Sports – jimcofer.com

October 3, 2023

The Mystery of Douglas Edgar

This is James Douglas Edgar. He was a golfer, born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England in 1884. He won the French Open in 1914, and after WWI he moved to Atlanta, where he became the professional at Druid Hills Golf Club.

Douglas Edgar

He taught future golf legend Tommy Armour and helped Georgia Tech’s phenom, Bobby Jones, become the most successful amateur golfer in history.

Edgar won the 1919 Canadian Open by 16 strokes, still the largest margin of victory in a PGA event. He came back the next year and won again, becoming the first golfer to defend a Canadian Open title.

He had a hip condition that hampered his swing but came up with an even better swing that gave him more distance and accuracy. He wrote a book, The Gate to Golf, that described the new swing and revolutionized how golf is taught down to this very day.

Douglas Edgar seemed to be on the verge of golf superstardom. Which makes the events of August 8, 1921 all the more tragic.

Shortly before midnight, Edgar was found face down in the street, in a pool of blood, near his home on West Peachtree Street. He bled out before help could arrive. It was initially thought that Edgar had been the victim of a hit & run; Good Samaritans tried to help, inadvertently contaminating the scene. So forensics, such as it was in the 1920s, didn’t help. There were even witnesses who claimed to see the hit & run. But none of the area residents reported hearing any cars at that time, much less an accident. And when an autopsy was performed, it was determined that Edgar had been stabbed, a perfect shot into the femoral artery in one of his thighs.

The murder remains unsolved. There were rumors that Edgar had gotten into a spot of gambling trouble, but while he did gamble on matches, he wasn’t known to gamble obsessively or to wager large amounts… certainly nothing to warrant killing over. The most likely explanation, as police and journalists privately said at the time, and later researchers would agree, was that Edgar was simply sleeping with the wrong married woman.

He is buried at Westview Cemetery in Atlanta.

September 9, 2021October 14, 2021

A Record-Breaking Game

On December 9, 1973, the Atlanta Falcons played the St. Louis Cardinals in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Falcons quarterback Bob Lee and Cardinals quarterback Gary Keithley ended the game with 0.00 passer ratings. This is the only NFL game in history where BOTH quarterbacks ended with a “perfectly bad” rating. Lee went 3 of 16 for 27 yards with two interceptions; Keithley went 2 of 10 for 9 yards with one pick. Both teams had five fumbles, although St. Louis only lost 1 while the Falcons lost 3.

The Cardinals won 32-10.

UPDATE: For those of you who don’t follow NFL football, quarterbacks are the “field generals” of the game. They read the defense and arrange players like chess pieces, then decide whether to: hand the ball off to a running back, who tries to carry the ball downfield before getting tackled; or to throw it to a receiver, who can be as far downfield as the quarterback can throw; or keep the ball and run himself. Or, he can chose to simply “throw the ball away” if there’s no one to throw it to.

So here’s the thing: quarterbacks are given a rating based on several factors: pass attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdowns passes and interceptions.

A perfect score is 158.3 (weird, I know).

If either team’s quarterback had simply thrown every football at the closest beer vendor in the stands every single time the entire game, they would have ended up with a 39.9 rating (I think – someone please check my math). To get all the way to a zero rating, you have to throw the ball to the other team almost as much as your own team. That is, to be especially awful.

For two professional quarterbacks to end up with zero ratings – when playing each other! – is extremely rare. Which is why I wrote this!

February 10, 2018

ANNOUNCEMENT: Sports Calendars

Hi Folks!

For the past 15 years, I’ve posted Outlook calendars for the football schedules of the Pittsburgh Steelers (and, for a lesser time, Georgia Tech). Sadly, I will no longer be doing this.

Part of it is because I don’t really use Microsoft Outlook as my primary calendar any more. I still use Outlook on a daily basis, but since my Google Calendar easily syncs to my desktop, laptop, tablet and phone, it’s just much more useful to me than the Outlook version.

There’s a site out there called Stanza that has all kinds of calendars you can import into your Google Calendar: here is the Steelers’ calendar, here is Georgia Tech’s calendar (and here is the Pittsburgh Penguin’s calendar).

Sorry if I’m letting anyone down this year. But this was always something I did for myself first, and shared with the Internet as a favor. Now that there’s a site that will do most of the work for me, I’ll let them do it.

Thanks for being loyal downloaders, and I hope that Stanza works for you in the future!

(I have no connection to Stanza whatsoever, other than being a happy (thus far) customer. If you find a better calendar service out there, feel free to post about it in the comments section!)

April 20, 2017

DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2017-18 Schedule!

The NFL released the official 2017-18 schedule today, and for the 15th straight year, I’ve got your Pittsburgh Steelers schedule ready to go!

There are a few changes. For one, I dropped all references to flextime games in the schedule since all games from week 5-17 are subject to flexing. I also added the actual location of the games (“Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA”) in hopes that Google will add a nifty image of the stadium to your Google Calendar (I did the same with my Georgia Tech calendar last season and it looked really cool). Also, home games are listed as “[visitor] vs. Pittsburgh Steelers”, while away games are listed as “Pittsburgh Steelers at [home team]”. I dunno why… I just liked it better that way. Lastly, I’ve dropped the playoff\Super Bowl dates from the calendar, mainly because I’m tired and don’t want to look it up tonight.

Both the CSV and ICS versions of the schedule are included in the zip file, so be sure to import the correct one! Click below to download:

Pittsburgh Steelers 2017-2018 Schedule

For more information (including complete instructions), click the “Continue Reading” link below!

Continue reading “DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2017-18 Schedule!”

January 24, 2017

Georgia Tech 2017 Football Schedule

2016 was a good year for the Jackets, with big wins over Virginia Tech, georgia and Kentucky in the Gator Bowl (I refuse to call it the “Taxslayer Bowl”). Even though Justin Thomas is gone, I’m sure Tech will have a great 2017 season!

As always, I help you keep up with downloadable versions of Georgia Tech’s 2017 football schedule for Microsoft Outlook and Google\Apple devices.

Because college football start times usually aren’t known until a couple weeks in advance, the games are listed as starting at 8AM the day of. The schedule also lists the location of the game instead of the network. So “Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, GA”, instead of “ESPN”. This is so Google Calendar can add a groovy background image to the event on your Android device. A reminder is also scheduled for 13:00 (1:00PM ET) the day before each game.

The schedule is available in two formats: CSV (for Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Calendar) and iCal (for Google Calendar and Apple devices). The CSV version is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 98 or later, but has only been tested with Outlook 2016. I “tested” the iCal version by importing it into my Google Calendar (extensive QA, to be sure). Both versions are included in the zip file; please be sure to import the right one after downloading!

Georgia Tech 2017 Football Schedule

* * *

Here are instructions for importing the file into Outlook. Make sure to read the all the instructions before you begin, as there are some options you may wish to change before importing the calendar.

Continue reading “Georgia Tech 2017 Football Schedule”

April 14, 2016

DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2016-17 Schedule!

The NFL released the official 2016-17 schedule today, and for the 14th straight year, I’ve got your Pittsburgh Steelers schedule ready to go!

There are a couple of very minor changes. I dropped “for Outlook” from the “branding”, since the calendar works with Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, iOS devices, and more. I also switched from “at” to the more traditional “vs” in the schedule. So instead of “Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers”, it now says “Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers”. I also continued putting asterisks next to (the many!) flex games this season.

The schedule is packaged in a single ZIP file. Please make sure to import the correct version into your calendaring software:

steelers_2016.csv is the Steelers schedule only, for Outlook\Yahoo!
steelers_2016.ics is the Steelers schedule only, for Gmail\iOS
steelers_nfl_2016.csv is the Steelers schedule and the NFL playoffs, for Outlook\Yahoo!
steelers_nfl_2016.ics is the Steelers schedule and the NFL playoffs, for Gmail\iOS

Click below to download:

Pittsburgh Steelers 2016-2017 Schedule

For more information (including complete instructions), click the “Continue Reading” link below!

Continue reading “DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2016-17 Schedule!”

January 28, 2016

Georgia Tech 2016 FB Schedule for Outlook

Another year, another schedule! Last year wasn’t so great, but I’m sure Georgia Tech will bounce back this season! As I do every year, I help you keep up with downloadable versions of Georgia Tech’s 2016 football schedule. There are versions for both Microsoft Outlook and Gmail-Apple devices.

Because college football start times usually aren’t known until a few weeks in advance, most games on the schedule are listed as starting at 8AM the day of. There are two exceptions: this year’s opening game against Boston College (which will be played in Ireland at 7:30AM ET) and the Clemson game, which is a Thursday night game.

The schedule also lists the location of the game instead of the network. So “Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, GA”, instead of “ESPN”. A reminder is also scheduled for 13:00 (1:00PM ET) the day before each game.

The schedule is available in two formats: CSV (for Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Calendar) and iCal (for Google Calendar and Apple devices). The CSV version is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 98 or later, but has only been tested with Outlook 2016. It may work with other apps that can import events from CSV files. The iCal version of the schedule has not been tested at all. I used this handy tool to convert the CSV to iCal format. Both versions are included in the zip file; please be sure to import the right one after downloading!

Georgia Tech 2016 Football Schedule

* * *

Outlook users may use these instructions to import the schedule. Make sure to read the all the instructions before you begin, as there are some options you may wish to change before importing the calendar:

Download the file to your desktop and unzip.
For OUTLOOK 2007 and earlier: select “File” > “Import and Export” > “Import from another program or file”, then click “Next”. For OUTLOOK 2010 and later: Select “File” > “Open” > “Import” > “Import from another program or file”, then click “Next”.
Choose “Comma Separated Values (Windows)”, then click “Next”.
Use the “Browse” button to select the CSV file you unzipped in step 1.
On the next screen make sure to select “Calendar” as the destination then click “Next” and “Finish”.

DISABLING REMINDERS: If you wish to disable the reminders, open the CSV file and change the value of “reminder on/off” (column G) to FALSE for each game before you import the Calendar into Outlook.

CHANGING “SHOW TIME AS”: By default, the entries will display their time as “Free” on your calendar. If you wish to change this to something else, change the value of each entry in Column V (“Show Time As”) from FREE to “1? (Tentative), “2? (Busy), “3? (Free) or “4? (Out of the Office) – without the quotes.

TROUBLESHOOTING: If you try to import the schedule but don’t see any of the games listed in your calendar, shut Outlook down (open Task Manager to make sure that OUTLOOK.EXE is not running) and re-open Outlook and try the import again. If you’re still having problems, leave a comment below and I’ll try to help!

VERSION INFORMATION: These files were created on January 28, 2016 on a computer running Windows 10 Pro x64 and Microsoft Office 2016 x86. They were scanned with Bitdefender and found to be virus-free. It’s the exact same file I’ve used for a over decade now, so it should work for just about everyone.

April 22, 2015

DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2015-16 Schedule for Outlook!

The NFL released the official 2015-16 schedule yesterday, and for the 13th straight year, I’ve got your Pittsburgh Steelers schedule for Outlook ready to go!

This year I continued marking the end times of 13:00 games at 16:25 instead of the traditional 16:15. I also brought back the asterisks for flex games, ‘cos it seemed like the right thing to do.

I have also decided to make the “one package for all versions” thing permanent. From now on you’ll find all four versions of the schedule in the same zip file. This year’s zip contains the following:

steelers_2015.csv is the Steelers schedule only, for Outlook\Yahoo!
steelers_2015.ics is the Steelers schedule only, for Gmail\iDevices
steelers_nfl_2015.csv is the Steelers schedule and the playoffs, for Outlook\Yahoo!
steelers_nfl_2015.ics is the Steelers schedule and the playoffs, for Gmail\iDevices

Please choose wisely when it’s time to import your calendar!

Pittsburgh Steelers 2015-2016 Schedule

For more information (including complete instructions), click the “Continue Reading” link below!

Continue reading “DOWNLOAD: Steelers 2015-16 Schedule for Outlook!”

February 19, 2015

Georgia Tech 2015 FB Schedule for Outlook

Another year, another schedule! I’ve created downloadable versions of ORANGE BOWL CHAMPION Georgia Tech’s 2015 football schedule that work with either Microsoft Outlook or Gmail and Apple devices.

Because game times vary depending on TV coverage, this schedule has the games starting at 8AM the day of and lists the game location instead of the network (“Bobby Dodd Stadium, Atlanta, GA”, instead of “ESPN”). A reminder is scheduled for 13:00 (1:00PM ET) the day before each game.

The schedule is available in two formats: the CSV format (Microsoft Outlook and Yahoo! Calendar) and the iCalendar format (Google Calendar and Apple devices). The CSV version is compatible with Microsoft Outlook 98 or later, and may work with apps that can import events from CSV files (it has only been tested with Outlook 2010). The iCal version of the schedule has not been tested at all. I used this handy tool to convert the CSV to iCal format. Both versions are included in the zip file; please be sure to import the right one after downloading!

Georgia Tech 2015 Football Schedule

* * *

Outlook users may follow these simple instructions to import the schedule. Make sure to read the all the directions below before you begin, as there are some options you may wish to change before importing the calendar:

Download the file to your desktop and unzip.
For OUTLOOK 2007 and earlier: select “File” > “Import and Export” > “Import from another program or file”, then click “Next”. For OUTLOOK 2010: Select “File” > “Open” > “Import” > “Import from another program or file”, then click “Next”.
Choose “Comma Separated Values (Windows)”, then click “Next”.
Use the “Browse” button to select the CSV file you unzipped in step 1.
On the next screen make sure to select “Calendar” as the destination then click “Next” and “Finish”.

VERSION INFORMATION: These files were tested on February 19, 2015 on a computer running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and 32-bit Microsoft Office 2010. It was scanned with Bitdefender and found to be virus-free. It’s the exact same file I’ve used for a over decade now, so it should work for just about everyone.

October 13, 2014

Baseball Stories

Baseball might be my fourth favorite sport, but with the playoffs in full swing (hah!), I thought I’d post a few baseball stories I’ve been saving up.

Check out this picture:

After the War of 1812 – when the British notoriously burned Washington DC – President Madison had a fit of “closing the barn door after the cow escaped” and decided it might be a good idea to build a system of defensive forts on the east coast. Construction on several forts started, including, in 1829, a fort on Cockspur Island, Georgia, between Savannah and Tybee Island.

Major General Babcock was put in charge of the project, but was later replaced by second lieutenant Robert E. Lee. (yes, THAT Robert E. Lee). By 1833, the fort was far enough along to get a name: Fort Pulaski, in honor of Kazimierz Pulaski, a Polish soldier who fought alongside George Washington in the American Revolution.

The fort was finally completed in 1847, after 18 long years of construction. It took such a long time partly because that’s how long it took to build a fort in a swamp in the 19th century. It also took so long because the fort was made out of brick – like, a lot of bricks, like, 25,000,000 bricks – and Savannah just didn’t have the infrastructure to quickly make so many damn bricks.

Then, of course, the Civil War broke out. Georgia governor Joseph Brown ordered the state militia to seize the fort, which became a Confederate stronghold. Meanwhile, Confederate military leaders thought nearby Tybee Island was too remote to be useful for anything, so troops were withdrawn from there. And thus, Union troops moved in.

One of the reasons American sharpshooters were so successful in the Revolutionary War was that they used rifles, not muskets. At their most basic, both guns are metal tubes that one packs with explosives and a projectile, like a bullet or musket ball. You aim the tube at an enemy and set off the explosives. This causes the projectile to travel down the tube at a high rate of speed and (hopefully) hit the enemy.

But rifles were far more accurate than muskets, and that’s because of curved ridges carved into the inner barrel of the gun. Those ridges are called rifling, and that’s why they’re called rifles. The grooves cause the projectile to spin, which greatly increases accuracy. It’s the same reason a quarterback wants to throw a football in a tight spiral rather than just heaving it down the field. Muskets, on the other hand, lack such grooves inside the barrels, which is why they’re sometimes called smooth-bore weapons. That’s also why muskets were inaccurate, like a quarterback under pressure just tossing the football away.

Although the benefits of rifled vs. smooth-bore guns were known to American military personnel as far back as the 1780s, no one had ever thought to build a cannon with a rifled barrel. Until the Civil War. Union soldiers now stationed on Tybee Island were equipped with a brand-new weapon called the James Rifled Cannon. And they unleashed it for the first time ever on Fort Pulaski.

Continue reading “Baseball Stories”

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