Pat tribute
The words came like we expected. (In truth, not sure anyone penned a better farewell column to legendary UT Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt than TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer. His excellent work is here.)
Of course, Weeds is right that Summitt's in a better place without the brain-crippling disease.
She also passes the fundamental life-success test: Did you leave this world better than you found? It's not a terrible difficult standard, mind you, and one that Pat posted a score in the upper 0.0000001 percentile by comparison.
Think of the number of lives she touched in a meaningful way beyond the people she ever met? That's staggering to think about sometimes, these sports stars and popular figures who are heroes to millions.That pressure at times has to be suffocating if you spend too much time thinking about it.
And Pat never blinked in it.
We asked Hall of Fame coach Jim Foster on Tuesday how would Pat be differently if she were a young coach right now rather than starting her career in the 1970s?
The differences are profound mind you. There's the 24/7 news cycle. There's our mean-spirited desire to build people up only to tear them down just as quickly.
Foster concurred that she still would have been Pat, and we all know that would have been the stuff of legend.
Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber throws against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 28, 2016, in Atlanta.Braves battling
The Braves enjoyed a nice run of winning eight of 11 before the red-hot Cleveland Indians came to town.
Cleveland has won the last two, including last night's 5-3 win. That, truly, is more about the Indians' smoking ways - they have won 11 straight and have not lost since the Cavs broke the city's championship curse - the Braves' stinkitude.
Still, even in the run of good times for the Braves, it's vital to remember, this is about building. Laying a foundation around which a contender can emerge.
One of the interesting things to watch in regard to the retooling project will be the next few days with the pitching staff. (Well, interesting may be a strong word considering that there's very little interesting about a team that is 25 games under .500, is almost 20 games out of first and has the third-worst run differential in the league. Let's call it noteworthy, then.)
With a string of injuries to the rotation, the Braves will get to see what they have with some of their young guys.
Take tonight for example. Right-hander Joel De La Cruz to pitch. There will be a handful of new faces, and this could be the chance to make a strong early impression - be that as a future Braves player or a potential trade chip later this summer.
Either way, good performances have benefits for the Braves from these cats.
Former University of Florida and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow spoke Saturday night in Athens, Tenn.Tebowing
There are not many sports folks who have been as divisive in the modern era as Tim Tebow.
The former Florida star and NFL quarterback has long come under fire for a variety of things from his throwing motion to wearing his religion on his sleeve. The latter of those complaints always seemed so over the top and random for whatever reason. Tebow is deeply religious, but so are lots of athletes. Yet somehow Tebow got the brunt of the anti-Christian angst because why? He wore Bible verses on his eye black and dropped to a knee after a big play?
In truth, yes, there are a chunk of people who hate religion, and that's their loss. But most of the people, in our view, just didn't like Tebow for whatever reason - he went to Florida, he won too much, his life looked too perfect, you name it - and conveniently used the "don't throw your religion in my face card" as an excuse.
That's on them.
Anyhoo, Tebow and religion were again in the news this week.
Tebow was on a flight from Atlanta to Phoenix, when a man started having what appeared to be heart problems. Medical attempts were made and looked to be unsuccessful. Dude lost his pulse.
Tebow comes to the family's aid and prays with the entire section of the plane. Apparently, the man's pulse came back as the plane landed - and yes, that counts as a great touch down.
Here's the story.
This and that
- On the other end of former Heisman winning SEC stories, Johnny Manziel has issued a response to his father's quotes about how worried Football Sr. is about his "druggie" son. Manziel took to social media with the #HiDad at the end of his response of how well Manziel thinks Manziel is doing. You know you are on a path for destruction when the people who love you WANT you to go to jail to protect you. E-gad.
- Here's more on Manziel from TMZ, which seems to have a pretty quick connection to the former Aggies star. Manziel, who is in Cabo, told them that he's going to get sober starting July 1 and then he'll start training like crazy to get back into the NFL. Riiiiigghhhhhttttt, Johnny. Right.
- Speaking of former SEC Heisman winners, Stephen Orr Spurrier may be trying his hand at broadcasting. We discussed this a bit on Press Row on Tuesday around a lot of Summitt memories, but there's no middle ground for Spurrier with the mic. Either he's amazing and becomes the modern version of John Maddon. Or he's rotten and he does one forgettable year and heads back to the No. 1 tee box.
- U.S. Sens. Corker and Alexander have introduced a resolution to honor the life and contributions made by Pat Summitt. This one figures to pass 100-0, right?
- Coastal Carolina topped Arizona in Tuesday's Game 2 to force a winner-take-all scene in tonight's finale at the College World Series. Side note: That's a lot of drama for one summer, considering the NBA Finals went seven and the College softball went to a final game. Good times.
Today's question
The Apple iPhone turns nine today.
Nine.
The smart phone is arguably the best invention and biggest curse of the modern generation. On the amazing side, how about this story: We went to the Braves game on Sunday and the tickets were at will call. They were in a friend of mine's name, so we were staring at the possibility of having to buy another set of Braves tickets. (Side note: Just because the Braves are really, Really, REALLY bad, does not mean that they lowered their ticket prices any - just their talent level.)
Anyhoo, so I call my friend, who tries to tell the lady the tickets are for me. She can't do it over the phone, so he takes a smart-phone photo of his driver's license, emails it to me and problem solved since the addresses match-up.
Nuts, right?
On the down side is every restaurant everywhere where people are buried into these things like they can't live without them. Stop and look around at a public place sometime, and you will be stunned the number of people connected to their phone rather than their surroundings.
So, in honor of the diabolical iPhone, what's on the Rushmore of inventions that the 5-at-10's Paw-Paw, after coming back from WWII in the mid-1940s would have been most stunned by?
Go, and remember the mailbag.