Scott Brown's SportsBytes on WKDZ

Charges against Fort Campbell coach dropped

A stalking charge against a Fort Campbell teacher and coach has been dismissed by a Montgomery County, Tennessee General Sessions judge.

36-year-old John Ryan Cunningham of Cadiz was arrested February 28 and charged with stalking a fellow teacher at Fort Campbell High School. He was arrested a second time for allegedly violating the court order.

In an e-mail to WKDZ/WHVO News, Cunningham said the charge was dismissed, and he is considering legal action of his own against the female teacher who brought the original charge.

 “I feel vindicated by the court”, said Cunningham in the e-mail.  “But quite frankly it has shaken my faith in the justice system. It is scary that a person can go into Montgomery County Tennessee where people do not know me and swear out a totally false statement and have me arrested. I am grateful for my family, friends, and fellow faculty at Fort Campbell who supported me through this ordeal.”

His attorney, Stephanie Ritchie of Clarksville, was quoted in the e-mail as saying the district attorney refused to prosecute the case due to “a combination of the alleged victim’s own actions and the fact the alleged crime did not occur.”

Cunningham said the charges arose from a “personal disagreement.”

According to the February arrest report, the female victim stated Cunningham was an ex-boyfriend and refused to stop coming to her Clarksville house and continued to contact her at the high school where they both teach, despite being told by school staff to stop. In addition to his teaching duties,

Cunningham serves as both the boys’ soccer head coach and boys’ basketball head coach at Fort Campbell. The e-mail said Cunningham has been rehired to coach both sports next year and he has been contracted to teach at Fort Campbell for the 2011-12 school year.

I hereby resign as a Chicago Cubs fan

I can tell you the exact day I became a fan of the Chicago Cubs.

My pee wee baseball team was the Cubs.  My coaches were Kenneth Lancaster and Robert Allen.  Our team wasn't that good but we were fun to watch.  I guess that's called foreshadowing.

It was April 19, 1980.  Cable TV had come to Cadiz in the year prior and WGN was beaming Cubs games over the airwaves.  I watched a guy named Dave Kingman launched two home runs onto Waveland Avenue and this Cubs team beat the New York Mets 12-9. 

The Cubs played mostly day games, which gave me something to watch on TV during the summer.  The golden voice of Jack Brickhouse brought the action alive.  Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau helped him out.  Milo Hamilton came over the middle innings while Jack went over to the radio booth.

The more I watched, the more I liked. 

That isn't the case anymore.  I hereby submit my resignation as a Cubs fan.  They have sucked the baseball life out of me.  It's to the point where I don't even watch baseball anymore.  After 31 years as a Cubs fan, baseball is no longer fun to watch.  I haven't watched more than four innings of a Cubs game this year.  That's probably four innings too many for this team.

I've endured the many embarrassments of this franchise during those 31 years.  From Sosa's cork to Bartman to letting future Hall of Famers get away to playing in a stadium that should have been imploded years ago to the drunk ramblings of Harry Caray.  I will endure no more.  I refuse to support a sports franchise who doesn't understand the concept of winning -- from the players to the GM. 

The bad trades are many.  The horrific free agent signings are too many to count.  But not near as many as the excuses for not winning.  The goat. The black cat.  Steve Garvey.  Leon Durham.  Will Clark.  Bartman again.  Playing day games at home.  Blah blah blah blah. 

I've had enough.  I'd rather stick toothpicks under my toenails and kick the wall rather than watch this team play.

I can only support a losing team for so long.  I'm done.  I'm doing exactly what this franchise is doing now.  Quitting.

And no, I'm not jumping ship to become a fan of the Cardinals.  Or Reds.  Or Braves.   My Major League Baseball pulse is fading to the point of a Code Blue.  Don't get me wrong.  I still enjoy watching or coaching a youth league baseball game where the parents don't complain (almost as rare as a Cubs World Series appearance).  I'll play wiffle ball in the backyard.  I'll still watch college baseball.  And I still envision a few trips to the minor league ballparks in the region. 

I'm just done as a major league baseball fan because of my prison sentence as a Cubs fan.  And that's why I'm no longer a Cubs fan.

Sincerely,

Scott Brown

 

 

Saturday Morning Sports Report for June 4

This week's Saturday Morning Sports Report featured Dwight Seymore, general manager of the Tradewater Pirates baseball team.  Their season begins this weekend.

Tradewater Pirates GM Dwight Seymore

Also, longtime high school and college sports official Don Gilmore was on the show to talk about his experiences on the diamond and court and what is ruining youth sports today.

 

Interview with Don Gilmore

 

 

 

Jackie Sholar to step down as Trigg County baseball coach

Trigg County baseball coach Jackie Sholar says he will step down as head coach after five seasons.

Sholar told the team of his decision following their 15-5 loss to Union County in the Second Region Baseball Tournament semifinals.

The Wildcats were 25-8 in the 2011 season, with the 25 wins thought to be a school record.

In five seasons as head coach, Sholar was 89-74.  His teams won two district titles and were district runner-ups two other times.

As a player at TCHS, Sholar played on the 1979 Wildcat team that won the district title.

Sholar says he will step down as baseball coach

 

Trigg County falls to Union County 15-5 in region semifinals

Union County used two big innings and a shrinking strike zone to beat Trigg County 15-5 in the semifinals of the Second Region Baseball Tournament at Christian County.

Trigg took a 2-1 lead in the second inning before Union County exploded for six runs to lead 7-2.  Trigg countered with three runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 7-5.

However, the Braves scored eight runs off three different pitchers in the fifth inning to claim the win via the mercy rule.

Zac Snodgrass and Hunter Allen had RBI doubles, and Jared Stallons had a two-run double.  R.J. Sholar added two singles and an RBI.

Aaron Hedgepath, the region player of the year, slammed a home run, and Blake Alvey added two hits and two RBIs for Union County, who improved to 24-9.

Trigg County's season ends with a record of 25-8.  The 25 wins is thought to be a school record.

Union County will go for the school's first-ever region title when they play Hopkinsville tonight at 7:30pm.  Hoptown beat Henderson County 7-3 behind two hits from Josh Drake and Jared Perry, and Hutton White added a 3-run triple. The two teams didn't play during the 2011 season.

 

Abigail Torian part of national championship relay team

Abigail Torian was part of the national champion Indiana Tech 4x100 meter relay team that took first place at the NAIA National Outdoor Championships over the weekend.

Torian's relay team made one circuit around the track in a school record 45.29 seconds.  The national title is the first for a relay team in Indiana Tech history.

The 4x100 meter relay team has re-written the record book at Indiana Tech this year. As a result of their finish, Torian and her relay team will be named NAIA All-Americans.

Torian is a freshman at Indiana Tech after a standout career at Trigg County.