Glory, Glory!

Although I can't promise that I will never write another political post, I am so damn tired of the political landscape and the political conversation, that I am just plumb tired, period.  So, while I haven't written a blog post in some time, it is about time that I jump back in and ramble on about something....

When I was growing up, the Sports scene in Atlanta was pretty minor league.  Before the mid 60's, professional sports in Atlanta consisted of the minor league baseball team, The Atlanta Crackers, playing in Ponce de Leon Ballpark...and many fond memories of going to games there still rattle around in my head.  There was not a major league team in any sport until I was about 15 years old...that's when the Braves moved from Milwaukee and the Falcons were born as an expansion NFL team.  A couple of years later, the Hawks moved from St Louis and Atlanta became big time with 3 major league teams.

I fondly remember seeing my first major league regular season game on Opening Day for The Braves on April 12, 1966 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.  It was against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the starting pitcher, Tony Cloninger, pitched a complete 13 inning game, only to endure a 3-2 loss. The Braves featured players Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Joe Torre along with Felipe Alou and other role players like Rico Carty, Frank Bolling and Dennis Menke.  I have won a lot of drinks in bars betting people they can't remember who the opening day 1st baseman was....Lee Thomas.

In that same year, The Atlanta Falcons were born and drafted Tommy Nobis, Linebacker from Texas,  as their first draft choice and had a bonus 1st round pick, Randy Johnson, QB from Texas A&I.  The first exhibition game in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was against the Johnny Unitas led Baltimore Colts and I was at that one too!

It wasn't until 2 years later, 1968, that the NBA arrived in Atlanta when the St Louis Hawks became the Atlanta Hawks.  They played the first 5 years in Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Ga. Tech campus before moving to the "new" Omni.

So, that's how Atlanta became a "Big-League" city.  But before that, we had College Sports....Football, in particular.  And since the Ga.Tech Yellow Jackets were the "home team", that's who we initially rooted for.  I could even sing all of the words to "I'm a Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech!"  That's the only reason I know the obscure fact that Billy Lothridge was the guy that finished 2nd to Roger Staubach in The Heisman Trophy race.  He was the QB, punter and place kicker for The Jackets.  I have fond memories of going to Grant Field to see Bobby Dodd's Tech teams play...both Varsity games and the annual Freshman Game against the Georgia Bulldogs.

I am not sure when I became enlightened and became a Georgia Bulldog fan, but I am sure it was well before I was accepted and went to The University of Georgia.  Since that time, I began to bleed Red and Black and became a devoted fan...as a student in the late 60's and early 70's, as a season ticket holder,  reveling in the Herschel Walker years and The National Championship, mourning the retirement of Vince Dooley, suffering through the tough years, not quite getting to the pinnacle during the Mark Richt years (although there were a couple of SEC Champ years in there) and now reenergized during the beginning of the Kirby Smart years.

What a year 2017 was...winning the SEC Championship,  and The Rose Bowl and taking Alabama into overtime before losing the National Championship...way beyond our pre-season expectations and exciting beyond reason!  Kirby followed that up with great recruiting and great prospects for seasons to come.  It would be terrific if 2018 is a repeat or better, but I really believe we are a year away...there are a lot of stars that have graduated and will be playing in the NFL this year.  Is it too much to expect that those young pups can instantly fill the voids left?

Whether they do it this year or not, I will continue to wear the Red and Black, sing Glory, Glory to Ole Georgia, and teach my grandsons to do the same.  That is a requirement as the opening game on September 1st will be Elie and Zev's first live football game ever and I expect them to be able to sing out loud and clear: Glory, Glory!

And The Journey continues......

I'M MAD AS HELL!

Shame on me!  When a tragic event happens hundreds or thousands of miles away, it has been far too easy to detach my feelings and emotions from the event.  However, since this latest  senseless act of mayhem happened in my own backyard, it takes on whole new feelings of anger, sadness and that overwhelming sense of helplessness.   I have friends and associates who have been directly impacted by the shooting yesterday in Parkland, Florida.  And, yes, I am angry and extremely sad, but I pledge to not be helpless.  Because, I’m Mad As Hell!

We have a serious problem in this country…and it all stems from a government that has been bought and paid for by lobbyists.  We are all complicit…we have allowed this to happen by not exercising the right to vote against those that refuse to protect the people of this country.  Our elected officials are only interested in getting elected, and could care less about doing what is right.  I am not only talking about the 2^nd Amendment fanatics and their refusal to consider any common-sense gun laws, but also those officials that refuse to consider anything that is an antithesis to their largest donors – whether it is the NRA, the Koch Brothers and their fossil fuel interests, the insurance industry or the entire military-industrial complex.

Today, we are talking about a 19 year-old, who can’t even legally buy a beer, having had the ability to buy a military style assault weapon.  An assault weapon that should not be legal for any individual to own is too prevalent in our society.  I am not talking about taking away your hunting rifle or even your personal protection handgun.  But, there is no reason for an individual to own an assault weapon, except to cause havoc – this is common sense.  But, common sense is not something that is ever applied to policies that are in opposition to the ideals of those that donate large sums of money to own our politicians.

Mr. Trump has said that we will do “anything” to help.  I am calling bullshit…. you won’t even address common sense gun laws.  That might upset your overlords at the NRA.  Our “esteemed” Junior Senator, Marco Rubio, won’t even say the words, “gun control.”  He started to stammer when asked to address the problem.  Since he has accepted over $3 million in donations from the NRA, HE IS part of the problem – a gutless, less than a human being parasite, that could care less about doing what is right.

In 1976 – 42 years ago – The movie, Network, was released and the main character, Howard Beale provided a famous rant…it is eerie how 42 years later, it is still apropos……

I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

So, today we sit watching our TVs and listen to CNN or MSNBC or, god help us Fox News, and hear some newscaster tell us that there are 17 fatalities and 14 more injured and that there has been a school shooting every 60 hours since the beginning of the year and all we say is please leave me alone with my TV, my Ipad, my Iphone , my Facebook and I won’t say anything. Just leave me alone!

Well, I am not going to leave you alone.  I am mad, and I want you to get mad!  You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a HUMAN BEING, and my children and grandchildren are HUMAN BEINGS, Damn it!  Our lives have value!  So, Get up out of your chairs, and say it:  I’M MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!  And then, use YOUR POWER – your vote - and let’s find people that want to do the RIGHT THING and truly drain the swamp of ALL of the miscreants that have become the ruling class.

And The Journey continues………………