Simply Put-12/18/08

Simply Put
"Mr. Roy would have loved IT"
That thought occurred to me last Thursday night in Malone as I was there covering the Sneads Pirates boys basketball game against the host Malone Tigers. The Malone gym is called the Roy B. Beall Gymnasium in honor of Mr. Roy. I realize that some folks don’t know who Mr. Roy was (sounds like a good idea for a Yesteryear feature), but there are plenty of folks around that still remember all that he did for basketball in the county.
The Pirates and Tigers locked horns in another all Jackson County matchup. One of the great things that I love about Jackson County basketball is that every varsity team plays each other on a home and away basis during the regular season. That is not the case with many of the other sports, so basketball really gets the inner-county rivalries cranked up. And no matter the records or how the teams have been playing, every Jackson County game is a heated contest.
Thursday night was no different. The Sneads Pirates fans travel as well as anybody and they had a large contingency on hand. Malone as usual had their home folks in full force. All of these folks were packed into a gym that for the most part looks no different than it did 50 some odd years ago when it was built. And while I know some Malone folks would love a new gym, in my opinion the old gyms have much more character than the new gyms.
So the house was packed and the game was a classic. The two squads traded the lead through out the game. And with each lead change the crowd grew more intense. Malone got hot from outside the 3 point line and pulled out ahead in the fourth quarter. Their fans were in a frenzy as it looked like they might put the Pirates away. But back came the Pirates and a NBA style 3 pointer with five seconds to play sent the game into overtime and sent the Pirate fans into their own frenzy.
While the teams prepared for overtime the opposing fans rose to their feet and tried to out shout each others battle cries. In the end Sneads prevailed with a four point overtime win. It was a hard fought game on both sides. The players, and fans for that matter, were physically and emotionally drained when all was said and done. And while Mr. Roy’s loyalties would have leaned more toward Malone than Sneads, he really did a lot for basketball in the county as a whole. It wasn’t just for Malone and Marianna as some might think. So, Simply Put, Mr. Roy would have loved last Thursday night because it doesn’t get any better than an overtime battle of Jackson County basketball.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob noted that the early fish gets hooked for the same thing the early bird gets credit for.