Golf in Covington had ups and downs

By Joe McAdory

I enjoy playing a round of golf on a course I’ve never played. The neat thing is you don’t know what’s around each corner. An adventure, of sorts.

Sunday, I pulled into the parking lot of The Oaks Golf Course in Covington, Ga. It wasn’t the most luscious scenery in the world, but I’m here to hit a ball and not look at lakes and flowers. I simply loved the place. Rolling hills. Wide-open fairways. The grass was in great shape despite the drought. The fairways and greens were green, like they’re supposed to be. Soft too. Also, one of the creeks was completely dry, so you can still hit your ball in it and retrieve it without getting wet.

For nine holes, I was unconscious. I shot a 42. I’m not sure how. Guess I was in a zone. Well, something happened between the ninth and 10th holes because I stunk up the joint the rest of the afternoon and fired a 55 on the back nine for a 97 total. How can somebody shoot a 42 and then a 55? Oh, the misery of it all.

Regardless, I had a good time and I’d recommend this course to anyone traveling I-20 in central Georgia. It featured a few doglegs, one big water hole and elevated greens. Nice place.

Burns and Byrum can share jersey No. 18, but ...

By Joe McAdory

People keep asking, “How can Kodi Burns and Wes Byrum be allowed to wear the same jersey number?“ All season, the Auburn freshmen have each worn No. 18.

Is it legal?

Since I haven’t seen anyone else publish the answer to this question, I’ll go ahead and provide some details. Burns, a quarterback, and Byrum, a kicker, were each given the number before the season began, but it was never believed that Burns would give up his redshirt and actually play.

According to NCAA rules, players are allowed to wear identical numbers as long as they are not involved in a play on the field at the same time. Last I checked, Byrum hasn’t been on the field when Burns was lined up behind center and Burns wasn’t on the field when Byrum tried a kick. If they are involved in the same play, I’m sure some sort of illegal participation flag will be thrown.

There’s always a chance the duo will go their entire careers at Auburn wearing No. 18. If not, it will be interesting to see which player must choose a different number.

Dean of state political analysts passes away

By Joe McAdory

Below is the obituary of veteran politcal journalist Bob Ingram, sent to scores of Alabama newspapers from his son, Ragan:

Bob Ingram, who chronicled Alabama politics for six decades, passed away Thursday (October 18) after a two-year battle with myelodysplasia. He was 81.

After a tour of duty as a United States Marine in the south Pacific in World War II, Ingram graduated from Auburn University and immediately went to work at the Cherokee County Herald in his hometown of Centre. He left there to serve as sports editor of the Gadsden Times and later served as state editor before joining the staff of the Montgomery Advertiser in 1953.

Covering events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the “Segregation Forever” inaugural speech and the Stand in the Schoolhouse Door, Ingram had a career that gave him a front row seat to Alabama history.  He credited his love of reading and writing to his mother, the late Sallie Jane Ingram, who went to work as the town librarian in Centre after her husband, Bob Ingram, Sr., passed away in 1932.

After nearly 14 years at the Advertiser, he left to become director of legislative affairs for the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. Upon the death of Gov. Lurleen Wallace, Gov. Albert Brewer appointed Ingram as Finance Director. As he was in the gubernatorial cabinet, the 1970 the lone governor’s race Ingram didn’t cover between 1950 and 2006.

Following his tenure as Finance Director, Ingram purchased Alabama Magazine, which he edited and published until 1984. In 1978, he branched into television commentary, serving as a political analyst on WSFA’s electoral coverage. He served as the station’s editorial director and primary political analyst from 1979-1993.

In 1993, he returned to the Advertiser where he wrote a regular column on the paper’s editorial page until 1999. In the latter part of his career, he served as editorial director at WNCF and as a political analyst with WAKA, both in Montgomery.

For nearly 50 years, Ingram wrote a weekly column for dozens of weekly and small daily newspapers throughout the state. “The Alabama Scene” was a treasure trove of political tidbits, history and news, particularly for Alabamians who didn’t have easy access to one of the state’s major daily newspapers.

He also wrote two political memoirs, “That’s the Way I Saw It” and “That’s the Way I Saw It II.”

In 1989, Auburn Montgomery honored Ingram with the establishment of the Robert Ingram Lecture Series, which has brought leading communicators to the campus each year.

He was a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Club, and previously served as a deacon at Cloverdale Baptist Church in Montgomery, where he taught a Sunday school class for more than 35 years until last spring. He was also active with several charitable and civic endeavors, volunteering most recently with the Montgomery Ostomy Association after his battle with bladder cancer in 1994.

He was inducted into the Communication Hall of Fame at the University of Alabama in 2003, and was honored with the Distinguished Mass Media Achievement Award from the Auburn University Journalism Foundation last April.

Ingram was preceded in death by his wife of 45 years, Edith Ragan Ingram, in 1997, and a sister, Barbara Lydic, of North Pole, Alaska.  He is survived by his children: son Robert B. (Burr) Ingram, III of Huntsville, and his wife, Jan; daughter Beth Ingram Lamberth of Alexander City, and her husband, Tom; and son Ragan Ingram of Montgomery, and his wife Karen; a sister: Rozanne I. Jones of Chattanooga, Tennessee; eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, October 21 at Cloverdale Baptist Church in Montgomery at 2:30 p.m. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery. A visitation will be held Saturday from 3-6 p.m. at Leak Memory Funeral Home in Montgomery.

In lieu of flowers, it was Ingram’s wishes for contributions to be made to Cloverdale Baptist Church or the Robert Ingram Lecture Series at Auburn Montgomery.

Nader in Pensacola

By Joe McAdory

As predicted, Thursday brought severe weather to the South. A tornado ripped through downtown Pensacola, Fla., early Thursday morning, smashing cars and damaging buildings in its path. Fortunately, nobody was killed.

Wednesday was Fall Severe Weather Awareness Day. That said, I suppose it made folks aware of severe weather in the fall. If that didn’t, then Thursday’s nader in Pensacola (I prefer to call tornadoes naders) should have.

Here’s a link from cnn.com with footage of the nader. This one appears to have multiple vorteces. This means another funnel other than the main one.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/weather/10/18/midwest.storms/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

Yes, I’m a weather freak.

Storms can happen in the fall too

By Joe McAdory

Though it’s not as glorious as Christmas Day, today is Fall Severe Weather Awareness Day—a day created by the National Weather Service to better inform the public that severe weather isn’t necessarily confined to the spring. Fall can produce bad storms as well. November has had the state’s second-most number of tornadoes on record, with April topping the charts.

I’m no meteorologist, but I’ve seen enough weather on TV to know that when the seasons change (cold and warm air systems collide), there is a greater risk for instability in the atmosphere. The seasons are changing here, and mercifully so after that brutal summer.

We should bear in mind that severe weather events can be a possibility this fall and keep an eye on the news should a potentially dangerous storm system approaches. It’s ironic that today is Fall Severe Weather Awareness Day since forecasters are calling for rain and the potential for thunderstorms this evening. In fact, we could see storms through Friday. That’s not all bad. We need the rain anyway.

Below is a link from the NWS dedicated to fall severe weather information.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/aware/fall_severe_awareness.php