“Larry Fleming: Its been nice ride through six decades”

Larry Fleming: Its been nice ride through six decades

Posted: 31 Jul 2010 08:15 PM PDT

July 31, 2010

Larry Fleming: It's been nice ride through six decades

By Marty Kirkland martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com

When I left The Daily Citizen office on Saturday night, I walked right out of the building into retirement. After 43 years as a sports writer, an enjoyable and rewarding career with newspaper stops in Athens, Tenn., Chattanooga and, for the past 11 years, Dalton, it's time to get off the clock.

No more nightly deadlines. No more 14 or 15-hour days during hectic in-school seasons. Don't get the wrong idea. Helping put together a sports section you can be proud of, and a lot of readers start their mornings with, is a daily ritual that results in a feeling of pride.

If people complained, the finished product, at the very least, had stimulated their thought process. If people appreciated the daily effort, for whatever reason, you cherished that appreciation.

"The money's no better in retirement, but the hours are!" — Author anonymous.

And what a ride it has been:

Football games at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Basketball games in Madison Square Garden in New York.

Phone interviews with Charlie Finley, the flamboyant Oakland Athletics owner.

Time with Hank Aaron. Mickey Mantle. Bobby Bowden. Joe Paterno. Johnny Majors. Tom Osborne. Bear Bryant. Bobby Knight. Well, even though that was just eight seconds or so, I'll count it among my highlights. Two World Series games in Yankee Stadium. A tour of The New York Times. Dinner at Harry Caray's place in Chicago; great. Lunch at Harry Caray's place in Tempe, Ariz.; bad. The spine-tingling experience of walking out the tunnel toward the sidelines at Notre Dame. Run-ins with Steve Spurrier.

Watching Herschel Walker run. Seeing Bo Jackson blast around end and hammer long home runs. Becoming a better friend to Bill Chappell. Getting to know Bill Napier and his sports-minded family. Working with Norma Jackson in Athens, Chattanooga and Dalton. Working with a lot of other outstanding people at all three newspapers. Knowing someone like Mike Vaden, who has a crystal clear perspective about football and faith.

"When you retire, you switch bosses — from the one who hired you to the one who married you." — Gene Perret.

Watching Michael Jordan while baseball humbled the best basketball player on the planet. Hitting pressure-packed jump shots for MJ was much easier than connecting with a curveball.

Following Dalton High's drive to the state championship football game in 2001.

Talking to Bill "Awesome Bill from Dawsonville" Elliott at North Georgia Speedway and watching him leave, piloting his own helicopter.

Attending Major League Baseball's All-Star game at Camden Yards in Baltimore in 1993 and turning down $1,600 for two tickets — twice. Once, five minutes after leaving our car in the parking lot and again an hour or so before entering the stadium.

"When a man retires, his wife gets twice the husband but only half the income." — Chi Chi Rodriguez.

Trailing behind ex-Marine Bill White, a true-grit guy, as he hunted down a wild boar, using only a knife — a very long knife — that had invaded an Athens-area neighborhood on the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Helping put together a special section on JFK and years later touring the School Book Depository Building in Dallas, a trip made possible while covering the 1990 Cotton Bowl, pitting Tennessee and Arkansas, and looking out the window from which Lee Harvey Oswald got off those fatal shots.

Watching high school football playoff games in the Georgia Dome. Watching SEC championship games in the same building. Covering a national championship year at Tennessee.

Seeing Mantle and his entourage enter a restaurant in Salisbury, N.C., and being bitterly disappointed as my baseball hero had to be "propped up" because he was so drunk.

Interviewing Richard Petty and seeing his reaction when asked if he thought NASCAR races would ever go in the opposite direction.

Flying to a race in Atlanta with a guy from Chattanooga and his female companion, who wasn't his wife, and learning a few months later that he had been roughed up by a woman, who was his wife.

"Retirement means no pressure, no stress, no heartache — unless you play golf." — Gene Perret.

Being around Deck Cheatham and enjoying the peaceful bliss that is The Farm Golf Course.

Talking, or just listening, to Vince Dooley.

Taking advantage of the statistical brilliance of Bob Campbell, the ultimate ambassador for Murray County sports

Visiting with the folks at the Murray County Coonhunters Association. Watching a big-boned woman, attired in overhauls, compete in a tobacco spitting contest at the spring coonhunters extravaganza.

Seeing what David Grusnick, and his army of colleagues, could accomplish with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Visiting with Dr. Conrad Easley. And Ray Broadrick. Watching Danny Dantzler's courageous fight with Lou Gehrig's disease.

Being inducted into the Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

Watching, at times up close, Saul Raisin's comeback from death's door after a horrible cycling accident to make a significant contribution to help victims of serious brain injuries. One of those efforts is his Raisin Hope Ride for charity, which is scheduled Sept. 4 at Prater's Mill.

"The trouble with retirement is that you never get a day off." — Abe Lemons.

Cultivating really good working relationships with a bunch of outstanding local coaches like Mike Falleur, Scott Thompson, David Crane, Margaret Stockburger, Mike Duffie, Jim McGrew, Charles Todd, Larry Cornelius, Chad Jordan, Chris Thornbury, Jeff McKinney, Josh Lowe, John Zeigler, Ronnie McClurg, Richard Taylor, Josh Robinson, Greg Linder and way too many others to mention in limited space.

Turning the reins of this paper's sports department over to Marty Kirkland and his new staffers — Chris Whitfield and Drew Brantley.

And, it's time to wrap this ride up.

Oh, wait. Not before saying that Debbie Roper of the Whitfield County Parks and Recreation Department became one of my most valued friends in this town. People simply can't measure what she does for the youth of this town.

My working career in journalism spanned parts of six decades, save four months between jobs in Chattanooga and Dalton. Getting into this industry was prompted by spending a few weeks toiling for my summer baseball coach, Bill Cook, at his paper box company. My duty was working in the "dungeon," a stifling hot, dirty place where scraps of boxes were dropped down a chute and, when the heavy, lung-busting dust settled, binding them into disposable bundles.

That caused me to find another line of work. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio came to Athens on a promotional tour and my high school baseball coach, the late J.B. "Ace" Adams, knowing of my allegiance to the Yankees, arranged for me to meet DiMaggio. My hometown newspaper, The Daily Post-Athenian, asked that I write a first-person piece about that experience. I agreed and delivered it in January 1961. That's when I first met Norma Jackson, who is still working at The Daily Citizen.

"I'm retired — goodbye tension, hello pension! — Unknown author.

This morning I have officially joined the large fraternity of this country's retirees. I'm going to spend a lot more time with my wife, Donna. We've been on different work schedules — I worked at night and she had daytime hours — for forty-plus years. I'm going to be there for my son, Dusty, his wife, Liz, and their two children, Austin and Madi — my wonderful grandkids. While we lost our daughter, Karen, to cystic fibrosis, these grandkids have rekindled our love of children.

This newspaper still wants me to do some writing and I've agreed to that. Just not every day. And I'll have to check with Austin and Madi to make sure I can spare the time.

Larry Fleming is, or was, Sports Editor at The Daily Citizen. You can write to him at … well, just leave a message at the office. I'll get back to you.

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