I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: sports

  • Nodding Donkey Blues


    Cocky was in the house today

    at the Nodding Donkey sports bar 

    Gamecock fans who are in Dallas for the women’s Final Four gathered late this afternoon at a local tavern called the Nodding Donkey to watch their men play in the semi-finals of the Final Four against Gonzaga University in Phoenix. It was quite the boisterous atmosphere and the Gamecocks kept it very close in the second half but alas, no cigar.

    Gamecock cheerleaders were at the table next to us 

    and the nodding donkey kept watch over us all

    another nodding donkey watched over 

    the Gamecock fans from above

    The Gamecock Club was responsible for the party at the ND, and it had its moments of fun and frivolity, but in the end the Gonzaga bull dogs were more powerful than the donkey’s good wishes and delivered our guys’ exodus from the 2017 NCAA tournament with the score 77 – 73.

    Congratulations to Gonzaga for a great game, and thanks again to the Gamecocks and Coach Frank Martin for a fantastic year! If you Google the definition for tenacity with heart, you will see a picture of Coach Martin and the men’s team in 2017. You gotta love those guys.

    And now on we go to the Final game of the Final Four for the women tomorrow afternoon at 5 o’clock Dallas time (thanks to all of you who are trying to make sure we’re there for the start) – I am frantically searching for my xanax tonight. Honestly, how is it possible I packed every pill in my medicine chest except that? I blame Pretty.

    Go Gamecocks!!

  • Final Four Faces of Victory


    Gamecock Women Win 72 – 63!!

    And THIS is the face of victory!!

    Pretty’s smile says it all

    Congratulations to Coach Dawn Staley and the entire Gamecock women’s basketball team for their amazing win tonight in the Final Four semi-finals!

    We will meet the OTHER SEC team in the Final Four Final this Sunday – congratulations to Mississippi State for their remarkable OT victory over UCONN to snap their 111-game winning streak. Thank goodness.

    P.S. Will somebody please help Pretty and me keep ET and CT straight? We thought we were an hour early for the game tonight until I walked in to the music of a woman singing the national anthem. Pretty was even later than me – she made it just under the wire at the end of the starting lineup introductions. We ain’t right.

  • Go West, Old Lesbians, Go West!


    We left Ponchatoula, Louisiana this morning with clean clothes  and high spirits as Pretty loaded the car with our assortment of suitcases and a gazillion “little things” that defy description and seem to multiply each day. Cheetos, Doritos, pretzels, M&Ms with peanuts, peanut brittle, unnamed chocolate covered almonds, diet cokes, dr. peppers, chewing gum, camera, worthless gps, dog leashes, walking cane; the list goes on and on of the “little things” on the floorboard of the passenger seat that have to be carried to and fro with the suitcases. Yikes. Thank goodness for Pretty.

    Atchafalaya National Heritage Area 

    a wonderful swamp ride on I-10 between

    Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana

    Pretty and I have enjoyed this section of interstate every time we’ve been through it. The images of thousands of dead tree trunks rising  up from the water that stretches as far as the eye can see on both sides of the interstate and even in between the eastbound and westbound lanes of the bridges in some places are breath -taking. Atchafalaya – the name itself is a national treasure. I indulge in wishful thinking that I should have the DNA of  an indigenous person whenever I speak it, although my Ancestry tests prove otherwise.

    Lake Charles, Louisiana

    (Pretty takes a driving break)

    Following an absolutely fabulous lunch of the consistently best fried shrimp on the planet just outside of Lafayette at the Boudin Shop a/k/a Chikin on the Bayou, we continued west on I-10 to Lake Charles and Pretty took an antiquing break. Luckily, she was able to find a few treasures, but Charly and Spike lost a lot of their traveling space in the back seat and weren’t too pleased with their new riding arrangement.

    As a matter of fact, we had a harrowing incident with Charly who has been a nervous wreck today in the car for some reason and slipped out of her collar when Pretty let the dogs out for a potty break in Cleveland, Texas at a very busy corner with cars and 18-wheelers whizzing around us. Charly spotted several blackbirds on the ground ahead of her and impolitely shook her collar over her head and ran off. We were horrified and hollered at her to come back – which she did – running joyfully and leaping like the terrier she is. We were not amused. Charly didn’t understand the hoopla. She may have a better understanding since Pretty purchased a new harness for the would-be Houdini.

    Aahhh…zzzzz…

    Happiness is a king-sized bed at a

    pet-friendly La Quinta in Conroe, Texas

    So glad to be in Texas once again and have had such a great trip to get here!

     P.S. Pretty just told me the Washington Times reported today that the current DT administration has decided the federal government isn’t interested in identifying the country’s LGBTQ citizens in the 2020 Census. No need to know. Seriously? Not included in the 2020 Census? Pretty and I are a make-believe family? We don’t exist? Well, I never. Shame on you. I’m calling it a night.

     

  • SHOW ME YOUR FOURS!!! GO COCKS!!!


    Okay, my daddy always told me, She who tooteth not her own horn, the same shall not be tooteth. Here’s my horn, and I’m tooting it today…

    GAMECOCK MEN AND WOMEN

    BASKETBALL TEAMS 

    IN THE MIDDLE OF MARCH MADNESS!!

    GO COCKS!!

    Gamecock basketball fans can’t figure out where to make their Final Four reservations this week – the men are going west to Phoenix and the women to Dallas for the final weekend of March Madness in 2017. Question: How much “madness” can the University of South Carolina stand in one wild, wacky, wonderful basketball year? And the answer is Ding, Ding, Ding the Daily Double – both teams are Regional Road Warriors and Winners.

    As PJ Dozier said at the Welcome Home celebration for the men in Columbia Sunday at the Colonial Life Arena,  Gamecock Fans, Show me your Fours!

    The names Sindarius Thornwell, Notice, Silva, Dozier, A’ja Wilson, Davis, Gray, Cuevas-Moore, Harris, Cliney are household words in the homes of South Carolina fans who revere the round ball and will now take their deserved places in Gamecock basketball lore as they have led their respective teams into the record books for the school and the SEC as well.

    A’ja Wilson – 1st Team All American

    Congratulations to # 22 A’ja Wilson, the junior from Hopkins, South Carolina who was named to the All American 1st Team. The honor couldn’t be more well-deserved because Wilson has been not only the spark plug for the spirit of the team but also the checkered flag- waver to help her team stay focused to cross the finish line of every game this season whether on the bench or on the game floor. This girl has spunk, and I love spunk. You go, girl.

    Last night Pretty and I plus our dogs Spike and Charly who had been rescued from the Doggie Day (and night) Care in New Orleans stayed in Patchatoula, Louisiana off I-10 to see if our women were Final Four bound. And so they are, and so we will continue our love affair with Coach Dawn Staley and her team and turn west toward Texas to make sure we are there to support them in person this final weekend of the season.

    Whatever the scoreboard says in Dallas or in Phoenix, our young women and men are winners and for us personally have provided more than enough entertainment to lift our family from a self-absorbed political pity party we have had since November. For that, we say a huge thank you and good luck in the next games.

    P.S. I couldn’t believe we would leave New Orleans without once hearing When the Saints Go Marching In and Sunday night at the very last possible minute, a wedding party parade outside our hotel had a very loud band playing the song while everyone danced in the streets. Magical moment. Memory Maker, as Granny Selma would have surely said.

    New Orleans version of a wedding party

    Pretty documented it for us

    Say goodbye, New Orleans and Hello, Big D, little a, double l, as.

  • Celebrate Good Times!


    What do weddings have in common with the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament championships?

    Ding, ding, ding – and the answer is The Daily Double or, in the case of the 2017 Lady Gamecocks, The Annual Triple. That’s right, Sports Fans. This year’s Lady Gs are the gifts that keep on giving – over the weekend they won their third straight SEC Tournament Championship much to the delight of 8,000 fans who drove 100 miles north from Columbia to Greenville, South Carolina which was the site of this year’s tournament.

    (By the way, my new best friend ESPN analyst Nell Fortner was in the stands for the final game Sunday afternoon and finally “came out” as a Gamecock fan after the game when she donned an official baseball cap for the SEC Champions. Nell, Yes!)

    A’ja Wilson and Kaela Davis made the All-tournament team and A’ja was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the week to add to her laurels as SEC Player of the Year for the regular season. You know what I love about her? Everything. She plays with grit and gusto, a never-say-quit spirit that inspires her teammates to focus and finish.

    As for the rest of the Lady Gamecocks, you know what I love about them? Everything.

    As for Coach Dawn Staley? How do I love thee – let me count the ways…

    Which brings me to the weddings. Saturday afternoon I skipped the semi-finals of the basketball tournament to attend another event that made my heart sing. Two young lesbians were married in a gorgeous ceremony attended by their biggest “fans,” the family and friends who promised to stand with them as they began their life together.

    The setting was a pastoral one outdoors on a lovely farm at sunset. As the colors in the sky changed from blue to shades of pink and red, the two brides exchanged their personal vows mixed with humor, promises to be faithful and most of all, to love. The smiles on their faces as they turned to walk down the aisle between the rows of white chairs and benches for the guests were, I’m sorry I can’t think of another word, radiant.

    The party afterwards was perfect with tons of food, drinks and be merry to the tune of live music in the farm’s version of a barn which was way too fancy for anything with four hooves. For sure everyone there had two feet – and most of them were dancing. One of my favorite moments was the first dances with the brides and their fathers…

    A wedding and a 3-peat SEC Championship – a beginning and a finish – both the best of times and causes for celebrations.

    Life is good.