ST. SIMONS ISLAND — Time spent with friends is the best of times.

When an invitation comes from Jim and Anne Minter to take respite at St. Simons Island, we find ourselves resonating with the drive down Ga. Highway 15 through the sleepy towns and the changing rural scenes along the way.

The Minters often show up at their second home a couple of times a month. I’d say they have an addiction for St. Simons. Anne walks the beach. Jim reads at least a book a week, sometimes two. Read More»

WESTLAKE, Tex. — The Herschel Walker you know is likely the one who won the Heisman Trophy, played 15 years of professional football, and pursued a number of competitions — from bobsledding to mixed martial arts. There’s the Herschel who collects antique automobiles, the Herschel who is trying to improve his golf game. Read More»

Ever notice how much better dinner is when you are in a good mood? Setting and atmosphere affect how we enjoy any experience, but attitude may be the most influential of all when it comes to elevating our pleasure.

Except for the national championship being on the line in the 1981 Sugar Bowl, perhaps the most fun any Georgia team ever had was the Sun Bowl trip in 1964 — one of the most serendipitous years in Bulldog history. Read More»

[On the Friday before he died] I called Furman Bisher from Ft. Myers, Fla., to tell him about the showcase Red Sox training facilities, which were officially christened in February. He was an eager listener.

No sportswriter enjoyed spring training more than did Furman whose friends gathered to say goodbye to the esteemed and accomplished columnist on a recent Saturday. We talked about a lot of things in that final conversation, which centered primarily on his missing the forthcoming Masters for the first time since 1949 and his objective to have his ailing back fixed. Read More»

NEW YORK – Verne Lundquist has been around, but the changing of landscapes — owing to the changing of addresses by his father, a Lutheran minister, and his work as a national network broadcaster — has not changed the likable announcer.

A genial sort, Verne ranks his many and varied friends as important as the memorable games and events he has covered during his versatile career. He has a remarkable recall of places and people, ever the raconteur with a penchant for good humor. Read More»

Before Larry Munson became Georgia’s football play-by-play announcer in 1966, I knew him from his time working at Vanderbilt, where he had become a fixture in Nashville. His agenda included, in addition to announcing for the Commodores, hosting a popular television fishing show and working as the play-by-play voice of the Nashville Vols’ minor league baseball team. Read More»

[Editor’s note: Larry Munson died Sunday, Nov. 19. The following is a column written last month by Munson’s long-time sideline sidekick, Loran Smith.]

It was the first cold day of the fall, and I could have predicted Larry Munson’s opening comment. “Be a good day for pheasant hunting, wouldn’t it!” he remarked as we sat and talked with former Georgia receiver, Charley Whittemore — by the fire in Larry’s den.

For most of his life, when the long-time Bulldog announcer wasn’t talking football or movies, he was given to pontificating about hunting and fishing, particularly the latter. Read More»

JOHNS CREEK — Eight months from now, the next major golf championship will take place — in the springtime at Augusta, which means we have a long winter to debate the health of the PGA tour and the future of the game as it relates to the status of Tiger Woods.

There is the view that the tour can only survive if Tiger returns to dominance, but you can find plenty of dissent about that among those who are familiar with the tour. Read More»

JOHNS CREEK – The 93rd PGA Championship was Larry Nelson’s last major. It would have been fitting for him to have made the cut, but at age 63 you tip your hat to a man who scored 78-75 for 153. Not bad for one two years away from drawing Social Security.

Nelson’s entire career has been one of serendipity when you consider that he went from learning the game at a driving range to claiming three major championships, but a professional who always toiled in the background, often in anonymity. Read More»

CHILLENDEN, England – The Griffins Head is a country pub that is anchored in the village of Chillenden — which is near Wingham, which is near Littlebourne, which is near Canterbury.

Naturally, everybody knows where Canterbury is, and if you live close by, you know your way out in the country to The Griffins Head, which in reality is near grain fields of barley, wheat, and rape. And a ewe or two. Read More»