Chief Noc-A-Homa

And when we started talking I could not believe my ears,
You said you were a Braves fan even through the rotten years.

My Kind of Girl, Collin Raye


92 years old she is…


Back in the days when the only television reception available was an antenna (the higher you can get it the better the reception – and that wasn’t the greatest), Mama Mildred would watch the Braves games on WTBS, but just barely. The picture was fuzzy at best. If it happened to be during a peak in the sunspot cycle, you could forget it. Channel 17 from Atlanta was pumping some megawatts in the days before cable, and way before satellite dishes. Turn the rotary just right. And when the snow on the screen was so bad that it was not viewable, she would listen to the games on the radio. Mama got hooked on the Braves.

When she finally gave in and got hooked up on the Dish Network, she was like a kid set loose in a candy store. But there was the problem of when and what station would be carrying the broadcast of the next game. Sissy did the first list about 8 years ago. I have done the years since. Date, opponent, stadium, start time and channel number are printed out for each month of the season. Seven crisp sheets of paper are now placed on a clip board beside the lift chair.

With good coaching, pitching, fielding and hitting – I will get to print out an eight sheet come October.