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Monday, June 23, 2008
Panola duo signs scholarships
Two of Panola’s sophomore guards who helped the Ponies to a Region XIV semifinal berth have signed with four-year schools.
Christopher Jones, Panola’s starting point guard and Region XIV’s No. 1 assist man in 2007-08, has signed with Prairie View A&M. Aamir McCleary, Panola’s top backcourt scorer off the bench who played a huge role in the Ponies’ conference tournament upset of No. 1 seed Tyler, has signed with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Jones, who is originally from Katy, averaged 9.9 points, 7.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 steals as a sophomore, shooting better than 52 percent from the field and almost 48 percent from three. Jones finished third in the conference in steals and free-throw percentage (78.3). The 6-foot point also received the Buddy Lowery Award as Panola’s top male student-athlete for 2008.
McCleary, who is the brother of former San Antonio Spur and current New York Knick Malik Rose, averaged 9.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists as a sophomore, shooting 45.5 from the floor, 40.2 percent from downtown, and 74.6 percent from the charity stripe. McCleary is a native of Philadelphia.
Prairie View A&M is an NCAA Division I member and competes in the SWAC. SIU Edwardsville will compete as an NCAA Division I member for the first time in 2008-09. The school will play in the Ohio Valley Conference.
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Idle Thoughts
Let me see if I have this right. Adam Jones wants folks to stop calling him Pacman, the nickname given to him by his mother because of the way young Adam used to passionately suck down his bottles of formula (like the goofy yellow thing, Pacman, used to gobble things up on the video game). Jones would rather folks simply call him Adam or Mr. Jones now, saying the name Pacman has too much negativity behind it. I am a sucker for a feel-good story, and if Jones turns his life around on the field and off more power to him. The thing is, he can change his name to Mother Teresa, but until he manages to stay out of trouble for an extended period of time, it is all just lip service. As for being called Mister, that is not happening any time soon. Folks call men MISTER as a sign of respect, and until Adam owns up to his sordid past and quits referring to his reinstatement as a SECOND CHANCE it just shows he does not understand or will not admit what a boil on the backside of society he has been the last couple of years. By my count, he passed his second chance about six brushes with the law ago.
Hate to sound like a gripy, old man, but someone needs to say this before we lose a kiddo or two. This is the time of year when softball and baseball teams take over parking lots and hold car washes to raise money for various trips to state and national tournaments. It is a great way to raise funds, and I always try to chip in when I can. After witnessing several near-miss accidents on my way to the grocery store in Kilgore Saturday, I decided that a few guidelines should be in place for the kids and the adults in charge of those kids.
Do not approach a vehicle. Hold your sign in a way folks can see what group you represent and that you are offering to wash their vehicle for a small donation. If they stop, point them to the water hoses. If they do not stop, that means they do not wish to donate or have their vehicle washed. Running in front of a vehicle to slow it down is a good way to miss the upcoming tournament. Sort of hard to run the bases with two broken legs.
If you feel you must stop every car that enters a parking lot, at least leave enough room as to not back up traffic on the busy road behind the car. Causing a four-car pile-up, I have to believe, is bad for business.
Do not approach people entering or exiting the business where you are holding your car wash. Chances are, they saw you when they entered the parking lot and if they did not let you wash their vehicle at that point it means they are not interested.
The young lady exiting the place of business probably already knows how pretty she is, and does not need to hear if from you. If you feel you must inform her that she is cuter than a bucket full of kittens on Christmas morning, you might want to pick words that do not describe any of her body parts. First, it is disrespectful to the young lady and second, dad may be following close behind her. Like I said before, it is sort of hard to run the bases with two broken legs.
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