Why damage the baseball fields?

By Joe McAdory

Bathrooms at West Ridge Park’s upper and lower baseball fields were vandalized, Opelika Dixie Youth official Mike Thomas told parents attending Monday’s games at the facility. Over the public address system, Thomas said an estimated $1,000 damage was done, but the problems had been corrected by game time. Thomas also felt the damage may have been the handiwork of minors and felt the perpetrators might slip up and talk about their deed.

Why people would purposely damage property not their own makes no sense to me. Ballfields provide an excellent place for kids to grow and have fun, yet there are enough sick-minded, selfish people out there who for some reason are hell-bent on destroying other people’s property and creating difficult situations for others. I hope the people responsible are caught and served the appropriate penalties.

Hurricane season offers Grace, Rose and gool ol Fred

By Joe McAdory

With hurricane season fast approaching, I might as well list the names for this year’s Atlantic basic (that’s us) tropical cyclones. They are:

Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Erika, Fred, Grace, Henri, Ida, Joaquin, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, Wanda

Which name appears to be the most menacing? I’m going to go with Kate, possibly Katrina’s kid sister. Rose sounds like a nice little storm. So does Grace.

Bo knows kindness, courtesy

By Joe McAdory

Thank you, Bo Jackson.

High-profile celebrities sometimes act just like that, high-profile celebrities, better-than-thou folks who believe the common man is not as important as they. After watching Bo interact Wednesday with my 9-year-old son, Joseph, at the Regions Charity Golf Classic Pro-Am in Hoover, it’s evident that the former multi-sport athlete is one of us—a common man.

Bo was extremely personable, cracking jokes to Joseph. He wanted to know why Joseph, a third-grader at Smiths Station Elementary, was playing hooky. We know that Bo, winner of the 1985 Heisman Trophy as an Auburn running back, takes education seriously. After all, he was the keynote speaker last week at Auburn University’s graduation. Joseph looked up to Bo, knowing full well this was arguably the greatest football player in the history of Auburn. Jackson didn’t mind. I get the impression he really likes kids.

As a father, it was neat to see my son chase a sports superstar all over a golf course. As a 40-year-old, it was difficult to keep up. Perhaps if Bo didn’t mind, he could have taken Joseph for 18 holes and I’ll meet the guys back at the clubhouse afterward.

It’s clear that Bo has not lost his athleticism. The dude is pretty buff and can slap a golf ball a mile. He was out-distancing pro playing partner Hal Sutton off the tee. Other celebs in Bo’s group included American Idol winner Taylor Hicks, former Alabama and NFL star linebacker Cornelius Bennett and the greatest knuckleball pitcher of all time, Phil Neikro. All are accomplished golfers.

Joseph plopped himself into the golf cart with Bo, who continued to give him a lecture on playing hooky and wondered if my child secretly worked for the IRS. Later, Bo, citing fatigue, asked Joseph to carry a club or two for him. Joseph loves golf and just to have the opportunity to briefly caddie for Bo Jackson is a thrill he will never forget.

Thank you, Bo.

Road trippin’

By Joe McAdory

This week’s travels took me to three states, where I saw a wild board, ran over a large snake, played golf and witnessed a temper tantrum like no other.

I’d never seen a wild pig before, but that changed Wednesday evening as I zipped through Georgia’s Fort Benning. It was black, was the same size as a large calf and was grazing. But that was no cow. It had the head of a pig. I’d heard of wild boars in the area, but just hadn’t seen one. I didn’t stop to investigate. Didn’t want to catch the pig flu.

TIFTON: For years I’ve driven past the Spring Hill Country Club on U.S. Highway 82 in Tifton, Ga., and kept saying I’d play 18 holes there. Thursday morning I did just that. It’s a private club, but allows out-of-towners the opportunity to play at a very affordable rate. $32, or something like that. The course is fairly simple, offered an assortment of doglegs and wasn’t over-the-top plush like some resorts, but for a little country club in this little town, I thought it was in excellent condition. I’d definitely play there again. The fairways were perfect and the greens were flawless. The man operating the carts seemed to have an attitude, but if that was my job I guess I’d have an attitude too.

MMM MMM GOOD: I couldn’t leave Tifton without having lunch at Sonny’s BBQ. When I lived in Daytona Beach, Fla., I frequented the establishment. Had a huge pulled chicken sandwich on Texas toast with fries and sizzlin’ sweet sauce. I’m still burping the lunch, but since it was so good, I don’t mind.

SUNNY DAY: Whipped past Valdosta, Ga., and crossed the Florida state line. Florida is called the Sunshine State. That makes sense. Rain had fallen on me all week, particularly in Alabama, and once I crossed the state line, I needed my sunglasses. Go figure.

TEE IT UP: I can’t drive past the World Golf Village (http://www.wgv.com) in St. Augustine, Fla., without stopping and Thursday was no different. The place offers the World Golf Hall of Fame, the PGA Tour Stop, which is the most incredible golf shop I have visited, a plush resort with fancy stuff that I can’t afford, two masterful golf courses (King & Bear and Slammer & Squire), various restaurants, an 18-hole putt putt course and a simulation of TPC Sawgrass’ famous 17th island hole. For $3, you get three shots at the island from about 140 yards out. Clubs are provided.

That island hole has been a personal demon to me. I’ve never hit it. Not even come close, and that’s extremely frustrating. Thursday was different. Two of my shots were majestic and landed firm in the middle of the green. The balls gently rolled off of the green and I’m going to claim that the green may be very hard and fast due to the searing sun and may not receive the same TLC that regular greens do. Anyway, I’m just happy I actually hit the green, so I’m going to count both. I don’t know who the man in the above photo is. Congratulations, mister. You’re famous now. He didn’t make it on the green either

RIGHT SPORT, WRONG CLUBHOUSE: For some reason I was still decked out in my golf attire from Tifton—3 hours up the road—golf shoes and all. That said, I decided to grab a changing bag and head into the Slammer & Squire clubhouse and locker room. Talk about plush ... It was strange playing golf in another state three hours away and using the Slammer & Squire’s locker room. One guy asked me how I shot today and I said I had a 90. He was impressed since this course is very difficult. I didn’t say where I really played.

BLOODY MURDER: Outside of the World Golf Hall of Fame stood this little boy, he must have been 3, screaming his head off. This was bloody murder like I’d never heard. He was there when I arrived. He was there after I hit the island hole. He was there after I changed clothes. He wanted to go home and he made sure that everyone in the state of Florida knew it. You could hear this kid from 200 yards away. The whole time his parents just stood there and did nothing. For all I know, he’s still out there screaming. Maybe the National Guard can stop this insanity.

SPEED BUMP: Approaching Daytona Beach, a big snake slithered across my path. I had never seen a snake on an interstate until this moment. This was a busy highway. Stupid snake. Last time I was in Florida I had python for lunch. Not sure what kind of reptile it was. My guesses are moccasin, indigo, black snake, rat snake, or rattler.

Finally the turn lane for South Daytona has arrived. No more pigs, snakes or demonic children.

Hard to play golf on a full stomach

By Joe McAdory

A group of four from the Opelika-Auburn News had the opportunity to compete Tuesday in the Opelika Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament at Saugahatchee Country Club. Tournaments of this nature are in a best ball format, where the best shot of the group is used over and over again until the ball goes into the hole.

Our team of Jerry May, Mike Szvetitz, Wayne Snow and myself managed to shoot a respectable 5-under 67, including birdies on four of the last five holes. We were just getting warmed up. Too bad we couldn’t start over. Above, check out the form on Wayne’s follow through.

A big part of corporate tournaments like this is the food. It’s hard to play golf when you’re uncomfortably full. By the time we’d played eight holes I was stuffed. Ingesting anything further was the last thing on my mind. I had devoured a pizza, a large BBQ chicken sandwich and one of the best sausage dogs I’d ever eaten. Kudos to the hole sponsors who brought their grills. Too bad one of the sponsors wasn’t Tums or Rolaids.

Playing at Saugahatchee is a treat for me since it’s a place I don’t have the opportunity to play other than tournaments such as this. Private courses don’t let just anyone onto their courses unless a large cash transaction is involved. I don’t have such a bargaining tool. I was impressed by the course and thought it was in excellent shape. The holes are challenging, but fair and perhaps not as demanding as something I’d find at Grand National, which is good. My only disappointment was a lack of numbers on the holes. It’s hard to find your way around when you don’t know what hole you’re on. Numbers were visibile in the tee boxes, but they were flat concrete slabs not really visible from the cart.

I’d love to play there again and look forward to that day.