12/16/2025
For most sportswriters, the magic begins under Friday night-lights. But for me the story has always started much earlier on dusty little league fields, where oversized helmets wobble on tiny heads and dreams are somehow already larger than life.
For more than 17 years, I have chronicled the rise of athletes across Oklahoma, capturing their journeys from childhood hopefuls to collegiate standouts. What began as a simple assignment, covering youth football and baseball for the local newspaper, quickly grew into a calling that shaped a career and connected entire communities through story telling.
Just this Saturday, I covered former Eufaula Ironhead Carson Luna and Checotah Wildcat Omarrion Warrior’s final college game of the season in a 56-21 route of East Central I always believed every athlete has a story worth telling, whether they’re 8 or 18. That mindset has allowed them to follow multiple generations of players, watching young kids grow into high school stars, then into college captains, and sometimes into professional athletes who still remember the reporter with the notepad on the sideline.
For most sportswriters, the magic begins under Friday night-lights. But for me the story has always started much earlier on dusty little league fields, where oversized helmets wobble on tiny heads and dreams are somehow already larger than life.
