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Twenty Seven Years On

Talbot Davis June 9, 2011 at 5:00 am 6

Here's what Julie and I looked like on June 9,1984, in Princeton, New Jersey.

That day was hot, the preacher was sweating, the reception was crowded, I was nervous, but we were married.

In the intervening years, we've lived in Hamilton, New Jersey; Georgetown, Kentucky; Monroe, North Carolina; and now, of course Charlotte.

We've aged in some ways; not so much in others.

Best of all, we've had two children who don't take themselves too seriously. Here's what we all look like now:

All in all, there's not much I'd change.

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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Sports Comebacks

Talbot Davis June 7, 2011 at 5:00 am 0

In honor of our Comeback Kids series, I want to post on that area of life in which comebacks are the most vivid and immediate: sports.

Here are five of the most sensational comebacks I have seen. In some cases, they made me leap out of my seat for joy. In others, they made me bury my head in my hands and cry.

5. Philadelphia Eagles 37, New York Giants 31, December, 2010. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Giants led 31-10 in what looked to be a ho-hum regular season game. Not so fast. Led by Michael Vick -- no stranger to comeback stories himself -- the Eagles tied the game with just moments to play. This one makes the list because Philadelphia's win came on the most improbable final play of a game I have ever seen:

4. Ivan Lendl defeats John McEnroe in the finals of the 1984 French Open 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. McEnroe was undefeated up to this point in 1984 and for the first two and a half sets was at his most brilliant, beguiling best. On clay. It was probably the best serve-and-volley tennis ever on clay. Except the match was best three out of five. McEnroe became distracted by some courtside microphones, Lendl found his first courage and a second wind and came roaring back to win in five. Lendl's joy upon winning match point is wonderfully unrestrained.

3. Dallas Cowboys 17, Minnesota Vikings 14, 1975 playoffs. The original "Hail Mary" pass. Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson . . . did he push off or not? We'll never tell. Much celebration in the Davis house on this day; many tears throughout Minneapolis. The Cowboys had no business winning this one. But they did. Heh.

2. Buffalo Bills 41, Houston Oilers 38, January, 1993 playoffs. The Bills were down 35-3 in the third quarter, their starting quarterback Jim Kelly was knocked out of the game, AND THEY WON. They WON. Backup Frank Reich engineers the comeback for the ages. Trivia: did you know that Reich was for a time the president of Reformed Theological Seminary here in Charlotte?

1. Mets over Red Sox in Seven Games, 1986 World Series. The Mets were down to their last strike in Game Six, and the Red Sox had already begun celebrating. Keith Hernandez of the Mets had already retired to the dugout and lit up a cigarette! Then it all broke lose. Ironically, this was the conclusion to the one year in my life when I followed baseball closely. My team that year? The Mets.

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Proudness, Part 2

Talbot Davis May 31, 2011 at 5:00 am 1

I posted a few weeks ago about our daughter's graduation from college.

Well, it's been a full, transitional month. We spent a couple of days and nights last week celebrating Riley's graduation from Charlotte Christian School.

He's brought us a lot of joy and pride through the years, as well as precious few worries, and commencement was no exception.

We've been so blessed in that both Taylor and Riley attended Charlotte Christian from kindergarten all the way through high school. That stability, along with the Christ-centered, college-prepratory approach of the school, has been priceless.

Riley will enroll at UNC-Chapel Hill this fall.

Here we are after the ceremony:

As an added treat, my 95-year-old mother Betty Davis traveled from Austin under the watchful eye of my sister Nancy Labastida. Nancy was 20 when I was born (!).

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A State Champion

Talbot Davis May 23, 2011 at 5:00 am 2

Last year at about this time, I posted with some sadness, regret, and anger about a state championship title that was denied my son Riley and his relay teammates at Charlotte Christian School due to a "wardrobe malfunction."

You can read about that day here.

Well, as state championship track meets do, this one came around again.

So we spent Saturday in the blazing heat of Winston-Salem at the 2011 NC Independent School Athletic Association meet.

And when it came time for the 4 X 200, Riley and his teammates were ready. Most importantly, I guess, their uniforms matched.

Now -- I'm not a track expert & I don't go to many of his meets. The ones I do attend . . . well, I get too nervous to watch the baton transfer. I can watch Riley run, but when it comes time to hand the baton off to the next sprinter, I turn away.

I didn't need to take that precaution.

Riley and his three partners didn't just win the 4 X 200. They dominated, winning by almost two seconds -- an eternity in the sprint world -- and setting a state record in the process.

So my son is a state championship in a sport I know almost nothing about; in a sport he couldn't have even participated in four years ago.

I couldn't be prouder.

And, as we've been hearing in quite a different context recently, justice was served.

Here's the winning team. The four young men in the middle, going clockwise from the top right: Chris Clark (sunglasses), Riley, Simms McElfresh, and Matthias Farley (hat).

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Top Five Tuesday — Top Five Sports Books

Talbot Davis May 17, 2011 at 6:08 am 0

I love reading and I love sports.

So combine the two and VOILA! Sports books. I read them whenever I can.

So here are my Top Five Sports Books of all time:

5. Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer. One of the first "behind the scenes" look at modern pro sports, this one is well-written and incisive. Even though I have never been a fan of the Green Bay Packers -- especially when they'd beat my Dallas Cowboys in the late 60s -- Instant Replay is still a must read.

4. The Punch by John Feinstein. An exploration of how one moment in time can permanently alter the direction of two lives. I'm glad I wasn't at that game on that night.

3. Friday Night Lights by Buzz Bissinger. A compelling read about the influence of high school football on every day life in Texas.

2. Open by Andre Agassi. You knew a tennis book would be on here, didn't you? The second person narrator draws you in from the opening sentences. The raw honesty keeps you turning the pages. And the revelations, of course, make for continuing conversation fodder among tennis fans.

1. The Boys Of Summer by Roger Kahn. In my view, the seminal sports book of all time, primarily because it's not about sports. It's about life and its complications. When I read this book in the mid-1980s, I decided I wanted to be a sports writer. Oh well.

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