LITTLE ROCK -- Forrest City was shut out Wednesday night in their bid to host the Class AAAAA state basketball tournament.
Instead, Arkansas Activities Association decided Wednesday that the state's largest classification tournament will return to North Little Rock for a second straight year.
Forrest City hosted the 2001 tournament.
The AAA Board of Directors also announced the dates and sites for upcoming regional and state tournaments for basketball and spring sports Wednesday.
Three area teams were awarded basketball tournaments with Lynn hosting the Class A state tournament March 2-6. Marked Tree will host the Class AA Region 4 and Izard County Consolidated the Class AA Region 3 tournaments on Feb. 23-28.
Riverview will host the Class AAA Region 2 basketball tournament.
ICC was awarded the Class AA state baseball tournament as well as the AA regionals in both baseball and softball while Black Rock will host the Class A state baseball tournament as well as regional baseball and softball tourneys.
Buffalo Island Central, ICC and Newport were also awarded baseball regional tournaments, which will be held April 24-28. BIC will host the Class AA Region 4 baseball tournament while ICC will host the Class AA Region 3 baseball and softball tourneys.
Black Rock will play host to the Class A Region 3 baseball and Class A Region 4 softball tournaments. Newport was awarded the Class AAA Region 2 baseball tournament.
North Little Rock's Alltel Arena will also host the overall basketball championships, March 12-13.
by Walter Scott
Two of my buddies, Chris and Butch, hunt deer the late season way with muzzle loaders.
Winter weather is always unpredictable, but an Iowa January can have the strangest weather of the year.
The two hunters usually show up about New Year's Eve and hunt on my place for several days, or until they get all the deer they want.
Before their hunt is over, they usually have the opportunity to hunt in all types of weather -- from a mild winter day to raging blizzards, ice storms, or sub-zero temperatures.
On New Year's Eve, Butch called and asked about the weather and the clothes he should bring. At the time, the temperature was close to 60 degrees. I told him to bring everything he owned. It was warm now, but a few hours can make a big difference.
The weather usually stays fairly mild until they go hunting.
I reminded him of four years ago when we went from bare ground to 10 inches of snow layered with a half inch of ice on top of it.
We dragged out their deer by using a horse and mule when they were too exhausted to do more than walk.
I also reminded him of the Iowa blizzard two years before that kept them from returning home until several days after season closed.
They got to watch soap operas while sitting in a really boring motel for two days, waiting for the roads to clear.
When they arrived at the house, I told them about two big bucks I knew were still roaming the farm. We saw and shot at one of the two during gun season and I had hunted another the entire bow season, seeing him frequently, but never getting a shot. They were still in the timber.
Highly motivated by the tails of our successes during gun season and the big deer remaining, they headed out in light shirts to accomplish with a muzzle loader, something which all other hunters had failed to do.
I talked to Butch on that Saturday, and the hunting was great. They had each passed up several shots, waiting for the big one, and the weather was holding. Morning dew kept the leaves quiet for stalking, and the afternoon sun made sitting in wait a pleasure.
By Sunday, things had changed. The wind began to blow and the snow began to fall.
It is nice to hunt in snow, as long as it is not too heavy or too cold. The snow covers human scent and makes tracking easier.
The track you are on is fresh or it disappears into the cold white surroundings.
The temperature dropped almost 70 degrees between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning.
Their hunt went from a leisurely stroll through the woods in search of the big buck to plodding through a foot of snow in sub-zero temperatures. The fun can rapidly go out of a hunt under these conditions.
A person could admire such determination, or just call them crazy, but the hunt continued. On
Tuesday afternoon, Butch stopped by the house. He had had enough. He was cold, tired, and regretting every shot he passed on, waiting for the big one. He was going home empty handed.
He had a great time hunting and pushed himself to the limit, but was stopped in his tracks by the cold and sheer exhaustion.
Chris decided he was going to stick it out a few more hours, or perhaps another day.
I have neither seen or heard from Chris, so I only hope he is not frozen in place somewhere.
They hunt the late season and take their chances.
January weather can be fair or foul, but I think the bad weather is the fault of Butch and Chris.
We always have a little winter weather, but it never gets really bad until these two crazies take to the woods.