A couple of issues ago, I called soccer boring, wimpy and useless. I also wrote about how I went out to a couple of local watering holes to watch the U.S. team play and didn’t find much enthusiasm in the crowds. I didn’t really expect a reaction to my unprovoked attack on the world’s favorite sport, mainly because I thought the people around here cared about nothing but American football, but boy, was I wrong.

On the Lagniappe website, one of the comments said my point of view was “bred from ignorance and lack of research.” The comments also took offense to me writing that the local area doesn’t care about soccer, noting that O’Daly’s on Dauphin Street was packed time and time again with raucous soccer fans. On Facebook, my article was called rubbish, and I was deemed a wanker, a moron and a retard.

On the night of the Nappie awards, I enjoyed an adult beverage at the Corner Bar with a few friends. Some of the other bar patrons soon found out I was the guy who had bashed soccer in print, and they proceeded to tell me all the reasons what I wrote was dead wrong. I was also ushered over to O’Daly’s where I was served my “punishment,” an Irish Truck Bomb, which is an unholy mixture of Guinness, Jameson’s Irish Whiskey and Bailey’s Irish Cream.

O’Daly’s co-owner Chris Corey was one of the disgruntled website commenters, and he explained it to me like this: “‘Ignorance’ might have been a strong word, but I get really angry when people blast soccer. I think it’s just because I love it so much. You would’ve seen the passion if you would have come down to O’Daly’s.”

I managed to patch things up with Corey and his soccer-loving crew, but the rest of the night didn’t go so well. I realized my “punishment” had done its job as I found myself outside Hayley’s at 3 a.m., sitting Indian style as I blew chunks. At that point, I vowed never to utter another negative word about soccer.

Local lady can lift quite a load
I don’t get too many opportunities to tell you about weightlifting, much less female weightlifting, so I was elated when I found out a local lady was making some noise in competitive iron-pumping. Samantha Zimmerman, a graduate student at the University of South Alabama, recently finished fourth in her division at the World University Championships in Taiwan. She earned the chance to represent her country by winning her division at the University National Championships in Marquette, Mich., in April. She hopes to continue her success and earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic weightlifting team.

When asked about her sport, Zimmerman told Lagniappe: “I like it. It’s fun. It’s something different to compete in. Not that many people in the area know about it, so it’s fun to try to get other people involved.” At the University Nationals, not only did she earn a trip overseas to compete for her country, she also broke two of her personal records. She lifted 180 pounds in the snatch and 242 pounds in the clean and jerk. (The competitive weights are actually measured in kilograms, but I did a little conversion for you, since some of us can’t seem to figure out soccer OR the metric system.)

Zimmerman has an exercise science degree from South Alabama and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in the same program. She was introduced to weightlifting at 16 while attending UMS-Wright, where she participated in volleyball and track & field. She trains with Titan Athletics, a gym mostly populated by males.

“It’s definitely a little awkward when you’re lifting as much as the guys are, and they look at you like you’re crazy,” Zimmerman said. “When I was younger, they didn’t really want to listen to me, but now that they’ve seen me lift they joke around with me and they’ll take my advice. We get along pretty well now. I guess I earned a little reputation at the gym.”

Zimmerman recently got a female companion when McGill-Toolen grad and fellow South Alabama student Cortney Batchelor joined the team.

“She’s doing really well,” Zimmerman said. “She also won her weight class at the collegiate nationals. She didn’t quite place high enough to make the world team, but she’s only been lifting two years, so she’s going to be really good when she matures into the sport. She’s only 18 years old. She’s got a lot of time to grow.”

Spring Hillians dominate the diamond in Prague
On July 17, Spring Hill College head baseball coach Franks Sims led the American International Sports Tours team to its first-ever championship in the Prague Baseball Week Tournament in the Czech Republic.

The AIST squad is made up of some of the best baseball players in the country from Division II, Division III and NAIA. Several Spring Hill College players were on this year’s team, including local pitching products Joe Carter and Nick Clapper. Carter attended high school at Alma Bryant, while Clapper went to McGill-Toolen.

Sims’ American team got off to a rocky start in the tournament, losing to Russia in the second game. “We stubbed our toe against Russia,” Sims said. “We were probably a much better team … but we couldn’t get any runs across late. But after that, we beat everybody else.”

The Americans had to win three games on the final day to fight through the loser bracket and win the title. “We beat Israel in the morning,” Sims said. “Then we beat the host team Czech Republic, which nobody thought we could do. They’re a pretty good team. They were a little disappointed because the championship game was going to be televised on Czech TV and they wanted their Czech team in there, but we crashed the party. They weren’t real happy about that. The third game was the championship game against Russia that night. We got a little revenge on the Russians. That was fun. The guys were tired, but they were so happy and excited.”

TiCo team state champs
And a quick shoutout to the boys from the Tillman’s Corner 10U Cal Ripken baseball team that recently nailed the state championship. They’re now heading to represent in the Southeast Regional Tourney in Augusta, S.C. If they can continue winning, they’ll go to the World Series in Ocala, Fla.

Good luck boys