Fiction. Final Installment — The game was Sunday so Saturday was their day for shopping and watching the sights. They walked thru town to the tune of cars honking their way along the street, youths hanging out the windows holding banners or flags of Japan or Argentina. Fans walked wearing their colors – It’s-a-boy blue and white for Argentina and the red rising-sun-on-white for Japan. Many wore the flags of their countries as capes. Faces were painted with the colors of their teams. At a sidewalk café a group of young boys crowded around a table that appeared to belong to some of the Argentine players.

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New Fiction by Reggie Johnson set against the backdrop of the World Cup in Toulouse, France …

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Oscar Pistorius currently holds world records in the 100m, 200m and 400m for running in the Paralympics, an accomplishment that has made him Johannesburg’s most recognized public figure. With the utilization of two J-shaped carbon fibre prosthetic blades called Cheetahs (The Cheetah Flex Foot), this bilateral amputee transformed himself into not only the world’s fastest Para-athlete, but also one of the world’s fastest men.

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The era of the 1970s-early 1980s was an historical turning point; it was the time that women athletes were finally given the equality they longed for. Mary Ayotte-Law, Oregon State University gymnastics champion, was fortunate to be at her peak during that period. “We’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Title IX here at Oregon State next month, and I look at Title IX and the opportunity that it opened for women in athletics, and I think I was really blessed,” she said.

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Beaver fans are excited about James Rodgers. When the freshman wide receiver gets the ball and we are in our bleachers, couches or bar stools, we’re left mirroring the actions of the opposing team. We turn our heads to those next to us and nodding slowly say something similar to, “That guy can move.” When I spoke with him in the Valley Football center I could not help but think, He is a really good guy. That’s what this Winners Within Us interview is about: James Rodgers, the good guy, freshman in college, numbingly-quick player and recent Corvallian.

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“Never let them see you sweat,” Dennis Dixon had told me during the week leading up to their win against USC, “That’s the number one thing. That’s why staying positive is so important. If you’re having fun, no one will see you sweat.” These words rang true on November 3rd during the game against Arizona State, when Dennis Dixon held his head high in the face of a devastating injury. Dixon had torn his left ACL in the previous game against Arizona. But he didn’t want anyone to know. It was a secret shared by only Dennis Dixon, his family, his trainer, and Coach Bellotti.

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Dan and his brother, Joe, founded the original Knights in 1990 as a recreational baseball team. Originally the Aloha Knights, the team rapidly evolved. Under the generous sponsorship of Penny Knight, the team moved up from a Beaverton recreational league to the Portland City League before joining the Northwest semi-pros in 1999 as members of the Pacific International League, where, in 2004, the Knights won the 70th NBC World Series in Kansas.

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The lowest point in my professional career was our bowl game last year against BYU. We played very poorly in all aspects and we couldn’t find a spark. The other team played very well. They played up to their potential; I don’t think we did. Afterwards, when we sat down and discussed and analyzed what had happened last season inclusive of the bowl game, we decided we needed to work on improving mental toughness and strength. Those things are my responsibility. Growth in those areas is our top priority for next year.

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In her first season as coach of Oregon State University’s Woman’s Basketball Team, LaVonda Wagner’s players won sixteen games overall with seven PAC 10 Conference wins and a post-season appearance in the Women’s NIT tournament. The year before, the team won six games overall and one PAC 10 conference contest. Only eight teams in the nation showed a ten game improvement last year. With no risk of overstatement, the turnaround can be described as spectacular. Since the only significant change was the addition of Coach Wagner, her attitude toward winning might explain how she led the team to becoming a winner.

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The attention of football fans across the nation in 2004 was drawn to Alexis Serna during his freshman year in the game with #3 ranked Louisiana State when he missed three extra point attempts that could have won the game for the unranked Beavers. The emotional moment was caught by a photographer that showed Alexis throwing off his helmet in frustration.
Hundreds of letters poured in for Alexis Serna to encourage and inspire him to keep going. The most powerful came from 12-year-old Austin Pierce, a boy from Spokane, Washington recovering …

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