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26 JAN 04: DON'T LOSE MY NUMBERS
A week has now passed, and it still seems odd - not seeing any live drawings of Georgia Lottery numbers on Columbus television. But then again, convenience stores probably are thrilled. People have to go there a second time, to see if they won.
I'm hearing WRBL dropped the live Georgia Lottery drawings because the managers felt they hurt the ratings of newscasts. This seems a bit hard to believe. As often as I've watched the 11:00 p.m. drawings, I don't recall the number nine coming up that often.
I posted a question about lottery drawings on a television industry message board this past week - and one reply said Atlanta's WSB-TV considers them a big help in the ratings, not a hurt. But does that station really need that sort of help? Some people around Albany already watch that station on cable, for ABC shows.
So why hasn't some other TV station in town picked up the live lottery games? One person told me it costs valuable commercial time, to fit in those drawings. Couldn't a station simply start one of those infomercials a minute late? Most people won't notice a difference, because they're not watching....
I personally don't play the Georgia Lottery - so why do I make such a fuss about the live drawings? True confession: I use them to practice speaking Spanish. If I say "veinte-y-cuatro, treinta-y-ocho, treinta-y-nueve" fast enough, I might get to be a DJ on Ritmo Latino Radio.
As it happened, the Sunday night news speculated some Alabama lawmakers might bring up the lottery again during their upcoming session. This time, it might have a chance - if Roy Moore makes too many speeches outside the state to pay attention.
While we're into numbers: did you notice the temperature difference across Georgia Sunday? When Columbus was at 60 degrees F., Atlanta was at 42. Maybe the Georgia legislature is to blame for this - with the chilly relations in election years between Republicans and Democrats.
Two big numbers were noteworthy in sports over the weekend. First, Columbus State men's basketball coach Herbert Greene won his 600th game. Greene admitted in Sunday's Ledger-Enquirer he's old - but the newspaper didn't reveal HOW old. You almost wonder if Greene lied about that on his resume.
(Somebody has to ask this - is it fair to include six years of high school coaching in Alabama, in figuring Herbert Greene's 600 wins? Should a 32-minute game only count as 80-percent of a win?)
Then on Sunday, Auburn women's basketball coach Joe Ciampi won HIS 600th game. He's accomplished a lot over all these years - yet as usual, the A.U. trustees have blown it. Ciampi's never been offered a chance to coach the men.
(If all goes well, the Lady Tigers will win the NCAA title in April - making their coach a Joe Ciampi-on.)
BLOG UPDATE: Another march is planned in downtown Columbus this morning - this time by opponents of the former School of the Americas. It'll be interesting to see if Edward DuBose of the NAACP shows up, simply out of habit.
More than 25 people are going on trial in federal court, for "crossing the line" onto Fort Benning during SOA Watch weekend last November. Most of them probably will go to prison for six months - and hopefully write letters to Martha Stewart, to get her prepared.
The group of SOA Watch defendants had a pre-trial meeting Sunday night - and it more like a party than a wake. A few of them even wore Mardi Gras beads! Oh no - does this mean some of those nuns are going to strip in the courtroom?
So what else happened over the weekend? Here's what I noticed:
+ The Ledger-Enquirer asked Muscogee County School Board members to evaluate Superintendent John Phillips's first year in office. Four members gave him good reviews, while four others said it wouldn't be appropriate to do that in the newspaper. It looks like Mary Sue Polleys will have to break the tie....
+ "Big Fish," the movie filmed in Tallapoosa County which had Columbus residents dreaming of being extras, went 0-for-2 at the Golden Globe Awards. It followed a night-long trend - because by my count, NBC censors went 0-for-2 blocking dirty words.
+ Instant Message to First Baptist Church of Columbus: I didn't know you had a group of students doing interpretive dance to Christian songs during services. Can I do my own dance, to illustrate a sermon about "twisting the Scriptures?"
COMING THIS WEEK: The most-hyped production in Columbus.... and it's not called "Cats"....
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