Pelham’s Favorite Son
Jan. 11, 2016
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The Alabama Crimson Tide plays for its sixteenth National football Championship against Clemson tonight in Arizona. But one Central Alabama town has more to cheer for than just the team from Tuscaloosa. APR’s MacKenzie Bates traveled to Pelham, a town that’s divided on the outcome of tonight’s game…
(Ambi of cars on the road) It’s a busy time of day on Pelham Parkway. The town is buzzing for tonight’s game between Alabama and Clemson for the College Football title
(Ambi: ROLL TIDE Nat of Fans cheering) Football is nothing short of a religion in this state. But this year is tougher for fans in Pelham. The Crimson Tide may be the hometown team—but the Clemson Tigers are coached by Pelham’s local boy made good-- Dabo Swinney.
“It’s wonderful for this city and it’s wonderful for this community and the surrounding areas because we all have this great connection with Dabo.” (Ricky 3 6 secs) That’s Ricky Hayes, who’s known Swinney his entire life. The two played sports together growing up. He’s not surprised of the success he’s brought to the Tiger program because of his upbringing in Pelham. (He’s never lost that. His group of friends and family here, they’ve seen him as part of their group through everything he’s done at Clemson. It’s hasn’t changed who he is.”
(Dabo 3 9 secs) “You’re looking at a guy who grew up in the state of Alabama and my dream was to play there.” Dabo 3 (4 secs) Swinney graduated from Pelham High School and was a walk on Wide Receiver at Alabama. “The fake give, Hollingsworth rolls left, fires left complete to Swinney he’ll dance down the left sideline to the corner… out of bounds at the one!” Eli (8 secs) Swinney would eventually earn a scholarship and played a role in the Crimson Tide winning the 1992 National Championship.
Fast forward 23 years later and he becomes the first coach since the BCS was invented to coach against his alma mater on college football’s biggest stage. “They’ve got a family of trophies in Tuscaloosa.” (Dabo 1 3 secs) 15 to be exact. Clemson has just one, and that National title dates back to 1981. If Swinney has his way, he says he’ll bring a second one to the South Carolina College town, even if it’s at Alabama’s expense… “This is the way it ought to be. If you're going to play for a championship and you have the opportunity to play against the team that has been kind of the standard, you know, I think that we're excited about that. (Dabo 1, 9 secs)
But how do the folks in Pelham feel about that? (I’ve got a lot of friends in Alabama and got a few of them are conflicted. I’ve kind of found out where I stand with some of them haha.) ( Dabo 2 7 secs)
(DING) (Ambi of Bernetti’s)
At Bernetti’s Diner, there are pictures of Alabama football players on the wall, and the owners have been known to wear Crimson Tide aprons. So, Woody Quinn tends to stand out in a crowd… “I just have been a Clemson fan. My father and mother’s brother played ball up there. Got one inducted in the Hall of Fame. Just been a fan all of my life. I grew up going to a lot of Clemson games but I’m hoping Clemson is going to win.” (11 secs)
His friend, Howard Bailey sees things a little differently. “I couldn’t be more proud of Dabo. It won’t break my heart if Dabo pulls it out and wins it for Clemson. At the end of the day, I’ll still be pulling for Alabama.” (Bailey 9 secs) That seems to be the consensus in Pelham. They love the Crimson Tide but the feeling is mutual for Swinney. (“I will be pulling for Dabo.”)
(Ricky 2, 2 secs) Ricky Hayes weighs in on who he will be cheering for. (I won’t pull against Alabama in this game. Never could. It’s not just in me. But I will be pulling for Dabo by all means.) (Ricky 2, 6 secs) (Ambi of PHS) At Pelham High Schools, students are sporting their University of Alabama shirts and hats. The occasional splashes of purple and orange shirts are a direct result of Dabo Swinney’s success at Clemson. “He’s out there making a name himself from at Clemson.”
Tom Causey coaches the Pelham High Panthers. He says he’s a Crimson Tide fan but says he’ll also be rooting for Dabo tonight. That all started here. And we want our guys at our school to know exactly where he’s from. We’ve had some great graduates from here. We can’t lose. We’re going to be represented extremely well either way.”
Even Crimson Tide Coach Nick Saban praise for Swinney. He’s known his opponent since he took over the Tide in 2007. But, Saban’s politeness only goes so far… “He’s the coach of another team now and I’m sure he feels the same way about his players and his program and the pride that they have and the kind of performance that they want to have in this game as we do here in ours. It really doesn’t matter about the rest of it.”) (Saban 14 secs) (Clemson Fight Song)
But in Pelham, it does matter. Fans will either be singing along to Tiger Rag… (Alabama Fight Song) Or Yea, Alabama…either way, Fans of both teams in the Central Alabama town will have plenty to cheer about come Monday night… For APR news, I’m MacKenzie Bates in Pelham…
Alabama Wins WRAP
Jan. 12, 2016
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Alabama Fans in Tuscaloosa are celebrating the Crimson Tide’s 45-40 win over Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship. APR’s MacKenzie Bates takes us to campus where the partying is still going strong…
****Nat Fans Cheering**** Alabama fans piled out on to University Boulevard right outside of the Tuscaloosa campus to cheer as the Crimson Tide won the program’s 16th National Championship. Tight End OJ Howard had five catches for 208 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 9:48 left in the game John Hadden just bought a National Championship T-Shirt at Bama Express on the strip. He says it’s exciting to see another championship come back to Alabama…
“I don’t mind spending a little money tonight. This is a great cause. 16 in 2016? Are you kidding me? This is fabulous. I’ve never experienced anything like this. If you could be down here on the strip, absolutely amazing.”
The win gives Coach Nick Saban his fourth national championship as the head coach of Alabama.
World Oldest Polo Player
June 28, 2016
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So, what would you like to do on your eighty fifth birthday? If one Northern Alabama native has his way, he’ll be doing more than just blowing out a lot of candles. Ed Robbins does more than just play shuffleboard or bingo in his golden years. He’s known internationally for his love of “The Sport of Kings.” APR’s MacKenzie Bates reports Robbins has the record to prove it…
“I started in 1980 and that was 20, 36 years ago.”
Ed Robbins is talking about polo. The sport didn’t come easy to him. He first tried to ride a horse when he was seven. “When I first saw it, I said ‘this is very intimidating I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to do that!’”
Clearly, he got over it… (SOME SOUND OF HIM PLAYING POLO WOULD BE COOL –WHACKING THE BALL, ETC)
That’s Robbins, sporting a blue helmet, a white uniform and leather boots, astride his horse, Lechuza—and warming up for his second polo game of the day. But this sport means a little more to Robbins.
It’s the first game where he is “Officially Amazing.” That’s the saying when the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes you. Robbins is now the oldest polo player in the world. Ed 9 3secs “I’m glad to be here at 85 playing polo.” That’s right. Today is Robbins birthday. He’s 85 years young and playing a game where you hit a ball with a mallet while at times, riding full speed on a horse.
Ed 4 12secs “I remember the first time I got up I got a hold of a polo mallet and it felt like a tree, a log, you know. So unwieldy. I said 'Lord have mercy. How do you wield this tree around?'"
Robbins replaces 83-year-old Armando Klabin of Brazil. That youngster held the Guinness record as the oldest polo player in the world for just a few months. Back when he was learning how to play, Robbins attended a clinic in Jackson Hole, Wyoming when he first started playing back in the ‘80s and was hooked. Ed 3 18secs “Tommy Lee Jones was there. He had been playing about one year when he was out there and he thought he knew everything about the game and he hadn’t been playing but a year. I was out there in that clinic and he says to me, ‘If you don’t get out of my way I’m gonna run over your ass!’ Ha Ha Ha.”
Robbins founded Bluewater Creek Polo Club in 1980, a year after he was introduced to the sport. He loved Polo so much he wanted to bring the game to North Alabama. He did. Thirty-six years later, Robbins welcomes any and all who wants to play the game, including 17-year-old Egan Spoltore of Santa Fe, Tennessee. Egan 1 15secs “You know, watching Mr. Ed play, seeing him out there at 85, Being able to see somebody every weekend, that is a Guinness World Record holder, it's really interesting and really cool to see." Robbins sees it another way. Ed 7 6secs “That in itself is quite an achievement when you’re 85 and you’re out there playing with these 16-year-olds.”
He scored four goals in two games or chukkas as they’re called. On a weekend afternoon where the temperature was already pushing 90 degrees and 85 years old, Robbins says keeping his stamina up is the top priority to keep playing the game he loves. Ed 5 19secs
“You know if you’ve got a good horse and you’ve got good eye-hand coordination and you’re reasonably physically fit, you can enjoy the game at my age. My body seems to be able to take the game. It ain’t like I when I first started but I still enjoy it.”
His daughter, Teena Robbins Tucker plays polo with her father. But she’s been playing for nine years. Teena 1 9secs “I’m so used to my dad doing a million things at once. Race horses, polo, hunting, dogs. He’s a true sportsman from the south. Robbins does not have any plans to hang up the mallet or give up the record anytime soon. Each time he rides on to the grounds and swings for the goal…
(Champagne Cork Popping)
the record is his all over again. And at 85, he’s proving age is just a number. “I don’t know. One day I’ll come out here and say I don’t want to play anymore. I don’t know when that day is.” For APR News… (Horse Noise) I’m MacKenzie Bates in Killen.
Jesse Owens Feature
Feb. 20, 2016
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The movie “Race” debuts in theaters today across the United States. The biopic depicts legendary Track and Field athlete Jesse Owens and his journey to winning four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany. APR’s MacKenzie Bates traveled to Owens’s hometown in Northern Alabama, where a park and museum keeps his memory alive…
When you talk about the Olympics, names like swimmers Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz or gymnast Gabby Douglas may come to mind. But in 1936, Alabama Native Jesse Owens staked his claim as one of the greatest Olympians in American history. (Nat of Jesse Running in 1936) Owens would capture four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. He took top honors in the 100 meter and 200 meter relays, the four-by-one hundred meter relay and the long jump—two setting Olympic records in the process…
Fade running sound out… Owens was born in Oakville, almost 40 miles southwest of Huntsville in 1913. Nancy 1 16secs
“As Ruth Owens told my husband on one visit, ‘Every four years, Jesse comes alive.’ That’s Nancy Pinion. She’s a co-director of the Jesse Owens Museum, which opened in 1996. Well, when the museum was built, we didn’t really understand what that meant. Now 18 years later, it’s played out every four years, coinciding with the Summer Olympics.”
The museum immortalizes Owens and his Olympic accomplishments. Each year, up to seventy thousand people come from across the country and around the world to recognize his achievement. Behind the museum, there is a statue of Owens bursting through the Olympic rings. It’s symbolic of how the runner broke barriers during that time
(Nat of the Movie Trailer)
The movie “Race” tells the story of Owens and his rise to fame. He won all of his gold medals in the 1936 games on the eve of World War two. Adolf Hitler was hard at work persecuting Jews and other minorities and promoting his vision of a master race. Nancy 3 16 secs “Which is where the title comes from, Race. It was a real struggle for him and you’ll see him go through that struggle whether to go. Whether that was right to do at the time and I think he made the right decision.”
Owens’ victories in Berlin was not well-received by the Nazis. He was the first African-American track and field athlete to win four medals in the Olympics until Carl Lewis did it in Los Angeles in 1984. During the games, Hitler would meet with other gold medal winners. Owens did not get the same courtesy. However, he did get a ticker-tape parade in New York City after he came back to the states.
Pinion saw the movie with members of the Owens family at a screening in Chicago last week. She enjoyed it more than others because of her ties to the museum.
Nancy 2 19secs “And it’ll be even better for those who are lucky enough to have visited the Jesse Owens Park and Museum and seen his birth home replica. Either before or after the movie, preferably before the movie because you have a better perspective of what comes before or after the movie.”
(Nat of Rain outside Museum)
Our visit was on a cold, rainy day at the Jesse Owens Museum. The weather kept the crowds away—but not everyone. Melody 4 5secs “He’s just an American icon and I think he made America Better.” That’s Melody Weiler. She’s a junior at Parkview High School in Lilburn, Georgia. She and her family drove from Atlanta. Weiler was assigned to write a paper profiling a prominent African-American during Black History Month.
She picked Jesse Owens, and come rain or shine, she wanted to visit his hometown… Melody 3 9secs “What made him love to run and to get something new out of what I want to get out of the season and maybe try and use some of his tactics.” Weiler is also a member of her school’s track team.
Melody 1 13 secs “I just think he was a really exemplary runner and I think he’s really a great model of what American athletics should be. He’s pretty much the definition of the sport.” The 1996 Olympic Games were held in Atlanta. As the Olympic torch made its way to its final destination, it had to make its way through Alabama. Museum director James Pinion saw the route the torch was going to make and it didn’t come close to Owens’s hometown.
James P 1 16secs “And I’ve said I noticed on the map of the torch route that you’re coming from Nashville straight down to Huntsville and from there, straight down to Birmingham. I said now if you make a 40 mile loop from Huntsville, you’ll come right through Jesse Owens’s birthplace.” A few weeks later, James got a letter from the Olympic Torch committee saying it would make the small detour to honor Jesse Owens.
The Torch made its way to Oakville on June 29th, 1996. The day Owens Memorial Park was dedicated. More than 10-thousand people converged on the park for the ceremony. Owens’s grandson, Stuart Owen Rankin carried the Olympic torch through the park that day. Jamie 1 14secs
“Because what he did and at the time he did it will never be duplicated.” That’s Oakville native Jamie Weatherwax. He stopped in to the museum to take a look around. He takes pride in living in the same town that Owens once lived in. “He’s such a special person he lived here the first nine years of his life here in Oakville. We’ve got a lot of great athletes from Alabama as far as an international superstar, he’s the guy.” And as a new generation of runners, swimmers, and gymnasts go for the gold during the Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, the legacy of Owens will continue to shine both on the field and the silver screen.