Wednesday, October 29, 2008

WOODY BEGINS VIGIL ATOP 12 SOUTH BILLBOARD

Sports columnist and Bakers hater Larry Woody (encircled) maintains his vigil atop this billboard overlooking Sevier Park.


WOODY BEGINS VIGIL ATOP 12 SOUTH BILLBOARD

Sportswriter says he hates Bakers 'guts'

By R.E. Porter, Associated Web Press

From a billboard overlooking the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and 12 South, and facing I-440, sports columnist Larry Woody can see Grey Goose stadium, home to the 12th Avenue Bakers. Woody is atop the billboard after promising to remain there until the 5-3 Bakers have a losing record again.

Writing for the Tennesseeya News Services, Woody has eviscerated the Bakers and their popular owner QCurl Sharif in column after column this season, reminding his readers of the Bakers' long history of losing. When asked what he has against the Bakers and their owner, Woody said, "I hate their guts, I hate everything they stand for. QCurl Sharif, and people like him, are the reason we lost in Vietnam. Goddamn, drug-using peaceniks. And dirty, free-love, hippies."

As each week has passed and 12th Avenue's record has improved, Woody's columns have become even more venomous. In one, he wrote: "It will take more than a few wins to eliminate the stench from the stinking carcasses of six-straight losing seasons that foul the air along 12th Avenue."

As a gesture of good will and to demonstrate there are no hard feelings, Sharif had some provisions delivered to the columnist, including a case of Grey Goose, which he accepted, and a Satanists for Obama bumper sticker, which he declined.

So far, Woody's stunt seems only to have fueled further the enthusiasm which has been building all season long in the Bakers nation. Some fans gathered below the billboard, brandishing signs bearing humorous, anti-Woody slogans, such as, "Woody never had one," "Even Woody couldn't beat Biddle," "Woody sucks Mark Martin's exhaust pipe," "Woody spelled backwards = Idiot," and "Woody borada nikto." According to one Bakers fan, East Nashville head coach Jim McMahon had been at the billboard earlier carrying a sign that read, "Woody delenda est."

But Bill Cheatham, a high-profile Bakers fan and longtime critic of Woody who was carrying a sign that said "Larry Woody is a prick," had a less-than-amused take on the columnist's billboard vigil. "I wasn't in Nam, but I was in Cheatham County and I've got a rifle," Cheatham said. "And I can see that billboard from my front porch."