Despite changes, sports shop lives on

With all of the changes that have taken place on the local retail landscape the past two decades, there's still a place where a father can take his son and say, "This is where I got my first baseball mitt."

George Pocezkaj sees a lot of that at George's Sports Center at 109 E. Main St. in the heart of downtown St. Charles.

"I have a lot of loyal customers who continue to come in here," said George, who has operated his downtown shop for 38 years.

The shop was best known for supplying all of the gym uniforms and school athletic gear for St. Charles High School and other area schools for many years.

"Things do change," Pocezkaj said. "Ever since St. Charles North opened in 2000, the schools have taken care of those uniforms themselves."

With the advent of huge sports stores popping up in the region, Pocezkaj said his business is different now, but his store, which is open Tuesday through Saturday, continues to do well.

"I have the park district and few of the St. Charles schools, as well as Glenbard North High School (as clients)," Pocezkaj said. "And I still have the walk-in traffic of those loyal customers."

Watching the gladiators

In her role as publicist for the American Red Cross' Fox Valley Chapter and activist for various other service and health initiatives in the area, one might assume Kay Catlin wouldn't have time for, or much interest, in the "American Gladiator" TV series.

But when there's a bloodline connection, it's easier to become a fan.

She was quite excited last weekend when Evan Dollard won a series of the competition to become the newest gladiator on the show and earn $100,000 and a new car.

"Evan Dollard is my cousin's kid," Catlin said. "I couldn't be happier for him."

Catlin figures Dollard deserved a return on his effort.

"His mom died five years ago from breast cancer that spread to brain cancer, and the whole ordeal took its toll on Evan as well as the rest of the family," she said. "It was good to see him all so joyous after all of the heartache he has endured."

From a competitive standpoint, Catlin was surprised that Evan fared so well.

"At 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds, he was one of the smallest guys out there, but he's so fit and so fast," she added. "Having watched this skinny, quiet little kid grow up, he is absolutely the last person I would even expect to even watch the show. When I first heard about it, I was pretty sure he was going to get his clock cleaned. Shows what I know."

Evan, who lives in Chicago, will now be known as "Riptide," a name he revealed on "The Today Show" last Monday morning.

Catlin's response to the name? "Geesh."

Back with Bulldogs

With Batavia enjoying another excellent boys basketball season, Byron Nelson of Batavia is glad he caught onto the action again.

The 87-year-old Nelson is a 1938 graduate of Batavia High School, but he got hooked on his alma mater's hoops again last year when the school held its 100 years of basketball celebration.

"I regret I missed so much, but I had been away from the area for 30 years, and when we moved back we lived in Geneva for 15 years before moving back to Batavia," said Nelson, who has been invited by Batavia coach Jim Roberts to ride on the team bus to an away contest.

"I really enjoy watching these kids play," Nelson said. "They are really talented."

I had the pleasure of watching the Batavia-Geneva game two weeks ago with Nelson and Herman Behls, the grandfather of standout Batavia player Nick Fruendt. I can see why the players call him "The Hermanator."

The combination of Behls and Nelson brings tons of good humor, enthusiasm and knowledge into the bleachers.

Off to Texas

Those who attend Lord of Life church in LaFox will say goodbye today to Barry Kolb, who's been the pastor at Lord of Life for the past 11 years.

Kolb, who was also known in these parts as a teacher and coach at Valley Lutheran High School in the late 1970s and early 1980s, has taken a pastor's position at a church in Texarkana, Texas.

In those two roles, he's influenced the lives of many people in the Tri-Cities region in a positive way.

I remember writing articles about his basketball teams -- and they were always underdogs against much bigger opponents. But they played hard and kept great attitudes -- traits obviously instilled by their coach.