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THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2022
SPORTS From the Bleachers COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO
E
ven though the Bulls got blown out by the Milwaukee Bucks for the second straight game and third time in four games, the Cubs lost 4-3 after destroying the Pittsburgh Pirates 21-0 the day before, and the White Sox lost their seventh straight game, this time to the Twins, 6-4 in ten innings. To top off the White Sox woes, they lost yet another key contributor, losing Eloy Jimenez for six to eight weeks with a torn hamstring injury. Hopefully, the Gods will look more kindly on the Bears when the college draft begins on Thursday. As we know, sports teams and players go through good times and bad, and while my teams are currently in slumps, my sports world is still shining brightly. I have a new baseball hero who plays for the Tampa Bay Rays. I don’t use the word hero for athletes very often, but outfielder Maverick Phillips certainly deserves it. I first heard about Maverick while watching a national newscast. The story started out to be about Chloe Grimes, an eight year old young lady who is battling cancer for the second time. Chloe’s softball team went to a Rays game and she got to throw out the first pitch to her favorite player, Maverick Phillips. Chloe then gave Maverick a bracelet she had made that said “Rally for Chloe, our princess warrior “and Maverick wore it during the game to bring him luck. In the third inning, while Chloe was being interviewed, Maverick hit a ball harder than he had all year for a home run. After the game, the same lady interviewed Maverick and he was so emotional that
he struggled to finish the interview. Later he tweeted“ Chloe, you’ve touched my heart and have impacted me! I feel so blessed that God gave me the opportunity to meet you!.” The story keeps getting better. They retrieved the ball, Maverick signed it, then personally delivered it to Chloe. Then his organization donated some money to help defray the costs of her medical care. Through go fund me, more than twenty five thousand dollars have been raised. After researching Maverick, I found out he’s this kind of guy that runs the bases with the kids when they get to run the bases for free after a Sunday game. He’s also the kind of guy who comes out of the dressing room early to sign autographs for the kids and ask them how they’re doing in school. He’s the kind of man who bought an enormous amount of Girl Scout cookies. He’s the kind of man that has an organization that is titled Baseball is fun. In short, he’s the kind of man we should all try to emulate. I’m going to close with a couple of quotes this week. On twitter, Dallas Braden said, “I’m gonna need a bigger heart so there’s room for all the love I have for Brett.” Finally, Brett Maverick Phillips said of Chloe, “She IS the hero. This is her story, not mine. I was just glad to be a small part of it.” Humble and kind. Baseball is fun. Let’s all pray for Chloe, our princess warrior. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.
I’ve always done whatever I want and always been exactly who I am. — Billie Eilish
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New Buffalo school board approves merging middle school football with River Valley
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BY FRANCESCA SAGALA
embers of the New Buffalo Area Schools Board of Education approved a cooperative sports program with River Valley Schools for middle school football at their Monday, April 25, meeting. At the board’s April 11 meeting, New Buffalo Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Leslie said that the board would probably vote on the matter at their April 25 meeting and “go from there.” He added that he would “ideally like to get everyone in a
room and go from there.” There will be a combined meeting with River Valley schools, Monday, May 2nd at 7:30pm at River Valley Schools. In March, meetings were held at both New Buffalo High School and River Valley High School with regards to gaining public input on whether the two school districts should combine more of their school sports programs. Both school districts have already merged their high school football and wrestling programs, with the Red Arrow Raiders having just completed their football season last fall.
