Take Me Out To The Ballgame: Naturals Top Headline-Grabbing Year
Last updated Tuesday, December 30, 2008 6:20 PM CST in Sports
By Nathan Allen
THE MORNING NEWS
SPRINGDALE -- For Northwest Arkansas sports fans, 2008 turned out to be a pretty good year.
Although it wasn't filled with as many big stories as there were in 2007, plenty of stories this year dominated sports pages, television and radio airwaves and several message boards.
The biggest headlines this year came from within Arvest Ballpark, where the Northwest Arkansas Naturals played their inaugural season of professional baseball in Springdale.
Players like Kila Kaaihue, Carlos Rosa, Jose Duarte and Brian McFall were regulars in area newspapers while Naturals manager Brian Poldberg also became an area celebrity.
All summer long, baseball fans from across the state and from other regions in Oklahoma and Missouri filled the seats in Arvest Ballpark on a daily basis to eat hot dogs and nachos, drink beer and watch the Naturals' sluggers hit plenty of home runs against other teams in the Texas League.
"It was a summer unlike any other in this area," The Morning News Sports Editor Chip Souza said. "Because of the Naturals, fans really fell in love with baseball all over again and experienced how much fun it can be to have a minor league baseball team in their own backyard."
In April, legendary Arkansas track coach John McDonnell announced his retirement, ending his illustrious 36-year career with the Razorbacks, where he won 42 national championships.
During the summer, former Arkansas quarterback and current Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Matt Jones was arrested for possession of cocaine while former Razorback track athletes Wallace Spearmon and Tyson Gay had disappointing performances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in August.
During football season, former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt's return on Oct. 25 as coach of the Ole Miss Rebels turned out to be one of the biggest stories of the year.
"You really can't have a top sports story in this area with the involvement of Houston Nutt," Souza said. "His return to Fayetteville was a huge deal for many Arkansas fans, and it turned out to be an interesting story to follow."
On the prep level, Bentonville's football team won its first state championship since 2001 and Fayetteville's baseball team continued its dominance on the baseball diamond, winning its third straight state championship in May.
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