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.

Top night for the 2009 Wise County Old Settlers Reunion?
Judging by Decatur Lions Club receipts in the parking lot, it was Friday, with1,098 vehicles. Friday has taken over from Saturday in recent years as the busiest night.
In the past attendance built each night Monday through Saturday. But the past few years the Friday crowd has been a little larger – by 177 cars this year and 140 last year.
Overall attendance was up quite a bit this year, as Lions parked more cars on each night for a total of 3,839, compared to 3,464 a year ago. Record attendance in 2007 was 3,859.
Gas prices likely had a negative impact a year ago, and with the cost down about 40 percent in 12 months, and people taking trips closer to home, interest in the event improved.
Why Friday has overtaken Saturday is anybody’s guess. Used to be folks who couldn’t make it during the week would come in for Saturday’s event. But this year it could have been the entertainment or the fact that there were several other organized events Saturday – something that didn’t happen in years past. Scheduling something opposite the Reunion was somewhat akin to having something on Wednesday night. You just didn’t do it.
Manning the parking lot has always been a challenge for Lions, sort of like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The lot is not a uniform shape and has some trees.
And drivers are not always completely tuned in to the directions Lions are trying to give non-verbally.
We always have a blast doing it and plenty of chuckles wondering how some folks can so badly misinterpret our wild arm-waving.
And seeing what some folks will do when left to their own devices makes you wonder how they ever got a drivers license.

“Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.”

Most of us are familiar with this phrase that is often associated with mail carriers.  And while weather may not hinder them, apparently new buildings do.

It was mentioned in commissioners’ court Monday that the mail carrier that delivers the county’s mail to the new courthouse annex in Bridgeport refuses to bring the mail inside the building. The carrier has suggested they put a box outside on the street.

Doesn’t seem like too much to ask, right? Surely county employees could walk from their building to the street to retrieve mail. But, wait. Think of all the sensitive documents that are sent to Justice of the Peace Clay Poynor and other offices in the building. Should those sit, unprotected in a mailbox where anyone on the street can swipe them?

According to county officials, when questioned about the issue, the mail carrier has insisted that he has the “final say-so,” and he says “no.” He will not bring it inside.

Precinct 1 commissioner Danny White, who was also a longtime postman, said this particular carrier does take mail into other businesses.

“If you take the mail into one business within the city limits of Bridgeport,” he said. “I don’t know how you can refuse to carry it into another.”

***

On a side note, the actual “rain, snow or sleet” quote on which the above variation is based is this:

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
— Herodotus, Greek historian and traveler

The quote is engraved on the outside of the New York City Post Office, and Herodotus said this about 2,500 years ago during a war between the Greeks and Persians. He was referring to the Persian mounted postal couriers that he observed and admired.

With The passing of yet another year of Reunion,I decided to tabulate the time that I had spent at the Fairgrounds this year. With seven days of reunion and a couple before hand,total time in feild was about 36 hours. Post work on Photos,posting blogs,twittering,uploading photos another 16 hours.

Total photos took, roughly 1200, total kept 260, four hours of video,total kept, eight minutes.

I would like to think that the WC messenger’s coverage of this event was great and that I couldn’t have done anymore on it,but I always think of something after to make me look foward to next year, and doing it better!

I wasn’t really required to spend this much time here,as this was only one of several events I coverd last week,but the thing about capturing the moment on film, if your not there you won’t. Then again it doesn’t hurt if you really enjoy it as well.

While we take our jobs of reporting the news seriously, everyone in the Messenger newsroom relishes a good practical joke. And we’ve all been the victim or perpetrator at one time or another.

Just this morning reporter Travis Measley arrived to find a random coffee cup glued to his desk.  A dirty coffee cup. We suggested just throwing some pens in it and calling it good, but he was not happy until he had ripped it from the laminate desktop and deposited it in the kitchen dishwasher – where it belonged in the first place.

Sports editor Robert Morgan had a gigantic calculator that he faithfully used to tabulate all those sports statistics. But the keys were a little sticky after Travis and Mandy encased it in red Jello.

One day I arrived to work and was literally startled to find a photo of a woman body builder, all tan and glistening, as the background on my computer screen.  Thank you, Mandy and Travis.

Having access to various computer programs and office supply equipment also has it perks when planning the ultimate prank. A certain office supply worker once had her head “photo shopped” onto the body of a “Maxim” cover model, and people are always unplugging keyboards, printers and other necessary equipment.

One day a Xerox repair man was scheduled to come to the Messenger to fix a copy machine. Prior to his arrival, former employee Travis Ivy placed donuts in the paper tray. “Well, there’s your problem right there,” he told Vice President Mark Jordan, who was most likely embarrassed by the unlikely appearance of pastries.

But not to worry. We’re much kinder to our customers and news sources; we keep our pranks within the Messenger family.

I saw this (man in car gets hit by a train) on the Dallas Morning News Web site today, and when ever these headlines pop up, it makes me wonder: How in God’s name does this happen?

The linked story on the DMN Web site is a bit more understandable, the man’s semi truck snagged on the safety gate next to the tracks and got stuck, but every so often, even in Wise County, we come across someone who was just straight up  involved in a train vs. car accident. It blows my mind every time

For scenarios’ sake, let’s say your car happens to run out of gas and comes to rest on the small plateau of a railroad crossing (unofficial Vegas odds, 1 bazillion:1). Let’s say, also, that it is late at night, very dark and no other cars and within earshot. Suddenly, you realize a train is coming! Not because it is baring down upon you, but because the safety arms come down and the red lights start to flash. You have plenty of time to move. So do so!

But let’s say the safety arms are broken, and the lights don’t flash. Because all trains are equipped with a single, blinding head light and a loud whistle, you are aware of its presence at least 30 seconds before it hits your car. In 30 seconds, even the drunkest human being should be able to exit a vehicle, and probably have time to pop it in neutral and give it that one small push to send the car off the tracks.

And normally, cars sit on tracks for minutes, if not hours, before a train comes. AND the train gates close with blinking red lights minutes before a train passes, so you have plenty of warning to get off the tracks.

I feel horrible every time someone is injured in an accident, even if it’s the result of idiocy, but I just don’t understand how accidents on train tracks occur.

My husband and I are planning to go to Reunion Friday night, which will mark our first kidless excursion (except for that one quick trip to Marble Slab) since our son was born four months ago.
I’m really looking forward to it and not just because we will be temporarily free of responsibility. Thinking about Reunion makes me a little nostalgic about my summers as a teenager.
While Monahans, my hometown, doesn’t have anything remotely similar to Reunion, West Texas does have the West of the Pecos Rodeo.
My best friends and I made the 48-mile journey to Pecos at least twice during the course of the rodeo every summer during the summers of my junior high and high school years. But we didn’t dress in our best shorts, tank tops and open-toed shoes just to watch people ride around on horses or bulls — we went to scope out the boys from other towns.
As soon as the last cowboy completed his eight-second (or less) bull ride, we made our way to the dance. With the help of my best friend’s cousin, Jack, I perfected various versions of the two-step, the Cotton-Eyed Joe and the Schottische.
The dances usually ended just as we acquired enough confidence to talk to a few boys our age. Sometimes there was the promise of seeing the boys the next night. Sometimes we had to wait until the next year.
Those traditions seem unchanged from the rituals of the generations before us.
From what I’ve heard, little about Reunion has changed over the years. I can’t wait to go and experience it first hand.

There’s been quite a bit of debate on the topic of turf fields for local sports stadiums. Of particular note are claims and counter claims that artificial surfaces will or won’t pay for themselves over time compared to the cost of maintaining natural turf.

Northwest ISD was the first around here to install an artificial surface on its former grass field. At Monday’s tour of the new Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, facilities director Dennis McCreary was outlining the multiple fields at BNHS which include natural and artificial surfaces so that players can experience both. He said that the district’s first experience with artificial turf (at the original Texans stadium) paid for itself in seven years. And that includes the cost of converting the stadium from grass to turf. When the first artificial turf is replaced, the cost will be even less since the only expense will be to replace the surface; no conversion costs such as modifying the drainage.

A few years back when the Henrietta ISD was talking about plans for an upcoming bond issue, that district’s grounds maintenance chief also ran the figures and concluded turf would pay for itself. Turf was not included in the bond package, since some doubted a package including turf wouldn’t win approval.

So there’s two opinions from folks in the know that artificial turf is a good investment. You can make many other credible arguments against turf. But cost apparently isn’t one of them.

Do you love high school football? Do you go to the games on a weekly basis? Why not get paid to be there and not worry about buying a ticket, either? The <em>Wise County Messenger</em> is looking for a couple stringers to add to its Friday night staff. If you know the game, can keep stats, call or text us updates for live blogging and call us after each game to report the score and the stats, then we have $35 a game plus free admission for you. Give me a call at (940) 627-5987 or e-mail me at sports@wcmessenger.com and lets talk. This makes for some nice pocket change when the holiday season gets here!

Last week I interviewed Carter Riverside High School art teacher Mary Boswell, who lives in Decatur off of FM 51 south of town. The story is in this week’s edition of The Messenger (7/23), but what really stuck out in my mind about talking with Mary was how everything about her screamed “creativity” in the best way possible.

She has this wonderful smile and a wild stripe of hot pink in her silver hair (I don’t believe you can tell in the photograph in the paper), and just listening to her talk, I could tell how versed she was in such a wide array of styles and art theories. There were a few times during our interview when we both wandered off topic, talking about different art styles and ways of expressing creativity. Her knowledge extended light years beyond mine, and I often found myself struggling to understand what she was talking about, but the passion in her voice made me eager to ask her more questions, regardless of the topic.

Her house was covered with some really cool canvas art, most done by her students at Carter Riverside. They are hosting a gallery next Saturday starting at 6 p.m. at the Rose Marine Theater in Fort Worth, and I suggest you attend (even if you are a little run down from Reunion). They are going to be selling some really great art, some styles that are very different from what people traditionally think of as “art.”

It’s tough, as a journalist, to find stories every day that just rock you to the core or change your outlook on life. Many times, it is stories like Mary’s, ones that merely bring a smile to your face and force you to look at things from a different angle, that make for the most exciting read.

Mahalo.