Area girls choose colleges

Two Union County girls committed verbally Wednesday to sign Division I basketball letters of intent. El Dorado's Kanedria Andrews agreed to accept a scholarship offer from Louisiana Tech. Parkers Chapel's Savanna Langston said yes to a scholarship from UA-Little Rock.

Andrews, a 5-9 guard, averaged 6.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.3 steals for El Dorado, which advanced to the Class 6A state semifinals.

Langston, a 6-2 post, averaged 16.7 points, 12 rebounds and 5.2 blocked shots, leading the Lady Trojans to the Class 3A state semifinals.

Langston also had offers from Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, South Alabama and Ouachita Baptist. She was also being recruited by Tulane and Rice.

Rice had Langston at number five on its list while Tulane had her as its third best player.

"They called me about a week ago and told me I really wasn't on the top of their list," she said. "I was really looking at Tulane, and Rice, too. I was really interested in them and they told me I wasn't on top of their list and they'd call me if anything changed."

Langston and Andrews both said they were happy with their decisions. Both plan to sign in November.

Golf in full swing

School hasn't started yet but the high school golf season is already in full swing. El Dorado hosted its annual Simmons First/Wildcat Invitational on Monday. The Wildcats and Lady Wildcats both finished third as Hot Springs Lakeside and Conway walked away with the boys and girls championships, respectively.

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The Arkansas Activities Association issued a release on heat related timeouts for the upcoming football season. An official's timeout is authorized when heat or humidity creates a health risk for players. If called, this timeout should follow a team's change of possession so it will not interrupt the flow of the game. The timeout will be sixty seconds and will not be charged to either team.

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El Dorado's Chasity Hay was named to the spring academic honor roll at Louisiana-Monroe. Hay is a freshman high jumper-long jumper for the Lady Warhawks track and field team. She is a former AmerCable-News-Times Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Welcome to West Faulkner

Okay, here's the deal. I've decided one blog just isn't enough. Some of you have been keeping up with my thoughts and exploits on floorburns.blogspot.com and I certainly appreciate your interest.
However, my ramblings roam from topic to topic and I think I need to be a little more specific. So, I've decided to turn floorburns into a blog about national and international sports topics, only.
I still want to talk about sports in Union County. So, I present to you West Faulkner, which will deal solely on things that happen in South Arkansas or with athletes who are from this area.
I hope to provide some thoughts that people in the area can get that I didn't have the room or time to put in the El Dorado News-Times. I also hope people who have moved from South Arkansas an outlet to keep up with what's going on in their hometown.
Hopefully, West Faulkner will provide some information and maybe even some entertainment from time to time. If it sucks, I'm sure some of my friends will let me know.

That's my dad

Two years ago, my father's birthday was approaching and for the first time, he was planning to celebrate. He got together with our church and planned a huge fish fry and hamburger cookout. He invited all of his friends and we had family members coming from out of state.
My father's health had been failing him for a couple of years but, planning this event seemed to revitalize him. He had me pricing fish in the stores. We bought a huge cast iron pot and had a bunch of hamburger buns and canned soft drinks at the ready.
Unfortunately, when his birthday arrived, my dad was in the hospital, rushed to the emergency room after collapsing in his home. In all the excitement, my dad did what the doctors told him not to do, he over-exerted himself.
We circled around his hospital bed and sang him Happy Birthday. Considering all the family members who came in for him, it did turn out to be a decent day. I saw cousins for the first time in years.
My dad, however, was broken hearted. As he lay in the hospital bed, he looked up and apologized.
"I sure messed this up, didn't I?" he said.
That's my dad. I love the dude.
Last night, he passed away in his sleep. His health kept getting worse and worse. He was at the point where he could barely get around.
For a man who was fiercely independent his entire life, this was miserable for him. My dad loved to hunt and fish and spent his life working and playing in the woods. When his health wouldn't allow him to do that anymore, he had a hard time dealing with it.We actually had to sell his tractor because he wouldn't stop getting on it.
A couple days before he died, my dad told his wife Pearlie, "I can't do nothing. I don't want to live like this."
When he couldn't do what he loved to do, couldn't live his life the way he wanted to live it, he decided it was time to go.
He's probably looking down at me right now, talking to my mom saying, "I sure messed this up, didn't I?"
That's my dad. I miss the dude.
By the way dad, you didn't mess anything up. I love you man.