The great Will Collier found this Geoffrey Norman quote way back when, and I tucked it away. Speaks for us all, I am confident!
8/16/00 2:40 p.m.
Roger Clemens and the TruthIt's on the mound, not in L.A.
By Geoffrey Norman
EDITOR'S NOTE: NRO welcomes its new sportswriter, Geoffrey Norman, an occassional contributor to, among other publications, the Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated. The Vermont resident is author of, most recently, Two for the Summit: My Daughter, the Mountains, and Me.
In Montgomery, Alabama, a few years back, I was sipping iced tea (the drink that gives Al Gore amnesia) and talking with a newspaper reporter. Montgomery is the capitol of Alabama and this man's burden in mid-life was to cover politics. In his youth, when life was sweeter, he had written about sports and his best memories were of the interviews he'd done with Bear Bryant. A goal-line stand against Tennessee is so much cleaner and so much more satisfying to write about than a highway bill.
We were supposed to be talking politics but we couldn't help ourselves. It was hot. It is always hot in the black belt of Alabama in the middle of August, and it feels like it will be hot for all eternity. So we talked about sports for some relief.
"You know," the man said wearily, "I just can't wait until they kick it off again. I mean, I feel like if I can just make it for another two or three weeks, then they'll be playing football again and then everything will be okay."
8/16/00 2:40 p.m.
Roger Clemens and the TruthIt's on the mound, not in L.A.
By Geoffrey Norman
EDITOR'S NOTE: NRO welcomes its new sportswriter, Geoffrey Norman, an occassional contributor to, among other publications, the Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated. The Vermont resident is author of, most recently, Two for the Summit: My Daughter, the Mountains, and Me.
In Montgomery, Alabama, a few years back, I was sipping iced tea (the drink that gives Al Gore amnesia) and talking with a newspaper reporter. Montgomery is the capitol of Alabama and this man's burden in mid-life was to cover politics. In his youth, when life was sweeter, he had written about sports and his best memories were of the interviews he'd done with Bear Bryant. A goal-line stand against Tennessee is so much cleaner and so much more satisfying to write about than a highway bill.
We were supposed to be talking politics but we couldn't help ourselves. It was hot. It is always hot in the black belt of Alabama in the middle of August, and it feels like it will be hot for all eternity. So we talked about sports for some relief.
"You know," the man said wearily, "I just can't wait until they kick it off again. I mean, I feel like if I can just make it for another two or three weeks, then they'll be playing football again and then everything will be okay."
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