Wednesday, March 03, 2010

A Road Not Taken

Every time I come to Tallahassee I thank my lucky stars I don’t live here.

I love many of the people down here, and I’ve had some great times. I’m always treated very, very well. Chuck Walsh, the sports information director, is a great friend, and has been since he held the same position at Maryland. And the press corps has always been one of the friendliest I’ve ever known. I have to say I miss Steve Ellis, the venerable FSU beat guy who passed away last fall.

But none of that is enough to want to live here. Neither is the fact Lenox and I stumbled into one of my favorite blues bars over a half-dozen or so years ago, the Bradfordville Blues Club about 10 miles north of town. You drive down a two-lane road for a few miles, turn onto a dirt road, ride through a field and there it is in all its cinder-block and tin-roof glory. They serve fried fish outside and foot-tapping roadhouse blues inside. And it’s no dive. The cover is 15 or 20 dollars, which has been well worth it for the shows I’ve seen there.The problem is it’s only open on weekends, and that leaves at least five days a week to find something else to do.

And it’s not really Florida, more like South Georgia. And I’d rather not live in North Georgia, much less South Georgia.

I’m bringing all this up because I came down here once to apply for a job. I’d been with the Journal for at least 10 or 15 years when the sports columnist position for the Tallahassee Democrat opened up with the retirement of Bill McGrotha. The sports editor at the time, Ron Morris, is a close pal, and has been since we knocked around the Triangle together in the late 1970s. Ron, who these days in sports columnist for the Columbia State, is someone I know I could work for, happily. And I thought at the time I really wanted to write a column.

The job wasn’t offered. I believe Ron wanted me, but as it turned out it wasn’t his call. And every time I return I’m glad it never happened. I’ve spent the years since in Winston-Salem, covering the best beat in America. We’ve raised our kids in Winston and I’ve found over the years that it’s one of the best-kept secrets around.

And as much as I like football, I don’t think I like it enough to be the sports columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat.

The best decisions in life are often the ones you never have to make.