Mood:
cheekyTopic: "Xmas in Shreveport"(6)
Last evening, the Ramblin' Wreck of Georgia Tech confronted the Academy d' Air Force in the Independence Bowl. Frodo was struck, first of all, by the fact that he hadn't seen so many white guys on a football team since Ronald Reagan played George Gipp. Having visited Shreveport, Louisiana, on several occasions, Frodo was quite concerned about how all the players from Atlanta's Technical School would be greeted by the local residents, who seem to believe that Ronald Reagan is still alive.
Frodo learned last week that four of the student-athletes from Georgia Tech were dropped from the roster due to failing grades in class. As if that were not ominous enough, three more players were held out of play during the first half for a curfew violation two days before the game.
A curfew violation! In Shreveport? What time, asked Frodo, was curfew, 7:30PM? For there is, by Frodo's reckoning, nothing to do, especially if you happen to be black, like the Georgia Tech players, in Shreveport. By all that is truly fair, the players should have gotten recognition for their creativity.
Just before the game was to start, the "special operations" guys from the Air Force Academy paraded to mid-field in order to demonstrate the winged effectiveness of the school mascot, an honest-to-goodness falcon. One of the Special Ops guys removed the hood from the head of the falcon, and released the leather thong from around his foot and launched him into his air-borne routine. Frodo happened to be paying attention, and noted that, rather than return to his handler, the bird flew part way around the football stadium and disappeared over the far wall. The handlers did everything, by the book, in trying to get their escapee to return, but he was no longer visible to man or camera. That sucker was long gone.
What, Frodo asks, would you do if somebody dragged you to Shreveport in December and told you it was your reward for being a good boy? According to press reports, the falcon struck up an acquaintance with a number of pigeons in downtown Shreveport. Given the time of year, he obviously had something on his mind other than lunch.
Frodo intends to follow susequent events in Shreveport over the next couple of months. Come Spring, there are liable to be some mighty fast pigeons diving from high altitudes in search of another set of turkeys from Atlanta.
Air Force Academy 14, Georgia Tech 7.
