My friend Kyle Ingalls, mentioned in this story, later played college baseball at Auburn and was a teammate of Bo Jackson. Kyle told me a great Bo story.
After a game, the players were shooting the bull in a parking lot before getting on the team bus. Bo asked a teammate: "Ever held a million dollars in your hands?"
The player said, "No."
Bo answered: "Here, put this in your hands."
He then lifted one of his legs so the player could, indeed, see and feel what a million-dollars looked like. Except Bo's legs were worth a lot more than $1 million.
"Mike Pérez considered enrolling in the Army but instead transferred to Troy State University in Alabama at the behest of coach Chase Riddle, a former scout who signed José Cruz Sr. and Steve Carlton for the Cardinals. Pérez was dominant in his sole season with the Trojans in 1986. He set a school record with 13 wins and struck out 114 batters in 107 2/3 innings. His 2.06 ERA is third best in the college’s history, and he led the team to its first NCAA Division II National Championship. He allowed one hit and struck out seven opponents in the 5-0 final game against Columbus State, despite a 26-minute rain delay in the fourth inning and a line drive that caromed off his right thigh"
Happy to read a sports centric uplifting piece for a ship in these darker yet unprecedented evil times. When you return to the exposé important let less entertain side would you mind considering what you said about the realness of https://turbocancer.org on your taboo media article. My missionwork has shifted and I'd love linking another great author's name like fellow whistleblower / Health Freedom Movement Dr. Peter McCullough. (Biden's #Turbocancer) #covid
I sure will return to that topic, Geoff. Or, at least I can cross-post other authors who are reporting important details of this trend. How many people these articles actually "reach" is a question that intrigues me these days.
Are you publishing in other places? Since I am a contributing writer, I'm not sure how substqck operates, yet websites give great analytics so if you're seeking better reach, actions from readers and/or increased subscribers here, you may want to email the websites the have good optimization (page ranking) & traction in the subject matters w/ shared viewpoint. Do some link haring. Again content is king is the SEO adage for both getting ranked high and remaining ranked (fresh content) so there's a win-win for the people you approach.
Some of my articles get picked up by sites like Brownstone or The Daily Sceptic. I used to have many articles that were picked up by Citizen Free Press and Real Clear Markets, but, for some unknown reason, that doesn't happen anymore.
I do share article on Facebook but those articles rarely get more than three "likes" so I think Facebook's algorithms flag Substack articles.
I used to make a lot of posts at other Substack sites and would, often, link to my articles. I think that helped me grow my Subscriber numbers, but this doesn't boost my numbers like it did 12 to 24 months ago.
I've never been a Twitter user and have never built a presence there. I need to figure out how to better use Notes.
Readers new to The Troy Citizen Substack newspaper, can scroll through 50 of this newsletter's most popular stories by clicking on this link. So far, my most-viewed story (by far) was a two-part series on the "Gault saga," the most shocking crime in Wiregrass history. I still haven't written many stories I'm confident readers will enjoy.
Ed Black, mentioned in today's dispatch, was a classmate and good friend of mine and is one of the most interesting and unique student athletes in CHHS history.
Ed was always a great baseball player, but he was just as talented as a drummer in the Blue Machine marching band. Indeed, Ed was in the band through his sophomore year of high school.
After CHHS won the state football title our sophomore year (1980), Ed went out for the football team and promptly became the starting quarterback for the next two years. (That's why Coach Jefcoat moved me from quarterback to wide receiver my junior year).
Ed was also the co-editor of the high school newspaper, The Trojan Myths. I was the other co-editor.
So in high school, Ed was a drummer in the band, the star of the baseball team, one of the stars of the football team as the quarterback and the editor of the high school newspaper!
Ed later played junior college baseball for two years and then played for Coach Riddle for two years at Troy State. He was a catcher on the teams that won back-to-back national titles.
Of course, Ed's father, Ralph Black, was the legendary play-by-play announcer for Troy sports.
Some readers might have read my story on "Trojans who look like famous people. I didn't mention Ed in that article, but I later realized that, at one point in his life, Ed bore a resemblance to the outstanding and famous golfer Jim Furyk.
I started playing golf in 2nd grade. I think Ed took up the game after college. In about three weeks, he could beat me!
When I was 12 and living in Troy my second year, I was a part of a Dixie Youth tournament team that advanced to the State Tournament in Montgomery in 1977.
One of our team's star players was skinny shortstop, Eddie (Ed) Barnett. Eddie hit two grand slams in the State Tournament, a Dixie Youth Baseball record that might have been tied since, but I doubt has been surpassed.
Barnett played short stop. Steve Sanders was the 2nd baseman. Nearly 50 years later, those 2 grand slams still stand.
Bill Rice was a hard throwing middle reliever on that team and I was the catcher. During a meeting at the mound, when Bill was having some difficulty locating the strike zone, our coach asked Bill if his arm was hurting. Bill, not wanting to be taken out of the game, answered with an attempt to deflect the coaches concern by quickly responding, “Only when I throw Coach”. Bill was lifted and Jim Williford finished the inning.
That's right. Steve was the second baseman. Eddie became a second baseman during his CHHS career. And Wes Gaylard was the catcher and Bo Gaylard was the coach. (Think how good I would have been in baseball if your Dad had coached me several years while I was growing up!)
I love that story about me being taken out of the game. My arm was shot by that point!
Another one for the “Agony of Defeat” category ...
My senior year in high school (1983), CHHS had a very-talented basketball team (led by L.K. Hooten and Adam Richards), one capable of winning a state championship. (The team was coached by Eddie McCarter, who was also Troy University basketball coach Scott Cross's coach in college).
Alas, in a back-and-forth game played in Troy, Troy lost in the Regional Finals when a Eufaula player hit a 25-foot shot at the buzzer.
While I was a student, CHHS won the state football championship my sophomore year, could have won the baseball state title my senior year and, I think, that basketball team could have won the state championship as well. So, in the early 1980s, CHHS was a power in all three major sports.
Thanks for bringing back some great memories Bill, especially the Troy vs. Missouri game which occured on my 38th birthday in 2004. My Dad and I went to that game together, and like many of the faithful we were feeling rough after Troy was down 14-0. As you detail, the comeback was as incredible as any I've ever seen, and I watched a FSU team down 21 at the half fight back to tie the Florida Gators in 1994.
One thing I will never forget about that Troy football game was watching the ESPN playback the following week. Lee Corso actually said that Troy was outmatched in the game just prior to the beginning of the comeback. By the time the scoreboard struck 0:00 in the 4th quarter all that had changed. A real coming out party for Troy football, and I would have to say that a national television audience pushes this game to the "All-Time #1 spot for Greatest Troy Sports Moment". Our buddy Kent Hendricks was traveling on business and had an entire bar somewhere in Texas wound up in the game! That was a special moment.
So don't count this in the metric: I AM NOT A SPORTS FAN and would normally NEVER OPEN A SPORTS Substack. I just read this to let you know that the people who open this are a narrow niche of people: even my sons do not like or read sports stats or keep track of teams. as adults.. and also I doubt many women .. w/ a couple exceptions ... would be opening this to check on the Troys of whom I have never heard :) HAPPY FRIDAY. :) As a speed reader I maybe would stop at the word Gault (name of a friend) but I already knew he would not be interested because we all liked "classic cars" etc. OH WELL.. Have a good one. ! Yes I said that. I doubt many women would be interested unless a family member was involved. :) my sons played soccer; the minute they stopped I no longer kept track. :)
Thanks for the feedback. Regarding local news media, "names and faces" are what sell subscriptions ... at least, traditionally. These stories allowed me to add many names and faces. As you note, family members and friends might be (are) interested in any stories that mention someone close to them.
ESPN shows the popularity of sports as a media genre. ESPN, bought by ABC, became the biggest media property of the Walt Disney Company. This said, "sports" is NOT a big or popular category on Substack, which I find somewhat odd. State newspapers stayed in business for decades thanks largely to sports coverage. For example, the Sunday circulations of Alabama's leading newspapers were 50,000 higher on Sunday mornings - the day after big college football games. That's why these papers had such large sports staffs ... but not anymore.
My friend Kyle Ingalls, mentioned in this story, later played college baseball at Auburn and was a teammate of Bo Jackson. Kyle told me a great Bo story.
After a game, the players were shooting the bull in a parking lot before getting on the team bus. Bo asked a teammate: "Ever held a million dollars in your hands?"
The player said, "No."
Bo answered: "Here, put this in your hands."
He then lifted one of his legs so the player could, indeed, see and feel what a million-dollars looked like. Except Bo's legs were worth a lot more than $1 million.
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mike-perez/
"Mike Pérez considered enrolling in the Army but instead transferred to Troy State University in Alabama at the behest of coach Chase Riddle, a former scout who signed José Cruz Sr. and Steve Carlton for the Cardinals. Pérez was dominant in his sole season with the Trojans in 1986. He set a school record with 13 wins and struck out 114 batters in 107 2/3 innings. His 2.06 ERA is third best in the college’s history, and he led the team to its first NCAA Division II National Championship. He allowed one hit and struck out seven opponents in the 5-0 final game against Columbus State, despite a 26-minute rain delay in the fourth inning and a line drive that caromed off his right thigh"
Wow! Bonus content from a subscriber in NY!
Mike Perez was the Boss. And Coach Riddle got many great players due to his stature as a great professional scout for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Happy to read a sports centric uplifting piece for a ship in these darker yet unprecedented evil times. When you return to the exposé important let less entertain side would you mind considering what you said about the realness of https://turbocancer.org on your taboo media article. My missionwork has shifted and I'd love linking another great author's name like fellow whistleblower / Health Freedom Movement Dr. Peter McCullough. (Biden's #Turbocancer) #covid
I sure will return to that topic, Geoff. Or, at least I can cross-post other authors who are reporting important details of this trend. How many people these articles actually "reach" is a question that intrigues me these days.
Are you publishing in other places? Since I am a contributing writer, I'm not sure how substqck operates, yet websites give great analytics so if you're seeking better reach, actions from readers and/or increased subscribers here, you may want to email the websites the have good optimization (page ranking) & traction in the subject matters w/ shared viewpoint. Do some link haring. Again content is king is the SEO adage for both getting ranked high and remaining ranked (fresh content) so there's a win-win for the people you approach.
Some of my articles get picked up by sites like Brownstone or The Daily Sceptic. I used to have many articles that were picked up by Citizen Free Press and Real Clear Markets, but, for some unknown reason, that doesn't happen anymore.
I do share article on Facebook but those articles rarely get more than three "likes" so I think Facebook's algorithms flag Substack articles.
I used to make a lot of posts at other Substack sites and would, often, link to my articles. I think that helped me grow my Subscriber numbers, but this doesn't boost my numbers like it did 12 to 24 months ago.
I've never been a Twitter user and have never built a presence there. I need to figure out how to better use Notes.
Readers new to The Troy Citizen Substack newspaper, can scroll through 50 of this newsletter's most popular stories by clicking on this link. So far, my most-viewed story (by far) was a two-part series on the "Gault saga," the most shocking crime in Wiregrass history. I still haven't written many stories I'm confident readers will enjoy.
https://thetroycitizen.substack.com/p/the-most-popular-troy-citizen-stories
Ed Black, mentioned in today's dispatch, was a classmate and good friend of mine and is one of the most interesting and unique student athletes in CHHS history.
Ed was always a great baseball player, but he was just as talented as a drummer in the Blue Machine marching band. Indeed, Ed was in the band through his sophomore year of high school.
After CHHS won the state football title our sophomore year (1980), Ed went out for the football team and promptly became the starting quarterback for the next two years. (That's why Coach Jefcoat moved me from quarterback to wide receiver my junior year).
Ed was also the co-editor of the high school newspaper, The Trojan Myths. I was the other co-editor.
So in high school, Ed was a drummer in the band, the star of the baseball team, one of the stars of the football team as the quarterback and the editor of the high school newspaper!
Ed later played junior college baseball for two years and then played for Coach Riddle for two years at Troy State. He was a catcher on the teams that won back-to-back national titles.
Of course, Ed's father, Ralph Black, was the legendary play-by-play announcer for Troy sports.
Some readers might have read my story on "Trojans who look like famous people. I didn't mention Ed in that article, but I later realized that, at one point in his life, Ed bore a resemblance to the outstanding and famous golfer Jim Furyk.
I started playing golf in 2nd grade. I think Ed took up the game after college. In about three weeks, he could beat me!
When I was 12 and living in Troy my second year, I was a part of a Dixie Youth tournament team that advanced to the State Tournament in Montgomery in 1977.
One of our team's star players was skinny shortstop, Eddie (Ed) Barnett. Eddie hit two grand slams in the State Tournament, a Dixie Youth Baseball record that might have been tied since, but I doubt has been surpassed.
That team finished as State Runner-Ups.
Barnett played short stop. Steve Sanders was the 2nd baseman. Nearly 50 years later, those 2 grand slams still stand.
Bill Rice was a hard throwing middle reliever on that team and I was the catcher. During a meeting at the mound, when Bill was having some difficulty locating the strike zone, our coach asked Bill if his arm was hurting. Bill, not wanting to be taken out of the game, answered with an attempt to deflect the coaches concern by quickly responding, “Only when I throw Coach”. Bill was lifted and Jim Williford finished the inning.
That's right. Steve was the second baseman. Eddie became a second baseman during his CHHS career. And Wes Gaylard was the catcher and Bo Gaylard was the coach. (Think how good I would have been in baseball if your Dad had coached me several years while I was growing up!)
I love that story about me being taken out of the game. My arm was shot by that point!
Another one for the “Agony of Defeat” category ...
My senior year in high school (1983), CHHS had a very-talented basketball team (led by L.K. Hooten and Adam Richards), one capable of winning a state championship. (The team was coached by Eddie McCarter, who was also Troy University basketball coach Scott Cross's coach in college).
Alas, in a back-and-forth game played in Troy, Troy lost in the Regional Finals when a Eufaula player hit a 25-foot shot at the buzzer.
While I was a student, CHHS won the state football championship my sophomore year, could have won the baseball state title my senior year and, I think, that basketball team could have won the state championship as well. So, in the early 1980s, CHHS was a power in all three major sports.
Thanks for bringing back some great memories Bill, especially the Troy vs. Missouri game which occured on my 38th birthday in 2004. My Dad and I went to that game together, and like many of the faithful we were feeling rough after Troy was down 14-0. As you detail, the comeback was as incredible as any I've ever seen, and I watched a FSU team down 21 at the half fight back to tie the Florida Gators in 1994.
One thing I will never forget about that Troy football game was watching the ESPN playback the following week. Lee Corso actually said that Troy was outmatched in the game just prior to the beginning of the comeback. By the time the scoreboard struck 0:00 in the 4th quarter all that had changed. A real coming out party for Troy football, and I would have to say that a national television audience pushes this game to the "All-Time #1 spot for Greatest Troy Sports Moment". Our buddy Kent Hendricks was traveling on business and had an entire bar somewhere in Texas wound up in the game! That was a special moment.
Great piece on Norma Jean’s first husband!
Thanks Bill. Hope you are doing well.
I may have found the problem; this is only a "Cross-post from Troy Citizen", to which I do not subscribe.
So don't count this in the metric: I AM NOT A SPORTS FAN and would normally NEVER OPEN A SPORTS Substack. I just read this to let you know that the people who open this are a narrow niche of people: even my sons do not like or read sports stats or keep track of teams. as adults.. and also I doubt many women .. w/ a couple exceptions ... would be opening this to check on the Troys of whom I have never heard :) HAPPY FRIDAY. :) As a speed reader I maybe would stop at the word Gault (name of a friend) but I already knew he would not be interested because we all liked "classic cars" etc. OH WELL.. Have a good one. ! Yes I said that. I doubt many women would be interested unless a family member was involved. :) my sons played soccer; the minute they stopped I no longer kept track. :)
Thanks for the feedback. Regarding local news media, "names and faces" are what sell subscriptions ... at least, traditionally. These stories allowed me to add many names and faces. As you note, family members and friends might be (are) interested in any stories that mention someone close to them.
ESPN shows the popularity of sports as a media genre. ESPN, bought by ABC, became the biggest media property of the Walt Disney Company. This said, "sports" is NOT a big or popular category on Substack, which I find somewhat odd. State newspapers stayed in business for decades thanks largely to sports coverage. For example, the Sunday circulations of Alabama's leading newspapers were 50,000 higher on Sunday mornings - the day after big college football games. That's why these papers had such large sports staffs ... but not anymore.