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Bristol dirt strange entertainment

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Credit must be given to NASCAR for at long last shaking up the status quo and trying new things, no matter how outlandish the idea. Progressive thinking is how the Cup Series wound up back at dirt-covered Bristol Motor Speedway for a second consecutive year, this time racing late into the night on Easter Sunday — a previously taboo date for a sport deeply entrenched in the Bible Belt. The first edition of Bristol dirt last year had its challenges. The 2,300 truckloads of red Tennessee clay at first turned to mud and blacked out the driver windshields. When the ...

Remembering Robinson in town where it started

Far off the beaten path, way down in southwest Georgia near the Florida state line, a remarkable life began in the most humble of circumstances. Jackie Robinson was born just outside the small town of Cairo (pronounced “KAY-ro”), the child of sharecroppers struggling to make ends meet in the grinding poverty of the Jim Crow South. As Major League Baseball honors the 75th anniversary of Robinson’s historic breaking of the color barrier, let’s not forget where he came from. Robinson spent the first year of his life near Cairo. For decades, there was nothing to mark that he ...

Be aware of who’s awaken in the woods

Ah April! We all feel better when April arrives. So do wildlife, flowers and trees, and sports all seem to start in April. Especially, so do winter-stressed black bears. Small birds and animals that did not survive the winter are choice snacks to a bear. Garbage cans, dog food dishes sitting on the back porch, bird feeders are all desirable to bears, awakening from a long winter’s sleep and perhaps finding themselves with two to four cubs to now care for. When the bears emerge from the winter den they are hungry and begin at once to sniff out anything they can find to eat. As ...

Masters visit like opening a time capsule

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters is a tradition like none other, especially in 2022. The famous tagline for golf’s most prestigious event becomes more applicable with each passing year as the world outside of Augusta National continues to change through advanced technology. Through incredible luck and a great friend, I had the bucket-list opportunity to attend this year’s tournament last Friday, and for those who don’t follow golf closely or only watch on television, there’s plenty about a trip to the Masters that you may not know. One thing that’s pretty clear to anyone ...

Miller’s record part of feel-good night

CRESSON — The seniors who played in Friday night’s Altoona Mirror Basketball Classic spent the majority of their varsity careers under some kind of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They missed out on games, played in empty gyms and some even missed the chance to win state ...

NIT joins other fading traditions

With all eyes focused on the Final Four, it’s doubtful that many noticed the passing of a storied tradition in college hoops. The National Invitation Tournament ended a run of more than eight decades at New York City’s Madison Square Garden — actually, two different versions of the Garden, if you wanna get picky — with Xavier’s 73-72 victory over Texas A&M. “Madison Square Garden is a special court,” Xavier’s Jack Nunge said. “Everybody knows the feel when you’re playing out there and you just want to give it your all — all the history that’s there.” But ...