More baseball changes in Opelika

By Joe McAdory

Received this letter from longtime Opelika Dixie Youth official Guy Rhodes, who has chosen to step down from the Board of Directors. Rhodes sent the letter via mass email to many folks associated with baseball in Opelika. A few weeks ago, league president Mike Thomas announced a similar decision.

Here is the letter:

This is to inform you I plan to step down from the Opelika Dixie Youth Baseball Board of Directors effective with the date of this letter. (September 7, 2009).

Several factors led me to this decision.

It is a decision I have considered for some time and I more or less set a target date of 30 years with the program as a milestone to step aside.

About eight years ago, I had to take a leave of absence for a year when my wife’s parents were involved in a serious wreck, leaving one slightly paralyzed and the second in a situation where he was never able to return home after the wreck before dying a couple of years later.

Elaine and I have several elderly—and younger—relatives we are the primary caregivers for and it takes time.

As of earlier this year, I have been publisher as well as editor of my newspaper, The Tuskegee News. Not only am I responsible for the news operation side, all the financial aspects of the operation are now under my watch, thus a large increase in my responsibilities.

I feel this the proper time to devote more time to my family and business.

As I mentioned, I just completed my 30th year with the program. During that time I coached seven years of Dixie Youth and another six years in Dixie Boys and Dixie Majors. I was fortunate to coach six straight championship teams from Pee Wee through DYB Majors, serving as head all-star coach four times in DYB and another five times in six years of coaching older leagues.

I have not had a child in the DYB program since 1988. My last year of coaching Dixie Majors (15-18) was 1993, so that in 1994 I could serve as State Tournament Committee Chairman when Opelika hosted the Alabama Dixie Youth State Tournament. I was fortunate to grow up in one of the strongest DYB programs, that being Myrtle Grove outside Pensacola where our league won nine straight Florida DYB titles and hosted a DYB World Series. My brother and I were both members of World Series Champion teams from Myrtle Grove in Dixie Boys and Dixie Majors, respectively.

With that said, I believe my perspective as a former player and all-star participant, regular season coach, an all-star coach and a league official gives me insight into all aspects of the program. I hope other board members continue to be a part of Opelika DYB once they do not have a child in the program. To me this is very important.

With too many coaches on the board, I believe—consciously or unconsciously—there is a tendency to attempt to influence team assignments, league alignments and focus on how the all-star teams will be comprised at the end of the season. There is absolutely nothing wrong with fielding a strong tournament team. However, the focus should always be first on the regular season and involving as many children as possible in the program.

I hope the program’s focus will always be in the proper direction.

I will make myself available to whomever will become commissioner of the Minor League as it relates to rosters, draft procedures and the coaching selection process, if that person so desires.

To say I have enjoyed my years with Opelika Dixie Youth Baseball would be major understatement. For 30 years Opelika Dixie Youth Baseball has been a large part of my life and a passion for me—and something I will miss tremendously.

Sincerely,

Guy Rhodes

Ties are hazardous to my health, appearance

By Joe McAdory

I strongly dislike wearing ties. I have some nice ones. Black and grey. Orange and black. Blue. Red. Looney Tunes, etc.

But I can’t stand the feeling of these decorative neck pieces flopping on my chest all day. They serve no real purpose other than some symbol that supposedly cries “hey, I look nice.“ Fine. Look nice with an $8 tie from an inexpensive, giant retailer. Wow. I’m impressed.

But here I am, with my tie, looking what some people believe is nice. I can look dang nice in an $80 golf shirt too. I feel stuffy, impersonal in a tie. Without one in a nice button down shirt I feel much looser and actually feel like I look more attractive not that it really matters at my oppressive age.

Ties bother me. They get in the way. When I put my seat belt on, the belt wraps over the tie and make me feel even more restricted than I was before. If I pull the tie out over the belt, then it eventually gets caught in the seat belt when I put the car in park and take the belt off. Great, I might hang myself in my Ford, trying to untie this cloth contraption decorated with Speedy Gonzalez.

I look ridiculous too. I’m not a professional tie-putter-onner. It takes about 20 minutes of my morning just to finally get the multi-colored handkerchief thing around my neck. Of course it’s not done right. The big side hangs one way, the smaller underside flops the other way and I look like Colonel Sanders. Yeah. But I look nice, right?

Ever get a tie caught in a power vaccuum when trying to clean out your car? Their hazardous too. I believe if I keep wearing ties they will one day kill me. Colonel Sanders wore a tie and he’s dead. See.

Set me free. Please set me free.

Fall Severe Weather Awareness Day today

By Joe McAdory

Today is Fall Severe Weather Awareness Day in Alabama. How do I know? The National Weather Service office in Birmingham says so. Below is a link to a Web site detailing fall severe weather information that can be as interesting as it is useful and historic.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/aware/fall_severe_awareness09.php

Football not worthy of race card

By Joe McAdory

I have seen comments from the outside suggesting that race played a part in Chris Todd being named Auburn’s starting quarterback this year. It’s sad when the race card must be played for everything. There are many instances when the race card deservedly should be played, but when it becomes a constant drum beat then things that really matter in life get overshadowed.

Why is Todd the QB? From what I’ve seen over the past two years, he has a greater grasp of the offense than Kodi Burns and his passes have been more accurate than Burns. His passes the last two games were well off the mark, however. No arguing that. I thought Burns had his audition last year and he impressed me more when he ran than when he passed. The dude’s got wheels. He could be a dual threat if his accuracy was better, like Steve Young or Michael Vick. It seemed that Burns overthrows receivers. He’s got a cannon for an arm, that’s for sure. One thing I like about watching Burns is it appears he’s really having fun on the football field, much like Carnell Williams. He loves the game.

I don’t believe either quarterback is All-SEC caliber and quarterback play has been an issue since Brandon Cox’s senior year.

But the race card? Last I checked, Auburn has an outstanding record of black quarterbacks. Pat Washington helped Auburn to the Cotton Bowl in 1985. Reggie Slack was outstanding from 1988-89 and helped the Tigers to two SEC titles. Remember Dameyune Craig? Probably the best dual-threat QB on the Plains. He quarterbacked Auburn to the SEC crown in 1997 with monster numbers. Jason Campbell was a work in progress, but once he took charge and proved to the world that he could be the man behind center, the job was his for three years.

And then there’s Tyrick Rollison, the redshirt freshman. If race is an issue at Auburn, then the coaches would not have made such a recruiting push for him last winter. He appears to be the program’s quarterback of the future. At least it appears he’s being molded as such.

Football coaches want to win games, period. They do not care if a quarterback is black, white, purple or green with yellow polka dots. They will play the QB they believe gives them the best chance to win. They know their jobs are on the line. If they play the wrong quarterback, then I would say that fault lies more on a poor judge of talent rather than anything else.

Play the race card for something meaningful in life like unfair taxation or job discrimination. Football is a game.

Navy Daymare just doesn’t work folks

By Joe McAdory

Let me re-emphasize my eye-rolling feeling for Auburn’s Navy Nightmare promotion for its Halloween game against Ole Miss.

THE GAME WILL KICK OFF AT 11:21 A.M.

That’s right. A nightmare under the sun.

There’s still time to re-launch this gimmick with a new, fun one. Since it’s Halloween, why not encourage fans—namely the kids—to wear their costumes to the game and dub the event Jordan-Scare Stadium? Why not a pre-game costume contest with the top three presented on the Jumbo Tron for the final voting to be made by fan applause? Oh well. I’m not a marketing guru. I just work at the O-A News.

I also wonder how many Halloween-ish puns or catch phrases will be over-used in Sunday morning game stories from sports writers and folks making headlines. I look forward to seeing them.