5 MAR 07: NO HEARTS, JUST FLOWERS

The TV newscasts were relatively kind to Charles Flowers, when he resigned as Muscogee County Athletic Director last week. But one column in the newspaper has changed all that, and sparked a couple of e-mails in our direction. Take this one:

Hope you read Richard Hyatt's Fri article on Flowers..See,and you didn't want to believe all those rumors...Good luck to Daughtery High,you will need more than an Irish clover...Oh,Charles never paid for the state championship rings he ordered for his friends that didn't even go to football games...

As we mentioned last week, the original rumor from last November had Charles Flowers moving to Carver High School. He denied that to me - but I didn't know I was supposed to ask about every other school and district in the state.

A second e-mail goes into more detail on this:

I don't remember which side of this fence you sit on, but knew you'd be interested in this:

Kansas State Athletic Department Condemns Chicken Toss

Students have smuggled live chickens to mock Kansas

Feb. 28, 2007 MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) -The chicken toss has been declared off limits at Kansas State.

For years, Kansas State students have smuggled live chickens into basketball games against Kansas, then thrown them onto the court and behind the opposing bench before tip-off - mocking their rival's Jayhawk mascot.

On another note

You mentioned on Thursday about Coach Flowers going to Albany and then on Friday, Richard Hyatt ripped the man. If any of the things Mr. Hyatt said are true, I would have expected Tim Chitwood or Harry Franklin (who have both recenlty covered education) or Troy Johnson on the Sports page would have done an expose.

From Mr Hyatt's story:

As Flowers' success grew, so had his arrogance. While winning trophies, he was threatening to go to Bibb County if he wasn't paid more money, lobbying for bigger coaching supplements and getting players out of classes so they could lift weights. He manipulated boundaries so certain players could come to Shaw, refining a practice others had used for years.

Helping kids cut class and controlling the districting maps seems like it would have made good reading. I think Mr. Hyatt should have at least cited a source for something in this.

Keep up your good work.

BH

I'll get back to those chickens, but let's keep focusing on the Flowers. Wow - I never realized Richard Hyatt was such a loyal Columbus High School backer....

Based on the headline above Friday's column in the Ledger-Enquirer, I thought Richard Hyatt's point was that the Muscogee County Athletic Director position now might go unfilled. I thought the reason would involve tight budgets - not overinflated egos.

BH makes a good point - if all these points about Charles Flowers were well-known, why didn't someone at the Ledger-Enquirer mention them in print before now? Especially if he helped students cut classes? Or was the "weightlifting" explained away as an alternative way of teaching math?

It's not necessarily wrong for Athletic Director Charles Flowers to lobby for more money for coaches. After all, it seemed to work very well for Nick Saban at Alabama....

Keep in mind that high school coaches can't really get the "shoe deals" or endorsement contracts that college coaches can. Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville supposedly has a nice deal with "Under Armour" apparel. Muscogee County coaches might have been offered a deal with Choose Shoes -- the place police raided the other day.

To be fair, Richard Hyatt's column indicates Charles Flowers was not the first Muscogee County athletic leader to redraw school boundaries. But it's interesting that coaches in Columbus have the power to do something not even state lawmakers do very often.

(As the high school baseball season gets started, I haven't heard of any "transfer controversy" like Russell County faced last year. Maybe all the top players enrolled at Shaw, after the Northern All-Stars won the Little League title.)

I'm not sure when Charles Flowers started playing with the Shaw High School boundary line. But his record as football coach is very interesting - as he had a .500 record for his first several years, then exploded to a big winning percentage over his the last few years. Was it the school lines? The players lifting weights at midday? Or should someone check the lunchroom for steroid needles?

Let's be honest here: some students have played fast and loose with boundary rules for years, to get into their favorite schools - and not only in Muscogee County. I knew a girl who moved away from my high school for her junior year, then came back for the senior year. Supposedly she could do it because her father's insurance office was in the district, and had a cot in the back.

Oh yes, that high school was in Kansas - and I appreciate the update on chickens from Silo Tech. At least, that's what some Kansas students used to call Kansas State....

As I recall, the "chicken dance" at Kansas-Kansas State games goes back about 30 years. After some kind of controversy involving Kansas player Donnie Von Moore, a few Kansas students threw hot dogs on the court when Kansas State players came out for a game. My roommates justified that, by saying hot dogs don't leave as big a mess.

And speaking of Kansas - congratulations are in order for my youngest niece. I found out Sunday night Heather the K.U. grad [22-23 May 05] is engaged! The wedding date has been set for Memorial Day weekend of NEXT year - so there's plenty of time for you to buy advertising space on her gown.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Back now to the aftermath of Thursday night's storms:

Already Columbus is seeing Construction Storm Chasers- Please tell Blog readers to pass along to others in need of Rebuilding or repair , the best bet is to call Columbus Chamber of Commerce and they will refer those with Construction damage to contact the "Greater Columbus Home Builders Association" ,- or those with a computer can go directly to "GCHBA " website and pull down a list by Construction Need and get Name & phone # of o Reputable Contractors in our area.

G. Colbert

I'm glad to post that link here for you. And if the work crew which knocks on your door has "gypsy" in its name, be suspicious.

BLOG UPDATE: If Hurtsboro was damaged by last week's storms, I've heard nothing about it. But there are still some things to note on this Hurtsboro Monday -- including a court case involving a business owned by the Mayor. She's accused of owing money to East Alabama Medical Center. So you city workers waiting for paychecks should take a number, and get in line....

Alabama court records show an April trial is planned in the case of East Alabama Medical Center vs. Sandra Tarver of "Jet Adult Day Care." EAMC claims it has compensation money coming from the day care center. Hopefully the mayor didn't use extra money to actually buy herself a jet.

Our schedule did not permit us to contact either side in this case for comment in the last few days. But court records show EAMC has a Montgomery law firm working on its behalf. Why the hospital didn't go all the way and hire Micki Beth Stiller, I have no idea.

And I hope Constable R.J. Schweiger didn't lose any money this past week because of me. He posted another item on the message board of Talbot County's "Concerned Citizens for Responsible Government," predicting "THE topic" of Thursday's blog would be Russell County Court again. Hmmm - how would a "fantasy blogging league" work, anyway?

While your blog considered controlled burns at Fort Benning last Wednesday, R.J. Schweiger (yes, Talbot County message board posters, he really IS an elected Constable) was back in Russell County Court. It was a "docket call" hearing on the two charges against him, so I decided it wasn't a big enough event to attend. Besides, Mr. Schweiger might have sought my arrest for stalking him.

Court records show a jury trial for Constable Schweiger is planned in mid-March. He's apparently entered a "hardship plea," to explain why he wants to be his own defense lawyer. If it doesn't pay well enough to be a Constable, maybe Mr. Schweiger should become a bounty hunter -- and claim rewards for all the Hurtsboro city officials he can put in prison.

Now for other items large and small, which we discovered Sunday:

+ WRBL clarified a "breaking news" item from its Saturday night news. It turned out four Talbot County Sheriffs' deputies were NOT missing from Big Lazer Creek. Four Villa Rica police officers were missing - and they turned out all right. At least News 3 didn't accuse them of playing lazer tag.

+ Jed Harris substituted for Ed Harbison as the host of WYBU's "Public Agenda." I know the Georgia Legislature is in session - but this is going to start rumors about Harbison's "Atlanta home" all over again.

+ The "New Hope Revival Center" broadcast on WSHE-AM featured the Pastor talking about how he once spoke to "St. Columba" in a vision. Was this saint annoyed by the fact that Columbus has a statue honoring Christopher Columbus, but not him?

+ Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton joined in the annual Selma, Alabama civil rights march. If they didn't make side trips to Enterprise, does that mean they secretly want to cut the FEMA disaster budget?

+ Instant Message to whomever came up with a radio ad for a touring stage play which says, "Coming to Columbus - Irresponsible Behavior": It's coming?! As if Columbus doesn't have any of this already? Last time I checked, Recorder's Court was still in business....

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