Updated
2-1-06

I am dedicated to bringing you the best and the brightest of our namesake that are involved in the world of sports and sports reporting.

There have been many Chastains who have influenced the sports stage and many more still are in the collegiate and high school levels waiting to make their impact on the world of sports.

EA Sports owns the NFL sports market for 2006 and beyond, but what does that mean to Madden and NFL sports game fans??

It means dealing with more attention to graphics and less to the science of the game and even the absence of those previously annoying commentaries.

Madden 06 is a great graphical game. It totally takes advantage of the strengths of the 360, yet falls quite short for those Madden enthusiasts that have become accustomed to great game play. Each teams strengths seem etched into some preseason determination of a teams expectations. As a Dolphin fan, I rarely see the great play of a Wes Welker, Ricky Williams or even Chris Chambers as I would during the real season. These are all things that most of us expected with the downloadable content available to us.

Madden falls dramatically short as it instantly projects Vick, McNabb, Manning and other highly solicited players into instant God status, while strategy, game play and player intuition takes a back (way back) seat.

But as it is the only NFL sanctioned game available to ANYONE, I will play, struggle and hopefully squeeze my favorite team into some sort of contention for mediocrity.

Also a cheerleader, Ericca Castagna is both captain and MVP of the gymnastics team. The two-time NEC/CAL All-Star finished 7th in the all-around competition at the state individual championships with a 36.625 and took the state championship title on the vault at the level 9 USAG State Championships.

Led by Castagna, Masconomet posted a 136.40 at the North sectional, good enough for fifth place. Castagna trains year-round at the Yellow Jackets Gymnastics club in Middleton and competed in the AAU Junior Olympics.

Since Ericca has convinced her sister Ashley to rejoin their team after focussing her talents to rising through the standings and demands of gymnastics, the Castagna sisters have been dominating the local gymnastics circuit

With this attitude in tow, the girls traveled to the Beverly YMCA to take on Salem. The girls dominated the Witches taking the meet with a record mark of 145.55 points, against Salem's 129.1

Both Castagna's took care of the floor routines securing scores of 9.5 and 9.6. The girls proceeded to take care of business as Ashley Castagna tallied a 9.3 on the beam. Ashley Castagna once again proved her talents on the bars taking the top mark of 9.4 followed by her teammates, Rossetti, Ericca Castagna and Taylor Jenkinson all with an 8.8 a piece

I am STILL looking for other Chastains who might be interested in an All Chastain Fantasy Football League. Though every Chastain that I know currently playing Fantasy Football (just ME) has been eliminated from the playoffs this year, I extend an invitation to ALL Chastains of all spellings to express any interest that they might have in joining an all Chastain league for 2006.

If you are interested or merely curious, contact me at tracy@chastaincentral.com

The 1 Mile will begin at 8:00 am on February 25, 2006, the 5K will begin directly after the 1 Mile finishes. This will be around 8:30am.

After extensive redevelopment, Chastain Horse Park opened in the summer of 1999, and occupies 13 acres of the City of Atlanta’s Troy Chastain Memorial Park. It is privately operated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, relying on the community for volunteer and donation support.

More than 120 pairs of feet pounded the pavement in the YAM 5k “Chastain Chase” on Saturday, April 24, 2005. Runners (and walkers) of all levels made their way around the 3.1-mile course around Chastain Memorial Park 's perimeter. The premier event marked YAM's first attempt at coordinating a Runner's World endorsed race.

This is an amazing program that changes children's lives every day. The program adheres to standards set by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association ("NARHA"), participating in NARHA’s rigorous accreditation process and attaining the designation of “Premier Accredited Center” in 2001.

Further details may be found at www.chastainhorsepark.org.
Chastain Horse Park
4371 Powers Ferry Road
Atlanta , GA
Net Proceeds go to the Chastain Horse Park Therapeutic Riding Program.

Please visit the site and donate whatever you can to benefit their efforts to improve the lives of these children. If you do not wish to contribute anonymously, please check your entry for typos before sending them. You can see that I did not.