Better Newspaper Contest

Page 16 Best Sports News or Feature Coverage/ Category 12 First Staff Churubusco News Jones remembers winning her Olympic gold medal Letting the athlete tell her own story is sometimes the best way to cover it. Very interesting story. Second Nicole Minier Churubusco News Fester turns her back to adversity Solid story about a young athlete who faced a huge surgery and fought her way back. Third Will Fehlinger The Herald-Tribune (Batesville) Man on the mountain This story focuses on the athlete and not so much the "spe- cial" part, as it should be. Had me rooting for him. Best Sports Commentary/Category 13 First Brent T. Wheat Hendricks County Flyer (Avon) Second Dylan Trimpe Hendricks County Flyer (Avon) Third Rob Hunt The Times-Post (Pendleton) Division 1 Staff Churubusco News CHURUBUSCO — As a teenage girl, Sharon Jones was the laughing stock of her classmates for riding the school bus with wet hair. It wasn't because she woke up late for school — every morning before class she'd already gone through a 1-hour swim practice. After leaving class at Snider High School in Fort Wayne, she'd have another 2-hour practice in the pool. "The girls on the bus thought my hair was greasy and would make fun of me," Jones said. "I found out years later." Jones said she didn't have time for friends and fun while she was a teenager, as she spent all her time either swimming or studying for school. "My mom was worried because I never did anything fun," Jones said. "I was very serious about my swimming and very driven." Jones' dedication paid off. As a 16-year-old in the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, Jones won gold and bronze medals in the breaststroke, setting an Olympic record in the 200-meter with a time of 2:44.4. Jones, whose maiden name was Sharon Wichman, was the first Fort Wayne resident to capture an Olympic gold medal and the first American woman in the history of the Olympics to win the 200-meter breaststroke. "I was unknown until I made the Olympic team," Jones said. "There was no newspaper coverage about swimming back then. But when I got the gold medal, I was on the front page." Jones began her swimming career at 11 years old with only a gold medal in sight. In the 1960s, swimmers couldn't put their head all the way underwater in the breaststroke. When Jones won the gold, she wasn't even wearing a swim cap. "They had me shave my arms but they didn't have me wear a swim cap," Jones laughed. In the 1968 Olympic games, Jones first got the bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke, which only pushed her harder to win the gold in the 200. In a close back-and-forth race, Jones pushed to the end, beating three very competitive Russians and the second-place swimmer from Yugoslavia by two seconds. "When I finished I was crying. I couldn't believe it," Jones said. "I worked so hard — I can't tell you how relieved I was." At the end of the race, the television announcer shouted, "hooray for the Hoosiers!" and Jones was proud to be an American. "I wanted to win partly for me, but I also wanted to show we could be the communist countries," Jones said. "That was a big deal at the time. It was nothing against the communist girls, they were victims of their society. But I wanted to prove we were the best country in the world because we were free." American Olympians were not paid, but athletes in communist countries were. The winners were paraded around the pool following the race, making the clumsy 16-year-old more nervous than she was before the race. "I was so afraid of tripping," Jones said. "I always said I was better in the water than out of the water." When the formalities were finished, Jones ran to her parents in the stands. "When they finally let us go, I ran up to my parents and we cried for a half an hour," Jones said. Her father, who Jones said was normally a "penny pincher," took the family out to an expensive restaurant. "I thought, 'oh my gosh, my Jones remembers winning her Olympic gold medal For the complete story, visit hspa.com. Social media misfires Brent T. Wheat Hendricks County Flyer (Avon) OUT IN THE OPEN Well, you've gone and done it: killed a trophy buck, or turkey, or aardvark or whatever you were hunting. What's the first thing you do? In the old days, (defined as 'five years ago') we'd stop before field dressing the animal in order to light up a cigar, take a small snort from the medicinal flask hidden in the bottom of the pack and generally savor the moment. That was before Facephamplet, Tweeter and all those other social media things became such a big part of our lives. Nowadays, instead of simply experiencing things as they happen, all life events including breakfast, bathroom breaks and surgery are immediately shared for the whole world to see. The readers then reply with "likes," "shares" and funny little animated faces that actually appear, for those of us who forgot their reading glasses, to be random insects crawling across the screen. While this column isn't actually a general damnation of social media, there is a more practical reason for raising the topic: hunting and social media don't really mix anymore. I know that everyone, including Your Kindly Local Outdoor Writer, have posted items broadcasting our latest outdoor success to inspire jealousy, er, interest from our friends. However the world is changing and as we rapidly approach the opening day of the firearms deer season, I would propose that a little more restraint and introspection in regards to sharing hunting experiences might be in order. This problem can be traced back to the infamous Cecil the Lion incident in 2015. If you don't remember, Cecil was a lion killed (under admittedly sketchy circumstances) in Africa by American Walter Palmer. The killing of a lion in Africa is still considered a major feat, considering they quite regularly win the contest, so Palmer was hailed as an accomplished hunter, right? HA! Whether Palmer did or didn't hunt ethically or legally didn't matter. His biggest failure was posting the picture on social media. It immediately ignited a firestorm of criticism that nearly ruined Palmer's life. By the time the whole thing was forgotten, thousands of people had weighed in, commented upon and in some cases committed vandalism, all in the name of Cecil. At the height of the hysteria, it seemed apparent that Palmer would have been better off shooting Mother Theresa during Christmas Mass rather than that large, tick- infested carnivore. Now, after the overall success of that debacle, hunter-shaming has become a standard part of the anti- hunting playbook. Our society used to exhibit shame regarding behaviors that aren't positive attributes for individuals or humanity. Now everything is trotted out, celebrated and uplifted, even the things that shouldn't be; everything, except for hunting. Now, in some circles, posting a picture your happy child with its first squirrel or deer is tantamount to admitting child abuse. Unfortunately, we hunters aren't exactly helping the situation either in many cases either. Therefore, since the world appears to be losing more of its collective mind with each passing day, here are a few suggestions to consider regarding social media use during the upcoming hunting seasons: 1. Post pictures that are as tasteful and non-gory as possible. For any trophy photo, blood needs to be cleaned up, the animal composed neatly and your hands and clothing wiped off. 2. Be respectful of the animal. Don't post yourself sitting astride or standing with your foot propped upon it like Teddy Roosevelt in 1909. Sunglasses and a cigarette stuck in the mouth of a dead deer or opposum aren't really funny either (Yes, I've seen such things). 3. Never use graphic language to describe the actual killing. If your head is in the right place, the kill is the culmination of the experience, not the sole reason you are in the field. It isn't necessary to explicitly describe what happened during those final moments because non-hunters don't understand the moment anyway. 4. Be especially careful describing things such as eating a part of the animal raw or smearing blood on your face or other such rituals after a kill. I know many people who believe such rites honor the animal and I don't disagree but it is not something you really want to publicize in today's world. For the complete story, visit hspa.com.

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