5 JAN 09: Grade B- Beef

This is the time of year when the pro football playoff games on TV had better be good. If they're not, there's not much else for sports fans to watch. Sunday's options included infomercials for Medicare drug plans, as well as exhibition figure skating. If the skating doesn't count, where's the drama of watching contestants fall down?

Thankfully NBC offered a nice alternative to Sunday's Baltimore-Miami rout -- Pro Bull Riding from Baltimore. Now THIS is a real sport. It's man versus animal, a fight for survival - and the best part is that Michael Vick probably would come out on the losing end, compared to what he did.

Pro Bull Riding comes to the Columbus Civic Center in a couple of weeks. So when the PBR telecast showed the schedule of upcoming events, I expected Columbus to be listed. But no - it was missing! Instead, they showed events 16-18 January in Fresno and Sacramento, California. They're admittedly more logical places for this sport, but really....

I quickly went online to the Pro Bull Riding web site to see what had happened. That's when the disappointment set in -- because I discovered Columbus is not on the "major league" tour. It turns out there are four separate bull riding tours. You know, like ground sirloin is different from ground beef....

Tallahassee somehow has a "Built Ford Tough Series" top-level bull riding event in February. Birmingham will have one in the middle of March. Yet Georgia has none at all this year - so why was Columbus overlooked? Is it because too many barbecue restaurants here serve pork, instead of beef?

Columbus is consigned to the "Enterprise Tour" of Pro Bull Riding, which seems to be the second level below major-league. If that's not enough, the Columbus weekend will compete with other PBR events in Spokane, Washington and Wichita, Kansas. And the folks in Wichita can have open auditions among thousands of steers.

Sad to say, Columbus is a minor-league sports city again. We'll get cowboys with dreams of hitting the bull-riding big time. But does the same thing apply to the bulls? Will we get the ones barely beyond walking to the middle of the arena, hoping to win a blue ribbon?

If you want to enter the Columbus Pro Bull Riding event - sorry, you're too late. The web site indicates there was a one-week entry period, and it ended last Friday. Hopefully the contestants' names will be posted at the Election Board office today, as usual.

From what I can tell, the Thanksgiving week bull riding contest at Club H2O did NOT qualify anyone for the Pro Bull Riding event at the Civic Center. For one thing, one contest was for the "Sexiest Buck-n-Babe" - and PBR riders don't seem very sexy when they're sent crashing into the metal fence around the ring.

For the record, Kansas native Kasey Hayes won the PBR event in Baltimore. That earned him about $28,000. But that doesn't seem like enough to me. Hayes should win rights to the final bull he rode -- to fill his freezer with dinner for a month.

-> Our other blog starts with poker, and goes in unusual directions from there. See what we mean at "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: Our blog has readers across the U.S., and around the world. Even some with unusual memories of Columbus....

The original Chickasaw Club in Columbus was located in the downtown area and was owned by a German.

I met my ex-husband there, and he finally had enough money to join the Big Eddy Club and everything you've heard about it is true.

Everything bad you've heard about Columbus GA is true. I was born in 1947 and lived there until I was 35 and then I ran for my life and haven't been back.

It is corrupt and dangerous, through and through. I lived the life for 35 years and couldn't escape it, even after running and hiding to 3 cities and 2 states, until a few years ago when my ex and my father died.

My son says Columbus is the armpit of the world. I say it is h**l on earth.

I do remember the Goo Goo, the Village a Go-Go, the Country Club and many clubs on Victory Drive. I remember many, many things (and people) about Columbus - the Martins, the Woodalls, the Williams family, the Colquitts, the Tisdales.......I could go on and on, but why?

For the other side of this controversial issue, we invite you to do a Google search for "Columbus Chamber of Commerce."

Our blog records show we haven't talked about the Chickasaw Club since 2006. The Macon Road location provided one of my first encounters with a Columbus beggar in 1997. He had me drive to Kmart on Milgen Road, then to a gas station on Eighth Street. But he never found the ride he said was waiting for him - and he grew tired of my waiting for his ride to show up, so I could ask if he'd take a credit card.

I'm not sure why this woman felt the need to "run for her life" from Columbus, or why she felt the city remained in her clutches for years. Certainly the car payments to Bill Heard Chevrolet couldn't have stretched THAT long.

But I can understand the danger part of Columbus. A man was shot early Sunday, in a parking lot within one block of my home. The shooting occurred at 12:30 a.m. - which doesn't explain why one of my neighbors fired another artillery shell firecracker during the dinner hour Sunday night.

Let's see if there was anything happier to think about Sunday:

+ The high temperature in Columbus was 72 degrees F. All we need is a spill by "The Sandman," and we could have our own version of Panama City Beach.

+ Columbus Police reported someone robbed the Taco Bell on Macon Road, as it opened for the day. Police never disclose how much cash is taken in these hold-ups - but I hope the staff worked off the 79-89-99 cent menu.

+ The Ledger-Enquirer asked several community leaders what will be their biggest challenge in the year ahead. For the newspaper, I'd guess it's continuing daily publication....

+ WRBL's Tammy Terry received a nomination from a hairstyling web site for the "Best New Original Style" of 2008. If she wins this award, two-thirds of the prize should go to the company which makes her hairspray.

The number of unique visitors to our blog has doubled since 2006! To advertise to them, offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

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The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.

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