All-star tourneys bring back fond memories

I have one great athletic accomplishment in my life.

It came during a magical summer in 1993. I had one of the best seasons of Dixie Youth baseball that northeast Alabama had ever seen and was selected to play for my league's all-star team.

The sub-district tournament was hosted by our rival Oxford. Bynum, the community I played for, and Oxford have been sports enemies for decades because they feed into competing high schools.

That and Oxford people also had an unwarranted superiority complex that irked us to no end.

We were just 12 kids playing baseball to have fun, but we knew the experience would be more fun if we beat our rivals on their turf.

That was the plan, but it certainly didn't start off very successfully.

We lost our first game to Oxford pretty big and got sent to the losers' bracket. We won our next two games to set up a rematch with Oxford.

The odds were stacked against us. We had to beat a team twice that had demolished us earlier in the week. This is the part of the movie where you cue Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's immortal classic "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

We won the next two games convincingly to take the sub-district title. Oxford had to settle for the second-place trophy, which it refused to accept. I guess the players thought they were too good for it.

I didn't start a single game in the tournament but walked four times and had a single in my five plate appearances.

Our team went on to lose badly in the district tournament, but we were still proud of what we had done. I still have the medal all 12 of us were presented with at the team banquet.

I didn't play much in the games. Rules dictated that everyone had to bat and play in the field at least one inning, but that was usually all I played.

Being on the bench turned out to be a blessing. I spent most of my pine time watching the games and chatting with my teammate Brent Howell.

It was the first time I had ever been on the same team with him. He later became one of my best friends in high school, my college roommate for 3 1/2years and is still a great friend to this day.

As it turned out, the best thing to come out of that baseball experience had nothing to do with baseball.

That 1993 tournament was the last all-star tournament in which I played. It's safe to say my baseball skills diminished greatly after that tournament.

With the local Dixie Major and Dixie Minor baseball tournaments starting this weekend, I couldn't help but think of my own all-star experiences.

I have some advice for all those involved.

For the adults, remember that it is just a game. Sometimes Little League games can be taken too seriously, usually by the parents and coaches. Sometimes adults can lose perspective, forget that the game is not solely about winning and losing.

Don't be harsh to the kids participating and try to be nice to the umpires. I know that last part is especially hard.

The only piece of sage advice I have for the kids is to have fun and get to know your teammates. One of them could be a friend for the rest of your life.