"Mission Control" at the NSA Tournament is the Cherry Park tower, named earlier this year in honor of former Rock Hill Mayor Betty Jo Rhea.

Sit in this air-conditioned perch for a while and you'll see umpires, parks and recreation officials and various other people hurrying in and out as they go about supervising the proceedings.

An umpire just walked in and said, "Who's got the balls?"

Uhh, yeah.

Depending on how you look at it, R.O. McFadden has either the hottest or the coolest job at Cherry Park.

Sure, he has to stand outside in the heat all day as girls yell chants, clap and make various other forms of noise all around him. But for McFadden, a cooler full of ice is never more than a few inches away. The guy known as the "Carolina Snowman" is in his fifth year selling $2 cups of "frozen sugar and water," as he calls it, flavored with cherry, razzberry, lemon-lime and just about any other sweet syrup you can imagine.

Driving into Cherry Park for the Monday morning slate of NSA games, the first thing I noticed in the parking lot was all the license plates from around the country. I spotted a few from Indiana, a couple of Floridas and more than one Virginia. Most are on the backs of SUVs and minivans carrying families and plenty of softball equipment. Gas stations around Rock Hill must really rake it this week with all these out-of-towners needing to fill up. Hey, at least gas is cheaper here than wherever they came from.

A few years ago, I wrote about fulfilling a long held goal by attending three football games in three days. Today, I've achieved another milestone that I'd like to tell you about: I made an entire meal out of grocery store samples.

Yes, this is one of those feats that a lot of people talk about but never actually do. Well, I have done it. And the funny thing is, I didn't plan on doing it. Like many of the best things in life, it just kind of happened.

Drivers on Dave Lyle Boulevard are taking notice of a new fence installed this week just outside downtown.

The fence, of the white picket variety, winds for about a half-mile through some woods between Willowbrook Avenue and Annafrel Street. It hugs the side of Dave Lyle.

Here's some backstory for you:

A friend asked me over the weekend if I am surprised by the reaction to Tim Russert’s death.

Not at all. To me, Russert’s life and, ultimately, his untimely passing are bound up in what Americans have always appreciated most in our public figures, and our heroes.

Russert was like a familiar friend who showed up in your living room for a chat every week. When I was growing up and my grandparents would visit, they would ask on Sunday mornings, “What channel is Russert?” Then they would proceed to turn the volume to full blast so they could hear who was on the show that week.

A long and often contentious primary season draws to an end on Tuesday, sending one slate of candidates onward and dashing the hopes of all the others.

In the final week, complaints over trickery and alleged hijinks have ratcheted to a new level. It's the kind of stuff that happens often in local races, but many candidates and activists have told me this is as intense as they've seen it in quite some time.

State House challenger Kyle Boyd picked up an endorsement this week from the Club for Growth, a conservative tax-cut group with a very active chapter in South Carolina.

Most of the sparks in the Young Republicans' first-ever town hall debate exploded in the days leading up to it. Thursday night's affair was low-key because two of the four invited candidates didn't attend.

Chairman Greg Rogers kicked off the evening on an upbeat note, telling an audience of about 60 people that Republicans need to stay positive this year if they are to overcome the enthusiasm being generated by Barack Obama.

Rogers thanked the party activists who enabled the Young Republicans to get started.

The top of their party’s ticket remains unsettled, but Democrats in York County say they feel energized by their prospects this fall. That in itself is news around these parts, because Republicans hold most positions of power and usually take up much of the limelight around election time.

The buzz was evident at the annual Spring Forward fundraiser last Friday, where Democrats chatted around the indoor pool at the White Homestead and candidates gave brief speeches outlining their campaigns.

Think Barack Obama wants the blessing of Congressman John Spratt? Their chance encounter Thursday on Capitol Hill should give us a pretty good answer.

Bottom line: Spratt remains uncommitted in the superdelegate contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton, his office told The Herald this afternoon. It's unclear when, and if, Spratt will announce which candidate he supports.

The New York Times reported on the Obama/Spratt moment in a story published today. Here's an excerpt:

I was doing some thinking last week about the controversy over local water restrictions. Some Charlotte area communities loosened their rules to allow once-a-week car washing and pool filling, prompting critics to question whether the public is getting mixed messages.

A few folks have asked about the latest news in the airport dispute. A concerned homeowners meeting this week drew more than 350 people. We'll take a look at the latest developments in stories slated to run on Sunday.

The big piece of news is that neighbors now say they will file a class-action lawsuit if the rules take effect. If you have any thoughts, share them here.

Rod Shealy has worked on some of South Carolina's most storied campaigns over his long career as a political strategist. He's been called the "shrewdest" mind in South Carolina politics. And he's always easy to spot in one of his trademark Hawaiian shirts.

This year, he's helping a number of candidates running for the state Legislature, including York County's own Carl Gullick. The Lake Wylie Republican faces a primary challenge from Christian school founder and Fort Mill resident Kyle Boyd.

The recent headlines about the Catawba River’s uncertain future inspired me to take out a paddle this past weekend: No, not to smack anyone upside the head but to hit the water for a canoe trip.

Many people don’t realize it, but there’s only one business in the whole county, as far as I know, that rents canoes and kayaks and provides transportation for your trip. Catawba River Expeditions opened last year and is gearing up for what it hopes will be a busy first summer. Check out the Web site at catawba-river-expeditions.com.

Almost since the moment Jason Richards' shot sailed wide left, I have read countless stories, columns, blogs and message board postings dissecting Davidson's play-calling in the final 19 seconds against Kansas. I've heard it discussed ad nauseum on local sports radio and among my fellow Wildcats fans.

It doesn't bother me too much, but I must admit all the talk makes it harder to: A. move on; and B. appreciate the incredible feats we pulled off simply to reach the Elite Eight.

It’s been interesting to hear the range of opinions about who’s to blame for the towed cars imbroglio last weekend at Cherry Plaza. Seems everyone has their own theories on how the issue should’ve been handled and what ought to happen in the future.

A quick recap: Tow trucks hauled six cars from the shopping center, where a handful of fans had parked to avoid long waits to enter the Winthrop Coliseum lot nearby. Violators had to pay $125 to get their cars back.

Now, you understand.

Welcome to the Showdown blog, where Herald staffers Charles Perry and Adam O’Daniel (Winthrop alums) and Matt Garfield (a Davidson grad) will debate Friday night’s highly-anticipated clash on the basketball court between the Winthrop Eagles and Davidson Wildcats at the Winthrop Coliseum.

When I started thinking about how I should debate Herald colleague Adam O’Daniel over the Winthrop/Davidson game, my first thought was to avoid using “them big words” that Adam sometimes has trouble understanding.

The Republican candidates are gone, but the locals who accompanied them around South Carolina over the past several weeks are still here -- and probably contemplating how their own political fortunes were affected. Here's my look at how some of them fared.

WINNERS

Mike Huckabee made his South Carolina debut some eight months ago, visiting a part of the state that has never been viewed as a center of power in Palmetto State political circles. But as we now know, his stop in York County marked the first of a flood of candidate visits over the ensuing months.

I’ve been asking the McCain people to let me ride on the bus, and sure enough, they invited me for the trip to T-Bones in Lake Wylie. I never thought I’d be the only reporter there — or that I’d need to think of enough questions to fill 45 minutes.

Turns out that when you’re with McCain and his traveling party, the time passes pretty quickly.

Bob Johnson added his perspective to the Democratic presidential race this past weekend, and in doing so, he unwittingly managed to trigger a round of media coverage that you might call the political three-step.

Step one: Make comment of questionable taste about your candidate’s opponent.

Step two: Draw rebuke from opponent’s campaign.

Step three: Put out hastily written statement clarifying yourself while also saying that your first comment was taken out of context.

Don Fowler is about the biggest FOB (Friend of Bill) you can find in South Carolina. If the good ship Clinton is going down in this election, you can bet he’ll make like the band on the Titanic and play his violin until water is lapping at the strings.

At this point, John Edwards’ path to the Democratic nomination is difficult, if not impossible, to envision. But I think when Democrats look back on this election, they will credit Edwards for running a pretty strong race.

Consider that the guy earned 30 percent of the vote in Iowa, despite running against his party’s dominant political machine over the past decade (the Clintons) and a once-in-a-generation candidate who draws comparisons to JFK (Obama).

The political world is already debating how soon Fred Thompson will drop out of the race. But Park Gillespie isn't buying any of it.

Gillespie, the true believer Republican and one-time U.S. House candidate from Clover, believes Thompson still has a path to the GOP presidential nomination. The key is finishing third tonight in Iowa.

Some polls have shown John McCain moving up behind frontrunners Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. In Gillespie's view, Iowa is setting up to be a surprise.

If you're one of the many political junkies planning to watch the Iowa returns come in tonight, be prepared to wait a while.

The Republican numbers are expected to hit the airwaves around 9 p.m.

Democrats say some smaller, rural precincts will turn in their counts closer to 10, but the big results (Des Moines, Council Bluffs and the Tri Cities) may take until 11.

York County Democrats will hold a viewing party at their headquarters on East Main Street. The Obama folks are having a get-together of their own at the office on Ebenezer Road.

This afternoon, Hillary Clinton’s people appear to be bracing for the possibility of a second or third place finish in Iowa. Then again, maybe it’s just the age-old political tactic known as playing down expectations.

If they pull off a victory tonight, they can revive the Comeback Kid label made famous by...? You guessed it, Bill Clinton.

Former S.C. Gov. Jim Hodges endorsed Barack Obama for president today. The Obama people are doing a conference call at 2:30 p.m.

I got a call this morning from Steven Navarro, a 29-year-old military vet from Charlotte who says he “decided to put my life on hold” to campaign for Ron Paul in Iowa.

Navarro called on a cell phone from Cedar Rapids, which he’s pretty sure is somewhere in the eastern part of the state. Given his schedule over the past five days, let’s forgive him for not knowing exactly where he is.