Bob Cramer's Blog

So there I was yesterday, on the 12th tee box, watching time stand still. A well struck 8-iron, with a controlled draw that barely missed the trees on the right, continued to work it way left, catching the right side of the heavily tilted, smooth-as-silk green on the venerable Somerset Hills golf course back nine. It was the hottest day of the year in the New Jersey, but up early and keeping cool, my twosome overlooked a beautiful lake with a little green carved into the side as my little Calloway number 4 came in for a soft landing.

The conversation on the tee box had been all about making a hole in one, but I don’t think what was about to happen ranks up there with Babe Ruth calling his homerun shot, or even Broadway Joe’s Super Bowl prediction (though those thoughts bounced around in my head). Upon hitting the green, my ball as if following orders made an immediate left turn down the slope towards the pin and the lake, and moved tantalizingly close to the intended target. We watched all of this from 135 yards away, and the ball appeared to have stopped. But no, it kept moving and before you could say “drinks on the house”, it simply disappeared.

My brother in law, who was nice enough to invite me out on this humid morning, and our trusted caddie, Mike, who brought up just moments earlier that the only hole in one that he had seen on that hole was from Charles Swartzel, the Masters champion, both jumped for joy. The twosome behind us, who must have been watching, also joined in the celebration. My reaction was rather muted, as if I expected this to happen (only kidding). Later, my kids would say it was “amazing” which I took as an insult to my finely tuned golfing ability (it is amazing this hadn’t happened sooner, right?). In any event, it was all quite exciting and of course, I had “post hole in one let down” as I popped up my next drive about 80 yards straight in the air.

Reading today’s (Saturday) AJC in the notes from the Hawks Locker Room, two stories caught my attention. If you combine the two, it really says a lot about the crazy last few seconds of the Hawks game 6 Thursday night against Boston.

One article said that the NBA admitted game officials missed the call that would have given Atlanta a much better chance to tie or win the all important game while trailing by only 2 points with 3.1 seconds left. That turns out to have been a huge error. The Hawks were trying to inbound the ball and a foul occurred before the ball was thrown in. That should have given the Hawks one free throw and the ball back, but the officials said it happened after the ball was put in play (a ruling they now say was wrong. It was obvious to anyone watching the game that it was wrong). So instead of going to the free throw line and getting one point back, the Hawks had to put the ball back into play but from a slightly different angle.

That in-bound play lead to the second interesting story: The ball eventually got into Al Horford’s hands and he was fouled in the act of shooting (two shots). He missed the first free throw which really hurt because the Hawks were down by two. Now in the paper, Horford says he “erred in not trying to purposely miss the second attempt” (that would be the Hawks only chance by missing, and somehow getting the rebound and making a basket). What was he thinking? Again, it was obvious that was the only possible play with now just about one second to go.

All of this happened in a flurry at game-ending crunch time. It really was a lousy way for the season to end. It kind of made you feel sick.

It was quite a spectacle yesterday (Friday, Feb. 3^rd) at the Fulton County Courthouse as Judge Craig Schwall held a hearing concerning the operating control over the Task Force’s Peachtree Pine shelter and its 600 nightly residents while a much broader lawsuit meanders its way through court.

What made the hearing so astounding was that in 60 minutes, Judge Schwall blew through 25 years of history and well-known facts and in the process, soiled reputations that took a life time to build.  

Let see, where to start:  he said Anita and Jim Beaty have been in it for the money all along because they get paid $50,000 a year and he conveniently left out 40 years of non-stop love and care to thousands of homeless people.

He said that it was easy to create new shelters in Atlanta though no new shelters have opened in a decade and new legislation on the books limits the size of a new shelter to only 25 people.

He made the wild assertion (with absolutely no proof) that the United Way could suddenly take care of 600 extremely vulnerable people and the 200 to 300 new people who show up each month when they currently turn away dozens of people from their current facilities.

Before making his decision, he refused to consider all of the well documented evidence which shows, step by step, the mass conspiracy that purposely caused the Task Force to run out of money and the illegal foreclosure that followed.   He said all that could wait to be discussed at a later date, but his action yesterday, if left to stand, have irrevocable consequences.  

In my opinion, Judge Schwall simply wants to be done with this high-profile, controversial case, especially as he seeks re-election.   To his credit, he gave the Task Force another 18 months to stay in the building but that should have been a moot point because the foreclosure was wrong in the first place and a stay should remain in force until all the issues are heard.

Finally, Judge Schwall’s hastily proposed fix calling the United Way in to run Peachtree Pine is not thought out at all, nor is it documented or funded.   It is simply sloppy, arrogant and lazy, a high risk proposition that unnecessarily puts the lives of hundreds of people in real jeopardy.

Maybe Judge Schwall should descend from his high pedestal bench and actually visit the lowly shelter he seems to know so much about. Maybe he should also read the legal briefs that have been submitted.  Sometimes justice takes effort and yesterday’s proceedings mark a dark day in the quest for truth.

Thank God for an appeals court.

Today is my first work day with the new iPhone 4S super-charged information appliance in my pocket.  I readily admit that I keep talking to Miss “Siri” (she admonished me for spelling her name in full capital in my previous blog which I knew from Apple ads was incorrect but felt for clarity purposes it would make more sense. She didn’t want to hear any of it).   Our conversations today revolved around setting up some meetings on my calendar and finding a barbeque restaurant in Sandy Springs.  I also asked her to straighten up my office.

That got me thinking: what is it like to live inside a smart phone?  Miss Siri always seems to be in a pretty good mood, not too exuberant but also never depressed.   Legroom is probably a problem and it really must be a bumpy existence going from pocket to counter top to knapsack to nightstand, whipsawed around, and God forbid, even dropped in a urinal once in a while (No kidding, I got two calls today on the new iPhone while in the restroom.  I didn’t try to answer, but I thought about it).

I also wondered who has a better existence: Miss Siri in the phone or Navigation Lady in the Hyundai Genesis.  A tough call (ha!).  They both get to travel.  Miss Siri really lives in the land of the miniature while Navigation Lady is around big things like 375 horses, V8’s, and she gets heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.  Legroom is clear in Navigation Lady’s corner.  They are both smart, but Miss Siri is much more well rounded as she knows what seems like everything while Navigation Lady is a true road specialist. 

I did notice driving home from my son’s basketball game tonight that they are starting to compete with each other which could lead to things turning nasty.  I was using my newly hooked up Bluetooth and Miss Siri’s voice came through the car’s PA system when I asked a question, an area that up until now was exclusively jurisdiction of Navigation Lady and her clear, but firm driving directions and Allstate Mayhem like instructions (“Please make a legal U-Turn”).   This could create quite an ugly situation and possibly turn into a roller hockey brawl.  I really need to speak to somebody about this.

To my loyal reader(s), at this point, I am beyond excuses:  I have abandoned you.   It has just been a few months since I shared an original blog post here but it feels longer to me too; do I dare say I found a bigger and better outlet for some of my crafty writing (like my Nov. 25^th piece on the editorial page of the AJC, which to be honest doesn’t have a readership that much bigger today than my erratically written and consistently ugly blog, but impresses my NY family more and there is nothing like fresh ink on paper and don’t forget the nice little picture that made me look 20 years younger).   I ask you ol’ faithful reader(s), is shooting for the “big time” really that much of a sin?  I had some important things to say, and I had to work hard harassing the editorial page editor to get that piece printed.  So please, cut me some slack.  I am back and back for good.  It is a New Year’s resolution.

Now that my reliability issue is behind us, let’s look forward to 2012 and an avalanche of political ads, political chatter, stock market anxiety and more about European contagion.   Last night I was over at our friend’s house, and he made an exquisite Italian dinner.  We reviewed a cookbook with recipes from across Italy and not once did we talk about Italian bond auctions and a yield over 7%.   We just paid homage to a picture Mr. Barilla whose family makes primo pastas and we sampled some Italian wine and all was well. 

I say don’t bet against the Europeans.  I was in the steam room before last night’s Italian feast and the talk among the membership at my fancy Atlanta club was European vacations.  Talk centered on  “Midnight in Paris”, Paris during Christmas, Rome, Vienna, I was about ready to invest in a Euro Rail Pass and yank the kids out of school.  Then I remembered I had a mortgage to pay (actually I am about to refinance said mortgage but I will save that story for its own blog focused on human torture), a highly innovative Social Media company to attend to, and numerous other commitments that prohibit a timeout for European exploration. 

So I’m stuck back here in the USA.   That’s not so bad; the NBA is back, bowl games are on every five seconds and the NFL playoffs abound which will include our Atlanta Falcons.  There’s talk about Apple TV and an iPad 3, and a partridge in a pear tree (I just can’t let go of Christmas, except our tree is tilting again and it already fell over once so it is time to replant it or at least put it on the side walk for City of Atlanta sanitation to deal with).  My wife says that is a project I need to deal with today, but the weather is surprisingly warm here in the ATL and I have a noon shotgun tee time, so I better shut this blog down, get the tree outside while leaving a trail of pine needles in its wake and not wake up the kids who seem to really sleep late (I wish I could sleep til 7).  Anyway, if I slept, I wouldn’t have time to blog, and you would be missing all this valuable insight and then I would have to apologize again.   Oh, it is a vicious cycle. 

Anyway, Happy New Year, and let’s make it a goal to meet here more regularly.