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A week from now, I begin my journey as a college teacher and I
reflect back on all of my teachers and how they helped so many Tallapoosans.
Mrs. Rambo, Mrs. Littlefield, Mrs. Boatwright, Mr. Welch, Mr. Wood, Mr. Watson
were all influencial in my life. It all began in first grade about 51 years ago
when I met Mrs. Downey. She was so sweet and kind to all of us and I am sad to
say she passed away a few days ago. She truly was a great person to teach us the
fundamentals of "readin' writin' and arithmatic. The past week has not been a
good one. I am also moved by another passing in the past few days.
Milo Hamilton suffered through some tough seasons as voice of
the Atlanta Braves. He hosted the Georgia Tech football review on Sunday
afternoons with Coach Bobby Dodd and voiced commercials talking about "owly
bird" and "early bird" flights on Delta Airlines back when you could fly
roundtrip to New York or Miami without having to take out a second mortgage on
your house. Milo was the voice of the Braves during some not so memorable years
with the exception of 1974 when Hank Aaron went into the record books as the
home run king and did it without the use of chemicals. Barry Bonds will never be
the home run hero or the man Hammerin' Hank was and is.
The Braves had some great talent conveying the games over the years. Pete Van
Wieren the "professor" is a longtime favorite with his pleasant baritone
delivery and his knowledge of baseball. Fans also loved the style of Ernie
Johnson, Sr. as he had played the game and he knew the game. His easy going
style was easy to listen to on a drive back home at midnight with Atlanta
playing the Dodgers, Padres, or Giants out on the west coast. Being around Mr.
Johnson at golf events over the years is a treat because he is the same guy in
person that he was on radio and television.
Skip Carey came to Atlanta to do the Southern League Cracker's games down at
Ponce De Leon Park from St. Louis and a couple of years later came back to
Atlanta to stay as the voice of the NBA's Hawks in the late 1960's. The son of
Harry Carey the longtime voice of the Chicago Cubs and theSt. Louis Cardinals of
baseball. I say that because there was a St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL before
they high tailed it to the deserts of Arizona. Harry Carey was one of baseball's
great personalities in radio and television. The Chicago Cubs became my second
favorite team in baseball from watching Harry Carey over the years relay the
games over WGN, the superstation out of the Windy City.
Skip Carey's pedigree made him a great broadcast personality and one of
baseball's true announcing legends. His 1991 "Braves win, Braves win, Braves
win" is something we will never forget hearing when Atlanta headed to their
first World Series since coming to Atlanta from Milwaukee. Skip Carey brought
passion and humor to sports announcing. If the game was boring, he somehow
through his sense of humor kept us listening. If he was angry, you knew it. He
didn't care if he ruffled the feathers of advertisers or broadcast executives
that signed his paycheck. He didn't care if you liked what he had to say or not.
He was just Skip. He came to my former place of employment to cut radio spots
from time to time over the years. He was for the most part an extremely likeable
fellow. He was a member of the Howard Cosell school of "telling it like it is".
He would sometimes berate me for wearing a Hawaiian shirt that he deemed too
obnoxious to be worn. He was a consumate and consiensous professional when it
came to work. It was a treat to be around him. The news of his passing was the
lead story on Atlanta television late news broadcasts and the front page of the
Atlanta morning paper. His life was lifted up by the national sports press and
ESPN broadcasts and his "yes, yes, yes, the Atlanta Braves have given you a
championship" will forever be in our memories. His son Chip who also is a great
voice in Major League Baseball broadcasts should think consider the saying "oak
trees come from oak trees and not scrub brush" because his father and
grandfather were two of the mightiest oaks in the forest.
The Bulldog nation is jazzed up about the Dogs being rated number one nationally
and it won't be long before they tee it up for the first time this season. I got
to meet Coach Richt and Coach Johnson the new chief of the Georgia Tech Yellow
Jackets a couple of weeks ago at the Atlanta Hilton during a college football
preview. Coach Mark Richt is a wonderful fellow who I hope doesn't have to hire
a bail bondsman to be on his coaching staff since eight Bulldogs have been
arrested for various infractions since the January win in the Sugar Bowl.
The biggest fan of the Dawgs has to be my cousin Thomas Meunier. He has
retired after 23 years of dedicated service to the Atlanta Falcons in the ticket
office. Tommy's bride of 39 years Patsy has him living at Home Depot in
Carrollton with a "honey do" list as big as the Birmingham Yellow Pages
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