November 2, 1999 — When Lane Eaton told me that he had forgotten his putter, I knew I had severely underestimated the seriousness of disc golf. Putter? I thought this sport was played with a Frisbee. Well, plain old Frisbees are for kids, I learned. Adults hurl plastic discs with …
Read moreOctober 26, 1999 — Sometimes dreams do come true. You just have to be patient. As a little kid, I used to dream at night that I could fly. While my friends and family remained confined to the ground, I would float above them, around them. I was free. And …
Read moreOctober 23, 1999 — Enough already with this tired Team of the Decade debate. So the Atlanta Braves have made it to the National League Championship Series eight years in a row, and the New York Yankees are trying for their third World Series championship in four years. Who cares? …
Read moreOctober 19, 1999 — Earle Darby speaks loudly, very loudly. Perhaps this is because he often talks to people with plugs in their ears. But whether those plugs are meant to deaden the sound of shotgun fire or that of Darby’s booming voice, I am not sure. Regardless, I had …
Read moreOctober 12, 1999 — “Hiking,” I mumbled under my breath. “Hiking?” my teammate responded incredulously. We were warming up before our noontime game of basketball at the First Baptist Church Family Life Center. “Well I’ll be,” he continued, shaking his head in disbelief, chuckling. “Of all things, hiking puts you …
Read moreOctober 5, 1999 — It’s an awkward, counterintuitive position. Underwater. Upside-down. Sealed inside a kayak. Down is up. Right and left are confused. Time is of the essence. Any attempt to analyze the situation is swiftly drowned out by an intense urge to get above water — and breath again. …
Read moreSeptember 21, 1999 — Marvin Mukthar Williams was stretching, just like any other athlete does. He propped his leg up onto the bleacher, leaned forward and reached for his toes. Game time was near, so the 26-year-old lifted his limp leg with his hands and placed it back into his …
Read moreSeptember 14, 1999 — It sounds violent because it is: U.S. Army Rangers are highly trained killing machines. From the Revolutionary War to Somalia, Rangers have contributed their unique combat skills to virtually every major military operation in U.S. history — and even more “minor” ones that the general public …
Read moreSeptember 7, 1999 — Glassy-eyed, I sat at my computer trying to type. I wanted to capture some of the images of the previous 17 hours while they were still fresh in my mind. But I was tired. I put my head in my hands. I needed to organize my …
Read moreAugust 31, 1999 — I love the smell of paintballs in the morning. Good thing, too, because they were being shot in my direction at a furious pace. I was crouched behind a dirt pile, and the enemy knew it. I’m not sure how many of them there were. One? …
Read moreAugust 24, 1999 — The moonlight helped a little. I was having trouble seeing my line, let alone the tip of the fishing rod it was attached to. I hunkered down atop the boat and squinted out toward the waters of Lake Lanier, trying to see whether my line was …
Read moreAugust 17, 1999 — “You know how to use a rotary phone?” C.W. Tate asked me as we walked through the stable. Tate pushed the front of his cowboy hat back on his head and chuckled slyly. Things are a bit old fashioned at Mountain Creek Farms, home of C.W. …
Read moreAugust 3, 1999 — I recognized the look in the child’s eyes. It was a look of wonder, of worship. It was a look that, I’m sure, emanated from my young eyes years ago as I gazed upon my heroes at the ballpark. It was a look that Stephanie Yarem …
Read moreJuly 27, 1999 — It’s a good thing sports writers put in odd hours. That way, we can make fools of ourselves on the tennis court while the rest of the world works. Our follies of would-be volleys go unseen. Our self-induced tirades unheard. “And, for that, everyone should be …
Read moreJuly 20, 1999 — The fly fisherman did a double take. I imagine he selected this remote bend on the upper, upper Chattahoochee River expecting to encounter trout, not humans. And now eight of us were sloshing our way toward him — not one in the group carrying a rod …
Read moreJuly 13, 1999 — The corrugated steel body of the boathouse amplified the persistent pitter-patter of raindrops striking the structure’s small frame. I stared out the door, watching round ripples form on the lake’s surface, wondering if I would ever get the opportunity to learn how to water ski. I …
Read more“You know what I was just thinking? The first explorers saw this country, saw it just like us — in a canoe.” Lewis Medlock (Burt Reynolds) in the 1972 motion picture “Deliverance” July 6, 1999 — The Chattooga River is a natural dichotomy. Charming and challenging. Delightful and deadly. Perfect …
Read moreJune 29, 1999 — “If you can’t see the river ahead of you, you know you’re in for some fun,” Gary Gaines hollered back at us with a knowing smile. He then turned his kayak downstream, toward where the Chattahoochee River dropped out of our sight, toward the whitewater that …
Read moreJune 22, 1999 — I remember when my father first taught me how to ride a bicycle — back in days when kids’ heads were hard enough not to require helmets. Holding onto my seat, he ran by my side as I steered the small bike throughout my elementary school’s …
Read moreJune 15, 1999 — Racquetball is the type of sport that can make the inexperienced player feel quite awkward. And when that inexperienced player shares the court with, say, an eight-time national champion, that awkwardness is aggravated — much like the inexperienced player at the match’s conclusion. Good thing eight-time …
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