Well another year has come and gone. That makes 48 of them for me. With last week’s Year in Review Edition, we re-ran some of the most notable stories from this past year. While I’m sure that we left a few stories out (due to space limitations), we tried to hit the highlights so to speak.
2008 was a good year in my book. There were plenty of sports memories that will fill young boys or girls scrapbooks for future reference. Looking back though, I note that one great aspect of the year was that we did not lose any of our county’s young athletes to tragic deaths. We lost two in 2007 (Mary Black and Justin Burch) and I am thankful that those tragedies were not repeated in 2008. Sadly though, we did lose several big sports fans during the past year. Mack Rooks and Ed Revell were two of the county’s biggest sports fans and both passed away in 2008. While I am sure there were others who passed away that also loved Jackson County sports, these are two that I knew personally. Both are missed dearly by their families and friends.
2008 was a good year in my book. There were plenty of sports memories that will fill young boys or girls scrapbooks for future reference. Looking back though, I note that one great aspect of the year was that we did not lose any of our county’s young athletes to tragic deaths. We lost two in 2007 (Mary Black and Justin Burch) and I am thankful that those tragedies were not repeated in 2008. Sadly though, we did lose several big sports fans during the past year. Mack Rooks and Ed Revell were two of the county’s biggest sports fans and both passed away in 2008. While I am sure there were others who passed away that also loved Jackson County sports, these are two that I knew personally. Both are missed dearly by their families and friends.
But the circle of life, like a good book, means that we must close the chapter of 2008 and move on to the next chapter, 2009. We’re all familiar with the poor state of our economy and the forecasters are calling for more dismal times during the upcoming year. That’s all the more reason to go out and support your favorite high school, college or youth sports team.
We are blessed to have some outstanding sports teams and programs right here under our noses. You need not drive long distances or pay big money for entertainment. Just go and check out some of the local programs. Our high school basketball programs are as good as they come. There are plenty of teams that are having outstanding seasons. Many will make the playoffs and one or two have a shot at going to Lakeland.
And Chipola is having another fine year as the men’s basketball team is ranked #1 in the state and nation. The ladies are ranked #2 in the state and #8 in the nation. Expect the baseball and softball teams to once again vie for a state title. And if that is not enough, there are youth teams by the dozens in our county that boast the future stars of our sports programs.
So support our county teams with your attendance, encouragement and finances. I’ll continue to cover the local sports scene as best as I can and have the extra features (Yesteryear, In The Spot Light, Movin’ On Up, Rollin’ Down The River) that make reading the Jackson County Times something you look forward to. If you do your part and I do mine, Simply Put, 2009 will be another great year.
From the front porch: Uncle Bob comes from a school of thought that if everybody becomes somebody, there wouldn’t be anybody left to be nobody.
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