Sunday, December 21, 1997

It's a small world after all

By Bill Hart / Abilene Reporter-News

Sports smorgasbord, while wondering whatever happened go former Ballinger and Goldthwaite coach Chan Priest:

-- It is truly a small world. A week or so ago, this newspaper carried a story about 92-year-old Washington Post sports writer Shirley Povich, not realizing there was an area tie.

David "Deede" Gearhart, the grandfather of Doug Thompson, an assistant coach at Baird, lived in Washington, D.C., and was an auditor, as well as a good friend of Povich.

Doug, then only 8 or 9 years old, spent a couple of weeks with his grandparents in the summer in the late 1940s and Povich got them tickets to see the Washington Senators play baseball -- not cheap seats, mind you, but seats directly behind the third base dugout.

Doug has autographed baseballs by Chuck Stobbs and Eddie Yost among other memorabilia, plus a book written by Povich on the (baseball) Senators. He autographed it ("Hope you like it, Deede"). Doug's grandfather passed the book on to Doug, which he autographed and added "I Did."

There wasn't much to do in the summer back then and Doug played a lot of softball at a park close to where the Povichs and the Gearharts lived. One of the "local" players in those pickup games was Maury Povich, the sportswriter's son who is now host of a national television talk show, as well as the husband of television reporter Connie Chung....

-- Another tragedy hit our area last week when Rance Thompson, who quarterbacked Big Spring to the Class 4A semifinals in 1989, died of heart failure near Nacogdoches. The 26-year-old Thompason was buried in Oklahoma.

His father is David Thompson, who coached at Post and Big Spring before going to South Grand Prarie where his team made the playoffs this year before being eliminated by Cooper in the regional semifinals....

-- Abilene Christian University is adding another good group to its Hall of Fame this winter and all are deserving of the honor.

But one wonders why former track coach Don Hood has not been picked. The credentials are there with seven national championships, including one in the NAIA and NCAA Division II in the same month -- one on the east coast and the other on the west coast.

ACU righted one wrong when it brought back Mike Martin as assistant basketball coach this year. They could do another by putting Hood into the Hall of Fame....

-- The latest Texas Association of Basketball Coaches' girls top 10 poll lists Brookesmth fifth in Class A and Comanche eighth in 3A. In the boys poll, Lipan is No. 3 in Class A, Clyde No. 8 in 3A and Midland No. 8 in 5A....

-- Recent wondering whatever happened to former Ballinger quarterback Eric Lugo found that he is on the coaching staff at San Antonio Roosevelt....

-- Friday night was a special night for former Abilene Christian University basketball great Jennifer Clarkson Frazier. Now coaching at Lake Highlands High School in Richardson, Jennifer coached against her old high school, Plano East, and went against her high school coach, Lucy Haig.

Going into that game, Frazier's team was 7-7, but 1-0 in district....

-- Abilene pro golfer Bob Estes is recovering from a broken collarbone suffered in a surfing accident when he was playing in a tournament in Hawaii. But he is on the mend and should be ready by the time the PGA Tour starts next month...

-- End of quote: "Sealy is so tough that they drink hot coffee out of the spigot and eat raw meat," -- coach Steve Lineweaver, the former Abilene High athlete, on the High School Football Extra television show. Steve's Commerce team played Sealy for the Class 3A state football championship Friday night.