Kickoff brings changes to Review sports coverage

Jul. 29—When the new football season starts in August, I will be moving into the Athens Review sports reporter slot as we keep track of our locals on their way through their various district races.

I wrote my first sports stories with the Mesquite High School paper in the early '70s and even published an account of the first Ali-Frazier fight, which I saw from one of the plush seats at the State Fair Music Hall.

After school, my sports writing was put on hold for about 30 years, while I broadcast hundreds of games at various radio stations in Texas and Oklahoma. I've seen it all, calling an Oklahoma title game in 1978, the Texas Six Man State Championship from Glen Rose in 1998, when Trinidad brought home the crown and the 1985 final from the Astrodome, where McKinney fell to West Orange Stark.

My final title game was one of the last games played in Texas Stadium, when Ponder beat LaVega 14-7 for the Class 4A championship. It was kind of sad to see the once pristeen home of the Dallas Cowboys in its final days.

I was also at the microphone for both of Trinity Valley's national championships. The first was at Rose Stadium in Tyler in 1994. They had to go overtime to beat Northeastern Oklahoma in that one. The 98 game was played at Pennington Field between Dallas and Fort Worth. TVCC dominated that one, with a stout defense under coach Scotty Conley.

Among the many Fridays and Saturdays I've spent in the booth, there have been some nail-biters, blowouts and thrills along the way. I've worked out of press boxes so small you had to stick your head out of the window to see the end zones, one at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth which was so high you almost had to look down through the clouds to make out the players below and the lovely new press boxes they've built in places like Waco and Mesquite.

I'll never forget having to sit on the hood of a car to broadcast a game in Stratford, Oklahoma, because there were no bleachers on the side where my telephone connection was plugged in. That was before the days of cell phones and digital service, when you could accomplish just about anything with a set of alligator clips.

I covered a game featuring the Davis Wolves, in Oklahoma, where I couldn't get a roster for the opposing team. Their superintendent took me down to where they were warming up and called out the names of every player from memory.

Another noteworthy game was Trinidad at Calvert where I stood on the sidelines and did the broadcast from that spooky little town. I always looked forward to a good six-man game.

Since coming to the Athens Review, I've covered the occasional sporting event, while maintaining my regular beats at City Hall and the Henderson County Courthouse. I won awards for a couple of sports columns, such as one on the passing of Don Meredith.

But this season, I'm putting on the sports hat and will be guiding you through the week-to-week efforts of the Athens Hornets, while keeping you informed on the progress of the Brownsboro Bears, Cross Roads Bobcats, Kemp Yellowjackets, Mabank Panthers, Malakoff Tigers and their respective opponents. Our game reporters and photographers are ready to tee it up.

And it's not just football. We'll be following the volleyball teams in their action as well.

We feel it's not only important to track their progress on the field or in the gym, but to share stories of interest concerning the players that make each one and each team a little special. It makes it a little more interesting when you know a little about the horses in the race. We hope you'll join us for the ride.