Google Alert for Portsmouth Ohio had this link today: http://www.sciotocountyohio.com/royrogers.htm
It opens with Roy Rogers, but one can search out a lot of things on the Scioto county URL the Roy Rogers article is taken from.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Joan White Kegley
Joan Kegley White
Forest and Mary Kegley’s first child was Joan, born June 23, 1928 and died in May, 1981. She was 52 years old and very close to being 53.
Joan graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1946. She met and married James Dexter White from Portsmouth’s West side and they had two daughters, Pam and Pat and one son, Ronnie.
They lived in Columbus, OH for several years while Deck worked for Columbus Coated Fabrics and North American Aviation. When North American closed their Columbus operations, Deck took advantage of an opportunity to transfer to Tulsa,OK and the family lived in Broken Arrow until Joan and Dexter each passed on. Ron and Pam remain in or near Broken Arrow and Patti lives in Pennsacola, FL.
Joan loved her family very much and she and Deck helped them grow up in a Christian home.
Forest and Mary Kegley’s first child was Joan, born June 23, 1928 and died in May, 1981. She was 52 years old and very close to being 53.
Joan graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1946. She met and married James Dexter White from Portsmouth’s West side and they had two daughters, Pam and Pat and one son, Ronnie.
They lived in Columbus, OH for several years while Deck worked for Columbus Coated Fabrics and North American Aviation. When North American closed their Columbus operations, Deck took advantage of an opportunity to transfer to Tulsa,OK and the family lived in Broken Arrow until Joan and Dexter each passed on. Ron and Pam remain in or near Broken Arrow and Patti lives in Pennsacola, FL.
Joan loved her family very much and she and Deck helped them grow up in a Christian home.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Excellence in Athletics II Dave Leightenheimer
Dave Leightenheimer
Draft 6-4-08
Dave Leightenheimer was a center as a Junior on coach Bill Rohr’s first Portsmouth Trojan basketball team. Dave had played for coach Peg Elsesser as a sophomore and coach Paul Walker as a freshman. Dave also was on the varsity as a freshman and played in one game for coach Elsesser.
Coach Rohr coached the Trojans from 1946 through 1951 and always had teams that finished well in the tough Greater Ohio League, the state ratings, and the tournaments.
Dave Leightenheimer describes himself as one who wasn’t the top scorer, but as one who obtained rebounds and was a team player. That is exactly how I remember Dave L.
Personal History:
Dave’s parents were Ernie and Beatrice (Holt) Leightenheimer. Dave had two older brothers, both deceased and a younger sister Ernestine “Tinie” Sheppard. Dave attended Grant Grade School and played all sports there for
coaches Bill Berry and Bob Bender. Dave and Jean Blair will celebrate 55 years of marriage in August 2008. They had two sons, David, a jet pilot killed tragically by a drunken driver in Pennsacola, FL when he was 23, and Doug, now Choir director for the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. Dave graduated from Morehead State and Doug from the University of Kentucky. Jean was an excellent soloist who directed the Central Presbyterian Church choir in Portsmouth for years and was often called upon for solos at special events and weddings in Portsmouth.
Sports stories:
In addition to playing on the Grant grade school teams, as a quarterback in football, Dave played with the kid’s Bombers baseball teams in the summers. There was a six team league around Portsmouth and the Hilltoppers were the Mound Park team of that day which had a boy named Snyder and Lon Cassidy.
I, Sam, remember watching all of coach Rohr’s basketball games while I was in PHS. The teams always gave maximum effort and won many more games than they lost. When I was a freshman, Dave was a center on the team. He was a quiet, steady performer for good Trojan teams in 1947 and 1948. Dave was always a battler, but never prone to fouling, that I honestly recall.
Dave, however, was second highest scorer for the 1946-1947 team and shot 61% from the field as a junior. That team included: Maurice Cooper, Ellis DuPuy, Dave Gambill, George Hill, Dave Leightenheimer, Lowell Reeg- team high scorer by six points over Dave L., Fred Shumate, Elwood “Corky” Sparks (third highest scorer), Denver Triggs and Jack Young. The team won a game and lost one at the District Tournament in Athens. The record was 10-9 against many of the the best teams in the area and the Greater Ohio League- arguably the best competition in Ohio.
In 1947-1948, Dave Leightenheimer was third in scoring behind Fred Shumate- (1) and Corky sparks- (2) for the team which finished 23-6, and won four games and the District Championship at Athens. The team lost to Akron south in the Regional semi-final game at New Concord. Dick Anderson, Jerry Barry, Keith Booker, Ellis DuPuy, Dave Gambill, Dave Leightenheimer, Henry O’Roark, Fred Shumate, Elwood Sparks, Ben Smith, Denver Triggs and Jack young were on that team.
I, Sam, visited the 1948 and 1949 Trojan annuals for the information in the above two paragraphs. I was surprised that very few stats were shown.
Ironically, coach Rohr accused Dave L. of losing that Akron south (expletive deleted) game for the Trojans. Harold Rolphe, the superintendent of Ironton City Schopols, had always been a well-respected official by area fans such as me. Mr. Rolphe has passed on, but I lost some respect for him due to a couple of Trojan basketball stories. Mike Swearingen previously told me of a couple of incidents he remembered about Harold Rolfe’s officiating. Harold was always very animated with his calls and he was a fairly good sized gentleman who gave each call a little pizzazz. Coach Heller claimed that he, himself a mild mannered coach of the Trojans after coach Rohr, said that he didn’t have a lot of trouble with officials and he certainly respected Harold Rolfe of Ironton. Mike, who had driven coach Heller to meet me in Chillicothe for my interview of he and George, chimed in: “Mr. Rolfe called a foul on me once and I wasn’t near the play. As we walked back to the opponent’s foul line, Harold put his arm around my shoulder and said, ‘Son, somebody fouled him and I don’t know who did it.”
Off the record for that Excellence in Athletics in the Portsmouth Area book, Mike also told me of the Regional tournament game in New Concord which Harold Rolfe officiated. I don’t know what prompted Mr. Rolfe’s warning, but, prior to the tip-off, he told all players around the jump circle that he would throw the first man who started trouble immediately out of the game. After the center jump to start the game, Dave rebounded a missed ball, and Mr.Rolfe blew his whistle and threw Dave out of the game. He told Dave he was slugging.
I asked Dave about that and he told me that the Akron South player had come over his back on the rebound, so upon the whistle, he handed the ball to Harold expecting a foul call on the Akron player. Harold told Dave he was slugging and threw him out of the game.
Dave didn’t play a full minute of the game and coach Rohr was hot at him, even accused Dave of losing the game for the Trojans.
Dave pitched with the good Ramey Feed baseball teams. Jim Murphy was the ace pitcher and advanced in pro baseball to the A level. Dave also played with the Ramey Feed softball team behind the pitching of the great Wayne Widdig. Fred Shumate normally played second base and I played third. Wayne took the American Legion team to the Ohio State Tournament and won it later that year.
After graduating from PHS, Dave went to Ohio University in Athens on a basketball scholarship. Corky sparks also came to OU with Dave from Portsmouth and Jerry Barry came a year later.
Harold Rolfe officiated one of OU’s games and walked up to Dave and asked to talk with him. Dave replied that Mr. Rolfe had done him a great disservice and he would not talk with him. Later when OU played Toledo, an Akron South player there told Dave he “got rooked” by that call. Later Harold Rolfe called another OU game and asked to speak with Dave. Again Dave refused.
OU’s biggest rival was Miami of Ohio and Dave said OU beat them at home and Miami beat OU at their place during his four years at Ohio University. Dave played for OU from 1948 through 1952. There were point shaving scandals in college basketball during that time. OU played Kentucky in Lexington and were badly beaten. The next year we beat them by six or seven in Athens and the NCAA investigated if point shaving was involved. Similarly, we beat a fine University of Cincinnati team with Portsmouthites Don Monk and Joe Luchi on their roster and the NCAA again investigated whether point shaving was involved. They found nothing either time. We just beat them to everyone’s surprise.
“I was not always the scorer” Dave said. “I was a team player and I went after the rebounds. I and Jack Betts were 6’4” and were the tallest on the OU team until Poloski and Lou Solchuck (6’6”) joined the later OU teams. Players taller than that were extremely rare on teams of that era.”
“We were 14-0 as freshman for coach Jim Snyder. OU fans were anxious for the next season when we joined the varsity. Dutch Troutwine had recruited me, but subsequently had a heart attack. Coach Snyder came to the varsity with us, but we took our licks then and went only 6 and 14.
Dave knew the OU baseball coach, Bob Wren, and respected him greatly. Mike Schmidt, later the perennial MLB All Star for the Philadelphia Phillies played for the OU baseball team in that era. Bob Wren was widely thought of as the best college baseball coach in America. Dave needed cash for school so he worked the concession stand for the baseball teams.
I, Sam, was privileged to meet and speak with Bob Wren at Dick Fishbaugh’s funeral here in Westerville. Dick, the long time Otterbein baseball coach had played along with Harry Weinbrecht for coach Wren at OU. Dick and I, Sam, played softball together.
Harry Weinbrwecht previously mentioned the fine officiating crew headed by Dave Leightenheimer to me. It consisted of Fred Shumate, Bill Newman, Harry Weinbrecht and Dave. Dave was quite proud of that crew and, in fact, Dave was chosen to officiate in an high school play-off game in Findlay where he was joined in that crew by his high school and OU friend Corky Sparks. They were instructed not to tell others in their area about their choice in order to avoid jealousies.
When I mentioned how great it was to hear war stories and Trojan stories from my good friend, Gib Lakeman, Dave said I would have to call Bob Bender. Bob was in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. Dave asked if he was scared. “Scared?” Bob replied. I took the buttons off my fatigues so I could get closer to the ground.”
When I asked Dave about other Portsmouth athletes who did well nationally, he mentioned Otto Apel, an All American football player at Columbia University and Del Rice, who had lived in Dave’s neighborhood when Dave was a kid. Del was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Outstanding coaches Dave knew well were Arch Justus, Kenny Long, and Paul Walker.
When pressed about the outstanding thing in his life, Dave quickly replied: “My two sons!”
Young David played basketball for Clay High School, attended Morehead State and was very successful as a basketball player in their intramural league. He became a jet pilot and, while stationed at Pennsacola, FL, he was on his motorcycle when a drunken driver came through an intersection illegally. David swerved to miss the vehicle and was sideswiped. He was taken to a hospital but died shortly after. It was hard in Losing him while he was only 23 years old and still is.
Doug obtained a degree in organ and piano from the University of Kentucky and a Masters from the Westminister Choir College in Princeton, NJ. He is Choir Director for the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. The church has eight choirs and Doug directs four and his assistant directs four.
Doug is very talented. Jean and I recently visited Wilmington for a special concert. Doug played a couple of songs and received standing ovations by the appreciative audience. It made goose pimples go up and down our backs.
Dave taught and coached basketball at the old McDermott High School for four years and for another at the consolidated Northwest High School. He then went to Stockdale –it later became Eastern Beaver-where he coached another two years. He retired from Clay High School after twenty-six years. He coached junior high basketball and baseball at Clay.
He taught drivers’ Education classes for thirty-six years altogether. One day a young girl who told me she was very afraid of bridges was driving across the bridge on 348 just northwest of Lucasville. She was headed for the side of the bridge. When I looked at her she had her eyes closed. I grabbed the wheel and hit the brakes.
I see many former students around the area. They always go out of their way to say: “Hi Mr. Leightenheimer or Hi Mr L. I don’t miss the Mickey Mouse things teachers must put up with but I surely do miss the kids. They keep this old man young.
Dave wasn’t in sports for the accolades, but he received a few. He is proudest that he was inducted into the “Ohio Officiating Hall of Fame” and of the Star he signed on the Portsmouth flood wall.
As we concluded the interview, I invited Dave to my next day’s book signing at the Portsmouth library for my latest book, I, God, & Country. I mentioned one conclusion by many of those interviewed was that they felt they could be Christians without church attendance. That took Dave back a little. “Oh no, I don’t think so. You need the fellowship of other Christians. I don’t know where I would be without the Lord in my life.”
Draft 6-4-08
Dave Leightenheimer was a center as a Junior on coach Bill Rohr’s first Portsmouth Trojan basketball team. Dave had played for coach Peg Elsesser as a sophomore and coach Paul Walker as a freshman. Dave also was on the varsity as a freshman and played in one game for coach Elsesser.
Coach Rohr coached the Trojans from 1946 through 1951 and always had teams that finished well in the tough Greater Ohio League, the state ratings, and the tournaments.
Dave Leightenheimer describes himself as one who wasn’t the top scorer, but as one who obtained rebounds and was a team player. That is exactly how I remember Dave L.
Personal History:
Dave’s parents were Ernie and Beatrice (Holt) Leightenheimer. Dave had two older brothers, both deceased and a younger sister Ernestine “Tinie” Sheppard. Dave attended Grant Grade School and played all sports there for
coaches Bill Berry and Bob Bender. Dave and Jean Blair will celebrate 55 years of marriage in August 2008. They had two sons, David, a jet pilot killed tragically by a drunken driver in Pennsacola, FL when he was 23, and Doug, now Choir director for the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. Dave graduated from Morehead State and Doug from the University of Kentucky. Jean was an excellent soloist who directed the Central Presbyterian Church choir in Portsmouth for years and was often called upon for solos at special events and weddings in Portsmouth.
Sports stories:
In addition to playing on the Grant grade school teams, as a quarterback in football, Dave played with the kid’s Bombers baseball teams in the summers. There was a six team league around Portsmouth and the Hilltoppers were the Mound Park team of that day which had a boy named Snyder and Lon Cassidy.
I, Sam, remember watching all of coach Rohr’s basketball games while I was in PHS. The teams always gave maximum effort and won many more games than they lost. When I was a freshman, Dave was a center on the team. He was a quiet, steady performer for good Trojan teams in 1947 and 1948. Dave was always a battler, but never prone to fouling, that I honestly recall.
Dave, however, was second highest scorer for the 1946-1947 team and shot 61% from the field as a junior. That team included: Maurice Cooper, Ellis DuPuy, Dave Gambill, George Hill, Dave Leightenheimer, Lowell Reeg- team high scorer by six points over Dave L., Fred Shumate, Elwood “Corky” Sparks (third highest scorer), Denver Triggs and Jack Young. The team won a game and lost one at the District Tournament in Athens. The record was 10-9 against many of the the best teams in the area and the Greater Ohio League- arguably the best competition in Ohio.
In 1947-1948, Dave Leightenheimer was third in scoring behind Fred Shumate- (1) and Corky sparks- (2) for the team which finished 23-6, and won four games and the District Championship at Athens. The team lost to Akron south in the Regional semi-final game at New Concord. Dick Anderson, Jerry Barry, Keith Booker, Ellis DuPuy, Dave Gambill, Dave Leightenheimer, Henry O’Roark, Fred Shumate, Elwood Sparks, Ben Smith, Denver Triggs and Jack young were on that team.
I, Sam, visited the 1948 and 1949 Trojan annuals for the information in the above two paragraphs. I was surprised that very few stats were shown.
Ironically, coach Rohr accused Dave L. of losing that Akron south (expletive deleted) game for the Trojans. Harold Rolphe, the superintendent of Ironton City Schopols, had always been a well-respected official by area fans such as me. Mr. Rolphe has passed on, but I lost some respect for him due to a couple of Trojan basketball stories. Mike Swearingen previously told me of a couple of incidents he remembered about Harold Rolfe’s officiating. Harold was always very animated with his calls and he was a fairly good sized gentleman who gave each call a little pizzazz. Coach Heller claimed that he, himself a mild mannered coach of the Trojans after coach Rohr, said that he didn’t have a lot of trouble with officials and he certainly respected Harold Rolfe of Ironton. Mike, who had driven coach Heller to meet me in Chillicothe for my interview of he and George, chimed in: “Mr. Rolfe called a foul on me once and I wasn’t near the play. As we walked back to the opponent’s foul line, Harold put his arm around my shoulder and said, ‘Son, somebody fouled him and I don’t know who did it.”
Off the record for that Excellence in Athletics in the Portsmouth Area book, Mike also told me of the Regional tournament game in New Concord which Harold Rolfe officiated. I don’t know what prompted Mr. Rolfe’s warning, but, prior to the tip-off, he told all players around the jump circle that he would throw the first man who started trouble immediately out of the game. After the center jump to start the game, Dave rebounded a missed ball, and Mr.Rolfe blew his whistle and threw Dave out of the game. He told Dave he was slugging.
I asked Dave about that and he told me that the Akron South player had come over his back on the rebound, so upon the whistle, he handed the ball to Harold expecting a foul call on the Akron player. Harold told Dave he was slugging and threw him out of the game.
Dave didn’t play a full minute of the game and coach Rohr was hot at him, even accused Dave of losing the game for the Trojans.
Dave pitched with the good Ramey Feed baseball teams. Jim Murphy was the ace pitcher and advanced in pro baseball to the A level. Dave also played with the Ramey Feed softball team behind the pitching of the great Wayne Widdig. Fred Shumate normally played second base and I played third. Wayne took the American Legion team to the Ohio State Tournament and won it later that year.
After graduating from PHS, Dave went to Ohio University in Athens on a basketball scholarship. Corky sparks also came to OU with Dave from Portsmouth and Jerry Barry came a year later.
Harold Rolfe officiated one of OU’s games and walked up to Dave and asked to talk with him. Dave replied that Mr. Rolfe had done him a great disservice and he would not talk with him. Later when OU played Toledo, an Akron South player there told Dave he “got rooked” by that call. Later Harold Rolfe called another OU game and asked to speak with Dave. Again Dave refused.
OU’s biggest rival was Miami of Ohio and Dave said OU beat them at home and Miami beat OU at their place during his four years at Ohio University. Dave played for OU from 1948 through 1952. There were point shaving scandals in college basketball during that time. OU played Kentucky in Lexington and were badly beaten. The next year we beat them by six or seven in Athens and the NCAA investigated if point shaving was involved. Similarly, we beat a fine University of Cincinnati team with Portsmouthites Don Monk and Joe Luchi on their roster and the NCAA again investigated whether point shaving was involved. They found nothing either time. We just beat them to everyone’s surprise.
“I was not always the scorer” Dave said. “I was a team player and I went after the rebounds. I and Jack Betts were 6’4” and were the tallest on the OU team until Poloski and Lou Solchuck (6’6”) joined the later OU teams. Players taller than that were extremely rare on teams of that era.”
“We were 14-0 as freshman for coach Jim Snyder. OU fans were anxious for the next season when we joined the varsity. Dutch Troutwine had recruited me, but subsequently had a heart attack. Coach Snyder came to the varsity with us, but we took our licks then and went only 6 and 14.
Dave knew the OU baseball coach, Bob Wren, and respected him greatly. Mike Schmidt, later the perennial MLB All Star for the Philadelphia Phillies played for the OU baseball team in that era. Bob Wren was widely thought of as the best college baseball coach in America. Dave needed cash for school so he worked the concession stand for the baseball teams.
I, Sam, was privileged to meet and speak with Bob Wren at Dick Fishbaugh’s funeral here in Westerville. Dick, the long time Otterbein baseball coach had played along with Harry Weinbrecht for coach Wren at OU. Dick and I, Sam, played softball together.
Harry Weinbrwecht previously mentioned the fine officiating crew headed by Dave Leightenheimer to me. It consisted of Fred Shumate, Bill Newman, Harry Weinbrecht and Dave. Dave was quite proud of that crew and, in fact, Dave was chosen to officiate in an high school play-off game in Findlay where he was joined in that crew by his high school and OU friend Corky Sparks. They were instructed not to tell others in their area about their choice in order to avoid jealousies.
When I mentioned how great it was to hear war stories and Trojan stories from my good friend, Gib Lakeman, Dave said I would have to call Bob Bender. Bob was in the Battle of the Bulge in Europe. Dave asked if he was scared. “Scared?” Bob replied. I took the buttons off my fatigues so I could get closer to the ground.”
When I asked Dave about other Portsmouth athletes who did well nationally, he mentioned Otto Apel, an All American football player at Columbia University and Del Rice, who had lived in Dave’s neighborhood when Dave was a kid. Del was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Outstanding coaches Dave knew well were Arch Justus, Kenny Long, and Paul Walker.
When pressed about the outstanding thing in his life, Dave quickly replied: “My two sons!”
Young David played basketball for Clay High School, attended Morehead State and was very successful as a basketball player in their intramural league. He became a jet pilot and, while stationed at Pennsacola, FL, he was on his motorcycle when a drunken driver came through an intersection illegally. David swerved to miss the vehicle and was sideswiped. He was taken to a hospital but died shortly after. It was hard in Losing him while he was only 23 years old and still is.
Doug obtained a degree in organ and piano from the University of Kentucky and a Masters from the Westminister Choir College in Princeton, NJ. He is Choir Director for the First Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, NC. The church has eight choirs and Doug directs four and his assistant directs four.
Doug is very talented. Jean and I recently visited Wilmington for a special concert. Doug played a couple of songs and received standing ovations by the appreciative audience. It made goose pimples go up and down our backs.
Dave taught and coached basketball at the old McDermott High School for four years and for another at the consolidated Northwest High School. He then went to Stockdale –it later became Eastern Beaver-where he coached another two years. He retired from Clay High School after twenty-six years. He coached junior high basketball and baseball at Clay.
He taught drivers’ Education classes for thirty-six years altogether. One day a young girl who told me she was very afraid of bridges was driving across the bridge on 348 just northwest of Lucasville. She was headed for the side of the bridge. When I looked at her she had her eyes closed. I grabbed the wheel and hit the brakes.
I see many former students around the area. They always go out of their way to say: “Hi Mr. Leightenheimer or Hi Mr L. I don’t miss the Mickey Mouse things teachers must put up with but I surely do miss the kids. They keep this old man young.
Dave wasn’t in sports for the accolades, but he received a few. He is proudest that he was inducted into the “Ohio Officiating Hall of Fame” and of the Star he signed on the Portsmouth flood wall.
As we concluded the interview, I invited Dave to my next day’s book signing at the Portsmouth library for my latest book, I, God, & Country. I mentioned one conclusion by many of those interviewed was that they felt they could be Christians without church attendance. That took Dave back a little. “Oh no, I don’t think so. You need the fellowship of other Christians. I don’t know where I would be without the Lord in my life.”
Friday, May 30, 2008
Half-Brother- Ted Dunham Bronze Star winner WWII
Ted Dunham's widow is Helen Keyser Dunham, still of Portsmouth. Ted's daugther, Roseanne Dunham Evans sent me this e-mail with attached copies of letters to Ted in 1946 which awarded him the Bronze Star and an Oakleaf Cluster for valor in rescuing people from the fields of battle in Germany and France. Ted is half-brother to the Kegley clan of Forest and Mary Kegley, who spent most of their lives at 1227 McConnell Ave. in Portsmouth, Ohio.
Today is the first I have learned of Ted's award, and it is sixty-two years later.
Thank you roseanne and Helen!
Today is the first I have learned of Ted's award, and it is sixty-two years later.
Thank you roseanne and Helen!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Patrick Sparks UK guard 2004-2006
A Sea Of Blue
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Papa Hemingway's "The Prodigal Son Also Rises"
by JL Blue on May 16, 2008 7:21 AM PDT in Commentary
This is the first in a series of guest commentaries from world-renowned authors and statesmen on some of the most memorable moments in Kentucky sports history ... Today: UK 60, UL 58. December 18, 2004.
"It wasn't always this way. What began far afield before -- in smaller gyms, in front of smaller crowds -- had come full circle. It was here, now. This moment. This man.
He had been born for it. Raised among the flat land and dying coal mines of Western Kentucky, the boy had grown up now, lost the look of home and of the soft familiarity of innocence. No, he had seen it now, the best and the worst, the exodus and the glory each.
The ball felt light in his hands.
What had started in bitterness, obscurity and some unrequited love, had now turned, a bulb in full bloom, a heart laid bare on the battlefield. No more rain, no more slow march. This was why he'd made the sacrifices, the lonely nights.
The roar of the masses was silence in his head.
Second chances. The revival after the tumult and now he was here, and it was good. A sea of blue, punctured by blood red. How far had he walked? How many steps had he taken? It did not matter. Nothing mattered except the long night and the rain on the roof and the ball in his hands like a child in need of deliverance.
It is his time.
What they would say about him, remember. The only thing he could give back was everything. The moment you pray for, and dread, and cherish all. Those forgotten nights at the gym, with the rain pounding the old roof, the smell of the dust in your nostrils and the knowledge, deep-seated, innate, that the moment will come, and you must be ready when it does. And so he was.
The sly grin and then the turn to face forever, immortality. The ball just another part of his calloused hands, the fear gone now, replaced by thoughts of the end. And the rush. The slowness and the fluid shot. The net does not move. It sits silent.
One more moment to go, and it's all over.
There were times when it seemed too far away. When old dreams were replaced by new ones, by acceptance and even newfound pride. And then it all changed, and uncertainty returned to his life, the boy now a man in his own right, no longer just the coach's son, the gym rat, the one too slow, too small and too far down the trail of displaced dreamers. But he was here despite all that, or because of it. It was what he was made of, an only thing. A sublime piece of the soul, his grandfather might have put it back then, on those humid days along the low-lying rows of corn and soybeans. All the heat, and dreaming of being alone no more.
But the lonely nights mattered. They had to. In the end, they were all that was true, and the continuity became his reality, so much so that where and when no longer mattered. Only the feel of the leather, the smell of the dust and the slow pound of his heart as the final shot goes through.
And then he heard it. Slowly at first, then all-encompassing. It took him over. And it was there, the dream fulfilled, realized in that roar once more.
Oh, God. That roar."
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Awesome ...
... sports prose there. Called forth a scene from “Hoosiers” to my mind, with the players in Blue and White.
Very cool stuff.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2008 8:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This is exactly why I visit this blog...
on a daily or sometimes thrice daily (can you say “addiction”) basis. Outstanding prose!!
Thanks!
by cpacat on May 16, 2008 8:31 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Huh?
???????//
by MyBloodRunsBlue on May 16, 2008 10:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
disturbing memories....
I was watching this game on the internet at work. Just stats and the score was all I had. I turned the computer of because it said UL 58 UK 57 with zero time on the clock. I was so upset. I didn’t know we won until later on that night after I got home.
UK has the greatest fans in the world!
by GoCats on May 16, 2008 11:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Pat-Pat...
I loved Sparks as much as he loved the game of basketball.
JL, this post was very unexpected to see on a sports blog, but I thought it was absolutely great! I look forward to many more of your sports prose posts here.
I suppose here at ASoB we should always be ready for the unexpected.
Very nice work!
by kykat51 on May 16, 2008 12:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Trei ...
Got you in!
Great, great. Welcome back.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2008 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thanks...
very bad headache for a week for me when I wanted to say something and could not !...well I am sure you know how women are at times! Lol
by kykat51 on May 16, 2008 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Excellent!
by Ken Howlett on May 16, 2008 9:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
SamKat
Great work Tru and especially JLBlue. It seems that Patrick Sparks is nearly forgotten already, but he should relish these words of a Kentucky fan who definitely gets IT!
by SamKat on May 17, 2008 2:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
A Sea of Blue : University of Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
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a.. Home
b.. FanPosts
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e.. Wildcats
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Papa Hemingway's "The Prodigal Son Also Rises"
by JL Blue on May 16, 2008 7:21 AM PDT in Commentary
This is the first in a series of guest commentaries from world-renowned authors and statesmen on some of the most memorable moments in Kentucky sports history ... Today: UK 60, UL 58. December 18, 2004.
"It wasn't always this way. What began far afield before -- in smaller gyms, in front of smaller crowds -- had come full circle. It was here, now. This moment. This man.
He had been born for it. Raised among the flat land and dying coal mines of Western Kentucky, the boy had grown up now, lost the look of home and of the soft familiarity of innocence. No, he had seen it now, the best and the worst, the exodus and the glory each.
The ball felt light in his hands.
What had started in bitterness, obscurity and some unrequited love, had now turned, a bulb in full bloom, a heart laid bare on the battlefield. No more rain, no more slow march. This was why he'd made the sacrifices, the lonely nights.
The roar of the masses was silence in his head.
Second chances. The revival after the tumult and now he was here, and it was good. A sea of blue, punctured by blood red. How far had he walked? How many steps had he taken? It did not matter. Nothing mattered except the long night and the rain on the roof and the ball in his hands like a child in need of deliverance.
It is his time.
What they would say about him, remember. The only thing he could give back was everything. The moment you pray for, and dread, and cherish all. Those forgotten nights at the gym, with the rain pounding the old roof, the smell of the dust in your nostrils and the knowledge, deep-seated, innate, that the moment will come, and you must be ready when it does. And so he was.
The sly grin and then the turn to face forever, immortality. The ball just another part of his calloused hands, the fear gone now, replaced by thoughts of the end. And the rush. The slowness and the fluid shot. The net does not move. It sits silent.
One more moment to go, and it's all over.
There were times when it seemed too far away. When old dreams were replaced by new ones, by acceptance and even newfound pride. And then it all changed, and uncertainty returned to his life, the boy now a man in his own right, no longer just the coach's son, the gym rat, the one too slow, too small and too far down the trail of displaced dreamers. But he was here despite all that, or because of it. It was what he was made of, an only thing. A sublime piece of the soul, his grandfather might have put it back then, on those humid days along the low-lying rows of corn and soybeans. All the heat, and dreaming of being alone no more.
But the lonely nights mattered. They had to. In the end, they were all that was true, and the continuity became his reality, so much so that where and when no longer mattered. Only the feel of the leather, the smell of the dust and the slow pound of his heart as the final shot goes through.
And then he heard it. Slowly at first, then all-encompassing. It took him over. And it was there, the dream fulfilled, realized in that roar once more.
Oh, God. That roar."
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Awesome ...
... sports prose there. Called forth a scene from “Hoosiers” to my mind, with the players in Blue and White.
Very cool stuff.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2008 8:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
This is exactly why I visit this blog...
on a daily or sometimes thrice daily (can you say “addiction”) basis. Outstanding prose!!
Thanks!
by cpacat on May 16, 2008 8:31 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Huh?
???????//
by MyBloodRunsBlue on May 16, 2008 10:39 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
disturbing memories....
I was watching this game on the internet at work. Just stats and the score was all I had. I turned the computer of because it said UL 58 UK 57 with zero time on the clock. I was so upset. I didn’t know we won until later on that night after I got home.
UK has the greatest fans in the world!
by GoCats on May 16, 2008 11:35 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Pat-Pat...
I loved Sparks as much as he loved the game of basketball.
JL, this post was very unexpected to see on a sports blog, but I thought it was absolutely great! I look forward to many more of your sports prose posts here.
I suppose here at ASoB we should always be ready for the unexpected.
Very nice work!
by kykat51 on May 16, 2008 12:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
Trei ...
Got you in!
Great, great. Welcome back.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on May 16, 2008 12:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Thanks...
very bad headache for a week for me when I wanted to say something and could not !...well I am sure you know how women are at times! Lol
by kykat51 on May 16, 2008 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs
Excellent!
by Ken Howlett on May 16, 2008 9:10 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs
SamKat
Great work Tru and especially JLBlue. It seems that Patrick Sparks is nearly forgotten already, but he should relish these words of a Kentucky fan who definitely gets IT!
by SamKat on May 17, 2008 2:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs
How many with your name
----- Original Message -----
From: Ramey Hoskins
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 10:42 PM
Subject: Fw: This is neat - just do it!!
Subject: This is neat - just do it!!
This was fun.
Go to this website.....www.HowManyOfMe.com.....put in your first and last name and see how many people in the USA have your name as well. After me just put your name and results below. When you forward your results, send me a copy as well.
1. There are 0 Ramey Hoskins in the USA. (I knew I was unique)
2. There is one (1) Sam Kegley in the USA.
How did they forget you, Ramey?
From: Ramey Hoskins
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 10:42 PM
Subject: Fw: This is neat - just do it!!
Subject: This is neat - just do it!!
This was fun.
Go to this website.....www.HowManyOfMe.com.....put in your first and last name and see how many people in the USA have your name as well. After me just put your name and results below. When you forward your results, send me a copy as well.
1. There are 0 Ramey Hoskins in the USA. (I knew I was unique)
2. There is one (1) Sam Kegley in the USA.
How did they forget you, Ramey?
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Regarding early commitments UK basketball
Here is a post I made to www.wildcatnation.net this morning:
----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Kegley
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 7:06 AM
Subject: Early recruiting thread- UK- WCN
Today, 10:58 AM #4
SamKat
Blueblood
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Westerville, Ohio, USA
Posts: 1,593 My good friend, Dick Klitch's daughter Jenny, won the Ohio State Singles Championship and began pro-tennis at about 15 out of Grandview, Ohio. She rose to a # 50 ranking, put herself through law school, and now has a top rated law job in D.C. Dick and Joan put a lot of time, thought, and effort into their kids' futures. The young pro repeatedly played in Wimbledom. Of course, Dick is the dean of tennis teaching pros in Columbus, Ohio and often had to forgo dinner, because the young lady was waiting for him every evening to go to the courts for tennis. Dick Klitch and I grew up together in Portsmouth Ohio.
To play any sport at a high level takes a lot of practice in addition to God and parent-given
talent. In business or investing a big criteria is ROI (return on investment). Another Portsmouth Ohio pro, Ray Pelfrey was a good enough running back and receiver to play HS football at Portsmouth, college football at Auburn and Eastern Kentucky, and for a few NFL teams. He could also kick (punt) a football as well, and became the entreprerneur of one of the finest football kicking schools in the country- Professional Kicking services- www.professionalkickingservices.com which his son, Rob, runs now. PKS has been in business for forty years. As an example of ROI, Ray tells me: "... we had parents of two young men, pay the $500 camp fee each and go on to win scholarships worth $60,000 to $80,000 each for four years."
If young basketball players seek ROI, there could be no finer school to commit to than the University of Kentucky. The returns of the legendary program and the bluegrass experiences are very worthwhile committing to. Of course, like all who post on these Kentucky forum threads, I have slight prejudice and a lot of pride in the program.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by SamKat; Today at 11:03 AM.
----- Original Message -----
From: Sam Kegley
Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 7:06 AM
Subject: Early recruiting thread- UK- WCN
Today, 10:58 AM #4
SamKat
Blueblood
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Westerville, Ohio, USA
Posts: 1,593 My good friend, Dick Klitch's daughter Jenny, won the Ohio State Singles Championship and began pro-tennis at about 15 out of Grandview, Ohio. She rose to a # 50 ranking, put herself through law school, and now has a top rated law job in D.C. Dick and Joan put a lot of time, thought, and effort into their kids' futures. The young pro repeatedly played in Wimbledom. Of course, Dick is the dean of tennis teaching pros in Columbus, Ohio and often had to forgo dinner, because the young lady was waiting for him every evening to go to the courts for tennis. Dick Klitch and I grew up together in Portsmouth Ohio.
To play any sport at a high level takes a lot of practice in addition to God and parent-given
talent. In business or investing a big criteria is ROI (return on investment). Another Portsmouth Ohio pro, Ray Pelfrey was a good enough running back and receiver to play HS football at Portsmouth, college football at Auburn and Eastern Kentucky, and for a few NFL teams. He could also kick (punt) a football as well, and became the entreprerneur of one of the finest football kicking schools in the country- Professional Kicking services- www.professionalkickingservices.com which his son, Rob, runs now. PKS has been in business for forty years. As an example of ROI, Ray tells me: "... we had parents of two young men, pay the $500 camp fee each and go on to win scholarships worth $60,000 to $80,000 each for four years."
If young basketball players seek ROI, there could be no finer school to commit to than the University of Kentucky. The returns of the legendary program and the bluegrass experiences are very worthwhile committing to. Of course, like all who post on these Kentucky forum threads, I have slight prejudice and a lot of pride in the program.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last edited by SamKat; Today at 11:03 AM.
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