Every day is a day for gratitude (and journaling)

      Gratitude (definition): The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. 

     This is about gratitude, and how it is part of our everyday life.

A decade of gratitude journals

     Tonight I will make the final entry into my
2021 gratitude journal. It will conclude the 10th consecutive year of daily gratitudes; the photo shows the books (and does not include the two years in which I kept the entries on separate sheets, which later were converted into a digital file. Wish I could locate those ... but I will.)

     Wrote about this in detail almost four years ago ... https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2018/02/scanning-gratitudes-and-memories.html

     The idea, as stated then, is to find something positive in every day, no matter what's happened. 

     The last two years -- the COVID years -- have tested that objective. But, dang it, we can do it. Even on January 6, 2021 -- a day that will die in infamy -- the positive was that democracy works (shaky as it is).

     Anyway, we are grateful for another year. Older we get, the more grateful we are. There are more health issues -- general soreness, for one -- and we have to make some changes to protect that health. But here we are. (And we are not volunteering to try the COVID experience.)

     Personally, 2021 was much better than my heart-stopping few months of 2020. Don't know that my longtime roommate would say that about her personal health, but she's determined to hang around.

     We are so grateful for our friendships -- the ones that are decades-long, and the newer ones we've gained the past few years (mainly at Trinity Terrace), but also from other places.

     It is a bit hurtful, and disappointing, that with many old (and new) friends, we don't agree on politics and social issues. Frankly, we have had to split with some people or reduce time talking (or writing) with them. They are entitled to their opinions; we all are. Sharing those opinions often does not go well.

     There doesn't seem to be much chance for compromise, and that's too bad. I think you know the disagreements, for the most part, center on one person. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

     But I am grateful to live in a place where people can express those opinions openly if they want to do so.

     To me, civility is a crucial part of life. I don't always get there, and I'm sorry about that. But there are times to stick up for what you believe in. Time and place is important.

     That said, civility was greatly missing on January 6. Period. Before and after all that mess.

      Back to gratitude. We are beyond grateful, if that's possible, for the kids and grandkids, the most special part of our lives. Nothing is greater in our lives than family.

      Just to touch on athletics for a moment: It was nice to see games and matches played before live, in-person crowds for most of this year (the Summer Olympics were an exception, and the empty stands took a lot away from the excitement).

      Don't know how wise it is late in this year to have full houses of spectators, and it is distressing in the last month to see so many players "in safety protocol" or on inactive (COVID) lists, and so many games cancelled or postponed.

       Could write a whole blog on this -- and I've said it before, and will continue to say it: (1) Athletics these days is far too much about m-o-n-e-y; college football and the NFL are prime examples; (2) watching all the athletes with their "look-at-me" celebration antics takes the fun out of it for me. I know it doesn't bother a lot of people (let's say, younger people). But I'd just as soon turn off the TV as watch that crap.

        And as much as I love baseball -- always have since I was 8 -- I don't like much of the trends in today's game. But -- money rules -- with the current lockout in the major leagues, we likely won't have to worry about any games until, say, mid-summer. 

        Don't like saying "who cares?" about baseball, though. I have been rooting for my favorite team since 1956, and I will always care.

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         A final word on gratitude. Recently read Michael J. Fox's book The Future is Now, and the part I like best was his writing about his father-in-law, Stephen Pollan. He was "by profession, an attorney, financial advisor, and life coach" and  had a plaque on his desk that read, "Professional Fear Remover."

     In dealing with Stephen's death, Michael writes, "In our family vigil, there was love for him and for each other, and a sincere aura of acceptance, which was a big part of Stephen's philosophy. The prevailing mood and spirit around Stephen -- gratitude -- was the very essence of the man. That's what he inspired in all of us. Always thankful for everything in his life, his gratitude was manifest in how much he loved his wife and family, and how appreciate he was for all of his experiences, positive and negative. A true optimist, he was known for his trademark assurance, 'Just wait, kiddo, it gets better.' 

      "The core lesson Stephen left with me was this: With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable."  

      Love that last sentence. 

      Michael goes on to write this:

      "... As for the future, I haven't been there yet. I only know that I have one. Until I don't. The last thing we run out of is the future.

     "Really, it comes down to gratitude. I am grateful for all of it -- every bad break, every wrong turn, and the unexpected losses -- because they're real. It puts into sharp relief the joy, the accomplishments, the overwhelming love of my family. I can be both a realist and an optimist."

      From this realist and optimist, and from our place at Trinity Terrace, we wish you a great 2022. With gratitude. 

Don't take your cheap shots at the I-Bowl ... or Shreveport

     Another year, another cheap-shot bashing of the Independence Bowl ... and Shreveport.

     Before we examine this further, let's make this clear: We don't like it, at all.

     But it is part of the bowl scene, and it happens far too often. However, the latest "analysis" -- by a Brigham Young fan-boy who happens to write a blog -- was a low blow of epic proportions.

     And to see him referred to as a "reporter," that's just wrong, wrong, wrong. This is a JAG -- just a guy -- sitting in the stands, a BYU supporter who happens to reside not in Utah but in Arkansas.    

UAB's football players were happy with their
 Independence Bowl trip ... and victory. (WVTM photo)

     His "observations at the Independence Bowl," and I won't dignify them by giving you his name or even a link to his "effort," was simply sour grapes because his BYU team, despite its No. 13 national ranking, came to Shreveport and fell flat against a much more determined UAB team.

     The cheapest shots were at the "rundown" conditions this guy saw while he was in Shreveport. And, yes, we know they are there. (There are rundown areas, we will counter, in every city of any size. We live in a really nice city, a big city -- Fort Worth, Texas -- but we could take you to some areas you wouldn't like.)

     Yes, Shreveport's Fair Grounds Field -- just down the street on the Fairgrounds from Independence Stadium -- is an eyesore. That's no secret. But what's that got to do with football? 

     Boarded-up business places? Same thought as above. If you go places, they'll be there. What's that got to do with football?

     Enough of that crap. If you read the junk this guy wrote, you will find excuse after excuse for why BYU lost this game, including the Cougars' underwhelming performance. To say that no one has heard of UAB is ignorant; that university's football rise, a resurgence after a two-year hiatus, is a helluva good story.

     UAB's record since 2017: 43-20 record (most victories by a Conference USA team), twice conference champion, three-time West division champ, bowl-eligible all five years, two bowl victories ... and a victory over its highest nationally ranked opponent -- No. 13 BYU.

     We will concede that maybe the nation's No. 13-ranked team deserved a more prestigious bowl trip. But the fact -- fact! -- is that one of the three bowl options for BYU is with the Independence Bowl.

     If BYU didn't qualify for a New Year's Day Six bowl game, or if the Cheez-It Bowl in Arizona did not have an available spot for the Cougars, they were bound to play a Conference USA team in the Independence Bowl. And that's what happened.

     So much for the whining.

     And talk about hypocrisy: Two weeks earlier, our BYU blowhard's blog was titled "Why the Independence Bowl is fine." 

     Here is what it concluded: "... The Independence Bowl has some prestige to it. The bowl game has been around since 1976 and has some prestige to it. The Bowl Game has been around 1976 and has it's own stadium. No colleges play in the Independence Stadium on a regular basis and it seats 50,000 people.

     "Compare that to other bowl games like the Bahamas Bowl, Camellia Bowl or the Quick Lane Bowl and thinks don't sound so bleak. The actual bowl game is a good bowl and has plenty of history."

     (Editing 101: You don't capitalize Bowl Game, and "it's" should be "its." Just pointing that this is no professional writer, or reporter, doing this.)

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     We have seen criticism of the I-Bowl for decades, really. Our friend Paul Finebaum -- once a Shreveport Journal sportswriter -- has done his share. He's still our friend.

     This BYU blog brought to mind the aftermath of the 1983 game (Air Force vs. Ole Miss) and a professional cheap-shot column by then-Denver Post sports columnist Woodrow Paige Jr.     

      It was -- like this year's I-Bowl -- a miserable weather day. That's happened a lot over the years, unfortunately; the ultimate was the 2000 "Snow Bowl" (Texas A&M vs. Mississippi State). A rare Shreveport snowstorm left the field in a white blanket, with TV coverage hard to make out, and it's still being talked about. (Terrific game, though; Mississippi State won 43-41 in overtime.) 

     Back to 1983: Paige, who was at the Denver Post for 35 years and, at age 75, is still a columnist in Colorado and a regular ESPN "mouth," took Shreveport and the I-Bowl apart in a scathing column. Bush league.

     We at the then-afternoon Shreveport Journal were impressed -- depressed? -- by the column that, at editor Stanley Tiner's direction, ran above the masthead on Page One on the Tuesday after Paige's column in the Sunday Denver paper.

     And we also began a week's worth of Journal readers being invited to offer their response/comments to Mr. Paige, with the assurance they we would be forwarding them to him. (As if Woodrow cared.)

     It really was kind of fun, and it certainly helped fill our pages for a week, and maybe even helped us sell some papers. 

     Personally, I wrote a story centering on the two competing teams' athletic directors' views of the I-Bowl, and that included much praise and some constructive criticism from them.

     We left in Shreveport in 1988, but we are interested in what happens there because it is -- always will be -- my home city (so is Amsterdam), and (repeating) we don't like criticism from the outside or inside. 

     To be honest, it is disappointing to see how much criticism from Shreveport-Bossier people I saw on Facebook this week. We know the place has issues (too much crime/too many homicides, questions on leadership, declining neighborhoods, a shrinking newspaper, etc.).

     What is not being considered is that, almost without exception, is that the teams that have been Independence Bowl participants -- the school officials, coaches and players -- have praised how well they are treated during bowl week in Shreveport. That was the case again with UAB ... and BYU.

     Bowl director Missy Parker Setters and her staff and the I-Bowl committee every year during their very best to put on the best show they can. The community has provided financial support, even in tough times, and certainly ticket sales are affected by marginal weather. But the Independence Bowl has persevered all these years ... 46 years.

     Wrote about this on this blog nine years ago. Here is the link to that one, and we still feel the same way. Read it, change the year to 2021, and it'll work.  

     https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-spirit-of-independence.html

      Don't let the BS -- stories, comments, a wayward blog by a non-reporter -- get in the way of what the Independence Bowl has achieved. It remains a point of pride for Shreveport-Bossier.  

A vote for 1970s Louisiana high school basketball

       This is a subject that is going to have a limited audience, and it's not exactly timely. But for fans of basketball -- specifically, high school boys basketball in the state of Louisiana -- here is a history lesson.

     And a premise: For Louisiana high school hopes, nothing beats the 1970s. Yes, six decades ago for greatness.    

     We've done the research (it took days) and we'll put it out there. The competition is stiff; Louisiana has a helluva history for athletic talent, and you could pick any of the last six decades -- through today -- as the best for basketball and not be wrong (it's subjective). 

      But we'll take the '70s.

      Admittedly, we're partial, having covered -- for Shreveport's newspapers -- seven state tournaments in those 10 years. Saw some great players then, and the idea for this blog came from two early 2021 developments:    

      (1) The selection and upcoming (delayed) induction of Louis Dunbar to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame;

      (2) An "SEC Storied" production on the SEC Network on the 1978 Kentucky NCAA men's basketball championship team that included Rick Robey.

      Dunbar and Robey. Big men in a big time. With plenty of '70s company ...    

     Start the list with Robert Parish, and yes, he's a personal favorite, with close ties to the schools where he played (Woodlawn High, Centenary College).  

     Ask me, and I'll tell you Robert is the best player to come out of a Louisiana high school (certainly the best 7-footer). The most regular-season games played by anyone ever in the NBA over an astounding 21 seasons, four NBA championships (with an assist from Larry Bird and Michael Jordan), the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

    And, yes, I know that puts Robert above Bob Pettit, Willis Reed, Elvin Hayes, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars and others in my estimation.   

     Watching the SEC story on Robey was a reminder of his unique achievement: state champion (Brother Martin in New Orleans, 1974), NCAA champion (Kentucky) and NBA champion (with the Celtics). Doubt any player in Louisiana history can match that.

    (Reminder, too: Robey (6-foot-11) was a backup center to Parish for five years with the Celtics.)

    As I've written before, several times, Dunbar --a high school and college rival of Parish's -- was the most versatile, most talented Louisiana high school player I've seen. At 6-foot-8, he could, and did, play anywhere on the court; he was a Magic-like point guard and the future Globetrotters "clown prince," player personnel director and coach.

     The start of the 1970s also gave us the greatest scorer in high school basketball in the country to that point: Ebarb's Greg Procell, the rapid-fire hot shot 6-foot guard whose 6,702 points (1966-70) included the 100-point night he had against Elizabeth on January 29, 1970.     

      What a start to the decade that was.

      Louisiana high school basketball, we would guess, has improved by the decade as players are bigger and stronger. Personally, I can't say for sure because we've been gone from there for more than three decades. 

     But he's a major reason why the game grew -- and was so much fun to watch -- in the 1970s: full integration.

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      The 1969-70 school year was the last year of operation for the Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic and Literary Association (LIALO), the all-black schools' organization which had existed for decades and included some 185 schools.

      There was some newspaper coverage of the LIALO, but for the most part, its championships were conducted in a separate -- and not as publicized -- setting. 

     The last LIALO championships -- state basketball tournament in March -- were in 1970. Parish, then a sophomore at Union High in Shreveport, played there. But we didn't get to see any of the sensational Parish vs. Dunbar (Union vs. Webster High) battles in 1969-70. We only read about them.

      Because some students (and athletes) transferred from all-black schools to mostly white ones -- these were majority-to-minority transfers -- and because New Orleans private schools were beginning to integrate, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA)  state basketball tournaments in 1969 and 1970 included talented players such as Collis Temple of Kentwood, Skip Brunet and Dale Valdery of St. Aloysius/Brother Martin, Melvin Russell of Woodlawn and Jeff Sudds of Captain Shreve.

     That was just a preview of what was to come.  

     By the fall of 1970, the great majority of the LIALO schools were either closed or reduced to middle schools, and with that came the full influx of black athletes into LHSAA schools. Plus, the all-black schools that remained open moved to the LHSAA, too.

     All of a sudden, the game became faster and played much more above the rim. Dunks were rare before integration; afterward, there were some rim-rattlers ... and crowds going nuts about them.

       My opinion: Other than in New Orleans -- especially at the Catholic League schools -- and at the smaller, rural, non-football-playing schools (Class B and C) around the state, the ones where teams could play 50-60 games a season, with a dozen tournaments -- basketball was a secondary sport in Louisiana high schools through the decades ... until perhaps the mid-1950s. 

       But it began changing at the larger schools for several reasons: (1) bigger gyms were built and opened -- for example in Shreveport at Byrd and Fair Park late in 1956; (2) more basketball-specific coaches took over programs, rather than just football assistants as caretakers; and (3) more players whose main sport was basketball and who weren't just playing another sport after football season ended.

     The biggest step, though -- and we've written about this (https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2020/03/louisianas-marsh-madness-was-magic.html) -- was the start of the state basketball tournament, the Top Twenty, in 1961. 

      That took the last two rounds of the state playoffs from the smaller home gym to the big stage where the fans got 3-to-5 days of championship basketball.

      Can't judge what high school basketball coaching is like these days. Can tell you, state-wide, it was high caliber in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

        Another big step was master motivator Dale Brown taking over the LSU men's coaching job in 1972-73, tirelessly promoting the game state-wide and eventually being able to recruit many of the state's top stars to play for the Tigers instead of heading elsewhere.

     But through the late 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s, the Louisiana state colleges had outstanding coaches/promoters, too: Ralph Ward, Fred Hobdy, Orvis Sigler, Lenny Fant, Cecil Crowley, Billy Allgood,  Scotty Robertson, Beryl Shipley, Tynes Hildebrand, Don Landry, Benny Hollis.  

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    Below is the list of the state's best high school boys basketball players, by decades (these are based on their senior years). We don't have space for detail on their careers). But we'll list the most prominent ones first.

    Please remember: This does not include such names as Bill Russell, Clyde Drexler and Marques Johnson -- all born in Louisiana but long gone by the time they were in high school. 

    Nor does it include some of the all-time Louisiana college greats such as Pistol Pete Maravich, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Jackson (Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf), Mike Green, Bill Reigel and Dwight Lamar. All were imports from out of state.

     We are going to start with the 1970s, because that's our No. 1 choice. But we, in particular, loved the 1960s (my high school decade), and the 1980s are pretty darned strong, too. 

    If you want a starting five currently active in the NBA, here are Paul Millsap, D.J. Augustin, Garrett Temple, Robert Williams III and Skylar Mays.

     Take your pick of decades.

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1970s

   Robert Parish (Woodlawn-Shreveport); Louis Dunbar (Webster-Minden); Calvin Natt (Bastrop); Rick Robey (Brother Martin-New Orleans); Larry Wright (Richwood-Monroe); Orlando Woolridge (Mansfield); Mike Sanders and John Rudd  (DeRidder); Bruce Seals (Booker T. Washington-New Orleans); Kenny Simpson (Fair Park-Shreveport); Collis Temple (Kentwood); Greg Procell (Ebarb); Aaron James (Cohen-New Orleans); Edmond Lawrence (W.O. Boston-Lake Charles); Kenny Natt (Bastrop); Jeff Sudds and Mike Harrell (Captain Shreve), Skip Brunet,  Dale Valdery and Glenn Masson (St. Aloysius/Brother Martin-New Orleans); Steve Cooley (Bolton-Alexandria);  Walter "Tootsie Roll" Meshell (Ebarb); Chris Raymond (Plaquemine), Sammy White (Richwood-Monroe); Jeff Cummings (Rummel-Metairie); Mike McConathy (Airline-Bossier City); Billy Burton (Booker T. Washington-Shreveport); Doug Williams (Cheneyville);  Floyd "Super Dragon" Bailey (Central Dubberly); Carl Kilpatrick (Bastrop); Carlos Zuniga (Holy Cross-New Orleans); Tommy "Pop" Green and Ethan Martin  (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Victor King (Newellton); Lester Elie (Cloutierville); James Ray (L.B. Landry-New Orleans); Jordy Hultberg (De La Salle-New Orleans); Fred Chaffould (Carroll-Monroe); Wade Blundell and Barry Barocco  (Rummel-Metairie) Earnest Reliford (Ashland); Wayne Waggoner (Logansport);  Sean Tuohy (Newman-New Orleans); Keith Richard and Howard "Hi C" Carter (Redemptorist-Baton Rouge); John Derenbecker (Country Day-Metairie Park); Paul Thompson and Frederick Piper (Peabody-Alexandria); Tyrone Black (Capitol-Baton Rouge); Cherokee Rhone (Springhill); Dave Simmons and Johnny Jones (DeRidder); Larry Wilson (Central Lafourche).  

      Future NFL stars: Sammy White (Grambling WR-Minnesota Vikings), Doug Williams (Cheneyville-Grambling QB, Super Bowl MVP for Washington Redskins), Carlos Pennywell (Captain Shreve-Grambling WR-New England Patriots).

    Future LSU QB Alan Risher, Salmen-Slidell (All-State football and basketball).  

     Consider, too, that Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, John "Hot Rod" Williams, Leonard Mitchell and Benny Anders -- big stars in the early 1980s -- did play as underclassmen in the 1970s.

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1940s

     Warren "Dr. Red" Perkins (Warren Easton-New Orleans); Frank Brian (Zachary); Nick Revon (St. Aloysius-New Orleans); John McConathy (Bryceland); Billy Wiggins (Winnsboro).

1950s

     Bob Pettit (Baton Rouge High); Jackie Moreland (Minden); Dick Brown (Oak Grove); Jimmy "Red" Leach (Florien); Ray Germany (Holly Ridge); Bobby James (Ruston); Larry Teague and George Nattin (Bossier); Ellis Cooper (Springhill); Gene Wright (Negreet); Phil Haley (Belmont); Glenn Cothern (Fortier-New Orleans); Pete Gaudin (De La Salle-New Orleans); Raymond Arthur (Natchitoches); Jerry Callens (Pleasant Hill); Harold Ray Strother (Plainview-Glenmora); Maury Drummond (Istrouma-Baton Rouge); Max Lewis (Simsboro).

1960s

     Willis Reed (Lillie); Elvin Hayes (Rayville); Bob "Butterbean" Love and Lucious Jackson (Morehouse-Bastrop); Charles "Cotton" Nash (Lake Charles); Don Chaney, Cincy Powell and Fred Hilton (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Bob "Lil' Abner" Hopkins (Jonesboro); James Silas and Jimmy Jones (McCall-Tallulah); Charles Beasley (Fair Park-Shreveport); Leslie Scott (Scotlandville-Baton Rouge); Wilbert Frazier (Webster-Minden); Jerry Hood, Charles Sheffield and Leon Barmore (Ruston); Glynn Saulters (Lisbon); Barrie Haynie and Billy Ray (Ringgold); Donnie Henry (Athens); Walter Ledet (St. Mary's-Natchitoches); Wayne Pietri and John Arthurs (De La Salle-New Orleans); Bill Wilson (Baton Rouge); Jerry Salley (Pleasant Hill); Bob Benfield (Byrd-Shreveport); James Speed (Valencia-Shreveport); Harold Sylvester (St. Augustine); Cecil Upshaw and Tommy Thigpen (Bossier); Bobby Lane (Newman-New Orleans); George Restovich (Jesuit-Shreveport); Peter Michell, Herbie Mang, Billy Fitzgerald and Fabien Mang (Jesuit-New Orleans); James Wyatt (Belmont); Billy Jones (Pineville); Charles Bishop (Summerfield); Al "Apple" Sanders (Baton Rouge); James "Poo" Welch (LaGrange-Lake Charles); Kenny Covington (Haughton); Jerry Brandon (Zwolle); Tommy Joe Eagles (Doyline); George Corley (Florien); Melvin Russell and Larry Davis (Woodlawn-Shreveport). 

1980s

     Karl Malone (Summerfield); Joe Dumars (Natchitoches-Central); Avery Johnson (St. Augustine-New Orleans); P.J. Brown (Winnfield);  Benoit Benjamin (Carroll-Monroe); Randy White (Huntington-Shreveport); Bobby Phills (Southern Lab-Baton Rouge); Jaren Jackson (Cohen-New Orleans); John Williams (St. Amant); Robert Pack (Lawless-New Orleans); John Tudor (Pineville); Wayne Smith (Trinity Heights-Shreveport); Derrick Taylor (Redemptorist-Baton Rouge); Nikita Wilson (Leesville); Anthony Wilson (Plain Dealing); David Benoit (Lafayette); Ervin Johnson (Block-Jonesville); Keith Smart (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Leonard Mitchell (St. Martinville); Larry Robinson (Airline-Bossier City); Bobby Joe Douglas (Marion); Willie Jackson (Sibley); Benny Anders (Bernice);  Donald Royal (St. Augustine-New Orleans); Gerald Paddio (Rayne); Derrick Zimmerman (Wossman-Monroe); Don Redden (Ouachita-Monroe); Michael Cutright (Zwolle); Fess Irvin (East Ascension); Tim Breaux (Zachary); Ledell Eackles (Broadmoor-Baton Rouge).

1990s

     Kerry Kittles (St. Augustine-New Orleans); Stromile Swift (Fair Park-Shreveport); Randy Livingston (Newman-New Orleans); Marcus Fizer (Arcadia); Billy Thomas (Loyola College Prep-Shreveport); Clarence Ceasar and Tierre Brown (Iowa); Kedrick Brown (Zachary); Dedric Willoughby (Archbishop Shaw-Marrero); Gerard King (McDonogh-New Orleans); Jerald Honeycutt (Grambling); Andre Brown (Vandebilt Catholic-Houma); Kedrick Brown (Zachary); Lester Earl (Glen Oaks-Baton Rouge); Mark Davis (Thibodaux); Mike Smith (West Monroe); Bernard King (Gibsland-Coleman). 

2000s

     Paul Millsap (Grambling); D.J. Augustin (Brother Martin-New Orleans); Garrett Temple and Glen "Big Baby" Davis (University Lab-Baton Rouge); Brandon Bass (Capitol-Baton Rouge);  Greg Monroe (Helen Cox-New Orleans); Tyrus Thomas (McKinley-Baton Rouge); Danny Granger (Grace King-Metairie); Marcus Thornton (Tara-Baton Rouge); Chris Duhon (Salmen-Slidell); Von Wafer (Pineview-Lisbon); Elijah Millsap (Grambling); Tasmin Mitchell (St. Martinville); Matt Derenbecker (Country Day-Metairie Park); Demond "Tweety" Carter (Reserve Christian).

 

2010s

     Robert Williams (North Caddo-Vivian); Skylar Mays and Wayde Sims (University Lab-Baton Rouge); Jared Butler and Ricardo Gathers (Riverside-Reserve); Langston Galloway (Christian Life-Baton Rouge); Ja'Vonte Smart and Damion James (Scotlandville-Baton Rouge); Markel Brown (Peabody-Alexandria); Elfrid Payton (John Ehret-Marrero); Jarell Martin and Brandon Sampson (Madison Prep-Baton Rouge); Melvin Frazier (Higgins-New Orleans); Jacob Evans (St. Michael's-Baton Rouge);  Mitchell Robinson (Chalmette). 

The most media-cooperative coach

        One interview with one of America's greatest college football coaches was a time to remember.

Coach Bowden (AP photo/Nati Harnik)

      We are all a bit heartbroken as Coach Bobby Bowden faces his final days.

      Few football coaches were as loved and respected as the friendly, upbeat man who directed Florida State University's rise to one of the nation's foremost powers for three decades.

     For the media, he was a dream. Can't think of a more cooperative football coach anywhere, anytime.

      Many, many media members had a lot more exposure to Coach Bowden than this one. But the one time I was sent to write about him was one of the great experiences in a long sportswriting career.

     Don't even remember the exact circumstances -- where or when, or even the year. It had to be the early 1990s. And it definitely was in Jacksonville, Florida, in the spring. Best I can recall it was at a hotel where Coach Bowden was going to speak at an FSU alumni/booster gathering.

      Don't even remember what the strong angle was. Don't have a copy of the story I wrote.

     Here is what I do remember: Coach Bowden was just great. I got a dose of how caring and personable he was.

     I'd never met him, never covered an FSU game or event. Certainly wasn't my regular assignment, and I'm not sure why I was even the one sent to do a story.

      So I made my way to the hotel, found the room where he was going to speak -- think that was scheduled for about two hours later -- and there he was in the lobby just outside.

    There were people all around him (most obviously FSU fans), asking for an autograph or a photo with him, or just there to shake his hand or exchange a few words. 

     I believe, with the help of an FSU athletic department aide who was there with him, I was able to get a moment to introduce myself and ask for a little time to do an interview.

     Of course, he was willing -- I was instantly his buddy -- but there was a catch.

      "I can give you 10 minutes or so," he said, "but can you wait a little while? I've got to do a few things before I can get to you."

     Sure, I told him. It was mid-morning; my deadline was not until mid-evening, so I had plenty of time to wait, and plenty of time to write the story.

     "Look," he said, "there are going to be people coming up that are going to want to speak to me. So just stay with me, stay closeby, and we'll get together."

       He moved a few steps away to do an interview with one of the Jacksonville TV stations. I stood a few feet away.

     And then between interviews, he indeed was asked to pose for photos with FSU fans, and stopped to sign autographs, and after about 10 minutes, he looked over at me and said again, "Stay with me, buddy. It'll be a few more minutes."

      No problem.

      Another interview. More photos. More handshakes. More autographs. It was a parade of fans.

      A few minutes later, Coach Bowden again walked past and said, "Don't give up, buddy. I'll be there in a few minutes."

      (I have seen similar scenes play out over the years, and many coaches who wouldn't have given a media person much attention. But Coach Bowden reminded me of one of the most cooperative from our area -- Grambling State legend Eddie Robinson. He always made as much time for media people as they needed. Coach Bowden, of course, was as legendary as Coach Robinson.)

      It took another short time, and another glance over and reminder, and then -- maybe 25 minutes after our initial exchange -- there Coach Bowden was. True to his word.

      "Let's go in this room over here," he said, and we moved away from the crowd to a side area where no one could interrupt.

    And then he was as open and expansive with his answers -- as folksy and charming -- as everyone experienced over all the years.

      He was as wonderful as fellow media people and his FSU fans told me he was.

      It was my one and only time around him. It was unforgettable, and much appreciated.  

  

"Sweet Lou" Dunbar -- Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee

 Louis Dunbar was one of the two greatest high school basketball players we had the pleasure to cover, both early 1970s superstars (Robert Parish was the other). He became "Sweet Lou" Dunbar, clown prince, then coach -- and legendary star -- of the Harlem Globetrotters.

https://lasportshall.com/2021/06/11/nba-wasnt-ready-for-mindens-lou-dunbar-but-the-world-loved-him/?fbclid=IwAR2gEFzomMQrN7Uz-5kj_wq_MnxPjE2xdUs6kNIrGvw_tsClPkyJMAubMnU

Tech-Grambling football didn't happen in 1973

'Country Joe' West: We remember him when ...

    Joe West -- umpire, football star.

   If you were watching Monday night's St. Louis Cardinals-at-Chicago White Sox game on ESPN, you saw a lot of umpire Joe West.

   Not a pretty sight ... ever.

   But the TV crew focused on Mr. West for a full inning -- and more -- because he is about to become the umpire who has called more major-league games than anyone in history.

   The focus was on him Monday night because -- stationed at first base -- he was calling his 5,375th regular-season MLB game, tying Bill Klem's all-time record. Tuesday night he will break that record.

   Bill Klem was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe West a Hall of Famer? C'mon ... be serious.

   He has proven that arrogance (always) and incompetence (often)  is acceptable in Major League Baseball.

   You might have guessed that Joe West is not my favorite umpire. He would rank near the least favorite.

   But at least as long as Angel Hernandez and C.B. Bucknor are calling games, West won't be the worst umpire in the big leagues. Nor the most arrogant; Hernandez locks that up every night he steps on the field. That, and most incompetent.

   Actually, Joe West is a good umpire when he doesn't doze off and turn lazy. But when he's challenged on a call, he is insufferable, and has been for years.

   He's been chosen -- in frequent managers/players polls -- as among the worst umps in the big leagues. To be fair, some voted him as among the best.

   Klem umpired in the National League for 37 years, retiring in 1941. 

   West first umpired in the NL in 1976 and became a fulltime MLB ump in '78. His 43 years is the longest ever for an umpire. 

   He's worked too many World Series and league playoff games, and he's often been -- willingly -- the center of attention/controversy.

   He's known as "Country Joe" or "Cowboy Joe" because, in addition to messing up baseball, he's a country-western singer-songwriter, with a couple of recorded albums.

   But we don't sing his praises. No, thank you.

   He's 68 and he has said that he will retire after this season. Not soon enough.

   However, we have one soft spot for Joe West. Because -- of course -- he has a Shreveport connection.

---

   When he was a college senior, at Elon (N.C.) College, this umpire-to-be was a quarterback ... and a good one. At least, on the afternoon he played in a national championship game at Shreveport's State Fair Stadium.

    It was Saturday afternoon, December 8, 1973. The NAIA national championship game.

    He was not the best QB in the game, however.

   Joe was Elon's alternate quarterback and he was a passing sensation once he entered the game. But his team was far behind.

   Elon was the No. 1-ranked NAIA team. But No. 3-ranked Abilene Christian, with two stars who would make headlines in the NFL in the near future, routed Elon 42-14 before only 4,162 fans in a 33,000-seat stadium. 

   Entering the fourth quarter -- when West put on his show -- Elon was behind 28-0. 

   ACC -- now ACU -- was far too good because (1) its quarterback,  Clint Longley, passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns in the game and (2) its star running back, freshman Wilbert Montgomery, ran for 159 yards and caught four passes for 79 yards. 

   You might have heard of them.

   That season, before this game, Longley had passed for 2,826 yards and Montgomery had run for 1,022 yards, and combined they had accounted for 61 touchdowns.

   They were NAIA All-Americans. Another NAIA All-American running back that year was Walter Payton of Jackson State. You might have heard of him, too.

   Bill McIntyre and Jim McLain covered the game for The Shreveport Times. Here are a couple of items from their coverage.

   So Elon was no match for an Abilene Christian program that only two years earlier had left the Southland Conference, unable to fund its scholarships that league required. The Lone Star Conference was more affordable for ACC, but it obviously had some recruiting attraction.

   Longley would become a Dallas Cowboys QB, famous for his 1974 Thanksgiving Day TD heave to Drew Pearson to beat the hated Washington Redskins and infamous for his locker-room, sucker-punch of Cowboys starting QB and superhero Roger Staubach that was Clint's goodbye to the team.

   Montgomery would help run the 1980 Philadelphia Eagles past the Cowboys in the NFC title game and into the Super Bowl.

   And Joe West? He left football behind because he also liked baseball and found a role in it. 

   Many a manager and player has told him -- and told the world -- how much they dislike his umpiring. He doesn't care. He's convinced he's never missed a call.

   And we can't get him off our television screen.

   But, although few will remember, he had one good afternoon in Shreveport. Of course, he played on the losing side. So there.

Riley Stewart: A big man in 'Baseball'

 

In 1984, Mulkey's writing was gold

      For five months in 1984, Kim Mulkey was on our team -- the Shreveport Journal sports department. 

     Just as in every phase of her life, she was very good at what she did. She could have been a sportswriter.

     (Don't laugh. It is a noble profession. And don't you forget it. Somebody has to do it. 

      Her spectacular four-year basketball career at Louisiana Tech finished -- with a fourth consecutive women's Final Four appearance -- Kim was entering the next phase: Trying to make the United States women's basketball team for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

      She made it ... and helped her team win the gold medal. 

      And during the journey -- the tryouts, the team selections, the practices, the exhibition games, the trip to LA, the Opening Ceremony, the time in the Olympic Village, and the Olympic competition itself, she told the story ... in the Shreveport Journal. 

     In 14 segments, beginning April 19, "Kim Mulkey's Olympic Diary" appeared on the Journal sports pages. 

     Here is the promo for the start of the series:

     Kim had played for U.S. teams in international games for three years and had been one of college basketball's best women's players during that time. So she was a natural for the tryouts. 

     She was a natural for the Journal, too.

     The idea was generated -- as were many stories in the paper in those late 1970s/1980s years -- by the paper's editor, Stanley Tiner. 

     We took it from there ... and so did Kim.

     Believe me, it took some effort on her part. She had to write out, or type, her stories, and then make a call to the Journal sports department and, as I recall, dictate her words to us. On our end, it meant typing it into our computers and preparing it for the next day's editions.

     We had the easy part. Kim could write. She needed very little help, maybe a little editing here and there. Of course, her stories were excellent ... good reads, in newspaper terms.

      She was, after all, a summa cum laude college student; the sportswriters at the Journal were not.

     So it was time-consuming for Kim, between her basketball tryouts and travels.

      As I recall, her pay was a few million dollars short of what she's made as the women's head basketball coach at Baylor (and now LSU), or even a few thousand dollars short as an assistant coach for 15 years at Louisiana Tech.

     I think she did it for the good of the country ... and the Journal. It was a free ride.

     It was a pleasure to team up with her, and I remember that Journal readers enjoyed her stories. By then, she had been the "darling" of Louisiana Tech women's basketball fans for four years, the little point guard with the pigtails. The  big winner, the champion.

     Truth is, she had fans, too, in the Journal sports department (see Jerry Byrd's column) and also The Times, where our friend Jim McLain covered the Lady Techsters' story for many years.

     So her stories were gold for us, and the U.S. team -- coached by Pat Head Summitt, by then not quite the legend she would become at the University of Tennessee -- earned its gold by beating South Korea in the title game (remember, Russian athletes boycotted the LA Games in '84).

      Kim wasn't the only Louisiana Tech player to mine that gold. So did center/forward Janice Lawrence.

       (Lawrence was the Final Four's "Most Outstanding Player" when Tech and Mulkey won a second consecutive national championship in 1982. The Lady Techsters lost to Southern California, led by Cheryl Miller, in the 1983 championship game, 69-67, and 1984 semifinals, 62-57.)

     Here is how Kim ended her final "Olympic Diary" story, which ran in the Journal on August 8, the afternoon after the previous night's gold-medal game and ceremony:

       You probably know the rest. A lot of her dreams have come true ... and now, at LSU, there are more dreams and more goals. 

       The Journal is no more, having folded in 1991. Kim Mulkey's story rolls on ... and it's been a golden adventure.