Random thoughts for July 4, 2009

Well, its hard to believe that we're celebrating another Fourth of July holiday. It just seems like yesterday that I was bringing in the New Year in the company of a lovely young lady(all good, of course). In two months, the 2009 high school football season will begin, but what will be different from last season is the fact that I will be back in the booth. Last year at this time, I had no idea that not only was I about to be fired from my soon to be former radio employer, but a month later, my wife would come to me with the news that she wanted a divorce. More about the latter a little later. Getting back in the booth has been the most normal thing that has happened to me in nearly a year. There are many people that I have to think for getting back in the booth. For those that do not know, there will be two radio stations that will be covering Beebe High sports this upcoming season, the yet to be decided FM station from Crain Media, and NEARSports radio. NEARSports(www.nearsports.com) is the only internet radio station in the state of Arkansas. It is owned and operated by Greg Miller, who is one of the announcers himself. Greg, a longtime banker, bought NEARSports from David Grim in September of 2008 and has embarked on an ambitious effort to not only make NEARSports better, but bigger. NEARSports has not only gotten contracts to cover small schools like East Poinsett County, Bay, and Riverside, but also has gotten contracts to cover Marion(6A East) and Greene County Tech(5A East). With the addition of Beebe, NEARSports not only is coming into the central Arkansas market, but is the third school that is 5A and bigger that will be covered by NEARSports. Not only will this be a little different forum, as far as the Badger broadcasts are concerned, there will actually be more sports covered. As of right now, potentially four sports will be covered. I'm personally excited about the possibility of covering baseball and softball, as those sports were very successful last season. Not only do I have to thank Greg Miller for giving me another opportunity to get back into the booth, but I also have to thank the Beebe School Board and superintendent, Dr. Belinda Shook, for giving the okay(the official okay will come July 13 at the next board meeting). I also want to thank Jerry Jordan, the Beebe Athletic Director, for giving the recommendation to the school board. There are plenty more people to thank, and I will do so a little later.

As I remarked earlier, my divorce will be final in a few weeks, July 28, to be exact. It has been a rough past several months, but I'm glad that there is finality to this. I can safely say that divorce sucks. Hopefully, there will be another lady in my life soon, only time will tell.

I just got my 2009 copy of Hooten's Arkansas Football Magazine, and as always, it is better than the year before. More color pictures, more articles, and always good previews of the state colleges and high schools. The coaches in the 5A Southeast have picked the Badgers to finish 4th in the conference, which I would have to say is pretty accurate. Monticello is once again loaded and primed to make another deep run in the playoffs. Sylvan Hills could be a darkhorse to push the Billies for the conference championship. Only time will tell as far as who finishes in what place.