In today's issue of The Bryan Times, Lee Hudnell and Nate Parsons debated, should 'chosen one' forgo final high school years to join major leagues?
You've heard what we had to say. Now what do you think?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Hope springs eternal this time of year
By MIKE BROWN
EDGERTON -- If you can dream it, you can do it.
Creative wizard Walt Disney and other wise souls are fond of a way we should live our lives, and play our games of sport regardless of age. This is especially the truth in tough times when it is easy to slip back into mediocrity or “I can’t do it” negativity.
The lessons from high school basketball, for those of us who played or still play the magic game, are immense. Those lessons are crucial for the young boys and girls living in our local neighborhoods who hope to play at a high level in the future.
Lessons they learn about working with others, getting off the floor and responding strong when you fall behind or lose a game, and the creative imagination to make your dreams come true, are beautiful secrets to a lifetime of success.
There are a bunch of Edgerton boys doing more than just dreaming about some fine day becoming a great high school basketball team. They are far off the radar screen among folks outside of Edgerton but their story and their dreams are revealing to the “basketball family” everywhere in northwest Ohio.
The 8th grade boys at Edgerton could be state tournament players in Columbus four years from now. You can call me crazy right now for even thinking that thought after watching them play just one game as junior high kids. That one game was a Green Meadows Conference championship game victory when the raw talent and potential of these boys was evident.
There’s one boy (Corey McCarty) who comes off the bench to dominate on defense and he’s already 6-foot-5 at age 14. He has the frame and potential to grow to six-foot-eight or taller by the time he’s a senior. Jacob Adams and Ronnie Richardson are already strong, tough, focused young men who can play any position on the floor.
Guard Ben Riehle has a lot of character, scoring potential, and he comes from a long line of successful Riehle good basketball players. Hunter Flowers is an athletic kid who can jump, defend, and run the floor.
They have several other talented teammates including Drake Perez, Josh McNalley and Cade Lalonde who have overall potential to blend into a really strong team.
Now back to reality. These boys could fizzle out, stop growing, lose interest, get bad coaching, or get distracted by three powerful forces in the near future: girls, TV and video games. They are also part of a struggling school program that lost more than 35 varsity basketball games the past two winters.
Call me crazy. Hope springs eternal. These boys of springtime 2009 in Edgerton could be the talk of the area, and maybe the state by the time they are seniors.
I look in the eyes of Richardson, Riehle and Adams and see a subtle confidence and sense of empowerment, a confidence that is rare for junior high boys. There are no false expectations or inflated ego. They are humble, and when they won the GMC junior high championship, there was shared pride but not a grandiose jumping up and down celebration.
It was almost as if they were sensing, while cutting down the junior high championship nets, “This is nice, but there’s more we want in the future.”
They are already working hard in the off-season, they will ideally go to summer basketball camps out of the area to face top competition, keep growing, keep their grades up and accelerate their individual skill and team improvements. They are from quality families who keep things in balanced along with academic grades and quality of life factors.
How good could they be? It won’t be easy to find out.
About six years ago, my oldest son tried out for a high school in a big school east of Columbus. We were new to town, and the coach kept only nine players and cut three, including my son. The politics of high school sports can be ugly.
Later that same year, my son got admonished for hanging on the rim as a 5-foot-10 athlete and later in the spring he set the junior high record with an 11.5 second time in the 100-meter dash.
Four years later, of the nine boys kept for that 8th grade team, only one was still playing varsity basketball. Somebody made a mistake and you see my point, a lot can happen for better or worse for athletes between junior high and their senior year. My son never played a minute of varsity basketball despite his foot speed, leaping ability and overall talent. His potential was overlooked.
Well, life happens.
So, for the Bulldog boys in Edgerton, the journey ahead is not going to be an easy pathway if they hope to overcome multiple challenges.
But if they can dream it, they can do it.
There is an irony if not a good omen that his group has emerged with such potential in the same year that Edgerton celebrated the 50th anniversary of another group of Edgerton boys winning the 1959 state championship.
It was also a good year for dreamers in the region. Did anyone predict last November that the Tinora High boys’ varsity team would get to the state championship game in Columbus?
Look me up four years from now and celebrate with me, or laugh at me, depending how these talented young boys at Edgerton do in the future.
I’m dreaming all the best for them.
EDGERTON -- If you can dream it, you can do it.
Creative wizard Walt Disney and other wise souls are fond of a way we should live our lives, and play our games of sport regardless of age. This is especially the truth in tough times when it is easy to slip back into mediocrity or “I can’t do it” negativity.
The lessons from high school basketball, for those of us who played or still play the magic game, are immense. Those lessons are crucial for the young boys and girls living in our local neighborhoods who hope to play at a high level in the future.
Lessons they learn about working with others, getting off the floor and responding strong when you fall behind or lose a game, and the creative imagination to make your dreams come true, are beautiful secrets to a lifetime of success.
There are a bunch of Edgerton boys doing more than just dreaming about some fine day becoming a great high school basketball team. They are far off the radar screen among folks outside of Edgerton but their story and their dreams are revealing to the “basketball family” everywhere in northwest Ohio.
The 8th grade boys at Edgerton could be state tournament players in Columbus four years from now. You can call me crazy right now for even thinking that thought after watching them play just one game as junior high kids. That one game was a Green Meadows Conference championship game victory when the raw talent and potential of these boys was evident.
There’s one boy (Corey McCarty) who comes off the bench to dominate on defense and he’s already 6-foot-5 at age 14. He has the frame and potential to grow to six-foot-eight or taller by the time he’s a senior. Jacob Adams and Ronnie Richardson are already strong, tough, focused young men who can play any position on the floor.
Guard Ben Riehle has a lot of character, scoring potential, and he comes from a long line of successful Riehle good basketball players. Hunter Flowers is an athletic kid who can jump, defend, and run the floor.
They have several other talented teammates including Drake Perez, Josh McNalley and Cade Lalonde who have overall potential to blend into a really strong team.
Now back to reality. These boys could fizzle out, stop growing, lose interest, get bad coaching, or get distracted by three powerful forces in the near future: girls, TV and video games. They are also part of a struggling school program that lost more than 35 varsity basketball games the past two winters.
Call me crazy. Hope springs eternal. These boys of springtime 2009 in Edgerton could be the talk of the area, and maybe the state by the time they are seniors.
I look in the eyes of Richardson, Riehle and Adams and see a subtle confidence and sense of empowerment, a confidence that is rare for junior high boys. There are no false expectations or inflated ego. They are humble, and when they won the GMC junior high championship, there was shared pride but not a grandiose jumping up and down celebration.
It was almost as if they were sensing, while cutting down the junior high championship nets, “This is nice, but there’s more we want in the future.”
They are already working hard in the off-season, they will ideally go to summer basketball camps out of the area to face top competition, keep growing, keep their grades up and accelerate their individual skill and team improvements. They are from quality families who keep things in balanced along with academic grades and quality of life factors.
How good could they be? It won’t be easy to find out.
About six years ago, my oldest son tried out for a high school in a big school east of Columbus. We were new to town, and the coach kept only nine players and cut three, including my son. The politics of high school sports can be ugly.
Later that same year, my son got admonished for hanging on the rim as a 5-foot-10 athlete and later in the spring he set the junior high record with an 11.5 second time in the 100-meter dash.
Four years later, of the nine boys kept for that 8th grade team, only one was still playing varsity basketball. Somebody made a mistake and you see my point, a lot can happen for better or worse for athletes between junior high and their senior year. My son never played a minute of varsity basketball despite his foot speed, leaping ability and overall talent. His potential was overlooked.
Well, life happens.
So, for the Bulldog boys in Edgerton, the journey ahead is not going to be an easy pathway if they hope to overcome multiple challenges.
But if they can dream it, they can do it.
There is an irony if not a good omen that his group has emerged with such potential in the same year that Edgerton celebrated the 50th anniversary of another group of Edgerton boys winning the 1959 state championship.
It was also a good year for dreamers in the region. Did anyone predict last November that the Tinora High boys’ varsity team would get to the state championship game in Columbus?
Look me up four years from now and celebrate with me, or laugh at me, depending how these talented young boys at Edgerton do in the future.
I’m dreaming all the best for them.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
TWO (KNUCKLE) HEADS COLLIDE: Should the Minnesota Vikings wait on Brett Favre?
In today's issue of The Bryan Times, Lee Hudnell and Nate Parsons debated, should the Minnesota Vikings wait on Brett Favre?
You've heard what we had to say. Now what do you think?
You've heard what we had to say. Now what do you think?
Thursday, June 4, 2009
TWO (KNUCKLE) HEADS COLLIDE: Which team will win the NBA championship -- the Magic or the Lakers?
In today's issue of The Bryan Times, Lee Hudnell and I debated, which team will win the NBA championship -- the Magic or the Lakers?
You've heard what we had to say. Now what do you think?
You've heard what we had to say. Now what do you think?
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