Mississippi Handgrabbing: Man vs. fish (Part 1 of 2)
Mississippi ‘masters’ lure lunkers … using only their hands as bait June 13, 2002 — …
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It’s always hard to say goodbye
(It’s even harder when you have to say it in Chinese) July 25, 2002 — Well, I don’t have the plague. Not yellow fever, psychosis or leprosy, either. How do I know this, you ask? Did I feel a case of the plague coming on and run off to the …
Read moreRedneck Games: You might be a redneck … if you enjoy this column
July 18, 2002 — When I stepped out of my air-conditioned car, the heat hit me like a right hook. The sun was searing and inescapable. Everything, everyone seemed to be surrounded by an abstract haze, kind of like the watercolor paintings that rise from hot highways in the summertime. …
Read moreDawsonville Down Under: Kangaroo court rules NASCAR country
July 4, 2002 — As a kookaburra cackled in the distance, a wallaby wallowed in the shade of a tall tree. Nearby, a red kangaroo hopped, then stopped. She stared at me quizzically. Her baby joey — face, feet and tail all peering out of her pouch — stared, too. …
Read moreSoccer Watching: Late-night confessions of a World Cup junkie
June 27, 2002 — In a current television commercial, the main character ends up flat on his back in the middle of a crowded sidewalk. He is motionless. Another man takes the guy’s arm and sees that he’s wearing a bracelet, kind of like a medical I.D. tag. He flips …
Read moreMississippi Handgrabbing: Finger food (Part 2 of 2)
Hands are bait when grabbing giant catfish June 20, 2002 — Forget about forethought — or any other type of thought, really — when you stick your hand in front of a 40-pound catfish, hoping that the monster mistakes your fingers for food. Thinking can only cause problems. It’s best …
Read moreMississippi Handgrabbing: Man vs. fish (Part 1 of 2)
Mississippi ‘masters’ lure lunkers … using only their hands as bait June 13, 2002 — Mike Willoughby emerged from the mud-brown Mississippi water as if he were part of a river baptism, as if the very spirit of the Holy Ghost had taken possession of his being. But Willoughby didn’t …
Read moreHawaii Spearfishing: To spear a fish, you must act like one
June 6, 2002 — He is a predator of the sea, lurking deep beneath the surface, hiding inside cracks in the coral reef, waiting for dinner to swim by. But Wendell Ko does not have gills. He cannot breath underwater. Although, at times it seems like he can. Ko is …
Read moreAntique Tractor Pull: ‘Good, clean American fun’
May 30, 2002 — “Turn left at the only red light in town.” When you are given those directions, you know you are headed for a countrified corner of the world. And when you turn onto Holloway Road in Danielsville, you know you have arrived. It’s a graveyard for anything …
Read moreSlot Car Racing: ‘3-2-1, squeeze ’em!’
May 16, 2002 — I inspected the car Mark Taaffe built for me. I had my doubts as to whether it would withstand the beating I was about to put it through. The car was yellow. It had a big blue “0” emblazoned on its roof. “Zero is as close …
Read moreClogging: A toe-tappin’ good time
April 25, 2002 — Keith Brady’s feet went off like firecrackers. His knees were loose hinges — swinging back and forth, up and around. Everything below was a blur. Perhaps Brady was a marionette, I thought. Perhaps someone, or something, was pulling at the strings from up above. He made …
Read moreGarbage Collection: Are you ‘garbage man material’?
April 21, 2002 — When Gainesville solid waste superintendent Adrian Niles explained it, the job description seemed simple enough. Get garbage out of can. Put lid back on can. Carry garbage to truck and throw it in the back. Repeat, again and again. So that’s what I did. For one …
Read moreRemembering Nell: Someone to watch over me
April 13, 2002 — My dear old next door neighbor, Nell Thompson, passed away Sunday. And I didn’t even realize it until Wednesday afternoon. I’ve spent the long hours since trying to figure out how that could happen. I learned of the sad news while reading the newspaper. I saw …
Read moreTeam Penning: Not just horsing around
April 11, 2002 — John Hulsey remembers riding his horse down Green Street. He’d clip-clop on over to the old Royal Theater, which used to occupy the vacant lot next to Clore’s Restaurant. He’d tie up his horse and take in a movie. This was the 1960s — not too …
Read moreZamboni Drivers: The ice men cometh
April 4, 2002 — It is a movable throne. In it sits the king of the common man. He is the Zamboni driver. The Atlanta Thrashers won only 19 of their first 76 games this season. That’s the worst record in the National Hockey League. But the Zamboni drivers at …
Read moreLacrosse: A cross between everything
March 28, 2002 — Lacrosse is North America’s oldest sport. You would think, then, that most people would have heard of it by now. That’s not the case in Northeast Georgia. Even though lacrosse was played religiously here by the Cherokee, Creek and Oconee Indian tribes hundreds of years ago …
Read moreHorseback Riding: Honey back in saddle after rough ride
March 21, 2002 — For 15 seconds or so, Dodie Ellison thought that her granddaughter was dead. Nine-year-old Honey Beth Campbell lay motionless in the dirt. A horse named Hunker had just put her through hell. When I heard the story, it made my stomach sink. In the fall of …
Read moreGeocaching: Not just for geeks anymore
March 14, 2002 — Hi. My name is Dan. And I’m a geocacher. There, I said it. Are your geek alarms going off? Believe it or not, I’ve never watched a full episode of “Star Trek.” I still haven’t seen the most recent “Star Wars” installment. And I have no …
Read moreHiking: Waterfalls are welcome during tournament time
March 7, 2002 — Sometimes you need to get away. I spent the better part of last week covering the first three rounds of the state basketball tournament in Rome. I am now on a first-name basis with the staffs of the Days Inn and Applebee’s there. I know well …
Read moreBingo: Trying to be chance’s chosen one
February 28, 2002 — When Bernie Olejnik took his seat behind the Bingo King Autotronic 7600, everybody shut up. Many in the crowd of nearly 100 at the Gainesville Elks Lodge on Sunday had been waiting more than an hour for this moment — waiting patiently for that first bright …
Read moreSolar System Walk: No telescope required
February 21, 2002 — Robert Webb told me to meet him at the planet Earth. So I did. It was cold and windy there. Turns out Earth is on the corner of Washington and Main. You’ll find the moon there, too. Look toward the courthouse, and you’ll see the sun. …
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