Jack Carlisle Fligg had many honors during his 60-year football coaching career, but none compare to the one he received last May when some 30 of his former Grady High School players paid him a surprise visit and brought…
Sandy Koufax and Bobby Hendley – two peas in a pod. They pitched against each other in one of the great duels in the modern history of major league baseball. Hendley had beaten Koufax once, but this was to…
Barbara Dooley for president. “President of what?” you ask. President of the United States. “What are her qualifications? She is no politician.” And that is one of her strong points, I say. She is also an achiever, a giver,…
If an amateur golfer other than Bobby Jones ever owned the state of Georgia’s golf courses, it was Macon’s Arnold Sigfried Blum. Blum won tournaments at his home course at Macon’s Idle Hour Golf and Country Club and in…
When Len Hauss injured his knee at Jesup High School (now Wayne County High) some of his coaches said he would never make the varsity team. Make it? All he did as a senior fullback was gain 1,500-plus yards and…
Take it from Billy Martin, the All-American Georgia Tech football player in the 1960s: You cannot play the game forever, so you had better pay as much attention in the classroom as you do on the gridiron. After stints…
No trip to Tampa would be complete without a stop at the Smith Health Club, the oldest established health club in the United States. Harry Emerson Smith started his club and has owned and operated it since September of…
The guard that nobody wanted became the guard that everyone wanted. College football scouts said that Maurice Herbert Furchgott, at 155 pounds, was too small to play major college football. The guard they all wanted was the other guard…
Will Muschamp may be the new head football coach at the University of Florida, but to many he will always be a Bulldog. And he may not be a legend yet, but “it is only a matter of time,” says…
Back in the mid 1950s through 1970, the population of Hinesville (about 45 miles southwest of Savannah) was approximately 3,000. Except on Friday nights during football season. When Coach Harold “Hokey” Jackson’s Bradwell Institute Lions were playing at home, the…
Thirteen years ago, in the Legends column of Georgia Trend, you may have read about the amazing life led by Atlanta-born and -bred Baron Henry (Bud) Asher. But even if you did, to paraphrase the Al Jolson, “You ain’t read…
Whoever heard of a college football star make a career out of carving ice? Well, meet John William (Bill) Van Dyke, a two-time All-Southeastern Confer-ence guard and founder of Ice Carvings by Bill Van Dyke. Van Dyke makes his home…
At the age of 57 after 19 years as a senior partner of one of Atlanta’s most prestigious law firms, Richard John Reynolds III walked out the front door and never came back. After practicing law for 33 years he…
Patrick Fain Dye made his mark on two SEC football powerhouses – Georgia and Auburn. He was a two-time All-American guard at the University of Georgia and won four Southeastern Conference championships as a head football coach at Auburn University.…
I have heard of falling in love in the classroom, at a dance and even at an opera. But falling in love running the Sanford Stadium steps? Sounds crazy, no? Well, you have not met one of the world’s great…
The old hit song “60 Minute Man” could have been written for Herbert Legrande St. John, a 5-8, 200-pound guard on the University of Georgia football team in the 1940s. He played offense and defense. His crisp blocking opened holes…
Frank Broyles, Larry Morris, Moose Miller: Old Decatur High School turned out more than its share of football immortals, but none was greater than Auburn Cleatus Lambeth, who in one season broke every passing record in the school’s history. Lambeth…
The word “versatility,” according to Merriam-Web-ster’s Collegiate Dictionary, refers to the art of turning from one thing to another. That being the case, what better example of versatility than the life of William “Bill” Scott Goldberg. A second team All-American…
If you had won the Heisman trophy and quarterbacked your team to an undefeated season (14-0) and the national collegiate football championship, which would you say was your biggest sports thrill? Danny Wuerffel, who did just that for the Florida…
Some called it “The Catch of The Year.” Some called it “The Catch of The Century.” Whatever it was, there never has been anything like it, before or since, not even in the legendary days of Don Hutson. It was…
You don't believe in love at first sight? Then you don't know the story of Jimmy and Carol Nichols Ney. They met in kindergarten and never looked at anyone else, not while Jimmy was playing Gra-Y football, Atlanta Northside high…
In 1980, two future three-time All-American athletes entered the University of Georgia. One was Herschel Walker. Now tell me who the other one was. If you said Scott Woerner, Fireball Frankie Sink-wich or Charley Trippi, you would be wrong. The…
Do you remember Archie Griffin, the Ohio State running back and the only college football player ever to win two Heisman Trophies, in 1974 and 1975? Well, this is not about that Archie Griffin. This is about the Archie Griffin…
You name it and Lee Walburn has done it – basketball player, baseball player, high and low hurdler, sports editor, sportswriter, Atlanta Braves publicity and promotion director, public relations guru and award-winning magazine editor. What impresses me most about Roswell…
There is no greater love than that which a father has for his son. How do you honor a father who has been a perfect role model ever since you can remember? How do you honor a father who literally…
Tuscumbia, Ala., is famous for being the birthplace of two legends – the late author and lecturer Helen Keller, and two-time All-American tackle for the Georgia Bulldogs, George Edward Patton. Although Patton had established himself as an All-State quarterback by…
If you’re a Georgia Tech football player and all you want for Christmas is your two front teeth, it’s almost certain you can have them. Thanks to the volunteer work of Aaron LaFayette King, DDS, who serves as team dentist,…
Drive along Georgia Highway 84 East between Bainbridge and Cairo and you’re sure to see the large green and white sign proclaiming this stretch of road to be “Bobby Walden Highway.” Yes, it refers to that Bobby Walden, the one…
I talked with Coach Bobby Cremins two days after his College of Charles-ton Cougars were upset by Chattanooga in the finals of the Southern Conference basketball tournament. “We did not play well,” he says, “but mainly we were simply too…
To paraphrase a World War II Marine Corps commander, “Retire, hell, I just got here.” So says William Porter (Billy) Payne, who recently finished his second year as chairman of Augusta National Golf Club. In his current role, Payne, the…
As alumni prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tech High School, the “School of Champions,” what comes to mind are the many graduates who went on to become movers and shakers not only in Atlanta, but…
Memo to the National Football League Hall of Fame: What are the criteria for membership? It’s certainly not sheer performance or else Maxie Calloway Baughan, Jr. would have been selected a long time ago. How can you admit players with…
Every true Georgia Bulldog fan knows the seven Ugas have been damn good dogs, but how many know that their owner Frank Wilkins “Sonny” Seiler has been a damn good man? Marathon swimmer, movie actor, author, president of the University…
As a 6-year-old, Asher Isaac Benator sold shopping bags for 5 cents apiece in front of Rich’s department store in downtown Atlanta. Today he heads a group that purchased part of that same building (which morphed from Rich’s to Macy’s)…
In the annals of baseball history, few families have been represented across three generations. One that comes to mind – and probably the most successful – is the Bagby family. James Charles Jacob Bagby (Old Sarge) won 129 games, mostly…
Who would you say is the most successful coach in America? If you said Bobby Cox, Vince Dooley, Joe Paterno or “Coach K,” you’d be wrong. How about Robert Nash (Pete) Higgins, who’s beginning his 48th year as swimming coach…
Langdale, Bazemore, McCrary, Grant, Bennett, Schrorer. These are a few of the Wildcats in the Valdosta-Lowndes County Sports Hall of Fame. Though there are too many to name individually, one standout is William Barrowman (Barry) Phillips, who made his mark…
Hurricane Katrina is long gone but not forgotten – not as far as Edmund (Zeke) Bratkowski is concerned. The former University of Georgia passing sensation delivered food, clothing and furniture to the needy just as he once delivered touchdown passes…
If New York Yankees Manager Miller Huggins had chosen to keep Johnny Suggs instead of Herb Pennock in 1923, Mae Louise Suggs might have become a New York Yankee baseball fan instead of one of the world’s greatest women golfers.…
Jolene Mary Ammons has had the time of her life. Can you imagine coming out of Homerville (Ga.), where her biggest thrill was fixing a chocolate malted milk shake at Doc Harper’s drug store, and vaulting to the basketball Hall…
It was to be the battle of the century – Georgia Tech All- American running back Leon Hardeman against LSU All-American defensive back Kenny Konz. It was the first time I had seen Hardeman run and fortunately the last time.…
Talk about a glutton for punishment: Consider the case of William Thomas Stanfill, one of the greatest linemen ever for both the University of Georgia and the National Football League’s Miami Dolphins. While playing with the Dolphins, in 1975, Stanfill…
Talk about sports families: Who in the world can top the Rhinos of Atlanta, formerly of Charlotte, NC? In the professional ranks, there were prizefighters, Max and Buddy Baer; in baseball, Joe, Vince and Don DiMaggio, Dizzy Dean and Daffy…
At age 77 and still recovering from a near fatal accident, Michael Howard Mescon remains a highly sought-after speaker. But you cannot get him for money alone. He will not speak anywhere unless he is in close proximity to a…
Super Bowl III, 1969: The New York Jets shocked the football world by living up to Joe Namath’s pregame prediction of victory. But the one play fans still talk about came right before the end of the first half. Baltimore’s…
At age 6, I duked it out with my 9-year-old brother, Buddy, in the ring at the old Atlanta Municipal Auditorium until my dad could get us out – so referee Jim Talerico could start the main event. I thought…
The Gulletts have been showing horses and winning blue ribbons for 40 years
George Wright found a unique way to honor Atlanta’s sports champions
It’s not how many trophies you have in your trophy case. It’s not how many points you scored on the basketball court. And it’s not how many Halls of Fame to which you have been named. Indeed, it’s not so…
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