IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury There are a handful of college coaches in this land whose names are interchangeable with the colleges they served during their entire careers. They were paid salaries that would be laughable compared to contracts held by many big-name coaches today. The coaches were J. Horace (Cap) Shelton (1893-1967) at Howard Payne College (now University)
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury “I’m gonna snatch you baldheaded” was an idle threat made by my saintly mother throughout my youth and beyond. She never did such snatching literally, but this was her expression of choice when she was truly ticked off. Had she ever made good on the threat, such snatching to remove hair from the head of
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury They are to be commended–the “big box” store planners–for the many “edges” they’ve honed to make it to the ladder’s top for in-store shopping. Who would have guessed their modus operandi would feature vendors lined up like carnival barkers soon after shoppers have shown their credit card IDs for entry? Patrons truly haven’t “rolled” very
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury It’s an expression tossed about regularly; calling it “trite” would be an understatement for the proverb originating in 12th century Germany that is still valid today. Just as rivers still run downstream, hot air rises and cream comes to the top, blood remains thicker than water now like when it was coined nine centuries ago. It
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Abilene Christian University’s stunning 53-52 win over the University of Texas at the NCAA Basketball Championship Tournament is a great example of why the annual event is called “March Madness.” It was ACU’s second trip to the “big dance,” and its first win in the biggest basketball upset since David bested Goliath. Abilene radio sportscaster
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury My intent was to write a tribute to a long-ago university chancellor. He handled problems with dignity and grace, typically responding with a twinkle in his eye, beaming countenance and droll wit. Were he still living, he would have chuckled at my misadventure in finding the definition of “droll.” Sure enough, it is a reference
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Show me someone who winces at the thought of hypodermic injections and chances are strong that such fears were birthed by some smart aleck kid who happens to be one or two school grades older. I’ve persuaded myself to “man up”–after all, it now seems that injections are a way of life until reaching the
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury What can be done when mere mortals are caught in the crossfire of “stuff-we-don’t-understand-at-all?” And what if our understanding better “fits” bygone days when basic transportation centered on riding horses or depending on them to pull conveyances? There wasn’t an awful lot to understand when either horses or wagons failed us. Even then, there were
Read moreIDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The market for masks has changed dramatically during the past year. Until then, they were largely worn by health professionals, New Orleans Mardi Gras revelers, and, of course, robbers counting on ‘em to provide incognito status. That was then and this is now. Around the globe, rank and file wear them during all waking moments,
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Spirit Of Abilene 