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Friday, August 26, 2005
Holtz does Spurrier no favors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: Oh, boy, I guess it depends on which state you live in, but any way you look at it, you could say that Lou Holtz was really setting up his old pal Steve Spurrier for a fall at South Carolina. Picks Georgia to be “down a little bit.â€? Picks the Gamecocks to win their big game — in Athens. Says Spurrier came to South Carolina because he felt he could “win big.”
Now Steve is left to live with the penalties brought on by Lou’s discretions while he was head Gamecock. Oh, Lou has apologized, but that’s easy, after you’re off the reservation…
Now we know where the Roger Craig of baseball is: The old pitcher-manager is living on Hilton Head and playing golf regularly with Bob Kent, who pioneered The Omni… So whatever became of Travis Jervey?
*There is one striking similarity in Braves history to the astonishing surge of Jeff Francoeur. In 1957, the Milwaukee Braves called up a South Carolina farmhand named Bob Hazle when Bill Bruton broke a leg, and Hazle broke in such blazing style he was nicknamed “Hurricane.” (There had been an Atlantic storm that year named “Hurricane Hazel.”) Down the stretch to the pennant, Hazle hit .403, seven home runs, drove in 27 runs in 41 games and was a sensation. That was it. The following season he was soon gone, traded to Detroit and out of the big leagues. He settled in Newberry, became a liquor salesman and died in 1992 at age 61.
*It’s doubtful you have ever seen as much bad golf played on the final round of a major championship as on the Sunday at Baltusrol. And that “strongest field in golf” claim, CBS makes on behalf of the PGA of America, hardly stands up with 25 club pros in the field. My guess is, it’s The Players Championship.
*Mystified by the origin of the name, Baltusrol, somebody on television suggested (uh-oh) “it was some Indian tribe.” It was the name of the farmer who owned the property, Baltus Roll, who was murdered mysteriously.
*Take nothing away from Jeff Francoeur, but considering the pressure under which the amazing Brian McCann performs day after day, a kid dealing with all those pitching veterans, his youthful cool plus his strong bat. You rarely ever see a 21-year-old handle himself with such aplomb. He may not be rookie of the year, but the year has a while to go.
*Hey, it’s out of the NCAA’s league, but how about General Motors naming one of its cars after Chief Pontiac?
*Seems we’re into a generation that wouldn’t know the difference between Pearl Harbor and Pearl, Miss., and cares less.
*Tell you one thing, if I had one golf shot that would decide if I live or die — and I don’t care if it’s in the actual trees — I’d want Tiger Woods hitting it for me.
*Jack Nicklaus’ design firm is laying out a golf course on Okinawa, but the supervisor on the project is son-in-law Bill O’Leary, the onetime Georgia Bulldog linebacker.
*Oh, you Pete Babcock-bashers. He’s not looking too bad now, with all the turmoil swirling around the Hawks. And how much do you know about Joe Johnson? Seventy millions for five years! Is Magic Johnson back?
*On Instant Replay coming to the SEC: In the Big Ten, the cost of installing the system was $400,000; three officials were required in the booth; 43 plays were questioned and 21 were reversed in 57 games last season.
*Get this: The Russian Open, a European Tour event, was sponsored by Cadillac this year. Cadillac Russian Open. Putin goes to bed with capitalism.
*Davis Love III, on being paired with John Daly: “It’s like a circus. It’s like playing with Elvis, being out there with Daly.� Not that Davis ever played a round with Elvis.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Categories: Furman Bisher, Other
Ball Sr. worked on son’s psyche early at Tech
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
As difficult as this may be, it’s time for those in the Yellow Jacket Nation to get a grip, but not around the neck of Reggie Ball, the Georgia Tech quarterback who continues as a punching bag for the naïve. I’ve seen Ball’s father, Reggie Sr., and he is a big reason (we’re talking a really, really big reason) why this relentlessly silly pounding of Reggie Jr. could become hazardous to your health.
There was last season, for instance, when Tech struggled against Virginia at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Around the first or second interception by Reggie Jr. (hey, I never said he was perfect), the father heard somebody in his vicinity yell toward his son, “Reggie, you’re an idiot.�
That’s the clean version.
“I just touched the guy, and I said, ‘Listen. I’m not going to let you talk about my baby with me right here, because I will tear the whole end of this stadium apart,’â€? said Reggie Sr., 40, an ex-Marine who looks the role. He also was a three-time world champion at power lifting before he went into law enforcement. Now he’s an athletic trainer for a downtown gym and the ultimate protector of Reggie Jr., the oldest of his six children (five sons and a daughter).
Mostly, the elder Ball seeks to make sure that Reggie Jr. is the ultimate protector of his own mind against his many detractors who just don’t get it. Yes, he has slung more interceptions than touchdowns. Yes, he joined coach Chan Gailey among the Jackets most responsible last season for their meltdown near the end against Georgia, when they forgot that fourth down always comes after third down.
Still, there is everything else involving Ball, and it’s pretty good. You have his ACC Rookie of the Year honor after a stellar career at Stephenson High School. You have his dramatic comebacks, highlighted by his pumping life into Tech at Death Valley with three touchdown passes in the last five minutes against Clemson. You have his MVP award after he helped Tech smash Syracuse in a bowl. You have the likelihood of more nice moments than bad ones from Ball this season, since he already has started a slew of games for the Jackets and remains only a junior.
Here’s the big thing, though. Well, make that the really big thing. You have Reggie Jr.’s proud, supportive and big (we’re talking about really, really big) father who began working at developing his son’s psyche at Tech in a hurry. Like seconds after Reggie Jr.’s second college game ever. It also happened to be one of Tech’s biggest upsets ever. We’re talking two seasons ago, when the Jackets dumped Auburn so emphatically that the crowd threatened to carry Reggie Jr. from Bobby Dodd Stadium to the far side of the moon.
Reggie Sr. wasn’t impressed. He slid through the masses who were chanting, “Re-ggie, Re-ggie, Re-ggie,� and when he reached the smiling son, the expressionless father shouted, “You better take the boos just like you’re taking these cheers, because you’re going to screw up. You’re going to have to have enough character to realize that, with every bit of laughter, there are tears.�
In reflection, Reggie Sr. said, “I told my son all of that, because I knew in my heart that things would change.�
What didn’t change was the abuse that the younger Ball takes from his siblings and closest friends. “Sometimes it hurts, but it’s the truth, and I listen to their feedback,� Reggie Jr. said, referring mostly to the impromptu film sessions at the Stone Mountain home of Catherine Geiger, Reggie Sr.’s former wife. The elder Ball laughed, saying, “It’s vicious. So when you have all of these people who really don’t mean that much to him saying what they say, it’s not going to affect him.�
Well, not as much. Although the son claims otherwise (“I don’t care what people say or write, because I’m more concerned with my own high expectations�), the father said the son was distraught until the end of last season over talk of his inconsistency and threats of losing his job to quarterbacks of lesser talent.
Now Ball has two more seasons to get it right, and he will. Until then, give the guy a break, or Reggie Sr. might have you dangling over the edge of a stadium by your Reggie Jr.-bashing tongue.
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: Tech / ACC, Terence Moore
