Politicians, media hit the hardwood
It’s a good thing the politicians recruited a doctor to play on their team for Saturday’s charity basketball game against members of the media.
The politicians needed a physician on hand to stop the bleeding.
A team composed of Southern Standard and Clear Channel employees rolled over the politicians in a game that raised over $1,000 for Park Theater restoration. Coupled with a sidewalk sale outside the theater earlier in the day, over $3,000 was raised Saturday.
As for the basketball game, veteran coach, radio personality and book author Bobby Newby coached the media team to victory. Showing he hasn’t lost much from his years on the sideline, Newby installed an attacking zone defense that stifled the politicians.
“They shot the referee, bribed the scorekeeper and they still couldn’t win,” said Newby with a chuckle. “I really did enjoy being out there. It was a bunch of people who got together for a great cause.”
County Clerk David Smartt coached the politician team, which also included local lawyers and doctors. Smart did his best to whip his team into shape, including an on-the-court tirade that included shooting referee Bruce Boyd with a cap gun.
“If I could have knocked a few years off some of our guys we would have done better,” said Smartt. “But, on the good side, we collected about $100 to bribe the referee and that all went to the Park Theater.”
Smartt also poked fun at some of his players, most notably County Executive Kenneth Rogers.
“The 15-minute parking man couldn’t last long. He didn’t have much wind,” said Smartt making reference to Rogers removing parking meters from around the courthouse. “We had planned to have a parking meter at the game but it didn’t work out.”
No one is quite sure of the final score. Team media was up by over 30 points when funny things began happening to the scoreboard with about two minutes left. One example is the politicians were awarded 35 points for one basket.
The media team was led by the double-digit scoring of Chris Marlowe, Duane Sherrill, Jeff Barnes and James Clark. Bobby Cox, a former county commissioner and sharp three-point shooter, led the way for the politicians.
Kory Boyd organized the game and said the turnout met his expectations.
“We sold over 200 tickets and I was happy with the way it went all the way around,” said Boyd. “Once the game was over I turned around and said, ‘OK, what’s going to be our next project?'”