One annoying outside intruder proclaimed American Legion head honcho from North Little Rock couldn’t stop the great folks of Heber Springs from holding an outstanding zone tournament this weekend.
In fact, intruding commissioner Gerald Howard indicated the American Legion would like to hold a state tournament at Mare Square in the near future, hopefully next season.
Although Howard upset a few folks including myself with his brash attitude, it’s more important to focus on the people that made the tournament run smoothly despite scorching July heat. Not the one who sat at the picnic table in the shade 40 yards from the field munching on snacks with a cell phone in hand. Not the “commissioner” who failed to make the finals.
Billy Morgan donated his time to announce each of the games, including three on Friday, four on Saturday, four on Sunday and two on Monday night for a total of 13 games. That equates to approximately 39 hours of volunteer work over a four-day span.
Morgan’s professional voice announced each batter, kept the fans informed of the line score and he even played music in between innings using a laptop. In order to do this job, he had to keep up with each players’ name and its pronunciation as well as position, meaning work between games as well.
Meanwhile, Jay Goldman and crew kept the field in top shape and neatly lined before all the games. Goldman works free of charge for all high school and Legion games…and has for several years. Robert Galt, James Ludwig and Brad Reese also helped by keeping official books and various other duties. Trey Miller and Brent Patchell also gave their time during parts of the tournament.
Post 64 Manager Bobby Brock was very pleased with the volunteer work and said city worker Mike Jones “worked hard and was a huge help.”
“I want to thank Jay Goldman, Billy Morgan, Robert Galt, Brad Reese and city worker Mike Jones for sacrificing their time to be out here in that heat. We couldn’t have run a successful tournament without those guys,” said Brock. “I want to thank the city and the facility as a whole for allowing us to hold the tournament. For 14 straight hours some days, we were out there working on the field and Billy had to be up in the sweatbox. Without those guys that tournament wasn’t going on. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate them for donating their time.”
Brock said all the coaches had a good time and agreed that Heber did a good job of hosting its first American Legion zone tournament. “All of the coaches complimented us for hosting such a great tournament. It was an all-around great job. Everyone worked really hard.”
Hard work and helping kids is what life and sports are about. Honcho Howard would rather get in the way than pitch in for the cause.
(Will Gilbert is sports editor for The Sun-Times. Send comments to sports@thesuntimes.com)
Heber Springs, Ark. —
