NOWATA, Okla.—Your Welch teams traveled to Nowata Jan. 7, 2011, to face the 3A school on the basketball court.

It was Nowata’s homecoming, so the boys played first, and the Nowata Ironmen bested your Welch Wildcats, 58-30. The girls followed up, and the Lady Cats fell to the Lady Ironmen, 49-42.

Thanks to the help of the technology folks at Nowata, we were able to bring you live audio of the games. Here are the archived files:

Wildcats v. Nowata 1/7/2011 [ 1:29:50 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Lady Cats v. Nowata 1/7/2011 [ 1:31:21 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Winning Photo

WELCH—Congratulations to Tara McLain, who submitted the winning picture in our Christmas photo contest! The tie-breaking voting ended last night, and 137 votes were cast. Of those, 90 went for McLain’s photo. She’ll be awarded $50 cash.

Thanks to everyone who submitted entries, and thanks to all who voted.

MIAMI, Okla.—Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College has released the brackets for the 2011 NEO basketball tournament.

Your Welch Lady Cats are on the Girls’ Round Robin III bracket. They will play Roland JV, Thur., Jan. 20, 2011, at 1:30 p.m. in the Miami Activity Center; Rejoice, Fri., Jan. 21, 2011, at 3:00 p.m. in the Student Activity Center at NEO; and Bluejacket, Sat., Jan. 22, 2011, at 4:30 p.m. in the Student Activity Center at NEO.

Your Welch Wildcats are on the Boys’ Round Robin II bracket. They will play Roland, Thur., Jan. 20, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in the NEO College Gym; Monett, Fri., Jan. 21, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Activity Center at NEO; and face Miami in a rematch of last year’s final game (which Welch won), Sat., Jan. 22, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in the NEO College Gym.

We’re currently making inquiries as to whether we’ll be able to bring you audio coverage of the NEO Tourney games. We’ll announce via Twitter and Facebook as well as here on the site.

These games have been added to our Community Calendar.

WELCH—Thanks to all who submitted pictures to our Christmas photo contest! We had several entries, and we allowed our readers to vote for their favorites.

We had hoped to announce the big winner today, but our original round of voting ended in a dead tie. We received 88 votes in round one, and each of the two following pictures received 23 votes. So, here we are with a sudden-death overtime of sorts. Here’s your chance to break the tie and determine who’ll receive the $50 grand prize. Voting is now open and runs until Thur., Jan. 20, 2011, at 5 PM.

And we’ve made it a little more interesting by allowing you to see the percentages as we go. Happy voting!

Submitted by Heidi Mills:

Fifth & Sixth Grade Rivals Girls BBall Report 1/9/2011

First game: Rivals beat Bluejacket 23-16. Ashtynne Mills made 16 points, DeeDee Satterwhite made four points, and Abby Ishmael made three points.
Second game: Rivals beat Commerce 38-2. Ashtynne Mills made 22 points, Kacie Mercer made eight points, Kori Robison made six points, and Abby Ishmael made two points.

From Your Bumfuzzled Publisher & Executive Editor:

In the wake of the Arizona shooting, much political hay has been made as person after person has sought to point the finger of blame somewhere. Before the shooter had been identified, commentators and political operatives ran to their keyboards, mics, and cameras to start boldly stating why the tragedy happened. In a relative instant, talking heads and self-appointed pundits let loose a barrage of accusations every bit as careless, misdirected, and irresponsible and Jared Loughner’s bullets.

Specifically, a great to-do has been made of a map, supposedly flush with cross-hairs, released by Sarah Palin’s political action committee. Palin-haters jumped at the opportunity to indict a person they already despise for inciting a shooter to fulfill her supposed secret desire of violence against those with whom she differs politically. Though the Palin camp has credibly demonstrated that the “cross-hairs” in question are, in fact, surveyor’s marks (right at home on a map), there are those who—some out of their own ignorance—refuse to relent because deep in their hearts they want Sarah Palin to be a murderous wretch; it makes her so much more defeat-able.

The counter for this idiocy, thus far, has been to point out that Democrat campaigns and committees have released maps with bulls-eyes on them and that politicians, especially President Obama, have used language referencing knives, guns, fighting, etc. This has served to illustrate something that needs to be said expressly.

There’s a sick irony in that those who want to blame harsh political conversation for the Arizona shooting have done nothing but converse harshly and politically.

And I say this as one not opposed to political debate. It’s politics. It gets rowdy sometimes. That’s the nature of the beast. What I find unfathomable is that those who are most “offended” by the harshness of someone, say Sarah Palin, are the most offensive in their uninformed and malicious finger pointing and false accusations.

The bottom line is that in language, even political language, words mean things, and often they mean more than what they say. I deal with this in the spiritual realm, where I often encounter persons who miss the point of Scripture because they overemphasize the “literal” words on the page. The Bible is literature of varying genres, and as such it should be interpreted as literature. That means that sometimes we take what we see literally. That also means that sometimes we take what we see metaphorically. Our language, including charts or maps, is full of idioms and symbols that must be taken as such—comprehending what they mean rather than what they say. It really isn’t all that hard.

No sane, honest person believes that Sarah Palin wants anyone to take up guns against Congresspersons, even if those map symbols are cross-hairs (if they truly did, they would have moved heaven and earth to secure the other Congresspersons “targeted” by Palin). No sane, honest person believes that Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee wants anyone to take up bows and arrows against Congresspersons, even though their map had bulls-eyes on it. No sane, honest person believes that Barack Obama wants anyone to bring a gun to a knife fight. All this just as no sane, honest person believes they might step in a poodle when it’s “raining cats and dogs.”

We understand that language is full of idioms. We understand that what people mean often goes far beyond what they say. In short, we’re adults. Let’s start acting like it. The hypocrisy and feigned “shock” by those who can’t wait to say something shocking themselves are not lost on me.

No, folks, a lone and apparently mentally disturbed gunman perpetrated this evil. He bears the responsibility for it and will stand before his God and his government to give account. May God have mercy on his soul.

Ed.

WELCH—We received several entries for our Christmas Photo Contest. Please scroll through the entries below and place your vote for the picture you think best captures the spirit of Christmas. You can click the photos to see larger versions. The voting widget is at the bottom of the page. The contest runs through 5:00 p.m., Fri., Jan. 14, 2011. The winning picture gets $50 cash. Our top ten submissions (in no particular order are):

Photo A

Photo B

Photo C

Photo D

Photo E

Photo F

Photo G

Photo H

Photo I

Photo J

Hannah Chenoweth puts one up

WELCH—Your Lady Cats and Wildcats hosted Wyandotte’s teams Tuesday night in Lucky Seven Conference play.

The Lady Cats knocked off the Lady Bears, 48-39. The Wildcats followed up with a win of their own, beating the Bears 49-44. The Cats are 7-0 in the conference (8-2 overall).

We provided live online audio of the game. We were joined by Eli Chenoweth with his halftime commentary. Here are the archived audio files.

Lady Cats v. Wyandotte 1/4/2011 [ 1:12:57 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Wildcats v. Wyandotte 1/4/2011 [ 1:12:16 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

__________

Our regular photographer was unable to attend the game, but we pressed Eli Chenoweth into service, and here are his pics.

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COMMERCE, Okla.—Your Welch Lady Cats and Wildcats traveled to Commerce for the first basketball games of the new year. Having gotten back in action against Nowata Dec. 30, the Welch teams were ready for action and squared off at the Commerce Gym.

The Lady Cats and Lady Tigers had previously met in the Sooter Tourney, and the Lady Cats were looking for a chance at a better showing this time. Their game had improved since the Sooter Tourney, but they were unable to upend the Lady Tigers, ending the game behind, 48-39.

The gents met for the second game of the evening, and it was a great contest. Commerce and Welch boys had also met at the Sooter Tourney, and it was a one-point victory for the Cats that went all the way to the final buzzer. This game was no less compelling, and the Cats were able to chalk up another win, 36-28.

We’re happy that we were able to provide live online audio coverage from the game thanks to the excellent help of Commerce Technology Director, Steve Moss. As an added bonus, Eli Chenoweth joined us for halftime commentary. Here are the archived audio files.

Lady Cats v. Commerce 1/3/2011 [ 1:20:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Wildcats v. Commerce 1/3/2011 [ 1:15:18 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

WELCH—Lifelong Welch resident Dorothy Merlyn Tucker passed away Thur., Jan. 6, 2011, at Allgood Estates in Commerce, Okla. She was 86 years young.

Dorothy was born Dec. 27, 1924, in Welch to John E. and Edith (Haire) Paden. She was a graduate of Welch High School and attended NEO A&M College in Miami, obtaining an associate’s degree in nursing. On Feb. 10, 1966, she married Paul Tucker at Bethany Christian Church in Miami. He preceded her in death on Feb. 12, 2009.

Dorothy was an avid homemaker and gardener. She enjoyed reading and spending time with her family and friends. She was a lifetime member of the Red Bud Garden Club, Welch Christian Church, and the Nursing Association.

She was also preceded in death by her parents; one grandson, Jody Stoops; and one brother. She is survived by two daughters, Linda Stoops; and Lissa and Steve James, all of Miami; grandchildren, Kelly Stoops of Ketchum and Michael James of Commerce; great-grandchildren, Jessica Stoops of Miami, and Bailey and Riley Stoops of Ketchum; one sister, Jean Ruth and Harley Malone of Welch; many other loving relatives; and a host of friends.

There will be a visitation for family and friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Sat., Jan. 8, 2011, at Welch Christian Church.

Services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Sun., Jan. 9, 2011, at Welch Christian Church with minister Brad Canham officiating. Serving as pallbearers will be Senior Horner, Charles Williamson, Bob Neil, Charles Stoner, Chane Duvall, and Harry Paul Tyler. Honorary pallbearers will be Delbert Lovelace, Kenneth Sooter, Dean Smith, Harley Malone, Bill Cass, Darrell Tucker, and Bobby Allen. Interment at Welch Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Welch Christian Church, c/o Thomas Funeral Home, P.O. Box 231, Welch, OK 74369.

Services under the direction of Jim Thomas, Thomas Funeral Home, Welch, Okla.