I just learned to throw a spiral; I can hit a baseball. And that one good golf shot, though rare, can erase the memory of the 100 bad ones. Before my newspaper work led me to the evening shift, I spent years on the softball field. Now I get my workout in by running and hitting the weights at the gym.

I've loved sports for as long as I can remember. I cheer for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and I've been a Braves fan since the Dale Murphy years. Brett Favre turned me on to the NFL, and my teaching pro husband turned me on to golf. I hope my 5-year-old daughter, who is in her first year of soccer, loves sports as much as her parents do.

I've been a sports writer, assistant sports editor, and sports copy editor at both big and small daily newspapers. Right now I'm a news copy editor in North Alabama who enjoys watching a game without worrying about whether it will end by deadline.

I've won a couple of writing awards, but the best reward is hearing from readers. So drop me a line at patterson1723@mac.com or visit http://thp1723.blogspot.com .

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