Marvin Stone, 1981-2008

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I regret to announce the sudden death of Marvin Stone of Huntsville from an apparent heart attack. He collapsed at halftime of a game in Saudi Arabia yesterday where he has just signed with his team Al Ittihad Jeddah. He was 26.

Marvin was a McDonald’s High School All American, Alabama Mr. Basketball and the main cog in the Grissom High School State Championship basketball team of 1999. He went on to play for Tubby Smith at the University of Kentucky and later transferred to The University of Louisville. There he started 23 games, averaged 10.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots during his senior year for Rick Pitino’s Cardinals.… Read the rest

We’re Moving to Durham, NC

I’ve known about this for several weeks now, but I’ve been waiting until a more opportune time to make the announcement:

We’re moving from Huntsville to Durham, North Carolina.

We’ve been here for 15 years, so this has been a very difficult decision for me to make. The boys have grown up here and our family has put down deep roots. But Duke made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I’ve always known in my heart that my destiny was somehow tied to Duke University, so imagine how I felt when I heard the athletic department was searching for a team optometrist to provide cutting-edge eye care to their “student athletes.”… Read the rest

A Few Final Four Thoughts

A few Final Four thoughts:

  • The Davidson bubble was bound to burst at some point, but wasn’t that some kind of run?
  • There was something delightfully retro about watching Stephen Curry and his band of undersized, underappreciated major conference reject brothers taking it the big boys. It reminded me of the ACC and Southern Conference basketball of my 1960s-70s youth before everything got oh-so-complicated and fancy.
  • I loved getting reacquainted with Dell Curry and his lovely wife Sonya this weekend. What a class act. And Christian to boot. It’s not hard to see why their sons are turning out so good.
… Read the rest

Breakfast, Seagrove Beach

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… Read the rest

The Audacity of Resurrection Hope

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Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands.

… Read the rest

I’m a Davidson Man

Duke’s done, but after the requisite 24-hour grieving period, I’ve done switched to another team. I’m now a Davidson Man:

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That’s about how much my bracket is worth after week one: 15 cents

Number One and I visited Davidson’s lovely campus before his senior year of high school, so I feel I can lay somewhat of a claim. Also, I actually saw Stephen Curry’s dad Dell play when I was a grad student at Virginia Tech. That makes me old enough to be Stephen’s father, which, on this Monday morning, is just another depressing thought to contemplate.

Oh well. Go Wildcats!… Read the rest

The Eyeguy Was There

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But he’s not anymore–he’s somewhere else, far, far away. But the Eyefam is still “there.” The story of why they’re still “there” and why I’m “here” is a complex, heartrending saga of trouble in paradise. One that features a stuttering, sputtering Audi A4 with faulty ignition coils, a tense afternoon spent on the phone plotting an escape, and then a mad, moonlit dash into L. A. (Lower Alabama) with a chain-smoking, Diet Coke-swilling insomniac tow truck driver named Keith.

More details to follow.… Read the rest

“Legally Blind” Doesn’t Mean “Blind As A Bat”

Amid the fallout of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal and subsequent resignation as Governor of New York comes a bit of ocular news. His successor, David Paterson, becomes the first legally blind governor in U.S. history.davidpaterson_flags.jpg

There’s a lot of confusion out there over what exactly “legal blindness” means. I hear patients say all the time, “I’m legally blind without my glasses or contacts.” Well, no, actually you’re not. You’re only legally blind if you’re 20/200 or worse in your better eye with your glasses or contacts.

You can also be legally blind even if you have “perfect” 20/20 vision. That happens if your visual field is constricted to the point that you can only see 20 degrees total or less in your best and widest meridian (i.e.,… Read the rest

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? Raght Thar He Is!

It took some negotiating, and eventually some compromise. Here’s a picture of our Romeo, one that will, in his words, show the world “what a stud” he is:

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And here’s one of him in action, wooing his beloved Juliet:

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For the life of me, I’ve lived in this house almost 13 years and I never realized we had a balcony in our foyer.

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? As we say in The South, “Raght thar he is!”

… Read the rest

Horton Hears a Hooah in Huntsville!

Breaking news: I’m pleased to report the that the City of Huntsville, Alabama has finished in first place in 20th Century Fox’s “Horton Hears You–Hometown Challenge.”

Last Thursday, citizens of Huntsville, bolstered by a large contingent of soldiers from Redstone Arsenal, stood in front of the Von Braun Civic Center prior to the Huntsville Havoc vs. Columbus Cottonmouths hockey game and let loose a loud barbaric yawp which reportedly red-lined decibel meters and tickled seismographs as far away as Tupelo, Mississippi.

By winning, those who participated receive free passes to a special Huntsville premiere prior to the nationwide release of “Dr.… Read the rest

Honest Abe Gets a Makeover

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Get an eyeful of Honest Abe’s makeover.

The new $5 bill, which was unveiled last September, will be issued beginning tomorrow. Among the new and improved features is a large, purple numeral 5 in the lower right corner, which will not only make it harder to counterfeit, but also easier for the visually impaired to see. And given the size of the rapidly-aging baby boomer demographic, that’s a move I heartily endorse.

Five dollar bills–in this era of rising gasoline prices, may we all have more of them.… Read the rest

Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? Because He Has To

Today, Number Three Son is going through the same rite of passage that millions of other schoolboys have over the past few centuries. His 9th grade English class is covering Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” and Number Three gets to dress the part and deliver such choice lines as:

“See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!
O, that I were a glove upon that hand,
That I might touch that cheek!”

As to “Juliet,” well, that’s a sore point. According to Number Three (who has been known to lay it on thick on occasion), he got stuck with the loudest, largest, and most obnoxious girl in the class, which will make his assignment all the more challenging.… Read the rest

Here’s Your Handy Huntsville Guide

It’s the second Sunday of the month, and The Huntsville Times has published my latest community column entitled, “New to the city? Here’s a handy guide for you newcomers.”

Sigh. You know the drill. Here’s the first paragraph:

We moved to Huntsville 15 years ago this month. Back then, what I really wanted was a reliable newcomer’s guide. There are probably folks migrating to Huntsville from northern Virginia as part of the BRAC move who feel the same way. Maybe some of them will even read this column.

And here’s the rest.

For the uninitiated, BRAC stands for “Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.”… Read the rest