It’s Bigger Than NPR’s Katherine Maher
1 week ago
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Hoops
You might be able to still get a copy of the latest Sporting News.It has an excellent article on the Atlanta Hawks, keying on Joe Johnson. The Hawks are a very entertaining team to watch and the future looks bright. Another atheltic big man and this team could really do something.
Monday, December 29, 2008
NFL
Before the NFL season I was a guest on a South Georgia football call in show hosted by old friend and former Daily Citizen sports editor Chris Beckham.
I made several predictions, included a pretty accurate assessment of Brett Favre’s impact on the Jets. Brett started stronger than I expected but in the end age and his addiction to throwing stupid passes proved me right.
However, I also described the Atlanta Falcons as possibly the worst team in the NFL.
Consider this my mea culpa, though I still have no idea how this band of misfits accomplished what it did.
In predicting season long misery for Atlanta I pointed to their rookie quarterback. That alone would doom most teams. Who knew that Ryan was going to be so solid so fast?
I didn’t expect Ryan to even survive the season behind that mutt of an offensive line. Tyson Clabo? Harvey Dahl? Beat up Todd Weiner and rookie Sam Baker? Forget Mike Smith, the Falcon OL coach should be the NFL coach of the year.
Defensively, the Falcons didn’t seem to have a dependable DT on the roster. Yet the journeymen they plugged in there all year played hard and made things happen. I figured Jonathan Babineax might get cut after the pre-season. Instead, he worked his arse off.
The Falcon secondary, which too me looked horrible, played with tenacity and intelligence all season. Dom Foxworth turned out to be a great low-cost acquisition and won the right corner job. He teamed with Chris Houston to to give the Birds a pair of battling cornerbacks. They could be beaten, but more often than not they held up against even top receivers.
An amazing performance across the board.
This is not a Super Bowl team, at least in terms of talent. But no organization in the league is getting as much out of their players as this one so I’m not counting them out.
Whatever happens this weekend, it’s been a heck of a ride .
I stand corrected
I made several predictions, included a pretty accurate assessment of Brett Favre’s impact on the Jets. Brett started stronger than I expected but in the end age and his addiction to throwing stupid passes proved me right.
However, I also described the Atlanta Falcons as possibly the worst team in the NFL.
Consider this my mea culpa, though I still have no idea how this band of misfits accomplished what it did.
In predicting season long misery for Atlanta I pointed to their rookie quarterback. That alone would doom most teams. Who knew that Ryan was going to be so solid so fast?
I didn’t expect Ryan to even survive the season behind that mutt of an offensive line. Tyson Clabo? Harvey Dahl? Beat up Todd Weiner and rookie Sam Baker? Forget Mike Smith, the Falcon OL coach should be the NFL coach of the year.
Defensively, the Falcons didn’t seem to have a dependable DT on the roster. Yet the journeymen they plugged in there all year played hard and made things happen. I figured Jonathan Babineax might get cut after the pre-season. Instead, he worked his arse off.
The Falcon secondary, which too me looked horrible, played with tenacity and intelligence all season. Dom Foxworth turned out to be a great low-cost acquisition and won the right corner job. He teamed with Chris Houston to to give the Birds a pair of battling cornerbacks. They could be beaten, but more often than not they held up against even top receivers.
An amazing performance across the board.
This is not a Super Bowl team, at least in terms of talent. But no organization in the league is getting as much out of their players as this one so I’m not counting them out.
Whatever happens this weekend, it’s been a heck of a ride .
I stand corrected
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tunes
Southern fried boogey loses a stalwart with the death of Delaney Bramlett Here's link to them singing 'Coming Home.'
Our local Al Jazeera
Dr. Naijar at DSC lobs a few bombs of his own. Check out his propaganda outlet.
My Sunday column
The upcoming year will hold some major changes at The Daily Citizen, as our company looks for ways to deliver more information to readers — and more readers to our advertisers.
Across the country newspaper circulation has dipped in recent years. However, our circulation numbers have remained solid. We haven’t experienced the declines in readership some newspapers have suffered, in part because our Web site, daltondailycitizen.com, has helped us attract new readers, as well as retain older readers who prefer to read the newspaper online. The Web site includes many — though not all — of the features that appear in the print edition, but we’ve also taken advantage of the essentially unlimited “news hole” the Internet offers, to run stories, announcements and other information not available in our print product.
A further refinement of this idea will be launched in the next week. A digital edition of the newspaper will be posted nightly, with the full content of the newspaper (and more) available to readers.
The digital edition will be an identical reproduction of the day’s newspaper.
For the first month, the digital Daily Citizen will be available to anyone who wants to see it free of charge. After 30 days, subscribers to our print product will continue to receive it for free. Non-subscribers will be encouraged to buy the digital edition — at a substantially discounted rate. As a bonus, readers of the digital version will have access to “extra” pages, more stories, photos and graphics put together specifically for them.
The cost of newsprint has exploded in recent years and the slow economy has made it tougher for us to print additional pages in the print version of the newspaper. By taking advantage of the boundless freer space offered by the Internet we will deliver more value to our readers.
Keep a close eye on The Daily Citizen in the next few days for an announcement of the debut of the digital edition.
• • •
We plan to add even more content to our Web site in 2009 as well. Regular readers of the site already know that we post a range of material not available in The Daily Citizen. Some of it is too esoteric or too lengthy for the daily paper, but fits in nicely on the Web site. The appearance of the site is likely to change and we hope to make it more convenient and user friendly. One of my pet projects is to recruit some local writers for the Web site, so if you have an interest in writing on a topic regularly, please contact me at 706-272-7735. We’ll compare notes and see what makes sense.
• • •
As of Monday, the look of our front page will change. The basic look of The Daily Citizen has been about the same for almost a decade. It’s time for a change. Hopefully the new look will freshen things up and help us get more information to readers quickly. Let us know what you think.
• • •
I’m an old school newspaperman. I like the sound of a press and the feel of newsprint. But the future of community journalism cannot be limited to the traditional newspaper format. The printed edition of The Daily Citizen remains our core product and it will continue to receive the lion’s share of attention, but these alternative venues for delivering news and advertising to readers are enticing to even the most ink-stained of aging editors.
The newspaper industry has taken its share of lumps in recent years, with the rapidly changing nature of the business now combining with a bad economy to smack the business right in the nose. From The New York Times to the Hahira Gold Leaf, the industry is struggling.
But it’s also fighting back
Among the ways we do that is by trying new things. My boss, Daily Citizen Publisher William Bronson, pushes an agenda of change and though I don’t agree with every idea, I understand that if this newspaper sits still, it will wither.
We’re not going to let that happen
One thing that won’t change is our keen interest in what our customers think. If you like or don’t like something we’re doing, write or give me a call and we’ll talk about it.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He can be reached at 706-272-7735 or by e-mail at jimmyespy@daltoncitizen.com
Across the country newspaper circulation has dipped in recent years. However, our circulation numbers have remained solid. We haven’t experienced the declines in readership some newspapers have suffered, in part because our Web site, daltondailycitizen.com, has helped us attract new readers, as well as retain older readers who prefer to read the newspaper online. The Web site includes many — though not all — of the features that appear in the print edition, but we’ve also taken advantage of the essentially unlimited “news hole” the Internet offers, to run stories, announcements and other information not available in our print product.
A further refinement of this idea will be launched in the next week. A digital edition of the newspaper will be posted nightly, with the full content of the newspaper (and more) available to readers.
The digital edition will be an identical reproduction of the day’s newspaper.
For the first month, the digital Daily Citizen will be available to anyone who wants to see it free of charge. After 30 days, subscribers to our print product will continue to receive it for free. Non-subscribers will be encouraged to buy the digital edition — at a substantially discounted rate. As a bonus, readers of the digital version will have access to “extra” pages, more stories, photos and graphics put together specifically for them.
The cost of newsprint has exploded in recent years and the slow economy has made it tougher for us to print additional pages in the print version of the newspaper. By taking advantage of the boundless freer space offered by the Internet we will deliver more value to our readers.
Keep a close eye on The Daily Citizen in the next few days for an announcement of the debut of the digital edition.
• • •
We plan to add even more content to our Web site in 2009 as well. Regular readers of the site already know that we post a range of material not available in The Daily Citizen. Some of it is too esoteric or too lengthy for the daily paper, but fits in nicely on the Web site. The appearance of the site is likely to change and we hope to make it more convenient and user friendly. One of my pet projects is to recruit some local writers for the Web site, so if you have an interest in writing on a topic regularly, please contact me at 706-272-7735. We’ll compare notes and see what makes sense.
• • •
As of Monday, the look of our front page will change. The basic look of The Daily Citizen has been about the same for almost a decade. It’s time for a change. Hopefully the new look will freshen things up and help us get more information to readers quickly. Let us know what you think.
• • •
I’m an old school newspaperman. I like the sound of a press and the feel of newsprint. But the future of community journalism cannot be limited to the traditional newspaper format. The printed edition of The Daily Citizen remains our core product and it will continue to receive the lion’s share of attention, but these alternative venues for delivering news and advertising to readers are enticing to even the most ink-stained of aging editors.
The newspaper industry has taken its share of lumps in recent years, with the rapidly changing nature of the business now combining with a bad economy to smack the business right in the nose. From The New York Times to the Hahira Gold Leaf, the industry is struggling.
But it’s also fighting back
Among the ways we do that is by trying new things. My boss, Daily Citizen Publisher William Bronson, pushes an agenda of change and though I don’t agree with every idea, I understand that if this newspaper sits still, it will wither.
We’re not going to let that happen
One thing that won’t change is our keen interest in what our customers think. If you like or don’t like something we’re doing, write or give me a call and we’ll talk about it.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He can be reached at 706-272-7735 or by e-mail at jimmyespy@daltoncitizen.com
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
Jethro Tull is too cool for school. Can you have more fun than "Locomotive Breath?"
The Bear
Putin's Russia is in trouble despite the mountain of natural resources. Oligarchy is no substitute for a real free market. Read here.
Comics
The new Hellboy is out from Dark Horse. I picked up Issue 1 at The Fantasy Factory and enjoyed it. Here's a link to the Dark Horse site.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Booty for the ballers
The NCAA is tough on players getting gifts, but members of bowl teams get to collect some booty, according to The Sporting News.
Players in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta get Fossil watches, Russell athletic gear and a $300 Visa gift card.
The BCA Chamionship game is a nice haul for players: $300 in Sony electronic merchandise, a Torneau watch, Crocs, etc.
TSN has a page in the current issue listing the goodies by bowl.
The same issue features a solid preview of the key bowl games.
Peyton Manning's little brother Eli is on the cover.
Players in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl in Atlanta get Fossil watches, Russell athletic gear and a $300 Visa gift card.
The BCA Chamionship game is a nice haul for players: $300 in Sony electronic merchandise, a Torneau watch, Crocs, etc.
TSN has a page in the current issue listing the goodies by bowl.
The same issue features a solid preview of the key bowl games.
Peyton Manning's little brother Eli is on the cover.
To all
Merry Christmas. We are recovering from a couple of very busy days but it's been fun. Hope it's been the same for y'all.
Monday, December 22, 2008
My Sunday column
My daughter — who has already informed me she wants to be a “rock star” when she grows up — debuted on the local stage this week.
She got her career off to a rousing start on Friday morning, joining a host of kids from the First Presbyterian Child Development Center for its annual Christmas program.
Before a semi-packed house, Rowan got her first taste of stardom, belting out yule time standards like “Christmas Deo,” “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” all of which she has been practicing non-stop at home for weeks.
We also heard “Away in a Manger,” “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Zip a De Do Dah Christmas.”
The only thing missing was “Freebird.”
The performance went smoothly at first — of course the crew of the Titanic probably thought the same things as they dogpaddled in the icy North Atlantic.
The 4-year-olds came in first and got the show off to a good start. Their version of “Santa’s Coming” absolutely rocked!
The 3-year-olds entered next and my Blessed Little One looked a little uneasy until she found mom and dad’s smiling faces in the the sea of smiling parental faces.
Relaxed, she joined her choir mates and slid smoothly into “Tiny Jesus,” giving it a little Billie Holliday slinkiness mixed with Ella Fitzgerald’s playful phrasing.
“Christ-mas Deo” was next and the magic continued even after they brought in the 2-year-olds — always an adventure.
The concert was moving along smoother than Tony Bennett at the Paladium right up until the very end when My Angelic Child inexplicably got it in her head that her parents didn’t love her anymore and were going to sell her to the cruel owner of a Congolese coal mine.
Cue the crying.
Anyone who tells you “there’s no crying in show business” is profoundly mistaken my friend.
My future “rock star” cut loose. Just like Diana Ross at the end of “Lady Sings the Blues.”
Fortunately the singing portion of the show was over and mom and dad were quickly able to reunite with their Darling Baby Girl and explain to her that Yes we did still love her and NO she wasn’t going to have to ride around in a wagon with gypsies and get eaten by a werewolf.
Sweetiepie calmed down — and so did Mom — but not before extorting a visit to her favorite cousin’s house out of us first.
The kid is an operator.
I don’t know what this means for her budding career as the next Hannah Montana. Being a rock star has its upside — if I had an an extra few million a year coming in I could get my yard raked — but there’s a downside too.
Rowan certainly seemed to enjoy the singing part of her debut.
Mister Jackie did a great job getting her and all the other songbirds prepared.
But maybe the life of a rocker isn’t in her blood. Maybe music will only be a hobby, not a career?
Which means we look at career plan No. 2 — Indian Princess.
Yup, she told me she wants to be an Indian Princess — whatever that entails these days.
And a mermaid.
And a ballerina.
And a chef.
And a doctor.
And a basketball player.
And a firefighter.
All of which are cool with mom and dad.
(Especially the basketball player).
She got her career off to a rousing start on Friday morning, joining a host of kids from the First Presbyterian Child Development Center for its annual Christmas program.
Before a semi-packed house, Rowan got her first taste of stardom, belting out yule time standards like “Christmas Deo,” “Jingle Bells” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” all of which she has been practicing non-stop at home for weeks.
We also heard “Away in a Manger,” “Twinkle Twinkle” and “Zip a De Do Dah Christmas.”
The only thing missing was “Freebird.”
The performance went smoothly at first — of course the crew of the Titanic probably thought the same things as they dogpaddled in the icy North Atlantic.
The 4-year-olds came in first and got the show off to a good start. Their version of “Santa’s Coming” absolutely rocked!
The 3-year-olds entered next and my Blessed Little One looked a little uneasy until she found mom and dad’s smiling faces in the the sea of smiling parental faces.
Relaxed, she joined her choir mates and slid smoothly into “Tiny Jesus,” giving it a little Billie Holliday slinkiness mixed with Ella Fitzgerald’s playful phrasing.
“Christ-mas Deo” was next and the magic continued even after they brought in the 2-year-olds — always an adventure.
The concert was moving along smoother than Tony Bennett at the Paladium right up until the very end when My Angelic Child inexplicably got it in her head that her parents didn’t love her anymore and were going to sell her to the cruel owner of a Congolese coal mine.
Cue the crying.
Anyone who tells you “there’s no crying in show business” is profoundly mistaken my friend.
My future “rock star” cut loose. Just like Diana Ross at the end of “Lady Sings the Blues.”
Fortunately the singing portion of the show was over and mom and dad were quickly able to reunite with their Darling Baby Girl and explain to her that Yes we did still love her and NO she wasn’t going to have to ride around in a wagon with gypsies and get eaten by a werewolf.
Sweetiepie calmed down — and so did Mom — but not before extorting a visit to her favorite cousin’s house out of us first.
The kid is an operator.
I don’t know what this means for her budding career as the next Hannah Montana. Being a rock star has its upside — if I had an an extra few million a year coming in I could get my yard raked — but there’s a downside too.
Rowan certainly seemed to enjoy the singing part of her debut.
Mister Jackie did a great job getting her and all the other songbirds prepared.
But maybe the life of a rocker isn’t in her blood. Maybe music will only be a hobby, not a career?
Which means we look at career plan No. 2 — Indian Princess.
Yup, she told me she wants to be an Indian Princess — whatever that entails these days.
And a mermaid.
And a ballerina.
And a chef.
And a doctor.
And a basketball player.
And a firefighter.
All of which are cool with mom and dad.
(Especially the basketball player).
Tunes
The best albums of 2008 according to Rolling Stone and I own exactly ZERO of them. However, I did ask Santa for the Lucinda Williams record and sooner or later I get all the Dylan records. Mellencamp made quite a critical comeback, so maybe I'll check that one out, too.
Man ... I am getting old.
Man ... I am getting old.
Politics
Newt Gingrich is an interesting thinker and God knows during the election he was on TV continuously, weighing in on the political scene. More than a few Republicans would like to see him run for president. But am I the only one who remembers how quickly he became corrupted by Washington power when he was Speaker of the House? Newt talks a great game. But given a nice office and the rest of the perks and he got real comfortable real quickly and the Revolution petered out.
Politico talks all things Newt in this article.
Politico talks all things Newt in this article.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Church
Interesting piece from USA Today abut the state of modern religion in the US. Couldn't help but think of Dalton's own Rock Bridge Church when reading this article.
You can certainly find religion packaged any way you want it here, from ramshackle roadside churches to multi-million dollar "megas."
You can certainly find religion packaged any way you want it here, from ramshackle roadside churches to multi-million dollar "megas."
Economy
Newsweek's Robert Samuelson is always good and here talks inflation, focusing on the benefits of the Reagan-Volcker era.
The jihad
Churchill would be ashamed. Europe lacks almost any will to fight and the fight is coming to them.
Your free Sunday tune
A great tune from an up and coming musical superstar (though one with a head cold).
Jonny to the rescue
Need a great last minute gift for the kiddies? My daughter is 3 and she absolutely loves the Jonny Quest DVD collection. Jonny Quest was my favorite cartoon as a kid, filled with action and adventure. They hold up very, very well. The animation is superb and the stories much more realistic than most cartoon fodder.
They are also a lot more violent than kids cartoons today and the villains tend to be ethnic stereotypes.
Jonny was designed with young boys in mind, but as I said earlier my daughter is thrilled with them. She has watched every episode repeatedly and can quote some of the dialog ("Kill Tulu, kill!").
Kids love Jonny and so do a lot of parents.
Check this site for more information.
They are also a lot more violent than kids cartoons today and the villains tend to be ethnic stereotypes.
Jonny was designed with young boys in mind, but as I said earlier my daughter is thrilled with them. She has watched every episode repeatedly and can quote some of the dialog ("Kill Tulu, kill!").
Kids love Jonny and so do a lot of parents.
Check this site for more information.
Friday, December 19, 2008
The Flicks
I read Jack Ketchum's 'Offspring" years ago, loved it and toyed with the idea of writing a screenplay. Unlike me, someone else actually got off their butt and did it. Take a look at this story. from Fangoria.
The Bear is sick
As I have said before, a Third World economy with Superpower pretensions.Declining oil revenues cripple Putin's playpen.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The Braves
It's obvious Rafael Furcalreally wasn't as interested in returning to Atlanta as he was with getting a better offer from the Dodgers. LA played right along of course, sweetening Atlanta's $10 million a year offering enough to close a deal with the leadoff hitter.
Atlanta fans have a right to be disappointed as another big name player move bogs down, leaving the Braves with Javier Vasquez and not a lot else to show so far. However, did the Braves really want to invest $10 million per in an infielder who hasn't been able to stay on the field in recent years?
Hopefully they will move past this Furcal mess, stay active and keep pushing for Peavey. If not, a lesser package could bring a good bat for left field or first base.
Texeiria would be the best possible signing, but Atlanta has never in been in that game. I guess if Tex had wanted to come back he would have made that clear during the season. However, it's hard to believe someone would talk SERIOUSLY with the Nationals and the Orioles but not be willing to do business with the Braves.
Adam Dunn hits a lot of homers and draws walks, but his defense is dreadful and Cox won't stand for that. Dunn's offense is underrated, but his play in left is awful? How about at first? We need another bat.
Atlanta fans have a right to be disappointed as another big name player move bogs down, leaving the Braves with Javier Vasquez and not a lot else to show so far. However, did the Braves really want to invest $10 million per in an infielder who hasn't been able to stay on the field in recent years?
Hopefully they will move past this Furcal mess, stay active and keep pushing for Peavey. If not, a lesser package could bring a good bat for left field or first base.
Texeiria would be the best possible signing, but Atlanta has never in been in that game. I guess if Tex had wanted to come back he would have made that clear during the season. However, it's hard to believe someone would talk SERIOUSLY with the Nationals and the Orioles but not be willing to do business with the Braves.
Adam Dunn hits a lot of homers and draws walks, but his defense is dreadful and Cox won't stand for that. Dunn's offense is underrated, but his play in left is awful? How about at first? We need another bat.
Getting better
I am back and hope to keep blogging regularly now that this kidney infections seesm to be on the retreat. I got it last week and it laid me low, despite the fact that I started treatment pretty quickly. I miised a lot of work and am still very sluggisg, but the worst seems to be past.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Flicks
Forget Karate Kid. But I LOVED Crossroads -- the Ralph Macchio one -- and this the great "head cutting" scene with Steve Vai.
My Sunday column
Saxby's challenge
The night of his relatively easy win over Democrat challenger Jim Martin. Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss sent out a “thank you” press release.
He offered his appreciation to voters for supporting him and to the alphabet soup of organizations — the RNC and the NRSC — who told him how to run his campaign. He also thanked the volunteers who worked for his re-election. Fair enough.
Then he got out the ladle and started dumping manure.
“Our victory tonight sends a strong message to Washington, D.C. that Georgia still cares about conservative values — but this win is only the beginning. We have a lot of work to do over the next six years and I’m proud to have the opportunity to ensure Georgia has a strong voice in the Senate.”
Where to start?
Chambliss is right when he says that Georgians (at least many of them) want a conservative voice in Washington. But the idea that he is an exemplar of a principled conservative — at least on economic matters — is absurd.
There’s not a spending bill in sight you can’t get Chambliss to sign off on if it includes an extra buck or two for peanut farmers. Chambliss is Santa Claus to the South Georgia farm interests, as proven by his “leadership” in teaming with equally rapacious Democrats to put together a $300 billion farm bill.
Archer Daniels Midland loved it I’m sure. They benefited from it enormously.
American consumers — not so much.
Chambliss was also a “leader” in efforts to milk billions from the federal treasury to pay for research and development of highly suspect biodiesel projects, the primary beneficiaries again being big money agricultural interests.
The last straw for me was the bailout bill. Chambliss soiled his armor like the rest of the Washington crowd and joined the panic.
Chambliss is Chambliss, clawing at the federal teat as desperately as any liberal Democrat in Washington. His mainstream opponent, Martin, campaigned primarily on an “I’m not Saxby Chambliss” strategy. Fair enough, but who the heck are you? Mostly he looked like the kind of hack politician that in a just world wouldn’t rise above serving on a local tree board.
Forget ‘em both.
I voted Libertarian in November. No apologies.
On Tuesday — with no one even close to my liking on the ballot — I slept late, went to work and then waited on the results to roll in.
Chambliss won easily.
Can’t say it was a surprise.
Barack Obama was too lily-livered to come to Georgia — a nasty slap in the face to the state’s Democrats, who worked hard for him this year.
The Martin campaign desperately needed a jolt of Obama’s energy, as it seemed to run out of steam in the final days before the vote. But Obama, smelling a defeat, steered clear. (I suspect it won’t be the last time the new president avoids a fight.)
Back to Chambliss, who in his brief victory remarks vowed to give Georgians “a strong voice in the Senate.”
Strong voices are a fine thing, but only if they deliver the right message. And now more than ever Georgians — all Americans in fact — need a strong voice for real free market-oriented fiscal conservatism, not the phony conservatism Chambliss has hawked the last six years.
Get off the teat and go to work.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He is what is popularly known as The Angry White Male.
The night of his relatively easy win over Democrat challenger Jim Martin. Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss sent out a “thank you” press release.
He offered his appreciation to voters for supporting him and to the alphabet soup of organizations — the RNC and the NRSC — who told him how to run his campaign. He also thanked the volunteers who worked for his re-election. Fair enough.
Then he got out the ladle and started dumping manure.
“Our victory tonight sends a strong message to Washington, D.C. that Georgia still cares about conservative values — but this win is only the beginning. We have a lot of work to do over the next six years and I’m proud to have the opportunity to ensure Georgia has a strong voice in the Senate.”
Where to start?
Chambliss is right when he says that Georgians (at least many of them) want a conservative voice in Washington. But the idea that he is an exemplar of a principled conservative — at least on economic matters — is absurd.
There’s not a spending bill in sight you can’t get Chambliss to sign off on if it includes an extra buck or two for peanut farmers. Chambliss is Santa Claus to the South Georgia farm interests, as proven by his “leadership” in teaming with equally rapacious Democrats to put together a $300 billion farm bill.
Archer Daniels Midland loved it I’m sure. They benefited from it enormously.
American consumers — not so much.
Chambliss was also a “leader” in efforts to milk billions from the federal treasury to pay for research and development of highly suspect biodiesel projects, the primary beneficiaries again being big money agricultural interests.
The last straw for me was the bailout bill. Chambliss soiled his armor like the rest of the Washington crowd and joined the panic.
Chambliss is Chambliss, clawing at the federal teat as desperately as any liberal Democrat in Washington. His mainstream opponent, Martin, campaigned primarily on an “I’m not Saxby Chambliss” strategy. Fair enough, but who the heck are you? Mostly he looked like the kind of hack politician that in a just world wouldn’t rise above serving on a local tree board.
Forget ‘em both.
I voted Libertarian in November. No apologies.
On Tuesday — with no one even close to my liking on the ballot — I slept late, went to work and then waited on the results to roll in.
Chambliss won easily.
Can’t say it was a surprise.
Barack Obama was too lily-livered to come to Georgia — a nasty slap in the face to the state’s Democrats, who worked hard for him this year.
The Martin campaign desperately needed a jolt of Obama’s energy, as it seemed to run out of steam in the final days before the vote. But Obama, smelling a defeat, steered clear. (I suspect it won’t be the last time the new president avoids a fight.)
Back to Chambliss, who in his brief victory remarks vowed to give Georgians “a strong voice in the Senate.”
Strong voices are a fine thing, but only if they deliver the right message. And now more than ever Georgians — all Americans in fact — need a strong voice for real free market-oriented fiscal conservatism, not the phony conservatism Chambliss has hawked the last six years.
Get off the teat and go to work.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He is what is popularly known as The Angry White Male.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
The Big Mess
So the government which helped cause this fiasco isn't so good at fixing it? Didn't see that coming. From the New York Times.
The boob tube
The wife and I were watching CNN the other night and they flashed one of those breaking news logos. Our journalistic natures, if not recent experience, told us to stand ready for important information.
So what was the news flash?
"Barack Obama supports President Bush's condemenation of the Mumbai attacks."
Huh?
That's breaking news?
"Barack Obama does NOT support President Bush's condemnation of the Mumbai attacks" would have been news.
"Barack Obama supports the Mumbai attacks" would REALLY have been breaking news.
"Barack Obama farts in public." That would have been (wind) breaking news.
But does someone at CNN really think that everything Obama says or does is breaking news or do they just not know what a news story is?
So what was the news flash?
"Barack Obama supports President Bush's condemenation of the Mumbai attacks."
Huh?
That's breaking news?
"Barack Obama does NOT support President Bush's condemnation of the Mumbai attacks" would have been news.
"Barack Obama supports the Mumbai attacks" would REALLY have been breaking news.
"Barack Obama farts in public." That would have been (wind) breaking news.
But does someone at CNN really think that everything Obama says or does is breaking news or do they just not know what a news story is?
Politics
Toughness is one of the most overused of election cliches. Political types who wouldn't last two hours in the County Line Bar on a Friday night love to judge each other's toughness.
President-elect Obama has been dubbed "tough" by his followers, including an adoring mainstream media.
Yet in his very first chance to show how tough -- politically speaking -- he is, Obama has been a big, old sissy.
Democratic senatorial candidate Jim Martin won't admit it, but he has to be disappointed that Obama -- with much to gain himself -- chose not to endanger his "political capital" by coming South in support of Martin's surprisingly effective campaign against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
Obama's Posse has a grab bag of excuses for why His Eminence is remaining above the fray. But the fact is, he's a chicken. Obama is scared that if he campaigns in Georgia for Martin and the Democrat loses, it will take some of the luster off his crown. Exactly the way a big sissy would think.
Ludacris and Young Jeezy spoke up for Martin, but apparently it was to much to expect the new leader of the Democratic party to come to Atlanta and put in an appearance in a senate race we are told could be crucial to Democrats.
Ideally, Chambliss will win, man up for once in his political career, and be a royal pain in the keister to the new president for four years.
I'm not counting on it.
But that would be sweet, in a Frank Capra-kind of way.
President-elect Obama has been dubbed "tough" by his followers, including an adoring mainstream media.
Yet in his very first chance to show how tough -- politically speaking -- he is, Obama has been a big, old sissy.
Democratic senatorial candidate Jim Martin won't admit it, but he has to be disappointed that Obama -- with much to gain himself -- chose not to endanger his "political capital" by coming South in support of Martin's surprisingly effective campaign against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
Obama's Posse has a grab bag of excuses for why His Eminence is remaining above the fray. But the fact is, he's a chicken. Obama is scared that if he campaigns in Georgia for Martin and the Democrat loses, it will take some of the luster off his crown. Exactly the way a big sissy would think.
Ludacris and Young Jeezy spoke up for Martin, but apparently it was to much to expect the new leader of the Democratic party to come to Atlanta and put in an appearance in a senate race we are told could be crucial to Democrats.
Ideally, Chambliss will win, man up for once in his political career, and be a royal pain in the keister to the new president for four years.
I'm not counting on it.
But that would be sweet, in a Frank Capra-kind of way.
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Max Cleland Myth
National Review sets the record straight. But why haven't I ever heard Saxby Chambliss says this?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Dawgs
Richt says no big changes to his coaching staff. That won't make some Georgia fans happy this year. Defensive coordinator Willie Martinez was particularly under the gun, but let's be fair. Georgia didn't have the defensive manpower this year, especially up front. The loss of Jeff Owens hurt and Ellerbee never came back to his old form after getting hurt early.
Newspaperin'
I've always enjoyed Creative Loafing and tried to pick it up any time I was in Atlanta. Sorry to see how badly things are going.
My Sunday column
They should close the local public library.
Shut it down. Sell the books on eBay. Toss the aging furniture on a junk pile and lop those salaries right off the payroll.
Truth be known, neither the city or county want to fool with it. Next to the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center — which the city and county have finally given up on — the library may be their biggest loser. Besides, they’ve got parks to build and gymnasiums to refurbish — athletic facilities designed to let our future athletic stars polish their handoffs and jump shots. What could be more important than that?
Who needs a financial money pit like a library, with those stacks of books and other learning resources?
Books? Learning?
Bah, humbug! (That’s from Charles Dickens, by the way).
One option the city and county should consider is turning the library into a gentleman’s club.
Fellow Daily Citizen columnist Charles Oliver once laughingly suggested the same thing about the trade center, but his idea was stupid. Mine is really smart.
In my plan, we would use the trade center parking lot. Lonely truck drivers could stash their rigs there and then ride the trolley to “the library,” which we would rename something clever like The Naked Truth or Dusty Books and Dirty Looks.
Revenue would pour in.
But seriously folks ...
If we are going to have a public library in this town, the city and county should do right by it.
Ante up.
We’ve heard the song and dance for years about how the two governments would love to do more for the library, but the money isn’t there. That has always been a lie. Occasionally a councilman or commissioner will champion the library’s cause for a few months. Hope will spring anew, before it is once again snuffed out by indifference. City officials say they would do more but the county has to match them and the county resists. Or is it vice versa? Lots of sympathetic talk, no action.
If you listen to some of our community leaders they’ll tell you all the wonderful things that can be accomplished when the city and county work together. But the fact is, they can’t even come up with a plan for systematically upgrading the library. The next time one of our elected “leaders” starts yakking about the community’s quality of life, ask him or her where our underfunded public library fits in that picture. Or is “quality of life” only aimed at producing linebackers and point guards?
I started this column joking about closing the library. But if the only option to quick death is slow strangulation, maybe it’s not such a joke.
----
Speaking of books, former Dalton resident Robert Whitlow’s successful “Christian novel” “The List,” has been made into a movie starring Malcolm McDowell. I got it from Netflix, but it’s also available locally at Wal-Mart and may be in local rental stores as well.
I wish the movie was a knockout and it does have some nice moments. McDowell is always fun and veteran actors Pat Hingle and Will Patton are good. The South Carolina locations are very effective and the movie is sharply photographed. The mystery plot works well too, up to a point.
But the ending will prove a big letdown for many thriller fans, though viewers more interested in the religious elements than in more standard Hollywood storytelling will probably be happier with the final act.
“The List” might make a good stocking stuffer for folks who like movies but are distrustful of the standard fare produced by Hollywood.
• Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He received numerous Gold Stars in the Summer Reading Program at the Summerville Public Library, oh so many years ago.
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Shut it down. Sell the books on eBay. Toss the aging furniture on a junk pile and lop those salaries right off the payroll.
Truth be known, neither the city or county want to fool with it. Next to the Northwest Georgia Trade and Convention Center — which the city and county have finally given up on — the library may be their biggest loser. Besides, they’ve got parks to build and gymnasiums to refurbish — athletic facilities designed to let our future athletic stars polish their handoffs and jump shots. What could be more important than that?
Who needs a financial money pit like a library, with those stacks of books and other learning resources?
Books? Learning?
Bah, humbug! (That’s from Charles Dickens, by the way).
One option the city and county should consider is turning the library into a gentleman’s club.
Fellow Daily Citizen columnist Charles Oliver once laughingly suggested the same thing about the trade center, but his idea was stupid. Mine is really smart.
In my plan, we would use the trade center parking lot. Lonely truck drivers could stash their rigs there and then ride the trolley to “the library,” which we would rename something clever like The Naked Truth or Dusty Books and Dirty Looks.
Revenue would pour in.
But seriously folks ...
If we are going to have a public library in this town, the city and county should do right by it.
Ante up.
We’ve heard the song and dance for years about how the two governments would love to do more for the library, but the money isn’t there. That has always been a lie. Occasionally a councilman or commissioner will champion the library’s cause for a few months. Hope will spring anew, before it is once again snuffed out by indifference. City officials say they would do more but the county has to match them and the county resists. Or is it vice versa? Lots of sympathetic talk, no action.
If you listen to some of our community leaders they’ll tell you all the wonderful things that can be accomplished when the city and county work together. But the fact is, they can’t even come up with a plan for systematically upgrading the library. The next time one of our elected “leaders” starts yakking about the community’s quality of life, ask him or her where our underfunded public library fits in that picture. Or is “quality of life” only aimed at producing linebackers and point guards?
I started this column joking about closing the library. But if the only option to quick death is slow strangulation, maybe it’s not such a joke.
----
Speaking of books, former Dalton resident Robert Whitlow’s successful “Christian novel” “The List,” has been made into a movie starring Malcolm McDowell. I got it from Netflix, but it’s also available locally at Wal-Mart and may be in local rental stores as well.
I wish the movie was a knockout and it does have some nice moments. McDowell is always fun and veteran actors Pat Hingle and Will Patton are good. The South Carolina locations are very effective and the movie is sharply photographed. The mystery plot works well too, up to a point.
But the ending will prove a big letdown for many thriller fans, though viewers more interested in the religious elements than in more standard Hollywood storytelling will probably be happier with the final act.
“The List” might make a good stocking stuffer for folks who like movies but are distrustful of the standard fare produced by Hollywood.
• Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He received numerous Gold Stars in the Summer Reading Program at the Summerville Public Library, oh so many years ago.
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
Townes Van Zandt remembered by the Cowboy Junkies. To learn more about Townes, check out the Wikipedia site.
Reading
Daily Citizen staffer Charles Oliver spent several years in California working for Reason Magazine,the granddaddy of libertarian publications. Reason is celebrating its 40th year in its current issue and Charles is quoted several times. It's an interesting read.
Books
Joe Lansdale is an eclectic writer and I am an eclectic reader. Our paths keep crossing.
I finished “Leather Maidens,” Lansdale’s latest novel, this week. It’s a gritty, nasty crime story populated by some of the creepiest villains you’re likely to run across.
Cason Statler is a Gulf War veteran and a newspaper reporter. He takes a job in his home town, a Texas college town that also happens to be Cason’s home town. Cason returns home in large part hoping to hook up with an ex girlfriend, but doesn’t get much of a chance to pitch woo as he is quickly caught up in a murder mystery that entangles him and his family.
Cason teams up with his army buddy Booger, who may be just as crazy and vicious as the story’s rabid dog villains. It’s an uneasy alliance – Booger scares Cason too – but the duo bring out the heavy weaponry – their guile and their firepower – to counter the forces of evil.
It’s an entertaining story, effectively and efficiently told. Lansdale knows his way around a conventional thriller and small town Texas always gives the author a distinct homefield advantage.
I smell a sequel to this one. Lansdale may have sought to create a team to follow in the footsteps of his terrific Hap Collins-Leonard Pine novels.
Unfortunately, Cason and Booger don’t measure up to Hap and Leonard. Not as funny. Not as intricately detailed.
From a lot of authors I’d consider “Leather Maidens” more of a success. It’s only middlin’ Lansdale. But hell, maybe I’ve been spoiled.
----
For more on Lansdale, check out this site.
I finished “Leather Maidens,” Lansdale’s latest novel, this week. It’s a gritty, nasty crime story populated by some of the creepiest villains you’re likely to run across.
Cason Statler is a Gulf War veteran and a newspaper reporter. He takes a job in his home town, a Texas college town that also happens to be Cason’s home town. Cason returns home in large part hoping to hook up with an ex girlfriend, but doesn’t get much of a chance to pitch woo as he is quickly caught up in a murder mystery that entangles him and his family.
Cason teams up with his army buddy Booger, who may be just as crazy and vicious as the story’s rabid dog villains. It’s an uneasy alliance – Booger scares Cason too – but the duo bring out the heavy weaponry – their guile and their firepower – to counter the forces of evil.
It’s an entertaining story, effectively and efficiently told. Lansdale knows his way around a conventional thriller and small town Texas always gives the author a distinct homefield advantage.
I smell a sequel to this one. Lansdale may have sought to create a team to follow in the footsteps of his terrific Hap Collins-Leonard Pine novels.
Unfortunately, Cason and Booger don’t measure up to Hap and Leonard. Not as funny. Not as intricately detailed.
From a lot of authors I’d consider “Leather Maidens” more of a success. It’s only middlin’ Lansdale. But hell, maybe I’ve been spoiled.
----
For more on Lansdale, check out this site.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The economy
Wasn't it just the other day we were being told that these guys had this economy thing all figured out.
Politics
After months of refusing to write about American politics. I have decided to dip my intellectual toe in the glowing, radioactive sludge left by the Democratic Ascencion.
Let us discuss the Jim Martin-Saxby Chambliss brouhaha.
Mr. Martin's main claim to the office is that he is not George Bush. That fact, the success of Mr. Obama on Nov. 4 and the deliciously disruptive presence of a Libertarian in the field has put Martin in a position pull off what would be quite an upset.
Would that be a good thing?
Hardly, unless you think Congress really needs another uninspired drone following the party line.
Then again, that's pretty much what we've had the last six years with Sen. Chambliss. You think maybe Saxby wishes he had gone off the reservation at least once or twice?
Political sentiment in Georgia favors Chambliss. Obama IS a liberal and if abortion, gun control, higher taxes, etc. concern you, he's not your huckleberry. Nor is Martin.
Give the home field advantage to Chambliss, but the real battle is which side will be able to get their voters out. Will black voters who rallied to Obama's banner do the same for Martin? Democrats certainly smell blood in the water, but will that motivate enough of them to get to the polls?
"I'm not George Bush" doesn't seem to me to be enough of a drawing card.
Meanwhile the GOP Machine is stroking the abortion button, the gun rights button and other tried and true hot button issues that have worked for them in the past. Liberals whine about this and decry the "Religious Right" and the "gun nuts." but the issues are legitimate and they matter greatly to elements of the GOP's core.
And if this runoff turns into a battle of the cores, the GOP seems to have an "issues advantage."
That Chambliss doesn't have a better record to run on after six years is a sad commentary ... in a political season chock full of sad commentaries.
But I think he'll still win.
Let us discuss the Jim Martin-Saxby Chambliss brouhaha.
Mr. Martin's main claim to the office is that he is not George Bush. That fact, the success of Mr. Obama on Nov. 4 and the deliciously disruptive presence of a Libertarian in the field has put Martin in a position pull off what would be quite an upset.
Would that be a good thing?
Hardly, unless you think Congress really needs another uninspired drone following the party line.
Then again, that's pretty much what we've had the last six years with Sen. Chambliss. You think maybe Saxby wishes he had gone off the reservation at least once or twice?
Political sentiment in Georgia favors Chambliss. Obama IS a liberal and if abortion, gun control, higher taxes, etc. concern you, he's not your huckleberry. Nor is Martin.
Give the home field advantage to Chambliss, but the real battle is which side will be able to get their voters out. Will black voters who rallied to Obama's banner do the same for Martin? Democrats certainly smell blood in the water, but will that motivate enough of them to get to the polls?
"I'm not George Bush" doesn't seem to me to be enough of a drawing card.
Meanwhile the GOP Machine is stroking the abortion button, the gun rights button and other tried and true hot button issues that have worked for them in the past. Liberals whine about this and decry the "Religious Right" and the "gun nuts." but the issues are legitimate and they matter greatly to elements of the GOP's core.
And if this runoff turns into a battle of the cores, the GOP seems to have an "issues advantage."
That Chambliss doesn't have a better record to run on after six years is a sad commentary ... in a political season chock full of sad commentaries.
But I think he'll still win.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
UGA
If Georgia beats Georgia Tech, no sure thing, the Dawgs will finish the regular season 10-2, a pretty impressive season for any NCAA team. Yet even with a win over Tech, most UGA fans will be disappointed.
A season that began with a No. 1 ranking could have and should have been better. Right?
Maybe not.
Florida is better team. The game in Jacksonville probably would have been closer if Georgia hadn't lost its best offensive and defensive linemen before the season got rolling, but even if Sturdivant and Owens had been there it's hard to see them making that much difference.
The Alabama game is a different matter, but the fact is Georgia came out so ill-prepared to play that they could have had a few veteran NFLers in the lineup and they still would have lost.
This isn't a Bash Mark Richt column, but the Georgia coach deserves to be scrutinized closely after this season, particularly if the Tech game and/or the bowl game end disastrously. Why Richt?
The fact is this Georgia team never developed the way it reasonably should have. Barring the win at LSU, where Georgia needed every one of its 52 points to nail it down, what Georgia performances made this team look like a top national contender?
Last week's painful tooth pull against Auburn? The nail-biters with Vandy and Kentucky? The Tennessee "classic?"
None of 'em.
Georgia was overrated when the season started. The O-line was too raw and never recovered from the loss of Sturdivant. That made things a lot tougher for Moreno and Stafford, Georgia two most gifted players. Both had good seasons, but neither had a year approaching the pre-season hype.
Defensively, the loss of Owens weakened the middle. But when was the last time a Georgia team could muster NO pass rush with its defensive ends? After 11 games coordinator Willie Martinez is still trying to figure out how to get consistent pressure on the QB.
Linebacker Rennie Curran has been outstanding and the secondary has played fairly well. But overall the defense has been too soft against good (and some not-so-good) teams.
As is the norm in college football Martinez and O-coordiantor Mike Bobo will catch most of the fan abuse. But both work for Richt and he is responsible for their performance, as well as the team's. Most disturbingly, and clearly Richt must answer for this, is Georgia's continuing identity as the dumbest, sloppiest team in the SEC.
Has any team in the country committed more asinine penalties than the Dawgs? Time and time again Georgia killed its own offensive momentum or through gas on a defensive fire by commiting stupid penalties. And I'm not talking the occasional late hit or holding. I mean those brain-jarringly stupid personal fouls and offsides and illegal procedures.
Throw in the abundance of dropped passes and you have to wonder if anyone on the team understands the concept of concentration, much less execution.
Richt mumbles his weekly apologies on the matter and vows to get to the bottom of it. But there is nothing new about this problem and yet it persists game in and game out.
Maybe the coach needs to take a look at how other teams manage to play within the rules on a more regular basis.
I didn't expect Georgia to win the national title this year. I thought winning the SEC East would have been a heck of an accomplishment. But it would have been fun to see this team -- offense, defense and special teams -- click on all cylinders more often.
It's what the great programs around the country do regularly.
Right now, we aren't in that elite and it's not because of talent.
It's because the talent fails to play up to its ablity.
The team needs to get better but it will only if the coaching staff does its job better. Scary things is, I'm not sure they realize that.
Go dawgs.
A season that began with a No. 1 ranking could have and should have been better. Right?
Maybe not.
Florida is better team. The game in Jacksonville probably would have been closer if Georgia hadn't lost its best offensive and defensive linemen before the season got rolling, but even if Sturdivant and Owens had been there it's hard to see them making that much difference.
The Alabama game is a different matter, but the fact is Georgia came out so ill-prepared to play that they could have had a few veteran NFLers in the lineup and they still would have lost.
This isn't a Bash Mark Richt column, but the Georgia coach deserves to be scrutinized closely after this season, particularly if the Tech game and/or the bowl game end disastrously. Why Richt?
The fact is this Georgia team never developed the way it reasonably should have. Barring the win at LSU, where Georgia needed every one of its 52 points to nail it down, what Georgia performances made this team look like a top national contender?
Last week's painful tooth pull against Auburn? The nail-biters with Vandy and Kentucky? The Tennessee "classic?"
None of 'em.
Georgia was overrated when the season started. The O-line was too raw and never recovered from the loss of Sturdivant. That made things a lot tougher for Moreno and Stafford, Georgia two most gifted players. Both had good seasons, but neither had a year approaching the pre-season hype.
Defensively, the loss of Owens weakened the middle. But when was the last time a Georgia team could muster NO pass rush with its defensive ends? After 11 games coordinator Willie Martinez is still trying to figure out how to get consistent pressure on the QB.
Linebacker Rennie Curran has been outstanding and the secondary has played fairly well. But overall the defense has been too soft against good (and some not-so-good) teams.
As is the norm in college football Martinez and O-coordiantor Mike Bobo will catch most of the fan abuse. But both work for Richt and he is responsible for their performance, as well as the team's. Most disturbingly, and clearly Richt must answer for this, is Georgia's continuing identity as the dumbest, sloppiest team in the SEC.
Has any team in the country committed more asinine penalties than the Dawgs? Time and time again Georgia killed its own offensive momentum or through gas on a defensive fire by commiting stupid penalties. And I'm not talking the occasional late hit or holding. I mean those brain-jarringly stupid personal fouls and offsides and illegal procedures.
Throw in the abundance of dropped passes and you have to wonder if anyone on the team understands the concept of concentration, much less execution.
Richt mumbles his weekly apologies on the matter and vows to get to the bottom of it. But there is nothing new about this problem and yet it persists game in and game out.
Maybe the coach needs to take a look at how other teams manage to play within the rules on a more regular basis.
I didn't expect Georgia to win the national title this year. I thought winning the SEC East would have been a heck of an accomplishment. But it would have been fun to see this team -- offense, defense and special teams -- click on all cylinders more often.
It's what the great programs around the country do regularly.
Right now, we aren't in that elite and it's not because of talent.
It's because the talent fails to play up to its ablity.
The team needs to get better but it will only if the coaching staff does its job better. Scary things is, I'm not sure they realize that.
Go dawgs.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
TV
All the movies aren't winners, but Turner Classic continues to dig up some interesting/offbeat choices for its Friday night (late night) Undergound Classics. The array of movies has been wide -- crime, sci fi, Russ Meyer, Ed Wood, etc. -- and most have been worth the viewing.
A few weeks ago they ran a double feature of Tim Carey's 'World's Greatest Sinner" and Frank Zappa's "200 Motels." Strange stuff, but the kind of offbeat work you just don't see anywhere else.
Check it out.
A few weeks ago they ran a double feature of Tim Carey's 'World's Greatest Sinner" and Frank Zappa's "200 Motels." Strange stuff, but the kind of offbeat work you just don't see anywhere else.
Check it out.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
2008 reading list
Last year about this time I realized there were books I kept coming across that I had intended to read but somehow overlooked. I vowed to fix that in 2008, so I sat down and worked out a list of 50 books I wanted to read this year. That list changed during the year as I picked up some new things, but as of yesterday I finished number 50.
There were not all big thick tomes. Instead there was a mix "heavy" reading and fun, "skinny" books.
I mixed up genres and made a point of there being a diverse selection.
The worst book I read all year was "1805 Austerlitz"by Robert Goetz. Napoleon never before seemed so dull. To be fair, this book was for more of a hard core Napoleon reader, but for me the detail was deadening.
Military history also gave me my favorite read, Robert Mosier's "The Blitzkrieg Myth." It was a fascinating look at many of the fundamental myths of World War II history.
Very smart, very provocative.
I gave all 50 of my reads a letter grade and below are the A class titles.
---
The Blitzkrieg Myth by Robert Mosier
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Darkly Dreming Dexter by Jeff Lindsey
Peace Kills by PJ O'Rourke
Mucho Mojo by Joe Lansdale
Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
Swan Lake by James Lee Burke
---
The were several B's that could have slid in as A's but these were pretty much the titles I enjoyed most. Swan Lake would probably be my second favorite read, a real return-to-form by Burke, who seemed to be wearing down. I was heavy on mysteries this year, but it paid off with some excellent stuff.
Anyhow I am readying my 2009 list. There will be fewer titles on it, maybe 35-40.
Suggestions are welcome.
---
Later, if I have some time to burn, I may post my entire list with letter grades.
There were not all big thick tomes. Instead there was a mix "heavy" reading and fun, "skinny" books.
I mixed up genres and made a point of there being a diverse selection.
The worst book I read all year was "1805 Austerlitz"by Robert Goetz. Napoleon never before seemed so dull. To be fair, this book was for more of a hard core Napoleon reader, but for me the detail was deadening.
Military history also gave me my favorite read, Robert Mosier's "The Blitzkrieg Myth." It was a fascinating look at many of the fundamental myths of World War II history.
Very smart, very provocative.
I gave all 50 of my reads a letter grade and below are the A class titles.
---
The Blitzkrieg Myth by Robert Mosier
Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley
Cool It by Bjorn Lomborg
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Darkly Dreming Dexter by Jeff Lindsey
Peace Kills by PJ O'Rourke
Mucho Mojo by Joe Lansdale
Salvation on Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington
Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned by Walter Mosley
Swan Lake by James Lee Burke
---
The were several B's that could have slid in as A's but these were pretty much the titles I enjoyed most. Swan Lake would probably be my second favorite read, a real return-to-form by Burke, who seemed to be wearing down. I was heavy on mysteries this year, but it paid off with some excellent stuff.
Anyhow I am readying my 2009 list. There will be fewer titles on it, maybe 35-40.
Suggestions are welcome.
---
Later, if I have some time to burn, I may post my entire list with letter grades.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
He ain't pretty, but the song is. The Pogues. And if you want to learn a little about the band, read this.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The Cantrell bombing
One of the more remarkable things in the hours after the "Cantrell bombing" was the openness of the McCamy law firm. The willingness of the firm's partners and employees to talk openly about what happened, even as the office still smoldered, was unusual. I suspect that if the lawyers has asked their lawyers, their lawyers would have told the lawyers to clam up. Got that?
Fortunately they didn't ask.
By talking about the terrible event openly and honestly,the firm nipped in the bud a lot of potential rumors. It certainly made our job easier, but much more importantly reassured the community about what had happened.
Fortunately they didn't ask.
By talking about the terrible event openly and honestly,the firm nipped in the bud a lot of potential rumors. It certainly made our job easier, but much more importantly reassured the community about what had happened.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
You Sunday Free Tune
For cousin Jason Espy, as well as the University of Georgia defense. They are going to need it this week.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Shuuuuush
I am sneaking in some blogging while pretending to watch the Sex and the City movie with the wife. Eleven minutes in and the pain is indescribable.
There are two big time football games on and I am listening to "Carrie" go on about how small her closet is.
I've also got 80 percent of the Iron Man movie watched but instead of seeing Ol' Buckethead smack around Jeff Bridges I'm listening to Mario Cantone's gay schtick. One would think he really was gay.
This should score me at least 100 Husband Points, which I plan on trading in soon for a night of poker with the boys.
There are two big time football games on and I am listening to "Carrie" go on about how small her closet is.
I've also got 80 percent of the Iron Man movie watched but instead of seeing Ol' Buckethead smack around Jeff Bridges I'm listening to Mario Cantone's gay schtick. One would think he really was gay.
This should score me at least 100 Husband Points, which I plan on trading in soon for a night of poker with the boys.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Flicks
Harold and Kumar Go to Guantanamo Bay has some laughs. The Neal Patrick Harris stuff is funny and so is the big scene with President Bush.
Strange, the boys only spend about five (fairly funny) minutes at Git-mo, but hey this isn't a movie you watch if plot is that important to you.
These pictures are definitely for stoners and would be teen hipsters, but there's laughs for us Animal House-loving oldsters, too.
(I saw the unrated version, which is particularly gross and dopier, if you know what I mean.)
Strange, the boys only spend about five (fairly funny) minutes at Git-mo, but hey this isn't a movie you watch if plot is that important to you.
These pictures are definitely for stoners and would be teen hipsters, but there's laughs for us Animal House-loving oldsters, too.
(I saw the unrated version, which is particularly gross and dopier, if you know what I mean.)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
My Sunday column
A day to remember
I don’t know if I could work with me, but I am lucky to have a group of people at The Daily Citizen who somehow can.
That fact was made abundantly clear on Friday, as the newsroom of The Daily Citizen moved into high gear to cover the bombing of the McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle and Fordham Law Firm.
The horrific event occurred less than two blocks from out office — chilling in a way but from a practical standpoint a great break.
I was at home when the explosion happened. I was at work less than 45 minutes later and didn’t leave for the next 12 hours.
It was a grueling day.
Covering the news for a living is a strange job at times, Events which startle, frighten and sometimes sicken a journalist, often become the stories by which we measure our worth.
Old newspapermen sitting around sipping bourbon don’t brag about city council meetings or art festivals they covered. They swap tales about the colossal foulups, disasters and tragedies they worked.
I’ve had those experiences.
Friday was another.
Two of my reporters — Mark Millican and Kim Sloan — were on the scene within minutes of the explosion. We chased down both of our photographers — Matt Hamilton and Misty Watson, who came in on her off day — and sent them as well.
As more staffers arrived, we met quickly — the equivalent of a backyard quarterback scratching out some football plays on a napkin. More detailed planning came later, but early on we just wanted to gather as much information as possible.
It paid off.
Reporters quickly began relaying information back to the office — praise the cell phone — and that opened up new areas to look into.
Newsroom clerk Lara Hayes monitored the police radio, kept an eye on the TV and made and answered phone calls.
Reporter Jamie Jones joined Millican and Sloan on Crawford Street and reporter Charles Oliver took off to dig up background on the bombing suspect.
Fortunately for me, news editor Victor Miller arrived in time to help organize the whole carnival.
My boss William Bronson immediately OK’d the idea of a separate six-page section to be devoted solely to the day’s dreadful events.
A stand-alone section made perfect sense, except I was the only person in the office trained to do page layout. Two of our regular news editors were unavailable and the sports staff was up to its ears in covering Friday night football.
So I started knocking out pages for the regular edition as quickly as possible, as the Sword of Damocles — the special section — dangled overhead.
Then, an epiphany.
A quick phone call and 30 minutes later Chris Stephens, a former staffer who still helps us with dalton magazine, walked in the door, ready to get to work.
Chris sat down and started pounding out pages for the special section.
During this process we pressed hard to provide information to the public as quickly as possible through our Web site, daltondailycitizen.com.
The site logged thousands of hits as word spread about the terrible events. Our regular Internet audience checked it out for information throughout the day, but we also saw thousand of “unique hits” — first-timers from all over the country looking in.
Another Chris, our tech man Chris McConkey, was also instrumental. Not only did he take some pictures at the scene, but he put a lot of photos up on the Web site.
Several statewide and national news organizations called and those interviews put us on the radar for lots of new people interested in the story.
At the end of the day, we got our regular paper done on time and the special section — thanks to Stephens and the rest of the staff — wrapped up earlier than expected.
It’s a good piece and I’m proud of it. I am even prouder of the hard work and tireless dedication this newspaper staff showed in putting it together.
No complaining.
No excuse making.
Everyone took on a task and went after it hard.
That’s the way it should be.
Now, if I could only find a glass of good bourbon.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He blogs at Espysoutpost.blogspot.com. Stop by and sit a spell.
I don’t know if I could work with me, but I am lucky to have a group of people at The Daily Citizen who somehow can.
That fact was made abundantly clear on Friday, as the newsroom of The Daily Citizen moved into high gear to cover the bombing of the McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle and Fordham Law Firm.
The horrific event occurred less than two blocks from out office — chilling in a way but from a practical standpoint a great break.
I was at home when the explosion happened. I was at work less than 45 minutes later and didn’t leave for the next 12 hours.
It was a grueling day.
Covering the news for a living is a strange job at times, Events which startle, frighten and sometimes sicken a journalist, often become the stories by which we measure our worth.
Old newspapermen sitting around sipping bourbon don’t brag about city council meetings or art festivals they covered. They swap tales about the colossal foulups, disasters and tragedies they worked.
I’ve had those experiences.
Friday was another.
Two of my reporters — Mark Millican and Kim Sloan — were on the scene within minutes of the explosion. We chased down both of our photographers — Matt Hamilton and Misty Watson, who came in on her off day — and sent them as well.
As more staffers arrived, we met quickly — the equivalent of a backyard quarterback scratching out some football plays on a napkin. More detailed planning came later, but early on we just wanted to gather as much information as possible.
It paid off.
Reporters quickly began relaying information back to the office — praise the cell phone — and that opened up new areas to look into.
Newsroom clerk Lara Hayes monitored the police radio, kept an eye on the TV and made and answered phone calls.
Reporter Jamie Jones joined Millican and Sloan on Crawford Street and reporter Charles Oliver took off to dig up background on the bombing suspect.
Fortunately for me, news editor Victor Miller arrived in time to help organize the whole carnival.
My boss William Bronson immediately OK’d the idea of a separate six-page section to be devoted solely to the day’s dreadful events.
A stand-alone section made perfect sense, except I was the only person in the office trained to do page layout. Two of our regular news editors were unavailable and the sports staff was up to its ears in covering Friday night football.
So I started knocking out pages for the regular edition as quickly as possible, as the Sword of Damocles — the special section — dangled overhead.
Then, an epiphany.
A quick phone call and 30 minutes later Chris Stephens, a former staffer who still helps us with dalton magazine, walked in the door, ready to get to work.
Chris sat down and started pounding out pages for the special section.
During this process we pressed hard to provide information to the public as quickly as possible through our Web site, daltondailycitizen.com.
The site logged thousands of hits as word spread about the terrible events. Our regular Internet audience checked it out for information throughout the day, but we also saw thousand of “unique hits” — first-timers from all over the country looking in.
Another Chris, our tech man Chris McConkey, was also instrumental. Not only did he take some pictures at the scene, but he put a lot of photos up on the Web site.
Several statewide and national news organizations called and those interviews put us on the radar for lots of new people interested in the story.
At the end of the day, we got our regular paper done on time and the special section — thanks to Stephens and the rest of the staff — wrapped up earlier than expected.
It’s a good piece and I’m proud of it. I am even prouder of the hard work and tireless dedication this newspaper staff showed in putting it together.
No complaining.
No excuse making.
Everyone took on a task and went after it hard.
That’s the way it should be.
Now, if I could only find a glass of good bourbon.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He blogs at Espysoutpost.blogspot.com. Stop by and sit a spell.
Your free Sunday tune
If I was any a band we'd close every show with a nastified version of this one. A great pop song.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Oh Canada!
Mark Steyn (and freedom) won his trial. Here's a lovely assessment.
And there's more from Kathy Shaidle.
And there's more from Kathy Shaidle.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Funny, yes. Informed, not so much.
There are few things rarer than a genuinely funny female comedian. Sarah Silverman fits into that underpopulated category. Plus, she's a major hotty. Unfortunately sweet Sarah is is now injecting herself into politics. That wouldn't be so bad if I had any reason to believe she knew anything about the subject.
On Letterman Monday, Silverman discussed her friend Al Franken's run for the governorship of Minnesota.
Of course, he isn't running from governor.
With Dave's help, Sarah later guessed correctly that he was after a Senate seat.
Celebrities have every right to voice their political views. It's just strange that they get to do so on a national stage.
On Letterman Monday, Silverman discussed her friend Al Franken's run for the governorship of Minnesota.
Of course, he isn't running from governor.
With Dave's help, Sarah later guessed correctly that he was after a Senate seat.
Celebrities have every right to voice their political views. It's just strange that they get to do so on a national stage.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My Sunday column
We have been told by our national “leadership” that the only way we can get out of this gigantic government-caused, government-exacerbated financial mess is to dig out our wallets and do exactly what government tells us. This time, we have been assured, THEY are going to get it right.
THEY, make no mistake, are both Democrats and Republicans.
While the two knuckle-headed presidential candidates excreted by the major parties this time take turns blaming the other guys, any reasonable American citizen knows full well that the elected officials of both parties have created this mess.
For years the political pundits and other assorted popinjays have told us about the great wonder that our federal government could accomplish if the two great parties set aside their differences and worked together. Well folks, they did and this is what we’ve got — a plummeting stock market, a looming recession and a worldwide financial panic.
I miss gridlock.
Newsweek Magazine big cheese John Meachem, a major Obama supporter, authored a recent cover story about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and how her lack of “knowledge” was a major impediment to her serving as VP. Meachem is convinced that what America really needs right now is more of the inside-the-Beltway “knowledge” that has benefited us so handsomely up to this point. Say what you want about Palin — and I’m no fan — but while the smarty pants in Washington and on Wall Street were constructing a financial house of cards, she was off hunting caribou, or doing something equally harmless.
It was the Bidens, Obamas and McCains — the knowledgeable crowd — who went along to get along.
And why not?
The way things were going every moron in America was going to own at least two houses. The construction industry was booming and the big time financiers were stumbling over their Friday paychecks.
What could possibly go wrong?
Call me a cynic. I have little confidence in the federal government doing just about anything.
I lived in Florida in the 1990s. While I was there, the federal government unveiled its plan to restore the Everglades. Let me repeat, the federal government was going to RESTORE THE EVERGLADES.
Hahahahaha.
A decade and billions of dollars later that project is stuck in the mud. In the end, we’ll be lucky if a single squirrel survives.
The government is a muck up.
At the federal level, the government should do three things:
n Provide for the national defense
n Provide a system of courts for legal matters not better resolved at the state level
n Provide a basic framework for dealing with other nations.
No NASA. No Department of Education. No Commerce Department. No NPR.
Chuck it all.
Send power back to the states and that way if California passes a lot of stupid economic laws, the people who suffer from it will primarily be Californians, who can then either pick up and move to a better-run state or vote out the idiots that bungled things up to begin with.
Also, boot the big corporations (and the little ones too) off the federal teat. Do away with the Washington-based power center that draws corruption and criminality like rotten fruit lures flies.
Will there be corruption and stupidity and arrogance at the local and state level? Sure. But it will do a lot less damage.
Don’t believe me?
Go ahead and elect McCainobamabidenpalin and see it anything fundamental changes for the better. If you think it will, you’re exactly the kind of sap they’re counting on.
Sorry if this column is a downer, but I just got my 401(k) statement and I had to vent.
Live long. Be prosperous.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He offers more opinions, not all so angry, at his blog, Espysoutpost.blogspot.com. Stop by and sit a spell.
THEY, make no mistake, are both Democrats and Republicans.
While the two knuckle-headed presidential candidates excreted by the major parties this time take turns blaming the other guys, any reasonable American citizen knows full well that the elected officials of both parties have created this mess.
For years the political pundits and other assorted popinjays have told us about the great wonder that our federal government could accomplish if the two great parties set aside their differences and worked together. Well folks, they did and this is what we’ve got — a plummeting stock market, a looming recession and a worldwide financial panic.
I miss gridlock.
Newsweek Magazine big cheese John Meachem, a major Obama supporter, authored a recent cover story about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and how her lack of “knowledge” was a major impediment to her serving as VP. Meachem is convinced that what America really needs right now is more of the inside-the-Beltway “knowledge” that has benefited us so handsomely up to this point. Say what you want about Palin — and I’m no fan — but while the smarty pants in Washington and on Wall Street were constructing a financial house of cards, she was off hunting caribou, or doing something equally harmless.
It was the Bidens, Obamas and McCains — the knowledgeable crowd — who went along to get along.
And why not?
The way things were going every moron in America was going to own at least two houses. The construction industry was booming and the big time financiers were stumbling over their Friday paychecks.
What could possibly go wrong?
Call me a cynic. I have little confidence in the federal government doing just about anything.
I lived in Florida in the 1990s. While I was there, the federal government unveiled its plan to restore the Everglades. Let me repeat, the federal government was going to RESTORE THE EVERGLADES.
Hahahahaha.
A decade and billions of dollars later that project is stuck in the mud. In the end, we’ll be lucky if a single squirrel survives.
The government is a muck up.
At the federal level, the government should do three things:
n Provide for the national defense
n Provide a system of courts for legal matters not better resolved at the state level
n Provide a basic framework for dealing with other nations.
No NASA. No Department of Education. No Commerce Department. No NPR.
Chuck it all.
Send power back to the states and that way if California passes a lot of stupid economic laws, the people who suffer from it will primarily be Californians, who can then either pick up and move to a better-run state or vote out the idiots that bungled things up to begin with.
Also, boot the big corporations (and the little ones too) off the federal teat. Do away with the Washington-based power center that draws corruption and criminality like rotten fruit lures flies.
Will there be corruption and stupidity and arrogance at the local and state level? Sure. But it will do a lot less damage.
Don’t believe me?
Go ahead and elect McCainobamabidenpalin and see it anything fundamental changes for the better. If you think it will, you’re exactly the kind of sap they’re counting on.
Sorry if this column is a downer, but I just got my 401(k) statement and I had to vent.
Live long. Be prosperous.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He offers more opinions, not all so angry, at his blog, Espysoutpost.blogspot.com. Stop by and sit a spell.
NFL
It was a pleasure to watch Kurt Warner at QB against the Cowboys. Despite all the poundings he has taken over the years, he stood up to a constant, brutal pass rush and kept delivering accurate throws.
I was shocked at how shoddy and over matched Levi Brown looked at right tackle. He almost got Warner killed time and time again and the Cards didn't do much to get him any help. It looked like a Mike Martz-designed scheme.
Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald had some nice catches, but Warner made touch throws that took me back to the Golden Age.
I was shocked at how shoddy and over matched Levi Brown looked at right tackle. He almost got Warner killed time and time again and the Cards didn't do much to get him any help. It looked like a Mike Martz-designed scheme.
Steve Breaston and Larry Fitzgerald had some nice catches, but Warner made touch throws that took me back to the Golden Age.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Comrade Kenny will live!
There is resistance to the commie crackdown on South Park. Could a new Russian Revolution trace its origins to Cartman and Co.
The economy
The reliable Robert J. Samuelson talks about the Great Depression and what we can expect in coming months.
The ESPN Idiot Files
Still wondering why Brett Favre decided to play again? Apparently some words of wisdom from Stuart Scott made the difference. Idiot Stu, who ran into Favre at the ESPYs, suggested to him that he "make the decision that works best for your family."
Enlightened by this new way of looking at his quandary, Favre made his decision, much to the dismay of the Arizona secondary.
Another poor fool who actually wrote Stu at his ESPN The Pretentious Magazine site asked if his new "And ... here ... we ... go" catchphrase came from the Batman movie. You think? Stu admitted it did and said he had "mad respect" for Heath Ledger's performance, which he rates as one of the five best acting performances he's seen.
This may well be true because Stu probably thinks Othello is something you smear on a sandwich.
I'd love to hear the Idiot's other four favorite performances but I'm betting at least one of them is Brett Favre's terrific work in "Something About Mary," which the then Green Bay signal caller wavered about doing until Stu gave him the nudge.
Thanks Stu for all you do.
You big ESPN idiot.
Enlightened by this new way of looking at his quandary, Favre made his decision, much to the dismay of the Arizona secondary.
Another poor fool who actually wrote Stu at his ESPN The Pretentious Magazine site asked if his new "And ... here ... we ... go" catchphrase came from the Batman movie. You think? Stu admitted it did and said he had "mad respect" for Heath Ledger's performance, which he rates as one of the five best acting performances he's seen.
This may well be true because Stu probably thinks Othello is something you smear on a sandwich.
I'd love to hear the Idiot's other four favorite performances but I'm betting at least one of them is Brett Favre's terrific work in "Something About Mary," which the then Green Bay signal caller wavered about doing until Stu gave him the nudge.
Thanks Stu for all you do.
You big ESPN idiot.
The Wrestler
I'd always hoped to make the first great pro wrestling movie. Maybe these guys beat me to it. I hope so.
The Worker's Paradise
Tough times in Cuba. An interesting article but the author's naievete shows through with the absence of any mention of the black market. I guarantee a lot of connected Cubans are still getting their groceries.
Note this line:
Vendor Nadia Gomez, who received nothing that day, said police checkpoints leading into Havana now turn away trucks unauthorized to market produce in the capital or have been ordered send their goods to harder-hit areas.
So, the command economy at its most simplistic. Just turn that truck around and send it away from the market and it will get to the right places. Yup, it's that simple.
Problem solved by good old communist ingenuity.
Note this line:
Vendor Nadia Gomez, who received nothing that day, said police checkpoints leading into Havana now turn away trucks unauthorized to market produce in the capital or have been ordered send their goods to harder-hit areas.
So, the command economy at its most simplistic. Just turn that truck around and send it away from the market and it will get to the right places. Yup, it's that simple.
Problem solved by good old communist ingenuity.
Friday, October 10, 2008
NFL notebook
The Titans have thw week off which means some NFL team's offense will be saved a beating. Was it only three years ago this team appeared headed down the slop chute --buried by bad contracts and an aging roster.
Every move hasn't been ideal -- Derrick Mason has never been replaced -- but give the Titans organization credit for rebuilding quickly and judiciously.
Look at the defense, which is what makes this team competive.
By using every means open to them -- the draft, high dollar free agents and street free agents -- they have built a formidible group. Starters Michael Griffin, Cortland Finnegan (an absolute steal), Keith Bulluck, Tommy Tulloch and Albert Haynesworth came out of the draft and form a solid corps. Add productive but unheralded free agents like Chris Hope, Nick Harper and David Thornton, the LB they swiped from Indy, and you see more good decion making in action.
Kyle Vanden Bosch, a steal from the Cardinals, is the leader and old dog Jevon Kearse adds some fire as well.
By the way, keep an eye out for Jason Jones, a second rounder who can play DE or DT. If they get him in the right spot he could be a standout.
---
Watch out for Steve Breaston the Cardinals wide receiver stepping into Anquan Boldin's spot this weekend. Breaston can run and catch and he returns kicks. With Boldin wanting a new team next year, Breaston is getting a chance to show what he can do.
---
It's too soon to call former Vol DT Justin Harrell a bust, but so far he has shown next to nothing. The first round pick (2007) has been hurt this season and didn't do squat in his rookie year. He should come off IR soon and the Pack needs a third tackle to step up.
---
The Jags took DEs Quentin Groves of Auburn and and Derrick Harvey from Florida to provide instant pass rush, but it hasn't happened. Neither player seems to have developed enough technique to overcome the tremendous size and quickness of NFL tackles. Both players are promising, but there's work to be done and in the meantime the Jags can't get to the QB.
---
Jordan Gross missed last week's game for Carolina, the first time in his five-year career he didn't suit up. Carolina's best offseason move was resigning Gros.
---
I never believed the Mike Martz was going to make a superstar out of Vernon Davis hype. Martz went on and on about Davis's athletic ability but he prefers a smaller, slower receiver who runs his routes precisely to a sloppier star "athlete." That's why a Dane Looker or Mike Furrey succeeds with Martz. His best receiver of this type was Az Hakim, who could run his routes but also had good speed. Davis has 18 catches so far and hasn't been a factor.
---
Who's counting? Me, that's who. Vernon Gholston doesn't have a sack yet as the transition to OLB is going very slowly.
---
Get ready add the name Ryan Torrain to the Broncos mix at RB. The rookie, who looked good in the preseason is about to come off IR. And whatever happened to Mike Bell?
---
Two weeks in a row the Ravens defense brutalized their opponents for most of the game, only to see it slip away in the fourth quarter as they tired and their lousy offense failed to produce points. Ray Lewis may be getting older, but still spends a lot of the game in the other team's backfield making plays.
---
Can Roethlisberger survive this season? He's getting pounded.
---
The Rams have Mark Bulger back at starter this week. Trent Green looked like a backup last week. He made some plays, but the arm looked mediocre at best. It's hard to judge any of the "skilled" players in the Rams offense, as the OL has been so weak. They need an OT and a C badly. The DL scenario is better. Leonard Little looked healthy last week and Chris Long is making some plays at RDE. Last year's top pick, DT Adam Carriker, played well last week as well.
---
Atlanta has beat two bad teams and a mediocre one. Can they beat a good team? One maybe. But this bunch still has a long way to go. Upgrading the DT posiiton would be a big help, though Grady Jackson has made some plays.
---
It took three years, but former LSU DT Kyle Williams is making a name for himself in Buffalo, starting alongside South Georgia's pride and joy, Marcus Stroud.
---
Is there a more underrated player in the NFL over the last five years than London Fletcher, who is now making 10 tackles a week for the Redskins?
Every move hasn't been ideal -- Derrick Mason has never been replaced -- but give the Titans organization credit for rebuilding quickly and judiciously.
Look at the defense, which is what makes this team competive.
By using every means open to them -- the draft, high dollar free agents and street free agents -- they have built a formidible group. Starters Michael Griffin, Cortland Finnegan (an absolute steal), Keith Bulluck, Tommy Tulloch and Albert Haynesworth came out of the draft and form a solid corps. Add productive but unheralded free agents like Chris Hope, Nick Harper and David Thornton, the LB they swiped from Indy, and you see more good decion making in action.
Kyle Vanden Bosch, a steal from the Cardinals, is the leader and old dog Jevon Kearse adds some fire as well.
By the way, keep an eye out for Jason Jones, a second rounder who can play DE or DT. If they get him in the right spot he could be a standout.
---
Watch out for Steve Breaston the Cardinals wide receiver stepping into Anquan Boldin's spot this weekend. Breaston can run and catch and he returns kicks. With Boldin wanting a new team next year, Breaston is getting a chance to show what he can do.
---
It's too soon to call former Vol DT Justin Harrell a bust, but so far he has shown next to nothing. The first round pick (2007) has been hurt this season and didn't do squat in his rookie year. He should come off IR soon and the Pack needs a third tackle to step up.
---
The Jags took DEs Quentin Groves of Auburn and and Derrick Harvey from Florida to provide instant pass rush, but it hasn't happened. Neither player seems to have developed enough technique to overcome the tremendous size and quickness of NFL tackles. Both players are promising, but there's work to be done and in the meantime the Jags can't get to the QB.
---
Jordan Gross missed last week's game for Carolina, the first time in his five-year career he didn't suit up. Carolina's best offseason move was resigning Gros.
---
I never believed the Mike Martz was going to make a superstar out of Vernon Davis hype. Martz went on and on about Davis's athletic ability but he prefers a smaller, slower receiver who runs his routes precisely to a sloppier star "athlete." That's why a Dane Looker or Mike Furrey succeeds with Martz. His best receiver of this type was Az Hakim, who could run his routes but also had good speed. Davis has 18 catches so far and hasn't been a factor.
---
Who's counting? Me, that's who. Vernon Gholston doesn't have a sack yet as the transition to OLB is going very slowly.
---
Get ready add the name Ryan Torrain to the Broncos mix at RB. The rookie, who looked good in the preseason is about to come off IR. And whatever happened to Mike Bell?
---
Two weeks in a row the Ravens defense brutalized their opponents for most of the game, only to see it slip away in the fourth quarter as they tired and their lousy offense failed to produce points. Ray Lewis may be getting older, but still spends a lot of the game in the other team's backfield making plays.
---
Can Roethlisberger survive this season? He's getting pounded.
---
The Rams have Mark Bulger back at starter this week. Trent Green looked like a backup last week. He made some plays, but the arm looked mediocre at best. It's hard to judge any of the "skilled" players in the Rams offense, as the OL has been so weak. They need an OT and a C badly. The DL scenario is better. Leonard Little looked healthy last week and Chris Long is making some plays at RDE. Last year's top pick, DT Adam Carriker, played well last week as well.
---
Atlanta has beat two bad teams and a mediocre one. Can they beat a good team? One maybe. But this bunch still has a long way to go. Upgrading the DT posiiton would be a big help, though Grady Jackson has made some plays.
---
It took three years, but former LSU DT Kyle Williams is making a name for himself in Buffalo, starting alongside South Georgia's pride and joy, Marcus Stroud.
---
Is there a more underrated player in the NFL over the last five years than London Fletcher, who is now making 10 tackles a week for the Redskins?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The market
You won't be hearing as much drill, drill, drill because at these prices the oil companies aren't looking to spend on finding new fields.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Bloody good time
The third season of the Showtime series “Dexter” has started. Two episodes in and our favorite serial killer is already hard at work.
Looks like Dexter is going to be a dad, a development which could get in the way of his bloody hobby, the elimination of Miami’s most reprehensible criminals.
If you thought last season presented our “hero” with some tough situations, the start of season three could be even more convoluted and challenging as Dexter attempts to sort out the royal mess he creates in the season opening episode.
“Dexter” is a well written show with a great cast. It captures the feel of South Florida, in part because the show’s surroundings are so lovingly shown off.
Jimmy Smits is on board, though for how many episodes I don’t know. He’s got Bgreat part, a rising Miami assistant DA whose brother is killed under mysterious circumstances.
If you’ve been watching the show this year you’re probably already hooked. If you want to get on board, I am sure Showtime will package the first 3-4 episodes together soon for viewers who want to catch up.
Recommended.
Looks like Dexter is going to be a dad, a development which could get in the way of his bloody hobby, the elimination of Miami’s most reprehensible criminals.
If you thought last season presented our “hero” with some tough situations, the start of season three could be even more convoluted and challenging as Dexter attempts to sort out the royal mess he creates in the season opening episode.
“Dexter” is a well written show with a great cast. It captures the feel of South Florida, in part because the show’s surroundings are so lovingly shown off.
Jimmy Smits is on board, though for how many episodes I don’t know. He’s got Bgreat part, a rising Miami assistant DA whose brother is killed under mysterious circumstances.
If you’ve been watching the show this year you’re probably already hooked. If you want to get on board, I am sure Showtime will package the first 3-4 episodes together soon for viewers who want to catch up.
Recommended.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
NFL
I'm going to try and bring back my weekly NFL column for you football fans. It will run on Saturday. Check it out this week.
Grappling
Charles Oliver has this great Ric Flair interview on his site. Natch talks about Wahoo (for us old timers) and Cena (for you whippersnappers). Good stuff.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Baseball
Darn I really hate to see the Cubs get beat. I was pulling those for those spunky fellows ... Hahahahahahahahha!
I hate the Cubs.
I actully went to Wrigley a few years ago for the last game of the season. It's a great ballpark and jump at the chance if you can ever take your kids on a trip up there ... the baseball and the city are fantastic.The fans were very friendly and welcoming though depressed because the home team had been eliminated from the playoffs two days before.
Truly a great town.
But I got a big bad taste of Cubs fans a few years ago in Atlanta when their last playoff contender knocked off the Braves. I can take a loss in the playoffs -- you can't be a Braves fan and not be able to survive a post-season debacle -- but the obnoxious behavior of the Cub rooters in Atlanta was burned into my soul.
What a bunch of bush leaguers!
Maybe it's just the Cubs fans who live in other cities who are so loathsome. Maybe it's just the media droning on about how wonderful Cubbiness is that turns my stomach.
Whatever the root cause, this evil needs to be eradicated from baseball.
Forever.
Glad to see the Dodgers did their part ... and I don't like them either.
I hate the Cubs.
I actully went to Wrigley a few years ago for the last game of the season. It's a great ballpark and jump at the chance if you can ever take your kids on a trip up there ... the baseball and the city are fantastic.The fans were very friendly and welcoming though depressed because the home team had been eliminated from the playoffs two days before.
Truly a great town.
But I got a big bad taste of Cubs fans a few years ago in Atlanta when their last playoff contender knocked off the Braves. I can take a loss in the playoffs -- you can't be a Braves fan and not be able to survive a post-season debacle -- but the obnoxious behavior of the Cub rooters in Atlanta was burned into my soul.
What a bunch of bush leaguers!
Maybe it's just the Cubs fans who live in other cities who are so loathsome. Maybe it's just the media droning on about how wonderful Cubbiness is that turns my stomach.
Whatever the root cause, this evil needs to be eradicated from baseball.
Forever.
Glad to see the Dodgers did their part ... and I don't like them either.
The Flicks
Keep an eye out for a low-budget zombie-comedy (zombedy?) called "Dance of the Dead." Described as George Romero meets John Hughes, the movie was filned almost completely in Rome, Ga., using a lot of local sites and residents as extras. The director praised the help he got from the city and its citizens. Hopefully other cities in Northwest Georgia (Dalton???) will be used for future filming.
In Chattooga's lovely valleys ...
My alma mater, Chattooga High, got beat Friday night.
The loss was unexpected, but not shocking. What made the game unusual was that it was the debut of a new head coach for the Indians, who was not only coaching his first game at CHS, but was coaching his first game anywhere.
Last Saturday, longtime CHS coach John Starr was fired. His firing came after an upset loss to Armurchee. The loss, which dropped Chattooga to 3-1, figured in Starr's abrupt termination but it wasn't the cause.
While the coach has been successful at Chattooga, a program that was an absolute shambles when he took it over, Starr's teams were often sloppy and rarely as successful as they might have been. Last season. for instance, after as solid regular season they lost in the first round of the playoffs to an inferior team.
No one at Chattooga wants to admit it publicly, but the common complaint about Starr, an African American, was that he did not maintain discipline with his black players. No one in Summerville wants to say that because they don't want to set off a racial powder keg.
Enter Jimmy Lenderman, the long ago CHS football star and distinguished military careerist. Despite a resume lacking in experience, Lenderman was hired as athletic director before this season and you can bet his first priority was to get the football program "under control."I don't know if the decision was made then to "get Starr" or not. I suspect it was.
I went to the Chattooga-Cedartown game three weeks and something was definitely in the air. Despite an impressive win over the Buldogs and a big home crowd, almost everyone I talked to had a sense of forboding. I was told that had Chattooga lost that game or had there been any incidents on the field, Starr was going to get fired then. The call had already been made. Apparently the impressive win angered some folks who were ready to see the coach axed.
Starr lasted one more week when the the upset loss to Armuchee and a cloudy post-game "incident" involving a few players served as the pretext to do the deed.
Starr was let go less than 24 hours later. The principal said the program needed to "go in another direction" which is what bureaucrats say when they don't want to tell you the truth. The school board "don't know nuttin about nutting" which of course isn't true at all. They long ago knew Starr was headed out and left it up to the principal and AD to do the deed and keep the blood spatter off them.
The administration's lack of thought here popped up immediately when Lenderman couldn't get anyone to accept the interim coaching job. Starr has some people who were very loyal to him personally.
So now you have a very talented football team -- just ask Northwest Whitfield -- with a first time head coach running the show. Nice planning fellows.
Lenderman's career mark fell to 0-1 as the Indians got beat by Sonoraville on Friday. It was another game they should have won, but one they can't blame on Starr.
Hopefully the team will salvage what had been a very promising season.
That the kids on this team are now suffering because the elected officials and the school's administration didn't have the guts to deal with their perceived problems in a forthright manner BEFORE the season is unforgivable.
Starr had his problems and a good AD had ever right to deal with the coach and see that those problems were addressed, but I don't know anyone who thinks that's what happened at Chattooga. Starr was a marked man from Day One of the new administration.
They got him.
Now they have a mess.
The loss was unexpected, but not shocking. What made the game unusual was that it was the debut of a new head coach for the Indians, who was not only coaching his first game at CHS, but was coaching his first game anywhere.
Last Saturday, longtime CHS coach John Starr was fired. His firing came after an upset loss to Armurchee. The loss, which dropped Chattooga to 3-1, figured in Starr's abrupt termination but it wasn't the cause.
While the coach has been successful at Chattooga, a program that was an absolute shambles when he took it over, Starr's teams were often sloppy and rarely as successful as they might have been. Last season. for instance, after as solid regular season they lost in the first round of the playoffs to an inferior team.
No one at Chattooga wants to admit it publicly, but the common complaint about Starr, an African American, was that he did not maintain discipline with his black players. No one in Summerville wants to say that because they don't want to set off a racial powder keg.
Enter Jimmy Lenderman, the long ago CHS football star and distinguished military careerist. Despite a resume lacking in experience, Lenderman was hired as athletic director before this season and you can bet his first priority was to get the football program "under control."I don't know if the decision was made then to "get Starr" or not. I suspect it was.
I went to the Chattooga-Cedartown game three weeks and something was definitely in the air. Despite an impressive win over the Buldogs and a big home crowd, almost everyone I talked to had a sense of forboding. I was told that had Chattooga lost that game or had there been any incidents on the field, Starr was going to get fired then. The call had already been made. Apparently the impressive win angered some folks who were ready to see the coach axed.
Starr lasted one more week when the the upset loss to Armuchee and a cloudy post-game "incident" involving a few players served as the pretext to do the deed.
Starr was let go less than 24 hours later. The principal said the program needed to "go in another direction" which is what bureaucrats say when they don't want to tell you the truth. The school board "don't know nuttin about nutting" which of course isn't true at all. They long ago knew Starr was headed out and left it up to the principal and AD to do the deed and keep the blood spatter off them.
The administration's lack of thought here popped up immediately when Lenderman couldn't get anyone to accept the interim coaching job. Starr has some people who were very loyal to him personally.
So now you have a very talented football team -- just ask Northwest Whitfield -- with a first time head coach running the show. Nice planning fellows.
Lenderman's career mark fell to 0-1 as the Indians got beat by Sonoraville on Friday. It was another game they should have won, but one they can't blame on Starr.
Hopefully the team will salvage what had been a very promising season.
That the kids on this team are now suffering because the elected officials and the school's administration didn't have the guts to deal with their perceived problems in a forthright manner BEFORE the season is unforgivable.
Starr had his problems and a good AD had ever right to deal with the coach and see that those problems were addressed, but I don't know anyone who thinks that's what happened at Chattooga. Starr was a marked man from Day One of the new administration.
They got him.
Now they have a mess.
My Sunday column
When asked in what colors his Model Ts would be available, Henry Ford is rumored to have responded “Any color you want as long as it is black.”
A similar answer was given to the masses of Dalton this week. City residents could have any school superintendent they wanted to replace retiring superintendent Orval Porter, as long as that superintendent was Jim Hawkins of Killeen, Texas.
Hawkins will be taking over the position, which taxpayers fund at a handsome rate, in January. He was selected after school board chairman Steve Williams found a bottle bobbing against the side of his swimming pool. Inside the bottle was a slip of paper with the words, “Hire Jim Hawkins of Killeen, Texas, to replace Porter” on it. Intrigued, Williams looked into the matter, liked what he found and quickly got his fellow board members — does anyone even know their names — to sign on. Presto, chango, Dalton has its next school superintendent.
At least, that’s one version of the story floating around.
(Another theory involves the Freemasons, the Trilateral Commission, the Mossad and the assassination of President McKinley, but I find that one a little far fetched.)
What is clear is that the city school board has no interest in the public’s opinion on this matter, nor does it feel any obligation to open the search up in any meaningful way. The drovers know what’s best for the cattle and no amount of bawling by the dumb beasts makes any difference.
Arrogance personified.
•••
On Tuesday, in a bureaucratic Twilight Zone not so far away, our county school board hosted 100 or so folks with a laundry list of questions or complaints about the new high school planned for the northeastern part of the county. The crowd was angry, but school board chairman Tim Trew put them at ease with some funny jokes and then, with the help of his four peers answered each and every question forthrightly and with such apparent honesty and precision that the crowd changed its mind and ended the evening with a series of loud “Huzzahs!” for the school board members.
Just kidding.
Trew dummied up faster than John Gotti in an FBI raid and he and the rest of the board dove behind the skirts of their out-of-town lawyer and sat silently as one local citizen after another wasted their time at the public microphone. They might as well have been talking to those stone monuments on Easter Island.
Whatever you think about the location of the school, whatever you think about how this public relations fiasco has evolved, surely there should be at least one person on that board with the integrity and courage to speak to the public. And don’t give me that “the lawyer said don’t talk garbage.”
You don’t work for the lawyer. He works for you.
You work for all of us taxpaying jerks who live in the county, you know the ones you cuddled up to when running for office.
Arrogance personified.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen
A similar answer was given to the masses of Dalton this week. City residents could have any school superintendent they wanted to replace retiring superintendent Orval Porter, as long as that superintendent was Jim Hawkins of Killeen, Texas.
Hawkins will be taking over the position, which taxpayers fund at a handsome rate, in January. He was selected after school board chairman Steve Williams found a bottle bobbing against the side of his swimming pool. Inside the bottle was a slip of paper with the words, “Hire Jim Hawkins of Killeen, Texas, to replace Porter” on it. Intrigued, Williams looked into the matter, liked what he found and quickly got his fellow board members — does anyone even know their names — to sign on. Presto, chango, Dalton has its next school superintendent.
At least, that’s one version of the story floating around.
(Another theory involves the Freemasons, the Trilateral Commission, the Mossad and the assassination of President McKinley, but I find that one a little far fetched.)
What is clear is that the city school board has no interest in the public’s opinion on this matter, nor does it feel any obligation to open the search up in any meaningful way. The drovers know what’s best for the cattle and no amount of bawling by the dumb beasts makes any difference.
Arrogance personified.
•••
On Tuesday, in a bureaucratic Twilight Zone not so far away, our county school board hosted 100 or so folks with a laundry list of questions or complaints about the new high school planned for the northeastern part of the county. The crowd was angry, but school board chairman Tim Trew put them at ease with some funny jokes and then, with the help of his four peers answered each and every question forthrightly and with such apparent honesty and precision that the crowd changed its mind and ended the evening with a series of loud “Huzzahs!” for the school board members.
Just kidding.
Trew dummied up faster than John Gotti in an FBI raid and he and the rest of the board dove behind the skirts of their out-of-town lawyer and sat silently as one local citizen after another wasted their time at the public microphone. They might as well have been talking to those stone monuments on Easter Island.
Whatever you think about the location of the school, whatever you think about how this public relations fiasco has evolved, surely there should be at least one person on that board with the integrity and courage to speak to the public. And don’t give me that “the lawyer said don’t talk garbage.”
You don’t work for the lawyer. He works for you.
You work for all of us taxpaying jerks who live in the county, you know the ones you cuddled up to when running for office.
Arrogance personified.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen
Your Sunday Free tune
When Prine was still young, Goodman was with us and and it all seemed like it would last forever.
Souvenirs. I rediscovered this song last year and love it more than ever.
Souvenirs. I rediscovered this song last year and love it more than ever.
Friday, October 3, 2008
O'Reilly freaks
Rational and mannered it isn't, but but "No Spin" O'Reilly sums up how a lot of Americans feel.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Flicks
I am a fan of Italian horror movie director Dario Argento. He can't write worth a darn, but his visuals are often out of this world. In the 1980s he really pushed the genre into some interesting and outlandish realms.
His newest film, "Queen of Tears" is out now in DVD. It is the long-awaited third part of his Three Witches Trilogy, which includes the great "Suspiria" and the entertaining "Inferno."
I wish I could say this is his masterpiece or even a triumphant third act in the trilogy, but mostly 'Queen of Tears" is disappointing.
Of course there are some gruesome visuals and at times the blood flows freely, but while Argento's tricks often worked brilliantly in the 1980s, in today's gore and violence saturated market, they look a bit cheap and oafish.
The story follows a young woman played by Asia Argento -- looking very tired -- as she gets tangled up in the events leading to the resurrection of the Third Witch, and of course the customary end of mankind.
If the charcters in this movie, including its "heroes," are a good representation of mankind, then we probably deserve universal obliteration.
The plot has its usual holes and abusurdities. After all Argento did write it.
There's little suspense.
Argento fails to live up to his legacy.
Not a good movie.
But I did like the monkey.
---
Recommended for Argento and genre fans only.
His newest film, "Queen of Tears" is out now in DVD. It is the long-awaited third part of his Three Witches Trilogy, which includes the great "Suspiria" and the entertaining "Inferno."
I wish I could say this is his masterpiece or even a triumphant third act in the trilogy, but mostly 'Queen of Tears" is disappointing.
Of course there are some gruesome visuals and at times the blood flows freely, but while Argento's tricks often worked brilliantly in the 1980s, in today's gore and violence saturated market, they look a bit cheap and oafish.
The story follows a young woman played by Asia Argento -- looking very tired -- as she gets tangled up in the events leading to the resurrection of the Third Witch, and of course the customary end of mankind.
If the charcters in this movie, including its "heroes," are a good representation of mankind, then we probably deserve universal obliteration.
The plot has its usual holes and abusurdities. After all Argento did write it.
There's little suspense.
Argento fails to live up to his legacy.
Not a good movie.
But I did like the monkey.
---
Recommended for Argento and genre fans only.
My fantasy life
Baseball season is over and ... what's that you say. It's NOT over? They're still playing.
Let me be more specific, Fantasy Baseball Season is over, which means there is a considerable void in my life. No rotations to set for a key series. No lineup changes to contemplate. No stupid trades to shoot down.
I don't have to lie in bed late at night pondering the decision to cut reliever Matt Capps and pick up versatile infielder Ty Wiggington for added bench strength.
It was a very good season. I had two teams this year and both finished first at the end of the regular season (take that Jamie Jones.) I tied for first one one leage and won the other by 10 games.
If you're thinking I must be one smart cookie, I'm thinking you're right.
Anyhow, I guess I'll give my big ol' brain a rest for a few days.
Then, it'll be time to pick that NBA Fantasy League squad.
Oh yeah ... I've got five (5!) faux NFL teams going right now.
And yes, maybe that does make me a loser ... but I'm a loser with a winning record.
Let me be more specific, Fantasy Baseball Season is over, which means there is a considerable void in my life. No rotations to set for a key series. No lineup changes to contemplate. No stupid trades to shoot down.
I don't have to lie in bed late at night pondering the decision to cut reliever Matt Capps and pick up versatile infielder Ty Wiggington for added bench strength.
It was a very good season. I had two teams this year and both finished first at the end of the regular season (take that Jamie Jones.) I tied for first one one leage and won the other by 10 games.
If you're thinking I must be one smart cookie, I'm thinking you're right.
Anyhow, I guess I'll give my big ol' brain a rest for a few days.
Then, it'll be time to pick that NBA Fantasy League squad.
Oh yeah ... I've got five (5!) faux NFL teams going right now.
And yes, maybe that does make me a loser ... but I'm a loser with a winning record.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Lies, lies, black lies
Just when you think you've outwitted the market, the Ol' Feller hauls off and whacks you in the head.
For years in this country at the federal level here was almost an obession with the idea of maximizing homeownership. Laws were written to make it easier for people to get housing loans, even if they were not good credit risks. Market place self-regulation which had worked fine for years was suddenly found to be too old-fashioned and counterprodcutive to the bi-partisan dream of everyone owning their own tricked out crib.
Republicans and Democrats alike went along with this delusional policy.
Now the piper is here.
We are being told that the cure for bad regulation and poor economic decision making is a historically massive infusion of regulation and decision making by the same cut of morons who helped get us into this situation.
Lies, lies, black lies
For years in this country at the federal level here was almost an obession with the idea of maximizing homeownership. Laws were written to make it easier for people to get housing loans, even if they were not good credit risks. Market place self-regulation which had worked fine for years was suddenly found to be too old-fashioned and counterprodcutive to the bi-partisan dream of everyone owning their own tricked out crib.
Republicans and Democrats alike went along with this delusional policy.
Now the piper is here.
We are being told that the cure for bad regulation and poor economic decision making is a historically massive infusion of regulation and decision making by the same cut of morons who helped get us into this situation.
Lies, lies, black lies
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Your Sunday free tune
King Bob and a nifty video to boot. I heard this in a bar in Valdosta once and when the stupid singer referred to it as a Jimi Hendrix song I thought my pal Robert Bohler was going to start throwing chairs. (But the kid sang it pretty well, saving all our butts from further complications.)
And how about bonus version by Neal Young.
And how about bonus version by Neal Young.
My Sunday column
Cool Hand Paul
Paul Newman was my favorite living actor.
Until Saturday.
Now he’s gone and there’s nobody on the scene even close.
Newman died of cancer at 83.
I could throw a lot of adjectives and dependent clauses at you, trying way to hard to impress with the depth of my feelings and the expanse of my vocabulary, instead I’ll try to keep it a little leaner and to the point — like Newman did in “Hud.”
Remember that one?
Hud Bannon is the no-good son of a ramrod-straight Texas rancher, carved from granite by a fine old actor named Melvyn Douglas. Patricia Neal is there, outstanding as always, as wise and alluring Alma Brown.
Newman’s Hud is a real son of a gun — being charitable in my choice of nouns. The greatness in the part is Newman’s refusal to beg the audience to like his charming but viperous creation. There’s a tale they tell in Texas of a woman who cared for an injured rattlesnake only to have it bite her, fatally, as soon as it regained its strength. “Don’t cry silly woman, said the snake with a grin, you knew I was a snake when you took me in.”
Newman’s Hud was that snake.
Need a laugh? How about a hundred of ‘em?
Pick up “Slapshot.”
Newman morphs into Reg Dunlop — an aging, mediocre hockey player who connives, plots and cahoots the way most of us breath air. Faced with the unwelcome end of his career,
Reg cooks up a devious ploy designed to buy him a little more time in the only profession he knows. He succeeds ... almost ... before being tangled in the web of his own machinations.
Against all odds, you’ll pull for Newman’s Reg.
I could go on and on about a lot of really good Paul Newman movies. It’s amazing how many fine films he appeared in.
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
“The Verdict.”
“The Hustler” and its decades late-in-coming sequel, “The Color of Money.”
“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” where Newman’s Butch is goaded by Robert Redford’s Sundance to jump off a cliff into a raging river.
Butch: Then you jump first.
Sundance: No, I said.
Butch: What’s the matter with you?
Sundance: I can’t swim.
Butch: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.
There are a lot of other good Newman films.
Then there’s the one.
Or, properly stated, The One.
“Cool Hand Luke” came out in 1967.
I saw it for the first time on the Academy Award Theater on Ted Turner’s Channel 17 in the 1970s. I saw it a lot and not just because the Turner folks seemed to show it twice a month and not just because of that car washing scene. You older boys know the one I’m talking about.
“Cool Hand Luke” was great in a lot of ways. The cast was a treasure trove of fine character actors. Who can forget Strother Martin’s pained “failure to communicate”? The words seemed true and the rural Deep South setting felt right, not always the case when Hollywood’s creative types dip below the Mason-Dixon.
But most of all there was Newman’s Luke, a decent country boy who just couldn’t stay out of trouble and once caught in the gears of what masqueraded as “justice,” doomed to be chewed up and tossed away like a tattered corn husk.
One great scene follows another. “A failure to communicate.” The egg-eating contest. Luke’s first escape. The fight with George Kennedy’s brutish Dragline.
Great stuff.
Paul Newman wasn’t just an actor and he definitely wasn’t poor old Luke, trapped in the jaws of the great machine. Newman lived a fine and textured life.
His artistry made mine richer, too.
God bless.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen
Paul Newman was my favorite living actor.
Until Saturday.
Now he’s gone and there’s nobody on the scene even close.
Newman died of cancer at 83.
I could throw a lot of adjectives and dependent clauses at you, trying way to hard to impress with the depth of my feelings and the expanse of my vocabulary, instead I’ll try to keep it a little leaner and to the point — like Newman did in “Hud.”
Remember that one?
Hud Bannon is the no-good son of a ramrod-straight Texas rancher, carved from granite by a fine old actor named Melvyn Douglas. Patricia Neal is there, outstanding as always, as wise and alluring Alma Brown.
Newman’s Hud is a real son of a gun — being charitable in my choice of nouns. The greatness in the part is Newman’s refusal to beg the audience to like his charming but viperous creation. There’s a tale they tell in Texas of a woman who cared for an injured rattlesnake only to have it bite her, fatally, as soon as it regained its strength. “Don’t cry silly woman, said the snake with a grin, you knew I was a snake when you took me in.”
Newman’s Hud was that snake.
Need a laugh? How about a hundred of ‘em?
Pick up “Slapshot.”
Newman morphs into Reg Dunlop — an aging, mediocre hockey player who connives, plots and cahoots the way most of us breath air. Faced with the unwelcome end of his career,
Reg cooks up a devious ploy designed to buy him a little more time in the only profession he knows. He succeeds ... almost ... before being tangled in the web of his own machinations.
Against all odds, you’ll pull for Newman’s Reg.
I could go on and on about a lot of really good Paul Newman movies. It’s amazing how many fine films he appeared in.
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”
“The Verdict.”
“The Hustler” and its decades late-in-coming sequel, “The Color of Money.”
“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” where Newman’s Butch is goaded by Robert Redford’s Sundance to jump off a cliff into a raging river.
Butch: Then you jump first.
Sundance: No, I said.
Butch: What’s the matter with you?
Sundance: I can’t swim.
Butch: Are you crazy? The fall will probably kill you.
There are a lot of other good Newman films.
Then there’s the one.
Or, properly stated, The One.
“Cool Hand Luke” came out in 1967.
I saw it for the first time on the Academy Award Theater on Ted Turner’s Channel 17 in the 1970s. I saw it a lot and not just because the Turner folks seemed to show it twice a month and not just because of that car washing scene. You older boys know the one I’m talking about.
“Cool Hand Luke” was great in a lot of ways. The cast was a treasure trove of fine character actors. Who can forget Strother Martin’s pained “failure to communicate”? The words seemed true and the rural Deep South setting felt right, not always the case when Hollywood’s creative types dip below the Mason-Dixon.
But most of all there was Newman’s Luke, a decent country boy who just couldn’t stay out of trouble and once caught in the gears of what masqueraded as “justice,” doomed to be chewed up and tossed away like a tattered corn husk.
One great scene follows another. “A failure to communicate.” The egg-eating contest. Luke’s first escape. The fight with George Kennedy’s brutish Dragline.
Great stuff.
Paul Newman wasn’t just an actor and he definitely wasn’t poor old Luke, trapped in the jaws of the great machine. Newman lived a fine and textured life.
His artistry made mine richer, too.
God bless.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen
Eats
The wife and I tried out the new Planet of the Grapes restaurant tonight.
If you haven't already seen it, the restaurant is behind the Planet of the Grapes shop on King Street and is owned by the same folks.
I had the lamb and Alison went for the Chilean sea bass.
Both of us were very happy with the meals, which included a good assortment of side dishes (try the asparagus.) The food came out in a reasonable amount of time and was ready to go when it hit the table.
The restaurant itself is a charming place, not overly elaborate, but very well set up.
Dare I use the word classy?
There's also a nice courtyard with several tables and folks eating there seemed to enjoy the mild evening and their food.
As you might expect the Planet of the Grapes connection means a superior wine and beer list to choose from.
I picked the Val Dieu (a tasty Belgian beer) and the wife slurped down a couple of glasses of "Petit Bourgeois," which means nothing to me because I don't drink wine. She gave it a solid thumbs up.
It was a nice evening. No irritating distractions like TV, "mood music" or children makes a difference.
That word classy comes to mind again.
With a decent tip our bill hit three figures, though a wide-ranging menu would have allowed us to eat well for less.
It looks like Dalton may have added another "in place" for folks looking for a charming night out.
Definitely recommended.
If you haven't already seen it, the restaurant is behind the Planet of the Grapes shop on King Street and is owned by the same folks.
I had the lamb and Alison went for the Chilean sea bass.
Both of us were very happy with the meals, which included a good assortment of side dishes (try the asparagus.) The food came out in a reasonable amount of time and was ready to go when it hit the table.
The restaurant itself is a charming place, not overly elaborate, but very well set up.
Dare I use the word classy?
There's also a nice courtyard with several tables and folks eating there seemed to enjoy the mild evening and their food.
As you might expect the Planet of the Grapes connection means a superior wine and beer list to choose from.
I picked the Val Dieu (a tasty Belgian beer) and the wife slurped down a couple of glasses of "Petit Bourgeois," which means nothing to me because I don't drink wine. She gave it a solid thumbs up.
It was a nice evening. No irritating distractions like TV, "mood music" or children makes a difference.
That word classy comes to mind again.
With a decent tip our bill hit three figures, though a wide-ranging menu would have allowed us to eat well for less.
It looks like Dalton may have added another "in place" for folks looking for a charming night out.
Definitely recommended.
Flicks
I saw the original "Lost Boys" when it came out in 1987. It was a perfect summer offering for a vampire-movie loving knucklehead -- a successful mix of humor and spookery, a difficult feat to pull off.
Twenty-plus years later I expected to hate the straight-to-video sequel, "Lost Boys: The Tribe" and sure enough it wasn't nearly as good as the first film.
The first movie had a much better cast (Kiefer Sutherland, Diane Weist, Edward Hermann, Jason Patric and, of couse, the two Coreys -- Haim and Feldman). The current crew is a lot less memorable, though Feldman's reprise of his Edgar Frog character is a welcome addition.
"Tribe" is much bloodier and the special effects are mostly better, but neither the story nor the performances stand out much at all. The vampires offer no back story and are little more than cardboard cutout bloodsuckers.
I like to think if I was given the gift/curse of immortality and much heightened powers, I could find something better to do than surf, drink domestic beer and hang out in an abandoned cave.
"Lost Tribe" is actually better, or at least more professionally made, than most low budget genre flicks out there today, though that's not saying much. Sadly, the magic of 1987 is nowhere to be found.
Twenty-plus years later I expected to hate the straight-to-video sequel, "Lost Boys: The Tribe" and sure enough it wasn't nearly as good as the first film.
The first movie had a much better cast (Kiefer Sutherland, Diane Weist, Edward Hermann, Jason Patric and, of couse, the two Coreys -- Haim and Feldman). The current crew is a lot less memorable, though Feldman's reprise of his Edgar Frog character is a welcome addition.
"Tribe" is much bloodier and the special effects are mostly better, but neither the story nor the performances stand out much at all. The vampires offer no back story and are little more than cardboard cutout bloodsuckers.
I like to think if I was given the gift/curse of immortality and much heightened powers, I could find something better to do than surf, drink domestic beer and hang out in an abandoned cave.
"Lost Tribe" is actually better, or at least more professionally made, than most low budget genre flicks out there today, though that's not saying much. Sadly, the magic of 1987 is nowhere to be found.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The horror ... the horror
Young Marty Kirkland of Hahira says this guy may be the worst standup in the world. Pick your own worst moment.
Down Atlanta Way
It appears the city of Atlanta may finally be realizing what a treasure they have in the Cyclorama. We'll see. That thing would look awful nice up there on Dug Gap Mountain next to the trade center.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
My Sunday column
“The Tertiary Glyph of the Ascension.”
I have no idea what that means.
“The” and “of” I know.
“Tertiary” and “Ascension” I can use in a pinch.
“Glyph?”
Beats me.
Combined into “The Tertiary Glyph of the Ascension,” as in the title of an eye-catching mixed media piece by William T. Payne, and I am puzzled.
Puzzled and pleased.
Payne’s vision surges off the wall of the Creative Arts Guild, as do other fine pieces being showcased as part of the CAG’s two-day Festival 2008.
Intrigued? Drive over and check it out for yourself. The festival continues today. Take the kids — there’s plenty for them to see and do — but carve out a few minutes of quiet “study time” in the main gallery upstairs.
If any of you are feeling particularly generous, peel off a few bills and purchase Martha Williams’s gorgeous “Spring Rains.” Step under the cooling waterfall and drink in those rich greens and reds. Then package it and give it to me for an early Christmas gift. It’s my favorite this year.
My wife and I are regulars at the festival. We came for the first time in 2002 and have come back every year since. For the past three years we’ve been accompanied by our daughter, who gets her face painted, eats delicious sweets and authors her own kiddie art, under the watchful eye of her helpful mom. This year they worked in plastics — cheap beads and empty bottles.
As for me, I mostly eat too much. And talk. And look at the pretty pictures.
Among the prettiest this year is “Above the Cove” by Whitfield Countian Brooks Lansing. The former DSC professor and county commissioner is like the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols. Put Pujols in the lineup and he’s going to deliver plenty of hits and lots of runs. Put Lansing in the lineup and you’ll get a striking landscape. “Above the Cove” is another of those pieces, this one bathed in the alluring greens of the Appalachian countryside.
I swear I’ve walked down the “Appalachian Trail” conjured by Evelyn Marie Williams and hope never to venture onto the spooky “Cumberland Island” imagined by Alan Mogenson. You can’t tell me there aren’t some scary critters in those woods.
And while trippin’, make sure you get a look at David Aft’s eye-catching dip into the realm of other-worldly sci-fi cheese, “Lance of Terra #49.”
Down the hall from the big folks’ art are two rooms full of work done by local school students.
Capturing the Espy Blue Ribbon is “Castle of the Pink Pigs” by Mrs. Bearden’s class at Westside. This brilliantly engineered castle was made from discarded cans and toilet paper and paper towel cones. “Minter’s Tornado” by Mrs. Minter’s class finishes a strong second.
I hope these kids enjoyed the act of creation as much as I enjoy the act of admiration. And one day I hope their work moves down the hall into the main gallery, where it can please generations to come.
I don’t really have a working definition of what good art is. But I know what makes me smile and laugh and think and wonder must be a good thing.
A very good thing indeed.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen.
I have no idea what that means.
“The” and “of” I know.
“Tertiary” and “Ascension” I can use in a pinch.
“Glyph?”
Beats me.
Combined into “The Tertiary Glyph of the Ascension,” as in the title of an eye-catching mixed media piece by William T. Payne, and I am puzzled.
Puzzled and pleased.
Payne’s vision surges off the wall of the Creative Arts Guild, as do other fine pieces being showcased as part of the CAG’s two-day Festival 2008.
Intrigued? Drive over and check it out for yourself. The festival continues today. Take the kids — there’s plenty for them to see and do — but carve out a few minutes of quiet “study time” in the main gallery upstairs.
If any of you are feeling particularly generous, peel off a few bills and purchase Martha Williams’s gorgeous “Spring Rains.” Step under the cooling waterfall and drink in those rich greens and reds. Then package it and give it to me for an early Christmas gift. It’s my favorite this year.
My wife and I are regulars at the festival. We came for the first time in 2002 and have come back every year since. For the past three years we’ve been accompanied by our daughter, who gets her face painted, eats delicious sweets and authors her own kiddie art, under the watchful eye of her helpful mom. This year they worked in plastics — cheap beads and empty bottles.
As for me, I mostly eat too much. And talk. And look at the pretty pictures.
Among the prettiest this year is “Above the Cove” by Whitfield Countian Brooks Lansing. The former DSC professor and county commissioner is like the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols. Put Pujols in the lineup and he’s going to deliver plenty of hits and lots of runs. Put Lansing in the lineup and you’ll get a striking landscape. “Above the Cove” is another of those pieces, this one bathed in the alluring greens of the Appalachian countryside.
I swear I’ve walked down the “Appalachian Trail” conjured by Evelyn Marie Williams and hope never to venture onto the spooky “Cumberland Island” imagined by Alan Mogenson. You can’t tell me there aren’t some scary critters in those woods.
And while trippin’, make sure you get a look at David Aft’s eye-catching dip into the realm of other-worldly sci-fi cheese, “Lance of Terra #49.”
Down the hall from the big folks’ art are two rooms full of work done by local school students.
Capturing the Espy Blue Ribbon is “Castle of the Pink Pigs” by Mrs. Bearden’s class at Westside. This brilliantly engineered castle was made from discarded cans and toilet paper and paper towel cones. “Minter’s Tornado” by Mrs. Minter’s class finishes a strong second.
I hope these kids enjoyed the act of creation as much as I enjoy the act of admiration. And one day I hope their work moves down the hall into the main gallery, where it can please generations to come.
I don’t really have a working definition of what good art is. But I know what makes me smile and laugh and think and wonder must be a good thing.
A very good thing indeed.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen.
Your Sunday free tune (s)
Play me a better song about motorcycles than the great Richard Thompson's 1952 Vincent Black Lightning.
Now, here's the wonderful folksy version by the Del McCoury Band
Now, here's the wonderful folksy version by the Del McCoury Band
The impossible dream ...
Friday night's whuppin' of Arizona State was a solid win for Georgia in a lot of ways. Roughing up a good opponent on the road -- 3,000 miles of road -- on national television has to help the Dawgs with poll voters. More importantly, the way Georgia won was impressive. A balanced offense produced several big plays and kept ASU disoriented most of the night. Stack the run, Stafford and AJ Green killed them. Loosen up the linebackers in coverage and Moreno made them pay.
Stafford was sharp, working numerous receivers into the mix but never forgetting about this best down-the-field weapon, Green, who has the stuff to be the finest Georgia wideout since Hines Ward. (But can he also play quarterback?)
Unlike last week, the defense got pressure from a lot of different angles and from a lot of players. The blitzes took their toll, particularly in the second half.
The announcers jabbered about the Arizona heat getting to Georgia but didn't mention it in regard to Arizona wilting in the second half. You tell me who looked tired at the end of that game. Somebody might want to tell Musberger it gets pretty dang hot in Athens.
The O-line got better as the night went on-- always a good sign -- and the kicking game looked solid.
Nice win. Good team.
But, NOW is when things get tough!
Here comes Alabama.
Stafford was sharp, working numerous receivers into the mix but never forgetting about this best down-the-field weapon, Green, who has the stuff to be the finest Georgia wideout since Hines Ward. (But can he also play quarterback?)
Unlike last week, the defense got pressure from a lot of different angles and from a lot of players. The blitzes took their toll, particularly in the second half.
The announcers jabbered about the Arizona heat getting to Georgia but didn't mention it in regard to Arizona wilting in the second half. You tell me who looked tired at the end of that game. Somebody might want to tell Musberger it gets pretty dang hot in Athens.
The O-line got better as the night went on-- always a good sign -- and the kicking game looked solid.
Nice win. Good team.
But, NOW is when things get tough!
Here comes Alabama.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Local stuff
There's been a lot of commentary in the forum section of The Daily Citizen about the recent auto accident involving the Tunnel Hill policeman on I-75. The consensus among our callers has been that the officer should have been in the city proper and not out on the Interstate playing county mounty. (That doesn't mean that's what most people think, it's just what most callers said.)
I have mixed feelings about this.
I suspect the sudden interest some of our small municipalities are showing in I-75 has a lot less to do with public sfety than with scoring some big drug busts and getting to reap the financial rewards that can follow. Is fighting interstate drug trafficking the best use of limited manpower in towns like Varnell, Tunnel Hill and Resaca? No. The impact a handful of busts makes it insignificant and does little or nothing to better protect those specific towns.
However,the side benefit of having those officers on the road is it should make the Interstate a little safer. My wife drives to Chattanooga five days a week to work. A lot of folks here do, or they drive to Ringggold, Fort O., etc. For much of the day I-75 is packed with traffic and as always an unhealthy percentage of the people driving are unsafe behindthe wheel.
I cringe every time my wife leaves for work.
If additional patrol cars -- whatever the name on the doors -- slows some of these idiots down, there is a real benefit to everyone who uses this major artery.
However, if the officers are so intent on scoring a Miami Vice-like drug bust that they ignore traffic concerns, they would be better off going back to town and parking outside the Tastee Freeze.
I have mixed feelings about this.
I suspect the sudden interest some of our small municipalities are showing in I-75 has a lot less to do with public sfety than with scoring some big drug busts and getting to reap the financial rewards that can follow. Is fighting interstate drug trafficking the best use of limited manpower in towns like Varnell, Tunnel Hill and Resaca? No. The impact a handful of busts makes it insignificant and does little or nothing to better protect those specific towns.
However,the side benefit of having those officers on the road is it should make the Interstate a little safer. My wife drives to Chattanooga five days a week to work. A lot of folks here do, or they drive to Ringggold, Fort O., etc. For much of the day I-75 is packed with traffic and as always an unhealthy percentage of the people driving are unsafe behindthe wheel.
I cringe every time my wife leaves for work.
If additional patrol cars -- whatever the name on the doors -- slows some of these idiots down, there is a real benefit to everyone who uses this major artery.
However, if the officers are so intent on scoring a Miami Vice-like drug bust that they ignore traffic concerns, they would be better off going back to town and parking outside the Tastee Freeze.
The Flicks
"Shotgun Stories" is the best movie I've seen in some time.
It's the story of three brother (Son, Kid and Boy Hayes) who wore born to a no good, drunken father who abandons them and their lousy mother. The old man cleans up his life, quits drinking and finds religion, but ignores his old family, choosing a new life with a woman with whom he has four more boys, who are treated much better.
Understandably the elder three sons resent their father and his successful, happy second family. When the old man dies, at the start of the movie, the two sets of Hayes brothers move steadily and inevitably toward a brutal confronation.
"Shotgun Stories" is an unsentimental film and avoids Hollywood cliche at every turn. If you grew up in small town like me, you knew boys like the Hayes kids. The story takes its time and the charcters are developed nicely. You pull for the older Hayes brothers -- pitying them for the lousy deal life dealt them -- but at the same time recognizing in them the stubborness and willingness to do violence which can only lead to more heartbreak and trouble.
It's a tough story. It will make you uncomfortable -- like really good movies should some time.
It gets my highest recommendation.
It's the story of three brother (Son, Kid and Boy Hayes) who wore born to a no good, drunken father who abandons them and their lousy mother. The old man cleans up his life, quits drinking and finds religion, but ignores his old family, choosing a new life with a woman with whom he has four more boys, who are treated much better.
Understandably the elder three sons resent their father and his successful, happy second family. When the old man dies, at the start of the movie, the two sets of Hayes brothers move steadily and inevitably toward a brutal confronation.
"Shotgun Stories" is an unsentimental film and avoids Hollywood cliche at every turn. If you grew up in small town like me, you knew boys like the Hayes kids. The story takes its time and the charcters are developed nicely. You pull for the older Hayes brothers -- pitying them for the lousy deal life dealt them -- but at the same time recognizing in them the stubborness and willingness to do violence which can only lead to more heartbreak and trouble.
It's a tough story. It will make you uncomfortable -- like really good movies should some time.
It gets my highest recommendation.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
My Sunday column
The earliest memories I have about attending high school football games involve rolling down a hill.
As a young kid I went to games at Chattooga High. To the right of the home side stands, next to where the band sat, was a steep hill. My friends and I spent most of the game there, rolling down the hill, wrestling and occasionally playing tackle football with a battered milk jug, a wadded-up shirt or someone’s old shoe. No kidding, once when we couldn’t scrounge up a ball, some kid volunteered one of his shoes. (At halftime the cheerleaders threw some of those little plastic footballs into the crowd. We scrambled after one, nabbed it and the generous kid got his shoe back.)
Ever so often, we might actually watch some of the game.
Chattooga had some very good football teams in those days and the better players often took on a mythic stature. Every one of us totin’ that old shoe wanted to be the next James Burse or Jimmy Lenderman. We all wanted to be as big and strong as Glenn White or Billy Martin.
Almost 40 years later, I still love a Friday night at the football field — any football field.
And I have seen a few.
Working as a sports writer here in the 1980s, followed by newspaper stints in Georgia (at football strongholds like Valdosta, Griffin and Warner Robins), Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, I have seen some truly great players: Cartersville’s Keith Henderson, Phillip Buchanan, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Bucs and Ronald McKinnon of Elba, Ala, who played more than a decade in the NFL. Best of all was a running back from Mariner High in Cape Coral, Fla., Earnest Graham. You want to see Earnest in action, watch him today against the Falcons.
Ironically, as much fun as seeing a player like that in action is, they seldom make the best stories. I’ve always gravitated toward the linemen. Maybe it’s because in my own limited playing experience, I was usually an offensive and defensive tackle. (My one short stay at tight end ended ignominiously when a should-have-been scoring pass hit me in the chest and bounced to the ground.)
I sympathize with every linemen who has ever suited up who had to bite his lip when hearing a football fan or announcer refer to “skilled players.” Because when they mention “skilled players,” they are separating out those of us who lined up six inches away from a snortin’, stinkin’, teed off 235-pounder who wanted to jam our heads back down our spinal column.
God bless you linemen. If it wasn’t for you the game would be ballet with jock straps.
I am incited to this righteous rage for a couple of reasons. First, it’s football season and I tend to get a little goofy this time of year. Second, during the Northwest game on Friday I saw a scene on the sidelines which summed up a lineman’s existence.
A Bruin tackle, looking like he’d just crawled out of the trenches at the siege of Verdun, was sitting on the bench adjusting a pad or brace. A nearby “skilled player” — no doubt frustrated by his team’s second half offensive struggles — slammed some piece equipment to the ground. It bounced up and hit the lineman in the leg.
For a second I thought I was about to see the death of a “skilled player,” but the lineman held back. He looked at me and we both smiled the smile of the knowing.
Then the lineman got back up, shambled onto the field and few plays later helped bust open a hole for a “skilled player” to run through and win the game.
Little things like that I eat up like watermelon on a hot day.
As I was leaving the game, I tossed possible leads around in my head as traffic inched up the hill to Reed Road.
Off to the side, near the top of the hill, I notice a huge mound of dirt. On top two young boys were laughing riotously. They were sliding down the hill, rolling and tumbling and probably ruining their clothes.
For a second the urge to pull over, park the Explorer, and join them was tantalizing.
But I couldn’t. Deadline was screaming at me.
I had to get back to my game and open a few holes.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He dedicates this column to linemen everywhere and to the hump-busting sportswriters who get it right (mostly) every Friday night.
As a young kid I went to games at Chattooga High. To the right of the home side stands, next to where the band sat, was a steep hill. My friends and I spent most of the game there, rolling down the hill, wrestling and occasionally playing tackle football with a battered milk jug, a wadded-up shirt or someone’s old shoe. No kidding, once when we couldn’t scrounge up a ball, some kid volunteered one of his shoes. (At halftime the cheerleaders threw some of those little plastic footballs into the crowd. We scrambled after one, nabbed it and the generous kid got his shoe back.)
Ever so often, we might actually watch some of the game.
Chattooga had some very good football teams in those days and the better players often took on a mythic stature. Every one of us totin’ that old shoe wanted to be the next James Burse or Jimmy Lenderman. We all wanted to be as big and strong as Glenn White or Billy Martin.
Almost 40 years later, I still love a Friday night at the football field — any football field.
And I have seen a few.
Working as a sports writer here in the 1980s, followed by newspaper stints in Georgia (at football strongholds like Valdosta, Griffin and Warner Robins), Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, I have seen some truly great players: Cartersville’s Keith Henderson, Phillip Buchanan, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Bucs and Ronald McKinnon of Elba, Ala, who played more than a decade in the NFL. Best of all was a running back from Mariner High in Cape Coral, Fla., Earnest Graham. You want to see Earnest in action, watch him today against the Falcons.
Ironically, as much fun as seeing a player like that in action is, they seldom make the best stories. I’ve always gravitated toward the linemen. Maybe it’s because in my own limited playing experience, I was usually an offensive and defensive tackle. (My one short stay at tight end ended ignominiously when a should-have-been scoring pass hit me in the chest and bounced to the ground.)
I sympathize with every linemen who has ever suited up who had to bite his lip when hearing a football fan or announcer refer to “skilled players.” Because when they mention “skilled players,” they are separating out those of us who lined up six inches away from a snortin’, stinkin’, teed off 235-pounder who wanted to jam our heads back down our spinal column.
God bless you linemen. If it wasn’t for you the game would be ballet with jock straps.
I am incited to this righteous rage for a couple of reasons. First, it’s football season and I tend to get a little goofy this time of year. Second, during the Northwest game on Friday I saw a scene on the sidelines which summed up a lineman’s existence.
A Bruin tackle, looking like he’d just crawled out of the trenches at the siege of Verdun, was sitting on the bench adjusting a pad or brace. A nearby “skilled player” — no doubt frustrated by his team’s second half offensive struggles — slammed some piece equipment to the ground. It bounced up and hit the lineman in the leg.
For a second I thought I was about to see the death of a “skilled player,” but the lineman held back. He looked at me and we both smiled the smile of the knowing.
Then the lineman got back up, shambled onto the field and few plays later helped bust open a hole for a “skilled player” to run through and win the game.
Little things like that I eat up like watermelon on a hot day.
As I was leaving the game, I tossed possible leads around in my head as traffic inched up the hill to Reed Road.
Off to the side, near the top of the hill, I notice a huge mound of dirt. On top two young boys were laughing riotously. They were sliding down the hill, rolling and tumbling and probably ruining their clothes.
For a second the urge to pull over, park the Explorer, and join them was tantalizing.
But I couldn’t. Deadline was screaming at me.
I had to get back to my game and open a few holes.
Jimmy Espy is executive editor of The Daily Citizen. He dedicates this column to linemen everywhere and to the hump-busting sportswriters who get it right (mostly) every Friday night.
Local stuff
Brian Anderson and I have not always got along. I voted for him when he ran for commission chairman, in part because I thought he was a better candidate and in part because I resented that some people who opposed him did so loudly on the grounds that he wasn't born here.
At the time I wrote that I would prefer a good candidate from elsewhere to a local idiot.
That was not a shot at his opponent, who was homegrown, but not an idiot. It was a simple statement that where you are born does not necessarily make you a better elected official. That whole mindset is an insult to those of us who chose to live and work here, as opposed to some who just never made their way far from mama's table.
(I would also make the point that being from outside Dalton doesn't make you smarter than the local folk.)
Brian came on to a county commission that had been pretty much run by former chairman Mike Babb and then county administrator Bradley Arnold, both smart fellows and capable enough. The Babb commission was mostly harmonious and what the chairman wanted usually got pushed through the commission without much friction.
Brian had to think he was inheriting a similar sweet situation. He didn't. A new three-man majority coalesced and suddenly the chairman was holding on to the bull's tail.
It wasn't an easy situation for Brian but I was disappointed with what I considered a lack of determination on his part, a lack of grit. I wanted to see a little fire in the belly from the chairman and instead saw what I perceived to be as quiet surrender to the majority.
I hate quiet surrender.
Brian seemed to revive some last year when a more agreeable commission lineup was elected.
Brian thinks the media has been a big part of the problem in Whitfield County. And by media, I mean the newspaper. And by the newspaper, I mean me.
Let me assure you (and him), if I am one of his biggest problems, he's in good shape.
Anyhow, Brian got the chamber of commerce top job this week after a "nation wide" search that I suspect never seriously ventured far down I-75 in either direction. I question the wisdom of hiring someone with no chamber experience, with no track record in successful economic development. We could have had that.
But I'll be pulling for Brian in his new job.
It's not an easy job. Half the people in this town own a business and most of them think they know all there is to know about just about everything. Brian has to deal with them all.
Better him than me.
In the process he needs to make his own voice heard, not just be a conduit for a handful of people who want to call the shots behind the scenes. If the chamber is going to have a leadership role in the whole community, it needs to take the views of the whole community to heart, not just the views held in the offices of a dozen or so local businesses.
Brian could be a major player here. He could flop.
I hope he succeeds ... for all of us.
At the time I wrote that I would prefer a good candidate from elsewhere to a local idiot.
That was not a shot at his opponent, who was homegrown, but not an idiot. It was a simple statement that where you are born does not necessarily make you a better elected official. That whole mindset is an insult to those of us who chose to live and work here, as opposed to some who just never made their way far from mama's table.
(I would also make the point that being from outside Dalton doesn't make you smarter than the local folk.)
Brian came on to a county commission that had been pretty much run by former chairman Mike Babb and then county administrator Bradley Arnold, both smart fellows and capable enough. The Babb commission was mostly harmonious and what the chairman wanted usually got pushed through the commission without much friction.
Brian had to think he was inheriting a similar sweet situation. He didn't. A new three-man majority coalesced and suddenly the chairman was holding on to the bull's tail.
It wasn't an easy situation for Brian but I was disappointed with what I considered a lack of determination on his part, a lack of grit. I wanted to see a little fire in the belly from the chairman and instead saw what I perceived to be as quiet surrender to the majority.
I hate quiet surrender.
Brian seemed to revive some last year when a more agreeable commission lineup was elected.
Brian thinks the media has been a big part of the problem in Whitfield County. And by media, I mean the newspaper. And by the newspaper, I mean me.
Let me assure you (and him), if I am one of his biggest problems, he's in good shape.
Anyhow, Brian got the chamber of commerce top job this week after a "nation wide" search that I suspect never seriously ventured far down I-75 in either direction. I question the wisdom of hiring someone with no chamber experience, with no track record in successful economic development. We could have had that.
But I'll be pulling for Brian in his new job.
It's not an easy job. Half the people in this town own a business and most of them think they know all there is to know about just about everything. Brian has to deal with them all.
Better him than me.
In the process he needs to make his own voice heard, not just be a conduit for a handful of people who want to call the shots behind the scenes. If the chamber is going to have a leadership role in the whole community, it needs to take the views of the whole community to heart, not just the views held in the offices of a dozen or so local businesses.
Brian could be a major player here. He could flop.
I hope he succeeds ... for all of us.
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