Tournament at FC a success
By Bobby Moore
[email protected]
Sports Columnist
Something exciting happened on our campus while we were all home for the holidays.
The excitement was caused by the 50th Annual Rome News-Tribune Holiday Basketball Tournament, which was held at both Floyd and Shorter Colleges.
I attended most of the games at Floyd, and I must say I was impressed by all of our local basketball teams.
The action at Floyd kicked off with the Adairsville girl's 51-46 victory over the Coosa Lady Eagles. I saw a lot of hustle, and both teams played their hearts out. Basically, the game had all the elements that the WNBA fails to produce.
Both the Coosa boys and Rome girls successfully defended their tournament titles. The top-ranked Eagles became the first team to repeat as champions in boy's tournament history.
Coosa's Brandon Byars, the boy's tournament MVP, stole the show with two gravity-defying dunks during his team's 66-54 win over Rome in the championship game.
Roger Rich from Coosa may not have been the MVP, but he was without a doubt in my mind the best player I saw during the tournament. I would not be surprised to see him playing college basketball next year, assuming he can make the grades.
Abby Hand of Armuchee and girl's MVP Jessica Strucher of Rome will both play college basketball next season, and they both have earned their scholarships through their hard work and dedication.
Our school did a tremendous job hosting the tournament. David Mathis and the rest of the tournament staff deserve a lot of credit for the tournament's success. Their behind-the-scenes work does not go unappreciated.
The only thing at the tournament that disturbed me was the behavior of some of the parents. At times I felt like I was in a den of barbarians.
I heard everything from rage about the officials, who were obviously part of the vast right wing conspiracy, to laughter when an opposing team's player got injured.
I will admit that I get carried away while watching TV to the point that I have called Tommy Tuberville names that our paper cannot print, but I have never been heartless enough to laugh at an injured player. Only two fans laughed, but two was definitely two too many. The really sad part is that these same people would have started a fight if someone had laughed at their son or daughter.
I wish people would calm down and keep things in the right perspective. A lot of basketball fans need to follow the advice of Lou Holtz: �Praise loudly. Criticize softly.�
Fortunately, many of the fans were supportive of the players, which is how a true fan should behave.
It was a great experience, sitting in the stands watching basketball and envying the �Rome News-Tribune� sports writers who get paid to turn motion into emotion.
Our school deserves a big round of applause for its efforts in hosting this event, and you can expect to see me in the stands again during the 51st Annual Tournament.
|
