Just like heaven


By Milt Higgins

March 17, 2015

CONWAY, S.C.-  Daylight was about to sit on St Patrick’s Day at Springs Brooks Stadium in a one-run ballgame.  The 2,500 joyous fans occupied the seats at the new stadium who possessed what could be the Grand Strand’s hottest tickets of 2015. The bases were loaded, with one out.  All eyes were on Coastal Carolina University (CCU) right fielder David Parrett, as he stepped back into batter’s box.  Clemson’s relief pitcher Alex Schnell wound up and delivered a 1-0 pitch to the plate.  One swing later, the stadium erupted.   The reason to build a new stadium at that moment may have just paid off.

“I’ve never seen it like this.  It’s been crazy,” said sports store clerk Jabari Bradley.

 The largest CCU on-campus baseball crowd (2,825) gathered to witness the in-state matchup.  The stadium was divided in teal down the third baseline and in orange down the first baseline, with a little more teal sprinkled down the right-field line.  Another 300 fans stood in the standing room only area. 

Athletic Director Matt Hogue said one of the goals for building the new $15 million stadium was to take the Chanticleers baseball team to another level on a national scale.  Tuesday night brought in another Atlantic Coast Conference foe.  Not just any foe, but the in-state “big brother” Clemson Tigers.

Even Tigers’ fans were impressed by the new field.  Doug Davis made the four hour trip from  Spartanburg because he heard about the new stadium.

“Without a doubt, this is a top-of-the-line field,” Davis said.

Other Clemson fans chimed in how impressed they were and couldn’t wait to come back to see the finished product that will include lawn seating and a boardwalk that will complete the encircling of the field.  A couple of them suggested CCU include the outfield dimensions on the wall because it was deceiving.

Another goal Hogue said he hoped to meet, was fielding a team who played on the inside of those “secretive” dimensions with even more talented recruits in the near future.

“Especially when you get to the new signing period in November of next year (school year).  That will really give us an idea to figure out, are we attracting some athletes that maybe we were not really attracting before or are we able to sign some players that we were not signing before.  That is definitely a big part of this.” Hogue said

A baseball team of 15-18 year-olds from Kingsley, Pa seemed attracted, while they stood and watched the game.  They all agreed that Springs Brooks Stadium was better than going to watch their local Scranton RailRiders minor league team (New York Yankees AAA).  They said they liked the fact it did not feel enclosed, and they could play baseball year-round in South Carolina.

Hogue also credited the year-round sport’s success at CCU as a determining factor to build the stadium.

“We already had a great foundation, not only with our baseball program but our softball program too over the previous years.  The time had come to be able to give them both facilities that were commiserate with the kind of success that they had,” Hogue said

Former CCU catcher Joseph Anderson (1990-95) stood behind the seats, aligned directly behind the catcher.  He was part of that foundation.  This was the first time he attended a game in the new stadium due to work commitments.  He said having North Carolina, Clemson, and South Carolina baseball teams come to Conway on consecutive Tuesdays was unbelievable.  He pointed to the Brooks Football Stadium.

“You see that right there?  That right there and its success made this (baseball stadium) happen.  We’re reaping the rewards now,” he said.

Anderson was referring to the CCU football team and their success since Brooks Stadium was built in 2003.  He paused and seemed relieved when he said the baseball stadium and its location were going to get the recruits the Chanticleers want.

“This is going to put them on another level,” he said.

If there were any complaints, it was from the long lines formed at the concessions behind Anderson.  The lines stayed busy through the eighth inning.  The university planned for a large crowd and staffed more volunteer workers than usual, but they had trouble keeping pace.

“It’s kind of expected because of the newness for everyone,” CCU Dean of Students Travis Overton said.

Overton assisted the concession’s staff by walking down the lines to take food and beverage requests ahead of time, to help move the lines along for two hours.

“It’s all hands on deck here at Coastal. You help where it’s needed” he said.

He pointed to the upper deck where University President David Dicenzo stood, focused on the game, just like a Major League Baseball Owner focused on his team’s playoff game.

“He fosters a family atmosphere here at Coastal, and I think he’s succeeded,” Overton said.

David Parrett crossed home plate after his Grand Slam home run gave CCU a comfortable five-run lead.  Fans in teal high-fived, fist-pumped, and some danced by their seats, just like the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates’ family.

Joseph Anderson never moved from his position, behind home plate.  He stood there in a stoical manner with his arms crossed. He shook his head.“This is heaven, man.”

Fear and loathing in America

 By Milt Higgins March 2016

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said during his inauguration speech in 1933 during The Great Depression. 

The president’s message to American citizens was that their fear was making things worse.  People were running to banks and emptying their accounts causing more damage to the economy. You could call the Americans behavior irrational, but when fear comes knocking you can bet reasoning jumps out the window. 

            Fear drives the choices people make, and every choice has consequences, good or bad. There are legitimate fears.  To restore order in a household, a child must know at all times unacceptable behavior has consequences and fear their parent’s actions once they crossed the line. 

Fear seems to be the weapon of choice during this presidential election year. The candidates use fear to terrify us and manipulate our emotions. In some cases, it’s used because the candidates don’t have a legal solution, and they knowingly understand that a vast majority of U.S. citizens don’t have a clear understanding of how our government works.  

Fear is nothing new in politics. Think of President Ronald Reagan issuing a “War on Drugs,” when in fact, prior to him declaring a “war,” marijuana and cocaine usage for 18-25 year-olds had dropped by 15 percent each of the previous three years, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That didn’t matter. The President’s proclamation of war gave him vaster power just by using the “war’ term; and don’t you dare resist this action, question its funding, and “just say no” to that because the conversation stopper is, as always “Don’t you know there’s a war on?”

How many times in the past eight years have you read or heard the fear and angry tone of “keep the big (federal) government out of our lives,” implying the states know what’s best for their residents.  However, history has shown the most discriminatory and oppressive laws come from the state and local government.  Think Jim Crow era and today’s fear tactic that voter identification laws are needed because of exaggerated rampant voter fraud are carried out by non-citizens.

From 2000-2014, 31voter fraud incidents (some of which involve multiple ballots)  were reported out of 1 billion ballots casts, in general, primary, special, and municipal elections, according to Justin Levitt, a professor at Loyola Law School and an expert on constitutional law and law of democracy. When alleged ballot stuffers are caught their names read mostly read like good wholesome American names. 

Now picture Elizabeth Eckford sitting alone on a bus stop bench with camera’s and reporters surrounding her in Little Rock, Arkansas after the governor ordered the National Guard to block her and eight other student’s entrance into Central High School because of the color of their skin.  All because of fear.

In “Federalist Paper No. 10” James Madison wrote about how a strong federal government will guard against ‘factions’ (groups within political parties; i.e. special interest groups, trade unions) or groups of citizens with interest contrary to the rights of others or the interest of the whole community, it will guard against those dangers than would a small republics (individual states).

Fear alters the mind from what is truly important, especially if you view the fear as imminent. If you turn on the television or scroll through your social media pages, there stands fear in front of your face, taunting you. According to Harvard University psychology researcher Daniel Gilbert, negative emotions, such as fear, hatred and disgust tend to provoke behavior more than positive emotions such as hope and happiness do.

Coastal Carolina University’s honors lecturer Dr. Jeremy Killian wrote an eloquent analogy that gives credence to Gilbert’s theory.

“Think of it this way.  Imagine that I’m at a bar speaking with a beautiful girlfriend.  I’m having a nice time, and she is the focus of my attention so that most of the other features of the room fall into the backdrop of my consciousness.” 

“Then, imagine that a drunk and disorderly man shoves me aside to have a word with my girlfriend.  Because of his slight, I become angry, and the focus of my attention shifts from my girlfriend to the offender.  Not only does my emotional state change, but the way that I see the world changes as well.  The beer bottle sitting on the bar, which, while I was having a nice time with the woman, was barely noticeable before, suddenly begins to look a lot like a weapon.  Because of the change of circumstances, my emotions have cast a certain glow over objects that might help me to accomplish my goal--which in this case is to rid myself of the offender.  In point of fact, the room has not changed, nor has the sensory information I’m receiving from the room.  What has changed is the order of importance of that sensory information processed by my consciousness.  That order of importance has been altered by my emotional state.”

Fear has brought about some positive things like the construction of super highways, space exploration, and the Internet in response to the threat of nuclear war, but when it rears its ugly head for personal political gain in a harsh unreasonable rhetorically filled manner to manipulate people’s emotions, it leaves one to ask, “who exactly are the terrorists?”  

In the words of President John F. Kennedy “So let us begin anew, remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.”