"Eagle Eye Fleegle" I'm Not

Periodically I try to test myself with something different sporting-wise. When I was turning forty I swam 100 yards against the national breaststroke champ just to see how close things might turn out (not that close). Earlier this year I took advantage of my brother's invitation to go skeet shooting, and while Heminway probably would have spit in disgust, I admit being fairly pleased with the results and encouragement I received from my nephews at dinner afterwards. I know my nephews Ian and Ryan certainly deserve any "Eagle Eye" monikers better than I, but hey, they shoot a LOT.

Qualifying things just a little, skeet has a semi-circular concrete pad with five stations and 'birds' come out of 'high' or 'low' houses to either side. The trickiest shots are when they come out together from opposite sides of course, but the speed (about 40 mph) and location are always consistent. Last month I got to test my skills at Rocky Creek in Richburg, SC, and this time it was sporting clays, a very big difference--a total of 12 stations with a muuuch wider range of situations. Those situations include 'rabbits' (targets that roll along the ground), 'report pairs', where the trapper releases the B target after hearing a first shot, and TRUE pairs meaning they come out together, do what you can about them before they land or get too far away. There are considerations like wind and background coloration that enter in as well, and that is an obvious difference between trained/young eyes and novice/definitely old eyes; I didn't even bother wasting shells shooting at a wooded station where, even after watching my nephew Ryan and brother Steve, I had no clue about the targets until I heard them land.

My biggest flaw isn't that I shoot left-eye, although that required borrowing a Baretta over-under so I didn't have shell casings eject across the front of my face. "You have to get on it sooner Uncle Glenn" Ryan offered after the first time; "Remember to move the barrel some to distribute the shot, its not a rifle!" Ian added, but some habits aren't easy to overcome. The safety factor, because this IS real lead, is easier to gain because you get made aware of every time you don't follow the rules, so you remember to 'break' the gun to carry it and don't turn towards people even if you're sure there's no live ammunition in the barrel.

Feeling good about an 'official' 39/100 was aided by the fact I powdered 4 of 6 'extra' ones at the final station when I used the shells I didn't use earlier. That I was so proud about knocking off 7/10 on the first station wasn't diminished when Steve smiled and said, "Yeah, you get a long time to see them, coming from across the field and then left-to-right, and its designed to get your confidence up early." I only got shut out (0/10) on one station, but if thats like putting a couple into the water and taking a drop en route to a snowman in golf, I've been there, done that.

As for those "eagle eye" nephews, if I wasn't overly impressed with Ryan when we shot because he 'only' had a 54, he proved that everyone can just have a bad day. He's got quite a reputation as a 'Rookie' shooter already, and he shot 73/72 on consecutive days while his 3-man team (So. Carolina champs) had a 387 at the World Shooting & Recreation Complex in Sparta, IL, good enough for 3rd place, just off second at 391. Ian, who is in the Sr. Advanced category, shot 83/87, with his team's 513/600 putting them 6th of 52 (first was 560).

I don't know that I'll ever get the opportunity to shoot at anything live, or that I'd want to put the effort into trying. A wildebeest or lion on safari? Fugidaboutit! although a camera might be a 'killer' shoot of another kind. I've heard an awful lot of stories about guys carefully waiting through cold and boring days to get a shot at a deer, turkeys are supposed to be WAY too smart for a guy like me to get, and ducks/geese, where you sit in a blind or field and if they see your face they just wheel away, thats not as fulfilling as even an hour worth of jump shooting in my book.

As a personal challenge though, I'm definitely for getting on the course again. At least I now have a 'baseline' score to judge things against.

Glenn S.

Back on Course is More Than About Golf

While my first blog involved golfing, you can anticipate my including a wide range of sports in this blogging. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be back on course in that respect, because after several years as a feature writer for ITS SPORTS! in Tampa, FL and then occasional pieces like a pre-season preview of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team (before they left town), I'd let that part go, focusing on business writing and, of course, my Great American Novel.



There's a discipline to writing, the need to get things done in a concrete way, and the only way to accomplish that is rapping things out on a keyboard, the more often the better. Having read a few blogs over the years, my goal is to have relevant and readable thoughts vs. ramblings, more like a "real columnist" we traditionally read in the newspaper. I chose 'Baseline Shorks' as the title, not because of the baseball, basketball, or tennis connotation, but for the analytical meaning. 'Baseline' means "the actual or assumed situation or state of affairs used as a starting point in comparison or project exercises." Whatever the topic, you'll see a definite beginning point; yesterday I was going for a decent golf story arising from the negatives of a dead car stay-cation, and 'Shorks' is just the nickname I've always had.


With that in mind, I'll be taking various circumstances and putting my fairly personal stamp on them. At some point I might actually get into the nets (I was a collegiate hockey goalie) to let a Charlotte Checker, like maybe Chubby the mascot, take some shots at me. While I'm not expecting to be Hemingway about conveying exactly every gritty detail, I believe you'll get a taste of what goes on inside the mask and physically if I get that chance. I *do* know a three finger long piece of my left bicep is gone from taking a puck there way back in college. The rising slap shot, by a teammate in warmups! that caught me at the *very top* of that relatively flimsy chest protector--before anyone considered throat protectors--thats one of those moments you don't forget easily.


I'll be doing analysis of high school and college sports for sure, because especially with HS sports, there is a 'baseline' to be described there. I might not be able to tell you where former Independence HS and Florida QB Chris Leak is today, but checking in with that powerhouse program (7 consecutive 4A championships before losing in 2008 title game) might just reveal what it takes to be part of the very best. I'm sort of a hoops junkie, and while I can't reasonably expect to share in Duke's Cameron Craziness because I'm in the Carolinas, I promise you'll know whats coming with local and national darling Davidson now that Mr. Curry is in the NBA, about Charlotte/UNCC as it attempts to return from a disappointing season, maybe even Winthrop's and Johnson C. Smith's programs.


Carolina weather provides a plethora of outdoor opportunities as well, so I'll expect to discuss cycling, tennis, rugby, white water rafting (even if its an event vs. true sport), my still wonderful jump shot, and even skeet shooting. I'm looking forward to the sharing, and I hope to hear back from you along the way.


Glenn S.