Granny and I watched Football today.
I should have taken a picture. I did not. There we were, Granny and me, watching the Indianapolis Colts on television as Andrew Luck took care of business as only he can. Where is there a stronger, more confident fella passing the football? You won’t find him. The Colts won 20-13. Actually, I was the big winner.
For as long as I can remember my grandmother, Flo Johnson, has been keeping up with and watching pro football on Sunday afternoons after church. She has lived in Indiana for the last twenty years. Before that she lived all over…my grandfather retired from the military. In the mid to late 1950s they moved to Shreveport, Louisiana. Granny lived there until she moved to Indiana in 1994. Living in Shreveport you were most likely a Dallas Cowboys fan. Big D is the closest pro football team to Shreveport. Check out your atlas and you will find that New Orleans is much farther than Dallas. Grandma loved rooting for Roger Staubauch and Tom Landry. When my grandfather was alive he was good for one game a day then he would go to the other room and watch Big Valley or Gunsmoke. Granny can watch as many games as the television will put on. I understand this.
“Get him!” That is Granny’s signature phrase when it comes to football watching. She likes to see the runner for the team is rooting against go down hard. She’s tough that way.
Like I said, I wish I had taken a picture of us sitting there watching football together. It was a very good time. There aren’t too many guys my age that can say they spent part of their afternoon watching football with their grandmother. I am a blessed man.
OLE MISS BEATS ALABAMA and other tales…
Wow.
The Ole Miss Rebels defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide on October 4th of this year (2014). It was a long time coming. What is the best thing about it? The Rebs overcame adversity in the form of a no-call facemask that cost them a touchdown at the end of the half to make the score Bama 14 Ole Miss 3. I thought that was it. After that play I felt like the Water Pistol that shoots Jelly on the Island of Misfit Toys. I was certain we were going to have to wait until next year. Then, just like when Rudolph guides Santa’s sleigh back to the island to pick up the misfits…Bo Wallace led his offense methodically and without major error and while he was at it he picked the rest of us up and carried us to the smiling side of the scoreboard. Ole Miss 23 Alabama 17 Final. This is a memory I hope I never forget.
After the game I called my Mother and Father. They were in Mississippi attending the family reunion. They watched the game, of course. Some of my relatives were at the game. I am so happy for them. The house where my folks were staying, Uncle Bob and Aunt Nell’s place, was a jubilant place. You could feel it over the phone over 600 miles away. I say it again. I am happy for them.
Later in the evening I called my Ole Miss Football watching buddy….Aunt Barbara.
Aunt Barbara and I have seen some good times and bad times when it comes to Ole Miss Football. We’ve attended Ole Miss games together at Oxford, Jackson, and Lexington over the years. The last one we saw together was Eli Manning’s senior year in Oxford the day they beat South Carolina 43-40. In 1999, my son Jarrett and I went to see Ole Miss play Georgia with Aunt Barbara. That day we saw Eli, a red-shirt freshman, walking through the Grove as the team was heading to the stadium. I remember thinking he could use a few biscuits for that frame of his at the time. Needless to say, it has worked out for him. Georgia won that game 20-17. It was a heart breaker.
Yesterday though, Aunt Barbara and I could have talked all night about the big win over Bama. I am so glad she was able to see it and we could talk about it later. I have a feeling we will be talking about this one for some time to come.
Ole Miss is 5-0 for the first time since 1962. I read that the new AP Poll for College Football is out for this week and Ole Miss and Mississippi State are tied at #3. Good for the Magnolia State. When the media wants to make Mississippi out to be a nice place for a change, it doesn’t take near as much effort as it does to make the place look unpleasant.
The Speak the Rights College Football Predictions for Week #6 went quite well. Nine wins one loss. The one loss? Can you believe it…Kentucky beat South Carolina.
I was the one that gave South Carolina all the love in the preseason. They have not acquiesced. I did call for Ole Miss to win. I called for State to beat A&M. The Indiana Hoosiers played well and whipped North Texas. I think the boys from Texas were cold. And the Marshall Thundering Herd….they won 56-14. It wasn’t that close. Hope they get their chance to play Cinderella in the post-season.
Right now we stand at 47 wins and 13 losses.
THE CORNER KING CLASSIC
Kelly Samons, Gus Stephenson, myself, Mick Rutherford
It took 19 holes…but I outlasted Gus in this year’s 15th annual Corner King Classic played at New Salisbury National Golf Course.
In earnest, I did not think I had a chance to win. I was playing horrible…more so than usual. At the end of 18 we look at the scores. Gus and I were tied. We went back to the last hole to play it again. I bogeyed. Gus doubled. I won in a playoff. It was a Corner King Classic first.
None of that really matters. What is important is that I had a chance to play golf with these guys again. We laughed. We laughed some more. Then we got together and had a hearty meal that my dear wife, Carrie, prepared for us.
Looking down the 8th fairway.
Mick Rutherford does a great job of addressing the ball. He thinks they have previously met.
What matters is that we get together and remember our friend the Corner King, Todd Lincoln. We all miss him so very very much.
Speaking the rights.
Danny Johnson