The Index-Journal du lieu suivant : Greenwood, South Carolina • Page 17

Tcs Ikeex-Journal Accent INSIDE Astro Graph Page 2C Classifieds Pages 4C-8C Comics Page 3C Dear Abby Page 2C TV Pag2C August 9, 2005 Lander's Ball doesn't deny checkered past ander University Presi- dcnt Dan Ball, longtime checkers aficionado, will "TV, versity Relations, heard Ball's comment on the checker colors, she recalled a game table given to her family by her uncle, Luther Higgins, of Michigan. "My uncle had painted a checkerboard on the table," said Goldsmith, "but he made the squares green and ivory. We just thought he didn't have any red and black paint." Ball said, "Now, that was a man who knew his checkers." With the advent of the Internet, Ball has found there are lots of folks out there who know their checkers. He has been playing online and says checkers has worldwide appeal. "Some of my toughest opponents have been from Russia, Germany and Spain," Ball said.

"They are the ones who've beaten me more than I like to admit." When pressed. Ball said he generally wins more often than he loses. As to the international ramifications of the game, Ball says, "We're just playing checkers. It's fun." Ball is looking forward to following up Lander's Checkers with the President with a trip to Pendleton for the state checkers competition Oct. 1-2.

After he tests his skills in Pendleton, the tables will be set up again on the Lander campus for Parents' Day, Oct. 15, when parents, students and checkers buffs can again challenge the president. Bali noted that research has shown that young children who play checkers on a regular basis do better academically. He believes that the strategy involved in checkers sharpens a youngster's analytical skills. "A checkers player has to anticipate what his opponent might do and plan for counteracting it," Ball said.

"It's 'if-then' thinking. If my opponent does this, then I have to do that." Ball said the American Checkers Federation is exploring the possibility of developing a checkers program for schoolchildren. "I'd like to introduce Greenwood children to the fun of playing checkers," Ball said. "It's a great game for families." Hi put his skills to the test when he takes on all challengers during a Checkers with the President event 11 a.m.-l p.m. Aug.

24 on the steps of Lander's Jackson Library. The event is part of Lander's traditional Welcome Week activities, which launch fall semester. For every opponent who defeats him. Ball will contribute $10 to Lander's scholarship fund. Students, staff, faculty and players from the Greenwood community are invited to participate.

Ten boards will be available to challengers. Ball will play all the boards simultaneously, and both players and spectators are welcome. Ball grew up playing checkers with his uncle, Dan Vlahovich, who was a checkers legend in Missouri. He later honed his skills in games with his father-in-law Shirley D. Starbuck.

The two played together for almost 30 years, and Ball recalls one weekend when they played 500 games; each won 150 games and 200 ended in a draw. Ball confesses that his wife, Marjorie, and his mother-in-law were not always pleased with the marathon checkers sessions that could dominate an entire family weekend. The checkerboard even traveled with the two families when they vacationed together, and Ball said that the click, click, click of the checker pieces being moved at all hours of the night was sometimes a source of irritation for the wives. "We were impassioned checker players." said Ball, who misses those bouts with his father-in-law, who is now deceased. Ball.who will provide the checkerboards for the Lander challenge, said people might be surprised to see that the boards have green and ivory squares and that the playing pieces are red and ivory.

These are the colors used in official play, not the red and black so many people are accustomed to. When Kathy Goldsmith, who works in Lander's Office Uni 1 i ,3 XT1 111 It At left, Doris Black, Lander University employee, sits down for a friendly game of checkers with President Dan Ball. At right, Ball, left, is shown with his father-in-law Shirley D. Starbuck, now deceased, during one of their games of checkers. The men were evenly matched, and both relished testing their skills against one another.

Contributed photos 51 wm inn cr inn a xc -i tot THE DUKES OF HAZZARD" YEE HAW WAY TO NO. 1 COMEDIAN NOW TOURS MEDICAL CLINICS PEORIA, III. (AP) Instead of packed arenas, comedian Richard Pryor (below right) now tours medical clinics. Instead of applause, he gets eight checkups a month in what his wife jokingly calls "the round robin of doctors." Still, Jennifer Lee Pryor says her husband's crippling multiple sclerosis is a blessing that stripped away his taste for the drugs and alcohol she was convinced would have left him dead. Today, he's just months shy of his 65th birthday.

Nearly two decades with the disease has left Pryor in a wheelchair HERE'S WHAT'S NEW ON VHSDVD Here's what's new this week: "Because of Winn-Dixie" DVD. $29 98. (20th Century Fox) "Kung Fu Hustle" DVD. $28.95. (Sony) The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit." "Hush Hush.

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