Recently in Sports Category

Jon Stinchcomb came to my school two weeks ago. His nephew (by marriage) is in my class and Jon was in town visiting his family so he decided he would come and visit us. He got his start here. He played at Parkview High (where Stephen will be teaching next year) and he played for Georgia. It was so much fun to have him at school. He was great with the kids and such a nice guy. He did a little inspirational talk to our class, signed some autographs, and took some pictures. I even got one with him by myself! He looks much chubbier on TV then he does in real life. He is very tall though! I was amazed by his height. What a great year to know him!

Uncle Jon in door

Will have to wait until I get home to hear it.

My Super Bowl routine today will be the same as my Saints gameday routine. I hate the late start. Woke up at 8:30AM. I'll tool around the house, the yard, and the computer. If I watch TV, I'll watch anything but pregame silliness. I'll turn the TV to the game as close to kickoff as possible. I won't be able to be around others except Patsy and she had better learn to sit still. We can only have one nervous nellie in the house and I called dibs on it 43 years ago.

We'll have seven layer dip, chicken salad, chips, and boudin. I have a Super Bowl story for those of you who know what seven layer dip is. Patsy made it for the first time ever for a Super Bowl party that our friends were having. We took separate cars to that party because Patsy had to work and wouldn't get there until later. I brought the dip, put it on the table, and went outside, where the guys were all gathered around the barbecue pit drinking beer. The wives and girlfriends stayed inside. No, this was the 80s, not the 50s. For the record, the seven layer dip Patsy makes is kept chilled and served chilled or room temperature. When I had finally gone inside, my beloved hostess asked me how long she should leave it in the oven. It had been in the oven long enough to where the cheese had melted pretty good. It wasn't totally ruined but it wasn't the best seven layer dip ever.

New Orleans Saints by knight1357.

I mentioned to my friend, Hyde, who is also a long-suffering and lifelong Saints fan, that if there will be a celebration tonight after the NFC Championship Game by Saints fans, it will be equal parts joy and relief. He thinks more relief than joy. I don't think Saints fans have ever had as much of themselves invested in a game before. To use the popular Texas Hold 'Em declaration, we're ALL IN. It's entirely too much of a burden to put on the team but they've said all along they want to win it for us. Good Luck to the Vikings and their excellent fans but

Deuce is on the loose! My principal came over the loud speaker yesterday at 11:30am to make an announcement "Breaking News: The Saints just resigned Deuce McCalister for the playoffs!" and the whole school erupted in cheers, teachers walked into the hallway to high five each other! Did I mention we were all wearing black & gold, students paid a $1 for that privilege! Who Dat fever is all over! The boys also wore black and gold to school (their privilege was free!) Phil said the restaurant erupted into cheers as well when the news scrolled across the bottom of ESPN, which his TVs are tuned to all day. I wore my Pierre Thomas jersey yesterday (a Christmas gift from Phil that he is supposed to get signed for me). I'll wear my signed Deuce McCalister jersey today for the game. He was a participant in Phil's Burgerpalooza fund raiser two years ago and he signed my jersey.

We're not going to the game today and I'm so bummed about it. Playoff tickets just weren't in the budget. Phil took over a friend of a friend's season tickets this year b/c the friend had triplets. They offered them to Phil again next year...we'll see when August rolls around if we can afford it. It was a lot of fun this season going to all the games. Jacob and Jackson each got a turn to go, with Jackson getting to go to the Giants game to see his hero, Eli Manning. I bought him a Giants shirt and I thought it would be fun for him to wear it to the game; Phil didn't so he wore his Saints jersey! We're going to Angela's to watch the game on their monstrous TV, thankfully she has a DVR now so we can pause the game to deal with the inevitable interruptions from the six kiddos that will be there. David Clayton will be there as well and probably Mama. She's making barbecue venison and I'll hold my nose as I eat it! I'm bringing a dip or two. Geaux Saints!

Sorry Minnesota but we're not giving up this year...it's going to be a Black and Gold Superbowl!!! Better luck next year!

Check out this song that's playing all over the radio.

You Viking fans do anything special before or during the game?

I'll probably pick up a pizza, some chicken tenders, or maybe even some Phil's Grille burgers if I have time to run to Mandeville. I'm not wild about Monday night Saints games. I prefer my Sunday noon routine.

Bunk (David) has reached the finals of the Georgia State Wrestling Championships. The Gwinnett Daily Post has a picture of him in action and he's also mentioned in an article in the same paper.

Update (February 18): David finished second.

I have really loved the writing of Chris Rose since Hurricane Katrina. Before Katrina, I had never heard of him. Here's another great installment. Hopefully, you won't have to register. Registration is free if you do have to.

I'll represent, too, Chris.

Mom & Sue,

Remember this?

Does Ann read this? She might also remember it. She and Bob were at the game, too.

In 1970, Dad was a Saints season ticket holder. Since New Orleans was the host city of the Super Bowl that year, he was given an option to buy a $15 Super Bowl ticket. When game day arrived, it was overcast and drizzly and a bit cold. Dad scrounged up another ticket so Mom could go. Then, not much later, Grandma or Grandpa scrounged up two more. Sue and I also got to go with Mom and Dad. The seats were not together. Sue was 12 and I was 13 (No need to do the math). We were in that North End Zone while Mom and Dad were in the South End Zone. Imagine that in this day and age; two kids at a football game pretty much on their own in a cavernous stadium? We thought nothing of it then but what parent would allow that now? The highlight for us (Not Sue so much) was the pre-game ceremony. Two hot air balloons were supposed to take off out of the stadium carrying a Viking and a Chief in some kind of race. The Viking balloon got about 4 feet off of the ground and went laterally straight into the North End Zone. It missed us by about 10 feet. Sue was screaming but I was laughing. No one was seriously hurt but there were some cuts and scrapes. When highlights from that game are shown, they usually show this. We’re just to the left of the balloon from this camera angle but you really can't see it in this small of an image. Mom probably still has the Clarion Herald newspaper that has this picture in it. This was our 15 minutes, Sue.

I run a March Madness Tournament Pool every year.

If you would like to play, here's the link.

Bunk's still in! He wrestled twice today and he pinned both opponents. I was not there for either. Today was teacher/conference day and I had my last conference at 2:45. I did not get to the arena until 40. I will leave work tomorrow at noon. He has a tough match at 10. This boy killed him in a match early on in the season. I will not watch. I can not stand to watch him. I watch the other boys and cheer them on but I simply can not watch my own. Stephen is reffing at this State tournament. It is the first time they have had all five levels of schools in one arena for a State Wrestling Tournament in the United States is what I think I read in the paper. Anyway, it was an honor for Stephen to be selected since he has only been reffing for five years. I witnessed a conflict he was having with a coach from across the arena. I don't know why he'd want to ref at this thing - way too much pressure. Kellie packed him a tool box of tips for Reffing at State. It was packed with several items - carrots for sharp eyes, a notepad to write down things he will say when interviewed by the paper, earplugs to drown out the coaches, Germ-X so that he can come home ringworm free among other things. It's really cute.

I just got home from the Area Tournament. Bunk came in first place. We nicknamed the kid he wrestled against Fireplug because he was very short and very muscular. David nicknamed him Oompa Loompa. He had wrestled this boy last year and lost to him at this same tournament 5-0. He wrestled him three weeks ago and lost 10-8. I didn't think he'd win today, but he thought he would and I guess that's what counts. The score was 7-2. The boy's parents were sitting next to us last night. Scott asked his dad how much the kid benchpressed and how often he worked out. He was making a comparison of sorts. He benched 220 and worked out three days a week at 60 a.m. in addition to the workouts after school each day. Our little Bunk Bunk doesn't go in for that sort of thing. He's not big into lifting weights. Also, that boy was snacking on roasted almonds while Bunk was throwing down Skittles. But in the end, Bunk's theory about muscles (and eating healthily) not being everything in wrestling worked out for him. State is on February 9, 10, 11. A local expert that posts his predictions on an internet wrestling vent page has Bunk ranked 13 out of 20. He wasn't predicted to come in first in this tournament, so we'll just have to wait and see.

This link from the Atlanta Journal Constitution is probably only going to be free today (February 5, 2006). Read it if you can.