4 APR 07: VEE NOT FOR VICTORY
"Both sides have been getting away with a little bit of murder...." Where might you have heard that quote Tuesday night? At a gang summit? A sports event? Or in a cable news discussion about Britain and Iran, arresting members of the military?
The correct answer is the middle one - and the quote was said Tuesday night by Columbus Cottonmouths play-by-play announcer Mike Vee. The Snakes were eliminated from the Southern League playoffs 4-3 by Jacksonville. But when Vee talks about BOTH teams getting away with "a little bit of murder," that's actually his strange way of complimenting the referee.
(Yes, I know -- you can't literally commit "a little bit" of murder. But no one ever accused Mike Vee of being a newscaster on the order of Roszell Gadson. He's a sports announcer - more on the order of being on the Cottonmouths' payroll.)
People who have heard Mike Vee on radio or the Internet know he definitely wears his Cottonmouths logo on his sleeve. When the final seconds ticked off Tuesday night, he went silent for a few seconds - then sounded like he was about to cry. You'd think Vee would realize tough-guy hockey players don't cry. Not even when they make post-season trips to the dentist....
Here's an example of Mike Vee's hockey view: he called a Jacksonville "very wrong" Tuesday night for putting a skate near a Columbus player's face - yet he later praised a Snakes player for cheating when the referee's back was turned. Somehow I doubt we'll ever hear Vee announce he's taking a job with the Pastoral Institute.
Mike Vee actually was tame and calm Tuesday night, compared to Game Three of the Columbus-Jacksonville series Sunday. In that game, Vee strongly suggested the referee was biased in Jacksonville's favor -- and almost said a "religious" swear word on the air. Considering that was a game Columbus won, I'm glad I couldn't hear the Jacksonville announcers.
I've disagreed with Mike Vee for years about his perspective on rough play in hockey. He openly wished at one point Tuesday night that it was a mid-season game and not a playoff game, so the Cottonmouths could "drop their gloves" and start brawling a bit with Jacksonville. And you thought "Five for Fighting" was simply a clever name for a rock band....
Mike Vee called Tuesday's Game Four "much more entertaining" to watch than Sunday's third game, because the referee allowed a large amount of rule-breaking. Yet that sort of stuff isn't allowed in football and basketball - and really isn't needed at all in hockey. If people really wanted to see fighting in Columbus, they'd draw much bigger crowds for GCW Wrestling.
Columbus led 3-1 after two periods Tuesday night, but Jacksonville rallied for three goals in the third period to win. You could tell Mike Vee's frustration in his voice at the end, when he very quietly thanked everyone for another season of hockey. By comparison, he exclaimed each "SCOWUH!" by the Cottonmouths like a vulture announcing a feast.
Mike Vee called Jacksonville's 3-1 series win over the regular-season champion Cottonmouths an "upset." Yet he suggested late in the season that sixth-place Jacksonville was peaking at the right time, and could give a team trouble in the playoffs. Maybe the Snakes shouldn't have dominated the regular-season series quite so much?!
It's tempting to say the Cottonmouths were a bit overconfident, heading into the Jacksonville series. The players cut up for TV cameras a couple of times, before the series started. But at least they didn't get ugly-looking Mohawk haircuts this time, which become marks of shame after you're eliminated.
E-MAIL UPDATE: Our Sunday tripleheader of beggars may have inspired this:
I was stopped on the main st.of Woodland,GA to let a train pass..A lady ,who had to be 80,walked up to the closed window and tapped..I almost had a heart attack...She said she had 5 grandchildren she was raising under 8 yrs old..Her check didn't come until next wk and she needed some money to buy some milk and oatmeal and peanutbutter...I gave her $20 and she started to cry and I did also...She walked into the only little store there and knew just what she needed that would last until the next check..I offered to take her home and she said no..I asked why..and she said she didn't want her neighbors to see me drive her up or they would come get some of her groceries...WOW..broke my heart...First that children in the US would be hungry and then because this elderly ,somewhat feeble lady was taking care of children that were thrown away by their parents...when she needed her own children taking care of her...What would the US do without grandparents..
Here's hoping that woman really used the 20 dollars on hungry grandchildren - and that the "neighbors" weren't really police officers, checking to see if she's a scam artist.
I would have wondered if Woodland has some sort of food pantry, to help people in the grandmother's situation. A few years ago, I recorded here several trips I made to Columbus pantries with my late next-door neighbor. It beat her knocking on my door at the end of every month seeking loans - after she openly talked with neighbors about playing Cash 3.
As it happens, Columbus Mayor Jim Wetherington announced Tuesday homeless people have until April 30 to move away from the Second Avenue Bridge area. They probably would have done this, anyway - to enjoy the summer breezes on the 14th Street Bridge.
Now let's catch up on some news we've overlooked from the last several days....
+ Your blog has learned the teenager accused last week of shooting up Columbus Police cars is now a suspect in several home burglaries. I'm told one man lost not only a coin collection, but the safe where it was kept. Maybe the lesson is to put a few bricks in that safe, to slow a criminal down.
+ Former Muscogee County School Board President Mary Sue Polleys was appointed to the Georgia State Board of Education. Maybe she can timeshare a house in Atlanta with State Senator Ed Harbison....
+ Columbus Council approved Pamela Hodge as the city's new permanent Director of Finance. Have you seen Hodge on TV? If this was ten years ago and Bobby Peters was still Mayor, the Government Center wouldn't be big enough to hold the romance rumors.
+ Aflac unveiled a new commercial which keeps the nameless duck, but adds a goat. If the Amos family isn't careful, Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari may file a lawsuit....
+ The Southeast "Super Seniors" tennis tournament was held at Cooper Creek Park. The age 60-and-over players brought an estimated million-dollar surge to the Columbus economy - and I imagine the Waffle House cooks are still recovering from it.
+ Instant Message to Shoney's: Are you kidding me?! I show up at 8:00 in the morning, and your public address system is playing the borderline sex song "Strokin'"?! I want breakfast, not a taste of the Howard Stern show.
COMING SOON: A $16 hamburger steak?!?!....
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