30 AUG 06: HEADING FOR HOME
We thank everyone in Columbus for staying under control, after Monday's big Little League World Series win. We haven't heard any reports about rioting in the streets, or cars being flipped upside down.
The plane carrying the Northern All-Stars landed in Atlanta Tuesday evening, close to two hours behind schedule. Doesn't that just figure? Yet another big event for this team is delayed by rain....
There was scattered applause in the Atlanta airport atrium, as the world champions walked through in uniform. Maybe the other people there thought it was the major-league baseball team, and were holding back boos.
Second baseman Josh Lester told WXTX "News at Ten" he expects things to be much different in Columbus now. As he put it: "Everybody's going to be going wild." Well, maybe not everybody. Today's big welcome-home ceremony will occur just before Wednesday night church prayer meetings.
Mayor Bob Poydasheff said at the start of Tuesday's Columbus Council meeting the Northern Little League team is "the greatest group of ambassadors I've ever seen." It looks like someone at the Chamber of Commerce will have to give up his seat, on upcoming road trips.
Did you buy a Ledger-Enquirer Tuesday, to commemorate the World Series title? I did, and found only two pages about the Northern All-Stars in section A (including the full-page front-page picture) and two pages in the sports section. Why, more people wanted to "Sound Off" about Dr. Eric Buffong and the former planet Pluto than about Kyle Carter....
(Newspaper sales probably jumped Tuesday - and we must note Monday was the most active day for visits to our blog since we added an official web counter. Thank you for your interest, and especially for all the hits from San Diego. I take it your boss didn't allow a TV set at your cubicle?!)
It felt a bit cool to make calls around the state promoting Power Frisbee Tuesday, and tell people I live in a city of "world champions." Trouble is, the championship look-alike jerseys haven't gone on sale yet - so I can't dress up and pretend to be Cody Walker.
The official welcome-home celebration for the Northern All-Stars takes place late today. The players will receive a police-escorted motorcade in limousines across town, from the Welcome Center on Williams Road to the Civic Center. We may not see something like this in Columbus again, unless Jim Wetherington is elected Mayor.
The big party will take place at the Columbus Civic Center - and Deputy City Manager Lisa Goodwin told Columbus Council Tuesday only the players and coaches will be sitting on stage for the ceremony. We don't want any politicians to get caught on camera, sitting next to a 12-year-old boy making silly faces.
We're told the special guests at the Little League celebration will include former President Jimmy Carter. But as of Tuesday afternoon, Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's schedule had him visiting National Guard personnel along the U.S.-Mexican border. Imagine if Northern had met Matamoros in the final game....
WRBL indicates the official speaker for the state of Georgia will be Secretary of State Cathy Cox. This could be the closest she's been to a winner since her campaign debates with Mark Taylor.
The welcome-home celebration is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. ET, and is expected to last about 30 minutes. Please do not be scared as you leave, if you see a big blue blob standing and pointing outside the front door. That will be the Columbus Catfish mascot, looking for any baseball fans he can find to go to Golden Park and watch a real game.
The celebrations for the Northern All-Stars won't stop there. Players can expect tributes Thursday, when they return to Blackmon Road and Midland Middle Schools. And all those stacks of posters and newspapers will be only the start of their make-up math lessons.
E-MAIL UPDATE: We promised to get caught up on your messages today, so let's get to it. We start with an item from last week, and the farthest edge of the solar system:
Houston - We have a problem
We will be the Generation known for Losing Pluto
Ack Ack, Aaacck Aaackk, Accck, AaaCcKk,Acckkk, Aaaacck, Ack Acck, Aaaackk,
and
Acck, Aaackk Aaacckk Ack Ack and Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk....................
Hey, don't look at me! I didn't lose Pluto. I never even saw the thing, because I don't have a telescope.
It was interesting to hear network news reporters talk about three new planets possibly being added to our solar system, only to have the scientists actually take one away. You talk about large-scale downsizing....
By the way, are all those "acks" from a planet about to die - or an online imitation of Chris Berman calling a home run?
Now we move closer to home, for an e-mailer's election-year essay:
walk on the wild side
We see that someone has a difference of Opinion on how a neighboring City needs to be run and is not happy with the ones that are currently running.
Some out there think that this person is doing this to ruin one of the other Choices on the ticket, while, others are happy to see this.
With so much crumbling about how the city is need of fixing,, why in the world did not many more throw their hat into the ring....
When someone steps out into the Political ring..right off the bat they are labeled "Crooks".
Many in our own area like it- well love it - when a canididate goes around promising the world to them and only come to realize that they had their promise broke,,over and over and over,, This way they can spend all of their time telling everyone how this person broke a promise to them..
What do you expect when you want promises out of someone that when elected "Do not know who you are anymore"......."Na, I never promised that for you"...."You have your words confused with someone else"
and the best one of all
"It's a game....
It's only a game....
I know how to manipulate people
I'm good at it
and after I win the election i will not have to talk to any one" ....
as i say
"Pay off your politican early
Pay them off often
Cause their memory is like your pockets
Always empty and cannot remember where it went too"
With a point of view like this, maybe we should find a wealthy family and crown a King or Queen of Columbus.
To be fair: I haven't heard any of the candidates for Columbus Mayor call an opponent a "crook" yet. In fact, none of them seem to have the endorsement of former Urban League leader Kenneth Crook.
This essay reminds me of a haiku-writing project we had in eighth grade. My "Ode to a Politician" wound up on the bulletin board for open house, and my mother wasn't quite sure what to think of it:
I will give you all
What you have always wanted
After I get paid.
Still searching for words of optimism, we come to this e-mail about the Columbus Mayor's race:
You would think with all that money Bob has, he could afford a new photograph for his campaign billboards. That photo appears to have been taken at least 30 years ago.
Send donations for Bobs new photograph to BobTheBagboy.com or make donations at your local Piggly Wiggly stores. You will find the jars at each register.
Aw, c'mon now! Maybe an old photo of Mayor Poydasheff is there on purpose, to make him look younger. Or then again, maybe someone on his campaign staff is skilled at airbrushing.
We actually noted the billboard picture of Mayor Bob Poydasheff a few weeks ago [7 Aug], when we broke the news about his web site being four years out of date. We checked the site again at our post time, and it's finally been updated for this year's race. The updated home page score: Jim Wetherington 16 pictured family members, Poydasheff 11.
In the interests of equal time - well, space....
RB,
"(The F.O.P. claims it will use the forum to reach a decision on which candidate to endorse for mayor. Aw c'mon - if that candidate is NOT Jim Wetherington, I may actually pledge money to an F.O.P. telemarketer.)" [27 Aug]
Insinuating you're pro-Poydasheff??
always,
BPGS
Not so fast there, Mr. British Petroleum Gas Station - or whatever those initials mean....
Regular blog readers know we do NOT take sides in political campaigns. Our point about the Fraternal Order of Police forum was simply that so many officers have grumbled publicly and privately about the current city government, it would only be logical for the group to endorse Jim Wetherington. But then, it only seemed logical to arrest John Mark Karr.
What else is on people's minds? There are always our schools....
The Ledger released the list of school population...I'm sure this came from MCSD central office...It could not be accurate since another "final" count just went in...The paper said Jordan had about 900 students...Get real,try 648...How can MCSD allow a school built for 1200+ to operate with less than 700..One science class there has a reported enrollment of 5. The class was told when it comes to science lab they will be put with another class..Wake up MCSD board..Stop allowing neighbor kids to leave Jordan and add to overcrowding conditions at other high schools..It is spelled b-a-l-a-n-c-e
Hmmmm - 648 students?! When someone takes time to count the enrollment who is NOT on the school staff, maybe that person needs a different hobby.
There can be advantages to Jordan High School having 700 to 900 students, you know. Teachers can provide more personalized instruction -- and tired teenagers can have more room to slouch and stretch at their desks.
It's easy to talk about balancing high school enrollment. But we're talking about a district with magnet programs -- and let's face it: the romance of going to Jordan for industrial arts has dropped, since Char-Broil moved all those jobs away.
We'll wrap up this session with a message of condolence, about a late doctor:
I'm sorry that Bufong's daughter was in the wreck with him. "IF" he was guilty as charged,and remember these charges were not his first,then he got an eye for an eye...
Isn't it nice to know we have such compassionate, sympathetic readers?
I'm sorry, but Eric Buffong's death in a car wreck last weekend does NOT qualify as "eye for eye." He didn't kill any of the women who accused him. And it's very different to feel like an emotional wreck.
We thank all of you for reading and writing - now let's get caught up on stories we've missed while celebrating the Little Leaguers:
+ The attorney for Judge Haywood Turner insisted he did NOT point a gun at anyone on the J.R. Allen Parkway last week. So? Point a pistol in the air, and bullets have to fall somewhere.
+ WRBL reported the Russell County Commission is looking at plans to build an airport. Now this is exactly what Columbus Metropolitan Airport needs -- some competition, to lower air fares.
+ Governor Sonny Perdue called a news conference to announce Georgia has moved up in the Scholastic Aptitude Tests. Now Georgia is 46th among the states, instead of 49th-- which is a bit like TV-16 announcing it now has more viewers than TV-66.
+ A nationwide survey found Alabama is the second worst state in the country for obesity. So? How do you think Auburn running backs have had so many successful seasons?
SCHEDULED THURSDAY: We attend the city's big baseball bash....
People across metro Columbus and around the world read this blog every day. To advertise to them, make a PayPal donation, offer a story tip or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.
BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 8206 (+ 287, 3.6%)
If you mention this blog in public, please be polite enough to let me know.
© 2003-06 Richard Burkard, all rights reserved.