AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > November > 21 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGrateful day brings home what matters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Top of the day to ye. Thanksgiving Day is a holiday for everybody, a family day, when all get together around the bountiful table, eat, drink and be grateful. Have you noticed that airlines are busier around Thanksgiving than any other holiday? Thank heaven to be home already and not have to suffer through the clutter that airline travel has become. Sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up. That is the day to be especially thankful, sometimes with a bit of whimsy. So …
I’m thankful that the Dow Jones averages mean more to me than batting averages.
I’m thankful when the dentist tells me this isn’t going to hurt a bit — and it doesn’t.
I’m thankful that I used to be able to go out into the woods and cut our own Christmas tree.
I’m thankful that I grew up when radio stations entertained and didn’t talk your ears off.
I’m still thankful the side I was on won World War II — now if they could just get this mess cleared up.
I’m thankful we have our own well, and it doesn’t know there’s a drought.
I’m thankful when a football player scores a touchdown and acts as if he’s been there before.
I’m thankful when the doorbell rings and it’s our grandkids.
I’m thankful for backroads — “blue highways,” somebody called them — any escape from the interstate race tracks.
I’m not thankful for those things they call “wraps.” (Like eating cardboard, though I’m not an authority on that.)
I’m thankful I grew up having to milk the family cow — now I have a deep appreciation for where milk comes from.
I’m thankful when, on my monthly statement, credit leads debit by a one-sided score.
I’m thankful when the noise in the middle of the night turns out to be the ice-maker. (And if you’ve heard that before, it still goes.)
I’m thankful that when I was young, poetry was poetry, when it rhymed, not some rambling drivel going nowhere.
I’m thankful we still have a dial phone, and it’s always in working order, through sleet and storm or whatever.
I’m thankful I knew the days of Kaltenborn, Heatter, Thomas, Edwards, Blair and their kind, when news was news and not a “show.”
I’m thankful, that as I grow older, I’ve come to realize that cleaning off our roof is a job for somebody else, not me.
I’m thankful that we have our squirrel menace under control. (Applause, applause, for my wife, not my 16-gauge.)
I’m thankful for buttermilk, but don’t try to order it in a New York restaurant.
I’m thankful for my old Royal typewriter, which still gets plenty of use.
I’m thankful I finally quit waiting until tomorrow to stop procrastinating.
I’m thankful for my first good-morning kiss.
I’m thankful, in parting, to be able to offer a solution to Georgia Tech and the Falcons in their football dilemma: Swap coaches, Gailey for Petrino.
Permalink | Comments (40) | Post your comment | Categories: Furman Bisher
Comments
By Ken Stallings
November 21, 2007 8:16 PM | Link to this
Happy Thanksgiving, Furman!
From one old Tarheel to another — that’s state by the way — not university! Go Pack!
By FlDawg
November 21, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this
Furman…been reading your Thanksgiving column for many years…back to the time of the old WSB college football show with you, Minter, et al.
Annually, you bring back fond memories and an appreciation of life’s joys.
Best of the season to you and yours.
By Charles
November 21, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this
Furman, once again you have made my Thanksgiving morning complete—even though it is actually Thanksgiving eve. Your annual “I’m Thankful For…” columns must appear someday in book form as a collection of great and memorable columns by a blessed and fine scribe. Hope you and Lynda and family have a great Turkey Day!
By NASCARfan
November 21, 2007 9:40 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher…
I am thankful for you and this list, which I now have enjoyed for about two decades.
And even though you pull for that Trade School in the bad part of Atlanta I wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving, which really is, the greatest of all Holidays.
Family, Food, and Football, three of the greatest things life has to offer (and quite a cool alliteration as well) all in one day without having to worry about the buying or giving of presents that people will just want to exchange anyway.
By ssiscribe
November 21, 2007 10:21 PM | Link to this
Part of my Thanksgiving tradition is reading the Bisher Thanksgiving column. How wonderful in this, the digital age — when we get most of the morning paper the night before on our computer — that I can sit here on the night before Turkey Day and start my holiday with this annual masterpiece.
God bless you Furman, for your grace and kindness, and for being the Grand Gentleman of Atlanta Journalism. Here’s wishing you many more Thanksgiving columns … and some welcomed relaxation down there on that happy isle so golden, where I once scribed.
The Scribe abides.
—30—
By sam
November 21, 2007 10:23 PM | Link to this
Furman, Every year I look forward to your Thanksgiving Column. It’s a great way to begin Thanksgiving day. Furmam, I am thankful for you and your kind. I wish the world had more people like you. Happy Thanksgiving.
By sam
November 21, 2007 10:23 PM | Link to this
Furman, Every year I look forward to your Thanksgiving Column. It’s a great way to begin Thanksgiving day. Furmam, I am thankful for you and your kind. I wish the world had more people like you. Happy Thanksgiving.
By sam
November 21, 2007 10:23 PM | Link to this
Furman, Every year I look forward to your Thanksgiving Column. It’s a great way to begin Thanksgiving day. Furmam, I am thankful for you and your kind. I wish the world had more people like you. Happy Thanksgiving.
By sam
November 21, 2007 10:24 PM | Link to this
Furman, Every year I look forward to your Thanksgiving Column. It’s a great way to begin Thanksgiving day. Furmam, I am thankful for you and your kind. I wish the world had more people like you. Happy Thanksgiving.
By billgt
November 21, 2007 10:29 PM | Link to this
You are the GREATEST. Please go train Bradley, Moore, Schultz,etc. to be gentlemen and unbiased reporters. Maybe they should get rid of their word processors and get an old Royal. Certainly, that typewriter was named for you.
By Capt Bill
November 21, 2007 10:41 PM | Link to this
Furman: Thanks for your continued Thanksgiving columns. I read them every year. Your readers might want to add one more- “Thanks for a sports reporter who actually knows what he’s talking about.” Enjoy and be safe.
By Richard
November 21, 2007 10:49 PM | Link to this
Furman, Thank you again! Have looked forward to your Thanksgiving column for more years than I can remember.To quote the late Bob Hope, “Thanks for the memories”.
By Richard
November 21, 2007 10:49 PM | Link to this
Furman, Thank you again! Have looked forward to your Thanksgiving column for more years than I can remember.To quote the late Bob Hope, “Thanks for the memories”.
By doc
November 21, 2007 10:54 PM | Link to this
glad to see someone else harken back to the good ole gays.
i am thankful i grew up in a time where i could listen to some of the greatest sports writers ever in jesse, jim, furman and others talking college football on a sunday, right after church before dinner. often it came the day after a game at the flats with my grandfather sitting on the 46 yd line 6 rows off the cinder track behind the tech bench or after listening to wgst broadcasts of away tech football. loved it.
peace furman, praying for you to have many more early morning kisses.
SELAH!
By TennJacket
November 21, 2007 11:15 PM | Link to this
Can’t we run the “Trade Gailey for Petrino” headline on the front page tomorrow?
By Mark D Anthony
November 21, 2007 11:31 PM | Link to this
Furman, you are one of my favorite writers, and I am thankful for you. HOWEVER, the idea that rhyming is necessary to poetry is pretty simplistic for someone as smart as you. Now don’t get me wrong, I agree that some poetry is “drivel going nowhere,” but I also think that about some so-called poetry that rhymes. There all kinds of ways to play with words and make poetry, all kinds of ways other than rhyme (one of the more simplistic ways)… i.e. pattern, repetition, sound (alliteration, assonance, etc.), line length, syllable length, word choice, symbol, metaphor, and on and on. Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro,” e.e. cummings’ “Leaf Falling,” and many good Haiku’s are great examples of good, non-rhyming poetry. Here’s one of my favorites, that makes you see the moon from the point of view of a bass and person simultaneously. It is simple, but effective, and should be appealing to anglers and non-anglers alike.
bass picking bugs off the moon
—Nick Virgilio (Selected Haiku, Burnt Lake Press/Black Moss Press, 1988)
We English instructors have a hard enough time teaching poetry without someone like yourself, looked up to for your writing skills, shoring up our students’ ignorance.
Mark Anthony Instructor of English North Georgia College and State University
By Jerry
November 22, 2007 2:26 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher…
It’s wonderful to be able to read a prescient, cogent sports columnist like yourself, a throw back to the golden days of journalism. Thank you!
By Parkwooddawg
November 22, 2007 7:12 AM | Link to this
Thanks, Mr. Bisher.
I’ve been with you for 40 years, how ‘bout 40 more?
Blessings to ye!
By Hugh Burns
November 22, 2007 7:15 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, Enjoyed your Thanksgiving column, as usual. It was great meeting you at the Masters this year. And I must say, that’s a great idea about swapping Petrino and Gailey. Go Jackets!
By Marshall
November 22, 2007 7:44 AM | Link to this
Your Thanksgiving column is a classic. You are always a good read and bring great memories. I remember when I worked at Reeder & McGaughey Sporting Goods in high school and college and you came by frequently (most people reading this have never heard of the place, I’m sure). My late father, who also worked there, was a big fan of yours and almost never watched television but would faithfully watch your Sunday afternoon sports discussion show in the late fifties. The best to you and your family.
By Skimerp
November 22, 2007 8:03 AM | Link to this
I’m thankful for the internet ! It’s raining (thank goodness) and the Thankfull article is always the first thing on Turkey Day AM. I don’t have to get wet !!
By Uncle Phil
November 22, 2007 8:10 AM | Link to this
Thanks for the your column and memories. Each Thanksgiving I wait for you column. Put them in a book. One of my best memories is you and Jessie and your wonderful columns on the day of the Ga vs Tech Game. They were always great. Go Dawgs. and keep the Royal it’s got a lot more sense than computers……May you and yours have a bountiful Thanksgiving.
By MisterT
November 22, 2007 8:30 AM | Link to this
I like the trade idea!
Actually I was most impressed with NASCARfan. I don’t think I have ever seen a serious senitimental side of him.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Even dog fans, but… THWG!
By ralph starling
November 22, 2007 8:48 AM | Link to this
furman thanks for your thanksgiving column.i have been reading it for many many years,and always look forward to it. we dont have the atlanta paper delivered in thomson ga anymore,which i still cant get over,but i am thankfull for the computer that i can read your column!!!
By GayGrayGeek
November 22, 2007 9:20 AM | Link to this
Sir, just as you are thankful to have known the days of Kaltenborn, et al., please be assured that many of us are equally thankful to have known and to know the days of Bisher.
By cb
November 22, 2007 9:34 AM | Link to this
Furman, I go back a long way with your articles. They have been and continue to be great. I remember the 50’s when GT was a major powerhouse; when the Crackers were going great and the only Braves we knew of were in Boston. I recently visited the old tree that was was in centerfield at Old Ponce Deleon Ballpark. Wish it could be better maintained. That was truely the good old days.
By Ed
November 22, 2007 9:47 AM | Link to this
I am thankful that my anticipation of reading your Thanksgiving column is always rewarded, that you express things we feel but can’t easily put into words, that you conjure up vivid memories, and that you put forth something that may not have occurred to us. But there it is, summed up in a beautiful succinct phrase or statement. Lewis Grizzard, who said he feared you, also said your bark was worse than your bite. Clearly, the warm side always come through in your Thanksgiving columns and I am grateful to have known you and to have lived where your columns were available. You speak for so many of us—-bark or bite or not! And, yes, we need a BOOK of Furman’s Thanksgivings.
By Forrest Gump
November 22, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this
I have been reading this Thanksgiving column for over 40 years, and I am Thankful that Furman is still writing and I am still reading, recently with the help of glasses. I am also thankful that Larry Munson is going to broadcast the football game this weekend, and I hope that I can pick up the broadcast in KY where I now live. “They’ve cut our heart out and threw it out on 10th Street, but we picked it up and stuffed it back in our shirt!” That’s classic broadcasting, if you are a UGA fan.
By cb
November 22, 2007 10:10 AM | Link to this
Furman, I go back a long way with your articles. They have been and continue to be great. I remember the 50’s when GT was a major powerhouse; when the Crackers were going great and the only Braves we knew of were in Boston. I recently visited the old tree that was was in centerfield at Old Ponce Deleon Ballpark. Wish it could be better maintained. That was truely the good old days.
By Robert Murner
November 22, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher: I have been readin your columns for over 50 years now and have enjoyed so many of them. Ienyoyed the foot- ball program on Sonday with you and Jim Minter, Ed Danforth,Harry Mehre and Jesse Outlar. THANKS so MUCH for all the memories. Robert Murner
By wvjacket
November 22, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
You know, swapping Gailey for Petrino would be a win-win for both Tech and the Falcons. Good idea!
By Your Grandkids
November 22, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this
We’re thankful when the doorbell (or telephone) rings and it’s our granddaddy! Happy Thanksgiving, Granddaddy! Godfrey, Natalie, and James F. III
By son_sir
November 22, 2007 10:23 AM | Link to this
I am thankful for your objective wisdom and for setting the standard in sports journalism.
By Pete
November 22, 2007 11:05 AM | Link to this
I’m thankful I grew up in Atlanta with Furman Bisher,Jim Minter,Harry Mehre,Ed Danforth,Ed Miles and Jesse Outlar. Selah
By guy martin
November 22, 2007 11:48 AM | Link to this
Mr. Bisher, I enjoy all of your articles,especially at Thanksgiving.There will never be a writer as good as you. The pleasure is all mine! Sincerely, Guy Martin
By Dale Russell
November 22, 2007 12:18 PM | Link to this
My tribute to Furman Bisher. Hope all the old Atlantans and Bisher fans enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving day from Fox 5!!!
http://community.myfoxatlanta.com/blogs/DaleRussell
By Dale Russell
November 22, 2007 12:18 PM | Link to this
My tribute to Furman Bisher. Hope all the old Atlantans and Bisher fans enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving day from Fox 5!!!
http://community.myfoxatlanta.com/blogs/DaleRussell
By Dale Russell
November 22, 2007 12:18 PM | Link to this
My tribute to Furman Bisher. Hope all the old Atlantans and Bisher fans enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving day from Fox 5!!!
http://community.myfoxatlanta.com/blogs/DaleRussell
By @#7ATL=win+no TV Black out
November 22, 2007 12:35 PM | Link to this
Pop’s you are petty even in column and a fair read but you and AJC sport threw superman mike Vick under the bus. As for Georgia Tech they need a good black coach to bring them to greatness and have Deion sander as GM of the Falcon (they can’t do worse). we know how to play the game but can’t get a fair shot to manage the team or build them { I have a dream and a DAWG nightmare} you know this is Georgia hell would freeze over twice and the only thing close to fair only come in October and leave in November For a Brother coaching in the Football business in the ACC it’s time to step up the SEC has ONE! Just one!
By FURM FAN
November 22, 2007 8:26 PM | Link to this
TO THE GRANDMASTER OF SPORTS WRITERS: HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I HOPE THAT YOU WRITE MANY MORE THANKSGIVING COLUMNS AND WE GET TO READ THEM! HOW ABOUT GETTING THE BRASS AT THE AJC TO OFFER A BEAT BISHER T-SHIRT THRILLER FOR THE BOWL SEASON. HOPE THAT DIDN’T PUT THEM IN THE RED SO BAD BACK THEN THAT THEY WOULD SHY AWAY FROM IT! BEST OF BLESSINGS FOR YOU AND YOURS FOREVER! SELAH