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.”
Minnesota Vacation - Day 6
Minnesota Vacation - Some Day 5 Fishing
Minnesota Vacation - Day 5
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.
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.
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.
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...
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
Grandpa with his shades over the 4th
Grandpa with his shades over the 4th
Originally uploaded by Marc Bever.
Going the distance - a couple laps down By AARON TURNER
Aaron's recap of the Twelve Mile Lawnmower race from the Wabash Plain Dealer: Going the distance - a couple laps down By AARON TURNER
4th of July Camping Photos.
Click Here for 4th of July Camping Photos.
44th Annual Twelve Mile 500 Lawnmower Race
Click here for pictures of the lawnmower race Todd started 12th, finished 3rd. Greg started 16th, finished 12th. Jason started 18th, finished 18th. Aaron started 24th, finished 24th. Scott started 22nd, finished 28th.
Minnesota Vacation - Evening Day 4
The Evolution of "All Hands on Deck"
By 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
My Niece/Nephew
Here is the picture of Jennie and Jason's baby.One he/she appears to be sucking it's thumb, the other is pointing to the elbow and knee
Lagro Tractor Pull
Click here for some pictures I took at the Lagro Tractor Pull.
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)
To see all my photos, click My Photos on the left, or just click here.
Kiss Me in the Dark
Randy Rogers Band has a new album coming out in August. One of the songs off that cd, "Kiss Me in the Dark", is starting to get radio play in Texas.
Click here to download a version ripped from the Radio - Thanks to jas10 at galleywinter.com for ripping this.
Everyone needs to go out and buy this cd when it comes out. :-)
Some more info from Brad at galleywinter.com: -The song is the RRB's first national single release. The lead single off the forthcoming Mercury release Matter of Time.
-The song, in a first for the RRB, was not written by Randy. Rather it was written specifically for the RRB by their producer, Texas Music legend Radney Foster, with Randy's voice and the band's style in mind.
-A video will be popping up soon, treatments are being narrowed down and expect a full push of this song into the fall.
-It was a tough choice to narrow down the single because, like Rollercoaster, this new record is full of hit singles. This is the first of several singles that will be hitting radio/CMT from this album. All hands are on deck at the record label and they are very excited about this album and the band. They realize like those of us that have been in the RRB choir for almost 6 years now that these guys are THE next big thing.
-Please continue to call/harass/e-mail radio stations to play the tune! Add your radio contact info to the sticky at the top of this forum.
-Thanks for supporting RRB, Galleywinter, and being a part of the RRB Choir!! "Kiss Me In The Dark" Randy Rogers Band
Sailors Sail, Cowboys Ride Lovers love when they get the chance Take it slow, Turn down the lights Soft and low, Let the shadows dance Baby don't hold back
Kiss Me in the dark Roll me through the night Hold me like you'll never let me go Hit me with your heart Until the morning light Let your skin talk to my soul Kiss me in the dark
Strip away everything Tonight there's nothing getting in our way The ties that bind, the wheres and whys Take them off and leave them all outside Lock it all outside
Kiss Me in the dark Roll me through the night Hold me like you'll never let me go Hit me with your heart Until the morning light Let your skin talk to my soul Kiss me in the dark
Without a single word Baby we can say so much Reveal everything with just one touch
Kiss Me in the dark Roll me through the night Hold me like you'll never let me go Hit me with your heart Until the morning light Let your skin talk to my soul Kiss me in the dark Kiss me in the dark
Lyrics courtesy of Craig at galleywinter.com
With Wade Bowen at Stables
Wade Bowen and Me
Originally uploaded by Marc Bever.
I stole this from Peter Cooper's Blog
From Peter's MySpace Blog: http://www.myspace.com/petercoopermusic (links added by me) I've got this Rhapsody program, which lets me hear thousands of songs with the click of a mouse button. It's a handy thing when I'm looking up songs, as it saves me the trip upstairs to the CD room. I still don't like how music sounds in the Internet realm - too compressed, and I'd rather listen to vinyl. But it's convenient, and it helps me get research done, check lyrics, etc.
Anyway, Rhapsody has a "home page" that comes up when I first click on it, and today the page featured American Idol winners. Now, I think that Taylor Hicks guy looks more like ex-Georgia Tech basketball coach Bobby Cremmins than anyone I've ever seen, so he's okay in my book. And he's an okay singer, and I realize American Idol is about compelling television rather than great music. And I have long since given up the notion that the cream rises. It might rise, but not necessarily. Stunning artists often flounder. Brilliant songs lie unrecorded. Mediocre junk often makes millions. And if it makes somebody happy, even if it's "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" or "Yummy, Yummy Yummy I've Got Love In My Tummy," than it's doing good, not ill, for the world. More power.
All that said, I clicked on the little dealio that let me hear Taylor Hicks' version of "Takin' It To The Streets" and I got a little sad. It's nothing against him, and nothing against Michael McDonald, the song's original singer. I've had several long talks with Michael McDonald (really, he lives near Nashville) and I can say for sure that he's a very nice guy, that he's talented and that he's got enough of a sense of humor to have appeared on the South Park movie soundtrack singing a parody of himself called "Through The Eyes Of A Child." (Sample lyric: "Life is kind of gay/ But it doesn't seem that way/ Through the eyes of a child.") Hicks' version of "Takin' It To The Streets" is decent-enough karaoke. Better than I could do with that song, for sure. Repeat, for sure.
But then I started thinking about a show I saw last night at a little Nashville club, where Tim Carroll sang and Elizabeth Cook sang and Chris Richards sang and Dawn McCoy sang and Jon Byrd sang and The Wrights sang and Chelle Rose sang and Molly Thomas sang (hell, I sang with her, so that dragged her down a little) and a bunch of other people sang who weren't aping the stuff that's already out there. These folks were working on something different, on adding to the whole thing rather than just being the latest version of somebody before them who made some dough. We raised some cash for rural music education in Alabama, so it was all good.
Listen, from what I understand, there were more votes for Taylor Hicks in this American Idol thing than there were for George W. Bush in the last presidential election. Hey, another thing in this dude's favor! Again, he's not the problem. Probably a nice guy. Sings better than most of the people in your office, your school or your... well, not your church. If you go to church, I guarantee that you know someone who sings better than this fellow. But they don't look like Bobby Cremmins, do they? Do they? Answer true.
But the sad part of all this, to me, is that there are millions of people who care about the music of Taylor Hicks and there are far fewer who care about the bust-a-gut-laughing-and-then-cry stuff by Tommy Womack, the Chuck Berry-meets-Roger Miller excellence of Tim Carroll, the jaw-dropping beauty of a Julie Lee vocal performance, the genius works of Kevin Gordon, or Eric Taylor, or Kieran Kane, or David Olney, or even John Prine or Todd Snider. I mean, shed no tears for Prine or Snider. They're doing fine, and they should be. Those are two shining examples of people who have built their own sound, their own audience and their own livelihood through force of will and strength of song. I'm just saying that it's weird to me that more people have taken an active participation in rooting for Taylor Hicks than they have in checking out recent works by Kris Kristofferson or Emmylou Harris. Neil Young? Maybe even Neil Young. Dylan? God, maybe even Dylan. By the numbers, yeah. Television drama is television drama, and I can tell you FOR SURE that I watched hours of the Flava Flav stuff that's been on VH-1 (sample quote: "Operation Nothing I Can Do About It Now is now in effect!"). But once the drama stuff is over, there's music to consider, right? Right? And millions of Americans are listening to Taylor Hicks' version of "Takin' It To The Streets"? Right?
And I'm preaching to the choir, I know. And I don't want to preach at all. And this isn't sour grapes: I've got it easy, 'cause I've got a day job. My grapes are sweet as candy. And I know that musicians go into the whole deal realizing full well that just because they do something monumentally superb doesn't mean anyone will ever give a rat's ass about it. And I'd have a beer with Taylor Hicks and tell him to his face that he's a good singer. And I'll bet he won't get carded by the bartender, either. Twenty-nine? Is that right?
But I just get a little sad about it, that's all. The better you are as an insurance agent, the more money you'll make. The better you are as a journalist, the more opportunities will present themselves. The better you are as a teacher... well, forget the teacher thing. Teachers get screwed, royally. But the better you are as a musician the more you're going to knock yourself out of the real money. If you're terrible, you're probably SOL. If you're the best, you're likely struggling. Dylan wouldn't get a record deal if he was a young man today. Wanna bet? Okay, how are we gonna settle this bet? We're not? Well, then I'll take the Mavericks in the NBA championship series. $100. Shake.
Anyway, if you're doing a passable new-century version of Buffett, the Doobies, BTO or Billy Joel, you're in. If you're doing something valuable, atypical and artful... good luck. In any case, you don't know me, but I'm your brother.