Howdy, Compiling about two weeks worth of reading into one night... Re: Garth and Baseball JW: <<I'll bet he's no Jim Reeves on the diamond.>> DC: <<Or Charley Pride neither.>> Um... I'm willing to go a bit further than that. I'm pretty sure he's no Conway Twitty (signed by the Phillies). And, I'm dang sure he's no Roy "Home Run" Acuff. Ol' Roy, you know, was recruited to play ball for the '27 Yankees after a good try out in front of their scouts here in Knoxville. Unfortunately for Roy, a promising professional baseball career (he also lettered in basketball, football, and track at Knox County's Central High) was cut short by heat stroke on a Gulf Coast fishing trip. Young Mr. Acuff was bed-ridden for a lengthy time and his sports careers were ended. To help him while away the time recuperating at home, his uncle taught him to play fiddle and the rest, as they say, is history. Still, it would have been interesting to think of a Yankee lineup consisting of Ruth, Gehrig, Acuff... Conway and Roy were once co-owners of Nashville's AAA baseball team, the Sounds. Clancey said: <<Damn - I thought you were talking about Garth Iorg>> Bless you for bringing a beloved Blue Jay into the discussion. Of course, I'm more familiar with Garth in his role as the long-time manager of the Knoxville Blue Jays/Smokies... Re: Country.com Encyclopedia Count me in among the confused about the choice of authors for this project. Quoting from the McCloud book, this is the first paragraph of the entry on Mr. Twitty: <<When the Roman general Germanicus died, the whole population of Rome personally mourned him as if the passing of a favorite son. So it was in 1993, when suddenly...>> The book reads a bit too much like a listing of fan club information for my taste. Plus, it gives pretty short shrift to East Tennessee as a whole. Harumph. Re: Matt and the Gourds Smilin' Jim says: <<Is anyone else annoyed by his constant cheerleading for the Gourds or is it just me?>> Well, I guess everybody has an agenda-- as Mr. Yates once pointed out. Heck, some folks might even claim that my posts tend to lean a bit toward East Tennessee-centrism, but I don't believe 'em. <g> Take care, Shane Rhyne Knoxville, TN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
