Being a writer brings different challenges every day.

The topics we write about aren’t always interesting, and while not the most creative stories, we can usually hammer those out pretty quickly.

You hope to find those interesting stories that you can really get personally involved in. But at times, those are the hardest stories to write.

Such is my dilemma.

I have been waiting for weeks to write this story about a family of four from Rhome who share a unique hobby. Randy, Connie, Dalton and Dillon Green all race in off-road motorcycle events.

In interviewing this family for the story, I saw a shining example of what family should be. By sharing this hobby, the family spends much of their time together in practice, preparing for events, traveling and competing.

With all of the positive benefits of having this hobby, there’s also the possibility of being injured. That possibility became reality when Dalton was injured during a practice that our photographer, Joe, was attending. In that moment, Joe watched the family pull together and support each other as Dalton was treated for a head injury.

With the injury behind them, the family is back on the track, racing at full-speed. Connie and Randy stress that the hobby is strictly voluntary and that the boys can quit at any time. But this passion flows in their blood.

With so much ground to cover, how can I even get started?

Hopefully we’ll see in Sunday’s paper.

I’m finishing my first week as the new sports editor here at The Messenger. It’s been a blur with two football games, two volleyball matches and a cross country meet. But it’s been a blast. I look forward to getting out to meeting more people in the next couple of weeks. Thanks everyone for welcoming to the job so far. I hope you’ve enjoyed the first two issues that I’ve been a part of. Heads up for Sunday. Basketball practices started Wednesday for the girls basketball teams in the county. I will have a short preview Sunday. I will have advances about the Decatur cross country and volleyball teams going for district crowns next week. There will also be full coverage of the Eagles’ battle with Burkburnett.

There were a few funny moments on scanner today. Here is a sample:

Deputy — “I’ve been up and down this road and I haven’t found that suspicious woman in a bikini.”
Deputy — “Did you get my traffic?”
Dispatcher — “Negative on the suspicious woman in the bikini.”

Dispatcher — “A man with a weapon is acting crazy in people’s pastures.”
Deputy — “What do you mean by acting crazy?”

It came out a few days ago that former Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez and current Red Sox David Ortiz were among those that tested positive in 2003 for performance enhancing drugs, the same year the Red Sox went on their magical run to break the 100-year curse of Babe Ruth.

Professional sports are going to be what they are, and just because athletes may or may not have done steroids doesn’t mean we are going to stop going to games or watching them on television. However, what kind of message does that send to young kids that want to grow up and be pro baseball players?

I did a story this week on a kid in Rhome, Cade Garner, who is one of the best pitchers I have every seen, and he is only 13. He told me he wants to play professional baseball one day, possibly for the Red Sox. Not that he would ever do steroids, but what can he possibly think, looking at his idols right now in the sport he loves, watching them break rules and put things into their bodies that can kill them?

Baseball needs to end this steroid controversy now, not because its “cheating,” because honestly, most everyone is doing it, so the playing field is pretty level. Baseball needs to take care of this now because in ten years, when kids like Cade are old enough to play pro ball, you want them to play clean and honest. Someone within baseball needs to step up and publicly chastise the MLB and its players, because they are role models and are shaping the minds of our future stars

Come on baseball, someone think about your future instead of your present.