Special to the Citizen

    The State SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) Competition for Trap and Sporting Clays was held Saturday, June 9, 2009 at the Lake Oconee Gun Club in Putnam County near Lake Oconee. The Lake Oconee Gun Club is home turf for the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team that brought home First Place for Georgia in Trap and Sporting Clays.

    The Lake Oconee Shotgun Team that took first in State Varsity Trap competition consisted of five young men: Troy Crisp, Clay Porter and Chance Moss of Morgan County, Eli Franks of Putnam County and Caleb Collins of Columbia County. 

    The Lake Oconee Shotgun Team that took first in State Junior Varsity Sporting Clays Competition consisted of three young men: Clay Porter and Chance Moss of Morgan County and Wesley Brooks of Newton County.

    The State SCTP (Scholastic Clay Target Program) Competition for Skeet was held Saturday, June 20, 2009 at the Tom Lowe Shooting Club in Atlanta, Georgia. 

    Despite blistering heat the Lake Oconee Shotgun Team brought home another First Place for the Junior Varsity Skeet Competition.

    The team consisting of Clay Porter, Chance Moss and Wesley Brooks shot a very impressive 578 out of a possible 600 targets. Clay Porter resides in Morgan County with his parents Chip and Shannon Porter; Clay is in the tenth grade and attends Gatewood School in Putnam County.  Chance Moss resides in Morgan County with his parents Jason and Jody Moss; Chance is in the tenth grade and attends Morgan County High School. Wesley Brooks resides in Newton County with his parents David and Sherry Brooks; Wesley is in the eleventh grade and attends Eastside High  in Newton County.

By Amanda Vernon
Staff Writer

    Since the end of the school year, 70 basketball players have been practicing and competing through the  heat for the Morgan County Hoop Dogs summer league. Gathering in the Morgan County Middle School gym twice a week to practice and traveling on Saturdays for games, the boys and girls are working hard to improve their individual and team skills under the direction of Coach Nathan Williams.

    The Morgan County Hoop Dogs is a summer league that was created 12 years ago by Williams, independent of the Morgan County school system and recreation department. “When the kids finish rec, they really don't have anything else to do for basketball,” he explains. “Kids were like, 'Coach Williams, what are we going to do now?' I thought okay, I know basketball, so let me try this.”

    Williams, who has been coaching recreation basketball for 30 years, had the idea to form a summer league for those players who just couldn't get enough of the sport. The first year, he put together one team of 12 players, and today the summer league is made up of six teams: three boys' teams with players who are rising fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and three teams (two boys' and one girls') with players who are rising seventh and eighth graders. This summer's players represent a significant expansion since the program was begun, as there are both more players and the current season is the first summer the league has been able to form a girls' team. “It's been a real success,” says Williams.

PHOTOS BY A. VERNON AND P. YOST

Printed in the June 25, 2009 Edition.

By Alvin Richardson
Staff Writer

    An attempt to identify the top athletes of Morgan County through the years is by nature a daunting, ambiguous task.  How do you compare the athletes of different eras?  How have changes in equipment affected performance?  How have new and better training techniques played into bigger, stronger and faster players on the fields?  How do you judge a lineman against a skill player in football?  How do you evaluate the worth of an unselfish point guard who doesn’t score as many points against the merits of a high scoring forward?  A myriad of ways to evaluate and judge have to be considered.  In truth there is no formula to accomplish this task.  It is one of conjecture and argument.  Ultimately it’s just for fun and for the sake of a good conversation.

    We need your help in identifying these people.  Opinion polls are in many ways popularity contests and opinions are often influenced by the era in which you played or watched the athletes in action.  Another influence on opinion is the overall success of a particular team.  Does a team that accomplished more in terms of playoff triumphs necessarily have the best players?    These and many other factors should carry weight in trying to answer the question, which, as we know can never be answered with any exactitude. 

    This list is of course incomplete.  There are dozens who could be a part of this roster.  What we need is your input to make this interesting.  Let’s see if we can get some arguments started. Send your nominations and any information (Year graduated, stats, comments etc.) to me at the following e-mail address:  dar8589@bellsouth.net
    Include any and all sports in which you have an interest.

By: Alvin Richardson; Sports Columnist