On Jan. 1 I wrote a column with my predictions-guesses for what the year 2014 would hold for our local sports community.

I’ll admit I was right in some of my predictions and missed on some others.

About two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through the column was a simple paragraph that caused me grief at the time and has since come back to haunt me.

My prediction was, “The Baker volleyball team's string of 11 consecutive district championships will come to an end. The Gators, the past few years, have lost too many irreplaceable players to graduation.”

I based my prediction on a couple of things. The Gators had lost several players to graduation in recent years, and would only return one senior. I simply felt this would be the year the law of averages caught up with Baker.

In many ways I was picking the rest of the district as much as I was picking against the Gators.

Thursday night Baker beat Chipley in straight sets in the District 3-1A volleyball finals to make it 12 district championships in a row.

There are times I hate to admit I made a mistake. But unlike the Fonz on the old TV classic Happy Days, I don’t find it hard to say I was wrong.

And that’s just what the Baker volleyball team proved me to be. Yes, my prediction of Baker’s demise was a bit premature. And I’m happy for the young ladies that represent the school and community so well.

The Gators and their coaches knew they had talented players, even when I doubted their youth. A team with just one senior, Hartley Moate, did what every other team since 2003 had done – they won.

To win back-to-back championships in any sport, at any level, is difficult. Winning three or four straight championships is a daunting task. But to win a dozen straight titles is something special.

Baker’s current championship run is amazing when you think that the last nine senior classes have never known what it is not to be district champions.

The championship run was accomplished by countless players and three head coaches: Kathy Combest, Lisa Roy and current coach Tommiko Parks.

As I’ve talked to the Baker volleyball players in recent years, the recurring theme is no team wants to be the one that ends the streak. I’m convinced the pride in that streak and the Gator tradition for excellence has, in some years, propelled Baker teams to the top.

I don’t know how far the Gators will go in this year’s state tournament. I’d like to see them win that elusive state championship, but that’s another column for another day.

Eventually the championship streak will end, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. The Gators have a roster full of talented juniors and sophomores that should continue the success for the next two years. And given Baker’s past, the Gators won’t look to rebuild — they will simply reload.

My prediction is the streak is in good hands for years to come.

Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Gators prove me wrong

Sunday night as I watched Denver Bronco quarterback Peyton Manning set the National Football League record for career touchdown passes I also took a trip down memory lane.

As long as I can remember I’ve been a Manning fan. While I was growing up I was a fan of Peyton’s dad, Archie. Some of my earliest memories of college football are of Archie playing for the Ole Miss Rebels. I then followed Archie as he tried to elevate a bad New Orleans Saints team to respectability.

Most of the fall Sunday afternoons of my teen years were spent watching Archie and the Saints with my dad as we cheered on our lovable losers. Dad, who would have been 82 next Tuesday, and I bonded over Archie and the Saints.

Peyton Manning, the senior

Peyton was born March 24, 1976 – a little less than two months before my 18th birthday and a little more than two months before I graduated from high school.

I didn’t know much about Peyton until his senior year in high school, when he was one of the most highly recruited football players in the country. As a University of Tennessee fan and, at the time, still a future UT graduate, I was happy to see him choose the school that had always been so close to my heart.

I cheered Peyton’s wins for the Vols and felt dejected the few times success didn’t follow him and the team. Peyton’s junior year, in the fall of 1996, Dad and I shared an afternoon in Neyland Stadium cheering him and the Volunteers to victory over the University of Southern Mississippi.

Peyton Manning is now older than I was that November afternoon when he led Tennessee to a win over the Golden Eagles. His legacy in football is secure and there is no doubt he will one day be enshrined in both the College Football Hall of Fame and The Pro Football Hall of Fame.

More than a fan

I would like to think that I don’t live and die by how Peyton Manning does in any given game. Yes, I pull for him and the team he quarterbacks, but I’ve reached the point in life where I quickly put bad plays and bad games that someone else has behind me.

And yet I feel a connection to Peyton Manning that goes beyond that of just a fan. Maybe it goes back to those years in the 1970s when I pulled for Archie and the Saints, but I think it much more than that.

Peyton’s mother was raised in Mississippi, as was my mother. Although separated by a generation and considerable talent, Peyton and I both played high school football in the Gulf Coast region.

Finally, not only did we graduate from the University of Tennessee, both Peyton and I majored in speech communication.

Yes, I’m a Manning fan, and that includes Peyton’s younger brother Eli, who quarterbacks the New York Giants.

My memories of the Mannings and the times I shared with my dad watching them play have, at least in a small way, forever enriched my life.

Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Cheering on the Mannings

At the fear of again sounding like the little boy who cried, “wolf,” I’m starting yet another fitness program.

I’m hoping I’ll stick with it this time.

It seems my battle of the bulge and fight with Type II diabetes is an ongoing endeavor. I’ve also had back trouble that may or not be related to my extra weight. I know I’ll have to fight to get healthy and stay healthy.

Until getting sick a couple of weeks ago, I made some major steps in improving on poor eating habits. I cut back and cut out consumption of Coca-Cola, my favorite beverage in the world. I also managed to substitute fruit for my favorite candy fixes.

I’ll admit to falling back into my more destructive diet while fighting through a cold or whatever it was. Now, I’m back trying to eat healthy again, with some coaching and guidance from my diabetes educator, Deanna.

The next step for me is to start moving and transforming my body.

GYM TIME!

I’ve tried using Wii Fit and other workout programs, but I haven’t been real consistent with workouts. The Wii workouts also are limited by lack of strength training machines and multiple aerobic stations.

Last Wednesday, I joined Planet Fitness at Mary Esther Mall. Planet Fitness seemed like the best choice since I live in Fort Walton Beach and the center is open 141 of 168 hours in a week.

In touring the center, I was impressed with the number and variety of workout stations designed to help shape or reshape every part of my body. And believe me, just about every part of my body needs reshaping — some parts considerably more than others.

Membership at Planet Fitness, as is the case with other fitness centers, includes advice from a personal trainer and training classes.

My weight has hovered in the 300-pound range for several years. It’s time to get closer to the 200 or 210 pounds, which is a weight I haven’t seen in 20 years or more.

I doubt if any young, fit and trim athlete believes that he or she will ever be obese. I know I didn’t.

THE TIME IS NOW

I was 160 pounds when I graduated from high school and had been a football player and distance runner on the track team. When I hit my early 20s, I was 180 or 190 pounds and still a mass of rock solid muscle. By my late 20s or early 30s, I was at 200-210 pounds, but I was still active and fit.

When I hit my mid-30s, the pounds came more quickly and the muscle mass began to change to something less appealing.

Now, it’s time to see if I can get my body back to where it was 20-something years ago. I know the journey to fitness will start with a single step followed by countless others. It will start with a single set of reps with weights followed by more sets than I want to think about.

But the time is now, and I know my health is worth fighting for — even if it means no Coca-Colas and a few hours of gym time every week.

EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SIDELINE OBSERVATIONS: Fighting my battle of the bulge