Classic 80s horror

During my pre-teen and teen years, I became a huge horror movie fan. Probably not that unusual for a guy but they were my favorite genre of movie.

One title which always escaped me was "Sleepaway Camp," released in 1983. I'm not sure why I never saw it (rented it to be more accurate) because I always remembered the poster art for it with a sneaker with a knife through it.

Well, I finally saw it - in the year 2014 no less - and it's an understatement to say I missed out on a horror classic. The premise, as you can guess from the title, is about a summer camp for young teens. The film was shot at a real summer camp in Glenn Falls, N.Y. As I watched it, what had me fascinated was how similar that camp was to the one I attended in the summer of 1983 at Rock Eagle in Eatonton, Ga. (ours didn't have the murders of course.)

It was something to see the kids in the film as the director said he didn't want 19 or 20 year olds playing the role of 13 and 14 year olds. You see that all the time in horror movies with a camp setting. The styles the kids had (from clothing to their hair) was a trip back in time for me. Heck, one male camper even had on a T-shirt I actually had with the group Asia on it (one my favorites from the early 80s pop music scene.)

The film was well done although it seemed to make fun of itself at times. I could live with that. Plus, it had a very strange Twilight Zone twist ending to it (I had actually never heard how the movie ended which made it even better). A warning: the ending, although Twilight Zonish is nature, would have never been shown on the old TV show.

I have to give this movie five out of five stars. The camp setting, the teen years, the who-done-it mystery to it and of course the "gotcha" ending. Still can't believe it took me more than 30 years to see this. It was well worth it though.

Classic wrestling

Enjoyed watching a classic episode of Memphis wrestling from 1985 Saturday night. The 9-7-85 episode to be exact. It was the 90-minute version of the live Memphis show with original commercials!

Jerry Lawler, The Freebirds, Jerry Jarrett, Tojo Yomomato, Koko Ware, and many others.

Memphis wrestling has such a long history to it. Enough for multiple books. I got hooked on Memphis wrestling in 1986 as part of Joe Pedicino's Superstars of Wrestling show on WATL in Atlanta. It aired at midnight and it was also the wildest of any of the shows they aired (which when you consider they aired the UWF, Continental, Puerto Ric, etc.) then that's saying something.

Through the power of the wrestling tape (now DVD) trading network, most shows from the 1980s and 90s are available and even some from the 1970s. I am Facebook friend with Jerry Jarrett and enjoy reading his posts on the wrestling business - then and now.

Warm weather

The older I get, the more I dislike winter.

It's strange when you consider I have lived in Georgia my entire life that winter would be much of a concern. However, it seems in recent years the winters have either gotten worse or my tolerance level has shrunk.

Today the weather finally seemed like spring. I can only hope it lasts.

Perry Mason

Pam and I have now watched seven of the nine seasons of Perry Mason. We'll start Season 8 this weekend. While I certainly have other favs, Perry Mason is probably the best made TV series of all time.

Mid-summer look at state's college football teams

My sports column for this past week:


Mid-summer look at state's college football teams

With the calendar now reading July, the new college football season is so close that die-hard fans can practically taste it.

With the first games now less than two months away, the sports talk shows and team message boards are full of predictions, bold and otherwise.
Here’s a quick look at how some of our state teams may shake out during the 2013 season:

•Georgia: The Bulldogs, as is often the case, will be able to tell a lot about their season based on the first two contests. UGA opens with Clemson before battling SEC East rival South Carolina. A 2-0 start and the Bulldogs could be on their way to playing for a national title. A 1-1 start won’t doom UGA as a one-loss SEC team still has a chance to play for the national title (and will if it wins the conference title game). 

Only an 0-2 start would truly end national title hopes early.

Prediction: UGA will lose again to South Carolina but end up going to the SEC title game over the Gamecocks — again.

•Georgia Tech: This will be an important season for Paul Johnson and the Yellow Jackets. Tech will once again have a new defensive coordinator as well traveled Ted Roof returns home to the Fats.

Ironically, Johnson never fired an assistant coach, coordinator or otherwise, during his entire time as head coach at Georgia Southern and Navy. He’s now fired two defensive coordinators at Tech. I don’t think he will get the chance to fire a third.

Johnson’s triple option offense gets most of the publicity, but offense has not been the problem for Tech. If Roof can shore up the defense then Tech could make a serious run at the ACC title game. It’s a big if though.

•Georgia Southern: The Eagles are fielding what may be their best team in years, but they are caught in transition.

Since Georgia Southern is set to move up a level, it is not eligible for the Division I-AA playoffs this season, even if they run the table in the always tough Southern Conference. 

Even when the Eagles begin play at the next level in 2014, they will not be eligible for a bowl. That won’t happen until 2015 so the team will be playing for pride essentially the next two seasons.

It’s possible Jeff Monken’s team could be undefeated when they play at Florida late in the 2013 season. That, in essence, will have to be Georgia Southern’s national title game and bowl contest all rolled into one.

•Georgia State: The Panthers are still looking to establish their footing after three lackluster seasons under former coach Bill Curry.

Indiana State’s Trent Miles was hired as the new head coach, but it was not a flashy hire. With the team playing in the Georgia Dome, school officials really needed a splashy hire to help sell the program to students and fans. 

It’s not that Miles can’t be successful, but it will take time and the longer the program goes without winning, the more interest will be lost in a program which is struggling to find its place in a professional sports town.

•Valdosta State: Another Division II title run should be on tap for the Blazers.

Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can send comments about this column to cbridges@barrowjournal.com.

Better suited for the college coaching circle

http://www.mainstreetnewssports.com/archives/5986-BRIDGES-Better-suited-for-the-college-coaching-circle.html

You'll hear plenty of rhetoric in coming days, some of it outright hateful, but anytime more Americans are treated equally is a good day in my opinion. It is not the government's role to dictate which consenting adults can be married. A government which can do that is way too powerful. It will still take two or three more generations before most people care less about who marries who, what consenting adults do in the privacy of their home, etc., but today is a huge step in that direction. As Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: "The law places same-sex couples in an unstable position of being in a second-tier marriage. The differentiation demeans the couple, whose moral and sexual choices the Constitution protects, and whose relationship the state has sought to dignify.”