More Sad News

More sad news is making its way around Terrell today. Apparently, Randy Snow has died.

For those who don't know Randy, his story has always been one of inspiration to me. At the peak of a blossoming tennis career while just a junior in high school, Randy was injured in a farming accident, which left him without the use of his legs.

That didn't deter him, though, as he went on to become a business owner and nationally recognized sales associate, a Fortune 500 speaker and one of the most successful gold medal wheelchair athletes in history. Because of his achievements, he received the Paralympic torch from President Clinton in Washington, kicking off the Atlanta Paralympic Games in 1996. In 2004, he was the first Paralympian inducted into the Olympic Hall of Fame.

A local celebrity of sorts, Randy was always first in line to help Terrell's community when it was in need. It's a sad day for our town.

So Maybe I'll Blog Today

Someone politely prodded me on Wednesday with an email asking about my "inconsistent" posts of late. No, I'm not abandoning the blogosphere. It's just that time of year for me when I have to put my publisher hat on and spend time doing incredibly exciting stuff like going over budgets, making revenue projections, defending my miserable existence, etc. Anyone who knows me well also knows that's my idea of fun, but it is a necessary evil. Or, as one good friend puts it so eloquently, it's just one of those dragons I have to slay.

• Nice non-action football shot from, of course, Joe Duty.

• Chris is headed to the French Quarter...sort of...I've threatened to stowaway in her luggage, but alas I can't. Therefore, I hope she has a blast.

• Anyone else see former Terrell mayor Don Lindsey get interviewed on TV last night about this.

Sad. Five from one community our size is a lot to bear.

• I've got a story in this week's Herald on Larry Jack Dotson, a Warsaw resident who will portray Jack Ruby in an upcoming Discovery Channel production called JFK: The Ruby Connection. It's one of those stories I wish I could have had more time to write and more space to put it. Mr. Dotson was a great interview and had a lot more to say than I could fit into this week's edition. If you get a chance, stop by the Discovery Channel and watch the show.

• A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers' failure to properly maintain a navigation channel led to massive flooding in Hurricane Katrina, a decision that could make the federal government vulnerable to billions of dollars in claims.

• The phrase "bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yea" belongs exclusively to funk legend George Clinton, a panel of federal judges ruled this week. And now you know.

Oops.

• Anyone know what that loud boom around 10 p.m. last night in Kaufman was?

Unfortunately True

With help of Twitter, Facebook and Tricia Scruggs, I've been chasing a rumor all night, which unfortunately is true. Another Terrell soldier has died in Afghanistan. We'll have more information soon.

Monday Musings

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.”

That's a quote from author Douglas Adams. If you don't who he is, give him a Google. He's British and, prior to his death, wrote some pretty witty sci-fi. He had an interesting outlook on life.

That being said, he hits the nail on the button with that quote. No matter how hard we try, there will always be mistakes. We all make them. That's what makes us human.

Late Friday, I learned of a mistake I've made. It's quite a doozy. I won't bore you with the details other than to say it's really got me off kilter. I spent much of the weekend with my stomach in knots over it.

But as James Joyce once wrote, "A man's errors are his portals to discovery."

Mistakes happen. Admit them when they do and then learn from them.

If not, the greatest mistake you will make in your life will be to continually fear you will make one.

• As a kid, I remember watching repeats of the original with my mom so I was excited to sit down and watch a little of this last night.

• One man fights hunger on an empty stomach. Good story. Talk about your leaps of faith, though.

• Interesting concept.

• A story to get Don J. teared up on a Monday.

• Good news for my fellow Catholics fearing an aporkalypse.

• My wife was excited to see how good Jim K.'s football photos were. Her exact words, "You think you can get him to shoot games for you some time so we can have a night out?"

• I was in a funk on Friday so I missed this, but Christina had some pretty cool history behind Friday the 13th.

• Have you voted in the Herald's online poll?

• I can hear the wind picking up outside my window. I'm hoping when I wake up, it actually feels like fall.

• Local attorney Robert Guest gets mention in a DMN story on Dallas County constables. (Scan down about halfway into the story).

• I'm always hesitant to update my status on Facebook too often because I think it might be a beating to my friends to know what I'm doing every minute of the day. Apparently, though, it's also a very good alibi.

Have a great week!

Weekend Football

It's been an amazing season for the Terrell Tigers. It's sad that it had to end so abruptly, but the coaches and players deserve a big attaboy for their play this year.

Here are some shots from Saturday's playoff game against Waco University.