Dodgeball tourney raises $1,000; Money raised given to Casey Sparling Scholarship

The Wabash Plain Dealer Online Ten teams took the hardwood at Northfield High School Saturday for the first dodgeball tournament, presented by Wasted Talent, the dodgeball team that participated in the World Championships in Las Vegas last fall.

All proceeds from the event, right at $1,000, were donated to the Casey Sparling Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Team Caucasian Invasion cruised through the competition, posting wins over team World Champs and the Sophs.

In the semi-finals of the winner's bracket, The Invasion posted a win over the Jaundice-Stricken Jaguars to advance to the championship game in the double-elimination tournament.

Pre-tourney favorite, the Coaches, benefactors of a first-round bye, were sent to the loser's bracket by the Miller's.

The Miller's posted a win over Off Constantly in the opener.

The Sophs had an opening round win over Dodge Caravan (with front side airbags) before the loss.

The Divas (the all female team) were handed two straight losses as were the World Champs.

The Miller's and Coaches both battled through the loser's bracket before the Miller's claimed the upset win.

With the Jaguars lying in wait, the Miller's were stalked and eliminated.

The Jaguars then went on to beat the Invasion twice in the championship series.

Several individual awards were handed out on the day.

The Human Bullseye went easily to David Price. Price was the first one out nearly every match the Caravan played in.

Ty Mills took home the Laser-Rocket Arm award while Andrew Glasscock was the Artful Dodger winner.

Glasscock was crafty all day, and even eliminated Coach Tony Uggen in a one-on-one showdown to place the Miller's in the semi-finals of the loser's bracket.

Levi Allen took home the Best Hands certificate, coming up with numerous putouts via the catch.

The Dodge Caravans (with frontside airbags) won the Clark Fork Wampus Cats best team name award.

The Jaguars went on to beat a depleated Wasted Talent team.

After that was the free-for-all last-man standing contest.

Nate Dunn was the victor, outlasting the field.

Finally, Jared Tackett took home the Casey Sparling Memorial Dodgeball Tournament Sportsmanship Award for his etiquette on the day.

The works are in progress for a fall tournament next year.

Wasted Talent versus the world

The Wabash Plain Dealer Online  

By AARON TURNER, aturner@wabashplaindealer Wednesday, September 6, 2006 12:05 AM EDT

Seven local men will begin a journey with one goal in mind - to be the best.

But not just at any sport, though, the highly-competitive world of dodgeball.

Fueled by local success at the Wabash County Sportsfest, presented by Oldies 106 and First Federal Bank & Trust, Wasted Talent, the two-time defending champ, will, after a generous donation from G&S Metals, travel to Las Vegas for the World Dodgeball Championship Sept. 15-16.

“We went before the G&S board of charitable work, and they agreed to it,” Matt Bever, team member, said.

The idea came from another team member.

“I was looking online, and I saw that there was a world championship,” Bobby Galley said. “I thought we might have a shot after the way we played in the Sportsfest.”

Bever, along with Napanee's Eric Highley, are original members of the team, who played in the coed division last year.

Highley, the team captain, said that training already has begun, but since the squad hails from different area codes around the state, it's all on an honesty bases.

“I've been working out after school,” Highley, who teaches at Northwood High School, said. “Everybody has.

“It's getting to the point where we're getting noticed for it, too.”

Known as the “Dodgeball guys” at Ball State's Irving Gym, Galley and Bever have been working on sprints as well as long toss and burnout.

Highley has also been working on quickness, while Jason Stanley, as well as Lee and Tory Shafer, both of whom work at G&S, have been jogging.

Those six, along with Coley Schenkel, will leave Sept. 14 with a flight from Indianapolis International Airport.

Schenkel, the Shafers and Stanley all competed on different teams during the Sportsfest, but jumped at the chance to compete for the world title.

“I'd like to thank Hoffman Nursery for allowing me to go,” Schenkel said. “I hope we represent them well.

“I think it will be a good time.”

The pedigree is pretty good.

Stanley at Highley both have state championship rings for the Northfield Norsemen, while the Shafer name has been synonymous with baseball for quite a while.

“We're looking to bring back the trophy,” Bever said. “I like our chances because we're all pretty athletic, can throw relatively hard and we're all pretty quick.”

Highley, who has become known as Mr. Dodgeball at Northwood, said that the championship won't come easily, but it is attainable.

“We're going to have to play well, there's no doubt about that,” Highley said. “There's no doubt in my mind we're good enough, we just have to go out and show it.”

The squad will stay at the Excaliber.

The event will take place at the Las Vegas Sports Center.

“We couldn't have done it without the generous donation from G&S,” Bever said. “That was huge.”

By AARON TURNER

By AARON TURNERHill Billy Editor

GREY EAGLE -- It was a relatively slow day at Big Birch Lake, the destination of summer vacation of many. And so the day played out, the day after showers blanketed much of the region, relagating temperatures to 70 degrees with mostly overcast skies. The fishing was the best yet with Marc Bever, Todd Martin and Jason Warnock all taking to the shores and shallow waters for some bait fishing with night crawlers the feast of choice for the panfish, rock bass, perch and on rare occasions, Northern Pike. The catch was bountiful with bluegills the main catch. Martin reeled in the biggest catch, a nice Northern, but it was Warnock that tallied the biggest keeper, a well-rounded rock bass. Martin's Northie slipped off. For the duration of the morning, the trio, with a little help from Aaron Turner and Sean Mathias, harvested quite a few fish for the feasting to come. With the chance of rain later in the day, and the thought of beating the big rush to Double Rs for Buck Burgers, Bever, Warnock and Martin began the task of cleaning the catch. It was soon after that Tuesday's greatest memory happened. Martin and Warnock scaled the fish while Bever carved the catch into edible fillets. The three stood in waist-deep water with the catch resting on the dock directly in front of them. Spoons were used to remove the scales, but Warnock tried a different approach. With a knife from his tacklebox, Warnock would jab the his knife into the fish tails ... until the Tuesday version of Idiots-R-Us intervened. On one of his attempts to stick a fish, Warnock's right handed slipped off after the stabbing motion. The follow through slid Warnock's palm over the blade, inflicting a three inch gash in the meaty flesh of his hand. "I always do that," Warnock said, almost immediately following. With blood welling like a Old Faithful, Warnock lifted his palm, much to the delight of Turner and Matt Bever, but the shegrin of wife Jennie. Cousin-in-law Krys Martin was off like a flash en route to the cabin for bandaids and fixer-uppers. When Warnock re-raised his palm, the first pass-out of Vacation 2006 nearly happened. Todd Martin, after second review, has a weak stomache, and the sight of blood sent Martin to the dock. The tan that Martin had earned over the first three days of vaction quickly left his face as the sight of blood made a Martin weak in the stomache. So weak that the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder made a dash to the dock, where he quickly rolled to his back, his arm resting on his head as his stomache tried to calm the unease that was upon him. "If you can fillet a hand, you can fillet a fish," Marc Bever said, paraphrasing a Dodgeball excerpt. And so it was as Warnock and Bever, and eventually Martin finished the fillet job with Warnock finishing the second half with his hand wrapped in butterfly bandages and gauze. No fish survived.

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Minnesota Vacation 2006 - Day 3

Make sure you continue reading below. By special assignment to MarcBever.com, we have the Wabash Plain Dealer's Sports Editor, and my cousin, Aaron Turner contributing to this post while he's on vacation. Make sure you also read the post showing the pictures from Days 1-2 to read Aaron's recap of Jason's sunburn. Also, read the previous post to check out the makes of "All Hands on Deck." If you enjoy Aaron's contributions to these posts, please comment so we can make sure they continue. IMG_0526.JPG

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Me, Todd, Matt, Aaron, and Jason jumping into the lake after sitting in the sauna. Below the picture to find Aaron's story of what transpired. IMG_4430.JPG

By Aaron Turner Hill Billy Editor

GREY EAGLE-- "It felt like a sauna in there," muttered Matt Bever, who carefully built the roaring fire inside the pot-bellied castiron stove. It used to be a minnow house, may years ago, but some 1x8 tongue-and-groove barn siding, mixed with memory graffiti from years gone by, now houses the sauna. "I really wasn't sure what I was in for," said Aaron Turner, of Roann, Ind. "I thought, 'How hot can it actually get?' "The answer soon became obvious -- blistering hot." The process, one assumes, is as old as the sauna at Lafayette Resort itself. What better way to cool down from a nice sweat than a dip in Big Birch Lake, just a 20-yard sprint away. The routine started out with tempers flaring hotter than the fire itself. Sean, Turner's 6-year-old stepson, was a bit rambunctious in the close confines of roughly 8x10 building. The hotspots, so it seemed, was the upper level of the platformed sitting area. For the first go-round, Matt Bever, Todd Martin and Jason Warnock all chose the upper level. "I didn't know if I was going to sweat," Martin said. Soon, though, Turner realized that the gods of sweat weren't smiling on him like they were Bever, Martin and Warnock. So he switched with Bever the younger, Andrews, Ind., and soon became a shining figure much like the others. After nearly five minutes, and an exit from Sean, the group made the dash to seemingly frosty waters of Big Birch Lake. After a brief lake-water bath, the crew returned to the sauna, where again Bever said, "It feels like a sauna in here," quoting Seinfeld because his own reservoir of wit was empty. The routine was repeated three times before finally calling it quits. The group did find out that amid the heat, one's breath feels like fire. "Todd blew on me, and it felt like fire," Marc Bever, of Mitchell, Ind., said. "It was just weird how that worked. "Even if you blew on your own hand, it was really hot." As a thundershow set in, the group retired after the final trip to the lake, noting that while lightning is exciting, it's also a touch dangerous. After getting rained on for the short sprint back to the lake house, which the group is calling home for the week, most went on their respective ways. Marc began his websiting, Matt went to work on his book, The Partner, by John Grisham he started earlier in the day, Martin, of Claypool, Ind., played cards, Turner wrestled with the cutest baby in the history of the world, while Warnock, the most lightest complected of the group, took a vinegar bath as he is still trying to cope with a sunburn attained on the first day at Grey Eagle. "Don't fall asleep by the water for four hours the first day you're here," Warnock, of North Manchester, said. "It's still early," Matt Bever said. "We'll be back in there."

Minnesota Vacation 2006 Days 1-2

This is what happens when you fall asleep on the bench by the beach for 4 hours... IMG_4309.JPG

By AARON TURNER Hill Billy Editor

GREY EAGLE--Sometimes outsiders don't fit in. That's not the case with Jennie Bever-Warnock's husband, Jason. A group of cousins and married-ins made the 12- to 14-hour journey from several points in mid-central Indiana to the glistening waters of Big Birch Lake in Minnesota. To say the group was anxious to begin the hijinx was an understatement. A drizzlin rain greeted the group upon arrival, but as soon as the skies parted and revealed just a hint of sunshine, the games began. Warnock brought his family's jetskis along, and promptly unloaded them into the water of the lake. The group was tired, to say the least, and Warnock, who drove the distance, was especially so. Being a gamer, though, he made the maiden voyage on the skis with cousin-in-law Todd Martin. The day was off to a slow start as Warnock and Martin made a trip together on one wave runner. The duo was stranded in the middle of Big Birch Lake, and Matt Bever came to the rescue. Martin, a rookie on the skis, couldn't remount after getting thrown, and rode solo back while Bever and Warnock, brothers-in-law, rode double back. That was enough for Warnock. Thirty hours of sleep deprivation found him falling asleep on the first solid item he came across -- a rustic bench overlooking Big Birch Lake with 2x6 slats for the bench. "If I can sleep on a cattle box in coveralls at the state fair grounds, I could sleep on anything." And he proved it. For four hours Warnock rested in the sun, his head slightly cocked on his left peck and his right hand covering his right. Four hours. In the sun. Direct sun. With reflected sun thrown upon him. "He's very fair skinned anyway," cousin-in-law Aaron Turner, who has the cutest baby in the history of the world, said. "I guess several people tried to wake him, but it didn't work." Martin said, "I pulled on his finger." "I pulled a towel out from underhim," Warnock's brother-in-law Marc Bever said. But on he slept through four hours of late morning and mid-day sun. When he finally awoke from his Rip-Van-Winkle-like slumber, the damage was done. It's not enough that he's an in-law, but he was also the funniest looking of the bunch, complete with red face, chest, belly, legs, feet, back and shoulders. For the first two days, Warnock was the receiver of many jokes. Jokes like: "Uncle John (the family's uncle) called, he wants his Redman back," coined by Matt Bever. "Red Lobster called, they want their mascot back." Bever also wore a red tanktop, bright red, and if it weren't the "Pirate's Cove" logo, the two could have been twins. So, sometimes it's tough being an in-law, but Warnock's done just fine. As long as he keeps doing stupid stuff like taking a four hour nap in the sun, he'll be just fine. If you notice in the picture, Warnock's wife is pointing, and if one's not mistaken, laughing

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The Evolution of "All Hands on Deck"

IMG_4335.JPGBy AARON TURNER Hill Billy Editor

GREY EAGLE -- Cousin Todd Martin has a gift for coming up with unique games, games usually designed around his own ability to win. Saturday at Big Birch Lake, he took a big swing ... and missed. At the sprawling Lake located in Central Minnesota, the Johnson family is blessed with lake-front property and several cabins. Out in front of some of their beach-front, sits a home-made raft, nicely built of 2x6 lumber on 55-gallon blue plastic drums, chained to the bottom and affixed some 20 feet off shore. (Webmaster's note: See photo Above) It's there that Martin had his first go-round with game-making. He called the game "Pontoon Platform Police." The game was crude, if not a touch fun. There was one officer located under the raft. There's nearly 18 inches of clearance from water level to the joists. The jailbreakers had to start at the ladder, and after a five-second headstart, the police would begin the search. Contestants would try to circle the raft, keeping in contact with either the raft or the drums underneath. The officer would then try to touch each breaker and the one that made it all the way around would begin as the police in the next round. The game bombed. However, from that game blossomed pure genious. Martin and Matt Bever brainstormed and came up with the best name yet, "All Hands on Deck." Some wanted to use that name for "Pontoon Platform Police," yet they held off. On the next day, "a major step in the evolution raft games," as Bever said, occured. Cousin Aaron Turner found a whiffle ball on the beach, and from that simple discovery came the present and future of raft games from now until eternity. With the simple addition, many hours sifted by. The premise was similar, only the police officer started with the ball and contestants could start from any position on the raft with the corners being the most coveted spot. The officer was limited this go-round to the center of the raft and must stay in contact with either of the center two (there are six total) barrels. "It was revolutionary," said Marc Bever, a veteran of several years of rafting games. "I really think it's going to set the standard for rafting games from now on." It's not gender exclusive, either, nor age discriminatory. The Bever descendants: Marc, Matt, Todd, Aaron and in-law Jason Warnock, as well as several Johnson decendants: Breanna, Grant and Maddy all tried the game, and all loved it. After the original officer tagged the first person out, that culprit was soon an aide to the officer, with tag-team strategies coming into play. The choppy waters of Big Birch Lake added a little hijinx as the waves lifted and slammed the raft back. Turner, it was said, was at an advantage. His 6-foot-4 frame was the biggest wing span of the group, but it was little 9-year-old Maddy Johnson that got the gamer award, playing in water over her head without the aide of a lifejacket. Grant Johnson provided much of the comic relief, but it was the essence of the game, of "All Hands on Deck" that won the crowd and, without a doubt, will soon become a legacy of Lafayette Resort on Big Birch Lake.

The author of this story can be reached at story_teller911@yahoo.com

Pictures/Tyler's Graduation

Getting ready to leave Sunday morning after going to Uncle Blake's for Tyler's Graduation Party. The Gang Originally uploaded by Marc Bever.

Here are some pictures from Tyler's Graduation Party (photos from Mom, Aunt Linda, and a few by me)

  • Tyler's Graduation Party (June 2006)  Here are some other photo albums that I hadn't created until yesterday:
  • Smoking Some Pork and Chicken (March 2006)
  • National Farm Toy Show (November 2005)
  • Grandpa Bever's (October 2005)
  • Labor Day Fireworks in Indy (September 2005)
  • Craftsman Truck Race at IRP (August 2005)
  • July 2005 including Aaron's Wedding
  • Rude Reunion - Grand Targhee and Yellowstone (June 2005) 

    To see all my photos, click My Photos on the left, or just click here.

    • A new sport in the making

    I missed out on this. I was sitting around the campfire when they took off. A new sport in the making By Aaron Turner, aturner@wabashplaindealer.com Sunday, May 28, 2006 10:13 PM EDT My family has a rich tradition of togetherness. I'm closer to more of my cousins than I am with the best friends I claim in life. And I like it that way.

    Something we've always done is the famous adage: "The family that works together, plays together." And we do our share of both.

    We've baled hay with Grandpa Jim since we were wagon-wheel high, or so it seemed.

    We've shown hogs at the 4-H Fair together, and done most things together.

    Well, for Memorial Day Weekend, we got together.

    Grandpa has a campsite hollowed out in his woods in rural Lagro, and this has always been a gathering spot.

    This weekend was no exception.

    Now "The Woods," as we know it, lives in legend for all of us. It's a place of solitude, a place of story telling, a place for campfires and s'mores.

    It's also, usually, the starting point for most of the trouble we, the cousins, get into.

    I'll not deny that we get into our share without it, but usually it stems from some idea cultivated in the wooded wonderland.

    Saturday, my wife (Kristi) and son (Baden) stopped by there after visiting Heather Fox's open house.

    Now Baden is on breathing treatments because of bad cold he's been fighting, so without electricity, we couldn't camp as is the normal custom.

    But what time we were there, was worth it.

    It started out just like any other visit. Baden didn't last too long in either of our arms before being picked up and carried away.

    We had beef and pork, thanks to leftovers from Jeremy Warnock's graduation. His brother, Jason, made the mistake of marrying into our family.

    Anyway, after dinner, some of my cousins and I took a walk to check out the newest acquisition - a pellet gun.

    For some reason, I had an empty can with me, so I was the thrower in the clay-pigeon-like endeavor.

    Two hit it, several didn't.

    After that, we started up the hill for one of the hay fields, waist-high on my 6-4 frame.

    It was there that the game began.

    One of us had an empty dip can.

    So my cousin Todd tossed it at my nephew, Levi, which struck with a surprising “tink.”

    From there, the game evolved.

    Now Levi, even though he's nine, promptly picked it up and rifled it back at someone else.

    And so it went with snuff can getting thrown around a hay field by a bunch of idiots.

    Levi was there just because he tagged along, and played because we were.

    And Neil (Bever) was there, and was, I'd say, probably the favorite target.

    Neil's a soon-to-be sophomore.

    The rest were relatively grown men, ages 21-29.

    Eventually it became sort of dodgeball-like, where if you caught the dashing dip can, you were rewarded with a free throw at the one who tossed it at you.

    As weird as it sounds, it was pretty fun.

    Even though not one of us walked back to the campsite without welts, it was a blast, and by far the most exercise I've had in quite a while.

    I can't recommend this game to anyone, due to liability reasons. You just have to be a bunch of half-crazy hillbillies with a knock of picking up pain-inflicting games.

    ---

    Aaron Turner is the sports editor for The Plain Dealer. His views do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper. He can be reached for comment at aturner@wabashplaindealer.com.

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