New Playbook Calls for Pulling National Guard

You have to be ready for all sorts of emergencies when you sign up with the National Guard.

Civil unrest. Natural disasters.

And pee-wee football.

That’s right. Members of the National Guard, who were in southwestern Alabama preparing for Hurricane Georges in late September, tried to stop a fight involving half a dozen adults during a youth football game at Repton.

The game, with the score tied, 6-6, in the first quarter, was canceled. No one was seriously injured and one person was charged by authorities. Apparently, the dispute began when an older child started “picking on” a younger child and adults intervened.

“It sure makes us look bad,” said Marcus Taylor, who coached the 7- to 10-year-olds.

Repton will be hosting its first game since the melee on Saturday and folks there are feeling a bit sensitive after the recent widespread attention.

“We’re just a small, poor town trying to make a living,” Repton Mayor Scott Dees said.

*

Trivia time: Who was the only pitcher to appear in all games of a seven-game World Series?

*

Ruble rouser: When cash-strapped Spartak Moscow recently upset Real Madrid in Champions League soccer, 2-1, it set off a round of celebrating in Russian newspapers. Even in staid journals, such as the business daily, Kommersant, which observed:

“One of the richest clubs in the world was shown to be no stronger than a team with a modest budget, which doesn’t even own its own stadium. It’s proof that money isn’t everything in sport--and maybe that’s true in life, too.”

*

Double duty: Katie Hnida, a senior at Chatfield High in Colorado, was busy Thursday night. First, the 17-year-old was honored as the homecoming queen, then she celebrated by making all six of her extra-point kicks in a 42-9 victory over Standley Lake.

She has been on the team since her freshman year.

“My teammates have been very supportive,” Hnida said. “I’m sort of one of the guys. They treat me very, very well.”

Her next goal is to become the nation’s first female college football player, and her father said several schools, among them Colorado, Northwestern, Oregon and Missouri, have expressed interest.

“She’s incredible,” Chatfield Coach Keith Mead said. “She’s one of the guys.”

*

Home run hero: Baseball’s home run record took a beating everywhere.

Tyrone Woods, who never reached the majors during his 11-year professional career in the United States, broke the six-year-old Korean single-season record, hitting 42 home runs.

“The fans here are the best,” Woods said. “They always cheer for you. If you struck out three times and appear for the fourth time, they still cheer for you. In the States, they would boo.”

And, of course, there was a slim connection to Mark McGwire. The 29-year-old Woods broke the record for Seoul’s OB Bears on Oct. 1--McGwire’s birthday.

*

Trivia answer: Relief pitcher Darold Knowles of the Oakland A’s in 1973.

*

And finally: Even Nebraska Gov. Ben Nelson felt it necessary to provide reassurance after the Cornhuskers’ 28-21 loss to Texas A&M; on Saturday: “The year is not gone. All is not wasted. There is still a lot of opportunity out there.”