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7 NOV 04: BAIT AND TACKLING
Uh-oh - was Saturday yet another example of the "two Columbus" divide? People on the north side went to Callaway Gardens for the Steeplechase. People on the south side went to McClung Memorial Stadium for the Fountain City Classic. The only thing which probably brought them together was the grand opening sale at H.H. Gregg.
I didn't go to Callaway to watch horse racing in a big, funny hat. But I saw the impact of the Fountain City Classic. At 15 minutes before the kickoff, Veterans Parkway was backed up more than five blocks with game traffic. Well, unless most of those people were stopping at Chester's Bar-B-Q for lunch....
Just when I figured the Fountain City Classic was over, I ran right into it Saturday night. While jogging around 6:30, I came upon several cars at the Rotary Park boat ramp. I'd never seen so many vehicles there - but then again, I hadn't
checked the solunar tables in the newspaper for the day.
I soon realized this group of cars had nothing to do with fishing. For one thing, I didn't see any boats. The drivers parked at Bulldog Bait and Tackle for the Fountain City Classic - only they had a very different definition of tackle.
In the dimly-lit evening, it appeared several cars were parked ON the boar ramp - so anyone planning to enjoy an afternoon on the Chattahoochee River would have to go somewhere else. I know some people who would tell them to park the boat and go hunting, anyway....
Rotary Park is next door to Bulldog Bait and the boat ramp - and several drivers decided to park on the grass for the day. Does this happen at other big events in town? Will Peachtree Mall shoppers park on the airport taxiways over Thanksgiving weekend?
"Who won the game?" I asked a group of people standing next to their cars as I jogged by. I think someone repeated my question, but they didn't give me an answer. Maybe they'd had too much beer by that time to remember - or they only came
for the bands at halftime.
I hadn't heard who won the Fountain City Classic, so I asked another family parked next to a picnic table on the grass at Rotary Park. "Albany State," they answered matter-of-factly - thus giving themselves away as Fort Valley State fans.
(It turns out Albany State DID beat Fort Valley State 20-19, thanks to a botched extra point in the final minute. Since the game was close, I wonder if they renamed "The Stomp After the Romp" at the Civic Center "The Chill After the Thrill.")
I kept jogging down the Riverwalk, turned around at 22nd Avenue and made a return trip to Rotary Park. By now one car had backed from the boat ramp almost onto the Riverwalk. I guess the driver was ready to leave. If the Bulldog Bait owner had been there, he would have been ready to see the driver go.
I crossed the boat ramp around the cars, finishing my best non-stop run in two years. But as I walked on past Port Columbus, headlights approached me on the Riverwalk. A police vehicle to clear out the park? Nope - a regular car with an
antique tag! At least he didn't have enough beer in his system to drive off the pavement....
Apparently this wayward driver entered the Riverwalk by taking a wrong turn at the Port Columbus parking lot. Had he driven any other way, the wooden bridge on the walkway probably would have caved in - and as dark as it was, I would have fallen through and wound up soaking wet.
It turns out Rotary Park wasn't the only place which people turned into a parking lot. WRBL reported more than 20 tickets were issued for cars parked at Porterdale Cemetery -- a few apparently parked right on top of grave markers. Maybe
next year, the game should be on Halloween weekend....
Was the South Commons parking lot THAT crowded, that football fans had to park at cemeteries and on the grass at city parks? Was planning for the Fountain City Classic that disorganized? Or was game coordinator Calvin Smyre getting even for Columbus having a Republican mayor?
What happened at the Fountain City Classic leaves me wondering how Columbus handled crowds for the Auburn-Georgia football game at Memorial Stadium years ago. Did trains full of fans really go through South Commons then - and really let them out there?
E-MAIL UPDATE: Here's a question we haven't received before:
Aren't you concerned about the changing colors on your blog? I may have an epileptic seizure. Please turn it off.
Afraid of flashing colors.
My apologies for having a blog which makes some people afraid of flashing colors. Before now, more people have been afraid of what I'd write about skin colors.
The changing colors have been on the blog from the beginning - mainly because I wasn't sure what colors to use when I started. Call it a classic example of a singly guy who can't commit.
(But let's make one thing clear right here - the "rainbow effect" of the blog is NOT a subtle message that I opposed the same-sex marriage question on the Georgia ballot.)
The changing colors cause a different sort of problem for some blog readers. With some versions of the Internet Explorer browser, the blog page constantly shows as "updating" something in the corner. The blog never appears as "done" - which in a way is good, because I want you to come back tomorrow.
(Then there was the e-mailer who told me he never noticed the colors changing at all. He claimed he found what I wrote much more interesting....)
THE BIG BLOG QUESTION now is based on this e-mail. Should the fancy color-changing stay or go? I'll also take your comments on what colors we should have here. Call this "Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition."
Let's catch up now on a few loose ends from recent days:
+ A public hearing on widening part of Buena Vista Road brought a protest from Brooke's Florist owner Paul Olson, because his business would have to move. That'll teach him to oppose that one-cent sales tax question....
(On the other hand, Olson said the only place he could move his business is "north Columbus." Aw, c'mon - there are plenty of open spots on Victory Drive. And if Fort Benning's ban continues, a few strip clubs might come open soon.)
+ Two men at the church I attend already were talking about the 2008 Presidential race. "We know SHE'S gonna run," one man said. Since when did Hillary Rodham Clinton become the only female politician in America?
(The man went on to ask, "Who are WE gonna run?" I then stated the official church position that we're non-political, and don't take sides - and both men stood there like I'd walked onto a smoking porch and talked about lung cancer.)
+ Alabama beat Mississippi State - and Crimson Tide players dumped a drink bucket over coach Mike Shula's head. The reason - 'Bama is now "bowl-eligible." If this is all it takes to do a bucket-dumping in Tuscaloosa, times there truly have been bad.
(What a nice surprise to find Alabama football back on local radio. The games are now on WSHE-AM, the "Southern gospel" station - and in recent years, the Crimson Tide almost didn't have a prayer of winning most weeks.)
+ Instant Message to the Lux Day Spa in the Phenix Crossing shopping center: When you opened for business there, did you know you'd wind up next door to the "80 Proof Package Store?" Aren't you a bit concerned about customers going in the wrong door?
(A "day spa" and a package store side-by-side - if that doesn't reinforce every redneck stereotype about Alabama, I don't know what does....)
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Milk for $1 a half-gallon at Kroger stores north of Columbus.... Gas for $1.84 a gallon at American Eagle on the 280 Bypass in Phenix City.... but $2.01 a gallon at a BP station on Cusseta Road?! Which OPEC country owns that one?....
COMING MONDAY: I run from beggars, but I can't hide....
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