I LOVE SMALL TOWNS

I Love small towns because people in small towns are not in a hurry, they see things that most of us are too busy to see, and they like to talk about the people that they have met and the thing they have seen. A few years ago I found myself visiting the small town of Moreland, Georgia. What is so interesting about Moreland, Georgia? Nothing really except that it was the home of Columnist and Comedian Lewis Grizzard. As I enter the town of Moreland I pass what is or maybe was “The Lewis Grizzard Museum.”  This is my second trip through Moreland and the museum located in a small junky looking building hasn’t been open either time.

Moreland is a quiet little town, with tree lined streets and homes with front porches.  I had an old man in another small town tell me one time that America needs more front porches.  "You see," he said, "a front porch invites people to visit, to talk and to get to know one another. On front porches, strangers become neighbors, and neighbors become friends, and you can never have too many friends. The is nothing more inviting than a rocking chair or an old porch swing." I drive through the streets of Moreland I can't help but notice there are a lot of rocking 

chairs and swings on the front porches.

After passing by the Moreland Methodist I turn on a side street and happen on the Moreland Cemetery. I decide to stop and see if I can find Lewis’s Grave. Lewis died in 1994 or heart failure and was cremated. Half of his ashes were spread over Sanford Stadium at the University of Georgia and the other half was buried here in the Moreland Cemetery.  I drove around looking for “Girzzard” on the head stoned but was unsuccessful and was ready to give up. Just as I was getting ready to leave the cemetery I spot a head stone with the name “WORD” on it. Recalling that Lewis mentioned his Grandmother “Mama Willie Word” on one of his albums I decide to stop and see if the grave here might be related.  As I walk up the first grave stone I see is inscribe with the words, “A Great American – Lewis Grizzard.”

Lewis I buried next to his mother Christine Atkinson and his grandmother Mama Willie Word.  As I was returning to the car from paying my respects to Lewis,  a gentleman who had been walking around the cemetery stops and ask if we knew Lewis. I told him that while I had never met him I certainly knew him through his columns and tapes. The old man then proceeds to tell us that even though he has lived in Moreland all of his life and he never met Lewis but he knows his first wife and “she lives in that brown house over there,” pointing to a small house just across the road from the Cemetery.  "I remember the day that Lewis came home for the last time and was laid to rest here in this cemetery, the old man continued. “There was a crowd, I mean to tell you, and ole Zell Miller, ( a former Governor and U. S. Senator) came and gave a talk. You should have seen it, all three of Lewis’s ex-wives were here. It was a sight, I tell you.” After Lewis was buried they “had a to do up at the park near the mill. It was the biggest thing to hit Moreland in a long time. I guess ole Lewis was smiling up there watching all of the goings on." 

I ask the old gentleman about the museum that we passed on the way into town. He said that it was rarely open anymore but he could call the lady that runs it and see if she would come down and let us look around it we want too. Being late in the afternoon, I declined his offer and he said that he was going to finish his walk and thanks us for “stopping by and visiting with Lewis..” We thanked him for his time and we went our separate ways. 

This is but one example of why I like to visit small towns.  The people of these communities don’t view you as strangers but as a chance to make a new friends. They are not afraid to talk to you and to share their stories and experience with you. But most of all I like their sense of pride, pride not only of their community but of the people which make up their community. Today in a little graveyard in Moreland, Georgia, I met a new friend, a friend who took time to stop and share a small part of his life and his community with me. I LOVE SMALL TOWNS!

JIM & DANICA MADE IT AN INTERESTING SPORTS WEEKEND

A lot has been spoken and written about Jim Boeheim’s melt down Saturday Night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.  With 10-seconds remaining in what was still a winnable game, C. J. Fair dashed along the baseline toward the basket.  The shot went in but veteran referee Tony Green immediately called a charge and wiped the bucket off.  Boeheim immediately went “nuts” and raced onto the floor. You didn’t have to be a skilled lip reader to realize that he was shouting, “That’s Bull-Shit, that’s Bull-shit” as he confront Green at mid-court.  Green immediately access a technical foul on the coach as he made his way to the table to report the fouls.  Boeheim continued to shout and confront Green as they made their way to the table where a second technical was issued resulting in Boeheim’s ejection.

This has been the hot topic in sports this weekend with a multitude of media, fans and fellow coaches lining up on both sides of the argument.  Some have been steadfast in their defense of Coach Boeheim saying among other thing how they admire his passion, while other have been extremely critical, calling him an idiot. As for me, I fall somewhere in the middle.

First let’s look at the original charge call made by Tony Green.  When I saw the play in live action, my first reaction was, while it was a bang-bang play, that it was a charge. After watching replays from different angles, I think this was one of those so called 50-50 calls that could have gone either way. When you slow it down and look at it from different angles y definition it was probably a block, but Green didn’t have that luxury.  Tony Green was in a no-win situation, he had only three choices, block, charge or play on.  If he had call the block, the Duke supporters would have been unhappy. And he would have heard it from Coach K.  Would K have reacted like Boeheim, probably not? But K has never been bashful about drop a few F-Bombs, so one technical may have been possible, we will never know.  He could have opted for the “play on” and called nothing.  If he had chosen this option, he would have been widely accused by everyone and the media of “swallowing the whistle.”  It should be noted that during a similar game in last year’s Big East Tournament, Jim Burr and his crew was accused of this very thing and ridiculed to the point that they did not finish out their tournament assignment.  And Coach Boeheim chimed in saying, “The refs are paid to call the entire game, not just the first 39:55, they have to call something.” Well in this case, Tony Green didn’t swallow his whistle and he did “call something.” 

Green’s final choice was to call the charge, which he did.  As a result he took two points off of the board for Syracuse.  Because this was a player control foul, Duke would not have shot free throws, but got the ball out of bounds giving Syracuse the opportunity to either get a steal or immediate foul being down only two points. If they had chosen to immediately foul, Syracuse would have stood a better than average chance of getting the ball back with not Duke points scored from the line as the Blue Devils were 7-17 from the free throw line.  To simplify thing, despite the call, Syracuse was still in the game and still had a chance to win.

Immediately after the call by Tony Green, Boeheim totally lost his composure. He was not just a step or two on the court he charged to center court confronting Green with “That’s Bull-Shit, That’s Bull Shit.” Green immediately signaled a technical foul and was making his way to the table where Boeheim continued to berate him.

Several seconds passed between the first and second technical. Usually an assistant or even a player gets between the coach and the referee and tried to move him back toward the bench before a second technical is call.  That didn’t happen, Boeheim continued to shout and confront Green and the referee has little choice to issue the second technical, which is an automatic ejection.  I believe 100%, that had someone had gotten between Boeheim and Green immediately after the first technical and made any type of effort to move him back toward the bench, Tony Green would have “looked the other way” and went about his business at the table. But that never happened. Green could NOT look the other way when the coach is in his face and continues to berate him.

 So after a full weekend of analyzing every aspect of the entire situation, here is my conclusions.

Being a big time college referee is tough and you have to make tough calls. Tony Green did that. Right or wrong he made a call. Was it the right call? That is still being debated.

Did the call warrant that type of reaction from Boeheim. Certainly not. His reaction, whether you call it passion, anger or frustration, was totally inappropriate.  Earlier in the year Iowa coach Fran McCaffery was ejected from a game for a similar reaction.  He was widely criticized in the media, and suspended by the Big 10 Conference.  While Boeheim has received some criticism he has by and large gotten a pass because he is a Hall of Fame Coach that “still has a passion for the game.”  Do I expect Boeheim to be suspended, No. Should he be probably? If you are going to hold one coach accountable then you have to hold them all accountable.

Did the original charge call by Tony Green decide the game? No. the Score was 60-58, Duke would not have shot free throws, but only got the ball out of bound.  As I said earlier, Syracuse still had options and could have gone for a steal under their basket or fouled sending Duke to the Line where they were a woeful 7-17. Syracuse still had a chance to win the game.

Did Boeheim’s reactions cost his team any chance to win. Yes, He took any chance they had completely away from them. He said in his post-game press conference he hate to see the game decided on that call. (The charge.) Well I disagree, the game was NOT decided on the original charge call, it was decided when Coach Boeheim, chose to go running onto the court screaming like a mad man and none of his assistants had the where with all to make any attempt to rein him in.

Why did Coach Boeheim react in this manner? Maybe he is frustrated at being force into a place that he doesn’t want to be. He has made no secret that he was angry at the move from the Big East to the ACC.  In the Big East he was always the Big Fish in the pond. Years back he occasionally had to share the spotlight with the likes of Lou Carnesecca and John Thompson, but for the last several years he was the top dog in the Big East. Now, in the ACC he has to share the spotlight with others like Coach K, Roy Williams and next year Rick Pitino. Instead of being the only one, he is going to be one of several. He will no longer get to play the conference tournament in his own back yard at Madison Square Garden.  Even in his post-game press conference he continues to take backhand swipes at the ACC and its members, with comment like, “The way they do things down here,” and “I’m sure when tournament time comes we are going to have to find Greensboro.

Moving on, Syracuse –Duke wasn’t the only thing making news this week. Danica Patrick and The King exchanged barbs with Tony Stewart joining in for good measure.

Richard Petty, The undisputed “King” of NASCAR, said prior to the Daytona 500 that Danica could probably win a race “if everybody else stayed home.”  Danica more or less brush off the remarks saying he is “entitle to his opinion.”

Patrick’s car owner Tony Stewart then weighed in saying that Patrick and Petty should race and that Danica should shove the checkered flag up his butt after she wins.

Petty went on to clarify his remarks, “This is a female deal that's driving her. There's nothing wrong with that, because that's good PR for me. More fans come out, people are more interested in it. She has helped to draw attention to the sport, which helps everybody in the sport."

Basically, Petty is correct. Danica’s involvement in NASCAR is nothing more than a well-orchestrated marketing tool by everybody involved in NASCAR. Nothing more, nothing less, and to be honest there is nothing wrong with that.  NASCAR, Sports and Business in general is all about money. 

Danica Patrick sells millions of dollar’s in merchandise each year. Why? Because she is a female in a male dominated sport.  Those t-shirts, hats and other merchandise are not rolling off of the shelves because she wins races. The Big Name sponsors on her car are not there because she gets them prime TV-time in victory lane, they are there because she get their name on TV and before the public just because she shows up.  She doesn’t have to do anything special, other than show up and the media and the fans are all over her, which is good for her sponsor, good for her team and good for NASCAR.

However, the fact remains she hasn’t won anything. Her average finish is middle of the road at best. If a male driver maintained the same stats that she has, he would be with a lesser funded team or most likely looking for a ride or sponsorship.  The bottom line is Danica Patrick is a mediocre driver with mediocre talent that still has a place in NASCAR because of her gender, name recognition and she sells millions of dollars in t-shirts each year, nothing else.