By Woody Hemphill Welcome to the doldrums of the sporting year, sports fans! I’m not sure about you, but after the Super Bowl left us feeling like we’d experienced a failed marriage, it’s been difficult to ‘buy into’ team sports for many of us. Was it just me, or did we all watch the NFL draft like it was just another loosely- scripted reality show? Somewhere after another coronation of Brady, and the overlooking of Belichick as the prime cheater of his time, the plight of the Falcon fan may be gazed upon by historians much like soldiers returning home from an unpopular war. Somewhere after that great start, and eventual ‘thud,’ ‘Falcon Nation’ was forgotten. As much as we rallied around that team, the lackluster productivity of the Cobb County Braves of late has not translated into success on the field, or off. Even as a lifetime fan of professional Georgia teams, living all over the world, it appears we’ve all attended our last professional baseball game in the City of Atlanta. Apparently, we aren’t the only ones having a hard time staying interested. About the only respite that anyone can find consensus on these days are that the programming changes around ESPN are not popular with any demographic – especially the on-air personalities being cast out by the politically-correct Disney flagship. One of the most interesting aspects of these occurrences that I’ve heard is that the programming shake-up is related to the drop in the number of cable subscriptions that are dropping like the number of requests received by hairdressers for mullets after 1992 (depending on the region of the country you hail from…). Whether this is a correlation with the bundling of services and a la cart channel packages being offered by cable programming providers, or the ever-increasing formats that we receive media, these changes aren’t sitting well with almost everyone. Oddly enough, as formats change, ESPN network executives chose to replace what was once perceived as timeless standards and proven formats with diversity and youth. Yet, just when we thought that we were witnessing the final days of the ex-jock, on-air personalities that may not have ‘registered’ with the public, came the news that Tony Romo, along with Jay Cutler would be entering the announcing booth… I hate to come across as the ‘old-guy at the club,’ but Romo couldn’t hold down an extra point in the playoffs, nor could he hold off a rookie for his starting job due to a shoulder that was made out of balsa wood, and a spine comprised of some type of sedimentary rock ... and most of us are convinced that Jay Cutler is color-blind. Isn’t it odd how questionable moves made by Jerry Jones, who owns the Dallas Cowboys and serves as his own GM, made Tony Romo a fanfavorite due to his signing of Brandon Wheedon, as his back-up in 2015. Another questionable move came this off-season when Chicago, Jay Cutler’s former team, chose to sign a back-up QB for millions, and then drafted a QB in the first few picks – a move made by giving away virtually every pick available in the first three rounds over the next two years ... despite having a gaping need at several positions on the football field. There are several teams under new leadership that have shown what I would perceive as ‘acumen’ in their administration of the draft, salary cap, and team moves - starting with what has been commonly referred to as the “fleecing” of Chicago for their draft picks by new San Francisco GM, John Lynch, who was also a former NFL athlete in Tampa during their heyday under John Gruden. Don’t look now, but former Super Bowl winning coach Tom Coughlin has also been given the reigns at his former stop in Jacksonville, and if they were careful not to overspend on defense, and can find protection for chronically-unproven Blake Bortles, there could finally be some shuffling of the AFC South this year. Unfortunately, Joe Montana couldn’t win with the offensive line that they’ve put on the field in Bortles last two seasons. No pass protection and no running game usually equals a high draft pick. I may eat these words by the end of the season, but I don’t see the Jags under Coughlin being perennial doormats for long. Hopefully, their curse of first-round picks getting injured for the year during training camp will come to an end this season. The team has already announced that they will not hold first-round pick, RB Leonard Fournette, out of conditioning drills. A cornerstone of Coughlin’s success has always been a punishing runner (e.g. Fred Taylor, Tiki Barber, Ahmad Bradshaw, etc), so we’ll see how this team responds. Until next month, get your chores done around the house because football season will be here soon enough. Enjoy the beach season, and may all your teams win! Living on Tybee Time By Margie McLellan Summer time is here on Tybee Island! It’s funny to me how our island changes in the summer, going from a quiet, laid-back seaside community of colorful characters, to one of the top beach destinations in the south. There are people, people everywhere, not to mention traffic congestion, parking issues, bicyclers, pedestrians, and … did I mention people, people everywhere? But when you get out in the hustle and bustle of activity here this time of the year, you have to admit that it’s fun and exciting to be a part of it, and actually get to live here too! My house sits a few blocks back from the beach on a quiet little street made up of old Tybee homes. I can sit on my back porch and enjoy the peace and quiet there. I have a small garden, lots of flowers, and I love spending my time just enjoying the serenity. I feel like I’m in my own little world. But all I have to do is walk out the front door and it’s like I have become transported somewhere else. When I walk down the street I am shocked with all the people, cars and activity going on. It’s like Wow! Where did all these people come from?? And when I go to the beach, I am amazed at how many people are there, enjoying the beauty of our island. I have met so many people since I’ve lived here. And a lot of them don’t live here, they are tourists. As a Tybee local, the visitors and tourists love talking to us. The first thing they always ask me is, “Wow! You live here? Do you like it here?” I always answer with, “No, but someone’s got to do it, so I volunteered.” Next they say, “Why don’t you like it?” Duh!! Then I usually say something like, “The people here are really weird, the island is too small, etc.” Eventually most of them get my humor (sometimes I don’t even get my humor). But the funny thing is that I’ll be sitting in a restaurant or bar (okay, more likely a bar) and some unknown person will come up to me and say, “Hi! Remember me? I met you last time I was here!” They remember my name, where we were, what we were doing, what band we were listening to, etc. Sometimes I do remember them, but most times not. But, being the very nice person I am, I always say, “Of course I remember you! How are you? Blah, blah, blah.” What I’m getting at is that I feel it’s important to showcase our little island and the people who live here in a good, positive way. Get out there and be your best quirky self. Be nice to our visitors and take the time to talk to them. Whether you realize it or not, YOU are part of the island experience, and people will long remember you if you show them what we are made of here. There are so many awesome characters here, so many unique people that have somehow found this little island and call it home, and so many people that I am proud to call my friends. I’m so happy to call this place my home. I love living on Tybee Time! TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JUNE 2017 7
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