21 JAN 08: CHECK-KING

Sunday was cold, with a high of 37 degrees F. - but at least it was sunny. It would have been a nice enough day for the Martin Luther King Unity Parade downtown. But the organizers chose to cancel it, not postpone it - even though in this case, a parade delayed would NOT have been a parade denied.

Happy Martin Luther King Day to you - and as the late Jack Buck used to say on Memorial Day, here's hoping you take some time to think about the meaning of this day. But if you feel inspired to become a volunteer at Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School, please wait until Tuesday. Students get a day off, not a day on.

This King Day holiday marks a first for the Columbus Cottonmouths. They're playing a home game - their first-ever Monday night game at the Civic Center. You almost wonder why this never happened before. Minor league hockey is almost as rough and rugged as Monday night football on TV.

The Cottonmouths are marking King Day by donating one dollar from each ticket sold to the Columbus Black History Museum. That museum now has a marked location downtown. But it needs more publicity, more special events and attractions - maybe like a list of every word Al Sharpton says we should not use.

Perhaps you're wondering why the Cottonmouths would mark Martin Luther King Day. This month marks 50 years since the first "black player" appeared in the National Hockey League. Now there are non-Caucasian stars such as Jerome Iginla in Calgary, and a non-Caucasian member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. But then, Grant Fuhr was a goaltender - so a mask kept him hidden most of the time.

It's nice to see the Cottonmouths making this donation to an African-American project - but this holiday hockey game doesn't seem quite right to me. It's because Martin Luther King Jr. preached a nonviolent approach to change. About the only times the Cottonmouths practice this are in elimination games -- and when they deliver teddy bears to hospitalized children.

The Columbus Cottonmouths have had winning seasons and two league championships. But they also have a reputation for playing hockey games with plenty of brawls. Coach Jerome Bechard became famous for them - but at least he doesn't throw water bottles and turn over tables, like Bruce Garber once did.

It's the Columbus Cottonmouths who keep signing fire/EMS department employee Tom Wilson to short-term contracts - the defenseman who wound up in two fights in his first appearance of the season. Imagine if someone asked Wilson probing questions about the Zachary Allen case....

It's the Columbus Cottonmouths who use Mike Vee as a play-by-play announcer - the man who's openly said occasional fighting is good for team morale, and even good for the sport of hockey. He'd be more likely to race toward a fire hose in Selma, grab it away from the sheriff and spray him back.

So if you really want to celebrate King Day, is a Columbus hockey game really the most appropriate way to do it? I'll be, uh, checking tonight to see if the Cottonmouths decide to be nonviolent for the holiday. But remember, hockey is one of those sports where fans root for their players to draw blood - because that turns a two-minute power play into five minutes.

BLOG UPDATE: A cold steady wind dried off almost all the roads in Columbus, for Sunday drivers. The courtyard of my apartment complex had a leftover icy puddle from Saturday's rain. But my usually hardy neighbors didn't step outside for any Sunday cookouts - or tap into that ice for their cans of beer.

On another matter - remember the broadcasting problems WFRC-FM 90.5 had for a few days [11 Jan]? An insider at Family Radio's headquarters in California reports the entire network crashed for several days. So Christian stations from coast to coast were affected - fulfilling the Bible verse which says when one hurts, everyone hurts.

Now other things which were as quick as our steps outside, on a cold Sunday:

+ Which east Alabama man is hosting weekend poker games with buy-ins of more than $100 - and the players include a couple of sheriff's officers? Is this why Russell County Sheriff Tommy Boswell asked for that big raise in staff pay last year?

+ Columbus Police released surveillance tape of a robbery at a Wing Zone restaurant last October. Officers are looking for an "eyewitness" who appeared remarkably calm, when someone walked up to the counter next to him pointing a gun. Either that eyewitness is part of the crime, or he's used to getting pushed around by impatient customers.

+ Heather Jensen anchored her final newscast on WRBL. I'm hearing she's leaving the station, but does NOT have another TV news job right now. Kia could pair Jensen with Roszell Gadson, and provide the best daily newscast for plant workers in the country.

+ WYBU TV-16's "Public Agenda" included an interview with Tim Justice, who is Columbus Technical College's "Dean of Applied Business." He explained this does NOT refer to "pie-in-the-sky business" - which I guess is handled by the Chamber of Commerce....

+ WRBL reported the Columbus State University "small squad" won the Universal Cheerleading national championship in Orlando. So will the award fit inside a small trophy case?

+ Instant Message to the staff of CBS's "60 Minutes:" Did you feel a little embarrassed Sunday night? I mean, showing a special edition on "The Age of Warming - while down the dial, Fox was showing a football game in below-zero weather....

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