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Column
By Drew
Brantley
The Banks County News
August 2, 2000
Names In Games
Aren't To Blame
When I was in high school, I lived
in a town with a dentist named Dr. Payne. It was a big joke.
How could it not be? Pain is one thing most people hope to avoid
at the dentist. Going to Dr. Payne seems like a bad idea. He
did OK though. Better than the local Optimist Club, which folded
in 1986.
There was another man in town who did construction named Mr.
House. While that is not as funny, it does fit very well.
Lance, Boyle & Frye would be a great law firm to have on
your side. Settles & Settles might not be the best for you
in every situation.
Some people's jobs and last names seem to go together really
well or not at all. Anybody can pick up a nickname that fits
their occupation. But living up to or overcoming a last name
given at birth is something special.
In sports, several players have had success in spite of the names
they were given.
Commerce football coach Steve Savage does not live up to his
name most of the time, but neither does Jefferson coach Bob Gurley.
Mike and Joey Love have had success on local race tracks. There's
nothing really good or bad about having Love for a name. But
it is fun to write headlines for.
Madison County's Neal Power has used his name to good results
at Atlanta Dragway.
NHRA star John Force has a good name for any kind of competition.
Drag racing just seems a perfect fit for his name.
Hall of Fame linebacker Dick Butkus had a great name for the
tough, mean and relentless style he played with.
Bob Walk was a Major League Baseball pitcher who had one good
year with the Atlanta Braves before having several with the Pittsburgh
Pirates. Walk would seem to be a great name for a leadoff batter.
For a pitcher it does not work as well.
Early Wynn was a legendary pitcher with a great name. Knowing
that your pitcher is a Wynn should instill confidence every time
he takes the mound. Proving he deserved his name, Wynn finished
his career with 300 wins.
NBA player Frank Brickowski has a bad name for a basketball player.
Nobody who has to shoot the ball wants anything to do with a
brick. Throwing up bricks is not something to be remembered for.
One school I covered had three brothers, who kicked for the local
football team. Their name was Schenck, pronounced like shank.
Golfers and kickers wouldn't want to be reminded with that too
much.
Tiger Woods is ambiguously interesting as a golfer's name. Woods
is a place a golfer does not want to hit the ball. Also the name
Woods implies that he would be good off the tee, which Tiger
is. But he is also pretty handy with the irons, wedges and putter.
Drew Brantley is the sports editor for The Commerce News and
The Banks County News.
Editorial
The Banks County News
August 2, 2000
Remember to go
to the poll Tuesday
Banks County voters should be sure to return to the polls on
Tuesday.
With only one race on the ballot, turnout could very likely be
low in this run-off election. But this shouldn't be the case,
because it is a very important race that will be decided on Tuesday.
Banks County voters will be electing a probate judge to lead
this county over the next four years. Banks County has been very
fortunate to have Milton Dalton's leadership and expertise serving
in this position, but he has decided to step down. Let's all
remember to go to the polls and select the right person to take
over this post.
All registered Banks County voters, regardless of party, will
be allowed to vote in the Aug. 8 run-off for probate judge between
Ben Whisnant and Betty Jean Evans Thomas.
An earlier article in The Banks County News mistakenly reported
that only those voters who cast a Republican ballot in the primaries
would be allowed to vote in the run-off. The News regrets the
error.
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Column
By
Adam Fouche
The Banks County News
August 2, 2000
Our laws have
a mouthful of  false
teeth
This country's criminal justice system
is in a serious need for some dental work.
Our prisons are overcrowded. The crime rate continues to rise.
And the war on drugs and violence has done nothing more than
a bellyflop in a pool of failure.
"Let's make more laws aimed at curbing criminal violence,"
scream the softies making our laws today. Well, Mr. Lawmaker,
you've been doing that for 100 years now and the only thing it's
accomplished is getting you re-elected, which is all you care
about anyway.
We already have thousands of laws addressing every conceivable
crime. But those laws have nothing more than a mouthful of false
teeth that don't hurt the criminals they are intended to punish.
The whole problem boils down to deterrence. The current prison
system isn't a deterrent. Sitting in jail lifting weights, talking
to teenage girls on the Internet and getting three warm meals
a day isn't a deterrent.
Most hardened criminals living on the streets, stealing cars
and beating up pedestrians for drug money aren't scared to go
to jail. They don't care if they're arrested, because jail isn't
a punishment, it's a school for criminals.
I say we make jails a living hell. Cut out recreation time. Take
away the TVs and computers. Make them wear hot pink uniforms
and purple flip-flops. Make them feel embarrassed to be a criminal.
Our government could save money by bringing back chain gangs.
Don't contract out landscapers and private laborers. Lock prisoners
together with a 50-pound chain and stick them outside in the
scorching heat and freezing cold to do all the hard work. They
earned it. They created their own misery. Make them pay.
Do you want to deter crime? Get tougher. Start having public
beatings for vandalism and theft. Whip people in the streets
when they break the law.
If you want to solve the problem, you're going to have to get
radical. Tie people to street lights in the middle of town and
make them wear signs professing their criminal actions. Shame
and humiliate them. They probably won't want to go through it
again.
Forget lethal injection. Forget the electric chair. Start hanging
criminals when they murder innocent people. And do it quickly
like they do in Texas. If Johnny is scared he's going to die
or get beat when he robs the liquor store on the corner, he's
not going to rob the liquor store on the corner.
It's time to yank out the old and rotting teeth of our justice
system and put in a mouthful of venomous fangs. Fangs that sting
and pierce. Fangs that painfully punish those who disregard the
rights of their fellow humans. Fangs that scare criminals and
deter crime.
That's what our country needs. Not more laws, but harsher deterrent.
Adam Fouche is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers.
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