Friday, May 20, 2022
OSU hosts 2022 Special Olympic Games Teyte Holcomb News Editor Oklahoma State hosted the 37th annual Special Olympic Games after two years of COVID-19 cancellations. Last week, people from around Oklahoma gathered at OSU to partake in the annual Special Olympic Games, where faculty and staff volunteered to put on the event. Participants competed in nine events ranging from track and field to bowling. More than 2,700 athletes competed for a chance to take home the gold. While the Special Olympics are generally an annual event, the COVID-19 pandemic halted the games in recent years. Via Special Olympics Oklahoma Facebook
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Two years after COVID-19 canceled the games, Special Olympics made its return to Stillwater last week.
Born and Raised music festival releases 2022 lineup Mallory Pool Staff Reporter
Born and Raised Music Festival released the 2022 lineup in early May to jumpstart presales and get red dirt music lovers excited for the September concerts. Born and Raised in Pryor was a huge success last fall according to many red dirt music fans. They are excited for Patriot Auto Group to present the second annual festival on the Pryor Creek Music Festival Grounds on Sept. 16, 17 and 18. The lineup features three big name red dirt country artists as the headliners. Zach Bryan headlines Friday and Oklahoma State University students are excited to see him after his performance at Calf Fry. Cody Jinks follows Bryan on Saturday with Lynyrd Skynyrd closing out the festival on Sunday. Over 30 other musicians will be playing at Born and Raised and the music does not disappoint. Popular bands like Flatland Cavalry, Randy Rogers Band and Mike and the Moonpies will make their way on stage throughout the weekend alongside solo artists like Jamie Lin Wilson, Wade Bowen and Corey Kent. One of the artists on the lineup is Josh Meloy, an Oklahoma State University alumnus and Hennessey native. Meloy’s career has skyrocketed recently and will continue to grow with appearances at festivals such as Born and Raised. With two album releases, multiple singles and EPs, Meloy always has a story on his mind. His north central Oklahoma roots give him songs like “Met the Devil in Oklahoma” and “Oklahoma Blues,” along with “Washington Street,” a song about Stillwater. Meloy spoke with The O’Colly on Wednesday. Q: What are you most excited for about the festival? A: I’m excited to get to hang out with the other guys playing the festival and watch them perform. Being on the road, you never really get to take time and enjoy watching your friends, so it’s almost like a vacation for us. Q: Born and Raised is a pretty new music festival considering this is the second annual. Being an Oklahoma native, how do you think Born and Raised has affected or will affect the Oklahoma red dirt music industry? A: I think it could be huge for Oklahoma. Seems like the lineup stays true to what the fans have been asking for. And there’s some big names on that list as well. Bringing this many people together will be special. Oklahoma needs more of this. For more information regarding the Born and Raised Music Festival visit bornandraisedfestival.com See the flyer on 8
Home runs, anime, tattoos Doersching's love of family, baseball Daniel Allen Staff Reporter A 9-year-old Griffin Doersching stood outside his home with his dad on a sunny day in Greendale, Wisconsin. The boy and his father, Greg, threw a scuffed up baseball Doersching had found laying around his house. After an extensive period of time, Greg began throwing his son flare-like pop ups. Doersching, infatuated with what his father was doing, demanded he throw the ball higher. So, Greg began elevating his throws higher in the air, yet, it still wasn’t high enough for Doersching. “He’s nine years old, demanding I throw my arm out of socket to throw him the highest of popups,” Greg said. “From my vantage point, I was just throwing pop ups to my son and watching him chase it. But (Doersching), he was actually enjoying it. That’s when I began to say to myself, ‘Ok, this is not normal’.” After several adjustments to the height of his throws, and his son remaining adamantly dissatisfied, Greg found a tennis racket, laying around outside, and began hitting the baseball up in the air to his son. He watched Doersching chase the ball down and call off imaginary teammates. A visible euphoric sense of joy would make an appearance as he watched the ball fall into his mitt. It was at that moment, Greg instantly realized his son was built for the sport of baseball. His parents would often find him portraying mannerisms that coincided with baseball drills, whether it be bouncing a ball off of his bedroom wall and fielding it with his bare hand or tossing a rock up in the air and hitting it with a large stick. Doersching has always acted the part of a baseball player. “While never directly saying baseball was his favorite sport, his behavior just showed how much it was (his favorite sport),” Greg said. “We’d go out, play catch, go to (baseball games), the average things. But it was his behavior outside of in-game activity that made it known. You just had to be there.” Abby Smith
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Griffin Doersching acted like he was born to be a baseball player when he was younger.