Bama has a bye, so that means no pregame blather from me this week. Don’t be so sad.
Time instead to focus on the transcendent. You know, the deeper and richer things that rise above mere plebeian, partisan contests and remind us all of just how high the human spirit can soar.
Things such as fine art:… Read the rest
To date, I haven’t jumped on board the “Dump Dickie V.” bandwagon. Yes, unlike fine wine, he has grown worse with age. His clownish antics have grown stale, absolutely.
But I’ve always regarded him like that buffoonish, annoyingly loud, but relatively harmless, uncle at the holiday family gathering who just won’t shut up already with the lame jokes and tall tales but still slips the little kids a piece of candy from his pocket because underneath it all he’s a decent guy with a good heart.
Until now.
Here’s Dickie V. talking about football, of all things, during last night’s Kentucky v.… Read the rest
Number Two Son and friend Nick have anchored the defensive line of their club soccer team since they were both 11-years-old.
Together, they were a keeper’s dream–“clean that junk up before it gets to me!” For them, a goal scored on their watch was a personal affront. How dare anyone tread on their turf!
Over the years, they called out to each other–“Man on! Man on!” or “You’ve got a drop”–whenever the other was in trouble. They were rarely more than a few yards apart, always watching the other’s back. They were a team within a team.
On Saturday, in the cold and driving rain, they played their last match on a muddy pitch that resembled a barnyard after a monsoon.… Read the rest
Also on that date, Alabama was ranked #2 in the nation and was preparing to beat Auburn 34-0.
The Tide finished that season undefeated and won the first of Bear Bryant’s six national championships at Alabama. It was a very good year, for more reasons than one.… Read the rest
Usually at this time of year, I have no problem tapping my usual sources for a couple of Tide football tickets. November hasn’t been very kind to Bama the past few years, so there’s always been someone anxious to unload them.
This year, not so much. My sources have dried up like an Alabama creek bed in the heat of August. Go figure.
Number One has tickets to the next two regular season games against Mississippi State and Auburn, but he’s had a tough time trying to get the hottest ticket of all, the SEC Championship Game against Florida in Atlanta on December 6.… Read the rest
It was about this time last year that I was a little iffy and burned out on blogging and longing to “shift gears.”
That urge led me to toss my hat in the ring for one of the community columnist positions at The Huntsville Times. As enjoyable as that’s been, the gig will be up soon (I only have one column left to write for December) and these days I find myself asking the question–Now what?
Of course, every wannabe writer dreams of the big bestseller, movie deal, etc, but only a tiny minority actually achieve such lofty heights. For me, that would involve immersing myself in learning the mechanics of writing fiction, research, developing ideas, characters, etc.,… Read the rest
On this Veterans Day, I pause to honor my favorite vet of all time:
That’s my Dad on the left (in case you couldn’t figure that out) with a crew mate on the deck of the submarine USS Cubera, circa 1953. Part of the unfinished business that remained when my Dad died at a young age are all the unanswered questions that I would like to ask him.
Such as: What was your friend’s name? Where was he from? Was he the only black crew member or were there others? Was he a steward or an Engineman like you? What was going on at the moment that picture was taken?… Read the rest
There’s a football game, people get drunk, somebody wins, somebody loses, words follow, then shoves and fists, and finally somebody gets shot.
Marvin the Goldfish spent 13 years swimming itty-bitty laps inside the fish tank on our bathroom counter. That translates to approximately 120 human years; not as old as Methuselah, but long enough to make me wonder what was in those fortified fish flakes he enjoyed so much.
And here’s the rest.
Yet, for some reason many people think he is. Just Google the phrase “Is Nick Saban an atheist?” and see what site you get. Go ahead, try it.
I first noticed this back around the time he was hired, and even today I get about 15-20 people a month who come to Ocular Fusion that way. Wierd. I mean all you have to do is go to Nick’s MySpace page and you can plainly see that he is “Christian–other.”
I take that to mean that he shows up to some kind of church every now and then, but that the “other” refers to those Sundays when he’s worshiping at The Altar of Previous Game Film Footage.… Read the rest
Marvin died the other day. He was 13 years old. For a goldfish, that’s about 120 in human years.
We knew he wasn’t long for this world, so I took this picture of him just a few days before he “passed on” (for you librul Yankees, that’s Deep Southern for “croaked”). Some of you knew him. In fact, if you’ve ever visited our home and used our hall bathroom, you may have got to know him quite well, and vice versa.
Later this month, I’ll turn 47. A pretty boring, inconspicuous birthday like that doesn’t usher in thoughts of mortality for most people, but for me it’s a different story.… Read the rest
Michigan minister Josh Graves composes a fitting coda to what has been an historical presidential election cycle.… Read the rest
I was extremely proud of both President-elect Obama and Senator McCain during their respective speeches last night. I thought they were both pitch perfect–humble, gracious, conciliatory, both obviously mad in love with this country. Hardly the rantings of a terrorist Antichrist or a senile, warmongering monster, two caricatures which, despite millions of dollars in negative ads over the course of the past few months, just don’t quite stick.
Speaking of pitch perfect, my good friend Doug Mendenhall, Huntsville Times columnist and journalism professor at Abilene Christian University, offers up a nice portion of soul food for the morning after.
Whether you’re a conservative, liberal or something in between, bon appetit and God bless.… Read the rest
Wow, I’ve heard of term limits before, but never time limits.
Has anybody else seen anything like this?
I doubt it was enforced, but I had my sample ballot filled out and it still took me probably close to 3 minutes. It made me wonder if older folks who might be a little slow with their eye-brain-hand coordination and wearing who knows what strength of OTC reading glasses might not have a little trouble beating 4 minutes.
When the volunteer checked me in she said that she couldn’t find my name and asked me if I’d moved. She always comes to the first Michael “X” on the list and stops.… Read the rest
I just examined the eyes of a man who looked exactly like Frederick Douglas but was wearing a Jackson State band jacket instead of period costume.
And on today of all days. Wow, weird stuff.… Read the rest
