It was 40 years ago last weekend that my life changed dramatically. My first column as a sports editor appeared in the News-Democrat on Jan. 28, 1971.
Except for about six months in 2008, I have been a journalist every since as a sportswriter, news reporter, managing editor, editor, publisher,
columnist, online writer, and radio play-by-play guy, color commentator and reporter.
I’ve written everything from major breaking news to coming events, from serious editorials to feeble attempts at humor, from felony crimes to
elementary school awards, from professional sports to teeball, from exhilarating wins to devastating losses, from births to deaths, even my own
wedding, my children’s births and my parents’ obituaries.
When I started writing sports, we had six boys basketball and baseball teams, one football team, a boys golf team, and Russellville’s boys and girls
tennis and boys and girls track. Later we added six girls basketball teams and periodically tennis and track at Olmstead, Auburn and Lewisburg. In the
years following consolidation of the five schools in the county, LCHS has added boys and girls teams in swimming, tennis, golf, soccer, track and cross
country and girls teams in softball and volleyball. Russellville’s offerings have grown with boys and girls swimming, boys soccer, and girls golf,
softball and volleyball. Middle school sports emphasis has also increased considerably.
As a retrospective, I’ve put together the following 40 capsules of special moments over these four decades. One thing I’ve learned over the years is
that as soon as this is published, I’ll become painfully aware of events and people I’ll wish I had included. It’s the nature of the beast known as
journalism.
But it’s also a facet of journalism that you keep trying, hoping to write right the next time. So here goes:
The Cougars’ winning the state boys basketball championship in 1984 was very special. I still get chills thinking about the impromptu three-story pep
rally Logan Countians staged along the escalators of the Lexington Center before going into Rupp Arena. Players
Fred Tisdale, Stacy Mason, Tim Viers, Karl Dawson, Tim Thomason, Henry Jones, John Tisdale, Gary Barker, Todd Parker, Phillip Mallory, Warren
Thomason, Brent Hinton and Keith Hines
and coaches Gerald Sinclair, Barry Reed, David Billingsley and David Beckner hold a special spot in my memory bank.
The three state football championships the Russellville Panthers won from 1980-90 were thrilling. I remember a phone conversation Athletic Director Wayne Mullen and I had withKen Barrett right after Superintendent Jim Young had hired Barrett to resurrect RHS football. We
wondered if Barrett could back up the bravado with which he spoke. Indeed, he could. So could assistant coaches Howard Wren and Buddy Linton,
who always had his back. The 1980 team was led by future UK standout Tommy Wilkins along with
Bernard Bellamy, Randy Smith, Keb Barrett, Tim Smith, Stewart Pillow, Dickie Shifflett, Tim Williams, Michael Woods, Kevin Fruits, David McCormick,
Greg Head, Eddie Hanks and Jeff Smotherman.
The backfield of the 1990 champs was impressive, led by quarterbackLarry Johnson flanked by Onassa Duncan and future Big 10 track star Andre Morris.
Sitting in the dugout of the Colorado Rockies at Riverfront Stadium while a guy I had taught at LCHS, Mark Thompson, was pitching for the
Rockies against the Cincinnati Reds is still like a dream to me. I’m pretty sure the security guard shouldn’t have let me stay there, but I was
thrilled that he did. We were also with Mark when he was pitching at Riverfront for Manager Tony La Russa’s St. Louis Cardinals. One of his
teammates was Mark McGwire.Trey and I were with him in the dugout while he was on the pitching staff of the Louisville Bats on a day that
Louisville Valley’s Little League World Series champions were being honored. That was the last day he ever pitched for a non-independent team, and our
entire family was there to see it, as were his parents,
Jim and Doris Thompson.
Watching from the pressbox at the coliseum in Nashville as Joseph Jefferson played for the Indianapolis Colts against the Titans was a special
moment. Talking with him on the field afterwards as Peyton Manning walked by, I remembered when Joe told me while he was a student at Adairville
Middle School that I should learn his name, that I was going to write it a lot. He was right. Getting to cover the Titans has given me an opportunity
to see some of the best the game has known in recent years, including
Peyton and Eli Manning, Jerry Rice, Tom Brady, Brett Farve, Eddie George, Frank Wycheck, Steve McNair, Rodney Harrison, Teddy Bruschi, Derrick
Mason and Marvin Harrison
along with coaches like
Tony Dungy, Bill Belichick and Jeff Fisher.
The Lillie Mason era was the greatest in Lady Toppers history. Our family was there when she hit the shot at Diddle Arena to upset number one
Texas and we were with her during Final Fours in Austin, Texas and in Lexington after she had been named MVP of two NCAA Regional Tournaments. I
started writing about Logan’s Lillie when she was a sixth grader at Olmstead. Six years after Lillie graduated, we followed the Lady Toppers to the
Mideast Regional at Purdue, traveling to and from West Lafayette, Ind. and two times in three days. Seeing them beat Pat Summitt’s Tennessee
Lady Vols on the way to the national championship game was well worth the drives.
A memorable era came in 1989-90 when Coach Mike Haynes’ Lady Cougars won two straight regional basketball championships and their first game at
state each year. The Shana Dean, Kim Johnson, Carrie Horlander, Jalee Wright, Pam Collins, Christy Burton, Melody Goodman, Gwen Dawson, Amy Stratton teams were
something special. Russellville girls basketball teams coached by Bob Matthews in the early 90s were fun to watch and cover. We went with them
to the Class A Classic state semifinals in Richmond and to the regional finals overall in 1993. Among the Lady Panthers of that era were
Stacie Gamble, Sonya Thompson, Melissa and Stephanie Coker, Jamie Davis, Shannon Belcher, Brooke Milam, Holly McIntosh, Sheila and Kandi Chyle,
LaShante Hollins, Jessica Timberlake, Marissa Mizelle and Jenny Brown.
Track is one of the most time-consuming sports to write, but it has been one of the best here over the years. Coach Floyd Burnsed’s 1975 RHS
boys team won the Class A state championship, led by Forrest Killebrew, who joins Teco Dickerson as the best overall athletes I’ve
covered here. Willie Wells and Dave Dockins played big roles on that team.Matt Tipton has coached RHS girls track for 38 years, one of
the longest tenures by any coach in any sport in the state. There’s not a better relay coach in the state. He often has won regional championships and
been in the top two or three in the state with only a handful of girls. Top Lady Panthers have included Tobeika Elliott, Sara Schauberger, Von Jefferson, Melissa Temple, and Tam Jackson. Matt also coached RHS girls basketball during its first 14
seasons. Coach Greg Howard has built Logan cross country and track into a contender every time they take the track. Thomas Washington and Teco Dickerson had phenomenal careers, and there have been many more. Mike Deaton and Jane Burton also were effective Logan track coaches
as were Ronnie Fuqua and Bob Nelson at RHS.
Coach Phil Todd
built Russellville basketball into a state contender from 1992-2001. His 1992 team that featured Bubba Wells and Otis Key was Russellville’s
first regional finalist squad since 1961. Then he coached the Panthers to their only regional championships so far in 1998, 2000 and 2001, with the
latter two ending in the Final Four at state. Key players included
Michael Morris, Teco Dickerson, Squeaky Hampton, Nathan Thompson, Roland Dickerson, Tyree Todd, Anthony Woodard, Jesse Wright, and Thad and Tony
Key. Kim Swift
was the assistant coach. For a school the size of RHS to become a perennial power is still staggering.
Phil was the defensive leader of one of my all-time favorite teams, Coach Mickey Meguiar’s 1974 Panthers. Other starters wereMorris Kisselbaugh, Charlie Richardson, Steve Gilliam and James ‘Bembo’ Yarbrough with backup from Forrest Killebrew, Willie Wells, Pete Smith, Dave Dockins and Sonny Yancey. The Panthers were leading Warren East by 13 at halftime in the
regional semifinals, but East hit us with a press that featured about six Britts, two Watts and a Lyons. East not only won the game but advanced to the
state Final four. I was on the bench with Mickey during those days. Dallas Embry and Tommy Compton coached East.
The first district tournament I ever covered was one of the most memorable. Auburn had won seven straight championships, and I wrote a column saying Coach Howard Gorrell’sTigers would win it again, even though Adairville had more talent. When I walked into the gym, Lewisburg fans booed me.
Coach Bob Birdwhistell’s Rangers won the tournament behind freshman Eddie Shelton along with Greg Shelton, Mike Brady, David Danks, Gaylon Baugh, Butch Inman, Larry King, Jeff Coursey, Barry Silvey, Corky Harrison and James Dukes. I
could have been a much more interesting writer if I had quoted Bird more, but then I would have been censored out of a job. I enjoyed being around
principals Jesse Richards and Butch Garrett and coaches like Gordon Pogue, Jimmy and Denny Milam, Gary Shelton, Bill Davis, Tim Owens and
one of the tennis players I had coached, the ultra-successful Lugene Rogers, during the early days.
Teams from Logan County reaching regional basketball championship games were always memorable weeks. The first I covered wasCoach Larry Jordan’s Auburn Tigers in 1977 featuring Kenneth Bunton, Dale Gray, Ray ‘Bubba’ Torrence, Barry ‘Wino’ Torrence and Richard Jackson. Then came Coach Barry Reed’s 1982 Auburn
Tigers in the last game ever played by a non-consolidated Logan County team. Fred Tisdale, Tim Viers, Tyrone ‘Ice’ Kennedy, Chuck Allison, Bruce Bunton, Danny Summers and Wayne Baird are some of the names I recall. In
1983, the first year of LCHS, Coach Jim Thompson’s Lady Cougars made it to the finals, losing to eventual state champion Warren Central. Lady
Cougars included Finley Baird, Paulette Webb, Marty Reeves, Regina Sweatt, Kathy Maddox, and Lisa Wells. Four years later both Logan teams lost
in the finals in the same day. Thompson’s Lady Cougars included Cindy Huffines, Tracie Mason, Tina Chyle and many of the girls who were part of
the regional champs two years later. Reed’s Cougars featured seniorsTyrone Babb, Brent Hinton, Scott Johnson, Ron Sams, Lee Proctor, Joe Birdwhistell, Jeff Pulley and Erick Hendricks. The 1993 Cougars ofDick Webb lost in overtime. They includedCraig Bailey, Montez Mason, J.J. Sydnor, Shon Dean, Patrick Robey, Tommy Jefferson, Jarrod Coles and Lonnie Mason. The 1997 Cougars of Coach Ray Maggard were led by
Adonis Hart, Boo Williams, Brandon Coursey, Tim Brown, Chris Haynes and Nick Goley.
The 1973 state tennis tournament was memorable. Olmstead’s Brenda Chapman had won her second straight regional singles title, and Russellville’s Susan Nuyt and Sarah Hindman won the school’s first tennis championship as a doubles team. My first hero,John McCarley, was the
Olmstead coach/principal and I was coaching the Lady Panthers. Later, my best ever singles player, Sandra Eggleston, won two straight regional
titles. She has been Sandra Brown ever since and coaches RHS tennis. Later Billy Jeff Burton was a state contender, and Brad Jones went
to state with three different doubles partners,Burton, Louis Klein and Dewayne Woods. Tennis was big here in the 1970s. In addition to playing
in and covering lots of local tennis events, I got to see the best players in the world in events in Louisville and Nashville, often with friends likeEd Gower, Jim Foster, Bubba Grimes, Bob Bruce, Cecil Duncan, Donnie Riley, Dr. Bill Webb and Dr. Jack Holt. I got to see Rod Laver, Ken Rosewald, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and Bjorn Borg. One
highlight was being among three reporters who spent about an hour interviewing Billie Jean King in the pro shop at Centennial Tennis Center. I
wanted to talk tennis; she was more interested in women’s lib.
The biggest high school football game I covered came in 1983 when the Russellville Panthers ended Paris’ nation-leading 38-game win streak.Andy Woodall quarterbacked that win with a backfield that included Clay Parrish, Jonathan Cage, Rodney Gordon and Brian Fruits with Al Smith, Brent Wilkins, Oscar York and Jesse Woolridge some of the top linemen. A year later Russellville had the state’s top win streak broken
at 24. Then in 1987 John Markhamquarterbacked a dramatic come-from-behind victory over Paris at Rhea Stadium with help from the W’s, Darwin Washington, Phillip West and Dante Wells. Standout lineman Andy Britt became a starting guard for UK.
My times with Joe B. Hall have been special. In March 1976, Joe B. was in Russellville for the Heart Fund Sports Spectacular and we watched Bobby Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers complete an undefeated season on a small television in the RMS cafeteria. Exactly a year earlier he had coached
the University of Kentucky in the national championship game; his opposing coach in that one was UCLA’s Johnny Wooden in the Wizard’s final
game. Two years later I was in St. Louis covering Hall’s Horses as they won the NCAA championship against Duke, having developed a friendship withRicky Roby and Kyle Macy. Then in 1992, I interviewed Joe B. and former Wildcat Scotty Baesler for a wonderful 55 minutes on WRUS’ Feedback while Scotty was running for governor. The weeks following the 1978 national championship continued the joys we had experienced in St.
Louis. Only a few days after the final game, Macy and Dewayne Caseywere in Russellville for one of Brother Joe Carrico’s Heart Fund
SportsSpectaculars. Then in the spring seniors James Lee, Mike Phillips and Robey spent the weekend in Logan County, barnstorming with some
other former UK players in games at Olmstead and at Russellville. We had fun trying to fill them up at Charlie’s Restaurant late that night. Then a lot
of us were at Rupp Arena, watching ex-Cats play against the Pan American team representing the United States. It was the first timeMagic Johnson and Larry Bird were teammates, long before the Dream Team. Kevin McHale and Ralph Sampson were also on that team. Dan Issel and Kevin Grevey were among the former UK players. That was a memorable year.
Through Western Kentucky University basketball, I’ve had courtside seats for every Topper team and pressroom privileges forever. Besides all of
Western’s stars, I’ve gotten to be around players and coaches like
Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Jim McDaniels, Cheryl Miller, Ed Diddle, Gene Keady, Clem Haskins, Ralph Willard, Johnny Oldham, Al McGuire, John
Thompson, Leon Barmore
and Rick Pitino. At Rupp Arena, I’ve watched Dean Smith, Lou Carnesco and Bobby Knight coach and players like Phil Ford, Isaiah Thomas and Charles Barkley. I covered the last gameAdolph Rupp coached as the bench boss of the Kentucky All-Stars. At
a high school extravaganza at Marshall County, we were around coaches Roy Williams and Bob Huggins. Clark Kellogg, now the color analyst for the
Final Four, played in a game I covered at Freedom Hall.
In the late 1980s, the Louisville Cardinals came to Western Kentucky University for a basketball game. Coach Denny Crum got word that a devoted
young U of L fan was critically ill in Logan County. Crum came to Russellville and spent much of the morning in LCHS student Robert Beauchamp’s
hospital room. The only ones with them were Robert’s parents and me. I was so impressed with how kind Denny was to him without being patronizing, that
I have admired and praised Denny Crum every since.
Realizing I was the only one who knew the Logan County Schools were about to be consolidated was my biggest moment as a newswriter. I called three
board members to gather material about why they were not going to vote to accept a grant for building a new school. InsteadLynn Dawson, Sonny Rogers and Jim Moore told me they would vote yes. That was on a Friday morning and I worked all weekend to make sure that Don Neagle of WRUS didn’t find out until the Logan Leader was on the street on Monday morning. It worked. For the next few months, I
covered stories as SuperintendentMerle Johnson and Chairman Edward Schweers led the selection of an architect, administrators and
coaches, school name and mascot, and location, which turned out to be on my parents’ land.
One of my first big news stories came when the Logan County Hospital Board interviewed potential providers of for-profit management services to the
struggling facility. Among those making presentations were Nat Winston of Hospital Affiliates, Inc. (HAI) and Dr. Thomas Frist Sr.,
founder of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA). Dr. Frist called me the day after the paper came out thanking me for being fair in the story.
Eventually, Frist’s HCA bought the rights to provide hospital care in Logan County and Logan Memorial Hospital was the result. Over the years I’ve
written countless stories about new hospital administrators and about doctors coming into our county.
A group of us flew on small planes to Frankfort in the late 70s for an announcement that a major aluminum plant would be built at Epley Station. Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. called it the biggest economic news of his administration. Certainly the creation of Logan Aluminum was and still is a
huge development for Logan County. For almost two decades I helped write and edit Coil Connections, Logan’s corporate newsletter. Mike Harris, the late Buddy Angles and Vickie Costello were my main Logan Connections. Not only has Logan been a boon to the local
economy but many of the people who transferred in have become among the greatest contributors to the quality of life here.
Interviewing candidates for state office has been very special. I developed close friendships with two prominent Louisvillians who were running for
governor, Mayor Harvey Sloane and Lt. Gov. Steve Henry along with their wives,Kathy Sloane and Heather French Henry. Attorney
General George Atkins and I had a good time together. At one Sloane rally, I was with Colonel Harlan Sanders, Muhammad Ali, and Ed Prichard. Jody Richards, who holds the record for having been Speaker of the House longer than
anyone else, is my friend. A one-on-one interview with former Gov.Bert Combs in my office was great, since he was the first governor I remember
as a boy. Larry Forgy has been one of my heroes every since I was a boy. His sister, Alice Lynn Forgy Kerr, is my favorite senator. I
have the utmost respect for former legislators June Lyne, Sheldon Baugh and Nick Kafoglis. Ed Whitfield and Brett Guthrie are Congressmen who
have always treated me kindly. When John Y. was barnstorming for governor, he brought his wife, former Miss AmericanPhyllis George, with him.
She was the first female star reporter of the NFL, and when she asked me, ‘Are you through with me?”, it made an impression on a young, single guy.
Covering fiscal court for 30 years or so was one of my favorite duties. I enjoyed the antics ofRonald Starks, Harold Prince, Ranny Adler and E.B. Perkins. The feuds between Judge Bob Brown and the family of Clyde ‘Red’ Sanders(sons Clyde Nolan and Ray Max Sanders) always made good copy, especially when word got out that “the Browns and the
Sanders(es) have had a love-in.” I enjoyed my days with Lewis Williams, Starling Murphy , Wyatt Ezell and David Riley, and I especially admired
the court that included squires Bill Mac Smith, Joe Pillow, Reggie Murphy and Charles Neblett. My childhood friend Dickie Carter
often frustrated me, but his ouster was a blow to young people and a boon to drug dealers. I admired the professional wayJudge Johnny Guion and County Attorney Tom Noe went about their jobs, and I always enjoyed being around County Clerk Kenny Chapman, PVA Karl Dawson, Sheriff Dannie Blick, Circuit Clerk Jim Nealy and court commentator Lawrence Forgy. Having Don Neagle
by my side in covering everything from fiscal courts to city councils to school boards to the hospital board made it all even better.
Working for Al Smith often opened doors for me. When Al was Federal Co-Chairman of the Appalachian Regional Commission, his boss, President Jimmy Carter, came to Kentucky and I got to meet him. I had covered Carter twice before, and had been around his wife Rosalyn
and Vice President Walter Mondale during Kentucky visits. Over the years, I was also in the presence of PresidentsRonald Reagan, George Bush (the first), and Gerald Ford along with Vice President Al Gore. I covered presidential candidate John Warner in Louisville in 1979, mostly so I could meet his then-wife, actress Elizabeth Taylor, who has the most beautiful eyes I’ve
ever gazed into. Another Smith Connection: One Friday night, Courier-Journal Sports Editor Billy Reed and I were Al’s guests on
Kentucky Educational Television’s “Comment on Kentucky.” The next morning, we were at Freedom Hall when Notre Dame was practicing for a game that night
with Kentucky. Billy introduced me to Irish coach Digger Phelps, who was very kind. I didn’t apologize to Digger for the things I had written
about him, figuring he wasn’t a subscriber to the News-Democrat in this pre-Internet days. I also got to spend time with some great journalists
because of Al, including Ed Ryan, Sy Ramsey, Nat Caldwell, Earl Cox, Bob White and one of the most professional journalists this state has ever
known,
Al Cross.
One of my best friends ever, Brad Watson, made the roster of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first year of that team’s existence. He suffered
what proved to be a career-ending knee injury in the final preseason game that year. I spent a week with him in Tampa while he was rehabilitating in
the spring of 1977 and had access to the Bucs’ training facilities. We went to my most memorable party ever while I was there with lots of football
Bucs, baseball Reds and Tampa Bay Rowdies soccer players. Among those in attendance were quarterback Steve Spurrier of the Bucs and catcher Johnny Bench . The women were more attracted to the Rowdies than the other athletes.
During that same Florida trip in 1977, I spent a lot of time watching spring baseball training. Former Russellville basketball coach Denny Doyle
was playing for the Boston Red Sox, having hit safely in every game of the greatest World Series ever staged the fall before. Dennis took me around the
field in Winter Haven with him and introduced me to some of BoSox, including the great Carl Yastrzemski. One of the teams I covered that week
was the New York Yankees, who were the subject of the recent ESPN movie “The Bronx is Burning.” Manager Billy Martin and playerReggie Jacksonwere the poster children of the discord of that team, but a highlight for me was standing by the cage as catcher Thurman Munson took batting practice with Catfish Hunter on the mound. The first time I got to see a friend play professional sports was
Doyle, who was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Cardinals at St. Louis. RHS Principal Roy Reynolds was from Caverna where he
had known the Doyles and had brought him to Russellville to coach basketball. I sat on the bench with Dennis while he was coaching. Among those making
the trip were R.D. and Carol Reynolds, Mark Reynolds and Larry and Peggy Reeder.
Another spring training was special. Joe Russell, a former Russellville football coach who was commissioner of the Western Kentucky Conference,
took a group of us to Florida where we saw a number of teams, including the Mets. We got to talk with legendary manager Casey Stengell and star
pitcher Tom Seaver. Among those going was Joe’s son Kelly Russell, later to be the focal point of a tragic story I covered when he died
from being hit at the base of his skull by a thrown baseball. Also with us were Keith Northern, young Joe Emberger and Coach
Vic Abbey.
I spent many happy days with the Big Red Machine during Cincinnati’s glory years. Batting practice around Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Davy Concepcion, Tony Perez, Cesar Geronimo and Bench was great. Being in the clubhouse afterwards with the team and with
manager Sparky Anderson was a treat. Often my friend Harris Dockins went with me as our photographer. I’m not sure if he had a camera. I
also was around the Braves a lot. It took a lot of courage to talk to Hank Aaron, and that didn’t go well. Phil Neikro was always a
gentleman. Cardinals star Ted Simmons didn’t want to talk until I told him I knew his cousin Bill Webb. Simba later came to Russellville
and visited Patricia Webb’s class at RMS. I enjoyed that until I realized I had forgotten to put film in the camera.
Old-timers baseball games have always been among my favorite sporting events. When Clay was a toddler, we went to a golf event that featured Stan Musial and Roger Maris. They both were kind to us, especially to Clay. The only athlete I ever asked for an autograph was when I came face
to face with Joe DiMaggio on the field of Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. It was there I met Johnny Vandermeer , Harry “The Hat” Walker, Lou Burdette, and Enos ‘Country’ Slaughter. The 1961 Yankees were my first favorite team. I had seen
starters Yogi Berra and Clete Boyer many times along withMoose Skowron, Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Elston Howard, Maris and Whitey Ford, but I didn’t feel like my life was complete until I metMickey Mantle. When he finally showed up late at Cardinal Stadium at one Old Timers Game, he was sour and wouldn’t talk to anyone but Ernie Banks and Harmon Killebrew. I felt guilty about having pulled for him to break Babe Ruth’s home run record instead of Maris and was
somewhat relieved a few months later to find that he had become an old drunk instead of the baseball player I had admired so much. I also spent many
happy hours with the Nashville Sounds. My college buddy Farrell Owens was the first general manager.
The Logan County Little League team making it to the World Series in 2009 was one of the biggest sports stories ever here. We were all fortunate to be
part of it.
Ian Woodall, Matt Harper, Zach Denney, Barrett Croslin, Joe Holliday, Jacob Woods, Caleb Bruner, Tucker Baldwin, Daniel Beatty and Desmon Quarles
along with Manager Kevin Gettingsand Coach Ronnie Croslin have a permanent place in local sports history. They had also won a state
championship as 10-year-olds. One of my favorite little league teams over the years was an undefeated group from Auburn in 1997. They included
Kelley Jordan, Seth Barnett, Ryan Roche, Kevin Jackson, Ben Rogers, B.A. Jessup, Adam Hendricks, Brian Fox, Ben Pauley, Adam Clark, Codey Lewis and
Matt Wilson. Jackie Jessup
was both league president and the coach, and his assistants were Brian Stanley and Grant Minton. That group also won all three of its
tournaments as 10-year-olds.
Billingsley Baseball was fun to cover. It began when Coach David Billingsley was at Lewisburg withKeith McReynolds, Rocky Cook, and Stewart and Stanley Slaton. His ARCO A’s, a Connie Mack team, ruled the summer. A’s included Todd Ashby, Keith Hayes, Eric Rogers, Eric Meguiar, (future college coach) Mark White, Keith White, Richie Powell,(current RHS basketball
coach) Dennis Pardue, Bryan Estes, Roger Lee, Jeff Mills, Clay Parrish, Mike Spain and McReynolds. Billingsley was the first baseball
coach at LCHS, and put together some great teams, beginning with Greg Scott, Robbie McLellan, Brent Lee, Brett Angel, Kyle Hines, Danny Pendleton, Mills, Meguiar, Powell, Estes and McReynolds. His baseball
coaching reached a peak with the 1989 regional championship and a win in the substate.Mark Thompson, Jeff Taylor, Chris Johnson and Brian White
were starting pitchers and Mitch Whitescarver the catcher. Future coaches Ethan Meguiar and Brad Huskisson were key players, as were Doug Binkley, Jon Hollingsworth, Jermaine Wells, Jason Goodman, Lamont Cross and Alan Marksberry. James Powell was assistant coach.
Coach Lou Kendall has made Panther baseball competitive for two decades, earning himself a spot in the state baseball coaches Hall of Fame. His
1988 team reached the regional finals, led by John Markham, future pro P.J. Jones, Bobby Blackford, Gary Gettings, Darwin Washington, Darren Peters, Michael Sanders, Brent Luckett and Ronnie Matthews. His 1998 team
was a surprise regional finalist. Among those players were
Eric Flory, Brandon Powell, Jesse Wright, Matthew Humble, Jeryn Lee, Matthew Croslin, Michael Walker, Jamie Helle, Scott Schlegel, Justin Ashby,
Seth Boortz, Ryan Davenport and Drew Miller.
Other outstanding players have included
Darwin Washington, Michael Meguiar, JeRon and Jermarcus Smith, Tyler Meacham, Ryan Morgan, Justin Rust, Kevin Saunders, Wes Rutherford, Darrin
Murphy and Andra Edmonds.
The addition of volleyball as a KHSAA sport has added another dimension. After covering Logan County’s first match, I thought, “I’ve never written a
volleyball story.” Then I realized, “I’ve never even read a volleyball story.” I’ve written a lot of them every since. Through the tireless
efforts of coaches Tina Lynch, Steven Lyne, Rob Imlay, Buddy Nash and James imlay, LCHS volleyball has become the most successful program among
the local schools. The Lady Cougars have reached the regional finals seven of the last eight years, winning it all in 2008 and also winning a match at
state. Becca Grayson was the glue of those first four finalist teams. Some of the greats during that stretch have included
Kat Simmons, Tabitha Allen, Whitney White, Jenna Wilson, Devin Brown, Brooke Kelley, Brooke Dowlen, Jessica Cole, Jamie Wilkins, Hannah Hudnall and
Rachel Miller.
RHS volleyball has had more trouble succeeding, despite the tremendous efforts of coaches Maydeen Bailey, Eric Gorham, Jeff Stamps and Terricka Quarles.
Dee Wilkins
is one of the best coaches ever here in any sport. He developed Russellville Country Club into the dominant team in Southcentral Swimming and Diving.
The first director of the Carpenter Center, he also made RHS swimmers state contenders. Lee Ann Holt was dominant in the summers and then swam
for the University of Kentucky, as did Kevin Lewis. Blake Maxwell and Rebekah Epley finished at other high schools and swam in the SEC. Anne Chambers is swimming for the University of Louisville. Corey Hall and Jonathan Hindman are freshmen swimmers at Lindsey Wilson
College, coached in their final years at RHS by Toni Hall. Other standouts have included Sarah and Lucy Clark, Taylor Ray, Abby Clark and Alex Koller. Former Lewisburg girls coach Martha Carol Elrod worked to build a team at
Logan County High School, and currently the LCHS teams are better than RHS. Wilkins is now coaching at Bowling Green High.
Seeing Otis Key in the role of ‘Showman’ for the Harlem Globetrotters at his former home court at Austin Peay State University was a delight.
Otis spent eight years as a Globetrotter. The local connection with APSU has been fun to watch. We were there when scouts from all around the NBA were
watching Bubba Wells lead the nation in scoring and when his jersey was retired. Otis also had a good career during Bubba’s days there. Squeaky Hampton had a great career in Clarksville and is still having an outstanding pro career in Europe. Trey and I watched him outplay
Kentucky’s guards at Freedom Hall and help the Govs reach the NCAA Tournament in his freshman year. Clarence Mason had two good years there
after he and Tyrone Sydnor played for Vol State. Phil Todd was an All-OVC end and his nephew, O.T. Todd, and Logan County’s Ryan Taylor were standouts for APSU football.
Golf tournaments made interesting stories, especially in the 70s during the local youth movement. I covered some great duels between young guns Stewart Wheeler, Gerry Switzer, Tommy Riley, Hal Freeman, Randy Wilkins, Phillip Hatchett, Kenny Perry, Kevin Proctor and Steve Rogers along
with veterans like Owen Chapman and Ike Duncan.One of my favorite matches was when my friend Joe Grace came from nowhere to reach the
finals; we’re still looking for a ball he lost in that match. Girls golf was added with Angie Anderson the RHS nucleus and Brandi Stevenson the foundation of the Lady Cougars. The climax has been state championships by Logan’s Katherine Neely and
Russellville’sNikki Koller. Neely then won the NAIA national collegiate championship while playing for Lipscomb University, and Koller is
playing for NCAA powerhouse Arizona. A sister-brother duo, Victoria and Paul Sansom, not only played the game well but also with great class. I
also got to cover the U.S. Women’s Open in Nashville where some of the best women ever to play the game were on the course. Nancy Lopez was the
biggest star then.
The state basketball tournament is an event I try not to miss. As a young sportswriter I got to cover Jack Givens, Jimmy Dan Connor, Rudy Macklin, Darrell Griffith, Kenny Higgs and many more stars. Trey and I have been to Rupp the last seven
years, sitting on press row. The greatest memory comes from seeing our friend Tim Riley coach Warren Central to the 2004 state championship, to
the finals a year later and to the quarterfinals in 2007. We’ve delighted in upstarts like South Laurel and Shelby Valley winning it all. A thrill for
me was being on the floor when the 50 greatest players in state tournament history were introduced. Fred Tisdale was one of them. So were former
Russellville administrator Howie Crittenden and the legendary King Kelly Coleman. Most of us thought we would never see the reclusive
Coleman. A few years later our son Clay sat with King Kelly through an entire game in the section behind press row. Covering local players
representing Kentucky in the All-Star games against Indiana has always been special. Among them were
Tisdale, Lora Spencer, Stacie Gamble, Sonya Thompson, Sarah Higgins, Adonis Hart and Squeaky Hampton.
For many years I was granted press passes by Vanderbilit University and saw a multitude of stars there. Among them were football stars Archie Manning, Herschel Walker and whoever was playing quarterback for Alabama every other year. Being near Bear Bryant was always
special. On the basketball court, I covered Pete Maravich, Shaquille O’Neal, Dominque Wilkins, Bernard King and Ernie Grunfield, the U.S.
Women’s Olympic Team, and everybody who played for Kentucky and Vandy for 20 years or so.
The middle school basketball tournament has always been one of my favorite events. Three special years were when my own sons were playing center for
finalists. Clay was the starting center for Coach Jan Stevenson’s Adairville team in 1997, teaming with Teco and Roland Dickerson, Matt Davis, Mike Rodgers, Tony Robey and Kyle Morrison. Then in 2002 and 2003, Trey played in two straight
finals for Coach Josh Hall’s Auburn Tigers. They lost to a Lewisburg team that included future teammates Corey Lawson, Jon-Matthew Thomason, Blake Meacham and Dustin Higgins the first year but then beat Jordan Hinton and Jeffrey Sydnor-led
Olmstead in the finals as eight graders. Other Tiger starters that year were Keenan and Sean Brown, Chad Taylor and D.J. Covington.
Trey’s two years as a member of the Kentucky Nike HoopStars organized by Eddie Ford provided wonderful opportunities and memories. We loved
being in New Orleans for one tournament. Current Minnesota Timberwolf Kevin Love was the best-known player we saw there, at least that we knew
who he was. Being at the Spiece Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. for a tournament was an eye-opener. We watched Greg Oden, O.J. Mayo, Mike Conley Jr. and Michael Beasley among others. Trey had his best tournament ever there, too. One of Trey’s tournaments
in Louisville was especially memorable because Michael Jordan was there watching his sons play, too. We had seen Michael play basketball for the
Bulls at Vandy and baseball for Birmingham at Greer Stadium.
Going along the family theme, the Logan Memorial Bees’ state Babe Ruth baseball championship in 1999 was a milestone. Clay was on the pitching staff of
that team which played in the mutli-state regional at Dodgeville, Wisc. Keith McReynolds and Rich Ewald were the coaches. Players included
Jeryn Lee, Matthew Croslin, Ben Mallory, Adam Reed, Nathan Thompson, Michael Walker, Kyle Pendleton, Brian Rogers, Justin Owen, Mike Rodgers, Mark
Cole, Joe Flory and Steven Allen.
Finally, it wasn’t big news to most people but it was to us. A year after severe scoliosis ended her dream of playing high school basketball and after
having two long metal rods melded around her spine at Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children, Lindsay Turner was able to play Adairville Junior
Pro Basketball. Gay Davis was the coach who patiently brought her along to where she could contribute to the team, and we’ll always be grateful.
Then she played softball for coaches Rick and Melinda Garrett. That may have been the most important story I ever covered.
And yet with all of these combinations and stretches to narrow the field to 40 paragraphs, I still didn’t work in memories of
Doc Beauchamp, James Bailey, Bobby Sawyer, Everett Daniel, Ken Smith, Oscar Wren and Dewey Roche, Wallace Whittaker, Fred Greene, Warren McReynolds
and Wilford Arnold, Evelyn Richardson, Hazel Carver and Bess Martin, Shirlee Yassney, Bob Stevenson and Bob Piper, Bob Nylin and Marshall Kemp,
Nancy Delk and Donna Preston, Betty McLean and Janet Hurt, Roderick Holman and Johnny Shifflett, Steve Cauley and Billy Joe Coleman, Kara Haley and
Ashley Farmer, Nelson Cundiff and Greg Owens, Rodney and Libby Haines, Roy Morgan and Roy’s Bar-B-Q, Jerry White and James Milam, Martha Jane King
and Joey Pendleton, Carroll Hubbard and Mitch McConnell, Granville and Joe Gran Clark, Dr. John Pepper Glenn, Jon Paul Stuart, Harry Whipple and
John Kerr, Tom Thompson, Odvaar and Margaret Sullivan Berg, Bill and Randy Fuqua, Jim and Jesse Riley Jr., Edward and Ed Coffman, Michael Morrow
and Michael Gough, Elizabeth Wilson and Catherine Hancock, Jim Gladden and Stumpy Baker, Wayne Shewmaker and Les May, Ricky Richardson and Chris
Taylor, Virginia Page and Mary Jane Smith.
So it boils down to lots of names, countless stories, and memories galore. Bring on more!