harm's way for a meri piuance? Obviously, his love ofcountry srperseded that of money or mate- rial wealth. You can't buypatriotism - or hearg for that matter. And Tilknan hadplenty ofboth. He made the change within a year following Sept. I 1, 2001. Angered as so rrany ofus were over the terroriit attacks, Tillmatr decided he was thnough playrng garnes and could do more for his cotmty by fighting to defend it. I don't knorp how many of his colleagues - if any - happened to follow suit, but any tbar di-d ought to be commended for their service. Tillman isnt the first athlete to go to war in place ofplaying pro bdl. Ted Williams actually did it tvrice - firs during World War II and again in Korea" The difference between the two is that Williams lived to receive the thanks ofa gratefirl nation. Tillman's reward is in the next life, while our respects me paid in memorutm. Tillman died doing his duty, not seeking glory. Andye! howmany prinn dor:na ath.letes do you suppose whine and complain wtren they don't get the ball enough or arent receiving favorable press cover- age'! Unforhrnatety, sports are full of them. Thank God for a guy like Tillma4 whose actions give us hope that not all pro athletes are sef-c.entered, conceited egomani- itcs. Hey, kids: Do you want to know the definition of a hero? Look in the dictionary under PatTillman. There you won't find the names of Shaquille Ot.{eal, Alex Rodriguez or Peyton Maruring. Nope. Just Tilknan and a pre- cious few others like him. You won't see his name in lights anymore. Neither will Tillrnan appear in any media guides, nor have his picture on the sports pages ever again. And you proba- bly won't furd his likeness on posters or ftading cards. Whatyou will continue to read about is howmanypoints Kobe Bryant scored last night and the nurnber of additional pretrial hear- ings his lavyers will aryue for. Why is it the nation reads about PatTillman ooly after his death and not before? His enlistnent alonrc ranks lry there as being one of the most coruageous deciiions a man canmake. Ifs just a shame that we don't recognize real heroes until after theyle gone. Burt finished the game having delivered a game-high five runi batted in (RBI). Matt Richardson belted a triple and was brought home by a Mitch Merrell double in the sev- enth. And Kevin Booth was walked to set up the Burt game- wfitner. Tlree other Lions got hits in game two, including a sixth- Brett Fisher/Mason Valley News PKI?.FO.W: Lions' junior Mike Burt, teft, stides safety ho;; last Wednesday in a game against Fernley at Booth_parr Field in Yerington. inning double by Aaron Colletta frame. and singles from Kennie Keats Booth, meanwhile, sat down and Tyler Brown in that same r0 spartan batters on strikes and th ql hi er o\ ag 1t Li I pur l thr grc hal pla me l sc0 the I and I Savidge sets records at By Brett Fisher Jordan Savidge isn't into keep- iag records. He breaks them. Last Saturday during the Carson Invitational in Carson City, he demonstrated the creedo that records were meant to be broken. The Smith Valley junior and local track phenom broke his own school record in the 200 meters bv clocking n at 22.71to fiaish sec"- ond overall in the field. He then became the first SVHS athlete to leap 22 feet in the long jump by establishing a new school record of 22-0 l/4 - also good for second at the meet. The previous mark had been set last year by Jordan's older brother, Kevin Savidge, a 2003 SVHS graduate. "k was pretty short-lived', SVHS head coach Jim Gleason said ofthe record. Savidge captured the pole vault event on Saturday by going over the bar at I4-0. And he was runner- up in the 100-meter dash in a time Please see Savidge, Page 82 SOARING SAVIDGE: Smith Vailey junior Jordan Savidge the Lyon County Championships Afril 7 in yerington. gnp on By Brett Fisher A third-place finish in team standings last Friday allowed Yerington to maintain the No. 3 position in the Northern 3A. and secure a better hold of a possible state tournament berth. The Lions accrued 414 strokes for third in the Rite of passage tournament held at Eagle Valley Golf Course in Carson City. "We're playing real good golf right now," YHS head coach Dave McCandless said. "It's just our E goes o\ rrlin split Llons tit I By Brett Fisher Carlin scored an insurance run in the seyenth inning of the late game to defeat host Smith Valley, 6-4, and. avoid a Northern lA doubleheader sweep Saturday. The Bulldogs scored two ruqs in the first inning to post an early. 2-0, advantage. But Carlin matcted that effort in the third'to tie things up. It then added ftree more mns in the fifth frame to go-ahead, 5-2. The locals scored twice in the bottom of the seventi, but were unable to flrrmount a four-run deficit in the final inning. "We put the ball in play and Carlin made the plays," SVHS head coach David Vick said. Four players registered two hits for the Bulldogs in game two. Jesus Reyes, Kevin Campbell, Bill Eernisse and Billie Sutton all batred 2-for-4. Jacob Fletcher pitched through seven innings bn the mound. He struck out six Carlin batters and walked two. The Railroaders generated seven litg off the Smith Vaney defense. Please see Split, page 83