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4A ®J)£ Iferalti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, November 2,2021
Opinions
Geiger's Counter:
Dawg defense lifted 4 Georgia curse'
After spending Satur
day morning driving in
the cold rain to a soccer
field in Newnan and then
standing out in said rain
for two hours, losing a
match and driving back,
1 plopped down in a
recliner in front of the TV.
The Georgia-Florida game
was already underway
and the hated Gators
were holding their own.
1 just had a sense of
doom - an overwhelming
thought that the ‘Geor
gia curse’ would ruin
the rest of the weekend.
The Dawgs would fall
in Jacksonville and the
Braves would blow it in
the World Series despite
being up two games to
one. It was a chill that
penetrated far deeper
than the cold mist at the
soccer complex.
The Dawgs missed a
field goal. Florida missed
a field goal. Georgia hit
a field goal. Time was
running out in the first
half and then boom! The
vaunted Dawg defenders,
perhaps the best defense
ever, took matters into
their own hands.
UGA linebacker Nolan
Smith ripped
the ball loose
from Gator
quarterback An
thony Richard
son at the Gator
11. UGA scored
on the very
next play on
a nifty run by
James Cook.
On the
Gators’ next se
ries, local boy
Travon Walker
tipped a ball that Smith
intercepted. Stetson
Bennett went deep and
hit Kearis Jackson with a
36-yard TD pass
and it was sud
denly 17-0.
Instead of
running out
the clock,
Richardson
continued to
throw. Nakobe
Dean baited him
into a pass on a
deep out route,
picked it off and
returned it 50
yards for a TD
to make it 24-0. It didn’t
take a highly trained
sports psychologist to
observe the Florida play
ers and know their will
was broken. The Dawgs
went on to win 34-7 on a
day when their offense
sputtered but, with this
defense, offense is sort
of optional - at least until
the SEC title game Dec. 4.
It was amazing how
quickly my gloom lifted.
Georgia Tech had lost,
brightening the day.
Then, 1 wandered along
Thomaston Street taking
photos and watching
kids of all ages ignore
the rain and cavort while
trick-or-treating.
Later 1 watched the
Braves win to go up
3-1 in the Series and 1
dismissed all thoughts of
the Georgia Curse.
Then Sunday night,
the Braves wasted a first
inning grand slam and
lost. The Series returns
now to Houston with the
Braves up three games
to two.
I am worried about
them.
Walter Geiger is editor and publisher
of The Herald-Gazette and Pike
County Journal Reporter. He can
be reached at 770-358-NEWS or
news@barnesville.com.
* S
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GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
Kudzu & Clay:
Seafood jello mold
Fake polite
ness is one
of the most
perplexing hu
man behaviors.
There are some
times when it is
beneficial, like
when you’re
being nice to
your employer
so that you
don’t get fired,
or your wife
so you don’t get
murdered, but mostly
it is nothing more than
a waste of time. 1 like
wastes of time. 1 really
like observing them
because, in observing, 1
am wasting time.
A few years ago a
friend and 1 that worked
together were discuss
ing this fake politeness
when we witnessed
it at a corporate, pot-
luck style Thanksgiv
ing dinner. Everyone
brought in something
to share. The table was
a mishmash of cheap
Tupperware and cas
serole dishes. We were
fascinated by how
everyone took a little
bit of Billy’s casserole
or Terrie’s mayonnaise-
based salad, knowing
good and well that a lot
of this food was suspect
for salmonella at mini
mum. Have you ever
seen Terrie wash her
hands? Nevertheless,
just to be nice, these
good folks loaded up on
their coworkers’ food
and ate it with a smile.
“Oh Alice, this corn
casserole is amazing!”
someone would say,
smiling, as they slowly
choked on a very thick
hair. “Oh Janice, where
does that citrus flavor
come from?” (You don’t
want to know.)
My friend came up
with a theory that he
could bring anything
and people would eat
it. 1 challenged him, and
the next year he cre
ated something called
“potato grigio”, telling
everyone it was an old
family recipe. He halved
a bunch of potatoes,
scooped out
the potato
meat from the
skin, blended
it with mar
garine and
artichokes,
and put the
contents back
in the skins.
Black olive
slices served
as a garnish.
And sure
enough, people
took and ate the hor
rendous raw potato mix
ture. Some even went
back for seconds. Some
took home leftovers.
With this knowledge
in hand and the bar
already fairly high, 1
decided to see how far
1 could push it the next
Thanksgiving. 1 came up
with my own fake family
recipe. A seafood Jello
mold inspired by the an
cient Southern tradition
of aspics. 1 went to the
store and bought clear
gelatin, a can of smoked
oysters, and a can of
baby shrimp so old it
had an inch of dust on
it. 1 mixed it all together
with a jar of capers and
let it sit outside over
night. The garnish was
a bundle of parsley, rub
ber band still on.
When I brought this
thing into the build
ing (20,000 sq. ft.), the
smell shot from one end
to the other before 1
could even get through
the door. It was almost
as you could hear the
waves crashing and the
seagulls screaming. And
when the time came,
people lined up, put it
on their plate, and ate
this abomination with
a smile on their face.
After the meal, the CEO
took me aside and told
me that if 1 ever did
anything like that again
I wouldn’t make it to
the next Thanksgiving.
The joke was on him
because later that day
we found out the com
pany had been sold and
we were all laid off. 1
considered that a pretty
good way to go out.
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
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Send letters to RO. Box 220, Barnesville, 30204,
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Greenwood Street, Barnesville.
SPORTS
Trojans travel to NE Macon Friday;
need win, miracle to make playoffs
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
The Lamar County
Trojans (5-4, 2-3) close
out the regular season
Friday night when they
battle the Northeast
Raiders. Kickoff is set for
7:30 p.m. at Thompson
Stadium in Macon.
The Raiders (7-2,
4-1) are ranked #5 after
thrashing Monticello 40-7
last week. The Trojans
had last Friday off.
The Trojans have to
win Friday night and
have winless Monticello
beat Washington County
in order to reach the
playoffs. WACO (44, 2-3),
despite a late season
swoon which knocked
them out of the rankings,
has the tiebreaker edge
over LC thanks to a 46-20
win over the Trojans
here Sept. 24.
Bleckley County (10-0,
6-0) clinched the Region
3AA title Friday night
with a 42-6 win over
Southwest. The Royals
are ranked #3. Northeast
is second in the region
standings. Dodge County
(6-3, 3-2) is third in the
region after topping
WACO 26-19 last week.
They face Southwest this
week.
Should the stars align
and the Trojans earn
the region’s #4 seed,
they would likely face #2
Thomasville on the road
in the first round.
Oct. 31-Nov. 6
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Pictured (l-r) are Knoxie Burson, Kate Wheaton, Elijah Norris, Will Mulder, Ezra Pearson, Jer
emiah Norris, coach Mckinley Chambless, Noah Ryan, Adam Boggs, Hattie Stover, and Ashlyn
Jones
SGES cross country team region winners
The varsity SGES cross
country team won the
region meet recently,
earning first place for the
team in both the girls and
boys divisions.
Ashlyn Jones of Griffin,
Hattie Stover of Grif
fin, and Will Mulder of
Barnesville, all made
the all-region team and
finished in the top five
overall.
Knoxie Burson of
Griffin, Perrin Boatright
of Thomaston, Kate
Wheaton of Griffin, Bon
nie Kate Matthews of
Barnesville, Noah Ryan of
Griffin, Jeremiah Norris
of Griffin, and Ezra Pear
son of Jackson all have
qualified for the state
individual meet.
10 years ago
Lamar County voters
were to decide whether
or not to extend the ES-
PLOST, a one cent sales
tax for education. The
most important purpos
es of ESPLOST is to pay
previous bond debt. The
tax would run for five
more years or until $11
million is raised.
25 years ago
An international in
vestment group, Invest-
corp, announced plans
to purchase The William
Carter Company. The
sale was the beginning of
the end of Carter’s here
in Barnesville where it
employed 990 people.
50 years ago
Lightning lose first match
The LC Lightning U14
girls lost their first match
of the season Saturday
4-1 to SSA Coweta (Head)
in the rain in Newnan.
LC (7-1-1) is now tied for
third in their division.
Kenzie Smith, the
division scoring leader,
got the lone goal for LC.
Chelsie Roberts had four
saves in the net for LC.
The Lightning close
out the regular season
Saturday when they face
Griffin Excel here.
First touch is set for
10 a.m.
The fight card for
Saturday night wrestling
at the Griffin Sports Pal
ace included a tag team
match featuring Assassin
1 and Assassin 2 vs. Bud
dy Fuller and El Mongol.
On the undercard were
wrestlers Flash Monroe,
Dick Steinborn, Billy
Spears, George Scott,
Alex Medina and Roberto
Soto.
100 years ago
The people of Barnes
ville and vicinity are
gratified at the news
from Rome that Miss Jes
sie Collier, who has been
critically ill at Shorter
College, is improving and
the earnest wish of all
the people here is that
she may be restored to
health. She has been
quite ill for two weeks
with fever and her family
and their friends have
been much alarmed
about her condition. Mr.
and Mrs. J.C. Collier, her
parents, and Dr. J.M. Rog
ers, the family physician
of this city, have con
stantly been with her.
Zi)t Umltr #a^tte
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.0. Box 220
Publishers
Staff
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