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The baseball Iron Bowl, game two

Alabama’s second baseman, Kyle Overstreet who is really quite good, committed an error in the sixth inning tonight. Naturally the helpful fans at Plainsman Park pointed this out.

By then Auburn had the game under control. They found their first lead in conference play, which came in their 66th inning of conference play. The Tigers’ bats came alive again in the fifth, putting four more runs on the board and Auburn finally won one, 6-3.

Check out the highlights, particularly the gem in the ninth inning at the three minute mark:

So, now, Auburn is 10-43 against the SEC in the major sports – football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball – since the 2012 SEC baseball tournament. It has been the worst year ever since Title IX in terms of a cumulative conference record.

But a beautiful day otherwise. Got out for a quick ride on the bike and was about seven miles from home on a quite road that has been closed because the bridge two miles down was out for construction. I heard a nice ting!-ting!-ting! doppler off to the left and behind me.

It seemed important to stop, to see what had just fallen off my bicycle. And I was happy to realize that the brakes were still working and the wheels weren’t falling off.

Finally I realized it was the metal clamp that holds my bag to the seat post and saddle rails. So we spent a while looking for the parts. I’d hit a bump and something felt loose, so up and down the shoulders, stomping on plumes of grass and bending over to peer at ever dark piece of material near the roadway.

After about an hour I found the metallic piece, realized that was the only part I was missing, so that’s a win. I only have to replace two screws. And get home in time for the baseball game, managing only an impressive 10 miles for my troubles.

But I had a turkey burger for dinner, we closed down a restaurant with our friends Adam and Jessica and that somehow makes it all better.

It was a good afternoon as we head into a great weekend. Hope yours is even better!

Alabama / Auburn / baseball / journalism / links / photo / things to read / Thursday — Comments Off
28
Mar 13

The baseball Iron Bowl

Alabama visited Auburn for a three game series, starting tonight. Things did not go well for the Tigers.

Ryan Tella was 1-of-5 with three strike outs:

Tella

Garrett Cooper had one hit in four at bats and struck out once:

Cooper

Between the two they stranded five of Auburn’s eight base runners as Alabama won 6-2.

In the major sports – football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and baseball – Auburn is now 9-43 against the SEC since the 2012 SEC baseball tournament. I’m keeping count because someone has to.

Other things: Nineteen percent of Alabama are on food stamps.

Then there’s this most depressing lead:

In Hale County, Alabama, 1 in 4 working-age adults is on disability. On the day government checks come in every month, banks stay open late, Main Street fills up with cars, and anybody looking to unload an old TV or armchair has a yard sale.

[…]

As far as the federal government is concerned, you’re disabled if you have a medical condition that makes it impossible to work. In practice, it’s a judgment call made in doctors’ offices and courtrooms around the country. The health problems where there is most latitude for judgment — back pain, mental illness — are among the fastest growing causes of disability.

[…]

In Hale County, there was one guy whose name was mentioned in almost every story about becoming disabled: Dr. Perry Timberlake. I began to wonder if he was the reason so many people in Hale County are on disability. Maybe he was running some sort of disability scam, referring tons of people into the program.

After sitting in the waiting room of his clinic several mornings in a row, I met Dr. Timberlake. It turns out, there is nothing shifty about him. He is a doctor in a very poor place where pretty much every person who comes into his office tells him they are in pain.

“We talk about the pain and what it’s like,” he says. “I always ask them, ‘What grade did you finish?'”

What grade did you finish, of course, is not really a medical question. But Dr. Timberlake believes he needs this information in disability cases because people who have only a high school education aren’t going to be able to get a sit-down job.

It is an enlightening piece, and worth your read.

photo / weekend — 1 Comment
24
Mar 13

Catching up

The post that starts the week with leftover pictures from last week. The post that fills up the space with colorful extra things for no other reason than that the space, and the pictures, are here. And here they are.

A container grown purple and white cabbage. Don’t you want something leafy and delicious now?

Blackberries from a cheesecake dish at Ted’s Montana Grill. I had a caesar salad:

Things are blooming in Opelika …

Hard to believe the picture above and the picture below were taken on the same afternoon. Rain in Atlanta:

And after a week of cold, cloudy, overcast, drizzly, downpourish conditions we finally got a bit of spring. And the ugliest power pole in town. These things should be built along boorish aesthetic guidelines:

Riding up the road behind Grand National:

I think I rubbed my computer halfway through the ride, so this would be the pollen collected over the last 14 or so miles. Lots of pollen:

Today was, I think, the first time we saw the sun since Tuesday. The sun was beaming into the bookshelves during the late afternoon today:

adventures / Friday / iPhone / links / photo / things to read / Tumblr / video / YouTube Cover Theater — Comments Off
22
Mar 13

This is spring, right?

“It is tough,” she said, “to be that enthusiastic at that this time of day.”

She meant the morning, trying to wake up for breakfast, which is something to be excited about. And it was delicious:

And then it was cloudy and cold. Well, there was that part of the afternoon were it rained. That really changed things up. All week long. That’s pretty much been the way of it this week.

Today we learned that Harvey Updyke could be back on the street by May. I’m over the guy. He has so many probation conditions I’m sure he’ll get picked up again before too long.

More importantly something collapsed at the newly renovated terminal at the Birmingham airport. A family was hurt. Turned out they were standing under one of those large flight info screens when it fell off the wall. I was listening to the fire department scanner chatter. Three rescue units were there. And then a fourth and fifth were dispatched.

Meanwhile they were answering calls to an elderly person with trouble breathing, a teen who couldn’t see and a car crashing into a power pole. Listening to a scanner is addictive.

Late in the evening we learned a 10-year-old died in the airport accident. The people that picked up the info screen off the family said it weighed between 300 and 400 pounds. The mother had some serious leg injuries. Her younger children were also taken to the hospital. They were on vacation, returning home, and just passing through the Birmingham airport.

In a happier story, the US played Costa Rica in a World Cup qualifier and someone thought booking this in a Colorado venue in March would be a good idea. Craziest non-soccer game I’ve ever watched at the international level:

Two new things on Tumblr this week. Here’s one and here’s another.

Posts from the campus blog this week:

Building a media room

WaPo to go behind paywall

Improving the interview

Conde Nast’s video project

What to worry over in the publishing game

Welcome back YouTube Cover Theater, where we celebrate the talent of regular people who are playing on their sofas, at their bars and on their decks, in front of a camera and, now, the world. We do this by choosing a feature act and showing off covers of their original work. This week’s inspiration is Old Crow Medicine Show:

James River Blues:

There have been some 5,200 views of that one. I can’t believe this one of Caroline has less than 2,000:

This one just looks older because of the sepia:

Every other Old Crow Medicine Show cover is of Wagon Wheel. So we’ll just go to Mumford and Sons:

Hope you have a great weekend, and that it is a little warmer and a little drier where you are.

We’re getting more rain all weekend.

iPhone / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
21
Mar 13

Just hanging out

One of the better parts of my day. Thought I’d share it, because Allie hasn’t been famous in a while.

But she should be.

(She’s been sitting right there most of the afternoon.)