Another Selah: A Look From Mr. Bisher

Here's the AJC's look sitting... down with Mister Bisher before his good-bye for now...

It barely scratches the surface...

He would talk to trees just as the rest of us would talk to our friends or anyone else.

He is our Christopher Columbus of the South- a man who would make a point to travel to all parts of the earth, save Antarctica, and regale us with stories... bringing the world closer to the personal doorstep long before the idea of Internet streams and satellite dishes.

The treasures weren't trinkets, baubles, or beads, but sentences, details, and quotes from those who were fortunate enough to blaze the trails he followed for paragraphs and inches for high upon 60 years.

Think about that... 60 years...

Hell, a lot of us who read him haven't been alive for half that long...

But he was the pen, paper, and typewriter that marked our time. Bringing pro sports, bowl games, and five-ringed circuses into town was part of the hook. His canvas may have been different than a brush stroke's effect, but the picture and the art still came out the same way.

The mind was allowed to wander. The imagination was allowed to insert us into the time and place that he was front and center in attending. Mister Bisher was instrumental in a phrase we all use these days in reminiscence...

"Remember when..."

Yeah, we do... a lot...

A personal note to close...

One story I relayed to TBH the other day has to do with the Tour Championship as its played at East Lake Golf Club. The 6th hole is a par three that you can chase with a mid-iron, but the lake on the property likes to taunt and play games with your mind.

As CBS Atlanta's Mark Harmon and I walked the grounds, we see Mister Bisher with his tripod chair ready to settle under the large pine tree to the front left of the green. They acknowledged each other and we let Mister Bisher be.

Golf is his thing. He's a frustrated lefty- much like another person you all know, but he's always out there working flora and fauna trying to distract them from collecting his balata.

Or three...

He's not always that successful in scoring low... but his tourney for scholarship dollars for lefties...? That on the other hand, I wish I could play in...

Just to hear the stories of a man and his Royal...
Selah...

Time Passages...Furman Bisher is a Sportswriting God...

Another day, like "Sands in the Hourglass, These are the Days of Our Lives". A torch again has been passed; well not really passed, I guess it is almost like the end of Tribal Council on the TV show Survivor, the fire is put out and you leave.

What am I talking about you ask? I'm speaking about the retirement of another "Legendary" Sportswriter, in this case; Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Furman you see is now 90 years old. Not 90 in the old, feeble needing help sense, just 90 as in "I've been around a while and still have things to do" kind of sense. I'm not sure I've ever met someone his age who didn't pass for it. Furman, I would have sworn was around 70.

((Furman Bisher photo//Courtesy: Jason Getz/Atlanta Journal Constitution))

It's hard for people younger than my generation to understand just how important these grand storytellers were...and are to our lives. The younger set (yeah...I said it), seems to be perfectly alright with sentence fragments and Acronyms or abbreviations as part of telling a story. The old guard, they would have none of it. Mr. Bisher was classic "Old Guard". He still to the end wrote the 1st versions of his stories on his 1950's Royal Typewriter. They would later be transcribed to computer and over the past year, really you didn't get to see much of his work except on AJC.com.

I got the opportunity to go to Mr. Bisher's home in 2000 and do an interview with him about a story that I was working on at the time. Rob Tribble and I were working on a feature about "Ol' Poncey Park" in Atlanta where the Atlanta Crackers used to play. The property where the stadium was, like most of Atlanta at that time was being converted to a "Big Box" Shopping plaza. Mr. Bisher agreed to meet Rob and I at his home outside of Atlanta and we got to go down to his workplace; his basement which I've got to say would be one of the Top 5 Sports Memorabilia Collections in the United States. We spent about 10 minutes setting up, 10 minutes interviewing him and about 40 minutes getting a tour. It was one of my best memories working down there.

Over the past 9 years, I ran into Mr. Bisher at many Sporting Events. We got to sit down with him a couple of years ago when he was inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame. Intrepid Sports Anchor Mark Harmon and I would see him every year at perhaps his...and our favorite place; Augusta National. It's funny, the stories that are all over AJC.com right now talking about how the golfers would always be reverential to him and he was almost always "Mr. Bisher" are totally true. I've seen and heard it in person. For the folks at the press center there; he was legend. I think he's been to more Masters than anyone except for maybe Gary Player or Arnold Palmer...I don't know. But Mark and I would always exchange pleasantries with Furman while we were there. If ever there was an outsider who could be considered an insider...well, there's your man.

It was a sad thought when I had heard that Mr. Bisher was putting away the typewriter. I hope that he at least will keep it out long enough to do another book on his adventures. His adventures, his stories and his perspective are a great read for anybody with an interest about the history of Sports. Not just the simple history, but the minor history, the local history and the perspective of someone truly gifted, truly enabled and truly one of the greatest storytellers of all time. Thank you Mr. Bisher for entertaining me and oh so many others for all these years, we are grateful. Enjoy your time off, relax, take it all in and do some of the things you've always wanted to do but were too busy working to do...you've earned that right.

If you want to read more from AJC.COM Check out Steve Hummer's tribute HERE
Read Furman Bisher's final column on AJC.COM HERE

The General went down to Georgia

Knight Moves...

Okay, can someone please explain something to us? Why would Bobby Knight, legendary but crazy College Basketball Coach and now analyst for the 4-Letter Word (ESPN) want to be the Head Basketball Coach at the University of Georgia?

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution's legendary Columnist Furman Bisher, Knight has let it be known that he'd like the gig. Check out Furman's story here

Now, knowing Furman, who has been at this much longer than I've been alive, there is definitely a nugget of truth to this. He wouldn't have reported it if there wasn't. Again the question is why?

Yes, Georgia is desperate to find a way to create some buzz with its Basketball team. They are, for lack of a better phrase, "The Red-Headed Stepchild" of the UGA Athletic Program. Not counting last March's miracle tournament run, they've had no measurable success since the '80's.

It's not to say that they can't. The school just built a $30 million dollar practice facility for its Basketball and Gymanstics teams and it is very, very impressive. There is plenty of Basketball talent inside the state to draw from and the fans are looking for a reason to support them. It will be interesting to hear if UGA President Michael Adams or Atheltic Director Damon Evans contact Knight. Knight apparently wants to be called. Why not? It can't hurt. I'm not saying he'd be the perfect choice, but it does open one's imagination as to the possibilities.

((photo courtesy of Ronald Martinez/Getty Images))