“Blackberry Winter”

I always like to learn something new. And even though I have now past a half century on this earth, there are still plenty of opportunities to learn something new. Just the other day I over heard two ladies talking at a local restaurant. One of the ladies made the comment “Well I guess this is just part of Blackberry Winter.”

My ears immediately perked up. Did she say something about blackberries and winter I asked myself? I am sure that my ears caught this comment because of my new found hobby of being a fruit farmer. That’s right, the Cox household has dived head first into planting a variety of fruit trees, vines and/or bushes. We started several years ago and each year add a few new plantings to our fruit crop.

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“Art In Motion”

It is track and field time of the year again on the local sport scene. This past Saturday I had the opportunity to take in the Panhandle Open at Tommy Oliver Stadium in Panama City. A total of 24 teams for the Panhandle took part in the event, including three of our local varsity teams (Marianna, Cottondale and Graceville).

From the Front Porch: Coach said a boss knows all…a leader asks questions.

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“Florida in February”

I suspect I’m like most folks, complaining about the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. For the past two months we have endured some pretty cold weather. Then it seemed like it rained off and on for a solid week. While we certainly needed the rain, the drizzly overcast days don’t do much for the old body’s battery.

Then we get a run of weather like we had this past weekend. There was not a cloud to be seen for two days. The Carolina Blue sky beckoned us to come out of our partial hibernation. Temperatures were warm enough to get outside to enjoy the day but cool enough not to sweat or bring out the pesky insects that call Florida home.

I made the most of the picture perfect weather. Saturday, after doing a little “honey do” paint job, I headed for Hinson’s Park.

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“Something Good Must Be Coming My Way”

I recently saw Bill Sprouse at a recent sporting event. Bill then let me know that he is a faithful reader of my column Simply Put. As with most folks if someone tells me that they are a faithful reader of my column I take some pride in that fact. So when Bill told me that you might say that my ego meter went up just a notch. “Yeah, I am one of your eight faithful readers” he added.

My ego meter dipped back down with this comment. All that hard work for just eight faithful readers? “You are now one behind Homer Hirt, he’s got nine” Bill said. My ego meter was back on the rise as I realized I was closing the gap on Homer.

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“A Evening With The Hag”

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So The Hag and I got together again last Thursday for a little reunion. My wife commented that it is amazing that he is still able to sing and play as well as he does at age 73. She was right. I thought of another amazing aspect to our reunion. After all those years of partying together, for this reunion both of us were stone cold sober. And both of us thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

There was a saying back in the 70s and 80s, “The Hag ain’t gettin’ older, he’s just gettin’ better.” By his own admission the Hag is old now. But Simply Put, he is still The Hag, The Okie, The Working Man, The Poet and The Legend.

“Behind Every Signee”

This week’s front page of the sports section celebrates six Jackson County athletes that are movin’ on up to play collegiate athletics. You’ve probably heard the old saying behind every good man is a good (or even better) woman. That might not be a politically correct saying in today’s world, but the theme is right on the mark. Behind every success story there is usually a strong supporting cast. And that is certainly the case when a young athlete signs a scholarship.

Behind every signee there is a support cast of individuals that have helped that young athlete become the athlete, and more importantly, the person they are. Coaches, friends, school teachers and administrators are a big part of that cast. But often there is none more important supporting cast members than that athlete’s parents.

On signing day the athlete gets their picture and an article in the paper. That brief glimpse is what most folks see and know about the athlete and their family. But that brief glimpse is the culmination of many, many long hours of dedication by the athlete and their family. There are plenty of great athletes out there but often the difference between the kid who signs a scholarship and the one that doesn’t is that supporting cast. And most often the parents are at the top of the list of that supporting cast.

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“2010 YEAR IN REVIEW ”

Each year’s last edition of The Times is a look back at the year’s highlights. As I spent some time pulling together what I viewed as the sports highlights from the past year I once again realized that we have a lot of good sports programs in our county. So as you thumb through the sports section this week take time to relish the many sports accomplishments that occurred in our county this year.

Of course there is no way to include each and every sports highlight that occurred during the year. Time and space just would not allow us to do so. And I am sure that there are some highlights that some of you might feel that should have been included but were not.

My process for making these selections is fairly simple. I flip through each paper’s sports section for the past year and jot down those stories that I think are highlights. Then, usually because of space limitations, there is some culling of that list.

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“Randy’s Rowdies - Part I

As you might expect I travel around the county on a frequent basis. This allows me to form an opinion as to who has the best cheering sections. The Malone vs Marianna game two weeks ago in Malone was certainly a great crowd that was rocking on both sides. A few years ago the Cottondale Hornets had the “Let’s Get Cruncked Up” crowd that was pretty good.

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Turn Out The Lights

On Monday morning I was saddened to hear the news of the passing of Don Meredith. “Dandy Dan” as we knew him died Sunday at the age of 72. For many the passing of Meredith was just another ex-athlete/broadcaster who had died and in doing so made the news. Meredith was much more than just an ex-athlete/broadcaster to me. As a young teenager Meredith was one of the main reasons I looked forward to Monday Night Football in it’s early days. For those of you who are too young or unfamiliar, Meredith served as one of the commentators on ABC’s Monday Night Football over a period of 14 years.

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“It’s About Time”

If you have ready my column on any regular basis you know that I have several soap boxes that I climb up on every now and then. Of course, some folks would say that at 5’5” I need to climb up on a soap box more often just to be seen and heard.

One of the soap boxes that I have stood on for several years now has to do with the issue of public school athletic programs having to compete against athletic programs from private schools. Over the last few years I’ve written several columns about this subject and have outlines the various advantages that I think private school athletic programs have over the public school athletic programs.

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“Blessed”

“Blessed”

Thanksgiving is a time to be reminded of all the things we have to be thankful for in our lives and our community. Oh I know that the evening news and the morning papers (not The Times of course) are full of stories that would make anyone wonder what we have to be thankful for. And I know there are plenty of bad things happening out there that make me shake my head in disbelief.

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“Hats Off To The Head Hornet”

We are routinely bombarded in the media with stories about athletes getting special treatment. And there are certainly some examples that prove that to be true. But how often does the media publicize when those athletes are held to a high standard by their coaches? Not often enough in my opinion.

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“Two Different Worlds Part II”

There is a letter to the editor about my column last week and I would certainly encourage our readers to read that letter. I clearly offended some folks with my comments about rednecks and homosexuals. Let me say right up front that I thought the comments made in the letter to the editor are for the most part well articulated and I am man enough to accept that others are going to have different opinions about the way we look at the world.

My intent was never to offend anyone. My intent was simply to show how in a short period of time I was in two different environments that could not have been any further apart. And I will confess that, as I often do, I was attempting to write my column with some humor. While I have had more than several folks comment that they saw the humor in my column, clearly there are those who would say that my attempt at humor was a very poor choice.

I can accept that some would say that my attempt at humor was a poor attempt and that as a sports editor maybe it would be best if I just stuck to sports. I was not attempting to bash anyone. I recognize that Ms. Sharp does not know me, except through my articles. But I think the people that do know me would tell her that I am not a basher. If anyone was offended by my comments last week, please accept my apology.

I don’t think it was fair though for Ms. Sharp to attempt to connect my article in some way to gay kids committing suicide for being bullied. My faith doesn’t teach me to do anything that might appear to be of a bullying nature. And suicide has touched my family twice, so I would never intentionally do anything that I thought would even remotely be part of that. However I should not have said anything that might have been construed by some as being mean spirited. Again those people that know me I think would attest that I am not a mean spirited person.

Ms. Sharp certainly has the right to express her opinion about me and I applaud the paper for running her comments. But even more so I would appreciate the opportunity to talk with Ms. Sharp either by phone or in person. Since I don’t know her or her phone number, this is my invitation to Ms. Sharp to call me (209-7319). From her letter I suspect that we probably have different opinions about the subject matter. But I’d like the opportunity to attempt to show her that I am not a mean spirited person, that I am not out to bully anyone and that I can agree to disagree with folks in a civil and respectful manner.

Simply Put, I’d welcome that opportunity.

From the Front Porch: Coach said words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

“Two Different Worlds”

“Two Different Worlds”


Last Friday afternoon Russell Register and I left a little early for Marianna’s game in Port St. Joe. We figured St. Joe would be a good place to cure a hankering we had for some good salty oysters. After several stops we were disappointed to find that St. Joe has no oyster bars.

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“Faces”

I have recently discovered another sign of my aging process. At a gathering this past Sunday a gentleman introduced me to his wife. I made the usual comment about it being nice to meet her and she told me that we had met a week or two before where we both work. I’ll be the first to admit I am terrible at remembering names. But I am usually pretty good at remembering faces. I guess she could tell I was still clueless as to who she was, so she let me in on exactly when and where we had met. Once she did I then remembered meeting her.

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“The Big Kahuna”

Don Moore was many things to many people. For most folks around here he was that familiar voice on the radio for the past 30 plus years. For Russell Register and I he was much more than just a voice on the radio. As I pondered the passing of Don (see story on front page) I boiled our friendship down to three things.

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“Glad To Be Wrong”

As we now know FSU beat up on Miami and proved that the other three pickers were right and I was wrong. My reverse psychology worked. Simply Put, I can’t recall being so glad to be so wrong in such a long time. Go Noles.

From the Front Porch: Coach said we can respond to life’s adversities by choosing to be powerful or choosing to be pitiful.

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“Real Grits”

I’m a grits man. I’ve been eating grits for as long as I can remember. I prefer them with a little salt and real butter, but cheese is fine too, assuming fried fish is on the plate.

I buy a bag of Jim Dandy Quick Grits every few weeks and I’ve never really given much thought to why they’re called quick grits. That all changed this past weekend when I made another pilgrimage to Bradley’s Country Store. I wrote about Bradley’s and their country style sausage two weeks ago. While in the store I noticed they also sell country milled grits. I figured as much as I like grits and as much as I like their sausage, I ought to give these “real” grits a try.

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“How ‘Bout Them Hornets”

When the 2010 football season started I, like all local high school football fans, had my thoughts on who would do well this season and who would struggle. Much like the weekly college football picks that I have been butchering lately, my thoughts on who would do well and who would struggle once again prove that I don’t need to quit my day job just yet.
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“The Best”

I don’t do a lot of endorsements. Some folks who live out their lives in the public eye will slap their name or picture on anything that moves, crawls or can be eaten. Some, like fellow Times columnist Homer Hirt, use a more subliminal approach to endorsement. I’ve just never been much into endorsements. And I am sure that has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve never had anybody approach me to endorse their product.

But I am stepping out this week into the endorsement world, even though the folks that make this product have not asked me for endorsement. Nor do I suspect that they need my endorsement as they seemed to have done just fine for the past 83 years without it.

I’ve said before that there aren’t many things I miss about living in Tallahassee where I lived for 8 years. But there are three things that I do miss: my tennis league, good Buffalo Wings and Bradley’s Smoked Sausage.

Twelve miles east of Tallahassee on Centerville Road one can take a trip into the past. Bradley’s Country Store has been serving customers since 1927. The store today looks much like it did in 1927. Wooden porch, wooden rocking chairs, screen front door, hard wood floors with shelves stocked with some of the necessities of living. But what draws customers to Bradley’s is in the back of the store. That is where they sell their smoked sausage.

Their smoked sausage is made right there at the store, using the same recipe that Grandma Bradley started using back in 1927. They have the same varieties as Grandma Bradley had back then. The top sellers are regular and spicy smoked sausage, followed by fresh made baby link and ground sausage.

This past Saturday I was in Tallahassee for a Cross Country race and had a little free time after the race. A quick call to my mom and a road trip to Bradley’s was in order. It has been years since I made the lovely drive out Centerville Road and much to my pleasure, nothing has changed. Same oak tree canopy drive, same store front, same store on the inside and best of all the sausage still taste the same. We got a couple of sausage dogs to go and they were delicious.

The only thing that has changed about Bradley’s Smoked Sausage over the years is the price. It’s not cheap, but it is certainly worth every penny. They had plenty of business on Saturday, so other folks must not mind paying for good sausage either.

So if you want some mighty fine sausage, make you a road trip to Bradley’s Country Store. For me, Simply Put, it’s “The Best” I’ve ever eatin’. Want to know more about Bradley’s Country Store? Check them out on the internet at www.bradleyscountrystore.com

From the Front Porch: Uncle Bob said the average person thinks that he is better than the average person.