Coming back from a meeting today, I took a brief detour to drive by the ballpark in Clarksville where Sean Ingram sent me to cover my first event for The Courier almost 20 years ago...a baseball field behind what used to be a convenience store. The old wooden grandstand is gone, but the field is still there and looks to still be in use. It was an American Legion game, and I had trouble finding the field. Luckily, Mrs. McCrotty was there keeping the book and she bailed me out by letting me know what had happened in the first couple of innings. Just so young people will understand, this was before wireless Internet, or even wired Internet or widespread cell phones, so I called in my post-game report from a pay phone in front of another convenience store down the road. Russellville won. Dont recall the score. Maybe 7-4. That assignment and that day sent my life in a wonderful direction I could not have predicted. Sports writing was just supposed to be a hobby meant to fill the space created by a rapidly deteriorating junior golf career. That hobby has led to many of the best things in my life, including my wife, countless friends and a livelihood in P.R. at an institution that is very dear to me. Ive held on to that hobby in bits and pieces ---- including an unlikely turn into radio play-by-play --- much longer than I would have predicted. Regardless of what the future holds, Ill always be more appreciative of Sean and that opportunity than I could ever express.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 22:25:56 +0000
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