for 8 OCT 07: SURVIVING THE CUT
Have you seen the "I Challenge Derek" segments on the evening news in recent weeks? Don't you wonder how many smart aleck viewers have e-mailed meteorologist Derek Kinkade to say, "I challenge you to bring some rain in here?!"
Last Friday's challenge found Derek Kinkade shooting some pool -- only he was up against a Columbus billiard team which ranks second-best in Georgia. The team has matching outfits. But I was a bit surprised to find compared with the ESPN stars, they do NOT wear tuxedos or white gloves.
The billiard player who e-mailed Derek Kinkade with the challenge was a man named Rodney. I knew Rodney had made the challenge several weeks ago, because I play poker with him on Thursday nights and he brought it up. Billiards and poker?! The man's a 21st century Bo Jackson....
Rodney stands out at our poker night because of how he deals the cards. Someone has to shuffle for him -- then he keeps the deck on the table, and flings one card at a time to the players. Rodney does this because he has limited use of one arm. Next time his full house beats my straight, I'm thinking about declaring him a one-armed bandit.
Rodney explained one night how he lost partial use of an arm. "I was slashed in the neck" - as in an attack outside a bar about three years ago. And you thought a bad beat-down only happened in the middle of a poker room....
Rodney eventually learned he was slashed by a man who was out of prison, after serving time for another felony. In other words, he's yet another man whose life could have been changed by guards teaching him to do Michael Jackson dances.
"I let him off easy," Rodney said of the attacker - because the slasher wound up receiving probation, instead of another prison term. I don't know if the man has committed other crimes. But a judge could have added language to the probation, requiring him to watch "Cops" every week.
I'm not sure how much adjusting Rodney had to make, to keep playing billiards at Players on Airport Thruway. I'd guess he moves the cue back and forth with his "good arm," while bracing it a bit with the weak arm. In other words, he plays the way I'd play - except I only do it about once a decade.
It's nice to see Rodney staying active, in spite of the harm he received. He doesn't bring up his disability much at all. He still finds a way to have fun. And he showed why some TV meteorologists might want to go back to using pointer sticks - to practice a little for those billiard showdowns.
E-MAIL UPDATE: We thank all the guest bloggers who filled this space, while we were away on vacation. One of them brought a special word of praise from a reader:
I think Robbie should start her own Blog.I really miss her on talk show.
Sshhhh -- don't give Robbie Watson any ideas. She could actually give my blog some competition. I mean, Sonya Sorich's party tips at the Ledger-Enquirer web site sometimes leave me baffled.
Another e-mailer actually goes after the newspaper -- sending us a copy of a letter he submitted in late September:
Yesterday I wrote you asking why the L-E never printed articles about the Mayor of Macon, Jack Ellis.
Today I did a GOOGLE search on the article and found listings in newspapers all over the U.S. and even overseas.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AP+article+Macon+Mayor+divides+his+city&btnG=Google+Search
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/09/25/984201-macon-mayor-divides-his-city
I suppose the readers of your paper don't have any need to know that state tax money goes to Macon and is wasted and possibly stolen by a corrupt Macon mayor.
Lon Gammage
No, I guess people in Columbus don't need to know that state tax money goes to Macon. But I think that's because they already know that, just like they know some state money comes to Columbus as well.
But there could be another reason why the Ledger-Enquirer doesn't print articles about the Macon Mayor. McClatchy Newspapers also owns the Macon Telegraph - and the more papers you have to buy, the more money they'll make.
The latest scoop about Macon's outgoing mayor comes from Georgia Public Broadcasting. Jack Ellis is considering a run for Congress next year, challenging fellow Democrat Jim Marshall. All Ellis would need is for Cynthia McKinney to come to town, and offer an endorsement....
And the reader who wrote us with a question about Cascade Hills Church wrote us again Sunday:
Hi Richard,
I didn't know you went to Cascade Hills, hope you enjoyed the service.
Hope you and Dr. Purvis had a nice talk. He still has yet to tell us, the members of Cascade Hills about the little change in church government. I wait with baited breath to read the spin on this one.
Thanks
Now hold on here -- he hasn't told you?! If you had attended the business meeting of all church members, you would have known about the change months ago. If you go to the next meeting and bring it up, Bill Purvis might tell you personally -- although you might inspire a sermon on the sin of gossiping.
Thanks for all your comments -- and now let's get caught up on news we've heard since returning from vacation:
+ Columbus Police searched for a man who robbed a Wachovia Bank branch on Milgen Road - and did it dressed in women's clothing. There are far better ways to mark Br**st Cancer Awareness Month than this....
+ Tuskegee mauled Morehouse 33-10 in their annual Columbus football clash. Some bleachers at McClung Memorial Stadium seemed empty in the first half. As that because fans were upset about having to pay for parking and tailgate space? Or was it because fans showed up late, merely to see the marching bands at halftime?
+ The Atlanta Falcons were tossed by Tennessee 20-13. Byron Leftwich was brought on for Joey Hetherington Harrington in the fourth quarter -- so now the Falcons officially have a "quarterback controversy." As in: who should the team sign off the street next?
(How disappointing is Byron Leftwich for Falcons fans?! You can't call him "Lefty," because he throws right-handed.)
+ Instant Message to the Spencer High School students and staff: Enjoy your surprise Columbus Day holiday today. But c'mon - why didn't you get out some buckets when construction workers broke the water main Friday? The Country Club of Columbus could use some donations, for its fairways.
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