Old-Timers
Photo by Julian Gon/ale/7KRT
Detroit Tiger great Willie Horton (left) and Hall of Famer Al Kaline hold the balls for
the first pitch ceremony before the start of the 2005 All-Star game on Tuesday at Corn
erica Park in Detroit.
Speas
from page B1
was also a part of the girls state
title the Demons captured in
2001.
"But I really didn't feel like
I was really a part of the team
then," Speas said. "I was just a
volunteer coach, but I did spend
a lot of time training Bernadette
(Washington)."
He's also the president of
the new and. successful track
club called Next Level.
"But sometimes all I can do
is think about what I've actually
had to go through to get there,"
Speas said. "My life has really
changed since I was younger.
My surroundings has really
changed. It's just amazing to
know that out of all the things
I've done or been involved in,
I've never been convicted of a
crime. That is a blessing all to
itself."
Speas grew up at 1 304 Thur
mond Street with 10 other fam
ily members. He had three sis
ters, one brother, three cousins
and an aunt. He was raised by
his grandparents. His grand
mother. Margaret Speas (who's
now 93 years old), did most of
the raising. Speas didn't know
his father, and he later lost con
tact with his mother due to cer
tain circumstances.
"My childhood was very
difficult," Speas said. "If it
weren't for my grandmother,
then I wouldn't be here today.
There were times that I'd be in
the middle of doing something
bad, or about to do, and I'd just
hear her voice in my head. She's
been the angel over my shoul
der my entire life."
That wasn't quite enough to
keep Speas away from the allure
of the streets, though. He loved
money and had a number of
ways of getting it early in life.
"Hey, me and my friends
used to do so much dirt it was
n't funny," Speas said. "We
broke into one place three dif
ferent times. We sold crack,
cocaine and marijuana back in
the days, and this was before I
was in high school."
But Speas found a way to
put that lifestyle behind him
when he got involved in sports.
Sports becomes the window to
help him see his way out of the
life of crime, but the view was
n't quite easy for him to see at
first. Speas never really gave up
crime, at an early age. He sim
ply put it away for a few hours.
TWo sports really became
important to Speas. He excelled
in both track and football in
high school. He later went on to
play football at Garden City
Community College and
Kansas State University. Both
schools are in Kansas. But track
was his first love.
Photo hv Anthony Hill
Speas takes a moment to look at an old football picture from
his days at Reynolds High.
"It's funny how I got my
start in track too," Speas said.
"This older white lady came up
to me one day after watching
me at Speas Elementary during
Field Day. She asked me if 1
wanted to run track. She even
offered to pay my fee to run for
the Road Runners.
"I really didn't know what
to think. This was after segrega
tion, obviously, but it was still
odd for a white person to offer
to pay for a black person to do
anything back then. She asked
my grandmother if I could run.
and I did."
Speas joined the Road Run
ners track team. He ended up
making quite a name for him
self on the track. He carried that
reputation to Paisley Middle
School and Reynolds High,
where he was an instant track
star, excelling in a number of
sprinting races. -r\
"Derrick was a very good
athlete for me," said Trzasko
ma. "He was such a competitor,
and he had so much natural abil
ity. He and I really hit our
strides together, me as a coach
and him as an athlete."
Former Reynolds principal
Stan Elrod added: "Derrick was
a really good football player,
but he was an excellent sprinter.
He was just a really good guy.
He got into a little trouble, just
like everyone else. But I've
always liked Derrick and have
tried to help him in any way that
I could."
Academic troubles kept
Speas off the track from his
I Oth grade year until he was a
senior.
"I was on academic proba
tion." Speas said. "That was a
frustrating time for me. I
became so rebellious after that
happened. I was mad at the
school system after that, even
though it was all my fault. I then
let myself become more i>f a
product of my community after
that."
He started doing more
crimes, hanging in the streets
more and also dealing with
more of the wrong type of peo
ple. One of the guys Speas used
to hang out with was later con
victed of strong armed robbery.
A few others were charged with
robbery, possession of a deadly
weapon and drugs, grand theft
auto and more.
"But those so-called bad
people were my friends." Speas
said. "I still talk to a lot of them
today, but a lot of them have
served time in prison and have
changed as well. I have an old
basketball picture with about 10
of my friends in it. Out of those
10 guys, four of them are either
still alive or not in prison. I
could've easily been one of
them, but God had ^different
plan for me."
Part two of the series will
run next week. The final portion
of the series will continue to
detail the journey Speas look to
turn his life around after deal
ing with so much negativity. It
will also talk about how he got
into coaching and becoming a
father. Part two will also detail
some of the events that led to
Speas really-changing his ways.
Photo by Anthony Hill
Local NBA star Josh Howard breaks down a huddle and shares a laugh with a group of kids
during his camp earlier this week.
Hill
from page Bl
Reynolds ('82-'93 Patriots and
Giants).
'"You know. I'm all about
helping kids get better at the
game of football. We're doing
the same camp in my home
town of Martinsville (Vir
ginia), and we're going to do
the same thing - help kids get
better at football."
That's what it's all about.
Keep doing your thing, coach
Scales - I mean, Lamont.
Rusty 's League.
Former NBA and Wake
Forest star Rusty LaRue has
started his own adult league.
It's known as the RLBA (Rusty
LaRue Basketball Association)
- Triad Pro-Am summer
league. LaRue is the head boys
basketball coach at Forsyth
Country Day, and that's where
the games are played.
Right now. it looks like
games are being played every
Tuesday and Friday at the
school's gym. The first game
usually begins around 6:30.
and the final game starts
around 9:15. There are six
teams within the first-year
league: the Mercedes-Benz
squad (Rusty's team), the
Velocity, Norman Stockton,
Cobb-Vantress, Cintas and
Page Printing squads. The
most impressive part of the
league may be some of the
players within it.
I already mentioned that
Rusty plays for .the Mercedes
Benz squad. Well, a few cur
rent Deacs are also on teams in
the league. Trent Strickland,
Cameron Stanley, Kevin Swin
ton and Jon Buck all play in
the league. Some of the other
noteworthy players are Craig
Dawson,, Joe Jon Bryant, Ray
Edmond, Chris Oliver,
Michael Drum and Ray Bris
tow.
I'd like to see the champi
ons of this league face the
champions of the 14th Street
league. That would be interest
ing right there. I don't know if
it's even a possibility, but it
sure sounds like a good idea
right now.
Rob (Little), Rusty
(LaRue) - let's see what we
can do about that.
Camp J-Ho
For the second-straight
year. One on One basketball
has teamed up with Dallas
Maverick player Josh Howard
to put on the Josh Howard
camp. This year the camp had
more <han 140 participants.
Howard had the camp for kids
between the ages of 6 and 17,
at Mt. Tabor. The camp began
on Monday and ended yester
day.
Working the camp were a
number of local stars, such as
Winthrop sophomore Chris
Gaynor and former ECU point
guard Travis Holcomb-Faye.
The camp was spearheaded by
Monte Gray, One on One bas
ketball regional director and
Mt. Tabor assistant coach. He
also put on the Brendan Hay
wood camp last month.
"I like working with Josh
and Brendan because they're
such good individuals," Gray
said. "Plus, they're from this
area, and the kids know and
respect them, especially Josh.
We just want to continue to do
what we can do to provide a
fun, educational and memo
rable environment for kids to
learn."
Anthony Hill is the sports
editor for The Chronicle. He
can he reached at 722-8624
(ext. HI) or ahill@wschroni
cle.com.
We don't just provide1
FOOD FOR HOMELESS
INDIVIDUALS AND FAMII.IFS.
We provide job training
AND PLACEMENT SO THEY
CAN BUY GROCERIES.
o
Emergency Shelter ? Educational Services
Job Training and Placement
The fact is, many homeless people today have
the desire and ability to take tare of themselves
and their families They just need some help.
Volunteers of America is a national organization
that, for over 100 years, has provided programs
and services that allow people to overcome
their challenges and become vital members
of their community.
Hind out how you can support the programs
that are working in our community.
Contact Volunteers of America, today.
c
Volunteers
*f of America?
There are no limits to caring 9
1-800-899-0089
www.VoluntcereofAmerica.org