Hush... we can't talk politics here, of course, but if Charlie Pride is to be Speaker of the House, he'll certainly have to sing "The Snakes Crawl at Night" to describe his coharts!
From PUBLIC POLICY POLLING in Raleigh, NC
December 07, 2011
The most popular man in North Carolina...
Last week PPP took to Twitter asking people who they think the most popular living person in North Carolina is. We got 14 good suggestions of folks to test and the winner is...Billy Graham. Only 1 person in the poll received a negative rating... pro wrestler Ric Flair. Here's how they stacked up in terms of net favorability:
Person Favorability
Billy Graham 69/14 (+55) 16%
Dean Smith 59/9 (+50) 32%
Andy Griffith 64/15 (+49) 21%
Richard Petty 56/11 (+45) 33%
Michael Jordan 59/14 (+45) 27%
Roy Williams 46/10 (+36) 43%
Mike Krzyzewski 49/14 (+35) 37%
Cam Newton 37/9 (+28) 54%
Scotty McCreery 36/8 (+28) 56%
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 39/17 (+22) 43%
Jim Hunt 38/23 (+15) 40%
Bill Friday 23/8 (+15) 69%
Hugh Shelton 12/7 (+5) 81%
Ric Flair 12/23 (-11) 65%
My only regret about this wonderful site you and Paul Lewis have brought to us is that I missed the first several years. Many thanks to Bobby Williamson and Jim Wilmore for recommending itand staying on me to tune in on Tuesday nights. My routine has certainly been changed by RR. Save a slice of the anniversary cake, please!
It is, of course, opinion, but I hope you and Jeff will indulge a little bending of the "Rules of Engagement" for me to post this column that appeared nationally on the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day. Beyond the opiniion, it paints a vivid portrait of how our leaders and families spent Christmas Eve following the attack on Pearl Harbor. If anyone is in the least offended by this column, I shall gladly delete it, but I hope you might enjoy this glimpse back as much as I did when I read it:
Lessons in leadership: 70 years after Pearl Harbor
By Leonard Pitts Jr. The Miami Herald
A thin fragment of moon stood watch that Christmas Eve as the president of the United States and the prime minister of Great Britain came out onto the south portico of the White House. They were there to light the national Christmas tree and to speak a holiday greeting to an uncertain world.
Two and a half weeks before and 70 years ago today the Japanese had devastated the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. A nation that had endured 12 grinding years of economic catastrophe was now plunged into a maelstrom of worldwide war. It was Christmas in time of turmoil, a season of brotherhood and peace under the shadow of genocide and war and it fell to these two men to help the nation and the world make sense of that.
These times, thank God, are not like those. Though the nation finds itself mired in the worst economic disaster since the depression of the 1930s, though it fights multiple wars, though terrorism is an ever-present menace, America faces no existential danger, no threat to its very survival, as it did 70 Christmases ago.
Which is not to say these are easy times. If Americas continued existence is not in doubt, there is, nevertheless, fear of the shape that existence will take. America seems diminished by her woes. Besides the wars, besides the economy, besides the terror, there are the schools which are not educating, the infrastructure, which is cracking, the debt, which is ballooning, the anger, which is boiling, the divisions, which are widening.
And there is the hope, which is fading. In May, a Gallup poll found optimism for the future has fallen to record lows. Just 44 percent of Americans believe todays youth will have better lives than their parents.
Is there anything more redolent of America than optimism? When it is lost, something essential to the nations character is, too.
No, these times are not like those. In that America, people girded for sacrifice and sang new Christmas carols that rang bittersweet with uncertainty. Ill be home for Christmas, went one, if only in my dreams. Another said, Someday soon we all will be together if the fates allow.
In our America, people pepper spray or trample one another to get deals on video games and DVD players.
But both Americas were challenged, both shaken, both reached a years end in the shadow of a future that loomed foreboding and grim. As we wait to see how this America will respond, it is good to recall how that one did. .
Against enemies who preach the principles of hate and practice them, said Roosevelt, we set our faith in human love and in Gods care for us and all men everywhere.
Let the children have their night of fun and laughter, said Churchill. Let the gifts of Father Christmas delight their play. Let us grownups share to the full in their unstinted pleasures before we turn again to the stern task and the formidable years that lie before us, resolved that, by our sacrifice and daring, these same children shall not be robbed of their inheritance or denied their right to live in a free and decent world.
Radio carried their words around the globe. Thousands more were there in person, standing beneath the shining tree. Under a rind of moon in a time of war, they gazed up, and were bathed in Christmas light.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/06/2534552/lessons-in-leadership...
R.I.P. all you brave men and women who gave it all for our freedom. My dad and my father-in-law, both deceased served in WWII.
My father-in law, Tom, of Wilson, NC was awarded the Silver Star in Germany:
http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=15...
Dad, from Richmond & Danville, VAserved in the South Pacific, specifically on Guadalcanal:
http://www.wwiimemorial.com/registry/search/pframe.asp?HonoreeID=15...
Was on another racing site a while ago and noted that a fellow with the site name "Hot Rod Elvis" was telling the group what a fantastic job RR member Bobby Williamson does with his Racing Through History Ghost Track Segments. I noticed the location of the post was Dawsonville, GA, then saw it was signed Cody.
It suddenly dawned on me that our own Cody Dinsmore is Hot Rod Elvis! I always wondered what happened to ole Elvis since he left the building and started hanging out at K-Mart.
It was very nice to see the kind things Cody had to say about RR and Bopper to the "Outside World." Nice lick Cody. Love the name.
JGR to replace Denny Hamlin's crew chief
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Mike Ford was let go Tuesday as crew chief for Denny Hamlin after a disappointing season in which the duo failed to contend for the championship.
"I'm kind of relieved," Ford told The Associated Press. "It had been dragging on for so long, I'm actually relieved there's finally a resolution."
Ford's future with the team had been subject to speculation most of the season, largely because of how far Hamlin's performance had dropped from 2010, when he nearly dethroned Jimmie Johnson for the Sprint Cup title.
Even though Hamlin repeatedly insisted there was no imminent crew chief change, the speculation never ceased and actually intensified once the season ended. Tony Stewart followed through in firing Darian Grubb a week after Grubb led him to the championship, and Grubb's sudden availability has teams scurrying to sign him.
JGR is at the top of the list, and team owner Joe Gibbs met with Grubb last week in Las Vegas, the day after the season-ending awards ceremony. Grubb also has toured the JGR facility.
Ford said JGR officials made no mention of Grubb in telling Ford he was out late Tuesday and the team said it had no immediate announcement about a replacement.
"Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing appreciates what Mike has done for our organization over the past six seasons as crew chief with our No. 11 team," Gibbs said in a statement. "We've decided it was best to make a change with the team now to allow Mike the opportunity to pursue other opportunities."
Ford had been with Hamlin since Hamlin's 2006 rookie season, and guided Hamlin to 17 victories and a spot in the Chase for the championship in all six seasons.
Hamlin battled Johnson down to the wire in the 2010 season finale, and even held the points lead heading into the race at Homestead. But Hamlin struggled the entire weekend, finished 14th, and lost the title by 39 points to Johnson.
He never recovered, either.
Hamlin was off most of this season, and won just one race. He had to claw to make his way into the Chase, but never contended and finished ninth in the standings. He also ended the year with career lows in top-fives (five) and top-10s (14) but the numbers were skewed by a rash of engine failures and other mechanical issues at JGR.
Hamlin supported Ford as late as last week, when he was asked about Grubb's availability last week in Las Vegas.
"It's hard to say. Right now, Mike Ford is my crew chief and we've had a lot of success together," Hamlin said. "He's been the guy who has been the rock on our race team and kept our group of guys together.
"Obviously, we need to improve our performance and we're willing to do whatever it takes to do that. But right now, Mike Ford is still my crew chief."
It's late in the offseason for JGR to make the move and the open crew chief jobs are limited at this point.
Penske Racing has yet to hire a replacement for Steve Addington, who quit as Kurt Busch's crew chief to work for Stewart next season. Stewart still needs to hire a crew chief for Danica Patrick, and a competition director.
It's long been assumed Stewart is eyeing Greg Zipadelli, his former crew chief at JGR, for the competition director position. Addington also worked with Stewart at JGR, and, should Ford be able to land there with Patrick, the Stewart-Haas Racing team could look very much like JGR of old.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press
I watched two-time (1962 & 1963) NASCAR National Modified Champion of Richmond (Glen Allen, Va.) EDDIE CROUSE drive many a modified race with a cigar hanging out at Southside, South Boston and Langley Field. CARL HORTON was hardly ever seen at Wilson or Wake County in his Late Model without his ever present cigar. 
Jim, if you remember, that red shop rag in his mouth was why folks initially thought Richard had been seriously injured in his Darlington pit wall & rollover encounter.
It would've been a cigar lighter, lol.
