24 FEB 06: LET'S GET IT STARTED

College softball players from across the country gathered in Columbus Thursday, for today's start of the Leadoff Classic. South Commons will have more fast pitches over the next three days than the Jay Auto Mall has in three weeks.

But I'll skip opening day of the Leadoff Classic, because there's another sport in mind. Today we go to Valdosta, to make the first public announcement of Power Frisbee of Georgia. Before you get the wrong idea: we are NOT attaching motors to frisbees and flying them by remote control.

Power Frisbee is something I've actually dreamed of doing since I was a boy. The idea came from practicing football punting in the backyard -- which didn't last long, because too many balls hooked over the neighbor's fence and landed around their scary dogs.

I threw frisbees in the yard when I was young, too. In fact, one day my older brother threw one that I failed to catch -- and it hit me in the throat! This is why I don't play the team frisbee game known as "guts."

Mix throwing frisbees with kicking footballs back and forth in the yard, and you have a taste of how Power Frisbee works. The official web site (very basic at this point) has a page with a simplified set of rules. It can be played with men or women, singles or doubles - but four-man might be as overcrowded as a bobsled.

(By the way: the Power Frisbee web site has a blog attached. But if you want jokes there, you'll have to write them in the comments section yourself.)

While other men would spend their weekends in the fall hunting for five-point deer, I'd head for football fields and work on three-point Power Frisbee shots. The exercise is nice, the fields are relatively peaceful - but pick the wrong field on the wrong day and the mud can stick to my shoes for days.

As I did Power Frisbee workouts, I dreamed of the game "going big" - with full season schedules and matches around the state. But busy work schedules in Oklahoma and Atlanta kept getting in the way. Oh yes, and I didn't really think of start-up costs....

I hoped to launch Power Frisbee during the "Olympic summer" in 1996, in the wake of my firing. I even had a deal for a stadium which the Atlanta Games wasn't using. But then I took a "one-week" job which turned out to be open-ended and lasting months. Some temporary firms can lead to permanent mistakes.

So I moved to Columbus, and Power Frisbee remained a dream -- until this year. E-mails were sent to recreation commissions and school districts around the state. Some of them have responded positively. A few have turned me down. And sadly, a few may have decided my message was spam and deleted it.

The big announcement about Power Frisbee is occurring in Valdosta because I have to pick up a permission form to use a stadium there in August. It's nothing personal against Columbus -- but the parks department and school district have kept me waiting on a commitment. Maybe it's part of the split sales tax deal....

If all goes as planned, the first Power Frisbee season will begin in August - after local qualifying tournaments this summer. If all does NOT go as planned? Well, does anyone have one-week temporary jobs available?

E-MAIL UPDATE: Our Wednesday confessional about being fired in 1996 brought a response - but NOT from one of the three women we tried to compliment years ago:

Wow, that CNN story is interesting. Too bad everyone has to get offended anymore and can't simply ignore someone, tell them to get lost or just kick them in the shins if they have no interest. It's hard to believe there was actually a time when people were able to stand up for themselves. Unfortunately the workplace, especially at some companies, mine included, is too hyper sensitive about things. Sometimes I excuse myself from someplace just because I don't even want to be in the same vicinity as something being said lest I end up in front of the sensitivity police. My theory is that one reason for the explosion in blogging is because many people are unable to express themselves in the workplace without fear of retribution.

Ignorance of people is easy to suggest, but not so easy to do in real-life. Look at how concerned some countries are about the President of Iran.

Some workplaces are more "hypersensitive" than others, but I see nothing wrong in being sensitive to the feelings of co-workers. In a competitive market, it's much easier to fight against other companies when you don't turn your own weapons on each other.

Blogging indeed can be an instrument of expression. But some companies have taken action against staff members who spilled secrets or told off their managers on their blogs. And the sexy photos of that Delta Air Lines flight attendant - well, maybe that was "expression" to her, but....

YOUR EXTRAORDINARILY EXEMPLARY LOCAL BLOG WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE: It appeared to me Drew and Cheryl wrapped up the title Thursday night with their "western" freestyle dance. Now if.... no wait. Did I turn on the wrong channel?

COMING THIS WEEKEND: We'll heat some "leftovers" -- interesting items we were too busy to mention during the week....

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