DON McCORMACK
Paying another visit to the variety store...
Oh, brother!
The voice on the other end the line was pleasant and in the middle of a laugh.
“That was some goofy picture you ran in the paper of my brother!” Granita Barnes said. “You could barely see him.”
Granita, an Ashtabula resident, was speaking of the photo that appeared on these pages in our Wednesday edition that included James Turner.
Turner, a 1978 Ashtabula High School graduate, is the father of Ohio State basketball sensation Evan Turner.
“Evan is the nicest young man you’ll ever meet,” his Aunt Granita said. “He’s got a great head on his shoulders.”
We heard from several individuals who remember James Turner from his days here in Ashtabula and every one of them mentioned how athletically talented he was when he was his son’s age.
Granita was kind enough to pass along James’ contact information and said her second-oldest brother would be more than happy to reflect on his days growing up here in Ashtabula County.
We’ll bring you that tale — along with assurances from Granita that we will also have some much better photographs to go with it than the one that appeared on these pages Wednesday — in the very near future.
Trivia time
Speaking of well-known Ashtabula natives, what is the favorite sports movie of Urban Meyer?
Answer below.
Put ’em up!
While we’re on the subject of famous folks with Ashtabula County ties, a Jefferson native will be getting back into the octagon in a little more than a month.
Branden Hinkle, a former state-placing wrestler and also a standout tennis player during his high schools days at Jefferson, has committed to fighting former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
The bout will take place Saturday, March 20 at the Covelli Center at Youngstown. Hinkle and
Sylvia will throw down at approximately 2:30 p.m.
More on this story in the near future, too.
Trivia answer
Meyer, the University of Florida football coach and a 1982 St. John High School graduate, loves the movie, “Hoosiers.”
“We have a ‘Hoosiers’ night at our house every year, where we all watch it together,” the two-time BCS National Championship coach said. “We know every line of dialogue.”
Meyer, like pretty much everyone whose eyes have taken a gander at the 1986 classic that stars Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper and Barbara Hershey, admits he’s taken in by the tale of the tiny Milan basketball team (renamed Hickory in the film) that captured the 1954 Indiana state championship, with the school boasting an enrollment of but 64 boys.
“There are so many great lessons, but the biggest is the whole concept of team,” Meyer, who played football, basketball and baseball during his days at St. John, said. “The coach and players (at Hickory) were a bunch of misfits. Individually, they were nothing.
“But together, they won it all.”
McCormack is the sports editor of the Star Beacon. Reach him at donmac@suite224.net.
