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We have been blessed recently at Stephens Media’s Central Arkansas Newspapers.
Lonoke Democrat reporter Priscilla Campbell, and her husband, Nathan, had a beautiful baby girl, Charity Grace, in August at Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock. Everyone is doing great.
This afternoon we had our first visit in the Little Rock newsroom from Emmy Buffalo, the newly adopted child of Lonoke County sports editor Mark Buffalo and his wife, Linda. They returned recently from China where they adopted Mary Elisabeth in mid-September, and said she is adjusting to life in Arkansas quickly.
It is a wonderful time for both families and we are thrilled to have a small part in their lives.
Keep growing, girls!
Former Cardinals pitcher and now broadcaster Rick Horton, who does color commentary for KSDK-TV’s Sunday broadcasts and appears on Fox Sports Midwest’s pregame and postgame shows, made a reference during Sunday’s game against the Rockies to base coaches wearing batting helmets.
He explained that the requirement came after Colorado Rockies minor-league coach Mike Coolbaugh was fatally struck by a line drive a couple of years ago, but noted that the accident occurred in “a dark minor league park.”
The comment brings to mind a few questions:
While everyone associated with the Travelers and all baseball fans feel horrible about what happened to Tulsa Drillers first-base coach Coolbaugh in a Texas League game on July 22, 2007, no one has ever blamed it on poor lighting, to my knowledge.
Pete Laven, Travelers general manager, said Monday afternoon that he had never heard such a reference and noted that the lights at Dickey-Stephens Park are tested annually by Major League Baseball officials.
Horton, a graduate of the University of Virginia, usually seems pretty knowledgeable on the air. That’s one reason why I was surprised to hear the reference to the “dark park.” We’ll have to check with him to see what he used as a basis for his statement.
A Razorbacks-Red Wolves-Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals) fan had to make do with the Cardinals’ Saturday night win to clinch the National League Central Division for any sports-based happiness.
The loss to Alabama just shows how far the University of Arkansas has to go in recruiting to compete in the Southeastern Conference. Bobby Petrino is a good coach. He’s not the problem. The Hogs were outmanned on both sides of the ball and have not yet mastered blocking and tackling to the extent that they can be successful in the SEC.
Arkansas State played well against a good Troy team, but couldn’t close the deal in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams. The Red Wolves rallied from a 23-10 deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but fumbled a punt late in the game that could have kept the ball from the Trojans when they scored their winning touchdown. Now the Wolves go to Iowa City on Saturday to face the Iowa Hawkeyes, fresh off their upset of Penn State.
St. Louis is now in that strange no-man’s-land of what to do to get ready for the playoffs after a team has clinched its spot. Yes, having the best record would help with home-field advantage, but lately the Cardinals have played better on the road. Do you rest the regulars for a few days to heal bumps and bruises, or do you take Monday’s day off and then play your regulars and their alternates to remain (or become) sharp for the playoffs that start Oct. 7?
Tony LaRussa will surprise fans in some way with his choices for the postseason first-round roster. He always does. But he has the Cardinals back in the playoffs after a two-year absence that followed the surprise 2006 world championship, so we’ll just have to trust him.
A colleague and I were discussing all the e-mail we get in relation to our jobs. Initially, we were talking about how much we get and how you can get behind if you don’t take care of your inbox each day.
When I wondered aloud if the extra workload were worth the convenience it provides, he pointed out that being able to receive news releases from different groups DOES make for less rewriting and typing in news items that are of interest to our readers.
Just like anything, there is a good side and a bad side. Spam or more typing? Some days it’s a tough call. But I’ll bet we aren’t returning to a time without it, are we?
My wife, Nancy, and I went to see the one-night-only presentation of the 70th anniversary HD edition of “The Wizard of Oz” at Tinseltown in Benton on Wednesday night.
We had never seen the 1939 classic on the big screen, so it was fun. First, I tried to get tickets to the same event at the Breckenridge theater in west Little Rock, but it appeared to be sold out when I tried to buy tickets online. Tinseltown still had seats available, so we drove to Saline County.
Seeing the five MGM travelers start down the yellow brick road seems like a fine analogy for starting this effort at blogging, so let’s see where on the road to Oz we find ourselves.
Mike Dougherty's Blog 