I have known Mike Giles since he first tried his hand at writing outdoors columns. I have followed his path and watched him progress from a fledgling writer into a genuine professional who not only writes columns for newspapers and magazines but has successfully delved into writing top notch books.

Passion of the Wild was Giles’ first book published in 2013 and he has just released his second book, Legends of the Spring, Masters of the Call.

Not only is he a fine wordsmith, Giles is an avid hunter and fisherman with his love for turkey hunting emerging as his favorite thing to do in the realm of hunting. Personally, I have been amazed not only in his ability to outsmart a number of wary gobblers but by the fact he could leave his turkey calls at home because he can make all the calls necessary to fool a gobbler without the use of mechanical calls. He can produce them all with his voice.

His latest book involves his interviewing some of the best turkey hunters around the country and having them share with him a favorite hunt they may have had. The stories that emerged have been translated into 21 chapters with some of the best known hunters telling about what they did – or didn’t do – to waylay gobblers.

Avid hunter and renowned wildlife photographer, Tes Jolly, tells a story that will tug at your heart strings. We first learn who she is, having been reared by parents who were avid hunters, and feel her frustration at a hunting club rule that was for men only. A “tomboy” at the age of nine, Tes’ parents came up with a ploy that enabled her to get to hunt. They dressed her in oversized clothes and a floppy hat and was given the nickname of “Harvey,” enabling her to fit in undetected with her brothers as she enjoyed success as a hunter.

Jolly’s interest over the years has zeroed in on mentoring and passing on the hunting tradition to women, youth and the physically challenged. In 1998, she was introduced to Ashley, a 10-year-old girl, who had endured surgery for a brain tumor but wanted to turkey hunt. Jolly was able to travel to Florida to take Ashley hunting and watched her down a big gobbler. Sadly, she returned to Florida a few months later to pay last respects to Ashley who lost her battle with brain cancer.

There is a story about avid turkey hunter and writer, Jim Spencer, describing his frustrating hunt for a hard-headed Texas Rio Grande gobbler. The way Spencer tells a story will captivate the reader as he overcame all sorts of obstacles to finally at the last minute, bested the stubborn Texas gobbler.

Then there’s Med Palmer’s story about hunting with his son, Gunner, who was lost in a boating accident. The following season was rough on Palmer but he felt he had to go hunting in honor of his son.

“What are the odds of me going into the woods before daylight and realize I was sitting against the same tree Gunner had sat by on his last hunt when he killed his last gobbler,” said Palmer.

Space limitations prohibit me sharing some of the other fascinating stories but you can get your own hard cover copy of “Legends of the Spring; Masters of the Call by finding Michael O. Giles on Facebook or emailing him at mikegiles18@comcast.net.

If you’re a turkey hunter, this is one book that is hard to put down once you start readying and one you absolutely must have for your library.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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JOURNAL SPORTS

The Shreveport Mudbugs couldn’t recover after the Corpus Christi IceRays scored four unanswered goals enroute to a 5-1 road victory as the two-time Robertson Cup champs dropped their season opener Saturday night on George’s Pond at Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport.

It was a scoreless affair until the second period when Corpus Christi exploded with goals at 4:53, 7:08, and 11:21 to grab a 3-0 edge. Will Reardon netted one in-between a pair of goals from Stepan Kuznetsov. The Bugs were 0 for 4 on the power play after 2 periods and were out-shot 22-20. 

It was 4-0 early in the third period when the ‘Bugs’ Andrew Seminara found some space in the slot and buried home his first goal of the season to make it 4-1 at 3:48. Brent Litchard and Lucas Deeb earned the helpers on the lone goal for Shreveport.

The Bugs will be back at George’s Pond to host a two-game series against the El Paso Rhinos beginning Friday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:11 p.m.  both nights.

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JOURNAL SPORTS

Pre-race favorite Uno Mas Bourbon came from off the pace to earn his second career victory in his first stakes appearance after surviving an objection in Saturday’s 42^th running of Louisiana Downs’ $250,000 Super Derby.

Uno Mas Bourbon, who had shipped from Kentucky off a third-place finish in an allowance race, was nearly last early as The Donegal Clan rocketed out of the gate to command the pace through opening fractions of :23.83 and :48.32 for the first half mile. 

At the top of the stretch, the winner came through a narrow opening between horses, and drew clear to win by 1¼ lengths over the pacesetter as the slight 3-1 favorite. The final time for the 1 1/8-mile race was 1:51.02 over a fast track.

Jockey Ben Curtis on eventual third-place finisher Regalo claimed foul against jockey Francisco Arrieta aboard Uno Mas Bourbon after those two horses battled through the stretch, but stewards let the result stand.

“He’s a nice horse,” Arrieta said. “When I rode him in Kentucky, I got in trouble. He took off and got tired, but still ran a great number. He was fighting me down the backstretch that day. Today, he was nice and relaxed. We got in a little tight, but when he found another gear, he took off. He ran great.”

The Donegal Clan, off at 25-1, who was making his first start since early July, held on determinedly for second.

Runnin Munnin, Cornishman, Carolo Rapido, Django, Tdzshininluckystar, Cali Dreamin, and Real Man Violin completed the order of finish behind the top three.

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JOURNAL SPORTS

The Shreveport-Bossier sports phenom that is the Shreveport Mudbugs hockey team starts another run at home Saturday night.

The Mudbugs open their 2024 season when they host the Corpus Christi Ice Rays at 7:11 Saturday at Georges’ Pond in Hirsch Coliseum.  The Mudbugs are one of the great success stories in the North American Hockey League, with average attendance closing in on 3,000 a game for many seasons now.

Saturday’s action begins a three-game homestand continuing next weekend with a two-game series against the El Paso Rhinos.

The Mudbugs will host an “Opening Day Pond Party” with tailgating festivities beginning at 3:30, a “Player Parade” at 5, and magnet schedules given away as fans leave the coliseum.

Last season ended with a series loss to the franchise’s biggest rival, the Lone Star Brahmas, in the NAHL South Division Finals last May.

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My message box last week contained a note advertising a Beginners Squirrel Hunt Seminar to be held in Minden September 21 at the office of Wildlife and Fisheries at 9961, Highway 80 in Minden. Those interested should call 337-735-8685 to pre-register as space will be limited.

The memo outlined the subjects to be covered during the session. It includes such things as equipment needed, firearm selection, rules and regulations, proper squirrel hunting techniques and cleaning squirrels. 

There were no seminars available to learn how to hunt squirrels when I was growing up in rural Natchitoches Parish. Our learning was at the feet of our dads, older brothers or maybe uncles who took youngsters like myself under their wings to teach them the ropes.

It was my dad who was my tutor in the squirrel woods and he started me and my brother out when we were just little mop-haired kids. When Tom and I learned that daddy was going squirrel hunting and invited us to go with him, it was like Christmas in October. I remember the excitement of actually getting to go to the woods with dad and watch him as he did battle with wild squirrels. When we started going with him, he carried the only gun; we weren’t allowed to even take our BB guns.

The weather in early October was usually cool and our jackets felt cozy and good as we followed him step by step as he gingerly eased through the woods.            

“Watch out for that stick….you step on it and it cracks and it’ll scare every squirrel in the woods,” he’d whisper.

We would finally make our way to a fallen log that lay beneath a grove of oaks or hickories where squirrels were likely to be hanging out. I remember how much fun it was just to be sitting there on a log, my brother and me, next to our dad. If Tom or I said anything, we’d get a “shush” from him. “Just stay quiet and keep your eyes on the trees and look for movement.”

A branch would jiggle and Tom and I would get excited. Dad would whisper for us to watch the jiggling branch and how it moved and he’d ask if we saw what was shaking the branch. Thinking I was looking at a squirrel, a blue jay fluttered away.

“A bird moves a branch differently than a squirrel does. If it’s a squirrel, it will likely be on the end of the branch getting an acorn or hickory nut and if you looked closely, you could see it move to a larger branch and begin eating. A bird just bounces around there and then flies away,” he whispered.

Momentarily, we would hear a sound for which our young ears were not trained. It sounded like something scratching. Dad would point to the source of the sound as a squirrel scurried up the trunk.

“Y’all sit still and watch,” he’d say as he eased up from the log, his shotgun at port arms and he’d ease along, using other trees and saplings as a shield until he stopped, raised the gun and fired. A fat fox squirrel would tumble to the ground to the delight of two little guys.          

As we grew older, we were allowed to take our .22 rifles and under dad’s watchful eye, we tried to mimic what we had learned until finally with practice, both Tom and I learned to successfully hunt squirrels and we owe it all to a dad who took the time to teach us.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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Louisiana Tech plays NC State Saturday at noon Eastern at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, not a marquee game — unless you’re a Bulldog or a Wolfpacker, and then it feels a bit pivotal.

Even though it’s barely mid-September.

If a preview of this game carried a song title, maybe it would be Brooks & Dunn’s “Workin’ On My Next Broken Heart.”

Wait: why Brooks & Dunn? It’s a stretch, but  … hang with us a second.

Tech alum Kix Brooks, half of the most-record-selling/most awarded country music duo act of all time, was in Aillet Stadium for his team’s 25-17 season-opening win over Nicholls State, a game in which the Bulldogs sloshed to a win despite five turnovers and back-to-back fumbles during a second-quarter rainstorm that left the turf slicker than Kenny Chesney’s head.

“It that was a country song,” Brooks, a visitor to the radio broadcast booth said at the time, “it’d be too sad to write.”

(An aside: we call Brooks & Dunn “Kix & Brooks” in this bureau. If Ronnie Dunn doesn’t have a team — and Kix says he doesn’t — he’s welcome in the Tech Camp, as the Bulldogs could use the company and the help. Also, as part of their “Reboot” Tour, Kix & Brooks will play the PNC Arena in Raleigh and the Spectrum Center in Charlotte in March. Never too early to plan, unless you just want to stay over after the game for seven months …)

Back to ball: despite the turnovers and backed by country-flavored rooting from Kix, the ’Dogs pulled through, thanks to a stifling defense against the defending Southland Conference champs. Since, the team has enjoyed a rare second-week-of-the-season open date to figure things out and heal a hurt quarterback, Jack Turner, who semi-limped off the field in the first quarter and didn’t return. (Brings to mind another Kix & Brooks tune: “How Long Gone Are You Gonna Be?”)

But back to that “broken heart” deal: for different reasons, times have been tough lately in Ruston and Raleigh.

The Bulldogs are coming off three straight 3-9 seasons — “too sad to write” — victims of a perfect storm generated through the new NIL and transfer rules and the law of averages following seven straight bowl seasons.

So there’s that.

Now in its 12^th season under coach Dave Doren, NC State, 1-1, has been to nine bowl games but are 2-15 against Top 10 teams in that span, including a lopsided 51-10 dismantling at the greedy hands of Tennessee in the Duke’s Mayo Classic at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in primetime Saturday evening.

Bad look for the Wolfpack and the 20-plus players from Charlotte on its roster.

The Wolfpack is a 21.5-point favorite over the Bulldogs. Local journalists (we’re keeping up with the Carolina scribes) foretell of an “easy” week for the Wolfpack. We’ll see: State was a 33.5-point favorite in its opener against Western Carolina and won by only 17, then a 9.5-underdog against Tennessee and lost by 41.

In that game, thanks to an 85-yard Pick 6, Tennessee scored more points off NC State’s red zone possessions than the Wolfpack did.

Intriguing to look in the rearview and the most recent time these two played. October 2, 2021. Down 14 midway through the fourth quarter to a team that had beaten Top 10-ranked Clemson the week before and had one of the best defenses statistically in the country, Tech was intercepted in the end zone from 22 yards out on the game’s final play and lost, 34-27, at Carter-Finley.

Tech left the stadium that day 2-3. Besides that heartbreaker in Raleigh, the Bulldogs had last a 20-point fourth-quarter lead in Starkville in a 35-34 season-opening loss to Mississippi State and had lost at home to SMU, 39-37, on a final-play Hail Mary two weeks before going to NC State.

The loss to the Wolfpack started a five-game slide that hasn’t ended. Saturday, a different team returns to the same scene of the crime.

Saturday, it’s a chance for the ’Dogs, like Kix & Brooks, to reboot.

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

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Something that was not mentioned during the panel discussion about Pete Maravich in Natchitoches at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame museum last Thursday night was a unique picture in the “Showtime: LSU’s Spectacular Pistol Pete” exhibit that celebrates the man’s legacy.

It’s a rare picture of Maravich smiling.        

John Musemeche, the longtime photographer from Baton Rouge whose work is featured in the exhibit, explained Monday how he captured that special shot. It was during the time Maravich was enjoying a record-setting NCAA college basketball career at LSU, and Musemeche and a friend who was a big LSU fan were with Maravich at Foxy’s Health Studio in Baton Rouge.

“We spent three days with him doing some photo shoots,” said Musemeche, then a sportswriter and photographer and “low man on the totem pole” for the sports staff of the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate. “Pete liked to go to Foxy’s to work out because nobody made a big deal about him being there.”

Musemeche told Pete he needed to get some “head shots.”

“You know, Pete,” Musemeche said, “I’ve never gotten a great picture of you smiling.”

Maravich answered, “It’s kind of hard to sit there and smile.”

Understand, Maravich, as nearly supernatural as his basketball skills and showmanship were, was not given to smiling easily. He already had a hardscrabble life with lots of injuries and troubles – some self-induced – and he forever nurtured an intense, serious focus on becoming the best, most entertaining basketball player there ever was.

“So I proceeded to tell some really bad jokes, and he says, ‘You’re really trying’ hard,’” said Musemeche, “and I said, ‘I guess I’m not a big shot like you,’ and with that he flashed a big smile, and I caught it. That’s the way he really acted when he was out of the glare of all the cameras.”

One of the attractions at the LSHOF event last week was an eight-minute documentary on Pistol Pete Maravich by 46-year-old filmmaker and Ohio native Drew Tewell that featured Musemeche. The documentary “We Were Fans” placed second at a recent international film festival.

Tewell, who resided in Baton Rouge from 2014 until about a month-and-a-half ago before returning home to the Columbus, Ohio area, said in a phone call Monday he has been developing a full-length movie about Maravich for the last 10 years.

“It’s a biopic, covering a good portion of his life from his childhood to after he retired,” said Tewell, noting his movie will focus mostly on Maravich’s 10 years in the National Basketball Association but with attention, too, on his childhood and his time at LSU. “I finished the script about six years ago. I talked to an actor I met while working on another movie, Damon Lipari, about playing the role of Pete.

“He looks exactly like Pete,” said Tewell of the 46-year-old Lipari, a Louisiana native of Patterson. “He’s a little shorter, but he played basketball through high school. He went to LSU and was going to play basketball but got the acting bug and followed that path instead.”

Tewell couldn’t say when the movie would be released because production hasn’t yet started. “We’re trying to find investors, and we’re trying to find a well-known actor, possibly to play Press Maravich (Pete’s father and coach at LSU) to help draw a crowd.”

I think investors would be wise to sign on to the Maravich movie project. I don’t know of another Louisiana athlete, past or present, who has such an enduring grip on the Bayou State as someone who never ceases to amaze and inspire, even during football season.

In truth, his stretch of magnetism reaches well beyond Louisiana.  Bob Dylan, for heaven’s sake, wrote in his memoir how he idolized Pete Maravich when the Pistol  was playing professional basketball in New Orleans. Magic Johnson admitted he “stole” some of Maravich’s moves in his “showtime” as a basketball legend.

An autographed basketball from his 68-point scoring night for the New Orleans Jazz in 1977 against the New York Knicks sold for $131,450 in a 2009 Heritage auction.

And Californians cannot forget him since he died at age 40 in their state on that fateful day – Jan. 5, 1988 — in Pasadena, Calif.

On a basketball court.

During a pickup basketball game.

He had flown from his home then in Covington, La., to tape a segment on evangelical author James Dobson’s radio show. He and Dobson and some others played that pickup game in the morning before the scheduled afternoon taping.

Dobson said Maravich’s last words, less than a minute before he collapsed and died due to a congenital heart defect, were: “I feel great.”

Considering in his final years he got his hard-driving, hard-cussing father to convert to the Christian faith before Press died in 1987, and he repeatedly said he wanted to be remembered not as a basketball player but as a Christian, I can only guess why in the final minute of his life he felt the urge to say – with a smile, no doubt — “I feel great.”

The translation, from 2 Timothy 4:7-8: “ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Contact Bob at btompkins1225@gmail.com

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By RON HIGGINS, Journal Sports

Six Louisiana college football programs have 59 active players on NFL rosters for this weekend’s season-opening games.

LSU, with six rookies making their debuts, has 40 active players on 21 teams including three teams with three or more former Tigers each.

Tulane has 7 active players, Louisiana Tech and UL-Lafayette 5 each and Northwestern State and Grambling both with 1.

The Tennessee Titans have the most former Louisiana players on their active roster with 7, including 4 from LSU, 2 from Tulane and 1 from Louisiana Tech.

The defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Baltimore Ravens tonight in the NFL’s first game of the regular season. 

2024 NFL OPENING DAY ROSTERS WITH FORMER LOUISIANA COLLEGE PLAYERS

*Denotes rookie

STARTERS IN BOLD FACE

 

LSU

ACTIVE (40) including 6 rookies

Buffalo: Reid Ferguson, LS

Miami: Blake Ferguson, LS, Duke Riley, LB

New England: Kayshoun Boutte, WR, Davon Godchaux DT

New York Jets: Jarrick Bernard-Converse, S

Cincinnati: Joe Burrow, QB, Ja’Marr Chase, WR

Cleveland: Grant Delpit, S, Ethan Pocic, C

Pittsburgh: Donte Jackson, CB, Patrick Queen, LB

Houston: Danielle Hunter, DE, Derek Stingley Jr., CB

Jacksonville: *Jordan Jefferson, DT, *Maason Smith, DT, *Brian Thomas Jr., WR

Tennessee: Jamal Adams, S, Lloyd Cushenberry III, C, Arden Key, LB, Ali Gaye, DE

Los Angeles Chargers: DJ Chark, WR, Kriston Fulton, CB

Dallas: Damone Clark, LB

New York Giants: Cordale Flott, CB, *Malik Nabers, WR

Philadelphia: Devin White, LB

Washington: *Jayden Daniels, QB, Cade York, PK

Detroit: *Mehki Wingo, DT

Minnesota: Ed Ingram, OG, Justin Jefferson, WR, Jay Ward, S

Carolina: K’Lavon Chaisson, LB, Damien Lewis, OG

New Orleans: Tyrann Mathieu, S, Foster Moreau, TE

Los Angeles Rams: *Omar Speights, LB, Tre’Davious White, CB 

Seattle: Anthony Bradford, OG

PRACTICE SQUAD (8): Will Clapp, C Buffalo, Chasen Hines, OG Miami, Neil Farrell, DE Kansas City, Tyrion Davis-Price, RB Philadelphia, *Andre Sam, S, Philadelphia, Micah Baskerville, LB, Chicago, Austin Deculus, OT New Orleans, Terrace Marshall Jr., WR San Francisco

INJURED RESERVE (2): Badara Traore, OL, Carolina, BJ Ojulari, LB, Arizona (torn ACL out for the year)

NON-FOOTBALL INJURY LIST (1): Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB Kansas City (post-traumatic stress disorder)

PHYSICALLY UNABLE TO PERFORM (1): Odell Beckham, Jr. WR Miami

 

GRAMBLING

ACTIVE (1)

Washington: Trent Scott, OT Washington

 

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE

ACTIVE (5)

New York Jets: Max Mitchell, OT

Dallas: John Stephens Jr., TE

Washington: Percy Butler, S

Carolina: Robert Hunt, OT 

Los Angeles Rams: Kevin Dotson, OG

PRACTICE SQUAD (2): Andre Jones Jr., DE Washington, Tracy Walker III, DB, San Francisco

INJURED RESERVE (2): *Nathan Thomas, OT Dallas, Elijah Mitchell, RB, San Francisco

 

LOUISIANA TECH

ACTIVE (5)

Tennessee: L’Jarius Sneed, CB

Philadelphia: Milton Williams, DT

Washington: Jeff Driskel, QB

Detroit: Amik Robertson, CB

Carolina: Xavier Woods, FS

PRACTICE SQUAD (1): Trent Taylor, WR, San Francisco

 

NORTHWESTERN STATE

ACTIVE (1), a rookie

CAROLINA:  *Shemar Bartholomew, CB

 

SOUTHEASTERN

PRACTICE SQUAD (1): Carlos Washington, RB Atlanta

 

SOUTHERN

INJURED RESERVE (1): Cameron Peterson, DE, New Orleans

 

TULANE (including 1 rookie)

ACTIVE (7)

Buffalo: Dorian Williams, LB

Tennessee: *Jha’Quan Jackson, WR, Tyjae Spears, RB

Philadelphia: Patrick Johnson, LB

Chicago: Cairo Santos, PK

Minnesota: Ryan Wright, P

Atlanta: Darnell Mooney, WR

PRACTICE SQUAD (1): *Michael Pratt, QB, Tampa Bay

INJURED RESERVE (2): *Lance Robinson, CB Cincinnati, Cameron Sample, DE Cincinnati

Contact Ron at ronhigginsmedia@gmail.com

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I was one blessed little fellow growing up in the country in north Natchitoches Parish. I had a dad who felt it important to teach his two sons all about the outdoors, not only about how to handle a firearm and how to sneak up on a squirrel. Dad was also a Christian, a deacon and active member of our church so his teaching always included the importance of Tom and me recognizing and appreciating nature and the God who created all those things about the outdoors we grew to love.

Not all kids are as fortunate as Tom and I were. There are youngsters today who don’t have a dad at home. Some of those who do have dads at home might find him preoccupied with climbing the corporate ladder to the point it’s the most important thing in his life to the neglect of his parental role of training his offspring. On the other end of the spectrum, there are dads who for whatever reason, shirk their fatherly duties.

Mark Johnson, founder of Mark Johnson and Sons Plumbing in Ruston, is one of the fortunate ones. He and his brothers were a lot like my brother and me who had a dad who saw the importance of getting involved with and teaching them about the outdoors from a Christian perspective.

Because of his convictions, Mark Johnson felt and responded to a “calling” or challenge to become involved in an organization that would have the responsibility of sharing what he grew up loving with youngsters less fortunate who perhaps had an interest in learning to hunt and fish but never had the opportunity.

Cross Trail Outfitters (CTO) has named Johnson as the facilitator of that organization’s venture into north Louisiana. The organization’s mission statement involves guiding the next generation to Christ through the outdoors. Additionally, CTO provides the mentorship, training and assets for kids to go hunting and fishing while insuring a wholesome and fun environment in which participants can grow in their knowledge and reverence of God.

Youngsters from ages 7 to 20 are offered a wide range of year-round outdoor activities. This includes the inclusion of a summer camp experience for kids with activities including fishing, hunting, swimming, archery, paintball, shooting education and much more all the while teaching kids to develop a deeper understanding of their Creator.

“Because of the way I was brought up and the fact that now I have kids and grandkids, I know how important it was for me and I have instilled in them the desire to learn about God’s creation and how to get the most out of it just like I did,” said Johnson.

As this new organization for our area gets up and going, Johnson said he has recruited a group of guys with similar interests who will be valuable in working with these kids.

“There are several ways folks can help. We’re looking for land owners who might make their property available for us to take kids, we’ll need guides to be there with the kids and we also need supporters that can offer financial support. Of course,” he added, “we always need prayer support in what we’re trying to do.             

“We are in the process of getting a website ready for kids interested in what this organization offers. In the meantime, they can call me at 318/278-9482.”

The goal of Cross Trail Outfitters, as stated on a brochure about the organization notes the following; “Building men, preserving our heritage and sharing our faith.”

“Maybe it was only natural that I would be interested in having a part in this group because I can put the two things important to me together,” said Johnson, “loving the Lord and loving the outdoors.”

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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Not many people know this because it’s tacky to brag and “smarts” is not my calling card, but I was history student of the year in eighth grade and made an “A” in Spanish as a high school freshman even though I’d never been to Spain.

Just sayin…

The catch was, I mowed the yards of both my eighth-grade history and ninth-grade Spanish teachers. You do what you can.

My grades lagged in winter; I trace this back to a hatred of raking. But I started strong in the North Louisiana autumns that felt like summer, then rallied in the early spring and right on through Memorial Day and the school year’s final bell.

As the grass rose, so did my scores.

In college, it was a different ballgame. They make you grow up in college, or you basically fail your own self. Shoot yourself in your lazy, refuse-to-be-educated foot. My teachers, who were now deemed “professors,” wouldn’t tell me and my lawnmower where they lived.

They play hardball at the university level.

In the grownup world, it’s always something.

But this teacher’s pet/yardman has proof that I was a force to be reckoned with in pre-college. If I couldn’t cut it in the classroom, I could cut it on the lawn. You play to your strengths.

Witness my freshman yearbook, signed by “Senora Mullins” in her unmistakable hand, with a squiggly thing above the “n” in senora and everything: “You MUST be OK,” she wrote; “I still like you, even though you’re my neighbor!”

Why she used the capitals and exclamation point is anybody’s guess. Did she not like her previous neighbors? Did she fail their kid? With an “A,” I asked no questions. Just said “gracias” and moved along – even though her “You MUST be OK” line, which translated into street language means “You sort of get on my nerves,” hurt me.

You must be “OK”? Tacos are OK. Mi nombre es Tedro!, or something like that. Muy bueno, babe! Come on!

“OK” is for losers.

I learned later that, from women, you take your OK’s where you can get them and learn to like it. Just part of my education, none of which would have happened without Mrs. Mullins and her tireless Sisterhood of The Classroom Teachers.

They have flooded my mind and always do with the first refreshing chill of September, these women who smelled like hand lotion and hairspray and lunchroom rolls and chalk. You’ve thought of them too, maybe not for long but always for at least a moment. Might as well try not to blink as to try and dodge the autumnal world of a long-ago yesterday. For the length of one daydream, we all go back to school this time of year.  

How did they do it? Day after day. Lunch room duty. Ball game. Sponsorship of the Interact Club. Raising three children at home and 150 at school. Yet always, The Teacher suited up.

When you see one this year, give them a nod. A fist bump. Maybe five bucks! Be an encourager. They have a long way to go and deal with short attention spans, and the best ones leave it all on the field. I praise my exhausted teachers who were, for me, a cut above.

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

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JOURNAL SPORTS

NATCHITOCHES – The basketball magic of Pistol Pete Maravich that captivated fans first during his record-shattering LSU playing career from 1967-70 will be rekindled Thursday evening at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum in Natchitoches.

“Celebrating Showtime! LSU’s Spectacular Pistol Pete” is the theme for the evening, beginning at 5:30 and wrapping up about 7. There is a $10 admission charge for adults. Military and first responders get in for half-price while students and members of the FLASH (Friends of Louisiana Sports and History) museum support group are admitted free.

The “Showtime!” exhibit made its debut in the Atmos Energy Gallery on the first floor of the museum kicking off the 2024 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Celebration on June 22. It will remain in place through Oct. 19 at the acclaimed 27,500-square foot state museum located at 800 Front Street across from the traffic circle in downtown Natchitoches.

The reception, hosted by FLASH, features nearly 70 photos of Maravich during his LSU years, including many backstage images previously unseen. All are part of the Musemeche Collection, nearly all taken by Baton Rouge photographer John Musemeche, who as a young sports journalist in Baton Rouge in the 1960s became friendly with Pistol Pete and his father, LSU head coach Press Maravich.

The “Showtime!” exhibit also includes an award-winning 8-minute mini-documentary film, “We Were Fans,” by Drew Tewell that features memories from Musemeche about those days, and footage of Pistol Pete in action. A scrapbook of newspaper clippings from throughout Maravich’s LSU career, painstakingly compiled by future Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (then a Baton Rouge teenager), is included in the exhibit along with a copy of the “Maravich” magazine published by Musemeche and two friends in collaboration with the superstar and his father before Pete’s senior season.

Some Maravich teammates from their days as Tigers are expected to attend and participate in a panel discussion with Musemeche after the film is screened early in the 6 o’clock hour. Attire is casual.

The exhibit is underwritten with support from Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Foundation in collaboration with the Louisiana State Museum system.

Light food and refreshments will be provided, along with beer and wine for adults. Guests can browse the entire two-story museum, which includes more Maravich memorabilia along with a vast collection of state sports history, including the Heisman Trophy exhibit featuring items from the state’s five Heisman winners:  Billy Cannon (Baton Rouge, LSU), John David Crow (Springhill High School), Joe Burrow (LSU), Devonta Smith (Amite High School) and Jayden Daniels (LSU).

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Let’s say you have a 40-acre tract of forested property and you want your land to be more attractive to deer, turkeys and other wildlife. What can you do to make that happen?

Burn it. Say what? You’ve nurtured this tract for a long time so why would you want to set fire to it? On the surface, that doesn’t sound like it makes any sense but when done properly and under the guidance of people who know what they’re doing it’s maybe the best tool at your disposal to convert a standing tract of timber into something that attracts wildlife.

Jesse Davis is President of the Piney Hills Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) and this organization stays busy helping property owners improve their habitat by utilizing a prescribed, or controlled, burn.

“When done properly,” said Davis, “prescribed fire is the cheapest and most effective way to improve your habitat. Removing undesirable brush and ground litter exposes grasses and forbs and seeds that would otherwise never sprout. A prescribed fire removes things that wildlife never eat.”

When fire goes through a piece of property, how long does it take before wildlife can began using it?

“We’ve seen wild turkeys come to a fresh burn before the smoke even clears. They start finding things like acorns that become exposed when the brush and duff is removed,” Davis added.

When a fire goes through such areas, he noted that lots of native seeds and grasses that have laid dormant begin sprouting once sunlight begins to penetrate the forest floor. When desirable things begin to replace those that wildlife won’t eat, deer and turkeys are quickly attracted to the area.

When is a good time to run a controlled fire through a piece of property?

“Almost anytime is a good time but especially after a timber thinning or any time like after a storm causes damages that ground becomes exposed to sunlight,” Davis said.

What are some precautions that must be taken into account before planning a prescribed burn?

“The first thing that must be done is to have adequate fire breaks that will stop fire from going where you don’t want it to go. Wind direction and velocity is also important. It is also important to consider neighboring property and which direction smoke will travel. You especially don’t want to send smoke over neighbors, especially those with health problems,” Davis added.

Other than deer and turkeys, do other species of wildlife benefit from a prescribed burn?

“There are no wild creatures that won’t benefit from a prescribed burn. Birds and squirrels benefit as often, den trees are left for nesting as well as having foods they prefer begin growing,” said Davis.

Are you interested in learning more about prescribed burning on your property and if it might benefit you? There is a meeting scheduled for September 12 at 6:00 at the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office where anyone interested in this method of property management is invited to attend.

“We invite anyone who has an interest in what prescribed burning is all about,” Davis said, “and we want more people to realize just what a controlled fire can do to enhance what you already have.”

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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“Athletics provide one of the best preparations for the darkness a human life can throw at you.”

Southern writer Pat Conroy in “My Losing Season

I agree with Conroy: losing teaches you how to deal with pain. (Hurts me to say that.)

We’re not talking exclusively about losing on the scoreboard. That hurts, and those types of hurts, a peculiar kind of Southern hurt, begin again this weekend with football. Those are as real as real gets, and sometimes they hurt bad, and they hurt for a long time.

But we’re talking beyond that. We’re talking everyday losses.

Like … a hang nail, the finger’s silent assassin.                                                                                   

Hot coffee spilled in the car on the inside of your thigh. Sweet.

Cutting your head on the corner of an open kitchen cabinet door. The dreaded kamikaze cabinet. 

Or the kingpin of them all: hitting your little toe on the steel leg of a bunk bed at church camp.

There’s always cussing at church camp because somebody always hits their toe.

But you learn, and limp on.

Tough break that we live and limp forward, but we learn backward.

There are all “kinds” of losing. Losing your keys. Losing a tooth. Losing your mind.

But you usually get another chance in those cases. Not always so in the competitive arena. Nothing hurts worse than losing The Big Game. You don’t get another chance, not at that one, not on that day.

Super Bowl Sunday’s a decent illustration. A big winner is celebrated and a big loser does what most all big losers do. They get really small and really forgotten really fast.

Ask pros who really care or competitive amateurs and they’ll tell you that the pain of losing is always greater, more motivating, than the thrill of winning. Winning teaches you how to uncork champagne and smile. Losing teaches you where to shore up your defenses, how to plan better, who you really are when things fall apart.

I’ve always found the more compelling stories are in the losing locker room, not the winning one. Losers are more real, emotion more acute.

In the academic world of leaky manifolds and underground sewerage systems and computer programming, I’m on the outside looking in. But when the subject is losing, well, that’s right in my wheelhouse. I have certificates, even official framed documents. Everything but a tattoo. 

You probably do to. You know about losing like a plow knows about dirt. Like a wing knows wind. We know about losing the way a bug knows about a windshield.

Some, like me, are slow learners. I’m coachable, just not very quick. But a bit of experience in losing will teach you that you can handle more than you thought, that the sun will come up if you can hang in there, and that whatever price you have to pay to win, it will be worth it to avoid the feeling of losing again. 

Fumbling won’t win you any trophies, but it can toughen you up. Good thing, because in everyday life, you face third-and-long a lot more often than third-and-short. Athletic disaster truly can help prepare you for losing someone close, for a pink slip, for foreclosure.

Regardless, you want to be in the arena, don’t you? Stay in the game. It’s small consolation and a wide chasm, but the next best thing to playing and winning is playing and losing. 

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

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Glenn Wheeler is a longtime friend of mine. As a fellow outdoor journalist, our friendship developed over the years through our association with outdoor writer conferences. In addition to being a journalist, Wheeler is also Sheriff of Newton County Arkansas and from time to time, his duties involve trying to locate a missing person. This is where Mellie Martin enters the picture.

Martin, who along with husband Jay, own and operate Dubach Heat and Air but her sideline involves raising and training hounds, not just any hounds. Her focus is on bloodhounds. A few weeks ago, Martin learned of a missing person in Newton County Arkansas and offered to bring her hounds there to assist. Here’s where I entered the picture. Martin conveyed a message from my friend Sheriff Wheeler that piqued my interest enough to try and learn about raising and training bloodhounds.

“As a member of the Delta Elite K9 Search and Rescue team, I have been involved in raising and training bloodhounds for the past eight years,” Martin said.  “My interest in bloodhounds was the result of an incident where a special needs child left home and met with a tragic accident. I thought that if the child could have been found and rescued before the accident happened, the result would not have ended in tragedy.”

The more she learned about bloodhounds and what they can do, the more intrigued she became so she began raising and training bloodhounds some eight years ago. What she has learned about these remarkable dogs is fascinating.

“Bloodhounds have about 270 million scent receptors in their noses compared to about 5 million we humans have. These dogs can be trained to find a specific person even after they have been gone two or three days,” she said.

“Each person’s scent is individualized in the same way that no two people have the same fingerprint. Before a search begins, an article, such as a cap or pillow case that no one else has used is presented to the dog and it is homed in only on that one person.”

Martin says she is called on average about two times a month to bring her dogs to where a missing person has been reported. Not only do they search for run-aways but also criminals who may be on the run.

“We don’t compete with law enforcement agencies that utilize dogs; we work with them. Our area of responsibility involves serving all of Louisiana north of Alexandria over to East Texas and just south of Little Rock, AR as well as portions of Mississippi. We wait for law enforcement agencies to contact us before offering the services of our dogs,” Martin said.

Martin’s work with her dogs is on a strictly volunteer basis where no fee is charged. I am reminded of the similarity of what she does with her dogs and the organization deer hunters utilize to find wounded deer.

“My most rewarding event took place in south Arkansas when an elderly and sickly gentleman had been missing for 36 hours and family assumed he had probably passed away somewhere. My dogs were able to locate him, alive but dehydrated, and when we came back with him riding with us on a side-by-side, I joined with the family shedding happy tears. Just seeing that dog I have trained find someone in such a situation is so rewarding,” she said.

To learn more about what has been done and can be done with bloodhounds, go on-line to Delta Elite K9 Search and Rescue Team.

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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Sports Shock of the Day No. 1: Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming program for at least one academic year because investigations “both internal and external” (which we think are the only kinds of investigations?) have revealed a widespread gambling issue that violated NCAA rules.

Sports Shock of the Day No. 2: Notre Dame has a men’s swimming program?

Before any fans of Irish Swimming panic, know that the Notre Dame women’s team and both diving teams are not affected by the disciplinary action. 

Sports Shock of the Day No. 3. Notre Dave has a women’s swim team and TWO diving teams?!

What is NOT shocking is that the NCAA has picked on a swimming team. And in a big way.

The NCAA didn’t tell the student-athletes to just quit running on the concrete, as our moms did back in the day at the community cement pond.

The NCAA didn’t tell the student-athletes just to rest for 30 minutes after eating that Rice Krispie Treat to safeguard against cramps. 

The NCAA didn’t tell the student-athletes to powder dry after showers to hold down the possibility of a nasty itch problem in a delicate area.

Neg. Instead, the NCAA drained the program’s pool for a whole year.

A couple of things here: 

Competitive swimming is not football or baseball or hoops in terms of fanatical popularity. BUT … it’s as hard as any other sport and much harder than some, and fans who love it REALLY love it. (Remember how, just a couple weeks ago, we couldn’t wait to see what Katie Ledecky would do next? Anyone remember Michael Phelps? Mark Spitz? Uhh … YES.)

And that’s just the swimming. We haven’t even talked yet about diving, in which the student-athlete is required to do tricks in the air BEFORE hitting the water and swimming.

When you’re talking competitive swimming and diving, you’re not talking about dogpaddling in the kiddie pool.

But what swimming IS is an easy target for the NCAA if the organization — and we use that term loosely — wants to pretend it has more than only a couple of disciplinary teeth. 

In 2021, the transfer regulations were changed to allow students in some Division I sports to transfer schools without having to sit out a year. Those rules have been altered since, most significantly this past spring when it was ruled that athletes could transfer as many times as they wished, without penalty.

In other words, the NCAA didn’t think things through thoroughly, or at all, in 2021.

Same with NIL. No guardrails. Pitch ’til you win. “Yeah, we guess that’s OK, sure…”

So college sports have totally gotten out of the NCAA’s greedy little hands. Except … 

… except when it comes to Notre Dame’s men’s swimming program, which, after a long dry spell, surfaced with its first Top-10 finish at the NCAA championships in March, a first in program history.

And here is why the NCAA stepped in: the men’s team bet on each other’s swimming performances. Over/under lines and all that. 

ND swimmer No. 1 before practice: “I bet Ricky swims the 1000m freestyle in less than 49 seconds today. Five bucks.”

Other ND swimmer, (heretofore to be called ‘ND swimmer No. 2’: “No way!”

ND swimmer No 1: “Way.”

ND swimmer No. 2: “I’ll take it!”

ND swimmer named Ricky: “That’s a lot of pressure but … here goes!”

ND swimmer No. 1: “Anybody else want some of this?…”

So stupid.

I have never been around a swim team, but I have been around golf teams and, while the great unwashed might be blissfully unaware of this, I have never seen a college golf team that didn’t “bet” before practice. Usually on the first tee. Always very casually. Like as casually as breathing. Often with carryovers from the day before and the day before that. 

Now and then a bit of money might change hands, and sometimes a payoff might be in burger or Icee form, but “bets” are all part of the game in these semi-individual contests.

There is no official sports book for swimming. Or for golf practice. Same goes, as far as I know, for college bowling or archery. And there is no danger, as far as I can see, in wagering a buck to see how fast Ricky might swim on any ordinary Tuesday or whether or not I can get it closest to the pin on a par 3 to, you know, perk up a boring day.

That’s called fun. Makes perfect sense.

But when it comes to rhyme or reason concerning the NCAA, all bets are off.

Contact Teddy at teddy@latech.edu

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By RICHARD WALKER

SHELBY, N.C.  — Wilmington Delvets (Delaware) Post 1 may be making its first appearance in the American Legion World Series.

But after Sunday’s 3-2 win over Bossier City (La.) Post 202 in Game 11, the Delvets are making themselves right at home at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium.

The victory gave the Delvets a 2-1 pool play record and a runner-up finish in the Stripes Division, earning a 6 p.m. (CST) semifinal matchup on ESPNU tonight against the Stars Division champion. It denied the same to the Bossier Phillies, who earlier Sunday scored a rain-delayed 1-0 victory over Billings (Montana).

To advance to the semifinals, Delvets rallied back from a 1-0 deficit after three innings and got solid pitching from starter and winner Brady Fox (6 innings, 7 strikeouts) and Jack Rossi (1 inning, 2 strikeouts, save).

After Bossier City scored in the bottom of the third inning, Michael Smyth hit a leadoff single in the top of the fourth and Tre Villanova reached on a hit batter. After two outs, Hunter DiCarlantonio drove in Smyth and a wild pitch plated Villanova for a 2-1 Delvets lead.

Wilmington added a run in the fifth when Smyth hit a two-out double and scored on Villanova’s RBI single.

Bossier City scored an unearned run in the fifth before Fox stranded runners on second and third.

After Fox stranded a runner on second in the sixth, Buono brought on Rossi for the final three outs; Rossi struck out two of the three batters he faced to wrap up the victory.

Smyth (2 hits, double) led the Delvets’ five-hit offense.

For Bossier City, whose second season after restarting its program ended with a 23-6 overall record and first-ever ALWS appearance, Easton Sanders, Griffin Sibley and Jackson Jones had base hits and Sanders (7 innings, 5 strikeouts) was the hard luck loser.

Navigating the rules after Mother Nature altered the schedule eliminated the starting pitcher for Bossier after Game 9 of the World Series was suspended from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Despite facing a situation that caused a strategy change, the Phillies did what was needed to get a chance later Sunday to advance to Monday’s semifinals with a 1-0 victory over Billings Scarlets (Mont.) Post 4.

To get into that position, Bossier City had to find out how to scratch across a run against Scarlets pitcher Drew McDowell.

McDowell, who had pitched a no-hitter last week in Post 4’s Northwest Regional title run in his previous start, had thrown only 28 pitches on Saturday before a torrential rain soaked the field and suspended the scoreless contest to Sunday at 11 a.m.

A South Dakota State signee, McDowell yielded only two hits in his six innings of work and had a no-hitter until two outs in the fifth inning.

But each hit he yielded was game-changing.

Jackson Jones’ single to centerfield snapped the no-hit bid and after Tucker McCabe was hit by a pitch, Hudson Brignac’s single to center drove in Jones with the game’s only run.

“That guy was really good,” Peavy said of McDowell, who threw 97 pitches (51 strikes) against a Bossier City lineup determined to be patient.

“We just needed to battle at the plate and I thought our guys had a really good plan at the plate and they just stayed with it. We stayed with our approach and, fortunately enough, it worked out for us,” Peavy said.

Peavy was just happy his No. 2 hitter Brignac got another chance after he flew out to right field in the third with two runners aboard due to walks.

“There’s no better guy that we want in that situation than Brignac,” Peavy said. “He had that same opportunity earlier in the game and he flew out and was kind of mad at himself. So he capitalized when he got another chance.”

On the mound, each of Bossier City’s three pitchers yielded one in hit in 2 1/3 innings of work – starter Brody Bower and relievers Jones and Cade Moore.

The Phillies pitchers stranded runners on first and second in the first, at third in the third and left the bases loaded in the fourth.

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By JUSTIN GOLBA, AmateurGolf.com

Shreveport product and former Southwood football star Stan Humphries now owns one of amateur golf’s most prestigious championships.

Humphries won the 2024 North & South Senior Men’s Amateur Championship last week at Pinehurst (N.C.) Resort, site of the U.S. Open in June.

The former Super Bowl quarterback, who lives in Monroe where he is a state championship-winning girls basketball coach at Ouachita Christian School, pulled away in the final of three rounds, with a hole-in-one as a catalyst.

Humphries used rounds of 68-69-68 to get to 11-under and win by three shots.

He entered the final round tied at 7-under with Chad Branton, but a hot start to the final round, punctuated by an ace on the sixth hole, saw the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame QB get to 11-under and never look back.

“I just wanted to hit good golf shots and not take a lot of risk,” Humphries said. “Take a shot at the pins when the pins are available, but other than that, play safe.”

This was only the second ace of Humphries’s golf career, hitting a six iron from 197 yards.

“I was able to put my driver in play really well, and I putted really well,” Humphries said. “Whenever I gave myself a chance to make a birdie or save a par, I was able to do it with the putter. That is what gave me the consistency.”

This was his second time playing in the North & South Senior, his first being last season. In May, Humphries also won the SOS Dale Morey event.

While that was certainly a milestone in an accomplished senior amateur career Humphries is putting together, last week’s triumph is the cherry on top.

“It is a prestigious tournament, and it is awesome to be part of that,” he said.

Humphries is ranked No. 22 in the AmateurGolf.com Senior Rankings. A member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as a 2007 inductee, he led Northeast Louisiana (now ULM) to the 1987 Division I-AA football national championship, and guided the Chargers to a Super Bowl appearance to highlight a 10-year NFL career. He was a prep All-America QB at Southwood.

Branton finished in solo second place at 8-under, and 2023 champion Bob Royak and Miles McConnell finished T3 at 7-under. Jeff Frazier finished in solo fifth place at 6-under.

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By RICHARD WALKER

SHELBY, N.C. — For three innings, dueling perfection struck in Game 2 Thursday at the American Legion World Series.

It was because the first 19 batters were retired in order before Midland (Mich.) Post 165 struck for a run in the fourth inning that spurred a 3-0 victory over Bossier City Post 202 at Veterans Field at Keeter Stadium.

“That was a good one,” said Midland coach Dan Cronkright, whose program is making its 12th ALWS appearance all-time and record ninth trip to Shelby in its 14 years as host. “That kid for them (Cade Bryant) threw really well and Chad (Brown) had a good game for us.

“We played good defense. When you play good defense and you pitch well, it puts you in a good shape.”

Brown fired a three-hitter with two walks and 12 strikeouts for Midland. A 6-foot-6, 230-pound senior at Hemlock (Mich.) High School, Brown retired the first 13 batters he faced, then yielded back-to-back one-out infield hits in the fifth and two more in the sixth but worked out of each jam to preserve his shutout.

“We had some innings where we threatened a little bit and he made some good pitches to get out of it,” said Bossier City Phillies coach Dane Peavy, who is in the ALWS for the second time. Peavy coached Texarkana (Ark.) to the 2016 title.

“Hat’s off to that guy. He threw a well-pitched ballgame and I thought Cade pitched well too. We just didn’t get the hits when we needed to. And that’s the name of the game.”

Midland (28-6) scored in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. In the fourth, Mitchell Walters singled in Cayden Smith, who had drawn a one-out walk to become the first baserunner of the game and stole second base.

“It was big for us just to get a lead and pick away and build on it,” Cronkright said.

Midland scored in the fifth on a wild pitch and added a run in the seventh on Sam Briggs’ RBI single.

Bryant was the hard luck loser in a four-hitter with two walks and two strikeouts.

Both teams are off today in the Stripes Division as Midland meets Wilmington Delvets (Del.) Post 1 on Saturday at 3 p.m. and Bossier City meets Billings Scarlets (Mont.) Post 4 on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

In Peavy’s previous championship visit, his team lost its opener before bouncing back to win the championship.

“Those guys are probably frustrated,” Peavy said of his team. “Nobody wants to lose. But to know you’re still OK and still have a chance to reach your goals is important. We’ll just go back and regroup and use the day off to think about some things and get ready to get back at it on Saturday.”

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By PATRICK NETHERTON

Stars aligned in Shreveport a week ago for the Humor & Harmony Weekend. This weekend, more high profile visitors include two Pro Football Hall of Fame members and a Heisman Trophy winner.

Dallas Cowboys great Bob Lilly, Louisiana Tech and New Orleans Saints superstar Willie Roaf and legendary Oklahoma running back Billy Sims are part of the lineup at Geek’d Con, Shreveport’s landmark “Comic Con” style event.

Geek’d Con returns for its ninth year beginning this evening and running through Sunday afternoon at the Shreveport Convention Center. This year there is a new sports twist as the Shreveport Sports Card Expo makes its debut as part of the event.

Typically known for embracing nerd/geek genres, this year’s Geek’d Con adds a starry lineup of sports figures upstairs in the Convention Center.

Along with Lilly, Roaf and Sims, retired MLB slugger Rafael Palmeiro will be on hand. The local flavor in the star-studded sports lineup is provided by former LSU football star and NFL running back Jacob Hester and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member Todd Walker, undeniably one of LSU’s greatest baseball players and a 12-year MLB veteran.

The sports figures will be available for pictures and autographs.

Along with the celebrities, the Sports Card Expo will also have individual tables for sales of  trading cards, memorabilia and more collectibles.

Downstairs, Geek’d Con will feature its traditional lineup of guests from the land of geekdom, from movies to TV shows to animation to comic books. This year’s event has versatile actors like John C. McGinley (Scrubs, Office Space, Point Break), movie veterans Billy Zane (Titanic, The Phantom) and Kevin Durand (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), E.T. favorites Henry Thomas and Dee Wallace, TV stars Mitch Pileggi and Annabeth Gish (X Files) and David Morrissey (Walking Dead, Dr. Who) plus legendary voice actors Bill Farmer (Voice of Goofy, Pluto and multiple characters in “Space Jam”), Steve Downes (Halo), wrestlers Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Mark Henry (the World’s Strongest Man) along with a bevy of other guests.

One of the largest and most notable aspects of Geek’d Con are the vendors, selling action figures, Funko Pops, comic books, cosplay and other assorted crafts like woodworking, swords and soaps.

Cosplay (costume play) is also highly encouraged with patrons welcome to dress up as their favorite characters from anime, cartoons, video games, movies and TV shows. There is a cosplay contest featuring over $1,000 in prizes in adult, group and youth categories.

Tickets can be purchased at the door but are cheaper online (plus no worry about box office lines). Every guest will have their own prices for autographs, pictures or both, so check their booths for their prices.

Geek’d Con hours are from 5-9 this evening, Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 o’clock.

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Fortunately for us humanoids, we come equipped with a variety of things that help us navigate the world, especially when you like to hunt and fish. It’s our senses; those inborn things that give us the ability to see, to hear, to feel.

Take squirrel hunting for example. You’re sitting in the woods on a cool fall morning and you hear a variety of sounds, like birds singing, leaves falling, the rustle of trees when there is a breeze. Then you detect something different. You hear the sound of tiny claws on bark or the soft “whack…whack” of something eating a hickory nut. You don’t need to see it; you already know it’s a squirrel.

Fishing for an unseen quarry lurking beneath the surface calls into play most of our senses. We hear surface feeding fish, we see our line twitch when a fish takes the lure.

It’s the sense of touch, the ability to feel what’s going on down there out of sight that may be of utmost importance. Fishing rods made of graphite and boron used by most anglers today are super-sensitive scientific marvels allowing the angler to feel the gentle pick-up when a bass inhales a plastic worm. Even with these sensitive fibers working on the side of the angler, though, sensitivity to touch is of utmost importance.

Some fishermen have a sense of touch that is more acute than other anglers. Mike Lowrance, a Murfreesboro, Tenn., angler, is one of those. He has become a nationally-known specialist at catching fish by “feel”. He competes in national tournaments matching his skills, cast-for-cast, with the best in the business and he is able to hold his own with any of them.

Lowrance’s secret is that he has perfected the fine art of super-sensitivity more so than most anglers.

“I am of the opinion,” says Lowrance, “that my senses are no better than anybody else’s. The big difference is that when I’m fishing, I don’t let anything distract me. My attention is on what I’m doing while others may be distracted by something else. They only feel about 40 percent of what they should because they’re not paying attention.

“I cannot use a closed face reel….it has no feel. I prefer a revolving spool reel and I’ve learned you have to keep your finger in contact with the line at all times.

“When you use your line as the sensitivity device, you’re feeling it all, right down to the vibration of the lure. You know what your lure is doing. You can feel if you’re running it properly. I feel I have a quicker response with the line than the rod. As a matter of fact,” he added, “I know I do.”

One of Lowrance’s secrets is that he uses a line that has a smooth finish and that lays down smooth and flat on the spool. While he uses graphite rods because of their quickness and fast response, the line is of more importance to Lowrance.

“The rod is the casting equipment. I feel the fish with the line,” he said.

Hearing about Mike Lowrance and his ability to fish by feel, I couldn’t help but speculate that most anglers would do a better job at what they do if they forced themselves to concentrate more on feel.

Try to imagine how it would be to spend a day anchored at a favorite worm hole wearing a blindfold. After a period of adjustment where you cast out into blackness and felt the lure settle to the bottom, it is logical to imagine that your sensitivity would begin to improve as you are forced to rely strictly on the message the line is conveying to you as you slowly work the plastic worm over structure.

Mike Lowrance developed his sensitivity in this manner, after a fashion. He did it, however, out of necessity rather than choice.

Mike Lowrance is totally blind. 

Contact Glynn at glynnharris37@gmail.com

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Every vote from the major TikTok Sports outlets from around the country has been tabulated, and the result is no surprise: 

Nasdaq University of Georgia A&T&M is picked to repeat as BC$ national champion — even though each member of the team agreed to a restructured contract and less money this fall for more money later.

“This will allow us to invest more money on transfers to fill immediate needs,” coach Tommy “Dough” DiCosmo said. “The restructuring of the contracts speaks to the unselfishness of this team. Humbles me as a coach. They won it all last year and they’re more than willing to wait for a few hundred thousand down the road instead of cash right now for the best chance to repeat.”

The usually unflappable DiCosmo stopped and appeared to choke back tears before saying, “It’s not the wins I’ll remember, or the championships, or the trophies … well, I mean, I WILL remember the wins and the championships and the trophies because those things got me a house off No.7 fairway and some beach property. But what I’ll also remember — besides the trophies and some pretty solid investments that should allow me to retire year after next with the lifestyle I’m accustomed to, minus the locker room smell — is how these guys were willing to take some deferred stocks instead of cash up front. ‘Unselfish’ is the word that comes to my mind.”

He stopped, gathered himself, then said, barely above a whisper, “Old school.”

“The team that pays together, stays together,” team captain and All-American linebacker CD “Low Blow” Lee said. “Word.”

Lee is one of a triplet set of linebackers on an ATM team that dominated last year. As a trio, Lee and brothers CA and CB registered more than 300 tackles.

“If there’s been a better combo of linebackers to ever play, I sure ain’t seen ’em,” defensive coordinator Bowler Johnson said. “And won’t, not in this lifetime.”

The triplets’ little brother CC anchors the secondary at strong safety. One of the bigger safeties to ever play the game, the 6-6, 225-pound baby of the Lee bunch runs a 4.4, can bench a small county and is one of the reasons opponents attempted just two passes of more than 15 yards all season. While each was completed, one resulted in a limp-off, the other in a cart-off.

The offense starts with Jimmy “No Shoes” Taylor, a barefooted wonder who confuses defenses and electrifies fans with his daring runs, rocket arm, and six-car garage. A senior from the tobacco fields of small-town Virginia, Taylor missed the first week of fall drills after wrecking his Jag on the drive from his summer home in Jackson Hole.

“He’ll be ready for the opener,” offensive coordinator and NFL Hall of Fame receiver Quincy “Eye Black” Fontenette said. “Insurance covered the Jag; also got Jimmy a new deal with an insurance company whose name I can’t say right now, but I have some pamphlets I’ll be happy to hand you after practice.”

Elo “6-Sport” Capers, everybody’s favorite running back, is healthy after having spent the summer “lifting weights, getting my shoulder back right, and rotating the tires on my Audi,” the heralded junior said. Besides football, Capers has lettered in basketball, baseball, track and field, breakdancing, and advanced/varsity trampoline.

He’s good, but the Guys Up Front might be better. The self-proclaimed Best Dressed Offensive Line in Football (each player wears a necktie during games), the ATM offensive line is anchored by center Trudell “Big Hands” Patterson and guards Blaze “Big Feet” Butler and Grayson “Big Fill-in-the-Blank” Katona. 

“Every girl’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed man,” the shy and popular Katona said. 

The offense usually plays with only one tackle, but opposing defensive coordinators will testify that at a cat-quick 7-2, 360, Moses “Where He At?” Abraham sort of counts as two guys anyway.

ATM opens the season against Wofford.

Picked to finish second this season are The New York Stock Exchange University of Alabama AT&T Fightin’ Benjamins.

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JOURNAL SPORTS

WASHINGTON, Missouri – Bossier City fought back through the elimination bracket to win the Mid-South Regional championship Sunday and punch a ticket to the American Legion Baseball World Series beginning Thursday in Shelby, N.C.

Bossier City will be one of eight teams from around the country that worked through state and regional competition to earn a spot in the World Series, which will have ESPN3 coverage. Semifinal and finals coverage next Monday-Tuesday will be carried on ESPNU.

Bossier City opens the Series Thursday at noon CST against Midland, Mich., and will play again Saturday evening at 6:30 against Billings (Montana). Sunday, pool play wraps up with Bossier City meeting Wilmington (Delaware).

Other qualifiers for the national tournament are Fargo (N.D.), League City (Texas), Hudson (Mass.), and Troy (Ala.).

The Mid-South Regional included state champions from Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee along with the Louisiana champion Bossier City team.

The locals opened with a 5-1 victory over Ada (Okla.), then was knocked off 5-2 by Bryant (Ark.).

Dumped into the losers’ bracket, Bossier City eliminated Columbia (Tenn.) 7-1, sent Bryant home with a 2-0 victory, and won the regional by beating Tupelo (Miss.) 5-3 Sunday.

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