2010 holds lots of sports memories

Published 2:20 am Sunday, September 19, 2010

Earlier this week, students at Adams County Christian School dug up a time capsule from 1990.

Inside were found a New Kids on the Block cassette tape, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toy, and many other items that were popular 20 years ago.

Well, that got me to thinking. What if we were to bury a time capsule at the end of this year and include all the Miss-Lou sports accomplishments of the year?

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Well, first of all we would need a pretty big capsule, because it has been a banner year already for Miss-Lou athletics.

Of course, you’d have to include state championship trophies in our time capsule.

That means Vidalia boys basketball and Cathedral golf championship trophies would be the first to go in.

And of course you would have to put in the state championship trophy the Natchez Dixie Youth 12-year-old team earned in advancing to the Dixie Youth World Series this summer.

Perhaps put in a jersey or hat from the World Series as a signal of that accomplishment.

And while we might get caught up in local teams winning state championships, let’s not forget one local who got to compete on a national level.

Let’s be sure to put Beau Pré golf pro Tom Bryant’s scorecard from the United States Senior Open in Seattle.

Bryant was the only player from Mississippi competing in the event, and even though he missed the cut, he did himself and his city proud and had the experience of a lifetime.

We also shouldn’t forget the other teams this year that came close to winning state championships before falling just short.

The Trinity Episcopal girls basketball team was runner-up in MAIS Class A, falling just a few points shy in the championship game.

The Franklin County girls basketball team also came close to winning a state championship, advancing to the state tournament in Jackson before falling in the semifinals.

The Cathedral baseball team had another banner year, but fell in the South State finals to perhaps one of the best St. Aloysius teams ever.

And the success has continued into football season, with all four Natchez schools enjoying unprecedented success at the same time.

Through the first four weeks of the season, all four Natchez teams were undefeated, a combined 15-0.

And even though Cathedral lost on Friday night by one point to St. Frederick of Monroe, La., ACCS and Trinity cruised to victories to up their records to 5-0.

The 5-0 start is no surprise to Trinity, which is trying to defend a MAIS Class A state championship, but it is a big surprise for the Rebels, who have started a season 5-0 for the first time since their state championship season of 1982.

And even though they didn’t play Friday night, the Natchez High Bulldogs are also enjoying a spectacular season so far, having opened the season at 4-0 and a legitimate contender in MHSAA Class 6A.

So let’s be sure to save some room in that time capsule, because we might have to put quite a few more trophies in it before we bury it at the end of the year.

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor for The Democrat. He can be reached at sports@natchezdemocrat.com, or by phone at 601-445-3632.