Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, April 28, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Watching the Braves
BY MIKE RUFFIN
rjffinml@gmail.com
T here was a time in
the history of hu
man civilization
when you couldn’t watch
major league baseball
on television very often.
When it came to doing so,
the United States hadn’t
advanced much beyond
the town of Bedrock.
Those were the ancient
times when there were
only three commercial
television networks (CBS,
NBC, and ABC). Of those
three only NBC showed
baseball games, and
they only showed one
per week. The Saturday
afternoon Game of the
Week was must-see TV to
me. At some point they
added an occasional Mon
day night game, which
brought some welcome
joy to the beginning of the
week.
1 was a Braves fan. It
frustrated me that the
Braves seldom if ever
appeared on the Game of
the Week. 1 asked my fa
ther, the late great Champ
Ruffin, why that was.
“They only show the good
teams,” he said. He had
a point. The Braves did
win the Western Division
in 1969, the first season
that divisions existed,
but otherwise the teams
of the late 1960s and the
1970s were pretty bad.
Fortunately, during much
of that period we had the
privilege of following Mr.
Henry Aaron’s pursuit
of the career home run
record.
WSB-TV did show
around 20 Braves games
per year, no matter how
bad the team was. As 1
recall, they showed only
road games. 1 would sit
quietly, trans
fixed by the
activity that our
outside antenna
captured from
the air and
transmitted
to our 19-inch
black-and-white
window on the
world.
Then, Ted
Turner sudden
ly beamed down
from the starship Outra
geous, and the next thing
you knew, people were
watching what was now
dubbed “America’s Team”
(I regarded the slogan
as forgivable exaggera
tion, no matter how hard
Yankees fans laughed at
it) on the self-proclaimed
“Superstation” via
something called “cable
television.” When they fi
nally strung enough cable
together, the new technol
ogy reached
all the way to
Barnesville, and
lo and behold,
we could watch
every Braves
game from the
comfort of our
own homes.
It was the
dawning of the
age of Aquarius.
WTBS had let
the sunshine in.
When my Good Wife
and 1 moved to Louis
ville, Kentucky so I could
attend seminary, we
rented an apartment in a
seminary-owned complex
that bore the imaginative
name “Seminary Village.”
Somewhere along the
way, more creative minds
nicknamed it “the Gospel
Ghetto.” It wasn’t all that
bad. It also wasn’t all that
good. One deprivation we
had to live with was lack
of access to cable televi
sion. I guess it was one of
the ways we suffered for
Jesus.
We finished our pen
ance and moved out of
the Ghetto after a couple
of years. 1 am happy to
be able to report that we
were able to watch the
Braves without inter
ruption for the next 40
years, via either cable or
those newfangled satellite
dishes they came up with.
Then an even newer
technology came along
that seemed like a good
idea: streaming. So, we
joined the proud throng
of cable-cutters and
subscribed to a streaming
television service that we
liked very much. It pro
vided us with access to all
the stations that carry the
Braves.
Until it didn’t.
Due to market forces
or capitalism or greed
or something (I’m pretty
sure socialism had noth
ing to do with it), our
streaming service (and
most streaming services)
stopped carrying the
regional sports channels
that show the Braves
games. Now we can only
watch the nationally tele
vised games.
On one hand, it feels
like regression.
On the other hand, we
now have more time to do
more important things.
And you know, despite
all the time 1 just spent
writing about it, there
really are much more
important things than
watching the Braves ...
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Yatesville and works in
Macon. His new book, Praying with
Matthew, is available at helwys.com
and at Amazon.
Pike County Journal Reporter's
letter printing guidelines
The science behind discovering truth
The Pike County Jour
nal Reporter welcomes
letters to the editor
from local citizens.
For a
letter to
be consid
ered, in
clude the
writer’s
actual
name, ad
dress and
telephone
number.
We will
publish
the name
only. Let
ters from
individual
authors
will be published no
more often than every
other week.
Limit letters to 250
words or less. Shorter
letters are appreciated.
All letters to the editor
are subject to editing.
Personal attacks on
private citizens, po
litical endorsements or
letters that are racially
divisive
will
not be
consid
ered for
publica
tion.
Drop
letters
by the
office
on the
court
house
square,
mail
them to
P.O. Box
789, Zebulon, 30295, fax
them to 770.567.8814 or
email them to news@
pikecountygeorgia.com.
For more informa
tion, call 770.567.3446
or email news@pike
countygeorgia.com.
The website cracked,
com states, “there are
“great scientists who be
lieved wildly unscientific
things,” for a very good
reason. Sir Isaac Newton
was one of the greatest
scientists who ever lived,
discovering the laws of
gravitation, calculus and
optics. But remember,
he was a real scientist
- always asking ques
tions - unlike the modern-
day pseudo-scientists.
If you’re always asking
questions, you’ll come up
with and discard some
pretty silly “stuff.” He also
focused much of his time
on alchemy; the effort to
create a “philosopher’s
stone” which would en
able him to change other
metals into gold. (Harry
Potter looked for the
same stone!)
Alfred Russell Wallace
‘discovered’ the theory of
evolution which he shared
with his friend Charles
Darwin, and the rest of the
story you can likely guess.
Like Isaac, Alfred was also
always asking questions,
this time about ectoplasm
... the mythical substance
that bridges the gap be
tween the physical world
and the spirit world. He
was the original “ghost
buster!”
Joseph Priestley, a
British chemist, invented
carbonation (think about
that the next time you
drink a soft drink) and
created ‘laughing gas.’
He didn’t invent oxy
gen, but he did discover
it in 1774 and called it
‘dephlogisticated air.’ But
his discovery of oxygen
was part of an effort to
prove the ‘phlogiston
theory,’ which says that
there are only four ele
ments; water, earth, fire,
and air.” It’s the most
quickly disproven theory
in scientific history!
All this is to say that
Thomas was correct in
asking his questions.
Our scripture lesson is
from John 20 GNT,“[27]
Then he (Jesus) said to
Thomas, “Put your finger
here, and look at my
hands; then reach out
your hand and put it in
my side. Stop your doubt
ing, and believe!” [28]
Thomas answered him,
“My Lord and my God!””
Jesus didn’t chastise
Thomas; he simply held
out his hands.
So Thomas, using the
best of both faith and
science, discovers the
truth! We only credit
Thomas with ‘doubting,’
because he asked to see
Jesus’ wounds before he
would believe it was re
ally him.
We’ve been so intent
on criticizing him for that,
we’ve missed the fact
that he was the only per
son in the New Testament
to come right out and say
Jesus is God ... “My Lord
and my God!”
Charles ‘Buddy’ Whatley is a re
tired United Methodist pastor serving
Woodland and Bold Springs UMC and,
with Mary Ella, a missionary to the
Navajo Reservation in Arizona.
It’s time to go on the offense; time for a peaceful political revolution
Conservatives, moder
ates, independents and
libertarians have allowed
a disingenuous media,
woke mob, Wall Street,
big tech and Democrats
to trample on our inalien
able rights for far too long
because we are too nice.
The fact that these anti-
American hypocrites try to
shutdown all dissent and
debate by wrongfully label
ing and mis-characterizing
everyone who does not
submit to their progres
sive ideology as racists,
misogynists, xenophobic,
homophobic, anti-Semitic,
insurrectionists and
domestic terrorists is
not only Orwellian; it is
Totalitarianism. However,
while these oppressive
tyrants try to hide behind
the First Amendment’s
‘free speech,’ it does not
protect them from defraud
ing the American people,
defaming their critics, and
suppressing free speech
and it is time to start suing
CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, The
New York Times, Wash
ington Post, MSNBC, Time
Warner, Disney, Viacom,
NBC Universal, ESPN, and
the Democratic Party for
trillions not billions of dol
lars until they change their
unlawful ways.
We also have to remove
the 230 immunity from big
tech and all anti-trust ex
emptions from Wall Street
corporations, but we also
have to breakup all these
unaccountable and illegal
monopolies that have
run amok because of a
politicized DOJ and inept
and subservient Supreme
Court as proven by the
‘Citizen’s United’ decision
and their unconstitutional
upholding of the ‘Patriot
Act.’ Thus, when these
entities begin attacking
the Senate filibuster as
racist because they want
to enact a one party rule,
it is time for a peaceful
political revolution so
the American people can
hold these progressive
extremists accountable.
For example, a legitimate
photo ID is required to
enter all federal and state
buildings, to travel by
plane, train, and ship here
and abroad, to meet with
our representatives, to
drive any motor vehicle or
operate heavy construc
tion machinery, cashing
a check or using a credit
card, purchasing alcohol
and tobacco products,
and so forth, yet the
progressives don’t want to
require proof of identifica
tion when it comes to vot
ing one of our most sacred
rights-why is that? And
that is why there must be
an independent nonparti
san audit of the 2020 elec
tion for the irregularities
and inconsistencies are
screaming foul play
Every teacher who
refuses to return to the
classroom should be fired
for it’s time to put an end
to the teacher’s unions
ransom of the taxpayers,
especially when their sala
ries are competitive with
police officers who put
their lives on the line ev
ery day and they don’t get
four months off annually
with pay like teachers and
Congressional members. If
anyone deserves a pay in
crease and better benefits,
it’s the paraprofessionals,
bus drivers, maintenance,
house keeping and food
services employees who
are underpaid. And to
prove the media is a pro
paganda facilitator for the
democrats, Joe Biden’s
press conference on
March 25 was scripted like
a Vince McMahon promo
tion and even with notes
Biden struggled, yet the
media lied to the public
while refusing to admon
ish the predetermined
questioners for their
lack of serious questions
and unintelligible follow
ups. Truthfully, the reason
democrats and their allies
want to continue to lower
educational standards is
because they believe an
uninformed and divided
electorate is easier to
manipulate and thereby
their treasonous alliances
with America’s greatest
geopolitical foe China will
go unchecked in the same
way Dr. Fauci has been al
lowed to lie to the Ameri
can people about the
origin of COVID-19 which
everyone not in bed with
Xi Jinping and his Chinese
Communist Party knows
came from a Wuhan lab.
And the increases in gas
prices, energy costs, food,
household products,
communications, clothing
and shoes, and housing is
the result of overspending
and a $30 trillion national
debt or in economic terms
inflation, for if the politi
cally corrupted FED raises
interest rates, an unscru
pulous and malfeasance
Wall Street threatens a
‘Great Depression crash’
of seismic proportion. The
time has come for new
leadership that rejects
the status quo and their
litmus tests that seek
to exclude new political
candidates.
JAMES‘JIM’NOBLES
Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
April 29,1921: In response to the Zebulon High
School accreditation, thanks were extended to the
Zebulon Woman’s Club. The club contributed $150
worth of laboratory equipment, $125 in library equip
ment, paid for footlights for the auditorium stage and
hosted fundraising dinners to meet other needs.
75 YEARS AGO
May 2,1946: Several PCHS students won in a
Macon literary meet in April. Anne Willis of Concord
placed first in home ec., Elizabeth Daniel of Zebulon
won third place in vocal solo, a one act play was
fourth and the debate team won points, too.
50 YEARS AGO
April 29, 1971: Pike County 4H clubs worked
together to promote the rabies clinic held the first
week of May in nine locations. Dr. Jack Tuttle per
formed the vaccinations at a cost of $1.75 per dog.
25 YEARS AGO
May 1, 1996: The status of Griffin’s quest for
a water reservoir in Pike was front page news.
Rumors of offers for land at both sites were not
true since Georgia law requires the land to be ap
praised before an offer is made.