Deep & Wide

I sure enjoyed watching the Braves celebration. Also enjoyed being at the Ted the year they clinched after that last Sunday game, where the fans watched the other game on the Jumbotron.

I will probably also read Deep and Wide. When we moved upstairs I wound up with a desk next to co-worker Tim. In 2011 he ran the Peachtree with me. He's your basic clean-cut, stand up guy. Traded his dilapidated old VW Golf for a sleek new VW CC last year. Started dating a schoolteacher close to his age who goes to the 4:30 pm North Point service, so Tim has started attending. Anyway, Tim and his girlfriend are reading Deep and Wide, and I'll read it after them.

See where Will got painted up for the UGA game? He's coming home this next weekend, because MC is flying in from Oklahoma . We won't see much of him, though we'll probably take him back Sunday night.

The new Tech arena was nice. Like the Ted, there is a mezzanine where you can follow the game while walking around. Above that is a small upper deck. The old roof still remains, mixing the old and new. A nice touch. I drove Reid down there. He has season tickets. We thought there would be something to do…tour the locker rooms, etc, but there was nothing to do but walk around. The basketball players were there, dressed in navy t-shirts, so it was hard to tell who they were. Also the cheerleaders. Seems like they would've done a little more.

I've gone through the same thought process about the Braves, with the division being a longshot. Hopefully they can continue to roll, though the Marlins always play the Braves tough. I'm getting one of those Dale Murphy replica jerseys…thought I'd have to wait to find one at a thrift store.

Wednesday Thursday

Ceil had a two night focus group Wednesday and Thursday nights, where she sampled and gave her opinions about almost 20 kinds of smoothies. Better her than me. She and the kids are hooked on the X-Factor. Simon is much more personable on this show, and with the new American Idol judges coming on board, I'd rather watch the X-Factor now myself.

Wednesday we had pizza for dinner. After sitting in on the brown paper project meeting, I had gone to lunch with those guys (Mexican). Thursday night we picked up dinner at Moes. Both nights I worked on my numerical list of UGA players.

After a vendor didn't ship needed parts for two straight days, all the trouble hit late Wednesday. It made for a crazy Thursday. But by the end of the day I had lined up everything in a satisfactory manner. But this morning a phone call from the customer woke me up (first time ever). The truck was over 30 minutes late, and they were getting antsy. Fortunately, while I was calling around the truck showed up.

Ceil scooted over to Athens Friday to pick up Will.

After years of waiting for the Braves to get "hot" in late September, they face a new one game winner take all format in the postseason. Even with Medlin pitching, I'm not at all comfortable about this year's playoffs.

Trivia Questions & Answers 1

This past week I asked the trivia questions to the little sales group at work. It was fun, and supposedly I was a hit. Since the gang was too young to have seen much of MASH and even Seinfeld (or many Tom Hanks movies), I had to keep the questions ultra simple. 

The baseball questions come from a calendar, except for the braves questions, made up by me.

Q: BASEBALL: Who is the most recent player to enter the Hall of Fame with 3,000 hits?
A. Rickey Henderson…2009. Only Josh got this one right.
B. Cal Ripken…2007
C. Wade Boggs…2005
D. Tony Gwynn…2007

Q: SEINFELD: What iconic historical event was "recreated" on the show, by Kramer, Newman, ex-Met Keith Hernandez, and current Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell? 
A: The JFK assassination. Kramer & Newman contend that Hernandez spit on Kramer after a Mets game. Jerry deducted that since both Kramer and Newman were "hit", and Hernandez was walking away from them, either it was a "magic loogie" or a "second spitter". Roger McDowell was the second spitter. Only funny if you're a JFK Assassination buff. Check it out on YouTube. Or not. Dan and Mike got this one.

Q: MASH: Match the character to his hometown:
A. Charles Emerson Winchester…from the Boston Winchsters.
B. BJ Honeycutt…San Francisco. His wife was Peg.
C. Corporal Maxwell (Max) Q Klinger…Toledo (he wore the T cap)
D. Nurse Kellye…Honolulu. Dark-haired, she looked Hawaiian, and often wore Hawaiian shirts.

Q: TOM HANKS: Which of the following actresses has NOT appeared in at least TWO movies with Hanks? There is only one correct answer. No one got this one right!

Amy Adams…Catch Me if You Can, Charlie Wilson's War
Joan Cusack…Toy Stories 2 and 3
Sally Field…Forest Gump and Standup
Helen Hunt…Cast Away
Laurie Metcalf…all three Toy Story movies
Rosie O'Donnell…Sleepless in Seattle (Meg's friend) and A League of Their Own
Annie Potts…all three Toy Story movies
Julia Roberts…Charlie Wilson's War and Larry Crowne
Meg Ryan…Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail
Rita Wilson…I forgot to add Hank's wife, who was in at least four of his movies.

Q: RYERSON: What three Norcross employees all hail from the greater Buffalo NY area?
HINT: All three work on the third floor. One point for each correct employee named.
A: Bill Baldwin, Tim McKenna, and Chris Tarquinio. Hey! I am from Georgia! Callie's Chris O'Leary answer was CLOSE…she is from Syracuse. Kevin Richardson is from Pittsburgh. Eileen has a Buffalo-sounding name.

Trivia Questions & Answers 2

Q: BASEBALL: Rank the following sluggers, in order of career home runs for the Reds.
389…C. Johnny Bench
324…D. Frank Robinson
287…A. Tony Perez
270…B. Adam Dunn. No one got this completely right.

Q: SEINFELD: In the last scene of the final episode of the series, what happened to Jerry and his friends? (Where were they?). 
A: After not helping a pedestrian, they were found guilty and placed in jail.

Q: MASH: What does MASH stand for? 
A: Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Only Andrew and Josh got all 4 words.

Q: TOM HANKS: Originally aired on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, what popular TLC Network show did Tom Hanks spoof in a 2011 video? 
A: Callie knew…Toddlers & Tiaras. Check it out on YouTube!

Q: RYERSON: What Ryerson (Tull) department did Sue Murphy Weber first get hired into?
A: Only Andrew knew…Credit.

Trivia Questions & Answers 3

We have a tie! SOMEONE made a dramatic comeback today, and two of you are tied for the lead. To spread the fun, everyone can answer the tiebreaker questions if they want. Jimmy hasn't answered yet, but if he answers every question perfectly, he can also tie for the lead.

Q: BASEBALL: What was Chipper Jones' original position? (That he played in high school and the minor leagues).
A: Shortstop. I saw Chipper play two minor league games, in Macon and Greenville SC.

Q: SEINFELD: Why did Kramer's lollipop keep getting bigger? (in the episode that he snacked on a lollipop for the entire episode). 
A: Dan knew…that Seinfeld episode was aired showing each scene in reverse order, starting with the last scene and working backwards to the first scene. Kramer carried around a huge lollipop, that got bigger in each scene.

Q: MASH: Hawkeye's sidekick was BJ Hunnicutt. What did BJ stand for?
A: Josh knew…it stood for BJ. His parents named them after themselves (Bea and Jay). The army listed him as BJ. Josh also knew what MASH stood for.

Q: TOM HANKS: In Hank's funniest movie (Splash), what was his occupation?
A: Along with his brother John Candy, he ran a fruit distribution warehouse. I liked his character so much that I bought a jacket like the one he wore.

Q: RYERSON: What is Sue Haulk's favorite kind of pie? 
A: I was looking for Key Lime (I won't tell you the story). Trevor and Jimmy got it right. This morning Sue said chocolate was her favorite.

Braves Clinch

Glad I was able to watch almost every pitch of the Braves walk-off playoff clinching game last night. Medlin had another quality start, making two bad pitches in seven innings of work. Amazing that he tied the all time record for consecutive wins in games he started. Chipper tied Roberto Alomar for 57th place on the all time hit list. And I heard something about how Freeman’s first ever walk-off home run was the first time a team clinched for the playoffs on a come from behind walk-off home run.

I watched all the postgame interviews as well. Fred O was at the game, sitting in the stands in right-center, not far from where Freddie’s home run landed. Charles Q’s friend Johnny Pierce spoke to Otis Nixon before the game. Nixon asked if he could keep Johnny’s Sharpie. What could Johnny say but yes?

Fredi announced either Hudson or Medlin will pitch the wild card game. Since then the rotation was slightly juggled so that Medlin’s turn in the order would fall on the wild card game. And since playoff rosters can be set for that game, then changed for the Division Series, Fredi said he would drop several un-needed starting pitchers off the roster for that one wild card game, and carry several more position players.

I might try to make a Yankees list. UGA football will be next. A few years ago I did the Braves. Need to do the Falcons and Hawks.

Stopped by the library on the way home Tuesday. Helped Anna with some schoolwork, and did a mountain of laundry, cleaning up the extra bedroom in the process.

Checkup was ok…I’m getting old. Could take a daily pill that might make my life better, but the doc said it was optional. I’ll study the side effects. I’d had an painful infection the second half of August that an antibiotic cleared up.

Our small group spent the weekend at James Sloppy Floyd State park, west of Rome. Beautiful weather, five families, 21 people. Cooked and ate shared meals, took hikes, canoes and paddleboats, hung out around the campfire. Several adults took late afternoon naps…I found the Braves game on TV. Followed football games on my phone. Ceil and Anna left the campfire and watched the Clemson game on TV. With three other boys his age, Matthew stayed on the go the entire time. As we left, both A and M said they’d had a great time.

See where Will got painted up for the UGA game? He’s coming home this next weekend, because MC is flying in from Oklahoma. We won’t see much of him, though we’ll probably take him back Sunday night.

Same old Tech. I think Paul Johnson knows he screwed up, not kicking the field goal in OT. Every time I see a team not score in OT, the defense almost always gives up, allowing a quick TD when only a field goal would win.

Georgia Tech by the Numbers

A list of Georgia Tech football players, some of note, in numerical order. Based on a quite sketchy historical record, so it’s doubtful this list is one hundred percent accurate. Includes as many old-time standouts that I could track down. There were a few numbers that I had to look up on recent rosters, for any player I could find. Some are personal favorites. Others I dislike, but had I left them off the list would’ve been less legitimate.

1. Eddie McAshan (above), Morgan Burnett, Ken Swilling

2. Mike Kelley, Mario Butler, Vad Lee, Rodney Williams

3. Mike Jolly, Todd Rampley, Will Glover

4. Willie Clay, Stu Rogers

5. Johnny Smith, Stephen Hill

6. Kelly Campbell

7. Karl Barnes, B J Bostic

8. Damarius Bilbo, Demarius Thomas

9. Ken Whisenhunt, Kerry Watkins, Josh Nesbitt, Rudy Allen, Scott Sisson

10. Shawn Jones, Larry Good

11. Wade Mitchell, Leon Hardeman, Fred Braselton, Jim Stevens

12. Gary Lanier, Stan Gann, Jack Williams, Dorsey Levens

13. Tevin Washington, Donnie Davis, Taylor Bennett

14. Joe Hamilton

15. Corey Earls

16. Darrell Crawford, John Steber

17. Orwin Smith

18. Billy Lothridge, Kim King, Anthony Allen, Chris Reis

19. Clint Castleberry

20. Robert Lavette, Jerry Mays, Roddy Jones, Dawan Landry

21. Calvin Johnson, Danny Myers, Donald Patterson, Jonathan Dwyer

22. Bucky Shamburger, Dez White, James Butler, Tashard Choice

23. Randy Rhino

24. Lawrence Lowe, George Volkert, Tony Hollings

25. Don Bessillieu

26. Tavares Tillman

27. Gary Lee

28. Gordon Clinkscale, Ajenavi Eziemefe

29. Pepper Rodgers, Malcolm King

30. Dan Dyke

31. Drew Hill

32. Joe Auer

33. Chris Young

34. Steven Sylvester

35. Steve Putnal, Keith Brooking, Joe Burns

36. William Bell

37. Sammy Lilly

38. Nick Rogers

39. Frank Broyles, Durant Brooks

40. Eddie Lee Ivery, Julian Burnett

41. Taz Anderson,Lenny Snow,Philip Wheeler,Frank Ziegler, Kelley Rhino

42. Ricardo Wimbush

43. Ather Brown

44. Anthony Hargrove

45. P J Daniels

46. Louis Young

47. Larry Lafkowitz, Jimmy Dixon, Tony Zenon

48. P J Daniels

49. Gerris Wilkerson

50. Bill Curry, Dave Watson, Don Stephenson

51. George Morris, Reggie Wilkes, Daryl Smith

52. Anthony Lawson

53. Alex Tetterton

54. Keyaron Fox

55. Larry Morris, Randy Edmunds

56. Eric Henderson

57. Bobby Davis

58. Gary Guyton, Calvin Tiggle

59. Kyle Jackson

60. Ray Beck

61. Harold Erickson, Ray Beck

62. Ed Gossage, Leo Tierney

63. Tim Brown

64. Andrew Gardner, Ben Utt

65. John Davis

66. Billy Shaw

67. Larry Stallings, Leon Askew

68. Andrew Economos

69. Tyler Kidney

70. Mike Mooney

71. Beau Cleland, J C Lanier

72. Kent Hill

73. Lum Snyder

74. Jon Carman

75. Nick Clayton

76. Rock Perdoni, Carl Vereen

77. Omoregie Uzzi

78. Dave Lutz

79. John Bennett

80. Russell Matvay

81. Harvey Middleton

82. Kris Kentera

83. Jeremy Moore

84. Will Heller

85. Jimmy Robinson

86. Justin Moore

87. Steve Raible, Luke Manget

88. Billy Martin

89. Lucious Sanford

90. T J Barnes

91. Derrick Morgan

92. Coleman Rudolph

93. Ted Roof, Michael Johnson

94. Izaan Cross

95. Marco Coleman

96. Joe Anoai

97. Felipe Claybrooks

98. Merrix Watson

99. Pat Swilling, Vance Walker

georgia bulldogS

Saturday night Will made his debut in the line of painted students spelling out GEORGIA BULLDOGS. I guess you have to start at the end and work your way to the front.

Sloppy Floyd Weekend

Left work at three and stopped by the library and TJMaxx. Didn’t leave on our north Georgia trip until 7:45. Anna thought I was driving recklessly. Ran into traffic just past the Rome exit. Three lanes had to merge down to one. Fortunately we were getting off at the next exit: Adairsville. Then we spent too long at Wendy’s.

Arrives at James “Sloppy” Floyd State Park in Summerville around 9:45. The gang already had the campfire going, and we sat around and talked til almost midnight. Our four made 21 in the total group. We shared a cabin with Lee and Nancy E’s family.

Saturday breakfast was in our cabin, so I got up around eight to help get ready. I did miscellaneous chores, and we served pancakes, bacon, eggs, etc. Later several of us went on a walk around the lower lake. Lunch was in the Watkins cabin: quesadillas and nachos. I ate too much. Lunchtime conversation included the controversial book “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

Afternoon walk around the upper lake, then rides in canoes and paddleboats. Steve F and I discovered the paddleboat went much faster backwards, due to the boat’s weight distribution. Back at the cabins some took naps. I found the Braves on the TV, and followed the Tech game on my phone. Steve W got the campfire going, and we hung around there while Steve F and Reid H cooked ribs. All the older kids played cards. Dinner conversation: would advances in medicine extend lives past the point that life was worth living.

We all hung around the campfire past midnight. I was following the Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, and Oklahoma games on my phone. Alyx and her mom Sarah F played a trick on Dixon E and Josh W. As they had all weekend, the younger boys rode bikes around the driveway circling the driveway. Eventually they crashed, but Matthew wasn’t hurt. Ceil and Anna retreated to the cabin to watch Clemson lose. Steve W send son Josh (& Dixon E) down the hill to fetch a “six foot log”. After a long while they returned with a SIXTY foot dead tree. The later it got, the chillier it became.

Not as many breakfast customers Sunday morning. The kids feasted on Pop-Tarts and breakfast cereal. Later the men packed the cars while the wives went for another walk. The younger boys boated, and the teenagers hung out. Around noon we all gathered, then departed. On the way out of the park both Anna and Matthew talked about what a good time they had. Ceil and I both agreed. The group might make this a twice-a-year-event.

We drove straight to Passion Church. I returned home and napped, caught the end of the Braves game, some of the Falcons game, and the replay of the Georgia game.

East Cobb Small Group

Our longtime East Cobb small group. For the most part, the kids have known each other their entire lives.

Steve & Beth W: Steve works for Cox Communications, and can build or fix anything: houses, cars, computers, etc. Tech Grad. Beth sings, and organized the trip. After growing up at Eastside Baptist and Wheeler High, they now attend Johnson Ferry.   

Reid & Noelle H: UGA grad Reid writes and produces music for Turner. I hung out with Reid at the Labor Day concert, and passed my UGA tickets to him. Born on Christmas Day, Noelle is from Augusta. Johnson Ferry members, though they married at SPdL. At the campfire Noelle talked about her post-high school graduation year in Europe, and trip to Hilton Head.

Lee & Nancy E: Attended North Point for several years, but are now back at Johnson Ferry. Before moving to Atlanta, Ceil knew Lee and Nancy when they all lived in Columbia as singles. Lee has run the Peachtree with me. Nancy works out at the East Cobb Y every morning, and has run a few triathlons. The Halls, Watkins, Earhart’s and Murphy’s started the small group around the time we started having children twenty years ago.

Steve & Sarah F: From Ohio. Steve & Sarah joined our group shortly after the turn of the century. They were at North Point, but now attend Johnson Ferry. Steve F is a CPA, and hosts guys cards night in his basement. Sarah, a schoolteacher, grew up on a farm and is very task-oriented (hence two-week vacations to Yosemite and Europe, and family season passes to Whitewater and Six Flags).

The older teens: Josh W is a freshman at Kennesaw. At Pope he wrestled and played rugby. Now he starts for Kennesaw’s rugby club team, at the “quarterback” position. Short but personable, like his dad. East Cobb moms are clamoring for Josh to become a Young Life leader, but he’s too busy.

Alyx F. is a studious Walton senior, captain of the Robotics Team, dead set on matriculating at Georgia Tech. Fun girl. Dixon E is a Pope junior, working at Zaxbys. Also UGA students Martha E and our Will, both absent. High school junior Addy F was back in East Cobb attending homecoming festivities. Addy attends Veritas with Anna and Matthew.

The sophomores (besides Anna): quiet, athletic Mary Lee E (swims at Pope), outgoing Bethany W (Pope), and tall, quiet Andrew H (Walton).

The 13 year-old boys (besides Matthew): trip-planner Daniel E, fun-loving John W, and the athletic Nathan H.

Dan & Mollie, our newest group members, were not along for the trip. Dan graduated from Michigan and recently made partner at his large accounting firm. Molly has run marathons. Their four children are all younger.

Back in the Hood

Wednesday I saw the signs in Garden Hills for the annual ice cream social. They have been having that social since the early 1980’s. The signs haven’t changed too much. Nice to see the Wednesday night folk at SPdL: the Heads, Ramsey’s, Cheathams, Bill Dukes, Joy Callaway, Drew Kelly, Don & Miriam Taylor, Sue Stumm, John Roma, and Charles Qualls. Thought that one of my best readers, Don Head, would appreciate this update.

The new GT arena was nice Reid W took me to the Open House. Like the Ted, there is a mezzanine where you can follow the game while walking around. Above that is a small upper deck. The old roof still remains, mixing the old and new. A nice touch. We thought there would be something to do…tour the locker rooms, etc, but there was nothing to do but walk around. The basketball players were there, dressed in navy t-shirts, so it was hard to tell who they were. Also the cheerleaders. Seems like they would’ve done a little more. Connie Morris posted a photo from right above us in the upper deck, but I don’t know if she was there at the same time.

The Braves almost came back Wednesday night…exciting 9th inning, both the top and bottom of the inning. I hate it when the batter got hit, putting the winning run in scoring position. They shouldn’t have given Reyes anything to hit. With two out, better to walk him and take their chances with the next batter.

A week or so ago I saw where Stuart and Susan Condra had gone to a Braves game together. John and Margaret may have been with them.

Saw where the new Marlins stadium displays the world’s largest collection of bobblehead dolls…over eight hundred. A Houston Astros employee began collecting them about twelve years ago, and sold them to the Marlins.  

Crazy Thursday. Left work at 1:45 to go to the doctor. Only then did I realize I’d been working so hard that I forgot to eat lunch. I was on the phone the whole way over to the Northside Hospital, and my five minute walk to the building. In the waiting room I was sending email. Left the doctor’s office and stopped by Taco Bell, four thrift stores, Marshalls, and TJMaxx. Saw I nice pair of Under Armor golf pants at TJ Maxx that I may go back and get.

When I got home we went to Moes for free queso night. Half of Walton High School was there. Instead of my usual soft taco, I got a veggie quesadilla. Not bad. The burrito is too much for me.

We’re spending the weekend at Sloppy Floyd State park, near Rome, with three other families from our small group. I’ll have a full report next week. I was going to take today off, but kids had schoolwork to do. Hopefully I will leave work early.

Books: I’m finishing up Steven King’s 11-22-63. I’ve really enjoyed it. Hopefully they’ll make it into a movie. I’ll actually be starting the Litigators next week. The first chance I get I’ll watch Prince of Tides, and Anna will watch Titanic with me.

Odds & Ends

Ceil cooked spaghetti and meatballs Thursday night. They took our dog Barney with them to the pet store…Barney really liked that. I cleaned out some old clothes. Wished I could’ve made the Bobby Johnson funeral.

I’m getting into the bad weekend habit of watching all the Braves games, plus GT, UGA, and Clemson. Did get a little done around the house. Could’ve gone to the UGA game, but Ceil didn’t want to stay out so late. TV’s…if I hit the wrong button, the TV can be messed up bad.

After spending most of Thursday and Friday in pricing meetings with my boss, a four week brown paper meeting kicked off Monday. Spent all afternoon in the project, that will involve lots of my time. We started with lunch at Dreamland BBQ. Tuesday morning we had a conference call.  

Co-worker was out Monday. Her grown daughter was driving 75 mph in her SUV in the rain, and hydroplaned and crashed…totaling the SUV. Lucky she wasn’t killed.

Monday night I helped Matthew with an essay, and watched the Braves and Falcons. I was worried the Broncos would come back, but still went to bed before the 4^th quarter started. Went to tour the new Tech arena Wednesday night. Doctor’s appointment Thursday.

Braves: the division is a longshot. Hopefully they can continue to roll, though the Marlins always play the Braves tough. I’m getting one of those Dale Murphy replica jerseys…thought I’d have to wait to find one at a thrift store.

The eBay comic book project sounds interesting. I’ll need details about one or two of the comic books, and I’ll check out current auctions on eBay. I’m to the point where I need to start working to get more money for what I’m selling. That means doing more research before I list the item with a starting price.

Hopefully Kate learned a lesson. They live in a different world, but they still should’ve known that no where is really private.

Football Roundup

Lazy weekend of watching sports, though I did do some cleaning upstairs and in the garage.

Spent most of Friday in the boss' office working on pricing. Around 4 pm the VP of Purchasing came in with two UGA tickets: 50 yard line. For the past month Ceil had been saying she wanted to go to a UGA game, so I snatched up the tickets for her. Went home, and Ceil got cold feet. It was a 7:30 kickoff, Anna needed help on a project, Will had a busy day, Matthew wasn't crazy about going. I even offered to drive Ceil and Matthew over for the game, but no dice. Co-worker Darryl had other plans, so I gave the tickets to my friend Reid, a UGA grad whose son loves the Dawgs. Hopefully I won't get in trouble at work.

When FAU scored two early touchdowns to stay even with UGA, I wasn't worried. Watched some of the Clemson game as well. As usual, the Tigers are looking strong early in the season. This week they play at FSU on national TV, so we'll see what Clemson is really made of.

Great that the Braves swept…I watched most of all three games. With 15 game remaining the braves are still 5-1/2 back, so its doubtful they'll catch Washington. Sure would be nice if they did. The Nats are playing with fire, shutting down Strasburg. Their playoff run probably won't go as deep, and an embittered Strasburg could eventually leave as a free agent.

After beating Penn State, I thought Virginia had a strong team. QB Tevin Washington seemed to pass better, though last season he threw well early in the season. I enjoyed watching backup QB Vad Lee have another good game. Tech is going to need his arm when they fall behind late in the game, though I hate the Tech makes their right-handed QB's drop back looking left, where they have to turn their body around to throw the ball. No one else does that.

As I suspected, Virginia Tech is weak this year. They got killed by unranked Pittsburgh. The division could still be up for grabs. Tech still has a chance to go to the championship game.

eBay Update

Did some work this weekend posting shirts on eBay. The last few things I've sold haven't brought huge prices, though I'm still making twenty bucks for something I paid five dollars or less. If something doesn't sell, I just keep posting it until it does. The goal is to clean out my closets. In 2013 my goal will be to post one item per day.

Sunday I posted a game worn 1996 Syracuse Chiefs minor league baseball jersey. The Chiefs were obviously a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate. The blue trimmed jersey has several stains, as well as a MacArthur Stadium patch. As soon as I posted the jersey, I received an offer to buy it. By midnight it had received four bids and had eight watchers, and there is still a week to go on the auction. Should be an interesting week.

During the Sunday night Braves game I made a deal for a light blue replica Dale Murphy Braves jersey off Craig's List. I had hoped to find one before next season at a thrift store, but this one fell into my lap. It's a cheap knockoff, but it still looks good.

Low Key 25th Anniversery

Ceil didn't feel like eating at Canoe last night, or PF Chang, OK Café, the Big Ketch, or Bonefish. Cheesecake Factory was ok, but we settled on Houston's. Hadn't eaten there in many years. She had a steak and baked potato. I had a taste, and it was great. I had what I always used to order at Houston's: a hickory cheeseburger, with Canadian bacon. Also very good, though I didn't feel that great afterward. I'm getting too old to eat such things, I suppose. Need to eat more salads.

After eating we swung by Barnes & Noble. By the time we returned home the Braves were losing big, so I hardly bothered with them.

With the playoffs on the line, I guess managers are figuring out they need to win at all costs, like in the playoffs. Somewhere along the line that must've been forgotten. Glad Soriano is not on the Braves.

Umpires these days sure do think that fans come to watch them. Then again, Bobby Valentine thinks the same thing. Valentine claims that he invented the "wrap" type of sandwich, you know.

Thursday I hit the Taco Bell dollar menu for lunch.

RIP Bobby Johnson

Bobby Johnson passed away Wednesday morning. Jennifer had been giving updates the past few months. Kenneth lives not far from Claire's old house. Hated to miss the funeral.

I thought it was interesting how Aimee Copeland's father was so open to the press throughout this entire ordeal. It would've seemed like the press would've been a huge hindrance. By Mr. Copeland being so open, there was probably a larger outpouring of help…like the car. Back when Jenny was killed, the family stayed away from the press. I know it wasn't the same thing.

Interesting about Notre Dame joining the ACC. Football will probably join the conference in a few years.

Maddux 355, Clemens 354

I got to see Clemens pitch against the Braves in the playoffs, when he was with the Astros. Comparing his stats to Maddux, both are very impressive. Different kinds of pitchers. The reason I hope Roger Clemens doesn't pitch: if he lucks into a win, he will tie Greg Maddux on the all time wins list. I don't want that. Of course, Maddux is probably fit enough to come back and pitch a whole season. Not that Mad Dog was big on fitness.

We went Willys Tuesday night. Lately we've been liking Moes better than Willys. The chips and salsa are better at Moes. Willy's has $4.00 burritos on Tuesday nights in September, if you wear a sports jersey. The four of us ate cheaper than we could at home. I did eat Moe's both yesterday lunch and Sunday dinner.

Monday night Ceil cooked beef tips, egg noodles, and salad. She was offended when I used ketchup, but the meat needed something. Lately I've liked to add BBQ sauce or steak sauce to burgers. Tomatoes, but not lettuce. I like mustard, but lately I've been leaving it off. At Moxie Burger the ketchup squeeze bottle exploded open on me. Anna thought it was hilarious.

Ceil, Anna, and Matthew are at school all day every Wednesday. On Wednesday nights Ceil is always exhausted, and crashes on the couch. With no homework due for a week, M and A usually take a break from their studies.

The new GT BBall unis look good…like throwbacks. Perhaps the Hawks will get going this year. We shall see. That column by Lang was one of the most encouraging things that came out of 9/11.

Kickers

Good weekend for kickers:

…61 yard field goal by the Clemson punter, to close the first half. ACC record.

…63 yard field goal by the 49ers kicker. Tied the NFL record.

…55 yard field goal by former UGA kicker Blair Walsh, to send the Vikings game into OT. Then he kicked the game-winner.

…the freshman kicker at UGA also kicker a 50+ yarder for the Dawgs (then missed a PAT).

…even Tech’s Scully made a FG at the end of the first half.

I follow ex-UGA kicker Rex Robinson on Facebook. He coaches kickers, and often posts about who he is mentoring. This weekend he mentioned that Walsh had made the Vikings.

As soon as I saw the SI cover mentioned kickers, I flipped to the article and read it. Good story. The SI story about the Patriots tight end was interesting. Wonder if there will be an outcry against the writer, who seemed to poke fun at the family. Very non-SI like. Similar to Pearlman/Rocker.

The reason I hope Roger Clemens doesn’t pitch: if he lucks into a win, he will tie Greg Maddux on the all time wins list. I don’t want that. Of course, Maddux is probably fit enough to come back and pitch a whole season. Not that Mad Dog was big on fitness.

On Twitter DOB was hit with the Kimbrell in a game tied situation. His followers were really getting onto him about re-tweeting dumb questions.

We’d been to a wedding at the Whitlock. The two weddings our kids were in turned out to be quite memorable. Claire’s twins were in a wedding Friday night.

Took A to a football game Friday night, though her friend didn’t play (home sick). Watched football and the Braves all Saturday. Went to Passion Sunday afternoon. The Braves game was at it’s most crucial moment when the service started.

The new GT BBall unis look good…throwbacks. Perhaps the Hawks will get going this year. We shall see.

Willy’s has $4.00 burritos on Tuesdays in September, if you wear a sports jersey. Ceil and I split a burrito, making it cheaper than we can eat at home. I did eat Moe’s both for the Monday lunch (special) and Sunday dinner (coupon).

Monday night Ceil cooked beef tips, egg noodles, and salad.

In God We Trust?

In today’s age of political correctness and “separation of church and state” I am surprised that the state of Georgia approved adding “In God We Trust” stickers on license plates. Surely this infuriates many. Soon the argument will be made that other religions should receive equal treatment. We shall see.

Over the past year or two the sticker became an option to add to the old plates. This year those with the oldest plates were forced to purchase their choice of two new plates: a plain white plate similar to the old plate (but cleaner), or a more colorful plate with a picture of a peach tree. The lower section of the colored plate has green grass, but it is covered up by the white county sticker.

Georgia dropped the ball on the county stickers. In the past the bold font made the counties easily readable. Now the counties are printed in a tiny, thin, close-together font that is pretty much unreadable. The lone exception: the “In God We Trust” sticker, which is much more readable than the counties.

Last month when it was time to buy new tags, I thought the colored plate would be a nice change of pace. Georgia has had the all white plate for years, with few changes. Ceil wanted to go down to the tag office to get the “In God We Trust” stickers, so she chose plain white for both our cars. At least we still have plate numbers that are just one off the other, which is kinda cool.

Had the tag office given us the “In God We Trust” stickers to apply ourselves, I thought a fun idea would’ve been to rearrange the words to read” We Trust In God.” Or simply "Trust in God." But the new plates came with the sticker already applied. Can’t say that I blame them.

Driving around town I sometimes wonder if some drivers behind me take offense at the God sticker, and tailgate or pass in their fury. Or if drivers deliberately cut me off because of the plate. Hard to tell. In the past I’ve always refrained from putting Christian stickers on the car…not as much to avoid persecution than to dishonor God with bad driving.

Sunday at PCC I only counted four “In God We Trust” license plates (but we were early, and parked close). Since the stickers are a relatively new phenomenon, it should be interesting to see if those numbers go up.

IDEA: Like in many states, here in Georgia drivers can pay an additional annual fee to display a special license plate. Wildflowers, wildlife, golf, historic preservation, Falcons, UGA, Tech, Auburn, Clemson…there is a whole list of choices. I have a good idea: a throwback plate, made to look like the simple old-school plates from the fifties or sixties.

Followers

However unlikely it is, I’d like to think my followers on Twitter hang on everything I tweet. There aren’t many followers, but hopefully they are loyal. Some are Facebook friends who like my posts enough to add my Twitter. All but two are individuals. Of the people, I know all but one.

Some unknown followers come and go, following after me after I tweet something of particular interest to them. I’ll pick up a couple of newbies, then go through a dry spell, and they drop me. Perhaps one day legions will follow.

Thirty two is certainly a manageable number. As I do many things, listing my followers here will help me track who’s who, who’s coming and going. In alphabetical order:

Amber, Anna, Bill, Billy, Body by Vi, Ceil, Charisa, Charlie, Dave M, Dave T, Don, Haley, Joel, Laney, Lang, Lynne, Margaret, Mary, MC, Matthew, Michael Ann, Nathan, Nita, Nora, Perry, Rebekah, Rob, Scott, Thomas, Trey, Will, and Zoom Water

Managing for the Pennant

Fredi is beginning to place more importance on winning each game…bringing in Kimbrel in the 8th, playing Prado at SS, then bringing in Janish at the end. Wednesday night Uggla put the ball in play, but it didn’t appear that he’s figured anything out. Seems like he will only play when the pitching matchup is favorable, or unfavorable for Reed Johnson or Constanza (then over the weekend he started hitting).

I do think the batting coaches are helping: more players are cutting down on their swings and stroking singles, instead of continuously swinging from the heels for the fences. Chipper has been like that for years. Great to see Heyward lead off a late inning with a bunt. Even Francisco and McCann bunted for hits.

Left work at four last Wednesday and drove to the Roswell Wal-Mart. They didn’t have my size battery, so I had to fight traffic up to Windward Parkway. I wanted them to change out the connecting wires, but the mechanic didn’t think I needed to…until he finished. He seems like a reliable guy, so I’ll probably go back. While I was waiting I checked out the optical department, did some shopping. The waiting room had the issue of GQ with Lang’s Dream Team article. Didn’t get home until after eight.

Weekend: Football & Food

Took Anna to the Fellowship Christian School football game Friday night, down the road from Roswell High. They beat Troup County. Fielded only about 35 players…20 of whom were freshmen, and about ten sophomores. Fellowship’s little kicker nailed a field goal, and made all his extra points. Nice traditional uniforms: burgundy with white stripes on the shoulders and pants. Anna’s friend Bo didn’t play: he was home with pneumonia. Caught up with Bo’s dad, who is the host for the officials. Also saw Bill Chapman, who runs Camp Highland.

Saturday I watched sports. ESPN College Gameday, Clemson/Ball State, Braves/Mets, Tech/Presbyterian (on the internet), and UGA/Missouri. Clemson looked good, as they usually do against weaker opposition. I’m still not sold on their QB.

Against the weakest opposition possible, GT QB Tevin Washington managed to struggle. He and backup QB S Days fumbled four times (though Days’ fumble appeared to be after he crossed the goal line). Redshirt freshman Vad Lee appeared to have a great third quarter. Hope to see more of him in the near future.

Glad UGA put it to trash-talking Missouri. The passing game was working, though QB Aaron Murray repeatedly missed open receivers (like he did last year). Can they hang with Bama in the SEC Championship Game?

Weekend meals…

…Friday night Ceil cooked homemade pizza. She makes the dough in her breadmaker,

…Ate leftover pizza Saturday for lunch.

…Saturday night Ceil cooked hamburgers, French fries, and fixed salad.

…For Sunday lunch she baked a chicken, with scalloped potatoes and green beans.

…On the way home from church Sunday night I cashed in a free burrito coupon at Moes, so the four of us ate for $12.00.  

During the final minutes of the SF/GB game Sunday night, there were talking heads on four other networks discussing the days’ action. ESPN, MLB Network, NFL Network, and NBC Football Night in America. Lots of talk, scores, and statistics, but hardly any of what I wanted to see: highlights.

Girl's Night Out

Thursday I left work at 4 pm for the second straight day. Had to go home and drive Anna to her girl’s night out. Eight – ten girls got all dressed up, ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, and then walked next door to North Point Mall to browse the stores. She split a guacamole dish with her friend Emily. I went back to pick her up at nine. Caroline Hargreaves was in the group.

For our dinner Ceil cooked breaded chicken and soup. They had mac & cheese and other leftovers for lunch. I had leftover grilled chicken and rice. That afternoon Ceil had taken Matthew to one of his weekly appointments, so she was unavailable to drive Anna.

Speaking of weddings, I found out on Facebook that my brother’s son just got engaged. He graduated from Lenoir Rhyne in 2011, and is taking classes at Kennesaw for another degree while working as a soccer coach. His finance is Will’s age, grew up in Powder Springs, and takes classes at Kennesaw.

I’m having a hard time working this week. We’re all getting a second computer monitor, so we can do twice as much work. Trying to catch up on paperwork and clean off my desk. Hopefully this weekend I’ll get some work done around the house, now that I’m starting to feel better.

Favorite Active Athletes

Talking the other day about who my favorite active athletes are, so naturally I made a list. Most are good guys, but not all of them.

Derek Jeter…Jeter is like Chipper.

Calvin Johnson…most talented receiver ever. Sports Illustrated just predicted that he would break Jerry Rice’s records.

Peyton Manning…hilarious in advertisements

Kris Medlin

Chipper Jones

Mike Trout…seems to be the real deal, could win ROY and MVP.

Eli Manning…plays the little brother role well.

Tiger Woods…makes golf worth watching, though I wonder if he’ll ever make it all the way back.

Kevin Durant…really don’t know enough about him, but I wanted to pick a basketball player. Almost picked Kobe for his competitiveness.

Maria Sharapova…I like her too. Hated that she lost in the Olympics. She tweets a lot.

Lexi Thompson…good article several months ago in SI.
Jeremy Lin…I hope he comes back strong. I love him, and probably should’ve included him.
Jeff Francouer…great guy, great arm and defense, which I like. Gets a lot of press, for being in KC.
Matt Kuchar…good guy. He seems to be in the thick of things most of the time.
Hope Solo…I like her as well.

There are many more: Bubba Watson, Albert Pujols, Rory McElroy, Justin Verlander, Martin Prado, R A Dickey, that pitcher for the Mariners, Ichiro, Andrew Luck, Kobe. I could go on and on.

My Favorite Movies

I wrote down some movies I like. Then I organized them by actor. Tough to narrow it down.
Tom Hanks: Splash, Forrest Gump, Big, Castaway, A League of their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, DaVinci Code, Toy Story, Angels & Demons, Catch Me if You Can, You've Got Mail, Larry Crown
Bill Murray: Tootsie, Groundhog Day, Ghostbusters
John Travolta: Broken Arrow, Grease
Meryl Streep: Julie and Julia, The Devil Wears Prada, The Manchurian Candidate
Harrison Ford: Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc, Star Wars, Random Hearts, Patriot Games
Nicolas Cage: The Family Man, National Treasure & National Treasure Book of Secrets, It Could Happen to You
Amy Adams: Enchanted, Leap Year, Sunshine Cleaning, Night at the Museum 2
Michael Keaton: Speechless, Multiplicity
Other movies: Animal House, Joan of Arc, The Aviator, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Up in the Air, Source Code, Night at the Museum, Back to the Future, Hunt for Red October, Single White Female, Eagle Eye, Independence Day, and Dave (watched it this week).