In Eckleburg's Eyes - 2/18/2009, Part 1

News & Notes from Monday, February 16th, 2009

-On Monday night, I picked JTH up from MoFoS. He had worked there all day as the daycare was closed for President’s Day. He covered the store manager's shift as his kids were out of school. Before hitting the road, we dropped JTH’s truck off as he did not want the vehicle to get defaced again as part of a prank. (Note: This is JTH forcing TJK to assist him in yet another superfluous project.)

-JTH and I ate at Gerald’s Smokehouse in Lenoir City (located at 501 Hwy 321 N) for the first time. The restaurant is a small brick building that has been family owned and operated since 1991. It is directly off of the main drag in Lenoir City. Photos of the Lady Vol basketball team adorned the walls, including signed photos from when the team dined there. A major motion picture, That Evening Sun (originally titled I Hate to See that Evening Sun Go Down), filmed scenes in the restaurant last year. The movie, starring Hal Holbrook, will be released in 2009.

-It appeared like a barbeque joint so JTH ordered a barbeque sandwich and hush puppies. I ordered the prime rib sandwich and potato wedges. The food was great. If you are ever in Lenoir City, I highly recommend this quaint little diner.

-After eating, JTH and I picked up MPW at his condo and we headed to the Christian Academy of Knoxville (CAK) to watch the CAK Warriors play basketball against the Berean Christian School. I had run into church member and CAK player ESN at the Tennessee basketball game the previous Saturday and he told me of the game. The guys and I decided to go to support him. Despite the school being located 2.31 miles from MPW’s condo, neither he nor I had ever been on its campus.

-We arrived and sat in front of DKN, ESN’s father, and DKN's sister, whom we had not previously met. I expected the two Christian schools to start a brawl as in my experience I have found that Christians competing in basketball tends to be less Christian than about anything on the planet. I was pleasantly surprised. Christian music played from the p.a. and a prayer was said prior to the game. Former Bearden High girl’s coach Richard Cowan (CRC) operated the microphone while he ate.

-ESN’s mother and sister were on vacation in Florida but we did get to chat with his older brother, AN. AN is a senior at CAK. He and the team’s other upperclassmen quit the basketball team due to a dispute with the coach. AN has finalized his college choices to Auburn and Clemson with Auburn in the lead. DKN's family is from Gadsden and his aunt was very pleased with this decision. He and his friends played “Gotcha!” at halftime. Sadly, this was a better halftime show than anything seen at the UT men’s games all season.

-On Friday night, when I watched Bearden play, I saw the best high school basketball team I have ever seen. On this night, I saw the worst. The Berean Eagles are absolutely horrid. At halftime, CAK led 30-6. ESN had eight points and had outscored the opponent single handedly. CAK is playing with all freshman and sophomores and has won just four games all season. Still, even resting their starters in the fourth quarter, they won 66-21 over Berean!

-I wish there was a Knoxville team that used Lions as the mascot so they could play CAK. Then the Christians could play the Lions...

-ESN was very impressive. He is the team’s leading scorer and at 6'4", he plays forward though he could just as easily play the point. He could have accrued a triple double had his teammates converted some brilliant passes. The team had a big game the following night and the coach rested his starters in the fourth quarter. After not resting during the game, ESN finally sat down with 6:01 remaining after having scored 12 points. DKN admitted his son would have been more selfish against a more quality opponent.

-The game was short and we were glad to have supported one of the many great kids at the church.

-Also on Monday, I had a positive check up with the Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Center. I was given free samples. I learned that Astelin is being replaced by a new product, Astepro. Remember, you heard it here first.

-Finally, Monday was ANDR’s birthday. Happy birthday, Amber.