No longer in Paris

I called former Strong coach Kendrah Ferguson today, having no idea she was longer at Paris High School. Ferguson is currently the junior high girls basketball coach at Lavaca and could be set to take over the senior high program next year.
Ferguson was in Harrison on Tuesday with Lavaca's volleyball team for the 3A State Volleyball Tournament. Not to worry, she wasn't there to coach but just to drive the bus.
I got more surprising information in the phone call when Ferguson told me another former Strong coach, Betty Burge, was also in Harrison. Burge, who retired from coaching last year, was officiating at the volleyball tournament.
Imagine that.
Betty Burge, who never had a good word to say about a referee during her coaching days, is wearing stripes.
Who woulda thunk it?
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On a separate topic, Parkers Chapel coach Mark Young told me his senior girls' schedule for the Bearden Jamboree on Saturday. The Lady Trojans play Gurdon at 4:40 p.m. and Bearden at 5:10 p.m.

Basketball practice is here

I started making the rounds Monday as the basketball season fast approaches. I stopped in at Parkers Chapel for pictures on Monday and Tuesday, we took pictures at Smackover.
The first thing you will notice with the Lady Trojans this year could be their size. Parkers Chapel will be as big as almost any 2A team in the state except for Carlisle.
Freshman Savanna Langston could be the link between good and very good. Dana Gray is back along with a large assortment of role players who come in all sizes, skills and athletic abilities. There's height with Hannah Morgan and Tayvia Brownmiller, shooting with sophomore Dallas Phipps, strong defense with Kristin Jerry and athleticism with D'Atra Harper. The key however, might be at the point where Hope Phillips returns.
The Lady Trojans have the depth to go places. Smackover, however, does not have much depth at all.
What the Lady Bucks do have is an athletic backcourt with Kendra Marsh and Viana Stanley. Sarah Poff returned for her senior season after pondering not playing and Jo Jones could be better after a full year of action after ACL surgery.
Smackover has talent but does Coach Marsha Cowling have enough bodies to last through the long season?
The Lady Bucks will play Parkers Chapel twice before Christmas, at PC on Nov. 19 and in Smackover on Dec. 14. Smackover's Nov. 12 game at Strong will be quite interesting for both teams.

Where are they now?

In my haste to prepare for the high school basketball season, I almost overlooked the start of the college games, which are in a few days. We have several area girls who have taken their games to the collegiate level.
El Dorado's Ashley Harrell, who began her career at Southern Mississippi, is on the roster at Weatherford College in Texas. The junior college program opens play Nov. 1 at Lon Morris. Harrell, who will wear No. 1 this season, plays at Trinity Valley on Nov. 6 before hosting Lon Morris on Nov. 8.
Strong's Marandalynn Parker will begin her career at Ouachita Baptist University on Nov. 2 with an exhibition at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La. Gametime is 6:30 p.m. The Lady Tigers will play at Arkansas State on Nov. 5 before traveling to Pensacola, Fla., for the West Florida Classic on Nov. 16.
El Dorado's Krystal Herring is a freshman at Henderson State University. The Lady Reddies open play Nov. 1 with an exhibition at Oklahoma, which will have one of the top five teams in the NCAA Division I this season. Henderson travels to Cape Girardeau for an exhibition with Southeast Missouri State on Nov. 13.
Former Union County athletes include Hot Springs Lakeside's Julie Smith, who is a sophomore at Arkansas Tech. Smith, who prepped at Union and El Dorado before moving to Hot Springs as a senior, is coming back from an ACL injury. The Golden Suns open up at Missouri State on Nov. 4 before hosting Hendrix on Nov. 10.
Fairview's Brittany Johnson, who played at Union and Strong, is a freshman at Carl Albert in Oklahoma. The JUCO program has already played two of four preseason scrimmages with the others scheduled for Oct. 20 and Oct. 27. Carl Albert opens its season Nov. 2-3 in the Pepsi Classic in Liberal, Kansas against Garden City and Seward County.
Carl Albert will participate in the Shreveport Classic Nov. 8-10 with three games.
No, I didn't forget about Norphlet's Ellana White, who signed with Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. Unfortunately, but predictably, SAU's website has not been updated. Both the Lady Riders' roster and schedule on the site are from the 2006-07 season.
On another note involving former area athletes, Union's Sharonda Davis, who had an outstanding career at SAU, is a student coach at El Dorado.

It's a black thing

Should I be investigating the racial situation for the El Dorado girls basketball program?
The Lady Wildcats lost, yet another white girl from its senior varsity team when Melanie Hays quit the team recently to concentrate on golf and softball.
Hays, a sophomore, was the lone caucasian on El Dorado's ninth grade team last year. She was probably going to be in the rotation as a sophomore on this year's varsity team.
Hays is the latest white girl to leave the program. Morgan Saulsbury, another former Union student, quit the basketball program as a ninth grader to focus on volleyball and softball. Lynsey Colvin, who was a senior last year, quit playing basketball as a junior to focus on volleyball and softball.
Is this a problem?
Not to me. Everybody has the freedom to play any sport they'd like. But, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me wonder what's going on.
I discussed this with Kev Moye in the office and we both have our own ideas of why white girls don't want to play basketball at El Dorado. Since neither Kev nor I are white girls, we really have no idea.
It is puzzling though that the kids who were at Union, where girls basketball was King (or Queen), quickly drop the sport when forced to play at El Dorado. Is it because they're overwhelmed by the athletic ability of the girls? Perhaps it's because the bigger school has so many other opportunities that they simply find other things they'd rather do than play basketball.
Heck, maybe El Dorado coaches Corey Smith and Henry Harrell (who are both black) are intimidating to some people.
The last option to me is not realistic but, I suppose it's not impossible, either.
Like I said, it doesn't really matter to me. It just looks a little funny. It also looks funny that the soccer team is all white and softball team is predominantly white. I think the swim team is all white and the golf team is all white and the tennis team is all white.
Dadgum, Lady Wildcats - can't we all just get along?

Basketball already?

Oh me, oh my, is it basketball season again?
Actually, not yet but it's right around the corner. El Dorado coach Corey Smith called to remind me that the season tips off in less than a month. For the first time in a long time, I'm not ready for basketball.
You see, I've been starved for some decent football out of El Dorado for about three years now. The Wildcats are finally playing and now I have to divert my attention to another sport.
Last year and the year before, I couldn't wait for basketball to start. I was watching practices and thinking hoops after about the first week of football two-a-days.
I must work on getting my basketball jones up and running. I talked to Parkers Chapel coach Mark Young and he's excited and ready to roll.
In the next few days I'll start calling coaches around the area. Hopefully, talking hoops will get me in the mood to watch some hoops.
In the meantime, it's all about El Dorado football, baby. They don't want none of the El Dog - woof, woof!

Team should be ashamed

For the past 15 or so years, I've tried to showcase the best of girls and women in sports. I've always believed females worked just as hard and were just as competitive as their counterparts when it came to athletics.
But, clearly, the two genders are wired differently.
When I was a kid, when we picked teams during recess, it was about winning. It just so happened, the jerks were usually the best athletes. So, everyone wanted the jerk on their team.
It didn't matter that the jerk had threatened them on the bus or taunted them during class or teased them in the lunchroom. If the jerk could help your team win, you picked the jerk.
Basically, the only time the jerk wasn't a jerk was when he was on your team.
I say this because I still can't wrap my tiny, little male brain around this whole U.S. women's national soccer team fiasco.
I don't like soccer. I could care less about the world cup. But, this story has me mesmerized.
They actually kicked the girl off the team?
If you don't know, he's a quick recap. Goalie Hope Solo was benched for no reason for last week's semifinal game against Brazil. The USA lost that game and Solo criticized the coach and, probably inadvertanly, implied she could've done better than the teammate that replaced her.
The next day, Solo apologized to the team and, specifically, the woman who replaced her.
The team captains responded by kicking her off the team. She was not there for the bronze medal game, was not there for the medal ceremony and it wasn't even clear if she would be allowed to fly back from China with the team.
Am I the only person that finds this stunning?
If Terrell Owens or Charles Barkley or Allen Iverson got kicked off the team everytime they criticized their coach and teammates, they would've retired about two years after their rookie season.
Solo wasn't allowed to get the bronze medal that she helped the team win!! The team was unbeaten in its previous 40 games with her in the lineup. Nobody had scored a goal on her in almost 300 minutes.
Yet, she got mad, said some stuff she shouldn't have said, realized it, apologized and was still kicked off. This, after being a starter on the team for the past year or so. I've since found out, she was also bannished from the team completely, forced to stay away from the team in the hotel, forced to eat alone away from the team.
They're in CHINA. Who the hell else does she know in China besides her teammates?
How could you go over there as a team then abandon her all along like that?
My News-Times colleague Kev explained it to me this way saying, "I hate to say it like this but that's just women."
It's the truth.
Women would rather lose with their girlfriends than win with somebody they don't like.
I try not to paint an entire gender with one brush. Perhaps there are some female athletes who aren't catty, who understand what being a team is all about.
It's not about turning your back on a teammate when they make a mistake. Once she apologized, they still could've kept her on the bench. Hell, make her sit under the bench. Take away her starting spot until she proves she's learned from her mistake.
But to abandon a teammate after they've asked for forgiveness, and a teammate that's helped you enjoy a ton of success on the field, is one of the most heinous acts I've ever seen by a group of professional athletes.
For some of the comments she made, Hope Solo probably was a jerk. But, if she's on your team, then she's your jerk. More importantly, she's your teammate. You don't do teammates, jerks or not, like that.
Everyone involved in female athletics should feel ashamed.