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Mine Creek Revelations: Quit Watching

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YES, I AM STILL HERE peeking out of the newspaper’s window on Main Street and I am gonna have to give up bowl games.

Example: I quit watching the Cardiac Hogs in the fourth quarter when they had a comfortable lead over Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas almost made the whole off-season unbearable.

Example: I quit watching TCU-Michigan when the Wolverines seemed to have the game in hand. This outcome made me happppppy

Example: I quit watching USC-Tulane because, honestly, there was no way that the school from the French Quarter wearing weird blue and green colors could even stay on the field with the superstars from Southern Cal. HaHa.

Example: I quit watching Georgia-The Ohio State when the Buckeyes appeared headed to a upset win. Although I usually root against Georgia, I would have hated it even more if the Buckeyes had won.

(And I am having flashbacks to those improbable Scrapper wins on the road in the Arkansas high school football playoffs —  Way to Go, Scrappers!).

Ya gotta stick around ‘til the Fat Lady sings, is what I have learned. (That offensive Fat Lady reference is from operas where the heroine’s high C signals the end of the show, so I’ve been told).

There are some teams you can count on me to root against: Alabama, Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan, Alabama and The Ohio State to name just a few.

Other than that, I am confident that you could count me to be the best example of sportsmanship and home team loyalty you have ever encountered.

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COME GET ‘EM, PLEASE. Mike Reese of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce wants YOU — if you decorated one of the light pole Christmas trees — to come un-decorate the tree so that city crews can remove it for storage until next season.

Mike shakes his head and says that in response to his email last week asking tree decorators to take down decorations, someone not only undecorated their tree they also removed it.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse (just like J-Turns) but the statute of limitations on the theft of a chamber of commerce Christmas tree expired on New Years Day. If you’ve got one please return to the chamber office.

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MOST GRATIFYING. Cruising north on Main Street in the Central Business District, Saturday, the pickup truck ahead of me was not even signaling a turn as he blocked traffic for a quarter mile waiting on an opening to J-Turn across to a parking spot.

A southbound city police cruiser stopped and flashed blue lights. The officer rolled down his window and (I’m guessing) politely told the driver that the J-Turn maneuver was illegal and somewhat dangerous. The pickup continued for a block and turned off Main Street.

It is remotely possible that the officer told the pickup driver that the town’s unofficial J-Turn Enforcement officer was immediately behind the truck.

And with a new administration at city hall is the renewed opportunity for the mayor to appoint an armed and uniformed Downtown J-Turn Enforcement Officer. These opportunities don’t come along very often.

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ROBERT CHISM. It is so nice to live in a civilized country where water comes out when you turn the faucet. It doesn’t just happen. There are many people — some paid, some volunteer — who are pulling in the traces to make things like safe water happen.

An important cog in the wheel of civilization was Robert Chism who was buried this week after a tragic accident. Robert was one reason people in Hope and Umpire and rural south Pike County had available, potable drinking water.

Robert was a cog in other wheels. He served briefly on the Nashville City Council and was a longtime member of the Nashville School Board. When he was serving on the latter board he encouraged the public to volunteer in the schools. He was very emotional about it.

I volunteered. The school sent me on Tuesday mornings to a second grade reading class. I did it for a semester until my work schedule changed. He wasn’t just talk, he also volunteered to help in the schools in addition to serving on the board.

Being the biggest kid in the reading class was very gratifying and I thanked Robert for it when our paths crossed. I am able to keep up with some of those kids today. I consider them ‘mine,’ and I have Robert to thank.

Peace to his family and thanks to the Almighty for putting such people among us.

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WORD GAMES. Here are some more words that we often use together in some context: ‘Came and Went.’ Arkansas’s chance for a national title Came and Went.

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HE SAID: “I think that when you die, you continue to progress. You continue to grow in kind of an elevated state, but I don’t think you sit there and wallow around and play the harp.” the late Mike Leach, football coach

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SHE SAID: “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible — and achieve it, generation after generation.” Pearl Buck, novelist and teacher

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SWEET DREAMS, Baby

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