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Smash-Mouth Baseball
Out to Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—10/11/10—I’m happy I can write this piece without having to cover a disfigured face. For a few weeks when I was between my sophomore and…
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A Modest Proposal [Not] To Watch Sports
Out to Pastoral by John Idol Author’s Note: An ongoing scandal involving the University of North Carolina football team prompts me to offer a slightly revised version of an essay published in Clemson…
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Knowing When to Walk Away
Out to Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—9/13/10—That last infirmity of a noble mind, the keenly felt need for fame, or continuing glory, keeps many performers, athletes, actors, writers, politicians, what have…
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The Joys & Sorrows Of The Downsizing Collector
Out to Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—8/30/10—My wife, Margie, and I suffered bites from the collection bug before leaving Clemson to settle in Hillsborough, NC. The infection soared quickly to a…
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“No Gridiron Glory”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—8/16/10—In an earlier column, “Playing Sockball,” I wrote about learning a few rudiments of football when I entered the eighth grade at Appalachian High School…
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“Blue Over The Blue Ridge Parkway”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—7/26/10—Making peace is something that we, as a nation, don’t do well. Making war, the more the better, as I shall document in a future…
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“Hog Day In Hillsborough”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—7/12/10—A crowd of an estimated 25,000 pork and fun lovers turned out in mid-June to celebrate Hillsborough’s annual Hog Day. No event sponsored by the…
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“Playing Sockball”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—6/28/10—If you go looking for the meaning of sockball in Webster’s, you won’t find the word. It’s a nonce word created by my brothers and…
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“At Last, A Mockingbird”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—6/14/10—My morning walk in Clemson, South Carolina, led through a shopping center’s parking lot. Time and again, my stroll came to a pause while I…
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“Pulling For & Against Joe Louis”
Out To Pastoral by John Idol HILLSBOROUGH, NC—(Weekly Hubris)—5/31/10—Up until a few years ago, few African-American families called northwestern North Carolina home. Only one family lived anywhere near my home. It was headed…