|
| |
Martinsville High School Alumni
| Class of 1976 |
Reply |
Post Message |
Message List
|
 |
|
| Great dogs of the past in sports! - 21 |
|
|
08/05/02
Jamie Mason
(1976)
cmeon@yahoo.com
|
|
| I checked out a few posts of old farts trying to figure out the greatest sports stars in Bulldog history. Here is my list of the top 5 I had the priveledge of playing with a couple and watching most of them. #1 Dennis Mahan he won a couple state championship rings with some damn good teams. He was coachable, could run like the wind, take a hit,catch the ball, and worked just as hard at practice as he did at gametime.He could also play basketball with anyone, and dominated on the track in the running and field events.#2 Shawn Moore Coachable, smart, fast enough, could throw the ball, soft hands and played very intelligently.Could play bball too.What in the world were the guys that voted for the acc's top 50 thinking of when they didnt include him.#3Sonny Wade Big strong arm and could run, smart intelegent guy with a knowledge of the game .Had a great carrer at Mville,won a state championship in bball, had a great college carrer and took his talents up north and brought the goods home.#4 Anthony Madman Hairston He was good at everything he did. Football, Basketball, and Track. I was amazed to watch him go from running events to the field events at the districts and place or win them all. #5 Tie All the rest that walked the halls and represented. All you old dogs share your thoughts. Jamie |
 |
 |
| |
| 08/05/02
John Ran Smith
(1978)
jrsmith@bigimagegraphics.com
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
Jamie,
John Ran Smith, from '78 here. I very much concur with your list. Dennis Mahan has to be the best athlete ever to come out of this place. I agree with your picks of Shawn Moore, who got maybe the worst bad break ever when he was injured his senior year at Virginia; Sonny Wade, a great pro quarterback in the CFL; and Anthony Hairston, who was a man among boys. There have to be some additions, however. Perhaps a top five is too few. What about Randy Hundley, who played for the Chicago Cubs for so many years? I travel regularly to the Windy City, and even today, his name still pops up in conversations with the natives regarding the Cubbies. That's pretty strong. Sweet Lou Whittaker may be the best baseball player ever to wear a 'Dog uniform. He must have started for the Detroit Tigers for nearly 20 years!
Having also played with a couple of the guys you mentioned, I'd have to place you on the list as well. I personally never EVER saw anyone mow down multiple linemen like you did! Furthermore, you were in some great company. NO team ever will match up with that 1975 State Champion Football team. What a magical season.
Thanks for the posting. You took me back to some great memories--both of playing and watching from the stands!
Hope you are doing well.
JRS |
| 08/05/02
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
Hey John great to hear from you! I thought about Lou when makeing my list he was a great baseball player and a great kid to grow up with too. I also thought about "Nugget" Carl Hairston too. I saw him up at Prillimans market the other day and he still looks like he could whip up on that british heavy weight boxing champ.
There have been a lot of good athletes come from here and Im looking forward to watching somemore in the future. Seya later Jamie |
| 08/05/02
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
| Hey John Thanks for the complement. I dont think I would qualify for the best athlete list. Maybe the craziest list. It sure was fun though! LoL Jamie |
| 09/11/02
Jeff Belcher
(1976)
jrb@lee-mcshane.com
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
Hello James Alan. I saw many great atheletes come out of Mavahi. I remember the Ben Ramsey Field days and saw a few. Here are my best (not in order)
Dennis Mahan - Speaks for itself. Never did anyone come out of the school with the chance to score on every single play as he did. He had great talent and the best offensive line in the history of the school.
I remember when the Dogs won the State Championship. The coach for the other team opened his newspaper remarks up simply saying "We had practiced all week on not kicking the ball to Mahan. We kicked it to him and he promptly ran it back 60 yard (or whatever it was) for a T.D."
Mark Cartwright (most valuabe player in State in AA and AAA!) Probably the best schooled player we ever had. That is due to his father Mel that passed away a few years ago and his dedication as well.
Lou Whitaker - Lou got better after he left. However, he was head and shoulders above most when he was here. He accomplished more than any athelete we had out of our school. Sparky Anderson said he and Trammell were the greatest double play combo ever. Not close according to him. You have to realize Sparky coached Joe Morgan. Lou may sneak into the Hall of Fame.
Taylor Edwards - Wonderful #7 baseball player and great football player. I saw him score (I think) six touchdowns in a game when I was a kid at Ben Ramsey. Tough dude in his day.
Ricky Scales - Faster than fast. Went to Virginia Tech as a wide receiver. He and his quarterback (Don Strock) led the nation in passing. I went to one Virginia Tech game in my life. The first play from scrimmage was a halfback pass from the 8 yard line to Scales. He went into the endzone 92 yards later with a bewildered cornerback about 18 yards behind him. I also liked him because we stole his volkswagon at Joseph Martin school and wrecked it and he never got mad. What a guy!
James Alan Mason - Absolutely the greatest offensive lineman in the history of the school and even more important than that, probably the best dude I knew when I was going to school. I remember Jamie playing against all-State AAA linemen when he was in the 9th Grade. Got his butt kicked some then, but more than made up for it in the 10th, 11th and 12th. All Timesland, All State, fricking All American. What else do you need to say. Great Wrestler and wonderful shotputter. Jamie lost a wrestling match one time and the paper acted like the world had ended.
Anthony Madman Hairston - Maybe the best all round athelete that ever came from Martinsville. He was really something else. A true man among boys is correct.
Carl Hairston - He use to run two point conversation plays at Ben Ramsey field in addition to tearing up an offensive line. It was hilarious. He would kill people.
Alphonzo Carter - Great Basketball player. Show his jump shot that rolled from his wrist. He could light it up.
Roy Clark: Roy is always associated with Baseball. I don't think people realized how
good a damn football player he was. I am a little prejudiced with Roy as we were good pals as young kids and into adulthood. I personally saw how dedicated and how hard he worked his whole life to get to where he was. He, in the great scheme of things, was not a gifted as a athelete. He was not that fast, and small in stature. However, his determination was unbelievable. He would rip your heart out in any competition. Lot of respect for Roy.
Mike Schwartz - Tough as nails. Very good baseball player (power hitter), very good wrestler and wonderful football player. Will never forget his confrontation with Lynn Paine at Lauren Park. Mike WON.
Keith Decker (one of the top amateur golfers in the country).
Maybe not the greatest athelete, but the best set of hands in the history of the school belonged to Bill Lavender. He simply caught everything that touched him and against hardcore talent.
I never saw anyone after I graduated in 1976, but I know they had some great ones.
|
| 11/28/05
Todd Carr
(1981)
tcarr@cox.net
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
Todd Carr 1981
I would add the following:
Steve Smith golf. Virginia Champion. Ground zero for mavahi alum golf achievement.
Kimbo Clark tennis LEGEND. Great sense of humor and a great teammate.
Jesse Penn. Multi-sports. VaTech. Dallas Cowboys. "The people's choice". Good guy.
Bryce Robertson. W-i-n-n-e-r. You pick the game& he wins.
Jeff Adkins basketball. Court was too small for his range.
Tony Dallas basketball. Scoring machine. Need a 25ft jumper or spectacular slam dunk? Call Tony. The most exciting player I've ever seen.
|
| 11/28/05
Jamie
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
| Great list Todd I saw some of those guys in action too. Jamie |
| 11/29/05
Todd Carr
(1981)
tcarr@cox.net
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
Jamie,
Want to add the following about Bryce:
He won state championship in basketball and tennis (with Kimbo). As far as tennis goes, his style was unique. He was the most creative shot-maker I've ever seen. I'll give you this analogy: have you ever seen Phil Mickelson hit that flop shot? Bryce did stuff like that with a racket all the time....the stroke may have looked "unorthodox" and the margins for error vanishingly small, but he always managed to pull off the seemingly impossible. Shot after shot. He was m-o-n-e-y. The big boss man with a racket.
As far as Kimbo goes, he could hit the ball through a wall. Power, accuracy and mental toughness were his hallmarks. You didn't come to the net against Kimbo unless you had a death wish. Broke strings all the time in his racket because of the tremondous power he generated. Left the tennis balls smokin' and I mean smokin'.
TC |
| 12/05/05
John Hall
(1982)
oldmankid10@yahoo.com
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
| An earlier post listed Randy Hundley as a "Top 5 Dog".....Didn't he go to high school at Bassett? |
| 06/06/08
mikee mike
(1977)
mshaw@consumersource.com
|
| Re: Great dogs of the past in sports! |
| yep. Hundley went to Bassett. Also on the 1959 state championship basketball team, coached by the great Jim Akers. Jim was Husky Hall's mentor, btw. |
|
|
Important:
This message board is provided for the use and enjoyment of responsible Mavahi.com visitors.
Submissions are edited for appropriate content, so please refrain from leaving inappropriate messages.
|
|
|
