sportswriter
It’s hard to believe the Sun Belt Conference is celebrating its 10th year of football.
For the past 10 years, most people have acted like they didn’t know the Sun Belt HAD a football conference.
Of course I know better than anyone how Arkansas State plays in the shadow of the Arkansas Razorbacks, having covered the Red Wolves for nine-plus years at the statewide daily.
And that goes a long way toward explaining why the Sun Belt just doesn’t seem to capture the imagination and dominate the collective consciousness of the nation’s sports fans. All of the conference’s teams, like Arkansas State, have to battle for attention with higher-profile programs.
Middle Tennessee is overshadowed by Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee, and North Texas has to contend with the likes of the University of Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and so on.
Miami, Florida State and the University of Florida hoard the headlines from Sun Belt members Florida Atlantic and Florida International, and when people think college football in Louisiana they think first of the LSU Tigers and not the Ragin’ Cajuns of
Louisiana-Lafayette or the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe.
Like any football conference, the Sun Belt has had its share of comings and goings, additions and subtractions.
Founding members Idaho and New Mexico State are long gone, while the Sun Belt has welcomed Alabama-based Troy (overshadowed by Alabama and Auburn by the way), the two Florida schools and Western Kentucky.
But when such moves are made, they don’t tend to shake things up and have the kind of repercussions seen as when, say, Arkansas bolted from the Southwest Conference for the mighty SEC in 1990.
That defection pretty much spelled the end of the SWC, which finally disbanded in 1996. And people are still wondering how it’s all going to play out for the Big 12 now that Nebraska has left for the Big Ten and Texas has decided to stay, partially because of a new Big 12 TV deal that could pay the school up to $25 million a year.
Has anyone noticed, by the way, that the Big 12 has 10 teams and the Big Ten now has 12?
There are 11 conferences, including the Sun Belt, in the Bowl Championship Series that determine the national champion, or try to. But let’s face it, if you’re not Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10, SEC, ACC or Big East, you aren’t considered a traditional, major college player and your odds at winning a national crown are long at best.
But that doesn’t mean, just because you’re the Sun Belt, you can’t have a rich, football-playing tradition of your own. So, 10 years after the football wing of the Sun Belt was founded with Arkansas State, North Texas, New Mexico State, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee and Idaho, the conference is asking each current member to submit its greatest players, plays and moments to help honor the occasion.
When the conference began, it sort of had to borrow its history from the incoming schools, shamelessly claiming North Texas’ Mean Joe Greene, for example, as a Sun Belt alumnus.
But the conference has had 10 years to come up with a history of its own, and I know I’ve certainly seen some of Arkansas State’s best times.
If I were in charge of submissions, I’d have to put forward as the greatest play, Corey Leonard’s last-second, 53-yard hail Mary to Patrick Higgins that beat Memphis 26-23 at Memphis in 2006.
The greatest moment would have to be when Antonio Warren shook off a bad ankle and cracked into the end zone late in the game against North Texas to give Arkansas State the most important share of the 2005 conference title and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.
The Sun Belt also wants to comprise an all-decade all-star team from the rolls of former all-conference players.
I won’t hog space trying to name a guy for every position, but certainly Arkansas State is proud of record-setting passer Cleo Lemon, safety Tyrell Johnson, defensive linemen Corey Williams and Jon Bradley, tight end David Johnson and defensive end Alex Carrington. All have gone on to the NFL, with Tyrell Johnson drafted in the second round and Carrington in the third.
Each of the Sun Belt’s nine football-playing schools has players and memories like these, and the schools didn’t have to be major factors in the BCS equation to do so.
In the long run, it turns out even college football’s have-nots are really haves.
SPORTS>>Coach jumps to task for NP
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sportswriter
Coach Terrod Hatcher has had plenty to think about since North Pulaski began football practice.
But Hatcher hasn’t had room for himself in his thoughts.
Hatcher, 23, was hired at short notice as Falcons head coach to take over for departed coach Rick Russell, now across town at Jacksonville. Hatcher, promoted from offensive coordinator took the job with less than a week to go before practice started Monday.
Nearing the end of his first week, Hatcher said Friday morning the idea of being head coach still hadn’t taken hold.
“To be honest it hasn’t even really hit me,” he said. “I haven’t had time to really think about how I feel about being a head coach. I had to jump into it right away.
“Really, I was doing the same things I’ve been doing since spring football so it’s not that big a change.”
Counting heads, pushing papers, dealing with personnel, hiring a new assistant, fighting this week’s intense heat and installing offensive and defensive schemes have taken up most of Hatcher’s time.
In other words, he’s coaching.
“I’m very excited,” Hatcher said. “Today they were kind of sluggish. They were worn out from this week of practice. I was proud of their effort and I was proud of their conditioning, actually. They’re in better shape than I expected them to be.”
Hatcher said 42 players reported with few significant absences from the group that turned out in the spring.
“I’m satisfied. Of course you’d like to have 60, but I’m satisfied with what we have,” Hatcher said.
The Falcons welcomed one newcomer, Jacksonville transfer Christopher Griffin, who could be an asset in the defensive backfield, Hatcher said. Otherwise, the faces are familiar.
While the players reported in good shape, Hatcher wanted to focus on conditioning as much as the 100-degree heat would allow.
“We worked on position drills and getting the guys in shape,” he said of the early work schedule. “I didn’t want them to get out there and get them in pads and they die.”
Hatcher wasn’t joking. Like all programs in the area he has made allowances for the disagreeable weather, calling for frequent breaks out of the sun, pushing plenty of fluids and cold towels and urging the players to continue to hydrate and eat right at home.
“That is a huge concern,” Hatcher said.
Since he was named head coach, Hatcher hired a new defensive assistant, Bobby Vaughn, former ninth-grade head coach at Mills High School.
Vaughn and J.B. Pendergraft will serve as co-defensive coordinators, Hatcher said, and will be in charge of installing the Falcons’ 3-3 stack formation.
“Our main thing is stopping the run and that’s what we’re going to do,” Hatcher said. “We’re going to be physical, flying to the ball. That’s our goal.”
Offensively, as previously noted by Hatcher, North Pulaski will be more of a Spread team behind returning quarterback Shyheim Barron as it tries to reverse a losing trend in which it has won four games the past six years.
Leader sportswriter
Coach Terrod Hatcher has had plenty to think about since North Pulaski began football practice.
But Hatcher hasn’t had room for himself in his thoughts.
Hatcher, 23, was hired at short notice as Falcons head coach to take over for departed coach Rick Russell, now across town at Jacksonville. Hatcher, promoted from offensive coordinator took the job with less than a week to go before practice started Monday.
Nearing the end of his first week, Hatcher said Friday morning the idea of being head coach still hadn’t taken hold.
“To be honest it hasn’t even really hit me,” he said. “I haven’t had time to really think about how I feel about being a head coach. I had to jump into it right away.
“Really, I was doing the same things I’ve been doing since spring football so it’s not that big a change.”
Counting heads, pushing papers, dealing with personnel, hiring a new assistant, fighting this week’s intense heat and installing offensive and defensive schemes have taken up most of Hatcher’s time.
In other words, he’s coaching.
“I’m very excited,” Hatcher said. “Today they were kind of sluggish. They were worn out from this week of practice. I was proud of their effort and I was proud of their conditioning, actually. They’re in better shape than I expected them to be.”
Hatcher said 42 players reported with few significant absences from the group that turned out in the spring.
“I’m satisfied. Of course you’d like to have 60, but I’m satisfied with what we have,” Hatcher said.
The Falcons welcomed one newcomer, Jacksonville transfer Christopher Griffin, who could be an asset in the defensive backfield, Hatcher said. Otherwise, the faces are familiar.
While the players reported in good shape, Hatcher wanted to focus on conditioning as much as the 100-degree heat would allow.
“We worked on position drills and getting the guys in shape,” he said of the early work schedule. “I didn’t want them to get out there and get them in pads and they die.”
Hatcher wasn’t joking. Like all programs in the area he has made allowances for the disagreeable weather, calling for frequent breaks out of the sun, pushing plenty of fluids and cold towels and urging the players to continue to hydrate and eat right at home.
“That is a huge concern,” Hatcher said.
Since he was named head coach, Hatcher hired a new defensive assistant, Bobby Vaughn, former ninth-grade head coach at Mills High School.
Vaughn and J.B. Pendergraft will serve as co-defensive coordinators, Hatcher said, and will be in charge of installing the Falcons’ 3-3 stack formation.
“Our main thing is stopping the run and that’s what we’re going to do,” Hatcher said. “We’re going to be physical, flying to the ball. That’s our goal.”
Offensively, as previously noted by Hatcher, North Pulaski will be more of a Spread team behind returning quarterback Shyheim Barron as it tries to reverse a losing trend in which it has won four games the past six years.
SPORTS>>Football taking heat
By TODD TRAUB
Leader sportswriter
You know it’s hot when rumors like this start floating around.
It’s been whispered Cabot coach Mike Malham actually cancelled a practice.
“Not a chance,” Malham said, when informed of the rumor he may have called off one of his notoriously demanding afternoon sessions.
Football teams throughout the area, and the state for that matter, have been battling the record high temperatures that seemed to arrive at the onset of fall practice.
The heat, which has approached 110 degrees and is worse with the heat index, has forced coaching staffs to change practice schedules, ramp up the number of water breaks and even, in Jacksonville’s case, construct misting tents to help players avoid overheating.
And while Malham may not be inclined to tinker with his schedule, he is no different than any other coach when it comes to dealing with concerns about the heat and keeping his players out of harm’s way.
“We’ve just got kids that are in shape and we keep them hydrated and we haven’t had a problem,” Malham said. “We’ve got a brain and we’re using our brain.”
All around Arkansas, football coaches, once known perhaps for being stingy with water to motivate players, are shoving fluids at their athletes, tinkering with schedules and even calling off workouts altogether rather than risk losing a young man to heat stroke or dehydration.
Springdale Har-Ber, Cabot’s playoff nemesis the past two seasons, put off the start of on-field workouts for a week in favor of weight training, film study and chalk talk.
At Little Rock Catholic, players are getting their two-a-days done with a pair of morning sessions wrapped around a healthy breakfast provided by booster club mothers and are finished for the day by 11 a.m.
Closer to home, Jacksonville has been trying to get off the field no later than 1 p.m., with only film and chalk talk in the evening, and has put up four, 4x4 misting tents and brought in donated, 100-gallon tubs to immerse a player whose core temperature may have gotten too high.
“The heat has been brutal. It’s been tough,” Jacksonville trainer Jason Cates said. “The kids have done a great job this summer of coming up and being involved in our summer workout programs and conditioning programs but even the heat, just back-to-back-to-back-to-back days, it compounds on them. The effect kind of builds up on them.”
Versions of Jacksonville’s efforts are seen elsewhere.
From first-year North Pulaski coach Terrod Hatcher to veterans like Malham, coaches are calling for more frequent breaks, getting their players out of the sun, making water constantly available and forcing water on them at mandatory intervals.
Ice-water or ammonia-water towels have proliferated on the sidelines, and coaches are not only monitoring their players more closely during workouts, they are, in effect following them home.
Coaches now insist their players eat right in the evening, away from staff supervision, and continue to get their fluids. Many schools now weigh their players before and after practice, and they are not allowed back on the field unless they make their weight the next day.
“We’re giving them a 30-minute break,” Lonoke coach Doug Bost said, “giving them all water and Gatorade, letting them eat candy bars, and we encourage apples, bananas, anything that will help them refuel, and telling them to stay away from Cokes and tea when they go home at night.”
Beebe coach John Shannon pointed out that football is almost a year-round sport now, with offseason conditioning, weight training, spring practice and summer 7-on-7, and that helps in August, he said.
But despite the training and all the precautions, the heat has inevitably taken a toll.
At Searcy, senior fullback/linebacker Charlie Birmingham became overheated and cramped up after practice Wednesday and had to be treated with intravenous fluids and was taken to the White County Medical Center emergency room.
Coach Tim Harper said Birmingham had gone swimming Tuesday and did not sufficiently rehydrate. Harper had Birmingham watching Thursday’s practice from the shade and was holding him out until Monday.
Cates said a few Jacksonville players had suffered cramps and nausea and were immediately treated, and any players losing more than 5 percent of their body weight without replenishing were not being allowed back on the field until they did.
“At the first sign of trouble we’re getting them out as quick as we can,” Cates said.
Cates said players this year seem to be experiencing holdover problems from the previous day. For example, Jacksonville had four players with heat-related issues Monday, but they came back at the proper weight on Tuesday, then six players struggled Wednesday and were fine on Thursday.
The coaches, and trainers like Cates, agree the most important thing anyone can do is keep a close watch on the players.
A hand on the back of the neck, no matter what time of day the team is practicing, may be the best medicine.
“If they’re not sweating, dry and clammy they’re not doing real good,” Malham said. “So it’s not hard to tell if you keep an eye on them.”
— Leader sportswriter Jason King contributed to this report.
Leader sportswriter
You know it’s hot when rumors like this start floating around.
It’s been whispered Cabot coach Mike Malham actually cancelled a practice.
“Not a chance,” Malham said, when informed of the rumor he may have called off one of his notoriously demanding afternoon sessions.
Football teams throughout the area, and the state for that matter, have been battling the record high temperatures that seemed to arrive at the onset of fall practice.
The heat, which has approached 110 degrees and is worse with the heat index, has forced coaching staffs to change practice schedules, ramp up the number of water breaks and even, in Jacksonville’s case, construct misting tents to help players avoid overheating.
And while Malham may not be inclined to tinker with his schedule, he is no different than any other coach when it comes to dealing with concerns about the heat and keeping his players out of harm’s way.
“We’ve just got kids that are in shape and we keep them hydrated and we haven’t had a problem,” Malham said. “We’ve got a brain and we’re using our brain.”
All around Arkansas, football coaches, once known perhaps for being stingy with water to motivate players, are shoving fluids at their athletes, tinkering with schedules and even calling off workouts altogether rather than risk losing a young man to heat stroke or dehydration.
Springdale Har-Ber, Cabot’s playoff nemesis the past two seasons, put off the start of on-field workouts for a week in favor of weight training, film study and chalk talk.
At Little Rock Catholic, players are getting their two-a-days done with a pair of morning sessions wrapped around a healthy breakfast provided by booster club mothers and are finished for the day by 11 a.m.
Closer to home, Jacksonville has been trying to get off the field no later than 1 p.m., with only film and chalk talk in the evening, and has put up four, 4x4 misting tents and brought in donated, 100-gallon tubs to immerse a player whose core temperature may have gotten too high.
“The heat has been brutal. It’s been tough,” Jacksonville trainer Jason Cates said. “The kids have done a great job this summer of coming up and being involved in our summer workout programs and conditioning programs but even the heat, just back-to-back-to-back-to-back days, it compounds on them. The effect kind of builds up on them.”
Versions of Jacksonville’s efforts are seen elsewhere.
From first-year North Pulaski coach Terrod Hatcher to veterans like Malham, coaches are calling for more frequent breaks, getting their players out of the sun, making water constantly available and forcing water on them at mandatory intervals.
Ice-water or ammonia-water towels have proliferated on the sidelines, and coaches are not only monitoring their players more closely during workouts, they are, in effect following them home.
Coaches now insist their players eat right in the evening, away from staff supervision, and continue to get their fluids. Many schools now weigh their players before and after practice, and they are not allowed back on the field unless they make their weight the next day.
“We’re giving them a 30-minute break,” Lonoke coach Doug Bost said, “giving them all water and Gatorade, letting them eat candy bars, and we encourage apples, bananas, anything that will help them refuel, and telling them to stay away from Cokes and tea when they go home at night.”
Beebe coach John Shannon pointed out that football is almost a year-round sport now, with offseason conditioning, weight training, spring practice and summer 7-on-7, and that helps in August, he said.
But despite the training and all the precautions, the heat has inevitably taken a toll.
At Searcy, senior fullback/linebacker Charlie Birmingham became overheated and cramped up after practice Wednesday and had to be treated with intravenous fluids and was taken to the White County Medical Center emergency room.
Coach Tim Harper said Birmingham had gone swimming Tuesday and did not sufficiently rehydrate. Harper had Birmingham watching Thursday’s practice from the shade and was holding him out until Monday.
Cates said a few Jacksonville players had suffered cramps and nausea and were immediately treated, and any players losing more than 5 percent of their body weight without replenishing were not being allowed back on the field until they did.
“At the first sign of trouble we’re getting them out as quick as we can,” Cates said.
Cates said players this year seem to be experiencing holdover problems from the previous day. For example, Jacksonville had four players with heat-related issues Monday, but they came back at the proper weight on Tuesday, then six players struggled Wednesday and were fine on Thursday.
The coaches, and trainers like Cates, agree the most important thing anyone can do is keep a close watch on the players.
A hand on the back of the neck, no matter what time of day the team is practicing, may be the best medicine.
“If they’re not sweating, dry and clammy they’re not doing real good,” Malham said. “So it’s not hard to tell if you keep an eye on them.”
— Leader sportswriter Jason King contributed to this report.
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