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Ga. baseball team plans “Eliot Spitzer night”

Hat tip to Mickey Plyler

Clemson Hall of Fame linebacker Jeff Davis tells the story about Danny Ford visiting with him before Davis’ senior season. “The Judge” says Ford told him, “This team can be mine or it can be yours. If you want me to take control I can but we will become a great program when the players take ownership of the team.” Davis says when teammates hold others accountable then the program can move forward.

I’ve been watching a LOT of the Sopranos lately, and it’s quickly made its way into my frequent-reference bank. With scenes like this one, whaddaya expect?

I’m not the biggest fan of ACC football referee Ron Cherry’s body of work, but this was awesome.

Alley-Oop from The Big Lead

A spiritual discipline I’ve been growing into since college is that of sabbath and sabbatical.  While weekly rest is a constant challenge, I’ve found a rhythm of taking time at the end of a year in a strange place to rest, soak in a new city, reflect on the year past and look ahead to the coming year.

I realized that this was important in 2005, when I spent two weeks’ down-time in Atlanta and found myself simultaneously lethargic and restless.  That’s a typical state when I’m there; after the initial thrill of seeing family and old friends, inertia soon sets in and I settle into a state of being that I don’t much care for.  So the holiday rhythm has changed to include both the time with family and time alone.

Last year, I spent four days in Montanita, Ecuador between Christmas and New Year’s.  It was a wonderfully refreshing time (and the surf didn’t hurt!).  This year, New York City is calling my name.  I’ve never been on my own there for more than a few hours; any recommendations for how to spend a few days in the city that never sleeps?

Been out of the blogosphere for a while.  Chalk it up to illness, work, and lack of laptop, in that order.  I find it really hard to blog from a desktop computer without feeling a twinge about blogging from work, oddly enough.  Never mind that I’ve checked sports news at work regularly over the course of life, but there’s something psychologically different about being a passive multitasker and actively creating something outside of the paying venue (even when these reflections may be more closely linked to what I do!)

Lots is going well in life, and I’ve been in the middle of it.  Elaborating on specifics without specific questions is often difficult, as I told a buddy on the phone today; life moves a million miles a minute, I move with it, then realize after the fact how fast it’s going.  Now that I’m using a computer outside of Fuller again, I’m hoping to make this a more regular rhythm; with six possible posts coming out of this morning, semi-regular blogging’s the least I can do!

Now entering: Montanita

Originally uploaded by mikework

Spent the final week of 2006 here…loved it.

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Originally uploaded by mikework

September 2004…a lot took place that month, and I took this shot on a particularly reflective morning after a long night in Edinburgh.

From ESPN’s front page comes A History of Mistrust, which places the dogfighting allegations against Falcons QB Michael Vick against the background of Atlanta, GA.

Vick’s not from Atlanta, but he’s become an adopted son since the 2001 NFL draft. That’s when the Falcons became relevant again, and that’s where Vick’s the’s the most public of public figures. It’s there that the pro-Vick movement, spearheaded by New Order human rights group, has taken root.

Thousands of miles away, that sounds ludicrous, particularly when the allegations of what happened to losing dogs surfaced. Why would anyone support someone who did THAT? Like he needs anyone’s sympathy?

Here’s the rub. It’s very possible that Vick bankrolled and gave the thumbs-up to dogfighting on his property. Given the public history of poor decision-making by his brother Marcus, who followed Michael as QB at Virginia Tech, it’s quite possible that Michael made a really bad call that should’ve been changed at the line.

That said, I’m not the only one who saw a rush to judgment here. Not only were many calling for Vick to be suspended before a trial, public opinion was against him well before an indictment was issued. Activist groups moved quickly to condemn Vick and put pressure on both his primary employers (the Falcons) and secondary sources of income (Nike, Rawlings, etc) before due process was taken in the judicial system. That’s what black Atlantans have a problem with, particularly given the experience of race and law enforcement in the ATL.  That’s what this piece helps to sort out.

Last night, we played softball.  We rode a 13-run second inning to a 21-4 run-rule victory, called in the bottom of the 5th.  Fittingly, the game ended when Moon hit one over Pacific Park’s version of the Green Monster; the ball just kept rising until it landed on the basketball courts behind the fence.  Rock on.

After the game, I sought out my trusty Festiva.  The car was not in the parking spot!  I was, needless to say, stunned.  Had someone stolen the car during the game???

My suspicion lasted for a few seconds.  I blinked twice and saw the car sitting across the street, back bumper hugging the curb.  Now, there’s not too much metal to the car, but I never thought that it was so light that it would just roll across the street the first time I neglected to use the parking brake!

The things that happen…