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 moreMarch 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 moreFebruary 14, 2002 — “Not again!” Johnson High sophomore Megan Dunahoo was screaming. She lay on the basketball court clutching her right knee. Yes, Megan, again. For the second time in less than a year — almost a year to the day, in fact — Dunahoo suffered a season-ending torn …
Read moreJanuary 24, 2002 — Clinton Howard stood up and screamed: “Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh!” He pointed his finger outward repeatedly at nothing in particular. In several settings, such behavior would merit a trip to the mental ward. But not at a boys high school basketball game between East Hall and Gainesville. …
Read moreOctober 30, 2001 — If the madness that surrounds the annual meeting between the college football teams from Georgia and Florida is indeed the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party,” then the game itself is simply the excuse for throwing it. It’s the wedding, the graduation, the reunion, the New Year’s …
Read more“You gotta love it,” West Hall High head football coach Tim Marchman says of his job. “It’s just a way of life around here.” Coaching high school football is a year-round job, filled with long hours and sacrifice. Sporting Life columnist Dan Washburn caught a glimpse of the life of …
Read moreJuly 10, 2001 — When I walked into Moose’s Poolside Cafe it was lunchtime. Customers sat on stools and enjoyed veggie burgers, cheesesteak sandwiches and waffle-cut french fries. Nothing unusual about all that. But when the patrons rose from their seats, the round imprint of the stool remained on their …
Read moreJuly 3, 2001 — I believe Wiffle Ball players peak at the age of 12. After that, it’s all downhill. Perhaps physics has something to do with it. The lighter the bat, the lighter the batter, or something like that. I don’t know, I never did very well in science …
Read moreApril 22, 2001 — Paul Newberry looked confused. The Associated Press sports writer walked into the media area at the Atlanta Falcons complex in Flowery Branch late Saturday morning and his eyes opened wide. The room was packed. And that’s almost never the case. Not for this forlorn franchise. “I’m …
Read moreApril 8, 2001 — Baseball is big business. Duh. When Alex Rodriguez signed a contract worth more than the gross domestic product of Micronesia that became abundantly clear. As if it wasn’t before. As usual, ticket prices are up again — a 13 percent hike to an average of $18.99 …
Read moreMarch 27, 2001 — I wanted to dribble. Or throw the ball down on the ground and kick it. Moving with the ball in my hand felt awkward, and seemed like it should be illegal. Everything about team handball was completely foreign to me — yet oddly familiar. “It’s just …
Read moreMACON, March 10, 2001 — Coach Seth Vining was smiling. And laughing. And jumping up and down. His players were, too. Chanting and screaming, the team became one big mass of celebration in the Macon Coliseum locker room Friday afternoon. The East Hall Vikings had just defeated Calhoun, 78-67, for …
Read moreFebruary 13, 2001 — I would have expected nothing else of a coed volleyball league at Brenau University. The playing field was level, to be sure. “This is a women’s college,” Scott Haney, the school’s head volleyball coach, explained, “and I wanted a volleyball league where the women dominate.” Haney …
Read moreDecember 26, 2000 — Growing up in the small northern Pennsylvania town of Bloomsburg, there were often times when I couldn’t wait to leave. I wanted to get out. Well, I’m out. I’ve been out for several years. And now there aren’t many things I look forward to more than …
Read moreDecember 19, 2000 — If you were wondering, professional athletes don’t necessarily make great bowlers. I learned this last week when I hit the lanes with the Atlanta Falcons. In all fairness, most great bowlers likely wouldn’t fare too well in the face of an all-out blitz by the Tampa …
Read moreNovember 28, 2000 — My first glimpse of football royalty came through the foggy rear window of a red station wagon. I pressed my face to the wet glass and peered in. His Majesty — the most celebrated sports mascot in the nation — was sleeping. But this dog’s catnap …
Read moreNovember 14, 2000 — You can only run from reality for so long. And last week, I believe reality finally caught up with me. It’s been nearly a decade since my days as a high school basketball player. Nearly a decade since I ran my last suicide sprint. Nearly a …
Read moreOctober 31, 2000 — I’m not sure Antonina Grib understood just how bad a tennis player I actually am. Such ineptitude is hard to describe over the phone. But in person, out there on the court, I’m pretty good at getting the point across. And I believe I saw Grib …
Read moreOctober 24, 2000 — I remember an episode of “Magnum, P.I.” in which Magnum is forced to tread water for hours and hours and hours. He was lost at sea, fighting for his life in shark-friendly saltwater under a hot Hawaii sun. His body grew tired, his mind weak — …
Read moreAugust 8, 2000 — Good golfers generally aren’t good miniature golfers, somebody told me recently. That person was wrong. And so was I, for assuming that the opposite also holds true: That awful golfers — like me — would somehow be ameliorated by the plastic greens, colored balls and banked …
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