You may be pulling a few weeds and vines around the property this weekend. “The vine that ate the South” is the kudzu plant, native to Asia and introduced to the United States in the 19th Century.  LiveScience.com reported that the vine was classified as a pest weed by the Department of Agriculture 60 years ago. In addition to being a nuisance, scientists have determined it also aids in the formation of harmful low-level ozone.  Researchers compared kudzu growth in Georgia to regions where it was absent noting that the kudzu sections held twice as much nitric oxide emissions. When nitric oxide interacts with sunlight, ozone or photochemical smog occurs. National Academy of Sciences revealed that kudzu covers 7.9 million acres in the Southeast, spreading to 125,000 acres each year. From plants to pigskins... Monday Night Football in Tiger Stadium! In my younger days, college football games in the northeast were played in the afternoon. This included Pitt, Penn State, Notre Dame and a host of other schools. We were limited to three or four network television stations. When my brother Mike was at Notre Dame, we were introduced to WWL and their broadcasts of LSU football from Tiger Stadium. As we rooted for Notre Dame, we too found ourselves right there, enthralled in the vivid play-by-play from John Ferguson. As we prepared for winter, I was amazed that LSU was not only playing "under the lights," but playing in temperatures in the 70s. I remember my brother hurling objects at the old hi-fi as LSU, in all its glory, strapped it to the Fighting Irish. When I came here in '77, to attend my first game in Tiger Stadium, it was an incredible experience. Unfortunately, it was an afternoon game.