AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > February > 20 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USWill Vanderbilt take donations at gate?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH: Vanderbilt? Fined $25,000 because students stormed the floor after the Commodores beat Florida, No. 1 in NCAA basketball at the time? Grounds for exuberance, wouldn’t you say, and by the most intelligent student body in the SEC? What about those celebrants who storm the field and rip down goalposts after their team has won a big one? Are they fined $25,000? … And whatever became of Randy Johnson, the Falcons’ first quarterback?
• Offhand, wouldn’t you have to say that Troy Smith’s shabby performance in the BCS Championship Bowl diminishes the status of the Heisman Trophy? Thirty-five yards on offense for the player voted best in the nation? There is no Best Player in the Nation, there are several of them, and Smith isn’t the first Heisman winner to fall on his face. But the ballyhoo will go on.
• Dan Magill, who has been watching tennis players since racquet frames were wooden, says the hardest serve he has ever seen may now be found at Georgia, delivered by John Isner, a Bulldogs senior. Makes it seems as if he’s serving from a podium. He’s 6 feet, 9 inches tall. (And, he’s a journalism major.)
• Mark Wilson is a man of his word. The PGA Tour player promised a percentage of his earnings to the Midwestern Athletes Against Childhood Cancer Fund, and he delivered $30,000. Not that he had a lot to spare. The Wisconsite earned $444,318, but he’ll have to go back to qualifying school.
• Television golf isn’t off to a roaring start this year, even when it switches from the Golf Channel to one of the networks. During the third round of the AT&T at Pebble Beach, in which those showpersons were still playing, the rookie John Mallinger was hanging in second place — at one time holding the lead — but CBS never showed him hitting a shot. Lots of George Lopez, Ray Romano, some guy named Kevin James, and a goofball named Danny Gans, but never a shot of the guy in Phil Mickelson’s shadow. Worst day of golf TV ever to pass before my eyes.
• Russell Baze has won more races than any jockey in the USA, passed Laffit Pincay Jr. awhile back, and Shoemaker and Longden and all the rest. But his fame is limited, for Baze hardly ever rides east of the Rockies. He’s a West Coast guy who rarely ever rode in Triple Crown races. He had his territory, and he stuck to it.
• Bobby Ross’ unexpected retirement from West Point football is one of the saddest stories of the year. He hadn’t been interested when the offer first came up, he said, “My wife changed my mind. She said she thought it was duty to my country.” The Rosses have been busy in the military for years, beginning with Bobby’s playing career at Virginia Military. Four years at Army was enough to convince him of the futility of it.
• Longest hole-in-one in golf has been stretched out, and confirmed. A college student in Hawaii, Brett Nelson, knocked it in from 448 yards on a course named Ko’olow on the Big Island. Must have been downhill, or on a paved fairway. A baseball pitcher named Lou Kretlow once nailed one from 427 yards, on a course suffering from a drought.
• For Pete’s sake, are you getting as tired of this annual Roger Clemens Name-Your Team Derby as I am?
• It happened that the day our astronauts first landed on the moon, Pat Jarvis pitched the only shutout of his career, and one of his Braves teammates was moved to say, “I always said the day Pat Jarvis pitched a major league shutout, man would walk on the moon.” … Selah.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Post your comment | Categories: Furman Bisher
Comments
By Najeh Davenpoop
February 20, 2007 11:46 PM | Link to this
About Troy Smith… if you ask me, any award which claims to reward the “best player” but which restricts itself to only offensive skill-position players has already diminshed itself to the point where it is irrelevant. Since 1950, the only Heisman winner who wasn’t primarily a QB, RB or WR was Charles Woodson in 1997. Are we really supposed to believe that the best player in all of college football was restricted to only 3 positions for the last 57 years? You gotta be kidding me. The Heisman’s a joke.
By Lake Rat
February 21, 2007 07:06 AM | Link to this
Yes, SEC schools whose fans tear down goalposts are fined by the league. This fining stuff for going on the court or field is strictly an SEC rule, not an NCAA rule.
At Clemson (an ACC school) fans are ENCOURAGED to come onto the field or court after a game to mingle with both teams. They have even won accolades from the NCAA for the show of good sportsmanship - it’s time for the SEC to re-think this stupid, and costly, rule!
By Dbow
February 21, 2007 07:44 AM | Link to this
Don’t forget about the girl who was stomped on the head when UGA fans took down the goalposts after beating UT a few years ago. My own two sons who are big enough to protect themselves were on the field that night and both said later on they got a little scared with all the shoving going on. Stay in the stands, please?
By scooter11
February 21, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
I’m with you on the golf. The celeb thing is way overdone, and wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they were eliminated. The best players on one of the best and most scenic courses is what I want to see, but I get the tradition thing.
By Dustin from Dville
February 22, 2007 01:24 AM | Link to this
golf sucks and isnt a real sport.