Pigs are flying....

[Are_grits_groceries]

Reconciliation at the Citadel, Through Basketball

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Citadel, which like all military colleges has struggled both to find and to keep undergraduates willing to wear uniforms, stand at attention and march in parades, has never been much of a basketball power. The cadets are better known for attacking a Union steamer three months before the official start of the Civil War, and for bizarre hazing rituals like the one in which knobs, or first-year students, were dabbed with brass-polish remover and set on fire.

The Citadel’s most famous alumnus is not an athlete, or even a general, but a novelist, Pat Conroy, class of ’67, who dared to write about the place and made himself so unpopular that for 30 years he was all but barred from the campus. Last week, though, he was on hand to see his former team thump Furman, its archrival, 75-54.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/sports/ncaabasketball/03citadel.html?pagewanted=1&ref=sports

I never thought I would see the day, and I know there are still people who hate him. If you ever read "Lords of Discipline", it was like that at the Citadel. They are probably just an order away from attacking Fort Sumter.

[willing dwarf]

1. So which is the flying pig?

Pat Conroy at a Citadel game, or the school beating its rival?

Pat Conroy is a brilliant story teller. I've wondered if the toughness of his upbringing didn't make him a better story teller. Still, I'd never trade places with him for all that.

I went to a few dances at the Citadel when I was younger. The place was full of whack jobs.

[Are_grits_groceries]

2. Conroy being "welcomed" at the Citadel.

The game was barely an afterthought.

[livetohike]

3. I love Pat Conroy

I've read all of his books - Conrack was my favorite and I actually taught in rural S. Carolina after reading that book. I had the pleasure of meeting him about 12 years ago.

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. Where in rural SC?

I have relatives all over the state. I love all of his books. Conrack was good, but I love"The Great Santini."

[livetohike]

5. Cross Elem. School (Berkeley County)

I loved my job, but my husband took a job in Houston, TX and we moved there after my 2nd year of teaching. It was an experience and I often wonder what happened to all of my kids.

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. Heh! The lowcountry.

Interesting places.

[livetohike]

7. Thirty years ago, I saw some interesting and scary things

but I have a lifelong friend (a native Charlestonian)and I left a piece of my heart down there :-).

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. My cousin and I go down in that area about once a month.

Sometimes we have a destination, and sometimes we ride the farm to market roads to see what we will see. It is never dull. Did you ever run into Dr. Buzzard or hear tell of him?

[livetohike]

9. Was this the guy into voodoo?

My friend and her sister used to go to someone for herbs off on the islands.....but I don't remember if this was the name. I talk to my friend every week - she retired from teaching a few years ago. My husband and I would ride the farm to market roads just to see what was there too :-).But we mostly spent our free time canoeing in the swamps.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. Yeah.

He is a hoot. I grew up with the voodoo info. I took it seriously because my relatives NEVER made fun of it when they told us about it. These were church going people, but they weren't going to tempt fate.

I grew up around the swamps. My cousins and I spent all our time playing in them. People think they are dirty and bleak. I think they are beautiful and have some of the most interesting things in them. :hi:

[livetohike]

11. Swamps are magical - I'm glad I discovered them when I did

:hi: I know exactly what you mean about the voodoo stuff. Someone at my school would leave me little offerings on my desk....but everyone went to church on Sunday.