Charlotte Observer coverage

Another Great Story

Langston - you keep asking...this is the best story I have heard in a long time...

There is a player named Maverick Miles at South Rowan.
-Last night he hit 2 homeruns and a double in a victory over a tough Weddington team.
- He also played on the gold medal winning Region 6 State Games team.
- He actually was a little faster than Ty Linton in the 60 yard dash at the State Games evaluation day.

Maverick was born with a congenital heart defect and had to have open heart surgery last summer to correct it. He waited to have the surgery until AFTER the state games tournament because he wanted to play in that tournament. Obviously the surgery was successful.

He is also a really great young man from a super family. I think alot of kids that catch tough breaks along the way would love to hear his story - and the ones lucky enough to be healthy would appreciate it a little more.

 

I want to hear that story. Those are the type stories that Langston is looking for. The one's that overcome tremendous obstacles.

 

A little more info then...

He comitted to play for High Point before the surgery last year, but there is a lot of talk about him getting drafted.

 

Maverick Miles is the best hitter in the Rowan/Cabarrus/Iredell areas for sure. And yes theres been lots of serious talk about him possibly being drafted right out of HS this June, high enough that he would prob have to take it. When I first saw Maverick on the field, you knew he was great at the game, but learning of his heart situation and his past surgeries only makes you pull for him that much more. Great kid.

 

That's why I read the "Post", they get info the "old fashioned" way... by asking. How many baseball "Sweet 16" have been published? I've seen a pre-season poll, but not much since then.

It's a little easier to do it the "old fashioned" way when you have a limited number of schools. It's more difficult than you can imagine to try to track down 125 records in any sport, or 125 anything. And contrary to what you say, this stuff is not just laying around on the internet somewhere. Most internet sources are wrong.

I respect the heck out of Langston for showing up and answering some tough questions. However, when it comes to "scholarships", baseball players usually don't depend on them to play division 1, they get in with good grades and pretty much walk on. Due to MLB having the ability to draft HS seniors, it's a "roll of the dice" to sign a baseball player for a full scholarship and then lose him in the next draft.

I don't mind answering questions. I enjoy it. Your point on scholarships is fine, too. I am not sure what I am supposed to say there.

Mikal Hill is a phenomenal athlete and more importantly one of the best baseball players in the state! He has earned that respect with his play on the field (trust me I know firsthand) not by the color of his skin. As the father of an Asian-American he wants to be recognized for his abilities as a baseball player and Mikal has earned that right! Not because he's white, black, green or asian... he can just flat out play!

He is a great athlete. Looks like a budding pro shortstop when you see him. Just looks different. Kind of like Linton at Christian. As for the respect based on his play and not his skin color, the story we wrote last year really was just pointing out how fewer and fewer blacks are playing baseball, yet we were lucky enough to have one of the top black players in the Carolinas in our backyard.

Since Al Gore invented the "internet" a lot has changed (God bless him) information can be obtained at a click of a button. I know our conference results and standings within 24 hrs, so I really don't need a printed version. My point is ...it takes a little work but everyone is working a little harder these days.[/QUOTE]

I'd love to know where you can find standings you can count on online immediately after games. Being close is OK when you're reading them at home, but if I take something off Site X and print it and it's dead wrong (and it usually is), it's not a good thing.

 

There is a player named Maverick Miles at South Rowan.
-Last night he hit 2 homeruns and a double in a victory over a tough Weddington team.
- He also played on the gold medal winning Region 6 State Games team.
- He actually was a little faster than Ty Linton in the 60 yard dash at the State Games evaluation day.

Maverick was born with a congenital heart defect and had to have open heart surgery last summer to correct it. He waited to have the surgery until AFTER the state games tournament because he wanted to play in that tournament. Obviously the surgery was successful.

He is also a really great young man from a super family. I think alot of kids that catch tough breaks along the way would love to hear his story - and the ones lucky enough to be healthy would appreciate it a little more.[/QUOTE]

Now there, friends, is a great human interest. It's Saturday at 3:50 p.m. and I'm just seeing that, so I'm not sure we can do anything before they play Tuesday. If they beat Mount Pleasant, this would be on my agenda for sure. I'm already kind of going down a different road for Tuesday. But please keep the ideas coming. If you all had let me know about this in March, we could've done a huge story with several pictures, videos, the whole 9.

I feel like Randy Jackson on American Idol. "This is what I'm talking about. This is what it's about!"

Seriously, thank you.

 

That's my bad...

I should have thought to bring this story idea to you earlier.

Will try to do better in the future...

If we all work together we can help Langston cover the whole region - an impossible job for one man.

 

I'd love and welcome the help.

 

I'd love to know where you can find standings you can count on online immediately after games. Being close is OK when you're reading them at home, but if I take something off Site X and print it and it's dead wrong (and it usually is), it's not a good thing.[/quote]



Young "Skywalker" you have much to learn. When this season started, I was frustrated with not only lack of coverage from local press, but with our own school as well. So I decided to start my own site as have many other schools. We stay up most of the night updating our sites so that the next morning, alumni around the world can click on a link and see what their team did the night before. I have had readers from arond the world contact me, including soldiers fighting for our freedom, just to say thanks for covering Kannapolis Baseball. Every score I have seen on TBR has been 100% accurate and I can update my site with most of our conference scores before "the sun rises". I recently asked my son, "why doesn't the school have students as reporters at athletic events"? We have not only the "internet" but "Twitter", "Facebook"and "MYSpace" to provide instant information. He said "I don't know", but added he would love to cover the female sports... easy big guy! My point is "sources" are quoted in the news every single day and my source is has been correct 100% of the time.

When you speak of "the cost of baseball equipment", trust me all of us have sacrificed for our kids, I have spent in excess of 10 grand, for my son to compete at a higher level, so have many others. Not because we are "rich", but because these kids are "driven".

Now one thing that really makes me MAD is that some kids are denied an oppotunity to play baseball Why, because of lack of equipment? After reading your story about the West Charlotte softball team, it appears to me the kids get it. I have gloves, bats, bat bags, batting gloves and pants, just collecting dust. I would love to donate some equipment...TBR??? Thanks Langston, may the force be with you!!!

 

Young "Skywalker" you have much to learn. When this season started, I was frustrated with not only lack of coverage from local press, but with our own school as well. So I decided to start my own site as have many other schools. We stay up most of the night updating our sites so that the next morning, alumni around the world can click on a link and see what their team did the night before. I have had readers from arond the world contact me, including soldiers fighting for our freedom, just to say thanks for covering Kannapolis Baseball.

Neat site! I love the little green Hulk at the top! I see you seem to do a good job following an eight-team conference. I have 22 conferences in North and South Carolina. It's just not as easy as you think. I'm not making excuses it's just real life. There are lots of sites like yours and I've gotten burned more than once by trusting the accuracy of them. It's OK for a parent to print on his personal website what his uncle told him his cousin thought he remembered the score being. It's not OK for me to do it in the newspaper. I hope you understand the difference.

But I would love to have more reliable sources of information to use. It's just hard to figure out, until you get burned, which of them are.

And as you said you stay up late every night updating your site. How long would it take you to chase down and update for 125 baseball teams and 125 softball teams and 125 soccer teams, etc? And then you don't know when they're playing because of rain, or did they wait and finish? Or? Or?

Every score I have seen on TBR has been 100% accurate and I can update my site with most of our conference scores before "the sun rises". I recently asked my son, "why doesn't the school have students as reporters at athletic events"? We have not only the "internet" but "Twitter", "Facebook"and "MYSpace" to provide instant information. He said "I don't know", but added he would love to cover the female sports... easy big guy! My point is "sources" are quoted in the news every single day and my source is has been correct 100% of the time.

I hear you. Experience tells me this road, for a newspaper, is full of problems.

When you speak of "the cost of baseball equipment", trust me all of us have sacrificed for our kids, I have spent in excess of 10 grand, for my son to compete at a higher level, so have many others. Not because we are "rich", but because these kids are "driven".

That's not me speaking. I'm quoting others in stories. I never played baseball, and don't understand the requirements to be good anywhere near as much as most of you here do. But I can tell you there's a whole lot of families who might be interested who just can't break through the cost barrier. And they choose other sports.

Now one thing that really makes me MAD is that some kids are denied an oppotunity to play baseball Why, because of lack of equipment? After reading your story about the West Charlotte softball team, it appears to me the kids get it. I have gloves, bats, bat bags, batting gloves and pants, just collecting dust. I would love to donate some equipment...TBR??? Thanks Langston, may the force be with you!!!

I'm not sure what you mean that the kids get it. The school provides them with equipment, but trust, it's not the same as what you'll see from other schools. They have the basics. I think donating equipment to youth rec leagues/complexes like the Police Activities League in Charlotte that serve underprivileged youth is a great thing. I know they would need knowledgeable baseball people to help coach. I'm sure many more kids might get the "bug" if they had access to proper training and (somewhat) proper equipment. But you have to catch them young. Other sports do.